For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in OPC 10000-1, OPC 10000-3, and OPC 10000-8 as well as the following apply.

functional Parameter grouping entity

Note 1 to entry: It could map to a function block (see IEC 62769) or to the resource parameters of the Device itself.

mode of operation (target mode, permitted modes, actual mode, and normal mode) for a Block

Note 1 to entry: Further details about Block modes are defined by standard organisations.

fixed set of mapping rules to allow unambiguous interoperability between Devices or Applications, respectively

Note 1 to entry: Examples of such profiles are the “Wireless communication network and communication profiles for WirelessHART” in IEC 62591 and the Protocol Mappings for OPC UA in OPC 10000-6.

logical representation of the interface between a Device and a Network

independent physical entity capable of performing one or more specified functions in a particular context and delimited by its interfaces

Note 1 to entry: See IEC 61499-1.

Note 2 to entry: Devices provide sensing, actuating, communication, and/or control functionality. Examples include transmitters, valve controllers, drives, motor controllers, PLCs, and communication gateways.

Note 3 to entry:  A Device can be a system (topology) of other Devices, components, or parts.

Server that manages integration of multiple Devices in an automation system

arrangement of Networks and Devices that constitute a communication topology

communication system based on serial data transfer and used in industrial automation or process control applications

Note 1 to entry: See IEC 61784.

Note 2 to entry: Designates the communication bus used by a Device.

variable of the Device that can be used for configuration, monitoring or control purposes

Note 1 to entry: In the information model it is synonymous to an OPC UA DataVariable.

means used to communicate with one specific protocol

an update method where the original software is overwritten during the transfer

an update method where the new software is stored in a separate area

Note 1 to entry: Installation is performed later as an extra step.

an update method based on an accessible directory structure and a separate install method

a single file that contains the data for the software update in a device specific format

an update client that can be used for devices of several vendors

Note 1 to entry: There can be different Software Update Clients for different domains (e.g. process industry or manufacturing).

version information of the software that is currently installed

version information for a Software Package that was transferred before and is ready to be installed

version information about an alternatively installable software that is located on the Server

Note 1 to entry: Examples: factory default version or the version before the latest update

ADIAnalyser Device Integration

CPCommunication Processor (hardware module)

CPUCentral Processing Unit (of a Device)

DAData Access

DIDevice Integration (the short name for this specification)

ERPEnterprise Resource Planning

IRDIInternational Registration Data Identifiers

UA Unified Architecture

UML Unified Modelling Language

XMLExtensible Mark-up Language

Node definitions are specified using tables (see Table 2).

Attributes are defined by providing the Attribute name and a value, or a description of the value.

References are defined by providing the ReferenceType name, the BrowseName of the TargetNode and its NodeClass.

  • If the TargetNode is a component of the Node being defined in the table the Attributes of the composed Node are defined in the same row of the table.
  • The DataType is only specified for Variables; “[<number>]” indicates a single-dimensional array, for multi-dimensional arrays the expression is repeated for each dimension (e.g. [2][3] for a two-dimensional array). For all arrays the ArrayDimensions is set as identified by <number> values. If no <number> is set, the corresponding dimension is set to 0, indicating an unknown size. If no number is provided at all the ArrayDimensions can be omitted. If no brackets are provided, it identifies a scalar DataType and the ValueRank is set to the corresponding value (see OPC 10000-3). In addition, ArrayDimensions is set to null or is omitted. If it can be Any or ScalarOrOneDimension, the value is put into “{<value>}”, so either “{Any}” or “{ScalarOrOneDimension}” and the ValueRank is set to the corresponding value (see OPC 10000-3) and the ArrayDimensions is set to null or is omitted. Examples are given in Table 1.

Table 1 – Examples of DataTypes

Notation

DataType

ValueRank

ArrayDimensions

Description

0:Int32

0:Int32

-1

omitted or null

A scalar Int32.

0:Int32[]

0:Int32

1

omitted or {0}

Single-dimensional array of Int32 with an unknown size.

0:Int32[][]

0:Int32

2

omitted or {0,0}

Two-dimensional array of Int32 with unknown sizes for both dimensions.

