Communication drivers

Use communication drivers to establish connections with controllers and import tags. Use controller tags to design application logic.

Communication driver objects

Each communication driver consists of the following objects hierarchy:
  • Communication driver
    . Represents a communication protocol. Can contain multiple
    Communication station
     objects. See Configure a communication driver.
    • Communication station
      . Represents a physical controller.
      • Tags
        . Contains tags imported from the controller. Tags can contain folders and other tags. See: Synchronize imported tagsand Organize imported tags.
        TIP:
        Each imported tag creates a corresponding Tag project variable. The values and data types of Tag variables remain synchronized with the values of the tags on the controller at runtime in read mode and in write mode. When the controller Tag Data Type does not match an OPC UA standard Data Type, the most relevant OPC UA Data Type is set for the variable.
        If tags contain metadata, it is imported.
        To import ACD tags, a valid version of FactoryTalk Logix Designer is required. Additional modules from ACD are imported. Additional modules from l5x tags are not imported.
      • Types
        . Contains types imported from the controller. See Create an instance of a tag type.
      • TagImporter
        . Allows you to import tags from controllers in the online or offline mode.
        TIP: Use the offline mode to import a file with tags exported from the controller. Use the online mode to establish a connection with the controller in the network and import tags from the controller. See Communication drivers overview.

Communication at runtime

Keep the values and data types of the imported tags synchronized with the controller. Tags synchronize at regular intervals based on the
Dynamic variables polling time
 value of presentation engines. For more information, see Set dynamic variables polling time for controllers.
To optimize read/write operations,
FactoryTalk Optix Studio
 synchronizes the tags displayed or written through the active graphical objects. To save bandwidth, controller tag values update at runtime only when
FactoryTalk Optix Applications
 display the tags values. For more information about read/write operation statuses, see  Read/write operation codes.
To display the controller connection status at runtime, see Add a Station Connection Status widget.
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