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 x x
PAC Control Professional   x
PAC Display™ Basic x x
PAC Display Professional   x
PAC Manager™ x x
OptoOPCServer™   x
OptoDataLink™   x
SoftPAC™   x
Control Software: PAC Control
Compatible controllers groov EPIC processors x x
SNAP PAC controllers (S-series and R-series) x x
SoftPAC software-based controller x x
Compatible I/O Built-in I/O unit (in groov EPIC and SNAP PAC R-series controllers) x x
groov RIO modules (with groov EPIC and SNAP PAC controllers) x x
SNAP PAC brains (obsolete) x x
G4EB2 brains  (with groov EPIC and SNAP PAC) x x
E1 and E2 brains  (with groov EPIC and SNAP PAC) x x
Serial mistic™ brains/bricks: B3000-B, B3000, SNAP-BRS, B100, B200, G4D16R, G4D32RS, G4A8R (with SNAP PAC2 )   x
Network Controller to PC: groov EPIC and SNAP PAC—Ethernet x x
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

x
 
x
Controller to third-party devices: Ethernet or serial3 x x
Support for Ethernet link redundancy or segmented control network   x
(Obsolete as of 2022) Support for controller redundancy (SNAP PAC S-series only)   x
Main features Flowchart programming x x
OptoScript programming x x
Subroutines (debuggable) x x
Graphical debugger x x
Conversion utility for OptoControl 4.1 strategies   x
Support for serial mistic I/O units2   x
Ethernet link redundancy (with S-series controllers and R-series I/O units)   x
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 x x
Graphical tuner for mistic2 PID loops   x
Ethernet link redundancy Primary and secondary IP addresses on groov EPIC processors and SNAP PAC controllers   x
PAC Control commands can be used to control redundancy algorithm   x

Controller redundancy4
(Required hardware obsolete as of 2022) 

PAC Redundancy Manager utility   x
Checkpoint blocks    x
Additional toolkits5 Modbus Integration Kit (serial and TCP) x x
Controller Area Network (CAN) Integration Kit6 x x
Other Integration Kits (BACnet, TL1, DNP3, IEC60870-5,Allen-Bradley DF1)6 x x
HMI Software: PAC Display
Main features Alarming x x
Trending x x
Logging x x
Operator authentication and login x x
3000-graphic library x x
Additional graphics tools for PID and embedding web pages   x
Data logging to MySQL, Microsoft® SQL Server, and other ODBC databases   x
Conversion utility for OptoDisplay projects   x
Primary and secondary IP addresses for control engine   x
Primary and secondary scanner   x
Controllers supported groov EPIC processors7 x x
SNAP PAC controllers x x
ioProject controllers x x
OptoControl controllers with Ethernet interface   x
OPC Server: OptoOPCServer8
OPC version OPC DA 2.0-compliant8   x
Database Connectivity: OptoDataLink9
Databases supported Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MySQL, and ODBC-compatible databases   x
PC-based Control: SoftPAC
Compatible I/O groov RIO modules x x
  groov I/O (EPIC processor) x x
  SNAP PAC (R-series and EB-series) x x
  Ethernet I/O units (E1, E2, UIO, EIO) x x
  G4EB2 brains x x
 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.