Exporting WinCC Alarm Logs to Excel: TIA Portal V21 Methods

WinCC stores runtime alarms in a SQL Server archive (file-based or full instance), typically referenced as <Projectname>ALG.mdf. Operators, quality engineers, and maintenance technicians routinely need these records in Microsoft Excel for root-cause analysis, customer-facing reports, and trend analysis. The challenge is that the alarm archive is a proprietary SQL Server database, and reading it directly bypasses Siemens licensing controls. This guide catalogs every supported pathway to move alarm data out of WinCC and into Excel, compares their cost, complexity, and runtime impact, and provides a verified step-by-step procedure for the officially supported method in TIA Portal V21 (WinCC Unified).

1. WinCC Alarm Database Architecture

Before selecting an export method, understand how the alarm subsystem persists data. WinCC Runtime (both Classic RT and Unified RT) writes to a SQL Server backend; the file name and default path differ by TIA Portal version.

Each alarm record persists fields such as MsgNumber, MsgText, MsgState, MsgTime, MsGCameTime, MsgGoneTime, MsgAckTime, MsgClass, MsgPriority, and configured user-defined fields. The exact column set is determined by the alarm class definition and the HMI tag logging configuration. Excel-bound exports should preserve the timestamp granularity down to milliseconds for forensic reporting.

2. Export Methods at a Glance

3. Prerequisites for the Supported Method

The officially supported method for TIA Portal V21 is the integrated CSV export of the alarm control. Confirm the following before configuring:

1. WinCC Unified V21 is installed (TIA Portal V21 Update 1 or later recommended).
2. The HMI device is a Unified Comfort Panel (UCP) or Unified PC runtime with the alarm control placed in a screen.
3. The HMI runtime license is active on the target device.
4. The operator account has the "AlarmControl.Export" authorization (configured in the "User administration" of the HMI device).
5. A writable storage path exists on the runtime device (local disk, network share, or USB).
6. Microsoft Excel 2016 or later is installed on the target viewing machine (for .csv import via "Data > From Text/CSV").

4. Configuring the Native CSV Export (WinCC Unified V21)

Per the official TIA Portal V21 documentation (Configuring the export of alarms (RT Unified) - WinCC Unified), the alarm control includes a built-in "Export" button that writes the current alarm view to a *.csv file at runtime. The procedure below walks through every step.

4.1 Enable the Export Button in the Engineering System

1. Open the TIA Portal V21 project and navigate to the Unified HMI device.
2. In the project tree, double-click the screen that contains the alarm control.
3. Select the alarm control. In the Inspector window, open the "Properties > Toolbar" tab.
4. Locate the toolbar item "Export" (symbol icon: floppy disk with arrow). Set its visibility to "Visible" and configure its position in the toolbar order.
5. Open "Properties > General > Export settings" and configure:
   • File name template - e.g. Alarms_<Date>_<Time>.csv. Placeholders include <Date>, <Time>, <UserName>, and <DeviceName>.
   • Storage path - UNC path, local path, or mapped drive, e.g. \Fileserver\WinCCExports\ or D:\Reports\Alarms\.
   • Delimiter - select semicolon ; for Excel locales that use a comma as the decimal separator (most European locales) or comma , for US locale.
   • Character set - UTF-8 with BOM (recommended for multi-language alarms) or ANSI.
   • Header row - enable to include column names in the first row.
6. Compile the project and download to the Unified device.

4.2 Configure User Authorization

1. In the project tree, expand "Runtime settings > User administration".
2. Add or edit the operator role that should be allowed to export.
3. Assign the authorization "Alarm control: Export" (numeric value 7 in the default authorization set). The exact identifier may appear as HMI_Export_Alarms in the engineering view.
4. Confirm the role is assigned to the relevant users in the runtime user management.

4.3 Runtime Operator Procedure

1. Log in to the Unified runtime as an authorized user.
2. Open the screen containing the alarm control.
3. Filter the alarm view to the desired time range using the filter bar (timestamp from/to, state, class, priority).
4. Click the Export button in the alarm control toolbar.
5. Choose the export scope: "Visible alarms" or "All alarms in filter".
6. The runtime writes a .csv file to the configured path. A status popup confirms the file name and path.
7. Open Microsoft Excel > "Data > From Text/CSV", select the file, set the delimiter to match the configuration, and load.

4.4 Sample Output Structure

The exported .csv contains one row per alarm event (raise, clear, acknowledge) with the following representative columns (the exact set depends on the alarm class configuration):

Number;State;Date;Time;Text;Class;Priority;Acknowledged;User;Computer
1001;Came;2024-11-12;07:42:13.456;Motor M1 overload;Warning;5;No;;PLC_S7_1500
1001;Gone;2024-11-12;07:43:02.118;Motor M1 overload;Warning;5;No;;PLC_S7_1500
1001;Ack;2024-11-12;07:43:55.802;Motor M1 overload;Warning;5;Yes;OPERATOR_03;PLC_S7_1500

For Excel locales that require semicolon delimiters, change the system regional setting or import the file using "Data > From Text/CSV > Delimiter = Semicolon".

5. Alternative Supported Method: Connectivity Pack (Classic / Professional)

For TIA Portal versions V13-V20, the Connectivity Pack provides an OLE DB provider and OPC UA server for external data access. This is the standard path when integrating with custom reporting scripts or third-party SCADA dashboards.

