OPC Data Client offers several development models. Each development model is a kind of approach to solving the problem. Some development models involve imperative programming (traditional coding), while others do not require programming in the usual sense, or the programming approach is dubstantially different. The various development models are described in the chapters further below.
The following table shows which development models are available for different development platforms:
COM | .NET Framework | .NET 6+ | Excel (with Excel Connector) | |
Imperative Programming Model |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
⨯ (1) |
Live Binding Model (Windows Forms, WPF) |
⨯ |
✓ |
⨯ |
⨯ |
Live Mapping Model |
⨯ |
✓ |
✓ |
⨯ |
Reactive Programming Model |
⨯ |
✓ |
✓ |
⨯ |
Real-time Data Spreadsheet |
⨯ |
⨯ |
⨯ |
✓ |
Notes: (1) This functionality is not directly available on the development platform, but can be achieved by combining with VBA code (through COM platform).
Multiple different development models can be freely mixed in the same project.
In OPC Data Client-COM, only the imperative programming model is available.
The User Interface object belong logically under the Imperative Programming Model, although they are described separately, because they are simply an extension for a specific purpose, and not all developers need to use them.