Data Bridge Introduction

Data Bridge Feature Description

Data bridge is a Canvas feature that allows data to be sent from one client device to another through the Xpanel when the devices cannot communicate. Since the Xpanel can become a relay station, both client devices must be available to communicate with the Xpanel. The sender device is called the Source Device. The receiver device is called the Destination Device. A tag for storing data to send is called a Source Tag, and a tag for receiving the sent data is called a Destination Tag.

The Xpanel utilizes writing data commands in the destination client driver, which should behave like the Canvas script write function so that the data bridge feature can affect tag read performance. This depends on how frequently data sync is executed.

Data Bridge Designer Functionalities

Data Bridge Editor

Click Tools > Data Bridge Editor or the Data Bridge Editor icon on the toolbar to open the Data Bridge Editor window. This window contains all of the Data Bridge models and the tag pairs within each model. Users can create new models, add tag pairs, and edit existing pairs.

Data Bridge Model

To create a model, click the + icon to add a new Data Bridge Model. Users must set the name of the Data Bridge model and the sync type. Currently, Canvas offers Trigger Tags and Periodic intervals. When a Trigger Tag is toggled, the Destination Tags within the Data Bridge will immediately update.

This can only be done once. The Trigger Tag must be toggled to work again. The Periodic interval will update the Destination Tags within the Data Bridge every set interval in seconds.

Tag Pairs

To add a tag pair, select the Data Bridge model, then click the Add Tag Pair button. In the popup window, users can select the Source Tag and Destination Tag.

If the tag icon on the left is select, users can input the address and device of the tag.

Users will also be able to edit or delete existing tag pairs.

Note: Both tags in the tag pair need to be the same type. If the type is different from tag to tag, the tag pair will not be created.