5.1 Connection String

Provider=WinCCOLEDBProvider.1;Catalog=<Projectname>;Data Source=.\\WinCC

For the alarm log specifically, the standard query template is:

SELECT * FROM <Projectname>ALG WHERE DateTime >= '2024-11-12 00:00:00' AND DateTime <= '2024-11-12 23:59:59'

5.2 Excel VBA Script (Illustrative)

Sub ExportAlarms()
    Dim conn As Object, rs As Object
    Set conn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
    conn.ConnectionString = "Provider=WinCCOLEDBProvider.1;Catalog=MyProject;Data Source=.\\WinCC"
    conn.Open
    Set rs = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
    rs.Open "SELECT * FROM MyProjectALG WHERE DateTime >= '2024-11-12 00:00:00'", conn
    Sheet1.Range("A1").CopyFromRecordset rs
    rs.Close: conn.Close
End Sub

This approach requires the Connectivity Pack runtime license on the WinCC server and a valid OLE DB client license on the Excel host. The exported fields include all logging tags configured in the alarm class.

6. IndustrialDataBridge (Scheduled / Event-Driven Export)

IndustrialDataBridge is the right choice when the export must run unattended on a schedule or be triggered by a runtime event (e.g., a shift-end bit from the PLC). It supports direct XLSX output, which avoids the manual import step required for .csv.

6.1 Configuration Overview

1. Add the IndustrialDataBridge option to the WinCC project (license key required).
2. Create a new "Data Source" pointing at the WinCC alarm database via OLE DB.
3. Create a "Data Target" of type "Excel File" with the destination path and template.
4. Define the column mapping (alarm fields to Excel columns).
5. Set the trigger to "Cyclic" (e.g., every 5 minutes), "Tag-triggered" (PLC bit), or "Event-triggered" (alarm class state change).
6. Activate the bridge in the runtime start sequence.

IndustrialDataBridge also supports the "Append" mode, which appends new rows to an existing XLSX rather than overwriting, useful for monthly report accumulation. Ensure the file is not open in Excel during the write, or schedule the bridge for off-shift windows.

7. DataMonitor (Web-Based Excel Reports)

DataMonitor provides an Excel add-in and a web-based report designer. Operators can run a published report on demand from any browser session. The setup involves publishing the report template from the engineering system; the template embeds the OLE DB connection string and the SQL query. End users refresh the report from Excel and receive the latest alarm data without direct database access.

This is a good fit for customer-facing portals and multi-user environments where installing the Connectivity Pack OLE DB driver on every workstation is impractical.

8. Direct Access to the MDF File (Unsupported)

For diagnostic purposes only, the database can be detached in single-user mode (WinCC runtime stopped) and inspected. The table ALLEVENTS or MSGVIEW contains the historical records; MSGLTPROC holds the long-term archive. Schema details vary by TIA Portal version; verify against the version-specific WinCC Information System.

9. Verification Checklist

After configuring the native export in WinCC Unified V21, validate end-to-end:

1. Compile the project without warnings. The "Export" button should appear in the screen's alarm control during simulation.
2. Start the WinCC Unified simulator or download to the HMI device.
3. Generate a test alarm (use a force tag in PLCSIM or toggle a configured alarm tag).
4. Log in with a user holding the export authorization, apply a filter, and click "Export".
5. Confirm the .csv file appears at the configured path. Check file size and the "created" timestamp in Windows Explorer.
6. Open the .csv in Notepad and verify the delimiter, header row, and BOM (if configured).
7. Import into Excel using "Data > From Text/CSV". Verify the column count, milliseconds in the time column, and that multi-byte text renders correctly.
8. Repeat the export with an unauthorized user. The "Export" button should be disabled or hidden per the user administration settings.

10. Troubleshooting Matrix

11. Performance and Sizing Considerations

For high-volume alarm archives, the size of the exported .csv scales with the row count. Rough sizing guidance:

• Average row size with 12 columns: ~150 bytes.
• One million alarm events: ~150 MB raw CSV.
• Excel's hard row limit is 1,048,576 rows per sheet; very large exports should be split by date in the export template (e.g. Alarms_<Date>.csv) and loaded into separate sheets or a Power Query model.

For long-term archive queries, point IndustrialDataBridge at the long-term archive (MSGLTPROC) rather than the active log to avoid runtime contention with the alarm subsystem.

12. Summary and Method Selection Guide

• Single operator, ad-hoc export, TIA V21: use the native CSV export in the alarm control. No additional license required.
• Scheduled, unattended, XLSX output: deploy IndustrialDataBridge with a cyclic or tag-triggered schedule.
• Custom reporting, BI integration, OPC UA: use the Connectivity Pack and an external consumer (Excel VBA, Power BI, Python).
• Multi-user web access, no client install: deploy DataMonitor with published Excel templates.
• Engineering diagnostics only: stop the runtime, attach the .mdf in read-only mode, and inspect with SSMS. This is not a production export path.

Each method is fully supported by Siemens and aligns with the licensed runtime options. Selecting the right one depends on report frequency, user count, file format requirements, and existing infrastructure. For TIA Portal V21, the built-in alarm control export is the lowest-effort, fully supported first choice; reserve IndustrialDataBridge and the Connectivity Pack for automated and multi-system scenarios.

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