Other Add-Ons

In addition to PID Simulator, Profile Analysis and Tune-Plus, the following add-ons are available to Analyse-Plus:
Import from [Valmet] QMM
Import From ABB/Bailey Harmony/Symphony/Net90/Infi90 CLS/DC90/Composer/DBDoc-CIULink

Import from [Valmet] QMM

If you have a Valmet (formerly Metso) DCS or QCS, you likely have QMM running on a computer in the system, usually the EAS and occasionally the Backup Station. It is normally installed by Valmet personnel to assist in commissioning and control tuning. It collects data, normally on a 24/7 basis at rates as frequent as 0.5 sec (or somewhat faster, depending on the system) or at a period you set. This makes it ideal for bump tests and tuning, trouble-shooting and any investigation of any problem or incident. Virtually anything in the system can be collected even if it does not appear on any display, trend or alarm. It does not employ any data compression, making it superior to historians for critical work and controls work. It works based on a list of tags you choose called a Shopping File with file extension “.cfg”. The file extension of the collected data is .DAT. Only scalar data files can be read by Import from QMM. Use Import Profiles From text or QMM Files to FCD for profiles. See below for more info about QMM use.

You could use the Valmet program qdacv64.exe to export the data to text but Import from QMM saves a lot of time and increases productivity by doing the following:

• Imports an entire QMM “Group” at a time (could contain, for example 500 tags) and finds the collection start time and sample period of the group and assigns it to all the imported tags.
• Each tag goes into a separate file to allow manipulation, analysis and plotting of whatever variables are required. You can choose to import just certain ones or all of them.
• Most importantly, it reads your shopping (.cfg) and matches the variable names in it to the variable names in the collected data .dat file. It then suggests filenames for all the variables according to a naming system that you can adjust. If the .cfg is formatted correctly, it also finds and assigns all the variable descriptions and units. You will then be able to make graphs etc with recognizable names that can also be easily distributed as graphic captures that you and everyone will understand. You can import the same way next time and reuse the same .cfg and edit its text (they are text files) to correct/improve names even after collection.
• Import from QMM knows how to find the tags and the format of the file that its exporting tool qdacv.exe uses so you don’t need to learn that. Past major and minor version upgrades of qdacv.exe have not changed this format.

The screenshot at left shows the “stage 1” display where you see the raw data to be imported and choose the .cfg Shopping File and decide how it will create file names. Once you set this to your liking, you normally don’t change it. Analyse-Plus saves this setup for you.

The screenshot at right shows the “stage 2” display where you see the calculated sample period (that you can override) and verify or adjust any of the selected filenames, the optional control status, the description and units and of course the original tag. Above each column is an “Import” / “Don’t Import” switch that be individually toggled in case you don’t want all the variables. Use the horizontal scroll bar to view all the variables in the file. Click on Import when you are done and all selected variables will be imported to individual files. It checks for duplicate filenames too or ones that are already loaded in Analyse-Plus.

The number of samples and of variables is limited only by available computer memory.

QMM is licensed and Valmet personnel obtain and enter the license key. The QMM package includes the data conversion tool QMMDACV (qdacv.exe or qdacv64.exe) that exports data from QMM format to text and various other formats. Generally, QMMDACV is not itself licensed. To use Import From QMM, you must have access to QMMDACV (qdacv.exe or qdacv64.exe) from the computer running Analyse-Plus. Although this can be done over a network, the simpler solution is merely to copy the qdacv.exe or qdacv64.exe file from the collection computer (normally the EAS, collecting to c:\winqmm or d:\winqmm) to the computer running Analyse-Plus (a single file, no installation required). The minimum required version of QMMDACV is 2.19 (even in 2017, the current version was 7.20 so all systems should have the minimum version). Analyse-Plus executes this program to export the data to text and then imports this text. If you do not have data collected by QMM then this option is of no use to you.

Import From ABB/Bailey Harmony/Symphony/Net90/Infi90 CLS/DC90/Composer/DBDoc-CIULink

This Add-On helps you import data from 4 data collection programs that run on certain types of ABB control systems (on computers on the DCS network). Although the data may be in text files and so can be imported using the built-in Import From Text included in Analyse-Plus, this Add-On drastically reduces the time required to get the data you need and also to deal with collection errors and text embedded in the data stream. The main ABB/Bailey systems are:

• Harmony
• Symphony
• Infi90
• Net90
• and various similar models.

The data must have been generated by the following programs (you may already have one or more or may have to purchase them from their respective vendors) and you select which type as in the screen capture at right:

• DBDoc (which launches the "CIULink" program)
• Composer
• DC90 (both "Ascii" and "CSV" formats)
• Bailey CLS (Configuration Loading System) both DOS (usually run under Windows) and Unix versions.

