Panelview 800 Guru's $Sys tags

JZerb

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I'm looking to create my own 'screen saver' screen on a PV800 and I cannot find a tag thats suitable to read back in the PLC that i can then write some logic to control the current displayed screen on the PV800. I see that there are some $Sys tags under the System tab in Tags in CCW, but i dont see anything that tells you the screen saver is active. I even tried to use the LCD intensity tag, but that doesnt give you the current LCD intensity, just what the intensity is SET for throughout the project.

I assume there are 'other' $Sys tags that are available, if you knew their names, because there is a tag labeled $SysAlarmClose thats attached to the Close button on the Alarms Banner, but that tag is no where to be found in the System tab under Tags.
 
There are tags you can attach a variable to and monitor in your PLC. You can read/write the current screen, but once you do the User won’t be able to change the screen from the HMI.
Meaning, the HMI will assume control from the PLC instead of the user.
If you have a highly complex HMI with multiple overlays and hidden items then you would almost have to use the PLC to control screen changes.
If your HMI isn’t all that complex, then I would suggest to abandon the need to control the screensaver. It doesn’t add much value for the work needed.
 
There are tags you can attach a variable to and monitor in your PLC. You can read/write the current screen, but once you do the User won’t be able to change the screen from the HMI.
Meaning, the HMI will assume control from the PLC instead of the user.
If you have a highly complex HMI with multiple overlays and hidden items then you would almost have to use the PLC to control screen changes.
If your HMI isn’t all that complex, then I would suggest to abandon the need to control the screensaver. It doesn’t add much value for the work needed.

The tags from the PV800 that monitor the current screen do not allow you to know if the screensaver is active or not, i have already tried that. This instance isnt a matter of the value added in this situation, this is what someone requested that i do and i am trying to exhaust all options to see if its possible before telling them that it cannot be done.
 
Disclaimer: I have never used the Panelview 800

Many of the other HMI offerings from A/B allow some method of replacing the screensaver graphics with your own. Heck you can even do that on the LCD display of some Micrologix PLCs. It may not be straightforward.

As for screen control tags: The older variants of Painelviews allowed the screen control object to return control back to the HMI by writing a zero to the screen control tag. To control the screen from the PLC, you would write the value of the screen you wanted, and when the screen status tag matched the control tag (in plc logic) you would oneshot and write a zero back to the control tag. If the HMI "saw" a screen control tag value of zero, it would allow normal navigation actions to occur.

You basic problem with rolling your own is that you don't have an inactivity timer from the HMI. You could create that by having each and every action on the HMI reset a PLC timer. But to do that, you would need all objects on the HMI to trigger a change in value to a PLC address...this might mean making things like navigation buttons perform two actions (is that even possible in a PanelPiew? I dunno...). I doubt you can do that with all possible objects.

The above are just general statements and may not even apply the same way to the newer A/B HMI offerings. And there might be some HMI system tag for inactivity time that is exposed...

EDIT: This may suit your needs:
https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/753993
 
Last edited:
Disclaimer: I have never used the Panelview 800

Many of the other HMI offerings from A/B allow some method of replacing the screensaver graphics with your own. Heck you can even do that on the LCD display of some Micrologix PLCs. It may not be straightforward.

As for screen control tags: The older variants of Painelviews allowed the screen control object to return control back to the HMI by writing a zero to the screen control tag. To control the screen from the PLC, you would write the value of the screen you wanted, and when the screen status tag matched the control tag (in plc logic) you would oneshot and write a zero back to the control tag. If the HMI "saw" a screen control tag value of zero, it would allow normal navigation actions to occur.

You basic problem with rolling your own is that you don't have an inactivity timer from the HMI. You could create that by having each and every action on the HMI reset a PLC timer. But to do that, you would need all objects on the HMI to trigger a change in value to a PLC address...this might mean making things like navigation buttons perform two actions (is that even possible in a PanelPiew? I dunno...). I doubt you can do that with all possible objects.

The above are just general statements and may not even apply the same way to the newer A/B HMI offerings. And there might be some HMI system tag for inactivity time that is exposed...

EDIT: This may suit your needs:
https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/753993

So that technote does work, I did it on Friday after I tweaked the original autorun file because it wasn’t working originally. The way you described by writing the screen number of choice to a tag then writing said rag back to 0 so that the HMI user has full control of the screen is exactly what I’m trying to do, which I have done many a times in a PVP7 in the past.

My issue is that there seems to be no “HMI inactivity” tag or anything of that nature. I ASSUME there is something somewhere that is triggered when the screensaver is active, it’s just not a tag that AB allows you to access. Another option i have is to setup the user to auto logout after a set time, return to a screen and set that screen as my “screensaver” screen and have a large transparent close display button laid over it so once it’s pressed it returns to the main screen on the HMI. Issue is I don’t believe that’s a viable option on a PV800 because I don’t think you can set it up that way as you can an PVP.
 

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