Exporting WinCC Archive Tags: Print Project Documentation Guide

Problem Statement: Empty Read Archive Tag Dialog

When an engineer opens the Process Object View in the WinCC Explorer, switches to the Archive Tag tab, clicks Read Archive Tag, and waits for the dialog to finish, the resulting list is empty. No tags are displayed, no error is shown, and the engineer cannot produce a printable list of every archive tag in the project. This behaviour is the most common symptom that the archive tags the engineer is looking for were not generated automatically by PCS7 from the plant hierarchy, but were created manually inside WinCC Tag Logging. The Process Object View only reflects archive tags derived from the SIMATIC PCS 7 hierarchy or from the OS assignment; tags that exist solely in the Tag Logging editor are invisible to that view.

The correct response is to use the documentation export function inside the WinCC Tag Logging editor, which is the canonical inventory of every archive tag - whether PCS7-generated or hand-inserted - and is the only single source of truth for the project's complete archive tag list.

WinCC Tag Logging and the PCS7 Plant Hierarchy

SIMATIC WinCC and SIMATIC PCS 7 maintain two parallel data models for archive tags. Understanding the difference is essential before deciding which export method to use.

Process Object View is bound to the OS server assignment. If the open project database has not been assigned to any OS server, the archive tab returns an empty result set. The same is true if the wrong hierarchy level is selected in the tree. The hierarchy must be expanded to a level that contains CFC/SFC charts; archive tags cannot propagate from a level that has no lower-level objects.

Prerequisites

1. WinCC Explorer installed on the engineering station (V7.4 SP1, V7.5, V7.5 SP2, V8.0, or V8.0 SP1 supported for the workflows below).
2. The WinCC project must be open in the WinCC Explorer of the engineering station, not the runtime-only view.
3. For Process Object View: the project must contain at least one OS server assignment and a populated plant hierarchy (typically \Hierarchy\Plant\Unit\Function structure).
4. For Tag Logging Print Project Documentation: write access to the WinCC project directory and a PDF or printer driver installed locally.
5. User must be a member of the Windows group SIMATIC HMI or have equivalent project edit rights.

Method 1: Process Object View with Correct OS Assignment

Use this method only when the archive tags were created by the PCS7 compiler. It is the fastest inventory if the project's full hierarchy is in place.

1. Open the WinCC Explorer on the engineering station.
2. In the navigation tree, right-click the project root and choose Process Object View.
3. Select the OS server from the OS Assignment dropdown at the top of the Process Object View window. If only one OS exists, it is preselected.
4. In the left-hand tree, expand the hierarchy to the lowest level that contains CFC/SFC charts. Selecting a top-level folder will not aggregate the tags; you must drill into the level where the actual measurements live.
5. Click the Archive Tag tab on the right pane.
6. Click Read Archive Tag. The dialog box that opens performs a database query against the WinCC archive configuration for the selected OS.
7. When the query completes, the list shows every archive tag the PCS7 compiler has registered for that OS under the selected hierarchy node.

Method 2: Tag Logging Print Project Documentation

This is the only method that lists every archive tag, regardless of whether it was generated by PCS7 or inserted by hand. It is the recommended approach for documentation, audit, and handover packages.

1. Open the WinCC Explorer.
2. In the navigation tree, right-click Tag Logging and select Open. The Tag Logging editor opens in a separate window.
3. From the menu bar, select File > Print Project Documentation. On German installations the menu is Datei > Projektdokumentation drucken.
4. The Print Project Documentation dialog appears. The left column lists all available documentation layouts. Choose one of the following layouts:
   • Tag Logging - Archive Configuration (lists every archive, its size, time base, and tag assignments)
   • Tag Logging - Archive Tags (lists every individual archive tag with name, type, limits, and assigned archive)
   • Tag Logging - All (combines both views in one document)
5. Click the Right Arrow button to move the chosen layout to the right column (Selected Layouts).
6. Click Print. The output can be redirected to a PDF printer (e.g. Microsoft Print to PDF), to a network printer, or saved as an RTF file using the Print to File option.

For projects with more than a few hundred archive tags, exporting to a searchable PDF rather than paper is the practical choice. The default output includes tag name, PLC address, data type, archive name, acquisition cycle, and any user-defined limits.

Method 3: Direct Tag List Export from the Tag Logging Editor

For engineers who want the raw list as CSV for further processing in Excel or a CMMS, use the export path inside Tag Logging.

1. Open the Tag Logging editor (see Method 2, step 2).
2. Click the Archive Tags tab at the bottom of the editor area.
3. Press Ctrl + A to select every archive tag, or use Shift/Ctrl + click to select a subset.
4. Right-click the selection and choose Copy (or press Ctrl + C).
5. Paste into Excel, Notepad++, or any text editor. The fields are tab-separated by default; Excel handles the import without additional parsing if you use Paste Special > Text.

