williamlove
Member
I was wondering about the tradeoffs of using a product like Archies AdvancedHMI drivers instead of RSLinx.
I was thinking of doing some little interfaces with VB and it seems to me the driver to the PLC is the sticking point, is that right?
We generally just get RSView or FactoryTalkView. We write lots of VBA code to talk to databases and such.
Our applications are all one-offs, usually complete retrofits. We do not have a product for which we are trying to standardize and lower the cost. We only lower the cost to get a job.
The tag database in Rockwell's HMI gives us a lot of functionality that I will have to make up for if I just use VB, right? I mean the tags are there just ready to use...it might be a real drag to lose that tag database.
Is it worth bothering with an alternative if the customer likes RSView/ FactoryTalkView and has no problem buying it? Is the learning curve to set up comms and a tag database with a VB application more than a couple days? Is it as robust as the drivers you get if you buy RSView? If money for the software is not a consideration, is it a stupid idea to pass on the RSView or FTView?
I’m basically just wondering about situations where we are really buying RSView for the tag database and drivers but may only have a couple of screens, or a database application in which we have no necessary screens (in which case I make some trends which customers always like).
I was thinking of doing some little interfaces with VB and it seems to me the driver to the PLC is the sticking point, is that right?
We generally just get RSView or FactoryTalkView. We write lots of VBA code to talk to databases and such.
Our applications are all one-offs, usually complete retrofits. We do not have a product for which we are trying to standardize and lower the cost. We only lower the cost to get a job.
The tag database in Rockwell's HMI gives us a lot of functionality that I will have to make up for if I just use VB, right? I mean the tags are there just ready to use...it might be a real drag to lose that tag database.
Is it worth bothering with an alternative if the customer likes RSView/ FactoryTalkView and has no problem buying it? Is the learning curve to set up comms and a tag database with a VB application more than a couple days? Is it as robust as the drivers you get if you buy RSView? If money for the software is not a consideration, is it a stupid idea to pass on the RSView or FTView?
I’m basically just wondering about situations where we are really buying RSView for the tag database and drivers but may only have a couple of screens, or a database application in which we have no necessary screens (in which case I make some trends which customers always like).