FactoryTalk View SE View Client

smohamed

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Join Date
Mar 2008
Location
ON
Posts
108
Morning,

I was looking to see if anyone had any experience using FactoryTalk View SE View Client. We've used FactoryTalk View SE in a client/server architecture previously, but our client is looking for a read-only version of the SCADA instead of a secured username/password setup.

I see that Rockwell does have a View Client software package, but could not find any details as to how it works, etc. How are alarms handled, all that kind of stuff. If anyone has used it previously, some input or literature would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I have used SE Distributed a lot. I have never used a "read only" client before. I am like you, I know it exists but have never deployed one.

I would be curious how it differentiates between navigation and other commands since they are all in a "run command" type object. For instance what if your navigation calls a macro, will it execute the macro in order to change screens?

I have a sneaky suspicion it may be tricky to work with.

Hopefully someone can provide some experience.

I would assume a manual for the product exists? have you looked?

RSL
 
TN 35377 - List of commands and functionality that cannot be executed from an RSView SE View-only client
 
Hi guys,

New member to the forum here, and very little experience with FactoryTalk View (FTView). Sorry for resurrecting an old post but my question is near identical but with some twists. First some background:

I am working at a site where we have a DCS for controlling the general facility, but with a lot of 3rd party vendor packages built using AllenBradley ControlLogix controllers and FTView ME HMI's (mix between field PC's and PanelView Plus). FactoryTalk Gateway (RSLinx Enterprise) is used as an OPC interface to integrate the data back to the DCS screens. However, we are currently exploring options to make the FTView HMI available in the control room and possibly remotely.

If the FTView HMI is made available to remote, we would want it to be secured with a read-only mode. From reading I know FTSecurity can be used to secure components on the graphic, however this would require a lot of editing of graphics to implement. From the original post, FTView SE has a read-only client which sounds like the easiest solution.

The other challenge is a lot of the HMI's have been implemented by different companies/people so there is no consistency, and they are all in separate Applications/MER's.

Questions:
1) Is it easy to import Machine Edition applications into Site Edition?
2) Is it possible to keep the ME applications separate in SE, but within a single client session 'switch' between applications seamlessly? Or would this require a disconnect/reconnect of the client?
3) The last post is from 2012, have there been any product updates/releases relevant to this area?

Any advice or ideas would be much appreciated! Thanks very much.
 
1) Yes, it's easy to import the graphic screens; but it can be time consuming to check and make changes to the screens afterward. Keep in mind that Site Edition has different features than Machine Edition; some things do not exist or will be different.
ex. SE does not have "display number". The SE numeric input is much different than the ME numeric input.

2) Yes, it's possible to keep the converted ME screens separate. There is the cheap way and the expensive way. Cheap: all of the screens are in the same HMI server, so you would need to manage your screen names & navigation to keep them separate.
Expensive: buy an HMI server license for each ME project you import, then put each converted project into a separate Area/HMI server.

Either case you can view all of the screens. But with separate HMI servers (areas) your maintenance and development is much easier. That is especially true when you try to merge all of those different vendors' projects into one Site Edition project.
Just think what happens when you merge 12 projects into one, and each of those had a display called "Main".


3) Rockwell now lets you use a web browser as a client: FT ViewPoint. It doesn't support all the features that a full client would (ie. VBA, some macros, activeX), but for just viewing read-only screens it works fine.
 
Last edited:
Thanks arlenjacobs.

We have approximately 35 separate MER's, so I anticipated that trying to merge them all into one mega project file would not be feasible. I think the separate Area/HMI servers idea is the only workable solution. But then it sounds like there is risk that the conversion from ME to SE may not go through cleanly and will need touch-ups afterwards? Ideally we would only have to manage a single copy of each HMI.

With regards to FT ViewPoint, from documentation and articles online, it sounds like this product is essentially a web server which installs onto ViewPoint Plus units only (and not PC based HMIs). Is this still true? I suppose VNC could be installed on the PC based HMIs to complete this solution.
 
There is an option to run an FTView Client as view-only when you are creating a runtime client.

From FTView SE Help:

You can create a read-only FactoryTalk View SE Client when you create a new FactoryTalk View SE Client configuration file, or you can edit an existing FactoryTalk View SE Client configuration file to make it read-only.

On a read-only FactoryTalk View SE Client, the following are disabled:

tag writes
recipe saves
alarm summary operations
commands processed on the server
Commands processed on the client are enabled, except Download and DownloadAll, which are disabled because they are write commands.

To create a read-only FactoryTalk View SE Client:

Start the FactoryTalk View SE Display Client wizard.
Create a new FactoryTalk View SE Client configuration file (.CLI) or edit an existing one.
In the FactoryTalk View SE Client Application Name dialog box of the wizard, select Open FactoryTalk View SE Client as View Only.
Complete the remaining steps.

Tip:
You can also make a client read-only by using a read-only activation key when you install the client software. See the FactoryTalk View Site Edition Installation Guide for activation instructions.
 
You can install the FTViewPoint server on a regular PC. That is the FT ViewPoint SE license/software. You pay for each client license to connect.
The PanelViewPlus has the server included on it (PVP 7 or PVP 6 extended features). No additional charge, but only 1 client connection is allowed.
Either of those will look about the same when you connect from a Web Browser.

The read-only SE client license will give you the best experience when you connect, as it will run/look the same as a full client. Max 50 clients can be connected.

FT ViewPoint has limitations, and trend/alarm displays are different, but it is very easy to connect. Just open a web browser and connect.

List price is about the same for both, but you save $$ when you buy 25+ FT ViewPoint licenses.

You can have max 10 HMI servers. But you could spread those PanelView projects across 5 or 10 HMI servers.
You will definitely have to touch-up the projects after you convert, such as manually creating your alarms and workarounds for the global connections (if used).
 

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