Myths Your Factory Automation Software Vendor Has Probably Told You

Beware the factory automation salesman that tells you that Visual Basic and C# are a bad thing.  Not that VB and C# are perfect, but in our humble opinion, it beats all of the other application development software out there.  Don't get us wrong -- we still use Wonderware, Intellution, Think&Do and the others when the customer wants them.  Part of what makes a successful project is giving the customer what they want and are comfortable with.  But even if you are using a proprietary package, the functions that cannot be performed in those packages can be developed in VB and C# and performed by calling the VB and C# functions.  

Here are the biggest myths that salesmen are telling their factory automation customers.  

Myth #1 : You are on your own with VB & C#.  

Actually VB and C# has more programmers, training, books, add-on products, on-line help sites and forums than any other application development software.  The resources are incredible.  We admit this is speculation but we would think that there are more helpful resources for Visual Basic and C# than all the factory automation application software combined.  

Most importantly, there isn't a company that controls what you get and hear.  Ever notice how the automation magazines never report the problems and bugs with vendor's software?  They are afraid to lose their advertising revenue. 

Are you tired of software companies that refuse to admit that there is a problem with their software?  Try VB and C#.  If there is a problem in VB or C#, you visit one of the on-line forums and usually within 24 hours someone can confirm the problem or tell you what you are doing wrong.  Last, we can't tell you how many times we have contacted a supplier with a repeatable problem in their software and they refuse to admit there is a problem (much less fix it). 

Myth #2 : Visual Basic and C# are hard to learn.  

There is a reason they call it BASIC.  To create a simple application in VB6, you start VB, click file, click New Project, select Standard EXE, click OK, click on the command button, drag the size you want, click on text box, drag to the size you want, double click on the command button, enter the line Text1 = "hello world", click Run and then start.  That is all that is required to develop an actual working program.  

Learning the basics (a level compatible as software that you pay $5,000 per computer for) of Visual Basic is very quick and simple.  You can buy most Visual Basic books and training courses that we recommend with the money you save on one factory automation software package.  

If Visual Basic is hard to learn -- why do most factory automation software packages now use VB for Applications (VBA) or VB Scripting? 

Myth #3 : Visual Basic and C# are very limited.

Years ago Basic only did simple things, was very limited, and you could learn all of Basic in a couple of days.  Now with .NET -- most languages are "equal" -- they are more the same than different.  You can probably do twenty times more with Visual Basic or C# than you can do with any other factory automation software.  Therefore it should take 20 times as long to learn everything in Visual Basic or C#.  Don't get me wrong -- you saw from the example above that you don't need to know much to write simple VB applications.   With VB and C# you can just use a little or you can use a lot.  

We just had a project that converted a well known SCADA package to VB.  In many cases we could reduce tens of pages of code down to half a page of code.  And the VB code is much better documented.  The brand name SCADA package's programming package was so bad -- the original programmers were trying to do a lot of high level programming in the PLC, because it was easier than in the SCADA package! 

There is a reason most factory automation software allows you to run external ActiveX, Visual Basic, and C# programs.  Their software is limited, Visual Basic and C# are not.  If most factory automation software allows you to write VB scripts, use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), and use ActiveX controls -- what are they trying to do?  Recreate Visual Basic and C# but charge you ten times as much for it.  

Myth #4: VB and C# are not for important applications

There are all kinds of "snobs" around that use this argument to try to justify their overpay and keep things proprietary for their own job security.  They used the same argument for mainframes, the VAX, and other technologies.  For those that are not sure, we suggest you take a look at this book. 

Myth #5: There are no "communications drivers" for VB & C#

Somebody actually commented "15 years ago there weren't any communications drivers for Visual Basic and C#".  Yes, that is true because VB did not become popular until about 10 years ago and C# was just recently invented.  Today though, there are probably twenty vendors of communications products listed on our website.  If there is not a comm driver for the device you want to read or write then you can use (free) sockets or the MsComm control.  No additional $5,000 here and $20,000 there like the other companies charge. 

Myth #6: Their software does not require any programming

This is true in very simple applications with very limited software.  But these solutions often cost more than using a regular computer! 

Most users quickly become very frustrated because of how limited non-programming software is.  Therefore, most SCADA packages allow you to write code.  But, traditional SCADA software requires a lot more programming than VB or C# because most do not even have simple programming loops and arrays.  Simple concepts such as arrays and loops eliminate having to write fifty pages of traditional SCADA code. 

Myth #7: Their solution costs less

We have seen very limited, non programming displays selling for up to $9,000!  For about $2,500 to $3,000 you can purchase a nice, panel mount computer with Ethernet connectivity and development software.  Pocket PC / CE.NET computers and displays are less and you use the same development software. 

When evaluating a SCADA package consider the following:

1. Can it easily and quickly develop applications with minimal coding?
2. Can it also do very complex applications in the same programming environment?
3. Does it natively support ActiveX controls, objects, OLE, .NET, XML, SOAP, ASP, DDE, Winsock control, comm control, DLLs
4. Does it support multi-dimensional variable arrays, object arrays, and collections?
5. Does it allow you to call all windows APIs and .NET Framework class library?  In other words, use thousands of subroutines and functions that are already written and tested? 
6. Does it allow you to use other libraries of code? 
7. Can you create constants, enumerations, data types, and structures? 
8. Does it have the IF ... ELSEIF ... ELSE construct? 
9. Does it have the SELECT CASE construct including is, to, like?
10. Built in controls such as label, text box, frames, command buttons, image controls, check boxes, option buttons, combo boxes, list boxes, timers, scroll bars, common dialog boxes? 
11. Allow creating, reading, and writing text files, XML, databases, disconnected recordsets, Access, Excel, SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, and all other ODBC databases?
12. Have built-in debugger with watch variables, break points, single step, call stack, etc. 
13. Can you write subroutines and functions?
14. Can you create menus for your application?
15. Do you have to go buy more expensive add-ons to do basic tasks like read and write a database or serial port?
16. Are the applications royalty-free or do you have to pay for each application?
17. Are development versions $100 to $500?  When problems occur and you do not have a development system on the machine -- it is very difficult to determine what the problem is. 
18. Can you easily integrate with the internet, web services, Microsoft remoting, and sockets for no additional cost?
19. Can you develop applications for PDAs, Windows, and the Internet using the same package?
20. Are there thousands of books, courses, and websites available for you to learn from?

Your programming environment should allow you to quickly and easily create small applications and scale up to large difficult applications as your experience, training, and requirements increase. 

We try to offer a fair and balanced opinion on every page of our website.  We would appreciate more information from other users to express their opinions which we will then incorporate.  If you have questions or comments please post them on our message board (see button in left hand column) so that others can read and benefit.