0:Int32[3][]

0:Int32

2

{3,0}

Two-dimensional array of Int32 with a size of 3 for the first dimension and an unknown size for the second dimension.

0:Int32[5][3]

0:Int32

2

{5,3}

Two-dimensional array of Int32 with a size of 5 for the first dimension and a size of 3 for the second dimension.

0:Int32{Any}

0:Int32

-2

omitted or null

An Int32 where it is unknown if it is scalar or array with any number of dimensions.

0:Int32{ScalarOrOneDimension}

0:Int32

-3

omitted or null

An Int32 where it is either a single-dimensional array or a scalar.

If the NodeId of a DataType is provided, the symbolic name of the Node representing the DataType shall be used.

Note that if a symbolic name of a different namespace is used, it is prefixed by the NamespaceIndex (see 3.3.2.2).

Nodes of all other NodeClasses cannot be defined in the same table; therefore, only the used ReferenceType, their NodeClass and their BrowseName are specified. A reference to another part of this document points to their definition.

Table 2 illustrates the table. If no components are provided, the DataType, TypeDefinition and Other columns may be omitted and only a Comment column is introduced to point to the Node definition.

Table 2 – Type Definition Table

Attribute

Value

Attribute name

Attribute value. If it is an optional Attribute that is not set "--" is used.

References

NodeClass

BrowseName

DataType

TypeDefinition

Other

ReferenceType name

NodeClass of the target Node.

BrowseName of the target Node.

DataType of the referenced Node, only applicable for Variables.

TypeDefinition of the referenced Node, only applicable for Variables and Objects.

Additional characteristics of the TargetNode such as the ModellingRule or AccessLevel.

NOTE Notes referencing footnotes of the table content.

Components of Nodes can be complex that is containing components by themselves. The TypeDefinition, NodeClass and DataType can be derived from the type definitions, and the symbolic name can be created as defined in 3.3.3.1. Therefore, those containing components are not explicitly specified; they are implicitly specified by the type definitions.

The Other column defines additional characteristics of the Node. Examples of characteristics that can appear in this column are show in Table 3.

Table 3 – Examples of Other Characteristics

Name

Short Name

Description

0:Mandatory

M

The Node has the Mandatory ModellingRule.

0:Optional

O

The Node has the Optional ModellingRule.

0:MandatoryPlaceholder

MP

The Node has the MandatoryPlaceholder ModellingRule.

0:OptionalPlaceholder

OP

The Node has the OptionalPlaceholder ModellingRule.

ReadOnly

RO

The AccessLevel has the CurrentRead bit set but not the CurrentWrite bit.

ReadWrite

RW

The AccessLevel has the CurrentRead and CurrentWrite bits set.

WriteOnly

WO

The AccessLevel has the CurrentWrite bit set but not the CurrentRead bit.

If multiple characteristics are defined, they are separated by commas. The name or the short name may be used.

Each Node defined in this specification has ConformanceUnits defined in 11.1 that require the Node to be in the AddressSpace. If a Server supports a ConformanceUnit, it shall expose the Nodes related to the ConformanceUnit in its AddressSpace. If two Nodes are exposed, all References between the Nodes defined in this specification shall be exposed as well.

The relations between Nodes and ConformanceUnits are defined at the end of the tables defining Nodes, one row per ConformanceUnit. The ConformanceUnit is reflected with a Category element in the UANodeSet file (see OPC 10000-6).

The Nodes defined in a table are not only the Node defined on top level, for example an ObjectType, but also the Nodes that are referenced, as long as they are not defined in other tables. For example, the ObjectType TopologyElementType defines its InstanceDeclarations in the same table, so the InstanceDeclarations are also bound to the ConformanceUnits defined for the table. The table even indirectly defines additional InstanceDeclarations as components of the top-level InstanceDeclarations, that are not directly visible in the table. The TypeDefinitions and DataTypes used in the InstanceDeclarations, and the ReferenceTypes are defined in their individual tables and not in the table itself, therefore they are not bound to the ConformanceUnits of the table.

