Echelon i.LON SmartServer 2.0 - Manual (Page 34)

i.LON SmartServer 2.0 Programmer’s Reference 3-1
3 SmartServer Applications and the SOAP/XML
Interface
This chapter provides an overview of the applications supported by the SmartServer, and of how you
can use the SOAP/XML interface to configure these applications and use the data they generate. This
chapter includes the following major sections:
• Overview of SmartServer Applications. This section provides a description of each of the
applications that the SmartServer supports.
• SmartServer XML Configuration Files. The configuration of each SmartServer application is
stored in an XML file. This section lists those XML files, and it indicates where they are stored
on the SmartServer.
• SmartServer Resource Files. The SmartServer resource files contain information you will need
when using the SOAP functions. This section describes how to use the resource files.
• SOAP Functions. The SmartServer’s SOAP interface includes a generic set of List, Get, Set,
Read, Write, and Delete functions that can be used by the SmartServer applications. Together,
these functions make up a symmetric interface. This section provides an overview of how to use
these functions.
• Performance Issues. This section lists performance issues you should consider when using the
SOAP/XML interface.
3.1 Overview of SmartServer Applications
You can use the SOAP/XML interface to configure the following SmartServer applications:
• Data Server. The SmartServer’s internal Data Server is a software component that abstracts any
data element of any bus into a data point. This enables the SmartServer’s built-in applications and
your custom SmartServer Web pages to operate on these abstractions without regard of the device
driver (e.g., L
ON W ORKS , Modbus, M-Bus, Virtual, and Freely Programmable Module [FPM]).
• Web Binding. You can use the Web Binder application to create Web connections that allow
direct data exchange over a TCP/IP network between a SmartServer and another host device such
as a remote SmartServer, LNS Server, or a WebBinder Target Server (a Web server that can
process SOAP requests such as Apache or IIS).
• Data Logging. You can configure the SmartServer to record updates to the data points on your
network by creating Data Loggers. Each Data Logger will have its own log file, which will
contain log entries for each of the updates to the data points it is monitoring. These logs can be
downloaded and read with the Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or retrieved with the Read
function.
• Alarming. You can configure the SmartServer to trigger alarms based on the values and statuses
of the data points in your control network. The SmartServer can be configured to update any data
point in the L
ON W ORKS network, log the conditions to one or more data logs, or send out emails
notifying recipients of the alarms and the conditions that triggered them. Alarms can be
configured to shut off automatically when certain conditions are met, or they can be configured to
require manual clearance. You will create Alarm Generators and Alarm Notifiers to manage these
alarming tasks.
• Analog Functional Blocks. You can use the Analog Functional Block application to perform
statistical operations on the values of any of the data points in your network.
• Scheduling. You can use the SmartServer to create daily and weekly schedules, as well as
exception schedules and override schedules. These schedules can drive the inputs to data points
bound to any L
ON W ORKS , M-Bus or Modbus device. You can create Schedulers and Calendars to