ci-server-engineer/knowledge/manuals/IM36K10L10-01EN.md

manual	title	edition	version	status
IM 36K10L10-01EN	Class/Object Engineering	3rd Edition, Sep. 2023	R1.03	from docs; opc.sup, process_start.cmd, the PROCESS data files and opcdbg (database check, get class/object, signals, attributes, reset class, dump, performance main info) checked on the test system 2026-09-30

Class/Object Engineering (R1.03)

PROCESS Service runs objects: instances of classes (programs written in the Traditional or Java PROCESS Service language) that link a set of items through signals and are run by trigger groups, signal changes or timers. Internally all its process names start with OPC ("Object oriented Process Control") — nothing to do with the OPC Foundation standard. Section numbers refer to the manual. Language details: IM36K10P10-01EN.md (Traditional) and IM36K10P11-01EN.md (Java).

1. Processes (§1)

Process	Role
OPCMAN	Manager: keeps the configuration (trigger groups, classes, objects); every client request goes through it
OPCCOM / OPCJCOM	Compiler for Traditional / Java classes
OPCACT / OPCJACT	Activator: creates/deletes objects (runs the class prolog / create()), creates and deletes the items an object makes
OPCLOA	Loader: passes run information to the executors; keeps a private copy of the data store on a front-end node
OPCEXE / OPCJEXE	Executor: runs the objects (Traditional / Java); creates the ALARM-statement items
opcdbg	Command-line debugger (see §4)

Rules for distributed systems: OPCMAN, the compilers and activators run together on the host node, one of each. Loader/executor pairs may run on other nodes; several executors per node are allowed, each serving its own priority range (0–999).

Installed (R1.03 test system): process_start.cmd starts opcloa; on the host node also opcman, opcact, opccom; then four Traditional executors opcexe1…opcexe4 and one Java executor opcjexe (a javaw process). OPCJCOM/OPCJACT are not started by the script; OPCMAN starts them on demand (process_jcom_start.cmd, process_jact_start.cmd) and they exit after an idle time. Java process logging is configured in %TLS_WAP_PATH%\cfg\properties\opcj{act,com,exe}logging.properties.

2. Setup files (§2)

opc.sup holds settings for all PROCESS processes; a file named after one process's BUS queue (e.g. opcman.sup) overrides it for that process only. The Java processes read only opc.sup. Change it with the Setup File Editor (skill portal-setup); a restart is needed.

Main keywords and the installed values (differences from the manual: ISS-026):

Keyword	Meaning	Installed
CLASS-TEMPLATE, JCLASS-TEMPLATE	Source template for new classes	not set → %TLS_DAT_PATH%\opc_src_tpl.asc / opc_jsrc_tpl.asc
EVENT-BUFFER = node, size, time-out	ITEM Service buffers item events for PROCESS	-1, 1000, 0.1 (all nodes)
IMMED-EVENTS	One extra update per item when an executor starts	NO (manual: default YES)
COLD-START	Front-end loads everything from the host at start (legacy)	NO
AUDIT	Audit trail for configuration and value changes	NO
FLOW-CONTROL = interval, timeout (s)	Heartbeat from ITEM Service; 0,0 disables	30,60 (manual default 300/360)
TRIGGER-QUEUE-SIZE	Queued triggers per object; at 90 % a "Loosing real-time" warning	100
ALARM-ITEMS, ALARM-PRIORITY	Items and priorities for the language's ALARM statement	not set
HOST-NODE	PROCESS host node	-1 (the system host)
ALM-PROC, ADT-PROC, ITM-PROC	Queue names of ALARM, AUDIT, ITEM Service	ITM-PROC = ITM
PROC-TIME = wait s, jact min, jcom min	Start wait and idle time-outs of OPCJACT/OPCJCOM; 0 = 30 min	20,0,0
QUEUE-SIZE = process, kB	BUS queue sizes	OPCEXE1–4 300, OPCMAN 400, OPCLOA 252
PRIORITY-RANGE = executor, from, to	Priority range per executor; must not overlap	OPCEXE1 0–249, OPCEXE2 250–499, OPCEXE3 500–749, OPCEXE4 750–999
LOCK-CHECK (s)	Manager housekeeping interval	10
SCHEDULER-INTERVAL (ms)	Finest run resolution for Traditional objects	500
TRACE	Debug output of OPCEXE to stdout	NO
STATISTICS	Performance statistics for opcdbg (Traditional; Java always on)	NO
PRINT	PRINT statement output goes to the message log	YES
SYMTAB-SIZE, INCTAB-SIZE, ALARMTAB-SIZE, TIMERTAB-SIZE, ATTRIBTAB-SIZE, SIGTAB-SIZE, LABELTAB-SIZE, VARTAB-SIZE, FNCTAB-SIZE, STRPOOL-SIZE, CODE-SIZE	Compiler table sizes (Traditional)	4000, 100, 40, 40, 1000, 1000, 100, 4000, 200, 32 kB, 1000 kB

