WinCC PCI-1713 Integration: Cyclic ActiveX Tag Updates

Overview

Engineers who need to bring Advantech PCI-1713 / PCI-1713U analog input channels into a Siemens WinCC runtime face a recurring problem: Advantech ships a 32-channel, 12-bit, 100 kS/s DAQ card with a 4 k-sample FIFO and 2,500 VDC isolation, but no native WinCC channel, no OPC DA server, and no S7 protocol path. The card exposes its registers through a vendor-supplied DLL and an ActiveX wrapper that can be embedded in the WinCC Graphics Designer. Once embedded, the wrapper exposes input-channel properties that show the correct value at design time and even update on a manual mouse-click direct connection, yet assigning an internal WinCC tag and configuring a 250 ms cyclic update produces no value change at runtime.

This reference documents why the simple tag-binding approach fails, then provides four field-proven alternatives ranging from a Global Script polling loop, to a property-event trigger on the ActiveX itself, to writing a custom WinCC Channel DLL, to a clean WinAC RTX + WinAC ODK partition that turns the Advantech hardware into an S7-accessible I/O region. Each approach includes the complete code, the configuration path inside WinCC Explorer, the recommended update interval, and a verification procedure so the engineer can prove the data is actually moving.

Prerequisites

• Siemens WinCC V7.x runtime installed and licensed on the HMI station (V7.4 SP1 or later recommended for stable VBS performance).
• Advantech PCI-1713 series multifunction card (PCI-1713, PCI-1713-A, PCI-1713-AE, PCI-1713U, or PCI-1713U-BE) installed in the HMI PC with the Advantech Device Manager and the 32-bit ActiveX control registered.
• Advantech PCI-1713 Series User's Manual (Document No. 591-2720464) for register mapping, jumper settings for single-ended vs. differential mode, and calibration procedure.
• Local administrator rights on the WinCC station to register OCX/DLL components, configure Global Script triggers, and write to the WinCC project directory.
• WinCC internal tags already created (32 numeric tags recommended for full channel coverage, named to match the physical channel, e.g., AI_Ch00 ... AI_Ch31).

Hardware and Software Architecture

Advantech PCI-1713 / PCI-1713U Key Specifications

WinCC Side Component Stack

WinCC uses an internal tag database that is normally refreshed by channels (logical drivers, *.chn files) which call format DLLs to map tag values to physical addresses. The PCI-1713 has no such channel, so the integrator must either:

1. Push values into the WinCC tag database from outside the channel layer (Global Script, C action, ODK).
2. Build a channel DLL that pretends to be a WinCC channel and reads from the Advantech DLL.
3. Forward values through an S7-compatible soft-PLC such as WinAC RTX.

ActiveX Integration in Graphics Designer

Adding the ActiveX Control to the Palette

1. Register the Advantech OCX from an elevated command prompt:

   regsvr32 "C:\Advantech\DAQNavi\OCX\AdvAI.ocx"
   regsvr32 "C:\Advantech\DAQNavi\OCX\AdvDaq.ocx"

2. In WinCC Explorer, open Graphics Designer, right-click the object palette, choose Add/Remove, and select the Advantech ActiveX. The control icon appears in the palette.
3. Drop the control onto the start picture. The configuration dialog exposes the channel count, input range, and a property called InputData (or per-channel sub-properties such as AI0 ... AI31).
4. Verify the property is live at design time: selecting it shows the current A/D conversion value, confirming the card is reachable and the OCX has been registered correctly.

Root Cause: Why the Tag Does Not Update Cyclically

The naive approach is to bind the InputData property of the ActiveX directly to a WinCC internal tag and set the tag's update cycle to 250 ms. This fails because:

• The WinCC tag update cycle is a poll that the channel layer executes against the tag's source address. An internal tag's source is the WinCC data manager, not the ActiveX. The cycle does not push values from the OCX into the tag.
• The ActiveX InputData property is a passive read-only getter exposed by the OCX. Nothing in the WinCC runtime subscribes to it on a timer. WinCC only reads it when the Graphic Runtime redraws the bound object, which happens on picture-open and on tag-change events triggered by the channel layer.
• The mouse-click direct connection works because the direct connection is a one-shot event triggered by user input. WinCC executes the L-mouse click action synchronously, the OCX returns the latest conversion, and the connection writes the value into the tag. There is no equivalent automatic trigger on a timer.