For larger projects (10 000+ archive tags) the clipboard approach is faster than generating a PDF because the layout engine adds significant overhead. The clipboard list is functionally identical to the documentation output but lacks the print headers and the configured column widths.

Customizing the Print Layout

The default Tag Logging - Archive Tags layout contains the columns shown below. The layout file is a WinCC layout (.lay) editable in the GraphQL-based WinCC Layout Editor or, in older versions, in the legacy @Layouts subdirectory of the project.

To add a custom column (for example, the CFC chart name), edit the corresponding .lay file in <Project>\WinCC\TagLogging\Layouts and add a field binding. The syntax follows the WinCC internal field reference @<TableName>.<FieldName>. After saving the layout, restart the WinCC Explorer so the change is loaded.

OS Assignment, Multi-OS Projects, and Redundancy

PCS7 projects commonly run multiple OS servers (OS1, OS2, OS3 ...) for area segregation or redundancy. Each OS server has its own Tag Logging database, and archive tags are bound to a specific OS through the CFC chart's OS Assignment property.

When the engineer selects an OS in the Process Object View, only archive tags assigned to that OS are listed. If the project uses a redundant OS pair (OS1_Master, OS1_Standby), the archive tags are owned by the master and replicated to the standby; the documentation is identical on both sides after a full OS download.

For a complete inventory across all OS servers, repeat Method 2 for each OS. There is no global "all OS" documentation layout in standard WinCC V7.x or V8.0. For larger plants, automate the export using a WinCC VBS script that loops over all OS folders and concatenates the tag lists.

Verification: Cross-Checking the Three Sources

After generating the documentation, verify that no tags have been missed by reconciling three sources:

1. The Tag Logging PDF (Method 2) - the master list.
2. The Process Object View list (Method 1) - should be a strict subset of the master list.
3. The WinCC runtime trend list (Trends > Tag Selection) - what the operator actually sees.

Any tag present in the trends but absent from the Tag Logging PDF indicates a runtime-only tag, which usually means a manual insertion in the WinCC database that was never reflected back into the engineering database. Any tag present in the PDF but absent from the Process Object View indicates a manually inserted tag - the symptom the original engineer observed. A reconciliation check is also a useful tool to detect duplicate tags (same name, different archives), which are a frequent cause of "value freezes" in trends.

Common Pitfalls and Field-Proven Caveats

Scripted Export for Large Projects

For projects with multiple OS servers or for periodic documentation refresh, automate the export using a VBScript inside the WinCC Graphics Designer or a Windows scheduled task. The script below iterates over all OS folders in the engineering project and invokes the documentation export for each.

' WinCC VBScript - Export archive tag documentation for every OS
Const PROJECT_PATH = "C:\PCS7_Projects\Plant01\WinCC\"
Const OUTPUT_PATH  = "D:\Documentation\ArchiveTags\"

Dim fso, folder, sub, f
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set folder = fso.GetFolder(PROJECT_PATH)

For Each sub In folder.SubFolders
    If Left(sub.Name, 2) = "OS" Then
        Dim cmd
        cmd = "cmd /c WinCCExplorer.exe -project """ & PROJECT_PATH & sub.Name & _
              """ -export TagLogging -out """ & OUTPUT_PATH & sub.Name & ".pdf"""
        ' Run synchronously per OS to avoid database lock conflicts
        CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run cmd, 1, True
    End If
Next

Set fso = Nothing

Run the script from a Windows scheduler task with a service account that has the SIMATIC HMI group membership. For PCS7 V9.0 and later, the documented CLI flags for headless export are listed in the SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 documentation.

Standards and Documentation Hygiene

For regulated industries (pharma, food & beverage under FDA 21 CFR Part 11, or GxP), the archive tag list forms part of the validation deliverable. Recommended practice:

• Export the Tag Logging documentation at the end of every project phase (FS, DS, SAT, FAT) and store under change control.
• Capture the export as a PDF/A-1b file for long-term archiving.
• Use the CRC field in the export header to detect any post-export change to the project database.
• Compare the current export against the previous one using a diff tool; the difference is the change set for the period.

For 21 CFR Part 11, the documentation must be electronically signed. Configure the PDF printer to require a digital signature; do not rely on the Windows user account alone.

WinCC and PCS7 Version Compatibility

Key Reference Material

For deeper reading on the WinCC Tag Logging engine, the archive configuration model, and the PCS7 plant hierarchy compile cycle, the primary sources are the official Siemens manuals:

• SIMATIC HMI WinCC V7.5 - Tag Logging manual
• SIMATIC HMI WinCC V8.0 - Configuration manual
• SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 - Operator Station manual
• Siemens Industry Online Support (entry point for all WinCC KB articles)