RSLogix 5 program notations

Racer5039 · Apr 10, 2017

we have a PLC5 that we are trying to work with. Every time we go online, the program notations are not showing up. They show up in the off line file but not after we connect live.
I have not used RSlogix 5 much at all.
Is there a way to get the notes to show up ?

Bit_Bucket_07 · Apr 10, 2017

Racer5039 said:
we have a PLC5 that we are trying to work with. Every time we go online, the program notations are not showing up. They show up in the off line file but not after we connect live.
I have not used RSlogix 5 much at all.
Is there a way to get the notes to show up ?

Yes. You should be able to see your program documentation while online. Are you loading the offline file prior to connecting to the PLC?

Racer5039 · Apr 10, 2017

Yes, Have also tried connecting using that offline file.
I should also note this is a converted 6400 file ( to RSLogix 5)

AutoMax · Apr 10, 2017

Have you tried right-clicking on the ladder view, selecting properties, and made sure all the comments, symbols, and descriptions are selected as viewable?

kolyur · Apr 10, 2017

I'm not familiar with RSLogix 5 but I have seen this problem before in 500. What happens is that somewhere along the line, somebody does an upload from the PLC into a new file which gets saved in the programs directory (no documentation). Meanwhile, the offline file you want to use (with documentation) somehow gets tweaked so that the checksum of the file no longer matches what's in the PLC. Even if you have this file open when you try to go online, the software sees that it doesn't match so it automatically searches the program directory and voila, it finds the copy with no documentation and goes online with that one. The only way to solve this is to either merge the documentation from one file to another, or download the documented file and overwrite what's in the PLC.

Again, this is my experience with RSLogix 500 and I don't know how similar RSLogix 5 is in this regard.

EDIT: To quickly check whether this is happening, look at the filename in the title bar before and after you go online--they should be the same.

Bit_Bucket_07 · Apr 10, 2017

kolyur said:
I'm not familiar with RSLogix 5 but I have seen this problem before in 500. What happens is that somewhere along the line, somebody does an upload from the PLC into a new file which gets saved in the programs directory (no documentation). Meanwhile, the offline file you want to use (with documentation) somehow gets tweaked so that the checksum of the file no longer matches what's in the PLC. Even if you have this file open when you try to go online, the software sees that it doesn't match so it automatically searches the program directory and voila, it finds the copy with no documentation and goes online with that one. The only way to solve this is to either merge the documentation from one file to another, or download the documented file and overwrite what's in the PLC.

Again, this is my experience with RSLogix 500 and I don't know how similar RSLogix 5 is in this regard.

EDIT: To quickly check whether this is happening, look at the filename in the title bar before and after you go online--they should be the same.

When that happens, the software will alert you that the file does not match the program in the processor. You will then have an option to either select a different file, or upload the program from the processor to make the file equal.

Of course, uploading could offset the documentation to the incorrect rungs, if changes were made to the program in the PLC without the offline file loaded.

James Mcquade · Apr 10, 2017

What you are describing could be the following.

open your file that has the rung comments and documentation.
do a save as and write down the location and file name.

look for any duplicate file names and rename them - something that you understand.

I think what is happening is that there is a duplicate file that has been uploaded without the file documentation and it is what is being accessed, not the file with the documentation.

try to go online and see if this fixes the problem.
you may have to look on your network also.

you may have to use the comms function and do an online now and then merge, Sorry, I can't describe this very well.

james

just the cowboy · Apr 10, 2017

Check processor names

Check and make sure the processor names are the same offline and online.

Racer5039 · Apr 11, 2017

Thank You everyone for the feed back. We are pretty sure that it is picking the wrong file when it connects. Wont have a chance to get back to this until next week. Things that are not working/down time, come first.

James Mcquade · Apr 11, 2017

Please keep us posted as to the solution.

james

Bit_Bucket_07 · Apr 11, 2017

Racer5039 said:
Thank You everyone for the feed back. We are pretty sure that it is picking the wrong file when it connects. Wont have a chance to get back to this until next week. Things that are not working/down time, come first.

If the program has been modified without loading the correct offline file, then it is likely that any rung comments will have been shifted out of their correct location upon uploading and merging with the correct file. There is a tool within RSLogix for repairing such rung offsets for comments, but it is an arduous task to get everything back in the correct order.

Then again, rung comments are optional (as is every other aspect of program documentation), so maybe your program doesn't even contain rung comments.

Operaghost · Apr 11, 2017

There is some misunderstanding as to how RSLogix 5 software opens a matching file.

RSLogix looks in one specific folder for your offline project. It does not care what file you opened before going online. That file is ignored. If it finds a file in that folder with a matching Processor Name, it will close the open project and open that file. If it cannot find the matching Processor it will pop up a window and ask you to Browse to the folder where that file is located. Or create a whole new file which you do not want to do. That is probably the cause of the problems you are having now,

Go to the Tools and Options menu and identify what folder is identified as your default project folder.

Then open the project file that has all of your comments. Do a Save As and save it to the default folder you identified. Then close the file (not RSLogix) and attempt to go online with the controller.

You might have to use the Upload Merge option if there are differences in the files.

OG

AutoMax · Apr 12, 2017

That's why I NEVER keep anything in the default folder for RSL5 or 500. Then you'll always get a merge prompt when midnight shift changed the .acc value of a counter and the "last edit time stamp" doesn't match your offline file.

This of course begs the question of why we pay for an AssetCentre license, but that's a different tangent...

Bit_Bucket_07 · Apr 12, 2017

Operaghost said:
There is some misunderstanding as to how RSLogix 5 software opens a matching file.

RSLogix looks in one specific folder for your offline project. It does not care what file you opened before going online.

I disagree. In facilities with multiple PLCs on the network, RSLogix will attempt to connect to the processor specified in the offline file that I load prior to going online.

Also, I don't keep files in the default project folder, but in subfolders that I have created to segregate different projects.

James Mcquade · Apr 12, 2017

I agree with Bit_Bucket_07.

we have almost 75 plc 5's and nearly as many slc500.

when I open the plc 5 program, it always points to the last program I opened.
same for the slc 500.

james

RSLogix 5 program notations

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