The fix is to introduce an explicit polling trigger. WinCC provides three production-ready trigger mechanisms: Global Scripts scheduled by the VBS/C scheduler, property-event triggers on a picture object, and Channel DLLs that participate in the standard acquisition cycle.

Solution 1: Global Scripts with Time Triggers (Recommended Entry Point)

Architecture

A WinCC Global Script (VBS or C) is scheduled by the WinCC scheduler at a fixed interval (for example, every 1,000 ms). Each tick the script reads the current value from the Advantech OCX exposed as a runtime object reference and writes it into one or more WinCC internal tags using HMIRuntime.Tags. The script runs in the WinCC background task, decoupled from the Graphic Runtime, so other picture objects and animations continue to refresh in parallel.

VBS Implementation

Create the script in WinCC Explorer > Global Scripts > VBS Editor > Actions. The script must reference the ActiveX instance by its picture name and object name. A typical full-channel poll looks like this:

' --- Poll all 32 channels from PCI-1713 every cycle ---
Option Explicit

Dim objAI
Dim objTag
Dim i
Dim sVal

' Reference the ActiveX instance named "AdvAI_1" on picture "Start.pdl"
Set objAI = ScreenItems("Start.pdl").AdvAI_1

For i = 0 To 31
    Set objTag = HMIRuntime.Tags("AI_Ch" & Right("0" & CStr(i), 2))
    objTag.Read
    sVal = objAI.GetInputData(i)        ' OCX method exposed by Advantech
    objTag.Value = CDbl(sVal)
    objTag.Write
Next

Set objAI = Nothing
Set objTag = Nothing

Configuring the Trigger

1. Open WinCC Explorer > Global Scripts > VBS Editor and add the action under Actions (not Standard Modules, since actions are scheduled).
2. Right-click the action and choose Properties > Trigger. Add a new trigger of type Time with a cycle of 00:00:01 (1 s) or 00:00:00.250 if the station has CPU headroom and you need 250 ms.
3. Confirm the action appears under Computer > Global Scripts in the WinCC Explorer and that the "Loaded" indicator shows green. Restart Graphics Runtime only if the action does not initialize; the WinCC scheduler picks up the new action on the next cycle.

C-Action Implementation (Lower Overhead)

For faster polling the WinCC C scheduler is preferred because the call overhead per cycle is roughly an order of magnitude lower than VBS. Use the GetInputData C API from the Advantech SDK and write to the tag with the WinCC C API:

// drvapi.h from the Advantech PCI-1713 SDK
// wincc.h from the WinCC C-API

#include "wincc.h"
#include "drvapi.h"

void PollAdvAI(void)
{
    long lVal = 0;
    char tagName[16];
    DWORD dwState = 0;

    for (int ch = 0; ch < 32; ++ch)
    {
        // Advantech call - adjust to the actual SDK function exported
        lVal = AI_VoltageIn(CHANNEL_HANDLE, ch, AI_RANGE_10V);

        sprintf(tagName, "AI_Ch%02d", ch);
        // WinCC tag set via C-API
        SetTagDouble(tagName, (double)lVal / 4095.0 * 10.0);
    }
    return;
}

The C action is compiled into a Windows DLL and loaded by the WinCC scheduler through the action wizard.

Solution 2: Property-Event Trigger on the ActiveX

If the project only polls while the picture is visible, attaching the polling script to an event on the ActiveX itself (rather than a global timer) keeps the load off the rest of the runtime. The picture cycle is the closest built-in event WinCC offers.

1. Select the ActiveX instance on the start picture, open Properties > Events.
2. Choose an event the OCX fires periodically (the Advantech OCX exposes a OnDataReady or OnTimer event depending on the model). Bind a C action or VBS action that copies the latest InputData value into the WinCC tag.
3. Set the picture update to 250 ms in Picture > Properties > Update. This forces the runtime to re-evaluate the picture every cycle, which re-evaluates the event binding.

This method is bound to the picture lifecycle: the script stops firing when the picture is closed. Use it for diagnostics pages or operator screens, not for production logging that must continue while the operator is on a different picture.

Solution 3: Custom WinCC Channel DLL

When to Build a Channel

For installations that need WinCC archiving, alarming, long-term trending, and tag-level diagnostics on the PCI-1713 channels, the right answer is a real WinCC channel. The channel sits between the WinCC data manager and the Advantech DLL, so tag acquisition, time stamping, and quality codes are identical to any S7 or Profibus tag in the project.

