AB 5 & SLC 500 Tagname Transfer

The current project I'm working on is creating an HMI for a line in our plant. The problem I'm running into is that the company that retooled it for our current use did a poor job with tagnames. Stations have been moved around, yet the tagnames still point to the original station. The logic, for the most part, is sound but they just didn't label things correctly. Most of my programming is not done on site so how can I change tagnames in the copy I'm using and transfer them to the console on site. If I just dump my copy into the processor it will change the state of I/O and screw up some of the integer files which is why I can't really go that route. I was hoping for something a bit easier than the notepad I'm using to document improper tags that I have to do onsite.

Thanks

What you want to do can be easily accomplished by using the Database export/import features within RSLogix.

On the main menu select Tools, then Databse, then ASCII export.

You can choose from the tabs on the dialog box whether to use the RSLogix native format, legacy software foramts, or a simple comma separated file format.

For address comments and symbols, I generally use the csv format and do my editing within excel. Excel has more powerful search and replace tools as well as the ability to use formulas and autofill features to speed up the process. If you use the csv file type, be sure to save it as a csv type so that it can be imported into the live project.

When you get onsite, and online with each PLC, make a backup copy of the file first, then use the database ascii import tool to bring your updated symbols and comments into the project. Then save again with a different name. Then, if there are any major errors, you can still revert to their original file.

Paul

Follow Paul's advice of using Excel for editing the symbols and comments.

In this post http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showpost.php?p=162304&postcount=5 I attached an excel spreadsheet that is formatted for creating SLC500 symbol names and address comments.

Note that Excel can auto complete Allen Bradley SLC and PLC5 addresses. Type the address into a field, then drag down and fill. eg, enter I:01/00 and then highlight the cell, grab the corner, and drag down 16 cells, Excel will then fill in all of the sequential addresses. Then you can go back and add in the symbols and descriptions.

After you have everything straightened out, save it as a CSV and import it into your program.

Alaric said:

.....eg, enter I:01/00 and then highlight the cell, grab the corner, and drag down 16 cells, Excel will then fill in all .....

Click to expand...

Just remember that PLC5 uses Octal addressing, so you will need to drag down and fill 18 cells, eg. I:0/0 to I:0/17, then highlight the bottom 8 (I:0/10 to I:0/17), and drag them up to remove the I;0/8 and I:0/9 that Excel will have auto-filled.

That nailed it. Thanks guys!