Access a database from a remote PC

[Peachy]

LabVIEW 8.0

DSC Module 8.0

Citadel 5.0

Hi everyone,

With the DSC module, I store data in a database.

My question: Is there any way to access these data from a remote PC? If yes, how? With Citadel? With LabVIEW? ...?

Thank you

If my question is not clear, just tell me

Stephanie

[REM1]

Yes, there is.

If you are in MAX you view remote data the same way you view local data, just choose a database on a remote machine when you are picking traces to add to your view.

When you use LabVIEW, the historical VIs use a database URL which takes the form \\database_host_machine_name\database_name.  If no database_host_machine_name is supplied, localhost is assumed so just call these VIs with the remote database name supplied.

[Peachy]

We decide to use "remote panel" for the client. So the interface is use by the operator and one of the page is use by a remote PC.

But now I need to find a way to access the database in another place. This computer won't be in the network. I try to find information about "Remote Systems" in Citadel5, but I read that the systems need to be connected over Ethernet. I'm not really familiar with that, but I think that Ethernet means that they need to be in the same network, no?

Is there anyway to take the data (a folder somewhere in the computer), put it in another computer and then read it with Citadel? When I've created a ODBC data source, I've created a folder. Is it that folder that contains all the data?

Regards,

Stéphanie

[MattP]

Hello Stéphanie,

To access Citadel data on a remote machine, you will need to be able to communicate over your network to the remote machine.  If you are running a remote front panel, the database on the server actually running the VI will be available. 

For a VI to connect to a Citadel database on another computer, you will need to be on the same network.  As a test of this in Windows, if you can browse through the "My Network Places" interface to the remote machine containing the database, then DSC should be able to access the database if the remote machine has its permissions set appropriately. 

To create a copy of the Citadel database and bring it to a remote machine, you may find the following link beneficial: Overview of Citadel Historical Database Archiving Methods.  The database information, by default, will be stored in the following location: C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.0\data .  Normally, you would follow the steps in the link above to make a local copy of the database, then copy the new folder to your remote machine.  Note that to access the data correctly on the new machine, you need to reattach the database, preferably through the Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) interface.  Just open MAX, expand Historical Data and select Citadel 5 Universe.  On the next screen, right-click on My Computer and choose Create/Attach Database and navigate to the location to which you copied the database files.  This will let the DSC Module know that the database exists and how to access it.