P-CIM Glossary

Action Button

A graphical object that when pressed and released (by mouse-clicking or keyboard strokes) launches a command/s (actions)

ActiveX®

A software module based on Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) architecture. The software enables a program to add functionality by calling ready-made components that blend in and appear as normal parts of the program. The software is typically used to add user interface functions, such as 3D toolbars, a notepad, calculator or even a spreadsheet.

ActiveX® controls were also known as "OLE controls" and used an .OCX file extension

Advanced Alarm Handler

Advanced Alarm Handler is a P-CIM module used for organizing, monitoring, acknowledging and analyzing alarms and events on a plant-wide scope

Alarms

P-CIM alarms are used to warn the operator about various system events in plant devices. Alarms are defined in the Database Editor as Analog Value (AV), Digital Value (DV), Calculation (CL), Boolean (BL) and Alarm blocks

Alias

A text that represents another text (the explicit text). P-CIM aliases and their respective explicit texts are mentioned in alias file and are defined during project design. The alias is substituted with the explicit text immediately after typing it, or later, at run time

Alias File

File in Windows® INI format containing the definitions in format alias=explicit text.

The standard P-CIM alias file is PFWALIAS.TXT

Animation Editor

The P-CIM for Windows® application (module) used for designing indicators and controls for plant personnel (the Operator Workstation interface). Using the Animation Editor, the applications engineer can assign dynamic animation properties, linked to real-time data, to graphic objects

Audit Trail

The P-CIM Audit Trail utility stores records of changes made to various modules of P-CIM during application development, for example: displays, recipe, reports, database blocks and basic scripts from the time the object is open and when saved. When enabled, the Audit Trail utility records various actions taken by every P-CIM user, starting from the time the user log-in and until the user log-out

Cells: A cell is a collection of objects and their P-CIM properties grouped into one entity

Data Block

A data block is a P-CIM database element used for processing data. It has the following functionalities:

Providing an operator interface
Creating alarms
Collecting history
Exchanging data with external devices and internal variables
Exchanging data between blocks
Converting raw data

DBSR

The P-CIM database server

DDE Format (items)

P-CIM addressing syntax consisting of the following format:

Server=servername

Topic=topicname

Item=itemname

Default Project

This is the project that automatically opens on P-CIM Startup. The default project is defined in the Project Setup dialog box

Display

A P-CIM display is a collection of graphical objects showing the plant floor and any other piece of hardware. A display can show data and can also receive operator input

DLL

An executable program module performing one or more functions during Windows runtime. DLLs are not user activated; rather they are called for by an executable program or by other DLLs

Drag & drop

Mechanism in Windows® and P-CIM to enable objects to be copied or assigned by mouse actions

Driver

Program that communicates with external devices (usually PLCs) using their specific protocol and makes the data accessible to other P-CIM for Windows® programs

Dummy Variables

Database blocks in P-CIM used for storing and processing data gathered from internal buffers

Dynamic Display

Using the P-CIM Dynamic Display, one generic object can be defined to represent multiple similar objects. During runtime, the dynamic display is used as a template containing dynamic links, which change when an object is selected

Emulation Mode

An operational state of P-CIM, when the driver does not communicate with field devices, but reads and writes internal variables only. This mode is used during project design

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning. An integrated information system that serves all departments within an enterprise: Finances, order processing, production, logistics

Ethernet

The most commonly used Local Area Network infrastructure. Ethernet connects between devices on a company or home network and to a cable, DSL modem or a direct connection for Internet access.

Ethernet is defined by the IEEE as the 802.3 standard.

Ethernet port supports three speeds: 10 Mbps (10BaseT), 100 Mbps (100BaseT) and 1GB (1GBaseT)

FDA: Food and Drug Administration; The US health regulatory authority that defines the rules for good manufacturing practice in the pharmaceutical industry by means of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). To conform with this code, applications must be validated according to FDA 21CFR Part 11.

HIS format: A P-CIM file covers a 24-hours period, starting at midnight. The name of the file reflects the date, in the format YYMMDD00.HIS (for example: 92120300.HIS for December 03, 1992)
Historical Data Collection: P-CIM historical Records can be stored in an OLE database (Microsoft® Accessor Microsoft® SQL Server 2000) or in P-CIM proprietary database
Historical File: P-CIM block's data is stored in historical files. P-CIM produce two historical file formats: one for a 24 hours period and the other is up-to a month period
HMI: Human Machine Interface (HMI) - is a software application, (typically a Graphical User Interface or GUI) that present information to the operator about the state of a process, and interprets the operator's instructions. It may also interpret the plant information and guide the interaction of the operator with the system. Also known as Man Machine Interface (MMI)
HST Format: The P-CIM HST history file collects historical data for up to a month into a single file. The name of the file reflects the block name in the format BlockName.HST

IT: Information Technology: All the systems, applications and structures found in a company with information processing and management

MES: Management Execution System; the purpose of these systems is to analyze and increase production processes

