New Perspectives on Process
Visualization
Figure 1: The Graphics Designer for creating and designing pictures
Today’s modern SCADA systems for
process visualization are character-
ized by being scaleable, open and
easy and efcient to congure and
handle. The further developments in
Version 5 of WinCC have specically
taken into account these require-
ments.
WinCC is an Operating & Monitoring
(O&M) system for controlling auto-
mated processes that has a range of
functions that are graduated on a price
and performance basis. It is integrated
in Siemens AG’s open and consistent
“Totally Integrated Automation” con-
cept. The current Version is Release
5. The WinCC basic system includes
editors for representing pictures, scripts,
alarms, trends and reports, for example.
The software is scaleable due to tag
graduation, which makes available
different performance levels to opera-
tors. You can deploy option packages
depending on your application. Apart
from this, WinCC is scaleable from
simple single-user systems through
client/server systems up to multi-client/
server architectures.
Conguration using Editors
WinCC Explorer with its editors is
the central coordinating point of an
operation and monitoring system. It
provides access to all the components.
Here, you make settings like the system
configuration (single-user/multi-user
system) or the communications con-
nection to the process with the cor-
responding tags. In the same way, you
start here the editors of the basic system
and of the installed options. This means
that the Explorer gives you an overview
of the project. The editors that you need
for basic configuration are included
in the basic system. These include,
amongst others, amongst others picture
generation (Graphics Designer, Figure
1), conguring the alarm system (Alarm
Logging), process value archiving (Tag
Logging) and the logging system
(Report Designer), script creation
(Global Script) and a user management
system (User Administrator).
Integration in TIA
An important module is integration
into the world of Totally Integrated
Automation (TIA) as part of an inte-
grated automation solution of a wide
variety of different Siemens products.
In this connection, the system uses in
particular the properties of the STEP7
world and WinCC’s integrated congura-
tion. This means that matched function-
ality is offered in the case of deployment
in the SIMATIC environment. Directly at
the engineering level, you can access
the STEP7 tag data from WinCC. This
means that you only need to enter tag
data once during conguration. As a
result, you avoid the risk of wrongly
entered data and the inconsistencies
that this leads to. The same applies to
conguring the alarm data. To round
the system off, WinCC is completely
integrated in the SIMATIC STEP7 envi-
ronment. This means that you can
manage all the components in one
editor and from there you can trigger
individual configuration work. As a
result, you can now load the WinCC
data, which is generally created on a
central engineering station, across the
common system bus to the correspond-
ing operation and monitoring station.
Another feature of the interaction is
direct calling of STEP7 blocks from
WinCC pictures. This congurable func-
tion allows you to implement jumps
from pictures to the associated control
logic.
In the same way, jumps are also pos-
sible to the associated hardware con-
guration and the diagnostics system.
When creating these calls, operators are
assisted by dynamic wizards.
Modular Technology
Process visualization systems are
deployed in central operating and moni-
toring of production processes. This
means that you must congure a large
number of pictures to give you an
overview of the plant.
Typically, these pictures are structured
using process objects – several of these
are included per type (e.g. motors,
pumps, controllers and valves). Using
modular technology, you can standard-
ize objects. User objects allow you to
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New Perspectives on Process Visualization

Figure 2: Using library objects
carry out conguration using modular
technology where you can group any
number of graphic objects you like to
form a new object and then dene the
interface parameters that are relevant
to process linking. Under the properties
of the user objects, the system only
shows the user-specifically defined
parameters. The object that you have
dened on this basis can now be placed
in the library and you can use it as often
as you want. When using picture blocks,
you create a central object of which you
can create referenced copies. Each of
the copies that you create in this way
runs with its own data at runtime. You
carry out conguration of these objects
on a central basis, which means that
any changes you make are immediately
effective in all objects. This means that
you do not need to make changes at a
large number of different locations. The
third option is to use ActiveX controls.
