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Table of Contents

For the integration of meter readings in NETx BMS Server 2.0 there is from the GridVis software a plugin is available - it's called GridVis.Online . Online meter readings will be read via the GridVis REST WEB API (https://gridvis-energy.de/rest/doc/).

Installation and licensing

The installation of the GridVis plugin is done by running the setup.

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Info

The plugin needs to be activated by a license key.

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During the demo period the plugin is automatically activated

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by the demo license.

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For systems already running with a purchased

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NETx license, the plugin has to be activated within

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this license. For managing the license, see Softlock: How to get, check and move a softlock license

The driver is implement as a plugin for the NETx Server. Therefore, it has to be installed via the Extension Manager. To do so, stop the server and open the “Extension Manager” in the menu of the Core Server Studio by “Extensions → Manager → Start Extension manager …”. Select the "GridVis" interface and click install as shown in the following screenshot:

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After having installed the interface, restart the NETx Server and NETx Studio.

Configuration

The configuration of the GridVis plugin is has to be done in the NETx BMS Studiothe studio. After installing having installed the plugin successfully a new menu item GridVis appears in the menu bar of the NETx BMS Studio. Image Removed

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The GridVis menu contains 4 menu items:

  • Start explorer:

    To

    to make the configuration as easy as possible, the plugin contains an explorer tool for searching and selecting GridVis projects, devices and meter readings (data items).

  • Server definitions:

    The

    the definition contains configuration data of all defined GridVis servers. For testing purposes, GridVis provides a public installation under https://www.gridvis-energy.de/.

  • Data point definitions:

     The

     the definition contains configuration data of all defined GridVis data items.

  • Driver configuration:

    The

    the configuration contains global settings like timeout.

GridVis Explorer

This tool provides functionality for searching and selecting GridVis projects, devices and meter readings. To start the explorer click GridVis > Start explorer ... Image Removed

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Info

Before starting the explorer the NETx BMS Server has to be stopped.

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The remaining section shows for the current server configuration

  • on the left hand side:

    Available

    available data points found by an online scan of the GridVis server.

  • on the right hand side:

    Data

    data points configured in the

    BMS server

    NETx Server.

Server management

The drop down list shows configured GridVis servers. 

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Button

Description

Add ...

Add a new GridVis

Server

server configuration

Modify ...

Modify the selected GridVis

Server

server configuration

Delete

Delete the selected GridVis

Server

server configuration

After selecting a server configuration the section "Current Configuration" will show the configured data points.Image Removed

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Add a GridVis ServerImage Removed

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Both input fields are mandatory and the name has to be unique.


Warning
title

Warning

When deleting a GridVis Server server configuration, all related data points will be deleted too.

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The data point management happens in the section below the server configuration.Image Removed

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On the left hand side it 's is possible to search for data points of the current GridVis server. 

After a click on the button "Online Scan" the explorer connects to the GridVis Server server and collects data regarding GridVis projects, devices and meter readings. The search result will be shown in a tree structure.

Info

Depending on the size of the project the scan will take up to some minutes to complete.

The displayed names of projects and devices project and device names contain the number of sub nodes in brackets.

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When selecting a project or a device all sub nodes will be selected too - the unselect deselect works analog. 

Click the "Add" button Add to copy the selected data points to the configuration of the BMS ServerNETx Server. A polling interval has to be defined. It specifies how often the GridVis server is going to read NETx Server is reading the selected data points.Image Removed

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After defining the polling interval the user has to confirm to save the data points. After starting the NETx BMS Servers The NETx Server has to be restarted to make the new added data points will be available.

In the section on the right hand side the data points of the selected GridVis server appear - when changing the server, the list will update automatically.

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The user can filter for projects, devices and data points.Image Removed

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Button 

Function

Change polling

Change

Changes the polling interval.

Delete

Deletes selected data points from the current

configuratio

configuration. 

When a project or a device

was

is deleted

also

the sub nodes will be removed too.

The user has to confirm for saving the changes. Changes in the list of data points will show take effect after starting the NETx BMS Serversthe NETx Server.

Server- and data point

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definitions

All definition configuration data will be is stored in DAT files in the Workspace of the NETx BMS Servers in DAT filesworkspace of the NETx Server. Both definitions can be shown or changed in BMS in NETx Studio GridVis > Server definitions or GridVis > Data point definitions.Image Removed

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Info

Both configuration files "xio.GridVis.ServerDefinitions.dat" and "xio.GridVis.DatapointDefinitions.dat") are stored in the folder "DataFiles" of the current Workspaceworkspace.

