Linked Folders

Introduction

Many SCADA applications have duplicated equipment. For example:

A storage facility might have multiple identical silos.
A pump station might have multiple sets of pumps and control valves.
A gas production field might have multiple identical wellheads.
A bottling plant might have more than one filling line.

To reduce the work needed to create a SCADA application with duplicate equipment, Fernhill SCADA offers Linked Folders:

Diagram showing the relationship between linked folders and a folder template

A Template Folder represents an equipment type. A Linked Folder represent an occurrence of an equipment type. Multiple Linked Folders can be associated with a Template Folder. Changes to the Template Folder are automatically copied to the Linked Folders.

Using Linked Folders

Use the Linked Folders Menu of the Tag Window to manage linked folders.

Using the Tag Window you can:

Create a Template Folder to represent the equipment type.
Add database tags to the Template Folder to represent the I/O associated with the equipment.
Create a Linked Folder for each occurrence of the equipment type.

As an optional step, you can add extra database tags to any of the Linked Folders.

Overriding Linked Folder Properties

When you first create a Linked Folder, the configuration properties are locked to the Template Folder. This is shown by the lock symbol in the Properties Window:

The Properties Window showing properties locked to the template folder

There will be some configuration properties where you will want to set a different value in the Linked Folder to the Template Folder. For example, you might want to choose different values for IODataSource and IOItemName. You can override properties in Linked Folders so they no longer track the Template Folder:

The Properties Window showing properties not tracking the template folder

The IODataSource and IOItemName properties are not tracking the template folder.

To override a property in a Linked Folder:

Right-click the property in the Properties Window.
Remove the check mark from the Track Template menu option.

Further Information

Fernhill SCADA Concepts

To learn about other Fernhill SCADA Concepts.

Glossary

For the meaning of terms used in Fernhill SCADA.