Resolving WinCC DataMonitor Excel Workbook and Logging Tag Errors

Problem Overview

Siemens WinCC DataMonitor is a web-based client/server information portal that extends a WinCC runtime station with intranet/internet reporting, trending, alarm distribution, and Excel-based workbooks. In WinCC V7.0 SP3, V7.2, and the related DataMonitor client suites, two failure modes consistently appear during commissioning:

1. Excel workbooks published through the Workbook Wizard appear in the "Excel Workbooks" drop-down list on the DataMonitor web front-end, but selecting the template and pressing Create Immediately produces no output, and the workbook never appears in Published Reports.
2. Opening Trends & Alarms in the web center and selecting any configured connection returns the message "No logging tags available for the selected connection. Select a different connection or configure logging tags for the selected connection in WinCC."

Web Navigator pages, the print job, and the workbook connection wizard continue to function. The browser returns the template list, tag selection during design-time succeeds, and the wizard retrieves archive values. The runtime publication path, however, silently drops the job. Both symptoms are tied to incomplete server-side configuration of the DataMonitor Server component, not to the client browser or the Office version on the workstation.

WinCC DataMonitor Architecture

DataMonitor is delivered as a WinCC option and consists of two server-side services and one client component:

• DataMonitor Server – a Windows service that hosts the IIS application pool, the WinCC Web Service, the report scheduler, and the published report file share.
• DataMonitor Client – the design-time tool (Workbook Wizard) and runtime browser-side Web Center.
• SQL archive coupling – DataMonitor reads from the WinCC user archive / Tag Logging runtime database and the alarm logging database through configured WinCC connections.

Two separate security contexts are evaluated for every job: the WinCC user that DataMonitor authenticates against the WinCC user administrator, and the Windows / SQL account under which the scheduled report is generated and saved. If either context is missing, the workbook job is dropped at the scheduler without a user-visible failure code.

For a complete description of components and interfaces see the SIMATIC HMI WinCC/DataMonitor V7.5 SP2 manual (the section numbering used in V7.0/V7.2 manuals is identical for the steps in this article).

Root Cause Analysis – Excel Workbook Generation Failure

When the Workbook Wizard produces a template that publishes, lists correctly, but never generates a file, the most common root causes are:

The single configuration field that resolves the most reported instance of this problem is the Report Template user credential in the WinCC User Administrator. The DataMonitor manual (V7.0 / V7.2), section 3.5.6.4, defines this step: each Excel template used by the report scheduler must be assigned a WinCC user with both a login name and a password. An empty password is rejected by the scheduler; the job is queued but never written.

Root Cause Analysis – "No Logging Tags Available"

The error string is raised by the DataMonitor web application (component DMWebControls.dll) when the active connection points to a WinCC project that has no logging tags registered in the runtime Tag Logging database. The connection test succeeds because the WinCC project loads, but the metadata query against the configured archive returns zero rows.

Three distinct conditions produce this message:

1. Connection type is wrong. The connection is set to a type that does not expose the archive tags (e.g., a process value connection that has not been linked to a Tag Logging archive). The fix path is in Web Center > Administration > Connection Administration.
2. Tag Logging is not running. The WinCC runtime component Tag Logging Runtime is not started, so no archive segments are written. The connection is valid but the database is empty.
3. Archive tags are configured but not enabled at runtime. Tags exist in Tag Logging configuration with the Archive attribute set, but the archive is not started or is configured with a time range that has already closed.

Prerequisites

Before applying the resolution below, verify the following on the WinCC server that hosts DataMonitor:

• WinCC V7.0 SP3 or V7.2 (or higher compatible V7.x) installed and licensed for the DataMonitor option.
• Microsoft Office Excel installed on the DataMonitor server (not only on the client workstation). For WinCC V7.0 SP3 / V7.2 the supported matrix is Excel 2003 SP3, Excel 2007, Excel 2010 (32-bit), and Excel 2013 (32-bit). 64-bit Office is not supported by the report scheduler on V7.x – see Siemens Support entry 99687522 for the official compatibility note.
• IIS installed and the WinCC Web Service started, with the DataMonitor web site running under the application pool identity configured in the Web Configurator.
• WinCC User Administrator contains a dedicated user (typically DMReportUser or similar) that owns the report templates.
• Tag Logging Runtime active in the running WinCC project, with at least one tag configured with the Archive attribute set to a non-zero cycle time.

Step-by-Step Resolution

1. Repair the Report Template User Credential

1. On the DataMonitor server, open WinCC Explorer > Tools > User Administrator.
2. Locate the user that owns the failing workbook template. This is the user account under which the template was saved from the Workbook Wizard.
3. Open the user properties. Enter a non-empty Password and Confirm Password.
4. Click OK and close the User Administrator. WinCC writes the new credential hash back to the project.
5. Restart the service SIMATIC WinCC CCReportsJobService from services.msc to force the scheduler to re-read the user table.

