FactoryTalk View Studio - View Site Edition (Local Station) Help

Join Date
Feb 2017
Location
Anniston, AL
Posts
24
Hello everyone,

I have a line that is currently running an older version SE local station application. I took a backup of it and "updated" it by restoring it in FactoryTalk View Studio ver. 8.0 on a 32bit virtual machine, then created a backup again and restored the new backup on my 64bit machine (a work around of the legacy tag database conversion). All of that appears to have went well. I also have the PLC file (a SLC 5/05). I am simultaneously working on the programing for both the PLC and HMI and it is going, except for the alarms. I can see the alarms are setup in the HMI Tags, quite nicely too. The previous programmer was pretty well structured. All of the Alarm tags are pointing to file B12. In the program file B12 is labeled as "HMI Alarms", BUT not a single part of file B12 is in the PLC program!! I have found that file B20 is setup for all the same alarms as the alarm tags in the HMI, but the HMI doesn't reference anything in file B20 from what I can find.

What am I missing? I know the alarms work! I have seen them myself on the HMI and know the logic behind alarming works. I just can't figure out how I should be configuring new alarms???

I attached screen shots to help convey my problem. HELP!

PLC Files.jpg HMI Tags.jpg
 
Is it possible you overlooked something in the PLC code that copies between those alarm files? When I run across something like that, I will search in RSLogix for ":[" (without the quotes) to find out if there is any indirect referencing going on. Indirection won't show up in the usage view of a data table.
 
Amazing! Thanks for the quick response. I did not know if I searched "B12" that it wouldn't show up if it was in the format of "B12:[(FILE)]". I would have never guessed it. The file is huge, it would have taken my days to search specifically for B12 any in of the program. :geek: That is exactly what it is though! They are writing the alarm words one word at a time from file B20 to file B12 using a pointer in file N26. (When I say one word a time, it actually is done in one scan using JMPs to keep scanning that logic until it runs through all the words specified)

🤷

I have never worked with SE applications before. When I go to run the SE client to make a client file, will I be able to make a file compatible with the older machine (I'll have to pull the specs off the machine in a little while). It looks like a panelview on the front, but Software wise is running windows like a normal PC and has a lot of interface on the back of the unit (Screen and hardware built into one).
 
Correction: If I search just "B12" it is showing up! I guess I should have done that before posting.

I still didn't know that "B12:[(FILE)]" format wouldn't show in the data table usage.
 
Hey,

I have recently had a lot of experience with FactoryTalk SE Local Station. If you are asking can you down grade an 8.0 application to a previous version I have heard that is easily done. However I do not think you can downgrade from a 64 bit system to a 32 bit version. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

Yes in order to run local station you would actually need a computer. Usually this is in the form of an HMI that is an industrial computer. However when industrial computers have failed we have set up laptops as a temporary replacement.
 
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I have 8.0 on my PC that I am editing the screens with. Can I make a client file to run on whatever version is on the HMI, like I can make a runtime file for nearly any version PanelView Plus on 8.1? I have never done this so I am not sure of the process. Is it similar to creating a runtime file like on machine edition? Or do I have to load the entire application on the PC and run the SE client there to make the .cli (client file). Sorry, I haven't had a chance to research this subject. I've been trying to get the programming work done, on top of the rest of the project, plus the day to day activities in the plant.

The HMI is more than likely a 32bit system, since when I made the aplication archive file on it I had to go through the trouble of converting from pre-6.1 to post 6.1 due to the difference in the tag database systems. Can I make a runtime file for the old system?
 
So I was just reading it is not possible to "downgrade" versions. Maybe all hope is not lost. I've only added a single screen, modified another screen, and added a few dozen tags. Is it possible to import screens and tags from a higher version file to an older version application? I can use my VM to load the app and create a backup with version 8.0 on a 32bit machine if it is necessary, but is the different in tag databases going to be an issue? If so, can I use the legacy tag database tool to convert a new database to an old one? Can I import the screen without issues?
 
If anyone was wondering, I was able to upgrade the HMI to a newer version of FactoryTalk View Studio Enterprise. It appeared to have slowed down the tag updating with the SLC 5/05 considerably. I made the tag update rates faster and reduced the comms overhead to a degree, but I suspect the processor is slow to start with. I will try a few more things, but it works either way. Learned a lot about SE, and how I can utilize it for future projects. Looks like a good SCADA software to me! (Not good for what it is used for in this application, a PanelView Plus would have worked just fine)
 

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