Setup guide

OSx Migration Cookbook August 30, 2006

7 – Software and data configurations

WinCC Explorer

DBA

PCS 7/505 OS uses the PCS 7 paradigm where a runtime PCS 7

system is running a PCS 7 project. OSx cannot have more than one

project loaded on the system at one time. There are no distinctions

between a system and a project. PCS 7 has this project notion. It is

a “project” that is executed at runtime. More than one project can

be on a system at any given time. You can decide to run a different

project at any time by shutting down the first project, making sure

the second project is propagated to all appropriate stations, and then

run it.

Two software tools are used to create and configure a PCS 7/505

OS project. These are Simatic Manager/WinCC Explorer which

creates and configures the PCS 7 project, and the PCS 7/505

Database Automation Tool (DBA) which converts OSx style

configurations to WinCC format and inserts them into a designated

WinCC project.

WinCC Explorer is the primary tool you use to create your PCS 7

project. It also contains the functions needed to configure features

that don’t involve data migrated from OSx. These include lifebeat

monitoring and time synchronization. WinCC Explorer also has the

button that sends your project into runtime mode.

DBA is the primary tool you use to convert OSx configurations into

WinCC configurations. After creating a PCS 7 project with WinCC

explorer, you use DBA to import your OSx configurations into the

WinCC project. You can import tags, action requests. Except tags,

these can be created manually or bulk imported from files. Tags

must be bulk imported from files. The files used for bulk import are

normally exported from OSx or the Simatic TI505 programming

tool APT.

Whether a configuration from OSx is recreated manually or

imported in bulk via a file depends on the number of such

configurations. For example, if the OSx system that is migrating to

PCS 7 only has ten action requests, then recreating them manually

in DBA may be faster than trying to export them from OSx. On the

other hand, using the bulk import may be more efficient if there are

700 action requests. The project managers will need to decide

which method is most efficient and least costly. That can differ for

each project.