Also in the file: hidden keywords FLDSEP = "," and IGNEXI = 1 (not described). opcini.sup holds only a licence line; leave it alone.

The object's priority decides which executor runs it: sample objects with priority 0 run in OPCEXE1 (seen with opcdbg, "Running in : 1, OPCEXE1").

3. Ways to create classes and objects (§3)

1. Engineering Module (normal GUI way).
2. opcdbg (repair situations).
3. An application using the PROCESS routine interface.
4. Quick load with dssqld (CLASS_DF, OBJECT_DF, TRIGGER_DF) — used by this repo; see skill class-object-engineering.

4. Debugger opcdbg (§4)

Interactive; first asks the OPC host node (0 = this node), then the action: 1 trigger groups, 2 classes, 3 objects, 4 performance, 5 utilities, -1 exit. opcdbg 0 <action> skips the first two questions. Answers can be piped in (one per line); end with -1 lines so it exits, and keep a time-out: on end of input it repeats the last prompt forever.

Menu	Useful actions
Classes (2)	5 get class (by Name or Id — asked first), 7 compile, 8 reset class (all its objects on a node), 12 triggers, 16 all attributes, 18 all signals, 19/20 get/modify attribute value, 21 hide/unhide code
Objects (3)	4 get object (N/I first), 6 reset, 7 trigger, 12 all attributes, 14 all signals (with item ids), 15 debug on/off (writes a trace file), 16/17 get/modify attribute value, 18 object status (runs, executor)
Performance (4)	Asks front-end node and executor name (default OPCEXE, installed names are OPCEXE1…4); 1 main info, 5 class info, 7 object info, 8 reset statistics, 9 statistics on/off, 10/11 top-10 classes/objects
Utilities (5)	1 reset host/front-end, 2 pending front-end updates, 3/4 dump classes/objects, 5 database check (read-only), 6 database repair (deletes incomplete data; back up first), 7 disassemble class, 8 clean up "item used" marks, 9 memory dump

Verified 2026-09-30: Reset class asks class name, node and a file for a reset report (not in the manual; empty line = none). Times are printed in GMT. The dump files (3/4) are not in quick load format and dssqld -i rejects them (ISS-027); export CLASS_DF / OBJECT_DF with dssqld -e instead. Cleanup item used file fixes items that cannot be deleted because a removed object still marks them as used.

5. Data store (Appendix 1)

Owned by PROCESS Service, in %TLS_DAT_PATH%: opc_clsdef (class definitions), class source (installed name opc_clssrc, manual opc_clasrc), opc_clsobj (compiled code), opc_objdef, opc_attrib (attribute values of classes and objects), opc_signal (item per signal, with storage info), opc_trgdef, opc_trgact (trigger group ↔ class/object links), opc_msgovf (pending updates to front-ends). They depend on each other: losing one corrupts the whole store; check with opcdbg utilities 5, repair with 6. Back them up together (they are part of the tls\dat backup).

Related datasets (read with dssqld -e, see IM36K10J10-01EN.md): CLASS_DF, OBJECT_DF, TRIGGER_DF, CLASS_SIGNAL_DF, OBJECT_SIGNAL_DF (object:signal → item), CLASS_ATTR_VAL, OBJECT_ATTR_VAL (attribute values, writable with dssqld -m), CLASS_INCLUDED_DF, CLASS_RESET_COMMAND (system-wide reset command used by the Engineering Module; not practiced).