RSView Studio animation expression issue

I am trying to do an expression in RSView studio to change the color of an object which will have 3 states. I have done this before using 2 tags, for example, If (tag1) then 0 else if (tag2) then 1 else 3. However I need to be able to do the same thing using 3 tags. What is the best way to do this?

Binary Weight the tags in your expression.

Result = Tag1 + (Tag2 * 2) + (Tag3 * 4)

That is assuming they are digital tags.

Your initial example is for three states using two tags. How do you want this to work? What if none of them are on (also assuming digital tag)?

OG

ok what I have is a valve that has feedback contacts that indicate if the valve is open or closed. These are 2 of the tags. The 3rd tag (and yes these are digital tags) is an alarm tag that is activated after 10 seconds if my machine is running and I am not getting an input from either of the 2 feedback contacts. 3 tags, 3 states. The valve is an air to open/fail close. Unless something mechanically fails in the valve it is always going to be either open or closed.

Hmmmm... Most of our displays here just have a separate item(slightly larger than the original object) to show more states like that...

So you would have a square about the same size as your valve(maybe a little bit larger), invisible in state 0, flashing red(for example) on state 1 to show the alarm condition.

Then you group the objects accordingly.

Not answering your original question, but it may be an alternative....

Can you not just create a single tag (Analogue) and just move values to it depending on your boolean conditions (ie valve open=0, closed=1, Fault=2 etc etc) then just add colours to each value?

Since the color animation in RSView SE is a boundry limit, and multi-state indicators work on the actual value, almost any method of combining tags into a single value will work.
I like to use the binary weighting in RSView, as it means I can use disparate tags from the PLC to come up with one graphic, without having to change the PLC code.

rta53 said:

ok what I have is a valve that has feedback contacts that indicate if the valve is open or closed. These are 2 of the tags. The 3rd tag (and yes these are digital tags) is an alarm tag that is activated after 10 seconds if my machine is running and I am not getting an input from either of the 2 feedback contacts. 3 tags, 3 states. The valve is an air to open/fail close. Unless something mechanically fails in the valve it is always going to be either open or closed.

Click to expand...

I don't agree that this device has 3 states. With two limit switches, you have four states for the valve and you should indicate all four. It will help in troubleshooting failures. The failure alarm is really an independant indication separate from the valve position. This is a very common HMI graphic element. I generally see it done like this:

Open (open ZS = 1, closed ZS = 0)
Closed (open ZS = 0, closed ZS = 1)
Travel (open ZS = 0, closed ZS = 0)
Fault (open ZS = 1, closed ZS = 1) stuck or broken limit - rare but very useful when it happens.

The valve graphic changes color depending on the state. Typically green = open, white = closed, yellow = travel, blue = fault. Colors vary depending on the plant, but I like these.

If the valve is not in the commanded position after 10 secs, then a different graphic element is activated. Maybe a red box around the valve graphic which is only visible if the valve is failed.

The reason this is a separate indication is that you do not want to lose the limit switch information if the valve failed to move when commanded. If you command a valve to open and it sits there showing a closed limit, perhaps you have a blown fuse or someone turned the air off. If you command a valve to open and the closed limit drops out but the open limit never shows (it indicates travel), you most likely have an open limit out of adjustment.