Use the Siemens S7 Browse Agent
12 min
With the Siemens S7 Browse Agent, you can export tags and variables from a TIA Portal project and import them into Belden Horizon Data Operations using the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation tool.
Before You Begin
- Create a TIA Portal project that includes the tags you want to add the device you create in DeviceHub. See Tag Data Type Conversions to learn more.
- The TIA portal files are located in the your program installation folders. If you have TIA Portal V15, they are located in Program Files > Siemens > Automation > Portal V15 > Public API > V15
- If you have TIA Portal V15.1, they are located in Program Files > Siemens > Automation > Portal V15_1 > Public API > V15_1.
- Download one or both of the following zip files based on which version of TIA Portal you have. If you have TIA Portal V15, download this file:
- If you have TIA Portal V15.1, download this file:
- If TIA Portal is open, close it.
Use the Siemens S7 Browse Agent
Using the Siemens S7 Browse Agent includes the following tasks:
- Step 1: Add Siemens S7-Advanced Device to DeviceHub
- Step 2: Extract DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool
- Step 3: Copy and Paste .dll Files
- Step 4: Retrieve Parameters for DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool
- Step 5: Configure DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool
- Step 6: Export Tags to CSV File
- Step 7: Upload Tags to Belden Horizon Data Operations
- Step 8: Repeat Steps for Other TIA Portal ZIP File
Step 1: Add Siemens S7-Advanced Device to DeviceHub
To add the Siemens S7-1500 device to DeviceHub:
- In Belden Horizon Data Operations, navigate to DeviceHub > Devices.
Click the Connect a Device box. The Connect Device dialog box appears.
Connect a Device box- In the Device Type drop-down list, select Siemens.
- In the Driver Name drop-down list, select Siemens S7-Advanced (Gen1).
- Configure the parameters for the device. See Connect a Device and Siemens S7-Advanced (Gen1) to learn more.
Step 2: Extract DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool
To extract the DeviceHub Automatic Tag Generation tool:
- In Windows Explorer, extract the contents of one of the following zip files: TIA_Portal_Files_version_v15.zip or TIA_Portal_Files_version_v15_1.zip.
- Open the extracted folders until you view the the files DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation.exe and siemens.dll.
Step 3: Copy and Paste .dll Files
To copy and paste the .dll files:
- In your program installation folders, navigate to Program Files > Siemens > Automation > Portal V15 > Public API > V15 or Program Files > Siemens > Automation > Portal V15_1 > Public API > V15_1 (depending on the zip file extracted in "Step 2: Extract DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool".)
- Copy the following files: Siemens.Engineering.dll and Siemens.Engineering.HMI.dll.
- Paste the files into the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation tool folder for V15 or V15.1.
Step 4: Retrieve Parameters for DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool
To retrieve parameters for the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation tool:
- In Belden Horizon Data Operations, navigate to DeviceHub > Devices.
For the Siemens S7-Advanced device tile, click the Copy Device ID icon and paste it somewhere for reference later.
Copy Device ID icon- Navigate to System > Tokens.
- In the REST API Keys section, click the Add REST API Key icon.
- Enter a name for the token in the Key Name field, and then click Create API Key.
- In the Value column for the key, click the Copy icon and paste it somewhere for reference later.
Step 5: Configure DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool
To configure the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool:
- From the V15 folder, double-click the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation.exe file. The DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation dialog box appears.
- Click the Project Diff File Browse icon and navigate to Documents > Automation > v15_project. The v15_project is the name you gave your project in the TIA portal.
- Click All files to see the TIA project file.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Click the CSV File Browse icon, navigate to the folder you want to store the CSV file, enter v15 tags in the File Name field, and then click Save.
- Configure the following parameters:
- Device ID: Paste the Device ID that you copied in "Step 4: Retrieve Parameters for DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool".
- Device Name: Enter S7-1500.
- Address: Enter the Belden Horizon Data Operations URL.
- API Token: Paste the REST API Key copied in "Step 4: Retrieve Parameters for DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation Tool".
Step 6: Export Tags to CSV File
To export the tags to a CSV file:
- From the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation dialog box, click Export.
- View the Logs pane to see the export process. This process may take some time. When you see Finished in the Logs pane, the tags are exported to a CSV file.
- Navigate to the folder on your hard drive that you designated for the CSV file and confirm it was successfully created.
Step 7: Upload Tags to Belden Horizon Data Operations
To upload the tags to Belden Horizon Data Operations:
- From the DeviceHub Automated Tag Generation dialog box, click Upload.
- In Belden Horizon Data Operations, navigate to DeviceHub > Tags.
- Click the Siemens S7-Advanced device.
- Confirm the tags from the CSV file are successfully uploaded.
Step 8: Repeat Steps for Other TIA Portal ZIP File
If you have both TIA Portal versions, repeat the above steps for the other zip file you downloaded.