[00:00] In this lesson, we'll demonstrate how to create individual OPC items in an Ignition gateway, using an existing Mitsubishi device connection. Then we'll show how to create a large number of such items using the address mapping feature in a comma separated values text file. We'll continue to use the Mitsubishi addressing syntax that was introduced in a prior lesson. We'll start out here in our Ignition gateway in the Config tab. Then we'll scroll down a bit, to the OPC-UA option, and select its Device Connections sub option. In a prior lesson, we showed how to set up a Mitsubishi device connection. Ours is named mitsubishi_device. We will use this connection to set up some new OPC items here in the gateway, On our Device Connections page, if we go to the right and click on More > addresses, we are taken to the Mitsubishi addresses page. Right now we have no address mapping row shown, so let's create one to start with by clicking on Add Row.

[01:08] For each addressing row, the first two fields are required and the last one is optional. The first field is the browse path for the OPC-UA client. This is where we can specify an OPC item name. The second field is the Mitsubishi addressing syntax for the particular OPC item, we saw some examples of possible addressing options in a prior lesson, on a device addressing diagram. We'll see this diagram again shortly. And the last field contains any optional description text. So let's create one simple item. For the browse path, let's once again call our item DReg0, and FYI, here Browse Path refers to its browsable OPC path name. For the address, we'll once again use a very simple example of data register offset zero, so D0, and we'll add some simple description text. So perhaps, data register 0. At this point, we will commit our updates by clicking Save Configuration.

[02:13] Doing a save returns us to our Device Connections page. Let's repeat these steps to add one more item, but this time we'll introduce one hierarchy browse level. As before, we'll do More > addresses, then Add Row. And this time for the Browse Path, let's specify Folder/D Reg1, and here we are introducing one hierarchy level to the browse path. For the address, how about D1 or data register offset 1, but now this will be one browse level down. And for the Description, we'll use data register 1 as before. We'll commit our updates by clicking Save Configuration. By the way, note that we don't have to do the save after each individual row as we showed here. We can create all desired rows first, then click Save Configuration once. Great, we've just seen how to individually create browsable OPC items using the Device Connections addressing page.

[03:18] But what if we have a large number of OPC items we'd like to define simultaneously? If instead we'd prefer to set these up from a file, this is where the address mapping feature comes into play. We can much more efficiently define each needed OPC item in a 3 column, comma separated format, then load those definitions in their entirety, in one simple step. Here on the left, we see such a CSV text file with 3 columns: the browse path, the addressing, and the description. Once again, the first two fields are required, the third field is optional. This text file on the left corresponds to the address definitions in the addressing diagram on the right, which is also found in the User Manual. As a quick summary of the item addressing we are defining here, we have individually addressed elements, including bit addressing and double word sizes, then various types of array allocation and addressing, and finally, string addressing. For a fuller description of each addressing mode, please refer to the User Manual. A couple things of note in the CSV file.

[04:21] The spacing between the columns is added for clarity. This wouldn't likely be the case in any automatically generated file. Any alternative addressing syntax shown is also included. Note that for any 2-D addressing syntax with embedded commas, those have to be enclosed in double quotes. And some of the array addressing also makes use of an added browse path hierarchy. Now that we have all the addressing of this diagram on the right defined in a CSV file, let's perform this address mapping in one step. From our Device Connections page on the left, we'll go to our mitsubishi_device connection. On the right, we will click More > addresses, where we'll select Load Configuration File.

[05:06] We'll select Choose File to browse for our CSV file. We'll select the one we just created called Mitsubishi addressing diagram items. And here we have the option of appending or overwriting any existing item definitions. We won't select the append option this time, so we'll overwrite our prior items. When we click Load, we see that in one step, we used our CSV address mapping definitions to create all device addresses for the diagram on the right. Then the necessary final step would be to click Save Configuration to commit our changes. Let's inspect our results by heading over to the OPC Quick Client. This is where we can inspect our OPC items in a browsable OPC path hierarchy. So in our Config tab, we'll scroll down a bit to the OPC Client option and then select OPC Quick Client.

[06:05] Here we'll see our Ignition OPC UA Server, and we'll expand its hierarchy: Devices, mitsubishi_device, which was our original device connection, then Tags. And here we see all the OPC browse paths we just created, along with several array elements, for which we added another hierarchy browse level. So these represent all the OPC items, which we created in mass by reading in one CSV file. Now that we've done all the desired address mapping and they are now browsable OPC items, let's import them into our Tag Browser as tags so they can be put to use as needed. So here in our Designer, on the left in our Tag Browser, we will go up here and select Add > Browse Devices, then expand the Ignition OPC UA Server, Devices, our mitsubishi_device, and here we'll simply select the entire Tags hierarchy and click the arrow to stage it for import.

[07:10] When we click OK and expand these tag folders, we see that we have imported all of the address mapped OPC items into our Tag Browser as tags, along with some nested tag levels we defined. So in this lesson, we've demonstrated: how to use the gateway address mapping interface for our Mitsubishi device, to create individually addressed browse path items, how to perform bulk address mapping using a CSV file, and we've shown how to use additional addressing features such as arrays and additional browse path levels.