FactoryTalk View Recipes

I´m new to FactoryTalk View and I need to create an HMI application that works with recipes.

I´m using an AB PanelView Plus 1500 and a Micrologix 1400 (1766-L32BXBA).

I´m reading the help files over and over and I don´t get it. Where do you tell FT what recipe you want to use in your application from the ones stored inside the PLC???

For regular objects, you just browse the tags and select the one you need from the ones defined in the controller, but I can´t find that part with the recipes.

This may be a stupid thing, although I can´t find it....

Thanks!!!

Please download publication:
PUBLICATION VIEWME-UM005E-EN-E–August 2007
Supersedes Publication VIEWME-UM005D-EN-E
Chapter 29.

I still don´t get it. I won´t use recipe plus. I´ll just send the info from FT to the PLC and update the recipe in the controller.

Romanr9999 said:

I still don´t get it. I won´t use recipe plus. I´ll just send the info from FT to the PLC and update the recipe in the controller.

Click to expand...

Create a Recipe Load button.
Create a numeric entry display.
Select a recipe based on numbers (0-99 or so)from the numeric entry.
When recipe equal to 45 or whatever number and the Recipe Load is pressed, move all the registers for the recipe to a set of working registers in the PLC.
You may want to create a Recipe Save button as well.

I tried a recipe with just numbers and it worked.
It seems the problem is when I have string fields in the recipe.
I still don´t even understand how to define these fields in the PLC recipe (the PLC is a Micrologix 1400 from AB).
For instance, I need to store in the recipe the string I have in ST9:1.DATA, that of course most times has more than 2 characters. I need to store a products list with product code and description.

The PLC does not allow me to use the field as ST9:1.DATA in the recipe formula, it requires a word address.

ST9:1.1 works, although it shows only two characters (1 word), ST9:1.DATA[0] and ST9:1.DATA[1].

If I put anything else than 1 in the length field in the recipe formula, the fields point to ST9:1.DATA[0], ST9:2.DATA[0], ST9:3.DATA[0] .....

How do I define the recipe to store a string with a length > 2???

I forgot to mention that I also tried to define the recipe as

ST9:1.DATA[0]
ST9:1.DATA[2]
ST9:1.DATA[4]
.......
I still get the same. I get the first field (2 bytes) OK and all the rest as /00/00 even when before the RCP Load ST9:1.DATA has the producto name I want to permanently store.

As many of you may have already noticed, this is my first project using AB products.

The idea behind these recipes is to be able to store a few tables that need to be retained even if the power goes off.

I´ve used other PLCs in other projects but I can´t find in the Micrologix 1400 manuals if the PLC has retentive memory or not (either portions or all of it).

That´s why i wanted to use recipes, since the manual does say recipe memory is battery protected and I won´t lose them even if the power goes off for a very long period (even a couple days).

Not sure if this helps, and again I am also a nub, but if you program data into the plc (ie: be offline and change say B0:0/1 to a 1 instead of a zero) everytime the plc is started it will place this value into the memory so long as the program remains.

The problem is that the user needs to be able to update this products list directly from the PanelView so the data changes at runtime and needs to remain even when the power goes off.

I attempted to use the Factory Talk SE recipe feature about a year ago. When I ran into problems getting it to work, I was told by Rockwell technical support that it did not work very well and I would be better off using the PLC to store recipes.

I just realized you are using ME not SE. My mistake.

That was my idea, to let the PLC do all the recipe update.
I still found problems to have the PLC to deal with recipes if there are string fields.

All the data in the Micrologix is retentive.

What problems are you having with ST files?

I mentioned it before.
I tried a recipe with just numbers and it worked.
It seems the problem is when I have string fields in the recipe.
I still don´t even understand how to define these fields in the PLC recipe (the PLC is a Micrologix 1400 from AB).
For instance, I need to store in the recipe the string I have in ST9:1.DATA, that of course most times has more than 2 characters. I need to store a products list with product code and description.

The PLC does not allow me to use the field as ST9:1.DATA in the recipe formula, it requires a word address.

ST9:1.1 works, although it shows only two characters (1 word), ST9:1.DATA[0] and ST9:1.DATA[1].

If I put anything else than 1 in the length field in the recipe formula, the fields point to ST9:1.DATA[0], ST9:2.DATA[0], ST9:3.DATA[0] .....

I also tried to define the recipe as

ST9:1.DATA[0]
ST9:1.DATA[2]
ST9:1.DATA[4]
.......
I still get the same. I get the first field (2 bytes) OK and all the rest as /00/00 even when before the RCP Load ST9:1.DATA has the producto name I want to permanently store.

How do I define the recipe to store a string with a length > 2???

OkiePC,

I just read again and I realized the first time I didn´t pay attention to your first line: "All the data in the Micrologix is retentive".

I´ve been doing some tests and that´s exactly what I supposed, although I couldn´t find confirmation of that in the manuals.

In this case, I don´t need to deal with recipes at all. I can just store my info in ST files and I already know exactly how to deal with this. I´ll leave the recipes portion for a future project without the time constraints this one have.

Again, thanks for your help.

Where x is the file numner and n is the element number:
The string file type uses STx:n.0 for the length, and STx:n.1 for the first two characters STx:n.2 for the 3rd and 4th characters and so on (since each character is a byte, and each word in a string element is two bytes).

To address the whole text of the string, don't specify anything after the element part of the address, just use STx:n

Examples:
Compare two strings:
ASC 'Logic passes if ST44:0 is identical to ST21:4
Source A: ST44:0
Source B: ST21:4

Compare with indirect addressing
ASC 'If ST44:0 is equal to ST21, the N7:0th element, then logic is true.
Source A: ST44:0
Source B: ST21:[N7:0]

Copy: 'Copies the contents including the length, of ST44 into file ST21, element number N7:1
Source: ST44:0
Dest.: ST21:[N7:1]

MOV 'Change the length of the destination string to 11 characters
Source: 11
Dest.: ST9:10.0

This should help...