MATLAB: OPC UA node browsing fails if server contains graphical items

opc toolboxopc uasimatic plcsimulink

I have been working through the Siemens Application Example “Virtual Commissioning with SIMATIC and Simulink” (link: https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/ww/en/view/109749187 ) following the guides in documents “109749187_DIGI_Usecases_…” to use PLCSIM Advanced, OPC UA and Simulink as the test environment. Simulink however, is not able to see the contents of global data blocks in the PLC system. By using a third party OPC UA Client i have verified that the items are available from the PLC server. I have attached a report with more details, which was also sent to Siemens support. Their answer is quoted here:
" The problem lays in the implementation of the OPC UA Client within Matlab. As you already found out the browse is not working properly in the matlab client. The reason is the following: With FW2.5 we introduced the Node "icon" under each type (e.g.DataBlockGlobal) which represents a TIA icon (for visualization purpose in the clients). Since this change some clients need to adapt as they did not completely fullfil the OPC UA foundation spezifications. What happens is (simplified) the follwoing: If a Browse is executed on a type node like DataBlocksGlobal you will get the icon and a so called ContinuationPoint. If a ContinuationPoint is not null a BrowseNext has to be executed on this ContinuationPoint to get the additional nodes. This is not done in the OPC UA Client."
Is there any solution to this problem?

Best Answer

As pointed out, ContinuationPoints are currently not supported by OPC Toolbox. Our developers are aware of this issue and they are considering to fix this in one of the future releases. As of now, there are no workarounds to handle this.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused due to this limitation.
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