Glossary
This page explains the terms that appear throughout the documentation and the OPC Router interface. The page describes how the manual marks paths, placeholders, and interface elements, while the page explains the notation used in the manual.
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Connection(s) | Plug-in instance: The individual configuration entry for a plug-in, e.g., the connection information for a specific OPC server or a specific database server. OPC server connection, DB server connection, mail server connection, etc. |
| Element (of a transfer object) | A part of a fully configured transfer object, such as a data field in a table, an OPC item, or a specific variable. Elements/items are connected via item links during flow configuration, thereby defining the data transfer. |
| Flow | A combination of at least one data source, one data destination, and one trigger. Flows define how a transfer should proceed: which data is moved from where to where under which conditions. Up to version 5.6, the flow was called a “connection.” |
| flow configuration | The actual process of putting together a flow: creating (a new) flow, defining sources, destinations, and triggers, and enabling and disabling the flow. Flow configuration requires a completed configuration. |
| Function (FX) | A reusable sub-flow: defined once, called from any number of flows. The definition is located in the template interface; the call point is the Function (FX) transfer object in the flow. See Functions (FX) |
| instance | A specific flow generated from a template by filling the template variables with values. See Working with Templates |
| Item Link | Connects two elements (items) in flow configuration and thereby defines which values are transferred between the transfer objects. Up through version 5.6, the item link was called a connection arrow. |
| Item, Transfer Object Item | See Element (of a transfer object) |
| configuration | In the documentation, “OPC Router Configuration” refers to the basic settings and (in most cases) the creation of plug-in instances (as opposed to flow configuration). |
| Contract | The inputs and outputs of a sub-process, each with a name and data type. The contract specifies which values the caller passes and which it receives in return. See Sub-processes |
| plug-in | The plug-ins provide the router’s actual functions, such as connections to OPC, database, or mail servers, to ERP systems, as well as router-internal variables. Some plug-ins require a separate license. The documentation also uses “plug-in” to refer to the totality of all instances of a specific plug-in. |
| plug-in instance | See Connection(s) |
| engineering | This generally refers to flow configuration. |
| Scope Input, Scope Return | The two fixed objects at the beginning and end of a subprocess: The scope input provides the passed-in values, while the scope output collects the results for the caller. See Subprocesses |
| Secret | Credentials are not stored in plain text in the configuration dialogs but are managed centrally as secrets. The password fields refer to these; changing a secret updates it wherever it is used. See Secrets |
| snap-in | Dialog box on the left side of the screen. |
| Transfer | A data transfer at runtime. At design time, this is the same as <Ui>Flow</Ui>. |
| transfer object | A source, a destination, or a trigger in a flow. |
| Sub-process | A flow without a trigger that does not start on its own but is executed by a transfer object from the calling flow—such as the THEN branch of a condition or a function (FX). The user interface also uses the term “subflow” for this. See Subflows |
| Variable | Typically, this refers to an instance of the Variable plug-in. Other variables (e.g., within templates) are referred to as template variables or placeholders unless the context is unambiguous. |
| Publish | The process by which collected changes to the configuration become effective for the runtime. Until then, the runtime continues to operate using the most recently published version. See Publish |
| template | The basic structure of a flow, including all fixed parts of the flow configuration; the variable parts are template variables. See Working with Templates |
| Template Variable | A typed placeholder in a template for values that differ between instances. Only template variables of type <Ui>String</Ui> can be combined with text and other template variables to form an expression; all other types completely replace a field. See Working with Templates |