Driver types

Each driver type is enabled by a separate feature element (or line, starting with the name attribute), and has common attributes. New Niagara drivers are continually being developed and offered as products. This topic includes some, but not all of the drivers that are available. It is included to illustrate how driver features appear in licenses.

Driver Description
aaphp Enables the American Auto-Matrix Public Host Protocol (PHP) driver. The serial feature is also required.
aapup Enables the American Auto-Matrix Public Unitary Host (PUP) driver. The serial feature is also required.
bacnet Enables the functionality of the BACnet driver for BACnet/Ethernet and BACnet/IP. If the JACE controller’s other features can be added to enable BACnet MS/TP communications over serial ports: mstp and serial.
<feature name="bacnet" expiration="never" device.limit="none" 
export="true" history.limit="none" point.limit="none" 
schedule.limit="none"/>

export="true" enables BACnet server operation.

export="false" permits only BACnet client operation.

When BACnet export is enabled, any station histories and/or schedules that are exported to BACnet do not count towards any history.limit or schedule.limit values in the license (if any).

Refer to the Niagara 4 BACnet Driver Guide for details on all BACnet integration.
bacnetAws Provides added functionality as a BACnet AWS Supervisor with BTL-certification as described in the BACnet “Advanced Operator Workstation” specification (B-AWS). Available for PC platforms only (not JACE platforms), this BACnet feature is also required in the license. More details are available in an appendix of the Niagara 4 BACnet Driver Guide.
bacnetOws Provides added functionality as a BACnet OWS Supervisor with BTL-certification as described in the BACnet “Operator Workstation” specification (B-OWS). Available for PC platforms only (not JACE platforms), more details are available in an appendix of the Niagara 4 BACnet Driver Guide.
fileDriver Enables the driver used to import comma or tab delimited text files and convert them into histories. For more details, see the file-FileNetwork topic in the Niagara Drivers Guide.
lonworks Enables the Lonworks driver. Using this driver requires a LON interface on the JACE controller. Most controller models require an optional Lonworks interface card to be installed. More details are available in the Niagara Lonworks Driver Guide.
modbusAsync Enables the Modbus Master Serial driver. The JACE controller operates as the Modbus Master device communicating via an available serial port using either Modbus RTU or Modbus ASCII. The modbusCore and serial features are also required.
modbusCore Required by the JACE controller or Modbus Supervisor host for any of the Modbus drivers (Async, Slave, TCP, TCP Slave). For details on any Modbus driver, refer to the Niagara Modbus Driver Guide (N4).
modbusSlave Enables the Modbus Slave Serial driver. The JACE controller operates as a Modbus Slave communicating via an available serial port using either Modbus RTU or ASCII to a Modbus Master device. The modbusCore and serial features are also required.
modbusTcp Enables the Modbus Master TCP driver. The JACE controller or Modbus Supervisor operate as a Modbus Master device communicating via Modbus TCP/IP. The modbusCore feature is also required.
modbusTcpSlave Enables the Modbus Slave TCP driver. The JACE controller or Modbus Supervisor operates as a Modbus Slave device communicating via Modbus TCP/IP. The modbusCore feature is also required.
obixDriver Enables the oBIX driver. The driver supports the oBIX protocol, which is M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communications via XML over TCP/IP.

A license is required for this feature. The license reads as follows:

<feature name="obixDriver" expiration="never" device.limit="none" 
export="true" history.limit="none" point.limit="none" 
schedule.limit="none"/>

export="true" enables oBIX server operation.

export="false" permits only oBIX client operation.

Refer to the oBIX Guide – N4 for related details.
opc Enables the OPC client driver, and is only available on Windows-based platforms because of the protocol’s dependency on Windows. Refer to the OPC UA Driver Guide for related details.
niagaraDriver Enables communication via the Fox protocol to other NiagaraStations, and allows creation of a NiagaraNetwork including proxy points, importing/exporting histories and schedules, and routing alarms.
<feature name="niagaraDriver" expiration="never" virtual="true" 
schedule.limit="none" point.limit="none" history.limit="none" 
device.limit="none" parts="ENG-WORKSTATION"/>

For more details, refer to the Niagara Drivers Guide.
rdbOracle Enables the Relational Database Driver using the Oracle database format. This driver allows exporting of histories from the NiagaraStation to an Oracle database. The driver does not include the Oracle software, which must be purchased separately from a third-party source.
<feature name="rdbOracle" expiration="never" 
parts="ENG-WORKSTATION"/>
rdbSqlServer Enables the Relational Database Driver using the Microsoft SQL database format. This driver allows importing and exporting of histories to and from the NiagaraStation, and to and from a Microsoft SQL database. The driver does not include the Microsoft SQL software, which must be purchased separately from a third-party source. The driver does work with the MSDE version, which is free from Microsoft; however, the normal Microsoft imposed limitations on the MSDE version still apply.
<feature name="rdbSqlServer" expiration="never" history.limit="10"
 historyImport="true" parts="ENG-WORKSTATION"/>
snmp Enables the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) driver, which allows sending and receiving SNMP messages. 
<feature name="snmp" expiration="never" device.limit="none" 
history.limit="none" point.limit="500" schedule.limit="none"/>

Refer to the Niagara Drivers Guide and Snmp V3 Driver Guide for related details.
videoDriver Enables the Niagara Video Framework driver (modules nvideo, videoDriver, nDriver) that provide the foundation to integrate select commercial off-the-shelf video surveillance and recording systems into the Niagara station. Depending on the specific video hardware used, one or more vendor-specific license feature entries are also required. Refer to the Niagara Video Framework Guide for related details.