The following are the system requirements for FactoryTalk Historian DataLink version 5.60.00.

Hardware requirements

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink requires the following hardware:

• Physical Memory: Recommended 2 GB
Although 2 GB provides acceptable performance for many, increasing the available RAM improves performance, especially when multiple applications are running simultaneously on the same machine. For spreadsheets with higher RAM utilization, consider using a 64-bit Microsoft Office installation.

• Processor Speed: 1 GHz processor
A faster processor may help performance if displays have complex calculations performed locally, but increasing the installed RAM is more likely to help with general performance.

• Hard Disk Space: 300 MB of space on the system drive for application files and registry entries
Also, consider the space necessary to install Office (approximately 3 GB).

Software requirements

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink has been tested on the following operating systems:

• Windows Server® 2022
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows 11
• Windows 10

Software compatibility

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink is compatible with these Rockwell Automation products:

• FactoryTalk® Historian Site Edition version 6.00 or later

Microsoft Office 365 Support

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink is compatible with these 32-bit or 64-bit Microsoft Excel:

• Microsoft Excel 365*
• Microsoft Excel 2021
• Microsoft Excel 2019
• Microsoft Excel 2016
• Microsoft Excel 2013

*Only Office 365 desktop installation is supported.

Tip: Office 365 is a streaming-based subscription service that will upgrade your version of Office in accordance with the newest releases. Therefore, it’s possible that whenever Microsoft introduces a new version of Office, Office365 may upgrade you to that version, which may have compatibility issues with the current versions of FactoryTalk Historian DataLink.

Rockwell Automation Test Environment

Rockwell Automation tests software products under a standard configuration of operating systems and antivirus software. For additional information, see the Knowledgebase Document ID: PN24 - Rockwell Software Products and Antivirus Software.

Security requirements

To help meet secure system design requirements, review these publications:

• Configure System Security Features User Manual (publication SECURE-UM001)
• System Security Design Guidelines (publication SECURE-RM001)
• Converged Plantwide Ethernet (CPwE) Design and Implementation Guide (publication ENET-TD001)

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink version 5.60.00 has the following enhanced features:

• Dynamic Array Support
FactoryTalk Historian DataLink now supports dynamic arrays, which allow function arrays to change in size as the data within a function array grows or shrinks. Microsoft introduced dynamic arrays in Office 2021 and Office 365 (Jan. 2020 build or later). In these versions of Office, FactoryTalk Historian DataLink users can right-click an existing array and convert it to a dynamic array using the “Convert to Dynamic Array” option. The array will remain dynamic for any subsequent modifications.

Dark Theme
FactoryTalk Historian DataLink now offers a configuration pane for Office dark theme (which exists in Office 2016 and later) and Windows dark application mode.

• Improvements to High-Resolution Experience
Fixes to major issues with high-resolution or high-scaling monitors significantly improve the user experience.

• Simultaneous Shipment of Language Packages
Language packs are now part of the FactoryTalk Historian DataLink setup kit. Non-English-speaking users no longer need to download and install a separate kit. Users can switch FactoryTalk Historian DataLink to another supported language by simply changing the Excel UI display language and restarting Excel. Previous MUI installation must be uninstalled before upgrading to FactoryTalk Historian DataLink version 5.60.00.

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink version 5.60.00 has the following changes in functionality since the last release:

Change in operating system support

Beginning in this release, the product installer prevents installation on all 32-bit versions of Windows operating systems (for example, Windows 10, 32-bit) and any Windows 7 operating system (for example, Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit).

PI Legacy add-in is no longer supported

The PI Legacy add-in which provided support for the embedded trend control and PI Module Database functionality is no longer supported. The PI Legacy add-in required the use of ActiveX controls, which had significant known security risks.

pidldialogs.xla for resizing and recalculating arrays is no longer supported

In previous versions of FactoryTalk Historian DataLink, the pidldialogs.xla add-in was provided to give users a way to resize and recalculate arrays using VBA. This required the use of the PI SDK which has been removed as a FactoryTalk Historian DataLink dependency. As an alternative, we recommend that you use the dynamic array functionality provided in this release for Excel versions that support dynamic arrays.

pisamput.xlm for using PIPutVal to modify data is no longer supported

In previous versions of FactoryTalk Historian DataLink, pisamput.xlm was provided to demonstrate how to use PIPutVal to modify data. This has been superseded by the examples in piexam32.xls and piexam64.xls, which have been available for several releases.

Display of PITime annotations for Compressed Data is no longer supported

The display of PITime annotations is no longer supported for Compressed Data. Please note that the more recently introduced DateTime annotations can still be displayed with Compressed Data.

The following are the application notes for FactoryTalk Historian DataLink version 5.60.00.

Install FactoryTalk Historian DataLink

1. Install Microsoft Excel.
2. Open the directory to which you have unpacked the installation files.
3. Double-click Setup.exe.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
5. Restart the computer, if prompted.

During the installation, provide the following information:

• On the User Information page, type your name (Full Name) and your organization's name (Organization).
• On the Installation Configuration page:
1. In the PI Username box, leave pidemo.
2. In the Network name of the default PI Server box, enter the IP address or the name of your FactoryTalk Historian SE server.

• (optional) On the Default Server Information page, in the Default Asset server (optional) box, enter the IP address or the name of your FactoryTalk Historian Asset Framework server.

You may be prompted to stop all dependent running processes and services and close all applications which are using files that need to be updated.

Distribution Kit Files

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink version 5.60.00 distributes the following major components as part of the installation.

