Studio 5000 - Import Watch Window?

slick_william

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Join Date
Apr 2020
Location
Oregon
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38
Hi all,

I am wondering if there is a way to import a custom Watch Window into Studio 5000 (i.e. version 32 through 35).

Essentially I am looking to make a text file or something similar, where I can add 30 or 40 tags, then import that into Studio, then it auto-populates the Watch Window with the 30 or 40 tags I entered.

The "Logix 5000™ Controllers Import/Export" manual says you can import QuickWatch as L5K or L5X files, however I tried this on a CompactLogix and Studio didn't seem to like it.

Any help here would be much appreciated, thanks.
 
It seems like this should be possible...but I don't see a way.



I don't even see anywhere to export a quick watch to anything, but it can be copy-pasted. If you copy-paste it into a text file, you can see it, but you can't then paste it back into Logix Designer. You can, however, copy-paste the tags from within one project directly into another.


Were you using the "Define a Watch List Component" chapter of that manual to try to add a watch list to an existing L5K file? I would probably start with a valid, named watch list in the project to be imported into and modify that section. You would have to export the current program to L5K, modify it, then re-import it. I haven't tried that, but it might work...but it would also be a bit of a pain.


Just for fun, I created a test quickwatch list and exported the project to L5K. Then, I deleted most everything else from the file and saved it as a copy. I then created a new project from import. It loaded the L5K with no issue, but the watch list, while there with the right name, was empty. Probably because it was an otherwise empty project without the tags. Tried the same with an L5X but that didn't work either.



I suspect you'll have to have a project with the tags and watch lists in it that you can copy-paste from.
 
I don't think this is possible. It looks to be part of the application as a whole and not a separate piece that can be imported and exported. And even if it did, the exported structure does not include the tags, just the names of the watch window.

The Import/Export manual does show the format that it uses, so you could modify the .L5K or L5X, but it would require importing the entire application. That does not seem worth the effort. Particularly if the tags don't come with it.

OG
 
Last edited:
What about creating a "template" routine, with 30 simple rungs. Use some copies, and some basic input and output rungs.
You can export the routine, edit the tag names in text editor to what you want them to be, then import that routine without setting a JSR to it.

From the watch window, choose current routine to dump in all all the tag values, copy those and paste into a new watch list. Then delete the routine if needed. Not sure if that would work, but something to think about.
 
Thanks for all the replies. All very good responses.

I called Rockwell and they confirmed you can't do anything like this online. The best you can do is save your project as an L5K (or L5X, can't remember which), and edit the watch list within that file, then re-open it in Studio. However doing this will require a download, even if the logic hasn't changed, so this would be a no-go.

The making a demonstration routine and never calling it is a good idea. I had thought of that, like using "[MOV(x,x),MOV(Y,Y),...]" if I wanted to see X and Y values, etc.

I think our best option might be to set up an OPC topic and view the tags in Excel. Might go that route for viewing lots of tags, else the dummy routine sounds like a definite winner as well.

Thanks.
 
I appreciate the post Davieboy. I usually make something similar (not an AOI), just a routine which will never be called or executed, which shows all the program logic.

I think the best path forward for what we are trying to do is to set our PLC at the OPC topic and just poll the individual tags, or else something like the test routine or your AOI would work just fine.
 

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