2. Correct the Connection Type

1. Open a browser and navigate to the DataMonitor Web Center: http://<server>/WebCenter or http://<server>/datamonitor depending on installation.
2. Log in as administrator.
3. Open Web Center > Administration > Connection Administration.
4. For each connection used by Excel or Trends, set the Type to the appropriate value:

5. Click Apply. Reload the Web Center page.

3. Verify Tag Logging is Active

1. On the server, open WinCC Explorer.
2. Right-click Tag Logging and select Open.
3. Confirm that the configured archives have the Runtime state started (green indicator). If not, right-click the archive and select Start.
4. For any tag intended for use in DataMonitor, open Tag Logging > Properties on the tag and confirm that Archive is checked and the cycle is non-zero.

4. Re-publish the Workbook

1. On the client workstation, open the Workbook Wizard from the DataMonitor start menu group.
2. Re-select the affected template.
3. In the wizard, when prompted for credentials, enter the same WinCC user name and the password you set in step 1.
4. Complete the wizard and publish the workbook to the DataMonitor server.

5. Trigger a Generation

1. Return to the Web Center > Excel Workbooks.
2. Select the template from the drop-down list.
3. Click Create Immediately.
4. Within 10–30 seconds, the generated .xlsx should appear in Published Reports. The same file is written to the share \<server>\<winccproject>\Reports (or to the path configured in the Web Configurator).

Verification Procedures

After applying the steps above, validate the system with the following checks:

• Service health. In services.msc on the server, all of the following are Started and Automatic: SIMATIC WinCC CCReportsJobService, SIMATIC WinCC WebService, SIMATIC WinCC DataMonitorServer.
• Scheduler log. Open %ProgramData%\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\DataMonitor\Logs\ReportsJobService.log. Successful generation produces a line containing the template name and a finished status within the configured tick interval (default 30 s).
• Web Center log. Open %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\WebNavigator\WebCenter\Log\WebCenter.log and confirm no HttpException 401 or HttpException 500 entries against the workbook URL.
• Trends & Alarms. After login to the Web Center, open Trends & Alarms, select the corrected connection, and confirm the tag picker populates with at least one archived tag.
• File share write. Manually trigger a workbook generation and confirm a new file appears in the report share. If the file appears in the scheduler output directory but not in the Web Center Published Reports list, the IIS application pool identity lacks read permission on the share – grant Read & Execute to the pool identity.

WinCC / DataMonitor Upgrade Considerations

A common follow-on question when a WinCC server is upgraded (for example, V7.0 → V7.2 Upd.9) is whether the DataMonitor Client installation on user PCs must be updated in lockstep. The binding rule is:

• The DataMonitor Client on every workstation must be at the same major version as the DataMonitor Server, and at the same service pack level as the WinCC runtime that hosts the server component.
• Mismatched client/server pairs typically still allow Web Navigator and Trends & Alarms to render, but the Workbook Wizard design-time COM components will refuse to connect, and the Create Immediately API call may return a version-skew error rather than a clear message.
• Before any upgrade, capture all WinCC user credentials used as report-template owners and re-apply the passwords after the upgrade. The credential hash is regenerated during the upgrade and the previously stored password is invalidated, which again produces the silent workbook generation failure.

For upgrade prerequisites, see the Siemens WinCC V7.2 SP3 release notes and installation manual on the Siemens Industry Online Support portal.

Office Compatibility Matrix (DataMonitor V7.x)

Troubleshooting Matrix

Preventive Configuration Checklist

Apply the following checklist on every new DataMonitor deployment to prevent the failure modes above:

• Create a dedicated WinCC user per report template, each with a strong, non-empty password stored in the corporate password vault.
• Install 32-bit Office 2010 or later on the DataMonitor server. Do not install multiple Office versions on the same server.
• Enable the CCReportsJobService with Automatic (Delayed Start) startup and confirm it is running before commissioning.
• In the Web Configurator, set the Windows Impersonation account to a low-privilege domain user that has Read on the WinCC project directory and Read/Write on the report output share.
• Use the Connection Administration page of the Web Center to verify that every connection's Type matches its intended use (Process Values, Archive, or Alarm Logging).
• Tag at least one process value with Archive = on and a 1 s cycle in Tag Logging during commissioning, to populate the trend picker for smoke tests.
• Schedule a daily workbook generation (e.g., 06:00) and verify the resulting file lands in the share every morning. This catches credential and permission regressions before a user does.

Field-Proven Cautions

• Do not rename the WinCC project on the server. The report-template binding stores the project name; renaming leaves the template orphaned and the wizard will not reconnect to it.
• Do not use the local Administrator account as the report template user. WinCC rejects empty passwords and the scheduler silently skips jobs for the Administrator account if UAC redirection interferes with the COM launch.
• Do not enable Windows UAC virtualization on the DataMonitor server – it redirects file writes for the report scheduler to a per-user virtual store and the file never reaches the network share.
• On WinCC V7.0 SP3, the Workbook Wizard cannot add alarm tags if the Alarm Logging runtime is not started when the wizard opens. Start Alarm Logging first, then start the wizard.

FAQ