Object (Graphical): The image created in the P-CIM Animation Editor interface
ODBC: Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) is a Microsoft® standard for accessing different database systems from Windows such as Microsoft® SQL Server , MS Access or Oracle
OLEDB: OLEDB (Database) a programming interface for data access from Microsoft®. It is a COM object that is similar to ODBC, but for every data source, not specifically for SQL databases. Applications can use OLEDB to access data sources directly or they can use OLEDB to call ODBC databases
OPC: OPC (OLE for Process Control) protocol is a set of interfaces enabling standardized data exchange between automation/ control applications, field devices and other types of applications
OPC A&E: OPC Alarms & Events provides alarm and event notifications on demand. These include process alarms, operator actions, informational messages, and tracking/auditing messages. OPC Alarms & Events makes possible transmission of messages to and acknowledgment by higher level systems, for example MES or ERP applications
OPC Browser: P-CIM OPC Browser is an OPC client that requests information from OPC Servers. The OPC Browser enables bidirectional communications between P-CIM and an OPC server
OPC DA: OPC Data Access is used to exchange real time data between PLCs, DCSs, and other control devices to HMIs and other display clients
OPC Gateway: P-CIM OPC Gateway is an OPC server that runs in P-CIM and connects to OPC clients. P-CIM OPC Gateway sends data from P-CIM Servers to OPC clients using OPC protocol
OPC HDA: OPC Historical Data Access provides access to historical data OPC. An OPC HDA client can specify the start and end of an interval that selectively requests the data to be transferred; if necessary, the client can first actively trigger data compression

Password Editor

P-CIM Password Editor is used for assigning usernames, passwords, and password levels for plant personnel

P-CIM $Variables

P-CIM $Variables are built-in internal variables that provide information about P-CIM Database Server, P-CIM Network and the Operating System

P-CIM AutoActions

Auto Actions trigger action commands carried out according to predefined conditions. During runtime, AutoActions run automatically and without operator interference. AutoActions are triggered by events or at a predefined time

P-CIM Client

P-CIM client is a computer within the P-CIM network, running without a SEK (Security Enabled Key) and is dependent on the P-CIM server. The P-CIM client retrieves values, historical, real-time and alarms from the server and sends back data to the P-CIM server. The number of P-CIM clients on the network is determined according to the license key on the P-CIM server

P-CIM Control

An animated graphic object used by the operator in the Operator Workstation to change the value of a variable in real time, or to launch commands by a particular graphic property (position, text)

P-CIM Indicator

An animated graphic object used to present to the operator in the Operator Workstation real time data by a particular graphic property (size, position, color, text)

P-CIM Internal Tags

P-CIM Internal Tags are used within the P-CIM applications for intermediate calculations

P-CIM Properties

Properties define how an object is displayed and acts during runtime. There are three types of Properties:

Indicator properties, defining how an object is displayed
Control properties, defining how an object acts during runtime
Special properties, defining trends, history and deviation meters and ActiveX® component

The object's properties are linked to the communication address of the device. During runtime the object is displayed according to the assigned property and to the device's value

P-CIM Server

P-CIM server services requests from P-CIM client stations, serves as a central storing location for databases, historical and alarm files and used for authenticating user's accounts. P-CIM server differs from other P-CIM stations on the network by the fact that the SEK (Security Enabled Key) is attached to it. More than one P-CIM server can be installed on the same P-CIM network

PLC

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is an industrial device that provides an interface for input sensors and output actuators. PLCs can be programmed using relay ladder logic to control the outputs based on input conditions and/ or algorithms contained in the memory of the PLC

PLC Time Stamp

P-CIM time-stamped event logging allows users to track events exactly as they occurred in the field. This allows the operator to separate different events and identify the first alarm that was detected. For fast processes with large amount of data, the time stamp can be performed by the PLC and recovered by P-CIM with the exact PLC time stamp

Protocol

Set of rules or conventions governing the exchange of information between computer systems or applications

Redundancy: P-CIM Redundancy allows user to name a secondary computer as a redundant server for storage and retrieval of Alarm and Historical data
RTU: Remote Terminal Unit. A device that collects data from data acquisition equipment and sends them to the main system such SCADAs over a wired or wireless network

SCADA: SCADA is the acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. A computer system for collecting, displaying and analyzing real time data. SCADA systems are used to monitor and control a plant or equipment in industries such as telecommunications, water and waste control, energy, oil and gas refining and transport. SCADA systems can be simple, such as for monitoring environmental conditions of a small office building, or incredibly complex, such as a system that monitors the activity throughout a nuclear power plant or of a municipal water system
Scalable: Scalable application can be expanded at any time to meet the project requirements (more tags, larger archives, extra operator stations) and continue using the existing configuration data
SEK - Software Enable Key: A hardware device that contains the license enabling use of the software. The device has to be connected to a parallel port or a USB port of the computer to enable P-CIM for Windows to fully work - as defined in the SEK. (The SEK is also called "dongle".)
SER: Sequence of Events Recorder. P-CIM SER enables P-CIM to capture and present events at subsecond time resolution (for example, 10 milliseconds). P-CIM SER consist of PLC Logic, communication convention and Interpretation and Presentation
Server: Computer or system which makes it's resources or data available to the inquiring clients for example P-CIM server in a server-client P-CIM network which grants the clients access to the real time and historical data
Smart P-CIM Tag: Smart P-CIM Tag retrieves information from database by clicking on graphical object. It allows users to view information from the control system and external databases such as logistic and maintenance systems
SQL: Structured Query Language; standardized database query language (for example for UNIX or Windows® databases)

Trend: Trendecy, movement or prevailing movement in a given direction. Trends are used to see changes in values in a form of progress lines. P-CIM makes use of real-time trends, showing value changes in run-time and historical trends for analysis purposes

Web Client: A client computer that uses the P-CIM/ Web Navigator with a standard browser across an LAN, Intranet or the Internet to access the data on the local Web server and to see or change it
Web Server: Within the scope of a project using the P-CIM/ Web Navigator, the Web server is one of the local servers that makes its data available to the Web clients
Wireless: Wireless is an old-fashioned term for a radio transceiver (a mixed receiver and transmitter device), referring to its use in wireless telegraphy early on, or for a radio receiver. Now the term is used to describe modern wireless connections such as those in cellular networks and wireless broadband Internet