PAC Project Software Suite Comparison

The following table compares the features in version R10.3 of PAC Project Basic™ and PAC Project Professional™. Download this table as a pdf.

 
Feature   Basic Pro
Included software PAC Control™ Basic
PAC Control Professional  
PAC Display™ Basic
PAC Display Professional  
PAC Manager™
OptoOPCServer™  
OptoDataLink™  
SoftPAC™  
Control Software: PAC Control
Compatible controllers groov EPIC processors
SNAP PAC controllers (S-series and R-series)
SoftPAC software-based controller
Compatible I/O Built-in I/O unit (in groov EPIC and SNAP PAC R-series controllers)
groov RIO modules (with groov EPIC and SNAP PAC controllers)1
SNAP PAC brains (obsolete)
G4EB2 brains  (with groov EPIC and SNAP PAC controllers)
Ethernet I/O units—E1, E, E10, UIO (with groov EPIC and SNAP PAC controllers)
Serial mistic™ brains/bricks: B3000-B, B3000, SNAP-BRS, B100, B200, G4D16R, G4D32RS, G4A8R (with SNAP PAC S-series controllers)2  
Network Controller to PC: groov EPIC and SNAP PAC—Ethernet
Controller to I/O:    
• groov EPIC—Ethernet only
• SNAP PAC S-series:
    - Ethernet to R-series controllers and obsolete EB brains
    - Serial to obsolete SB brains
    - Serial to obsolete mistic brains
 SNAP PAC R-series—Ethernet only
Controller to third-party devices: Ethernet or serial3
Support for Ethernet link redundancy or segmented control network  
(Obsolete as of 2022) Support for controller redundancy (SNAP PAC S-series only)  
Main features Flowchart programming
OptoScript programming
Subroutines (debuggable)
Graphical debugger
Conversion utility for OptoControl 4.1 strategies  
Support for serial mistic I/O units2  
Ethernet link redundancy (with S-series controllers and R-series I/O units)  
Maximum charts running at once
On groov EPIC (plus host task) 64 64
On SoftPAC (plus host task) 64 64
On SNAP PAC S-series (plus host task) 32 32
On SNAP PAC R-series (plus host task) 16 16
Proportional-integral derivative (PID) loops PID algorithms for Ethernet I/O units 4 4
PID algorithm for mistic serial2 -- 1
Loops per SNAP PAC rack-mounted controller or brain 96 96
Loops per groov RIO module 4 4
Loops per mistic brain/brick2 -- 8
Graphical tuner for Ethernet PID loops
Graphical tuner for mistic2 PID loops  
Ethernet link redundancy Primary and secondary IP addresses on groov EPIC processors and SNAP PAC controllers  
PAC Control commands can be used to control redundancy algorithm  

Controller redundancy4
(Required hardware obsolete as of 2022) 

PAC Redundancy Manager utility  
Checkpoint blocks   
Additional toolkits5 Modbus Integration Kit (serial and TCP)
Controller Area Network (CAN) Integration Kit6
Other Integration Kits (BACnet, TL1, DNP3, IEC60870-5,Allen-Bradley DF1)6
HMI Software: PAC Display
Main features Alarming
Trending
Logging
Operator authentication and login
3000-graphic library
Additional graphics tools for PID and embedding web pages  
Data logging to MySQL, Microsoft® SQL Server, and other ODBC databases  
Conversion utility for OptoDisplay projects  
Primary and secondary IP addresses for control engine  
Primary and secondary scanner  
Controllers supported groov EPIC processors7
SNAP PAC controllers
ioProject controllers
OptoControl controllers with Ethernet interface  
OPC Server: OptoOPCServer8
OPC version OPC DA 2.0-compliant8  
Database Connectivity: OptoDataLink9
Databases supported Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MySQL, and ODBC-compatible databases  
PC-based Control: SoftPAC
Compatible I/O groov RIO modules
  groov I/O (EPIC processor)
  SNAP PAC (R-series and EB-series)
  Ethernet I/O units (E1, E2, UIO, EIO)
  G4EB2 brains
 1 Requires SNAP PAC controller firmware 10.3a or higher, or groov EPIC firmware 2.0.0 or higher.
 2 Requires SNAP PAC S-series controller(s). 
 3 On a groov EPIC, serial connections from the processor require a USB-to-serial adapter.
 4 The required SNAP-PAC-ROK Redundacy Option Kit is obsolete as of 2022.
 5 For more information, see the Communication Tools & Protocols for Opto 22 Products Technical Note (form 1820).
 6 Not recommended for use with groov EPIC processors running PAC Control.
 7 PAC Display projects can include groov EPIC systems and their groov RIO modules. PAC Display cannot run on an EPIC processor's built-in touchscreen; it runs on a Microsoft Windows PC.
 8 For an OPC UA-compliant server, use a groov EPIC processor.
 9 Do not use OptoDataLink with a groov EPIC processor; use its included data communication options instead.