Prerequisites

• Supported operating system: Linux, macOS or Windows.
• .NET 6, 7 or 8 SDK (or possibly higher version): 
  • Linux instructions,
  • macOS instructions,
  • Windows instructions.
• Visual Studio Code (https://code.visualstudio.com/).
• C# extension for Visual Studio Code.
• Internet connection with access to www.nuget.org (for downloading NuGet packages) and www.opclabs.com (for connection to the public OPC UA and OPC XML-DA servers).
• Note that for this Getting Started, you DO NOT need to install OPC Data Client (using the Setup program), as the necessary component packages will be pulled from the Internet.

Console Application to Read Value from OPC Unified Architecture Server

1. Open a command prompt.

2. Create a folder named Hello and navigate to the folder.

3. Type the following: dotnet new console. This command creates a project file (Hello.csproj) and a main program file (Program.cs).

4. Type the following: dotnet add package OpcLabs.QuickOpc. This command adds OPC Data Client package reference to the project file.

   The above command actually adds a reference to the package corresponding always to the very latest OPC Data Client version. If you want to be sure that you referencing a package for OPC Data Client 2024.1, use dotnet add package OpcLabs.QuickOpc --version 5.80 command instead.

5. Type the following: code . (note the dot '.' as a parameter to the command.) Visual Studio Code starts and its window opens.

6. At this point, you might be asked "Required assets to build and debug are missing from 'vscode'. Add them?". If so, press the Yes button in the popup window.

7. A notification will appear "There are unresolved dependencies from 'Hello.csproj'. Please execute the restore command to continue.". Press the Restore button in the popup window.

8. In the Explorer window, click on the Program.cs file. The file opens in the code editor.

9. Add following code to the beginning of the Program.cs file:

   using OpcLabs.EasyOpc.UA;
   

10. In Program.cs, replace the body of the Main method by following code:

    var client = new EasyUAClient();
    object value = client.ReadValue(
        "opc.tcp://opcua.demo-this.com:51210/UA/SampleServer",
        "nsu=http://test.org/UA/Data/;i=10853");
    Console.WriteLine(value);
    

11. Select Debug -> Start Debugging (F5) from the menu, or press the corresponding button on the toolbar.

    This will build and launch the program. The value will be read from the OPC server and displayed in the Debug Console window.

Console Application to Read Value from OPC XML-DA Server

1. Open a command prompt.

2. Create a folder named HelloXml and navigate to the folder.

3. Type the following: dotnet new console. This command creates a project file (HelloXml.csproj) and a main program file (Program.cs).

4. Type the following: dotnet add package OpcLabs.QuickOpc. This command adds OPC Data Client package reference to the project file.

   The above command actually adds a reference to the package corresponding always to the very latest OPC Data Client version. If you want to be sure that you referencing a package for OPC Data Client 2024.1, use dotnet add package OpcLabs.QuickOpc --version 5.80 command instead.

5. Type the following: code . (note the dot '.' as a parameter to the command.) Visual Studio Code starts and its window opens.

6. At this point, you might be asked "Required assets to build and debug are missing from 'vscode'. Add them?". If so, press the Yes button in the popup window.

7. A notification will appear "There are unresolved dependencies from 'Hello.csproj'. Please execute the restore command to continue.". Press the Restore button in the popup window.

8. In the Explorer window, click on the Program.cs file. The file opens in the code editor.

9. Add following code to the beginning of the Program.cs file:

   using OpcLabs.EasyOpc.DataAccess;
   

10. In Program.cs, replace the body of the Main method by following code:

    var client = new EasyDAClient();
    object value = client.ReadItemValue(
        "http://opcxml.demo-this.com/XmlDaSampleServer/Service.asmx",
        "Dynamic/Analog Types/Double");
    Console.WriteLine(value);
    

11. Select Debug -> Start Debugging (F5) from the menu, or press the corresponding button on the toolbar.

    This will build and launch the program. The value will be read from the OPC server and displayed in the Debug Console window.