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Web Connectivity / Network Interfaces
Data exchange, APIs and web technologies
APIs
An overview of the APIs (Application Programming Interface) available in WinCC OA.
COM in WinCC OA
COM stands for Component Object Model, a specification for developing modular software components which can be used by each COM compatible application. COM components can be easily integrated in such applications and can even be removed from an application at run time. COM components can be programmed in various different programming languages although C++ is used mostly. The specifications OLE, ActiveX and DirectX are based on the COM technology.

Version Information
Release Notes, Update information, Certifications and Frequently Asked Questions.
Concepts
Your first step into modern and powerful process visualization.
Deployment
Topics, you need to know, before using WinCC OA.
Security
Go beyond the norm in cybersecurity.
Engineering
Powerful tools for easy or complex engineering tasks.
Data Management
Classify, structure and archive your data.
Business Logic / Control
Endless possibilities in data processing for your projects.
Data Visualization
User interfaces, Trends and Reports for every purpose and device.
Southbound Interfaces
The process connection to the actual machines/sensors.
Northbound Interfaces
Your portal to the cloud or supervising systems.
Web Connectivity / Network Interfaces
Data exchange, APIs and web technologies
- APIs
  An overview of the APIs (Application Programming Interface) available in WinCC OA.
  - API Manager
    The WinCC OA API (Application Programming Interface) offers a number of functions adding special Managers to this process control system.
  - NextGen Archiver Backend-API
    This chapter describes the NextGen Archiver Backend API
  - COM in WinCC OA
    COM stands for Component Object Model, a specification for developing modular software components which can be used by each COM compatible application. COM components can be easily integrated in such applications and can even be removed from an application at run time. COM components can be programmed in various different programming languages although C++ is used mostly. The specifications OLE, ActiveX and DirectX are based on the COM technology.
  - oaJsApi
  - oa-rx-js-api
  - winccoa-manager
- COM in WinCC OA
  COM stands for Component Object Model, a specification for developing modular software components which can be used by each COM compatible application. COM components can be easily integrated in such applications and can even be removed from an application at run time. COM components can be programmed in various different programming languages although C++ is used mostly. The specifications OLE, ActiveX and DirectX are based on the COM technology.
- Prometheus Interface
  The Prometheus interface (also referred to as Prometheus client) serves as a bridge between WinCC OA and Prometheus. It facilitates the retrieval, processing, and exposure of data from the WinCC OA system to a Prometheus-compatible format. This allows Prometheus to monitor and alert based on the data fetched from the WinCC OA system.
- SIMATIC PLC Discovery
  In increasingly dynamic automation environments and the merging of IT with OT, the SIMATIC PLC Discovery can help with the connection of newly added S7/S7+ devices by showing you all the devices in the network
- WinCC OA JavaScript Manager for Node.js
  The WinCC OA JavaScript Manager for Node.js is a manager that allows for the integration of the TypeScript/JavaScript runtime environment Node.js® into WinCC OA.
- SIMATIC Unified AR (Augmented Reality)
  SIMATIC Unified AR is an industrial Augmented Reality app that allows to display and operate HMI screens (WinCC Unified) and web applications (WinCC OA Dashboard) in real production environments.
- HTTP Server
  The HTTP Server integrates Internet technologies directly into WinCC OA . Implemented as an add-on for the Control Manager, possible applications are many and diverse. The HTTP Server can be used as a web server for static HTML pages including download facility or to generate dynamic HTML pages.
- XML-RPC
  XML-RPC (Extensible Markup Language Remote Procedure Call) allows software on different operating systems to make procedure calls over the internet. XML-RPC uses HTTP for the transport and XML for the encoding. It sends the procedure call to a remote server through HTTP. The call is an XML document and it receives the response as XML.
- REST Reporting API
  The REST Reporting API is integrated into the Standard web server and can be activated via the config entry enabled in the [restReporting] section.
- Distributed systems
  Distributed systems in WinCC OA allow to connect two or more autonomous WinCC OA systems via a network.
- Dist-Management
  Configuring and maintaining a distributed system in WinCC OA requires a high amount of engineering effort due to a high number of settings and configuration steps that must be applied on several systems. The Dist-Management reduces the engineering effort and simplifies the necessary settings.
- XMPP
  XMPP (formerly Jabber) is mostly used in chat (instant messaging) applications and allows near real time communication between two or more parties. It can, e.g., be used to push information from a WinCC_OA project server to one or more persons, even allowing the recipient to send a confirmation back to the server.
User Management
All about authorization, authentication and login-customization.
Availability
How to get your system uptime to the maximum.
Reporting
Create state of the art project reports without limits.
Addons
Useful tools and enhancements for special demands.
Reference Tables
Detailed and extensive content for special project adaptation.
Videos & Tutorials
Explore the capabilities of WinCC OA with our carefully selected collection of video tutorials and guides.
WinCC OA Documentation
Basic information about terms and functions within the documentation.
Disclaimer
A brief clarification of liability exclusions or legal notices.

COM in WinCC OA

COM stands for Component Object Model, a specification for developing modular software components which can be used by each COM compatible application. COM components can be easily integrated in such applications and can even be removed from an application at run time. COM components can be programmed in various different programming languages although C++ is used mostly. The specifications OLE, ActiveX and DirectX are based on the COM technology.

Via COM the objects of applications are open for development programs, macro languages and other applications that support automation. Via a spread sheet program , for example, a table, a chart, a cell or a cell space may be open whereas all objects have a different object type. A word processor may open its objects like an application, a document, a paragraph, a bookmark or a choice.

If an application supports COM you can access the open objects and change them by calling methods for this object or by calling the properties of the object and by defining them.

When changing data via COM a COM component takes care of the data exchange on the Excel side (currently only Excel is supported), on the WinCC OA side the own manager.

The ComManager contains four COM objects, which are responsible for different tasks. The ComManager object encapsulates a complete WinCC OA manager and provides access to the data points of WinCC OA whereas the functions are similar to the CTRL functions.

The ReportExt object is an extension of the ComManager object implemented especially for the Excel report. The Excel report and the ReportExt object are not described in detail here.

The ProjAdmin and ProjAdminAuto objects can be used to access information of installed WinCC OA projects. The ProjAdminAuto object can also be used in script languages like vbScript.