For this, the WinCC Graphics Designer
allows you to integrate any OCX or
ActiveX controls you like. The WinCC
Basic Package already contains a wide
range of ActiveX controls. Users can
create other elements using Visual
Basic, for example. This means that
you can use elements that you created
at conguration, which only need to
be integrated. On the other hand, this
allows you to protect industry and
technology expertise in enclosed ele-
ments and to use it as often as you like
with different parameters.
Libraries for Industry
WinCC provides a comprehensive
range of library objects for creating
pictures. Here, you can choose between
the “Siemens HMI Symbol Library” based
on ActiveX controls and a library of
symbols that you created using WinCC
standard resources. In each case, the
objects are stored in the library sorted
by topic. You can also create your own
objects. You can then store these com-
pany-, technology- or industry-specic
standards in the library too. You can
then simply drag and drop these objects
onto the process picture as required.
Figure 3: WinCC in use in a sewage plant
You can change their properties after
conguration, with tag linking being
carried out directly by dragging & drop-
ping. You can additionally dynamize all
the properties of objects using scripts
or dynamic dialogs.
Wizards
WinCC makes available a wide range
of configuration wizards. The alarms
wizard, for example, provides preset
parameters that you can apply as-is or
change. Integrated preview windows
show the effects of the currently used
parameters. In addition wizards are
available to support configuration
of menu-driven dynamization of stan-
dard dynamics, picture blocks, picture
dynamizations, system functions etc.
You can also create your own wizards.
Functions like find and replace tags
and texts in pictures support users in
conguring and changing pictures.
Object References
Using the cross-reference list compo-
nent, you can have the system display
directly all the locations where the
objects in the project are used; if neces-
sary, you can change or delete these
objects. To avoid inconsistencies, you
can make changes to one or more tags.
When doing this, you can find and
replace character strings on a central
basis. Using the cross-reference list
is particularly useful when searching
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New Perspectives on Process Visualization
for the locations where deleted tags
were used and for relationships between
process pictures and their tags.
Multilanguage Capability
The WinCC Software is consistently
implemented on a multilanguage basis.
This applies to all of the basic system
as well as to the option packages. This
multilanguage capability includes the
conguration interface, the help system,
as well as the documentation. You can
switch the language of the congura-
tion software at the push of a button.
For the Asian market, the software is
now consistently available in Chinese
(traditional/simplified), Korean and
Japanese. The congured texts are stored
in the central text library. By translating
these texts, users can later choose
between languages online at runtime.
Conguring Mass Data
A conguration tool is integrated from
V5.1 onwards for high-performance
conguration of mass data. Microsoft
Excel is used as the user interface, since
its spreadsheet format makes it suitable
for editing and representing the WinCC
data. It provides a wide range of editing
options (e.g. AutoFill) that you can sup-
plement using VBA programs (macros).
You can congure projects outside the
WinCC environment. The Conguration
Tool allows you to create a new WinCC
project and to configure it right from
the start in Excel. It is also possible to
load existing WinCC projects in Excel and
to further-process them. You carry out
conguration in a special type of Excel
workbook known as a WinCC project
workbook. This contains different types
of worksheets that are each used to con-
gure specic types of WinCC objects.
Extensible on a Modular Basis
SIMATIC WinCC integrates the usual
standard interfaces (OPC, ActiveX, COM/
DCOM, ODBC/SQL or API and a universal
script language), which provide the
openness needed for integration in
heterogeneous information landscapes.
A range of different WinCC option pack-
ages and add-ons have been developed
on the basis of the open programming
interfaces. Due to these specic options
and add-ons, you can expend SIMATIC
WinCC for use in all branches of industry
and technologies. Amongst others, the
option packages include User Archives,
Storage and the Web Navigator. Add-ons
are generally vertical market solutions.
From the automated process through
to optimizing processes at the factory
management level and providing man-
agement data for the company manage-
ment, WinCC is an information exchange
for vertical integration. Due to its simple
design and exible extension capability,
you can deploy it in uses ranging from
the simplest applications in mechanical
engineering through complex multi-
user applications through to distributed
systems with several servers for industrial
and building systems.
First published in SPS-Magazin HM-Special 04/02
Author: Oliver Merget
http://www.siemens.com/wincc
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New Perspectives on Process Visualization