For the integration of meter readings from the GridVis software a plugin is available. Online meter readings will be read via the GridVis REST WEB API (https://gridvis-energy.de/rest/doc/).
Installation and licensing
The plugin needs to be activated by a license key. During the demo period the plugin is automatically activated by the demo license. For systems already running with a purchased NETx license, the plugin has to be activated within this license. For managing the license, see Softlock: How to get, check and move a softlock license
For NETx BMS Platform and NETx Multi Protocol Server only:
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 from "Extensions" tab. Select the "GridVis" interface and press install as shown in the following screenshot:
After having installed the interface, restart the NETx Server and NETx Studio.
For NETx BMS Server 2.0 only:
The installation of the GridVis plugin is done by running the setup.
Configuration
The configuration of the GridVis plugin has to be done in the studio. After having installed the plugin successfully a new menu item GridVis appears in the menu bar.
The GridVis menu contains 4 menu items:
Start explorer: 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 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 definition contains configuration data of all defined GridVis data items.
Driver configuration: 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 ...
Before starting the explorer the NETx Server has to be stopped.
The header section provides functions to manage the GridVis server configurations.
The remaining section shows for the current server configuration
on the left hand side: available data points found by an online scan of the GridVis server.
on the right hand side: data points configured in the NETx Server.
Server management
The drop down list shows configured GridVis servers.
Button | Description |
|---|---|
Add ... | Add a new GridVis server configuration |
Modify ... | Modify the selected GridVis server configuration |
Delete | Delete the selected GridVis server configuration |
After selecting a server configuration the section "Current Configuration" will show the configured data points.
Add a GridVis Server
Both input fields are mandatory and the name has to be unique.
Warning
When deleting a GridVis server configuration, all related data points will be deleted too.
Data point management
The data point management happens in the section below the server configuration.
On the left hand side it 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 and collects data regarding GridVis projects, devices and meter readings. The search result will be shown in a tree structure.
Depending on the size of the project the scan will take up to some minutes to complete.
The displayed project and device names contain the number of sub nodes in brackets.
The result of an online scan can be filtered. The user can filter for "Project", "Device" or "Value Type" by entering a filter criteria. The filter function is not case sensitive!
Due to performance reasons only the first 500 data points of a device will appear in the result list. If there are more than 500 data points available an information will be shown. To access the remaining data points, use the filter function.
When selecting a project or a device all sub nodes will be selected too - the deselect works analog.
Click the "Add" button to copy the selected data points to the configuration of the NETx Server. A polling interval has to be defined. It specifies how often the NETx Server is reading the selected data points.
After defining the polling interval the user has to confirm to save the data points. The NETx Server has to be restarted to make the new added data points 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.
As on the left hand side projects, devices and data points appear in a tree structure. Projects and devices contain the number of sub nodes shown in brackets.
The name of data points is followed by the polling interval shown in brackets.
The user can filter for projects, devices and data points.
Button | Function |
|---|---|
Change polling | Changes the polling interval. |
Delete | Deletes selected data points from the current configuration. When a project or a device is deleted the sub nodes will be removed too. |
The user has to confirm for saving the changes. Changes in the list of data points will take effect after starting the NETx Server.
Server- and data point definitions
All configuration data is stored in DAT files in the workspace of the NETx Server. Both definitions can be shown or changed in NETx Studio GridVis > Server definitions or GridVis > Data point definitions.
Both configuration files "xio.GridVis.ServerDefinitions.dat" and "xio.GridVis.DatapointDefinitions.dat") are stored in the folder "DataFiles" of the current workspace.
The "DataFiles" folder can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\NETxAutomation\<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. Within the studio the definition data can be exported to / imported from Excel. This is helpful when a lot of data has to be changed (e.g. polling interval).
Server definitions
Column | Description |
|---|---|
Server name | Unique, mandatory name identifying the GridVis server within the NETx 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 name of the assigned data point. The GridVis 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 | Corresponds to the "Value" Tag of the GridVis data point. |
Type | 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), unsuccessful HTTP requests will NOT set the data point to "UNCERTAIN" within the NETx Server. The last valid value will 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 NETx Server. The last valid value will remain. |
HTTP Timeout (ms) | Value in ms, used for HTTP requests. |
Recommended settings:
Changes in the driver configuration will be immediately effective without restarting the server.
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 product>\Workspaces\<workspacename>\ConfigFiles
Visualization of data points in NETx Server
After configuring correctly, the GridVis data points are available as Server Items in the NETx Server. An overview of all available Server Items is shown in the Item Tree within the studio.
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. If 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 "False".
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 Server Items are available as OPC Items via OPC DA.
OPC UA: in addition to "classical" OPC DA, the NETx Server has an OPC UA interface. This interface has to be installed with the Extension Manager within the studio > Extensions > Manager > Start Extension Manager.
oBIX: Is an open, standardized web interface for home and building automation. This interface has to be installed with the Extension Manager within the studio > Extensions > Manager > Start 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
NETx BMS Server 2.0