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Engineering
Powerful tools for easy or complex engineering tasks.
System Management
The System Management is the central administrative unit for WinCC OA Systems.
Database
RDB Archiving
Data Buffering

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.
- Project Administration
  The chapter contains a description of the process monitor as well as the project administration.
- Graphics Editor (GEDI)
  Used for creating and editing panels, provides tools for creating and configuring graphic objects.
- System Management
  The System Management is the central administrative unit for WinCC OA Systems.
  - System management
  - Diagnostics
  - Reports
  - Database
    - Data backup in WinCC OA
    - Supported Database Combinations
      An overview over the possible database combinations within a WinCC OA project.
    - WCCOAtoolCreateDb
    - Estimation of the hard disk space
    - Update an ISO Project to SQLite Project
    - History DB
    - Archive/Export Alerts
    - ASCII Manager
      The ASCII Manager allows you to input and output and thus edit data points and data point types and to configure data points.
    - SQLite®/ RAIMA Online-Backup
    - Steps of the online DB backup process
    - Archiving and Compression
    - Data Point Groups
      The main purpose of grouping data points is to simplify selection of datapoints and datapoint elements.
    - PowerConfig Editor
    - RDB Archiving
    - RDB Compression
    - RDB Log
    - HDB/RAIMA - RDB Parallel
    - OLE DB Provider
      OLE DB is a Microsoft specification for accessing data on different computers. It is based on Microsoft's COM technology and is the successor to the older and limited ODBC technology.
    - NextGen Archiver (NGA)
    - SQLite®
  - Driver
  - Driver IEC
  - Driver OPC
  - Driver S7
  - SmartSCADA
  - Permission
  - Communication
  - Settings
- Wizard Framework
  Used for easy creation of wizards in a uniform layout style. The key elements "Navigation Bar" and "Bottom Bar" can be customized to fit the needs of the custom wizard.
- XML Panel Format
  The XML (Extensible Markup Language) panel format allows creating WinCC OA panels.
- Simple Symbols, basics
  The "Simple Symbols" functionality is used to simply assign corresponding symbols to data point types and increase the working comfort when working with different symbols.
- ScriptWizard
  Simple wizard for creating graphical user interfaces for users without prior programming knowledge.
- Panel topology/Group alert facility
  Tree structure for process panels with integrated group alert system
- Object-Oriented Panel References
  Reusable objects built with the GEDI tools. Insert them within an existing panel to provide a graphical element.
- Multilingual Projects
  WinCC OA is designed to provide both Native Language Support and Multi Language Support.
- Translator
  The WinCC OA Translator functionality supports you in creating and maintaining multilingual projects. It offers a convenient interface for translation of reusable terms.
- Layout management
  Layouts change the size and position of objects according to parameters previously defined in the GEDI.
- Generic Dialog Framework
  The Generic Dialog Framework is an easy way to generate your own dialogs by adjusting a set of prefabricated panels.
- Simple Configuration
  Simple configuration windows and panels support you in combining events (such as a mouse click) with different actions such as setting data point values, showing panels or changing attributes.
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
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.

Data Buffering

Data buffering acts as a protection against data loss in case of:

a disconnect (overflowing the RAM capacity -> new data overwrites older data in the RAM -> data get lost before reconnecting and fast enough writing data into the DB)
a too big data input by one-time, which cannot be buffered in the RAM completely
a crash of the RDB manager (data in the RAM get lost)

In order to reduce the risk of a data loss to a minimum, data buffering offers two options, how data blocks (events and alerts) can be saved in your system. In addition to the typical buffer functionality, which saves data blocks in the main memory (RAM), it's also possible to save data on the local hard drive disc (HDD). In case of a database disconnect, the RDB manager is continuously trying to reconnect and takes care that no data get lost. After re-establishing the connection to the database, the buffered data are written into the database (1. RAM, 2. local hard disc).

Individually you can decide from which moment the data should be saved on the HDD:

BufferToDiskMin – data blocks are buffered in main memory. As soon as the capacity in the RAM is not enough, data blocks are buffered on the local HDD.
BufferToDiskMax – data blocks are buffered from the beginning in the RAM and on the local HDD. As soon as the capacity in the RAM is not enough, data blocks will be saved only on the HDD.

Note:

Note that data buffering had been developed for read access only. To read data from the database without a DB connection is hence impossible!

For more detailed information about the BufferToDisk functionality, please read the following chapters.


Chapter	Description
BufferToDisk, basics	Introduction and links to the following chapters.
BufferToDiskMin	Definition and behavior of the BufferToDiskMin mode.
BufferToDiskMax	Definition and behavior of the BufferToDiskMax mode.
Details on data buffering	Detailed information on data buffering - write access, limit for data buffering, simulation of an interruption of the database connection, start of an RDB Manager with buffering and without connection to the database.