To provide information about additional References, the format as shown in Table 4 is used.

Table 4 – <some>Type Additional References

SourceBrowsePath

Reference Type

Is Forward

TargetBrowsePath

SourceBrowsePath is always relative to the TypeDefinition. Multiple elements are defined as separate rows of a nested table.

ReferenceType name

True = forward Reference.

TargetBrowsePath points to another Node, which can be a well-known instance or a TypeDefinition. You can use BrowsePaths here as well, which is either relative to the TypeDefinition or absolute.

If absolute, the first entry needs to refer to a type or well-known instance, uniquely identified within a namespace by the BrowseName.

References can be to any other Node.

To provide information about sub-components, the format as shown in Table 5 is used.

Table 5 – <some>Type Additional Subcomponents

BrowsePath

References

NodeClass

BrowseName

DataType

TypeDefinition

Other

BrowsePath is always relative to the TypeDefinition. Multiple elements are defined as separate rows of a nested table

NOTE Same as for Table 2

The type definition table provides columns to specify the values for required Node Attributes for InstanceDeclarations. To provide information about additional Attributes, the format as shown in Table 6 is used.

Table 6 – <some>Type Attribute values for child Nodes

BrowsePath

<Attribute name> Attribute

BrowsePath is always relative to the TypeDefinition. Multiple elements are defined as separate rows of a nested table

The values of Attributes are converted to text by adapting the reversible JSON encoding rules defined in OPC 10000-6.

If the JSON encoding of a value is a JSON string or a JSON number then that value is entered in the value field. Double quotes are not included.

If the DataType includes a NamespaceIndex (QualifiedNames, NodeIds or ExpandedNodeIds) then the notation used for BrowseNames is used.

If the value is an Enumeration the name of the enumeration value is entered.

If the value is a Structure then a sequence of name and value pairs is entered. Each pair is followed by a newline. The name is followed by a colon. The names are the names of the fields in the DataTypeDefinition.

If the value is an array of non-Structures then a sequence of values is entered where each value is followed by a newline.

If the value is an array of Structures or a Structure with fields that are arrays or with nested Structures then the complete JSON array or JSON object is entered.

There can be multiple columns to define more than one Attribute.

The NodeIds of all Nodes described in this standard are only symbolic names. Annex A defines the actual NodeIds.

The symbolic name of each Node defined in this document is its BrowseName, or, when it is part of another Node, the BrowseName of the other Node, a “.”, and the BrowseName of itself. In this case “part of” means that the whole has a HasProperty or HasComponent Reference to its part. Since all Nodes not being part of another Node have a unique name in this document, the symbolic name is unique.

The NamespaceUri for all NodeIds defined in this document is defined in Annex A. The NamespaceIndex for this NamespaceUri is vendor-specific and depends on the position of the NamespaceUri in the server namespace table.

Note that this document not only defines concrete Nodes, but also requires that some Nodes shall be generated, for example one for each Session running on the Server. The NodeIds of those Nodes are Server-specific, including the namespace. But the NamespaceIndex of those Nodes cannot be the NamespaceIndex used for the Nodes defined in this document, because they are not defined by this document but generated by the Server.

The text part of the BrowseNames for all Nodes defined in this document is specified in the tables defining the Nodes. The NamespaceUri for all BrowseNames defined in this document is defined in Annex A.

For InstanceDeclarations of NodeClass Object and Variable that are placeholders (OptionalPlaceholder and MandatoryPlaceholder ModellingRule), the BrowseName and the DisplayName are enclosed in angle brackets (<>) as recommended in OPC 10000-3. If the BrowseName is not defined by this document, a namespace index prefix is added to the BrowseName (e.g., prefix '0' leading to ‘0:EngineeringUnits’ or prefix '2' leading to ‘2:DeviceRevision’). This is typically necessary if a Property of another specification is overwritten or used in the OPC UA types defined in this document. Clause 12.2 provides a list of namespaces and their indexes as used in this document.