The "DataFiles" folder can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\NETxAutomation\NETx.BMS.Server.2.0<NETx product>\Workspaces\<workspacename>\DataFiles

The configuration files can be edited directly without GridVis Explorer - but in this case there is no verification of the data. In NETx BMS Server Within the studio the definition data can be exported to / imported from Excel. This is helpful when a lot of data have has to be changed (e.g. polling interval).

Server definitions

Column

Description

Server name

Unique, mandatory name identifying the GridVis server within the NETx

BMS

Server.

URL

Defines the URL of the GridVis server (e.g. https://192.168.0.1)

Data point definitions

Column

Description

Server name

Defines the GridVis

Server

server name of the assigned data point. The GridVis

Server

server name has to be defined in advance in the server definitions.

Project name

Project name of the GridVis data point.

Device ID

Device ID of the GridVis data point.

Device name []

Optional name of the device, shown in combination with the Device ID.

Value

Correnspons

Corresponds to the "Value" Tag of the GridVis data point.

Type

Correnspons

Corresponds to the "Type" Tag of the GridVis data point.

Unit[]

Unit of the data point. The unit will be set automatically during scan by the GridVis Explorer.

Polling Interval

Defines how often the GridVis Server reads a data point (in seconds).

Value name []

Optional human-readable name which will be included within the description of the Server Item. The GridVis Explorer uses the "valueName" attribute of the scan result if present.

Type name []

Optional human-readable name which will be included within the description of the Server Item. The GridVis Explorer uses the "typeName" attribute of the scan result if present.

Driver configuration

Global settings can be done here.

Column

Description

Timeout

Value in ms, used as parameter when reading a GridVis value. 

Timeliness

Value in ms, used as parameter when reading a GridVis value.

Ignore item quality

When set to active (checked),

unseccessful

unsuccessful HTTP requests will NOT set the data point to "UNCERTAIN"

in BMS Server

within the NETx Server. The last valid value will

stay visible

remain.  

Ignore NaN values

When set to active (checked), received "NaN" values will be ignored. This means that a "NaN" value will not set the data item to "UNCERTAIN" in

BMS Server

NETx Server. The last valid value will

stay visible

remain.  

HTTP Timeout (ms)

Value in ms, used for HTTP requests. 

Recommended settings:

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Info

Changes in the  driver configuration will be immediately effective without restarting the server. 

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Info

The configuration file ("xio.GridVis.cfg") is stored in the folder "ConfigFiles" of the current workspace. The folder "ConfigFiles" can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\NETxAutomation\NETx.BMS.Server.2.0<NETx product>\Workspaces\<workspacename>\ConfigFiles

Visualization of data points in NETx

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Server

After doing a correct configuration configuring correctly, the GridVis data points will be are available as Server Items in NETx BMS Serverin the NETx Server. An overview of all available Server Items is shown in the Item Tree in NETx BMS Studiowithin the studio.Image Removed

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All GridVis data points will appear in the sub tree "NETx\XIO\GridVis" in a structured way and grouped by GridVis server, project and device id.

Each GridVis server contains a "GATEWAY" item. Is the item set to "trueIf its value is "True", all HTTP requests of the last polling interval were successful. In case of a timeout or invalid data the item is set to "falseFalse".

Access to GridVis data

After successful integration the GridVis data points can be used like all other Server Items. 

3rd party client applications can get access to the data via interfaces:

  • OPC DA:

    All

    all Server Items are available as OPC Items via OPC DA.

  • OPC UA:

    In

    in addition to "classical" OPC

    DA NETx BMS

    DA, the NETx Server has an OPC UA interface. This interface has to be installed with the Extension Manager

    in BMS Studio

    within the studio > Extensions > Manager > Start

    Excension

    Extension Manager.

  • oBIX: Is an open, standardized web interface for home and building automation. This interface has to be installed with the Extension Manager

    in BMS Studio

    within the studio > Extensions > Manager > Start

    Excension

    Extension Manager.

  • BACnet: Server Items can be read as BACnet objects from BACnet clients via BACnet/IP.

GridVis project settings

In the GridVis project set AutoOnlineValueTimeoutSeconds=500

Article applies to the following products:

  • NETx BMS Platform

  • NETx Multi Protocol Server