Hi,

I read on the OPC foundation website that OPC was 'just like a printer driver'. when do you think the PLC manufacturers will supply them on CDROM with the CPU? If I bought a printer and didn't get drivers I'd probably be very disappointed.

--
Marc Sinclair
http://www.germainesystems.co.uk

 

That's the difference between commodities and the automation market. I suppose some vendors do include them. But the trend is to unbundle and charge for everything seperately. Yes, they
know you're going to need it, but why throw in a cable or driver when you can get $50 for one? Some vendors carry this to extremes. They know they've got you over the barrel once you buy their hardware with the weird connectors and odd interfaces. I like the "active cables". This is an obvious ripoff or else the designer was an idiot. The electronics would be much cheaper and safer on the board. But it does a lot to make sure you can't make your own cables. And since they only support Windows, it's a pretty safe bet you're gonna buy their OPC offering, regardless of price. Of course, my friend from Kepware helps to keep them from getting too carried away.

But in a way it's a good thing, it opens up great opportunities for a community that treats their users a lot better.

Regards

cww