ION Enterprise - What must I do to make L2 device data accessible via OPC?

Issue
How to make measurements obtained from a device with a custom driver available over OPC

Product Line
ION Enterprise, PME7, PME8

Environment
OPC, defaultMeasurements.xml

Cause
A number of optional device drivers (referred to as L2 devices) are available from the PowerLogic website. Because the mapping files associated with these devices cannot be opened in the Modbus Device Importer, if it is necessary to allow data from these devices to be read by and OPC client, a series of manual steps must be performed.

Resolution
This procedure is only intended for advanced users of ION Enterprise.
Adding OPC Support To OPC Devices:
1. Copy DefaultMeasurements.xml from the \system\IONServices directory to the \config\IONServices directory. This is done to preserve the installed version of this file, but force the system to use the customized version. In SPM 7.0.1 and greater the DefaultMeasurementsExt folder from system/IONServices needs to be copied to config/IONServices as well. It also protects the customized version of this file from being overwritten if the system is upgraded.
2. Open DefaultMeasurements.xml from the \config\IONServices directory in notepad.
3. Add a new device type (it will be added near the bottom of this file). The 'name' needs to be exactly the same as the entry in the DeviceType table in ION_Network and is case sensitive. The 'ref' can be anything you like, but take note of what you chose as it will be used in the next step.




4. Add a new meter template 'MT' (just above the --END OF TEMPLATES-- text). The 'MT name' needs to be the same as the 'ref' you used in the last step. The first label 'Instantaneous' can be anything you like, and the second label 'Voltages' can also be anything you like, but these labels will determine what the groups are called when viewing data in an OPC client. The 'M name' attribute needs to correspond to the label (t:L=) from the L2 device's tree (.ion) file from the \config\translators directory. In newer .ion files, this could be the name (t:N=), The meaning, and its use by ION Real Time Data Service is the same. The 'M label' attribute can be anything you like. This is the label that will be used for the OPC tag as displayed in an OPC client.

From DefaultMeasurements.xml:


From the .ion file:


From an OPC client:


5. Save the changes you have made to DefaultMeasurements.xml
6. Open the Management Console and choose 'Update OPC'
7. Subscribe to and verify the new data using an OPC client.
8. Repeat from Step 2 for more labels and the next device