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 Runtimes
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime (v. 10.0.60724)
• PI AF Client 2018 SP3 Patch 3

Upgrade FactoryTalk Historian DataLink

1. Open the directory to which you have unpacked the installation files.

2. Double-click Setup.exe.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

4. Restart the computer, if prompted.

During the installation, provide the following information:

• On the User Information page, enter your name (Full Name) and your organization's name (Organization).
• (optional) On the Default Server Information page, in the Default Asset server (optional) box, enter the IP address or the name of your FactoryTalk Historian Asset Framework server.

You may be prompted to stop all dependent running processes and services and close all applications which are using files that need to be updated.

Configure FactoryTalk Historian DataLink

1. Create a security mapping between FactoryTalk Historian SE server and FactoryTalk Historian DataLink.
Security mappings are required to establish connections between the FactoryTalk Historian SE server and any remote computer that should be able to communicate with the server (such as the Data Server, the Engineering Workstation, and/or Client Computers).

To create a security mapping between FactoryTalk Historian SE server and FactoryTalk Historian DataLink

1. Open System Management Tools.
2. Under Collectives and Servers, select the server for which you want to create the mapping.
3. Under System Management Tools, select Security > Mappings & Trusts.
4. In the Mappings tab, click .
The Add New Mapping dialog box appears.
5. Click next to Windows Account.
The Select User, Computer, or Group dialog box appears.
6. In the text box, enter the name of the user, for which you want to create the mapping.
7. Click Check Names to verify the username, and click OK.
8. Click next to PI Identity.
The Select PI Identity, PI Group, or PI User dialog box appears.
9. From the Type list, select PI Users.
10. Select the PI user, to which you want to map the selected Windows user (for example, piadmin), and click OK.
11. Click OK to apply the changes. The new mapping is listed in the Mappings tab.

2. (optional) Set up a connection between the FactoryTalk Historian DataLink and the FactoryTalk Historian SE server computers.

The following steps are required only after the upgrade. After the installation, the connection between the FactoryTalk Historian DataLink and FactoryTalk Historian SE server computers is already configured.

Perform these steps on your FactoryTalk Historian DataLink computer. Sign in to the computer using the user for which you have created the security mapping.

To set up a connection between the FactoryTalk Historian DataLink and the FactoryTalk Historian SE server computers

1. Open PISDKUtility or AboutPI-SDK.
2. In the left pane, click Connections.
3. In the right pane, select the FactoryTalk Historian SE server to which you want to connect.
If the server name is not listed, do the following:
1. On the Connections menu, click Add Server.
2. In the Network Path/FQDN text box, enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server.
3. Clear the Confirm check box, and click OK.
The new server is added to the server list.

3. Configure Excel add-ins for FactoryTalk Historian DataLink.
To use the functionality provided with the add-ins, make sure that the FactoryTalk Historian DataLink add-ins are registered in Microsoft Excel.
• View add-in status
Check the status of an add-in to learn whether it is active, inactive, or disabled.
1. Start Microsoft Excel.
2. Select File > Options.
3. Click Add-Ins.
4. Search the list of add-ins to find the current status of an add-in. Each add-in will be listed under one of the following:
• Active Application Add-ins
• Inactive Application Add-ins
• Disabled Application Add-ins
• Enable a disabled add-in
If an add-in is disabled, you must enable the add-in before you can make it active.
1. Start Microsoft Excel.
2. Select File > Options.
3. Click Add-Ins.
4. From the Manage list, select Disabled Items, and then click Go.
5. Select the check box next to the add-in.
6. Click Enable.

• Activate an inactive add-in
Activate an inactive add-in to make the add-in available in Microsoft Excel.

Tip: To activate an application add-in, you must have administrator privileges on the computer. If you are not an administrator, right-click Excel.exe in Windows Explorer, and then click Run as administrator to run Microsoft Excel as an administrator.

1. Start Microsoft Excel.
2. Select File > Options.
3. Click Add-Ins.
4. From the Manage list, select Com Add-ins, and then click Go.
5. Select the check box next to the add-in.
6. Click OK.

How FactoryTalk Historian DataLink works

FactoryTalk Historian DataLink adds specific menu commands, windows, and task panes to Microsoft Excel.

Its main components are:

• PI DataLink tab
The PI DataLink tab appears in the Microsoft Excel ribbon.

Use these tips to explore the PI DataLink tab:
• Click the PI DataLink tab to access the FactoryTalk Historian DataLink commands.
• Click a command to open the corresponding task pane or window.
• Place the cursor over a command to display a descriptive tool tip.

• Task panes

A task pane is a panel of controls that you can move and dock. By default, it appears as docked to the right of your spreadsheet:



You can continue to work on a worksheet while a task pane is open.

You can use the task pane, for example, to configure a function for the data in your spreadsheet.

To configure a function

1. Open a function task pane:
• Click the desired output cell, and then click a function command on the PI DataLink tab to add a function.
• Click a cell in an existing function array to open the corresponding task pane and edit the function inputs.
• Right-click a function-array cell, and then click the function name to manually open the task pane.

2. In the function task pane, add or change input values for the function.

3. Do either of the following:
• Click OK to save the input values, write the resulting function array, and close the task pane.
• Click Apply to save the input values and write the resulting function array without closing the task pane.
• If you want to close the function task pane without saving the changes, click .

Documentation Overview

The <Installation package>\Docs includes the following documents:

• FactoryTalk Historian DataLink Release Notes (This document)
This document describes up-to-date information about the product, including its system requirements, system features, application notes, and so on.

• PI-DataLink-2022-Release-Notes.pdf
This document describes Fixes and Enhancements, Known Issues, Setup, and so on.

• PI-DataLink-2022-User-Guide.pdf
This document describes an introduction to FactoryTalk Historian DataLink, including a product overview, installation procedures, and other topics.