Information Included. ABB MicroSCADA

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4.3 Information Included

The zip file contains a number of simple text files that each shows different information of the system. The information in some of the files is written in vector form and it is meant to be read in MicroSCADA. Some information, such as the operating system and running tasks are in a clear text form. An example of the information is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. An example of the system information

In the example on the left there are all the running tasks of the operating system at moment and on the right there is information about the current application running on MicroSCADA.

Here is a summary of all the information about MicroSCADA that the zip file contains.

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Scdirlist.txt

This text file tells information about the installation folder of MicroSCADA. It lists every file in every folder and subfolder that there is in the installation folder.

The information includes the creation day, the size and of course the name of the file or folder. This is important because with the list it can be examined if some unwanted files or folders are created. New files could be created by the operator or a computer virus. With this file it is also possible to check that every file that should be located in the installation folder really is located there.

APL1DUMP.TXT

The file includes information and every parameter there is set on the current application, so it is a very useful file. It is written in the SCIL programming language so it has to be inserted in to the MicroSCADA’s SCIL editor to get something useful in readable form out of it. An example of the

“APL1DUMP.TXT” can be seen in Figure 4.

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Figure 4. APL1DUMP.TXT

SYSDUMP.TXT

Similarly to the previous file, this is also a collection of all parameters and options, but on a system level. The system parameters are the same for every different application on the system. The parameters on “APL1DUMP.TXT” were only set for one of the applications and they differ between every application.

Registry folder

The program creates a folder that contains a copy of the registry file, for example

“ABB.reg”, which MicroSCADA has created. The “ABB.reg” file contains all sort of information about MicroSCADA program, such as license file information

21 and installed libraries and update packages. With this information it easy to check that the program is up to date and all the needed libraries are installed.

MS_Interfaces folder

This folder contains copies of some configuration and log files of ELCOM communication interface. The files are assumed to be located in the folder

“C:/MS_Interfaces/ELCOM”. If the folder does not exist or ELCOM interface is not installed, this folder only contains an empty folder named “ELCOM”.

ELCOM is an interface made for communication between substations and control centers. sc folder

This is the most important folder about the MicroSCADA program itself because it contains copies of all the crucial folders required to run the application. The copies are made of “apl”, “LIB4”, “prog”, “Setup” and “SYS” folders.

The “apl” folder is a folder where different MicroSCADA applications are located under their own subfolders. Only the most space consuming files have been left out, like station and process pictures. There is a subfolder named “COM500” which includes settings for the COM 500 communication gateway. COM 500 provides a communication gateway between the substation and the Network

Control Center. If there are problems in the communication, this may be the place to find the solution.

The folder named “Setup” includes a large number of log files that were created during the installation of MicroSCADA. They show every component and library that has been installed. The log files also show what the installation location was, when the installation took place and if the installation was successful. This is a good place to check that every required component really was created during the installation.

“SYS_” folder includes a very important file “SYS_BASCON.COM”. It is the main settings file which defines which application MicroSCADA launches

22 automatically when it is opened. Many parameters and functions are also set from this file. The file can be created by a wizard built in the program but it is still normally made by hand using a simple text editor. An example of the

“SYS_BASCON.COM” can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5. SYS_BASCON.COM file

ALARMS.TXT

This text file shows all active alarms in MicroSCADA. An alarm can be caused for example by overvoltage trip, overcurrent trip, broken conductor or lost communication. This is interesting information because with it, the maintenance engineer could predict upcoming failures. If there are, for example lost communication alarms occurring regularly, there is something wrong with the system. An example of the alarm list can be seen in Figure 6.