This Add-On offers the following advantages over simply importing the text files generated by the above 4 data collection programs:

• Reads the Collection Setup file and finds the Tags, Descriptions and Units of all variables. You may review and change any in one display during importation.*
• Using these Tags and other information you specify, it suggests unique filenames for all variables. You may review and change any in one display during importation.*
• Reads the Log Start Date (& Time) and sets these as the Collection Date & Time for all saved Analyse-Plus .CSD files. It knows which formats use fixed date formats and which use local formats (following the Windows settings of the PC where the data was collected), which formats use text names for the months, which use numeric formats, which numeric formats are used etc. Because your Log File could have been collected in another country and the month may be specified as text in another language (e.g. "January", "Janvier", "Enero" etc), the names of the month are searched in a small database to convert the month to numeric format. In addition, the various date formats (DD/MM/YY, YYYY/MM/DD, MM/DD/YYY etc) are parsed using the known formats used for each file or are parsed to find the most sensible interpretation.
• Knows the layout of the Log File including from which column to start importing.
• Replaces all instances of the text that each program writes to denote a data collection or communication error (e.g. "*** Error ***") with the previous value or with a constant you choose. There may be hundreds in a single Log file.
• Warns you if the data logging has been stopped and restarted and automatically skips the lines that the collection program generates when this occurs. This also allows you to manually insert dummy values if you wish to avoid breaks in the time-line using your favourite editor.

* The Collection Setup file must be setup in the format specified in Tags, Descriptions & Units From Collection Setup File.

In a word, Import From ABB/Bailey Harmony/Symphony/Net90/Infi90 CLS/DC90/Composer/DBDoc-CIULink is a huge time and error saver.

In each case, the programs above record the sampled to a text file (usually called a Log File) and allow saving the configuration of this collection such as Description, Tag, Units etc. to a file (a collection setup file). Import ABB/Bailey will read both files so that it can automatically name files and enter descriptions, saving a great deal of time. Also, a consistent naming convention will be used, allowing you to find files quickly later. You need to setup the collection setup file when or after you perform a collection with these programs in order to make use of this feature that reads the Description, Tag and Units as shown in the Help file.

The screenshot at left shows the “stage 1” display where you see the raw data to be imported and choose the collection setup file and decide how it will create file names. Once you set this to your liking, you normally don’t change it. Analyse-Plus saves this setup for you.

The screenshot at right shows the “stage 2” display where you see the calculated sample period (that you can override), choose how to handle “Missing” samples, adjust the collection start date & time and verify or adjust any of the selected filenames, the optional control status, the description and units and of course, the original tag. Above each column is an “Import” / “Don’t Import” switch that be individually toggled in case you don’t want all the variables. Use the horizontal scroll bar to view all the variables in the file. Click on Import when you are done and all selected variables will be imported to individual files. It checks for duplicate filenames too or ones that are already loaded in Analyse-Plus.

The number of samples and of variables is limited only by available computer memory.

Future Add-Ons

Our next add-on (option) will be General Model Fit. This Add-On will fit a model of how any variable "Independent X” affects any variable “Dependent Y”. It will handle first and second order lag (time constant), first order lead and integrating models. Tentatively, the dynamics modelling (all 8 parameters can be modelled) will look like this:

Any variable can also be held fixed and maximum and minimum values can also be entered.

The concept is that General Model Fit can be used for model-based tuning such as Lambda Tuning or simply to understand how one process affects another and if any hypothesis about its nature could be correct. It can also be used to determine the effective time constant in auto of a control (use the setpoint as the Independent X, the PV as Dependent Y and perform setpoint step tests or any setpoint changes that are significant relative to routine process variation and reasonably short in the time separation between them). You could determine the filtering present in any measurement by modelling the raw to filtered values. There are many applications.

You can fit only a portion of a data file and then zoom out to see how that model would fit a larger portion of time or the entire file or you can fit the entire file. The software also prompts for automatic resampling of the data if the X and Y data sets have different sample periods.

Very importantly, it will not be necessary that the Independent X variable moves in steps or bumps. In fact, data in automatic can be used as long as the changes in X cause much larger changes in Y than do variation from other sources and noise. This also allows the use of setpoint changes in auto for modelling. It is also not necessary for the process to settle out after each major change in X. Of course, the model tends to be be much more accurate with large and sudden changes in X where Y settles or nearly settles.

As you may have guessed, General Model Fit is really a subset of and precursor to Tune-Plus. We have been working on this and testing/improving for some years and will post here when it is finally ready.