Roadmap to UA Software Downloads

Overview

The OPC Foundation has created a number of software downloads which will assist vendors who develop and distribute UA applications. The available downloads are summarized here and described in more detail below:

· Quickstarts - a set of basic client and server applications;

· AnsiC Stack Source Code - the source to the UA C/C++ Stack;

· DotNet Stack Source Code - the source to the UA .NET Stack;

· DotNet Stack Help File - an MSDN style help for the UA .NET Stack and SDK;

· Java Stack Source Code - the source to the UA Java Stack;

· COM Interoperability Components - connectivity between OPC COM and UA applications;

· Redistributables - the runtime components for the ANSI C and .NET stacks;

· Test Applications - applications used to test the UA stacks;

Quickstarts

The Quickstarts download provides a number of basic client and server applications which implement different aspects of the UA specification. Each of these examples is designed to demonstrate how to implement UA with a minimal amount of code. These examples should be the starting point for any developer wishing to learn how to build UA applications.

When installed the Quickstarts will add four folders to the Programs Menu:

· Applications - contains pre-built executables for all of the Quickstart client and server applications.

· Clients - contains solutions which build each of the Quickstart clients. Client developers should start with these.

· Servers - contains solutions which build each of the Quickstart servers. Server developers should start with these.

· Source Code - contains solutions which build the Quickstart client and server together along with all of the source code for the UA .NET Stack.

The following Quickstarts are available today:

· Data Access - illustrates how to implement the basic data access features provides by COM DA;

· Alarms and Conditions - illustrates how to implement the alarms and conditions features of COM AE;

· Simple Events - illustrates how to implement a basic event producer and consumer;

· Information Model - illustrations how to use an information model in a server or client;

· COM Data Access - illustrates how to add UA functionality to existing COM DA client or server applications;

AnsiC Stack Source Code

The AnsiC Stack Source Code download includes all code required to build the UA ANSI C Stack. It also includes C and C++ Quickstarts that illustrate how to call or implement the UA services in those languages. Developers can use these implementations as a starting point for developing C/C++ applications.

DotNet Stack Source Code

The DotNet Stack Source Code download includes all code required to build the UA .NET Stack. The same code is distributed in the Quickstarts download.

The DotNet Stack Help File includes the MSDN style documentation generated from the .NET Stack.

COM Interoperability Components

The COM Interoperability Components download includes the binaries for the UA COM proxy which allows OPC COM client to interoperate with UA servers and a sample UA COM wrapper which allows OPC COM servers to interoperate with UA clients. The download includes the UA Configuration Tool which can be used to configure the UA COM proxy and wrapper for use with different COM applications.

The source code for COM Interoperability Components is included in the Quickstarts download.

Redistributables

The Redistributables download installs the binaries for the UA redistributables including the Local Discovery Server, the Configuration Tool and the runtime binaries for the .NET and ANSI C stacks.

All of the redistributable binaries are also made available as merge modules. The modules are described in the following table:

Local Discovery Server MergeModule	Installs the Local Discovery Server and the Configuration Tool.
AnsiC Stack MergeModule	Installs the ANSI C stack headers, libraries and the DLLs. The runtime only environment is installed by default. Setting the UA_ANSIC_SDK or UA_ALL_SDK properties will install the development environment. This module requires the OpenSSL Merge Module.
OpenSSL MergeModule	Installs the OpenSSL headers, libraries and DLLs. The runtime only environment is installed by default. Setting the UA_OPENSSL_SDK or UA_ALL_SDK properties will install the development environment.
DotNet Stack MergeModule	Installs the UA .NET stack assemblies. The runtime only environment is installed by default. Setting the UA_DOTNET_SDK or UA_ALL_SDK properties will install the development environment.
COM Interop MergeModule	Installs the UA COM Proxy Server which allows COM clients to connect to UA servers and the UA COM Interop Library which allows UA Servers to wrap COM servers.

Test Applications

The Test Applications download installs the binaries for the UA test applications. These applications include the Sample Client and Server applications and a number of test tools.

The Test Applications Source Code download installs all of the source code required to build the test applications.