The Attributes of Nodes, their DataTypes and descriptions are defined in OPC 10000-3. Attributes not marked as optional are mandatory and shall be provided by a Server. The following tables define if the Attribute value is defined by this document or if it is server-specific.

For all Nodes specified in this document, the Attributes named in Table 7 shall be set as specified in the table.

Table 7 – Common Node Attributes

Attribute

Value

DisplayName

The DisplayName is a LocalizedText. Each Server shall provide the DisplayName identical to the BrowseName of the Node for the LocaleId “en”. Whether the server provides translated names for other LocaleIds are server-specific.

Description

Optionally a server-specific description is provided.

NodeClass

Shall reflect the NodeClass of the Node.

NodeId

The NodeId is described by BrowseNames as defined in 3.3.2.1.

WriteMask

Optionally the WriteMask Attribute can be provided. If the WriteMask Attribute is provided, it shall set all non-server-specific Attributes to not writable. For example, the Description Attribute may be set to writable since a Server may provide a server-specific description for the Node. The NodeId shall not be writable, because it is defined for each Node in this document.

UserWriteMask

Optionally the UserWriteMask Attribute can be provided. The same rules as for the WriteMask Attribute apply.

RolePermissions

Optionally server-specific role permissions can be provided.

UserRolePermissions

Optionally the role permissions of the current Session can be provided. The value is server-specific and depends on the RolePermissions Attribute (if provided) and the current Session.

AccessRestrictions

Optionally server-specific access restrictions can be provided.

For all Objects specified in this document, the Attributes named in Table 8 shall be set as specified in the Table 8. The definitions for the Attributes can be found in OPC 10000-3.

Table 8 – Common Object Attributes

Attribute

Value

EventNotifier

Whether the Node can be used to subscribe to Events or not is server-specific.

For all Variables specified in this document, the Attributes named in Table 9 shall be set as specified in the table. The definitions for the Attributes can be found in OPC 10000-3.

Table 9 – Common Variable Attributes

Attribute

Value

MinimumSamplingInterval

Optionally, a server-specific minimum sampling interval is provided.

AccessLevel

The access level for Variables used for type definitions is server-specific, for all other Variables defined in this document, the access level shall allow reading; other settings are server-specific.

UserAccessLevel

The value for the UserAccessLevel Attribute is server-specific. It is assumed that all Variables can be accessed by at least one user.

Value

For Variables used as InstanceDeclarations, the value is server-specific; otherwise it shall represent the value described in the text.

ArrayDimensions

If the ValueRank does not identify an array of a specific dimension (i.e. ValueRank <= 0) the ArrayDimensions can either be set to null or the Attribute is missing. This behavior is server-specific.

If the ValueRank specifies an array of a specific dimension (i.e. ValueRank > 0) then the ArrayDimensions Attribute shall be specified in the table defining the Variable.

Historizing

The value for the Historizing Attribute is server-specific.

AccessLevelEx

If the AccessLevelEx Attribute is provided, it shall have the bits 8, 9, and 10 set to 0, meaning that read and write operations on an individual Variable are atomic, and arrays can be partly written.

For all VariableTypes specified in this document, the Attributes named in Table 10 shall be set as specified in the table. The definitions for the Attributes can be found in OPC 10000-3.

Table 10 – Common VariableType Attributes

Attributes

Value

Value

Optionally a server-specific default value can be provided.

ArrayDimensions

If the ValueRank does not identify an array of a specific dimension (i.e. ValueRank <= 0) the ArrayDimensions can either be set to null or the Attribute is missing. This behavior is server-specific.

If the ValueRank specifies an array of a specific dimension (i.e. ValueRank > 0) then the ArrayDimensions Attribute shall be specified in the table defining the VariableType.

For all Methods specified in this document, the Attributes named in Table 11 shall be set as specified in the table. The definitions for the Attributes can be found in OPC 10000-3.

Table 11 – Common Method Attributes

Attributes

Value

Executable

All Methods defined in this document shall be executable (Executable Attribute set to “True”), unless it is defined differently in the Method definition.

UserExecutable

The value of the UserExecutable Attribute is server-specific. It is assumed that all Methods can be executed by at least one user.