OPTODataLink

PAC Project
1

I am attempting to use DataLink to send data to a MS Access table. The test retruns successfull link but no data appears in the table.

Any Suggestions?

2

Hi blight828,
You might want to contact our PSG (product support group) with troubleshooting help for this.
http://www.opto22.com/site/support.aspx
It’s FREE!
-OptoMary

3

Have you watched the video on OptoDataLink? It is very helpful if you are just getting started with it. http://www.opto22.com/players/bc_player.aspx?bctid=1788949445&bcpid=30188006001

I haven’t had experience with OptoDataLink and Access because they STILL DON"T SUPPORT ACCESS 2010!! :slight_smile:

4

Yes, I have watched the videos. I have been able to output to a flat file- not to the database. I have a control strategy for reports and I am using the simulator program to drive the strategy. Would that make a difference? I am unable to send or receive data from the database.

Yes, I left a message and await a reply.

Thx.

5

When you say: “using the simulator program to drive the strategy,” do you mean you have PAC Sim configured as your control engine (rather than a hardware controller), and that’s where your strategy is running? Could make a difference. If so, is the database on the same PC as the PAC Sim that’s running?

6

yes, the simulator is controlled as the control engine. I discovered that there is a name restriction for the database tables. you cannot use “[B]value[/B]” as a database table name. for an int32- access table must be number, int or long int, for a float, the database must be number, single or double- opto string- can be a memo or text.

I have not found out what the matching dbase setting is for int64 yet.

Are there any other naming restrictions to be aware of?

7

You have to set ms access to data type of yes/no or long integer for the trigger/reset flag to work from the database.

you must leave the cell of the flag (remove focus) in order to release the cell so that datalink can access the cell. If you just change the value and await the change, it will not change until you hit tab or close the table.

These things I am mentioning may be redundant to anyone familiar with databases, but for those who do not work with these things regularly (like myself), I hope they are useful.

8

Hi blight828,

Thanks for sharing what you’re learning. I checked with our ODL (OptoDataLink) senior developer, who said using PAC Sim shouldn’t make a difference when testing your ODL setup. (Of course, on your “real” application you don’t want to use the simulator since it’s only meant for testing and demo.)

The developer recommends against using Access at all, saying: “Access is the odd one out, it has all kinds of column names that don’t work, but it happily lets you create them (they are usually sql reserved words). … SQL Server Express is free, and it is a real database.” So that’s suggestion for today.

-OptoMary

9

Hi All,

Be sure you’re subscribed to OptoNews so you don’t miss any upcoming announcements, like these these improvements to OptoDataLink coming soon:

Enhancements

  • Access 2007 & 2010, SQL Server 2008 & 2012, MySQL 5.1 now supported.
  • Tag selection for Opto 22 Devices has a new interface with support for multiple selection and reordering.
  • Datalinks have a right-click menu that allows for duplication, renaming, and deletion
  • Opto 22 Device destination tables no longer need to be broken down into single-index tags

New Features

  • Any installed ODBC Driver can now be used as a source or destination

Please let me know if you might be interested in a “sneak peek”/beta.

Thanks,
OptoMary

10

optodatalink won’t connect to mysql 5.1. It won’t even allow me to select the datasource.

11

Do you have version R9.3 of OptoDataLink? Support for MySQL 5.1 was added only recently, so make sure you have this latest version (Help > About OptoDataLink…). If you do have 9.3 or better, then you might need to contact our support team (support@opto22.com) to help sort out what’s going on there.

12

What version are you using?
I could not get 9.3 to work at all, but 9.3001 did.