Toolbox and Workstation in MarkVIe

John,

> What is the difference between Workstation and Toolbox in MarkVIe?

Workstation<b>ST</b> is the application which runs on a GE HMI which allows CIMPLICITY to get data and values from and send commands to a MarkVIe turbine control panel. It is, in effect, a MS-Windows service that allows communications between the HMI for monitoring and control using CIMPLICITY. It also allows for communications between the HMI and other control systems (DCS; etc.) via MODBUS, OPC and GSM.

Another very important function provided by Workstation<b>ST</b> is alarm management. Workstation<b>ST</b> Alarm Viewer is how alarms and events are received, logged, displayed and managed by the GE HMI. Contrary to popular belief, CIMPLICITY does not manage alarms and events on a modern GE Mark VIe HMI; Workstation<b>ST</b> does.

Toolbox<b>ST</b> is the application that allows configuration and troubleshooting of Mark VIe turbine control panels. It has very powerful trending and monitoring features in addition to the configuration ("programming") capabilities.

Toolbox<b>ST</b> is <b>NOT</b> required to be running on a GE HMI of a Mark VIe turbine control panel for monitoring operation of and sending commands to a Mark VIe turbine control panel. Toolbox<b>ST</b> is only necessary for configuration and troubleshooting.

Toolbox<b>ST</b> does <b>NOT</b> require Workstation<b>ST</b> to be running on a PC to be able to communicate with a Mark VIe turbine control panel. CIMPLICITY does require Workstation<b>ST</b> to be running on a PC to be able to monitor the operation of and send commands to a Mark VIe turbine control panel. Toolbox<b>ST</b> is only necessary for configuration and troubleshooting (well, some limited troubleshooting can be done using CIMPLICITY displays, but no detailed troubleshooting can be accomplished without Toolbox<b>ST</b>.

So, in effect, for a PC to be a graphical user interface (HMI) for a Mark VIe turbine control panel it must be running Workstation<b>ST</b> (and CIMPLICITY). Toolbox<b>ST</b> is not required for a PC to be an HMI. Toolbox<b>ST</b> can be used on any properly configured PC (with the Toolbox<b>ST</b> UPD--USB Protective Device; a "dongle").

Hope this helps!
 
John,

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Thanks!
 
A

automation_engr

Further to add on CSA,CIMPLICITY serves as OPC Client. From WORSKSTATIONST all points (variables, constants) are required to be imported to CIMPLICITY to display them on HMI. So WORKSTATIONST also imports points to CIMPLICITY by running importer service. All points that need to be displayed must be on EGD. CIMPLICITY and WORKSTATIONST resides/installed in the same PC.

WORKSTATIONST and TOOLBOXST are part of the single installable software know as CONTROLST. A dongle need to by used for TOOLBOXST to run/operate.

CIMPLICITY is SCADA software of HMI, which has its own license.

CSA, do you agree with information i provided? This is my impression of the GE software.

Can you help me in understand that since CIMPLICITY is OPC client then WORKSTATIONST is OPC server? How WORKSTATIONST communicates with TCP (Turbine Control Panel)? EGD are protocol, but in terms of communication architecture.

i really like your lucid language of explanation CSA.

thank you
 
automation_engr,

Demigrog/Demigrog2 is a much better resource in GE HMIs than I am. They are just too unnecessarily complicated and poorly documented. I can barely contain my disdain for GE HMIs; they are a necessary evil.

My understanding of WorkstationST and CIMPLICITY is that WorkstationST receives the EGD data from the Mark VIe and then "serves it up" to CIMPLICITY Viewer via OPC. So, WorkstationST is kind of like a protocol converter/translator, getting information from EGD and from OPC and exchanging it to OPC and EGD, respectively.

I always get confused by what's a server and what's a client in OPC. It's very frustrating for me, because the documentation I've seen is NOT very clear on the relationships that define when a device has to be a server and when it has to be a client. Again, perhaps Demigrog/Demigrog2 will add his valuable expertise to the thread!

Newer versions of CIMPLICITY also require their own dongle--in addition to the one required by WorkstationST.

And, again, alarms and events are handled by WorkstationST--not by CIMPLICITY.

WorkstationST and ToolboxST and other applications (except CIMPLICITY) are distributed on a DVD, collectively called ControlST.
 
> My understanding of WorkstationST and CIMPLICITY is that WorkstationST receives the EGD data from the Mark VIe and
> then "serves it up" to CIMPLICITY Viewer via OPC. So, WorkstationST is kind of like a protocol
> converter/translator, getting information from EGD and from OPC and exchanging it to OPC and EGD, respectively.

> I always get confused by what's a server and what's a client in OPC. It's very frustrating for me, because the
> documentation I've seen is NOT very clear on the relationships that define when a device has to be a server
> and when it has to be a client.

My understanding quite similar to yours, WorkstationST will convert any configured protocol to OPC, that is, it will create a tag in an OPC server linked to the "field protocol". The "field protocol" may be EGD (for the MKVIe) but also others. I've been to a site where WorkstationST gathered data from EGD devices, Modbus clients and Modbus masters, OPC clients and OPC servers.

All this is configured in ToolboxST and then the project is downloaded to WorkstationST.

Converting Modbus to OPC occurs in a similar way of the EGD of the MarkVIe, so if you're familiar with that is should be similar. In addition you can create an OPC client that reads tags from a third-party OPC server (that may be a PLC, a DCS or whatever), then WorkstationST will put the tags of the OPC client in its own OPC server and Cimplicity will read them. Something like:<pre>
[EGD device (MarkVIe)] <---> [ EGD driver - OPC server (Workstation ST) ] <---> [ OPC client (Cimplicty)]
[Modbus Master device (3500 rack)] <---> [ Modbus Client driver - OPC server (Workstation ST) ] <---> [ OPC client (Cimplicty)]
[Modbus Client device (..)] <---> [ Modbus Master driver - OPC server (Workstation ST) ] <---> [ OPC client (Cimplicty)]
[OPC client device (..)] <---> [ OPC server (Workstation ST) ] <---> [ OPC client (Cimplicty)]
[OPC server device (..)] <---> [ OPC client driver - OPC server (Workstation ST) ] <---> [ OPC client (Cimplicty)]</pre>
The way WorkstationST works is not that different to the way other OPC servers work, Matrikon, Kepware, Ignition, ... it just happens that you use another app (ToolboxST) to configure it. And yes, if you are thinking about it, you can "replicate" a GE HMI with one of the above OPC servers that supports the needed protocols and you're OPC client of choice for visualization. Of course you would still need ToolboxST for troubleshooting, and some way to view alarms.
 
For every complication in GE's HMIs, there is a customer scenario behind it. That doesn't make it "necessary" evil, however--just explainable, if you know the whole story. The story is getting better in recent versions of ControlST.

For example, you'll be pleased to know ControlST and Cimplicity at least use the same USB protection device now. :)

WorkstationST is merely a wrapper around all of the Services that need to run on PCs in the Mark VIe DCS, all configurable from ToolboxST similarly to the controllers themselves. WorkstationST can be configured for numerous single functions, or have all functions enabled on the same PC.

WorkstationST has both an OPC client and server--meaning it can aggregate OPC data from multiple sources (and about 5 other protocols), providing a single OPC Server that tools like Cimplicity can consume. Workstation also can consume the proprietary alarm protocols from the devices and present them as OPC AE--though there are a lot of limitations to that protocol. More recent versions of WorkstationST also support OPC UA. (The Mark VIe itself can provide OPC UA data now as well).
 
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