Model results can be published to an OPC server for display in a Human Machine Interface (HMI). The user must identify the mapping between the model element and the tag/signal in the OPC server. The hydraulic models do not directly display their results in the HMI but instead publish the results to any OPC compatible server. The HMI then reads from the server and display the results. When the model Time Browser advances to a new time, the published results are updated. The signal mappings to the server are explained below.

In most cases, the OPC server to HMI programming already exists for the real SCADA system and can be used as an example when setting up model to HMI mappings. The difference is that the model is only interested in hydraulic properties and can display far more hydraulic properties at more locations than the actual SCADA system.

The SCADA results publishing dialog can be accessed using Analysis > SCADAConnect Simulator and picking the sixth button (SCADA Results Publishing) in that dialog:

This opens up the Results Publishing Dialog. The first step is to identify the OPC server to be used. This is done by picking the fourth button on top of the dialog, Define OPC Server Connection.

This opens the dialog below where the user identifies the OPC server to be used. If the server is hosted on a different computer, the user should check the box labelled Host and search for the computer on the network. If the server is located on the user's computer, the user need only search from the drop down list of servers.

The other buttons at the top if the dialog include, Open an addition signal to model mapping, Delete a mapping and Duplicate a mapping.

Before opening this table, the signals/tags need to be identified in the OPC server. This varies between OPC servers and the user needs to consult the documentation for the specific brand and version of the server.

The columns in the table include:

Enable which when checked indicates that the row in this table is to be used for publishing. Unchecked, the results are ignored.

Element indicate which model element is to be used for the mapping. The Element Type is automatically populated as a read-only field.

The Result Attribute identifies which property from the model element is to be mapped to the OPC tag.

The OPC Tag is the tag/signal name of that property in the OPC server. These tags should be established before opening this table.

Picking OK sets up the mappings in the model such that as the Time Browser is advanced, the correct value is published to the OPC server.