The SupportInfo Interface defines a number of additional data that a commonly exposed for Devices and their components. These include mainly images, documents, or protocol-specific data. The various types of information is organised into different folders. Each information element is represented by a read-only Variable. The information can be retrieved by reading the Variable value.

Figure 11 Illustrates the SupportInfo Interface. It is formally defined in Table 20.

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Figure 11 –Support information Interface

Table 20 – ISupportInfoType definition

Attribute

Value

BrowseName

ISupportInfoType

IsAbstract

True

References

NodeClass

BrowseName

DataType

TypeDefinition

ModellingRule

Subtype of the BaseInterfaceType defined in OPC 10001-7

HasComponent

Object

DeviceTypeImage

FolderType

Optional

HasComponent

Object

Documentation

FolderType

Optional

HasComponent

Object

ProtocolSupport

FolderType

Optional

HasComponent

Object

ImageSet

FolderType

Optional

Clients need to be aware that the contents that these Variables represent may be large. Reading large values with a single Read operation may not be possible due to configured limits in either the Client or the Server stack. The default maximum size for an array of bytes is 1 megabyte. It is recommended that Clients use the IndexRange in the OPC UA Read Service (see OPC 10000-4) to read these Variables in chunks, for example, one-megabyte chunks. It is up to the Client whether it starts without an index and repeats with an IndexRange only after an error or whether it always uses an IndexRange.

The different types of support information are specified in 5.5.5.2 to 5.5.5.5.