Channel Architecture

Channel Configuration (.chn skeleton)

[CHANNEL]
Name=PCI1713
Driver=Adv1713.dll
TagType=1   ; 1 = analog input

[CONNECTION]
Device=0    ; PCI-1713 board index from Advantech Device Manager

[DRIVER_PARAM]
ScanRate=500        ; ms - drives the channel acquisition cycle
InputMode=1         ; 0=single-ended, 1=differential
Range=0             ; 0=±10V, 1=±5V, 2=0-10V
FIFOSize=4096

[FORMAT_DLL]
FormatDLL=AdvFmt.dll
Channel=1

Reading from the Format DLL

The format DLL implements the standard WinCC format interface (DRV_GETTAG, DRV_SETTAG). A typical read calls the Advantech function, scales the 12-bit raw code to engineering units, and returns the double:

double DRV_GETTAG(LPCTSTR pszTagName, LPVOID pData, DWORD dwLen)
{
    int ch = ParseChannel(pszTagName);   // "AI_Ch07" → 7
    long raw = AI_VoltageIn(g_hDev, ch, g_range);  // 0..4095
    double volts = ((double)raw - 2048.0) * 10.0 / 4096.0;
    *(double*)pData = volts;
    return 0;
}

Build the DLL with Visual Studio, drop the channel and format DLL into the WinCC project \library folder, and the channel appears in the WinCC tag management dialog next to SIMATIC S7 Protocol Suite.

Solution 4: WinAC RTX + WinAC ODK (Cleanest for Long-Term Maintainability)

Why WinAC RTX

WinAC RTX runs a real-time soft PLC on the same PC as WinCC and supports custom I/O via the WinAC ODK (Open Developer Kit). The integrator writes a C/C++ real-time task that polls the PCI-1713 through the Advantech SDK and exposes the values in the S7 process image. WinCC then reads them exactly like any S7-300/S7-400 tag, gaining full archiving, alarming, and diagnostics for free.

Architecture

• PC station: Windows + WinAC RTX (deterministic RTX subsystem) + WinCC Runtime.
• Real-time task: 10 ms cycle, polls the PCI-1713 in DMA mode, copies the 32 A/D conversions into an ODK-registered I/O area.
• S7 interface: WinCC connects via SIMATIC S7 Protocol Suite > TCP/IP to the WinAC RTX CPU. The PCI-1713 inputs appear as inputs I0.0 ... I3.7 (32 bits packed) or as data blocks DB100.DBD0 ... DB100.DBD124 (32 doubles, scaled engineering units).

Configuration Steps

1. Install WinAC RTX 2005 or later and configure the RTX subsystem.
2. Install the WinAC ODK and build a real-time DLL that links to both the Advantech SDK and the ODK API (ODKRegisterIOArea, ODKWriteOutput).
3. Register the I/O area with ODK: ret = ODKRegisterIOArea("PCI1713", 32, ODK_INPUT, pBuffer);
4. Map pBuffer to S7 inputs in the WinAC ODK configuration tool.
5. In WinCC tag management, add a new S7 connection to the WinAC RTX CPU and import the 32 analog inputs as AI_Ch00 ... AI_Ch31 with the standard WinCC cyclic update.

This is the most maintainable topology because the PCI-1713 is treated as a normal S7 I/O slave. Future migrations to TIA Portal or WinCC Professional keep working as long as the S7 protocol suite is available.

Performance and Stability Considerations

Verification Procedures

Online Tag Inspector

1. In WinCC Explorer, right-click any PCI-1713 tag (e.g., AI_Ch00) and choose Properties > Value to open the online tag inspector.
2. Apply a known voltage to the physical channel (e.g., 5.000 V from a calibrator on AI0, AI0 referenced to AI16 GND).
3. Confirm the value changes on each polling cycle and matches the expected engineering units within the 12-bit quantization step (10 V / 4096 = 2.44 mV per LSB).

Trend View Verification

1. Insert a WinCC Trend Control on the start picture.
2. Connect it to AI_Ch00 through AI_Ch07 with an update of 500 ms and an archive of 1 s.
3. Step the calibrator through 0 V, 2.5 V, 5 V, 7.5 V, 10 V. The trend should show a clean staircase and the archive should log every step.

Channel Diagnostics (DLL path)

Enable WinCC channel diagnostics (Computer > Properties > Graphics Runtime > Diagnostics) and watch the WinCC_Sys_.log for any DRV_GETTAG error codes. Common codes:

Troubleshooting Matrix

Frequently Asked Questions