Text Display on the PanelView

Steve Crotty

Member
Join Date
Apr 2002
Location
Kingston
Posts
202
Does anybody know of a way or if it is even possible to have text stored in the PLC and transfer it to the PLC for display. Whats trying to be accomplished here is to have alarm messaging in the panelview, but to be able to change the text of the alarm without owning PanelBuilder.
:eek:

Regards,

Steve
 
Things like this usually don't turn out saving much money. Even with over priced software like Panelbuilder, by the time you get done programming, testing, and generally screwing around it is probably cheaper to buy the software and do it the easy way. (I am, of course, assuming you don't work for free.)
 
I think I understand what you want to do Steve...

You want the ASCII characters in the message to be stored in the PLC and NOT the PanelView, right? YOU have PanelBuilder, but the customer doesn't... This is really easy with most other HMIs, no so much with the PanelViews :rolleyes:

After using a bunch of other brands, I cringe when a customer specifies a PanelView.... It's just so limited! banghead

Look up "character variable" in PanelBuilder's help index. You can use this to display ASCII character(s) instead of numeric variables. This is juts another one of the "data types" you can select from. Remember to make the "array size" large enough to display all the characters in you string. I would use N words to store the messages (2 characters per word). Not the easiest solution, but the best I can think of for the PanelViews...

If this doesn't make sense, let me know...

-Eric
 
Yeah... it makes sense. Thanks for the help, I was just really concerned with if it was possible or not. It sounds like a pain in the ass, but at least its possible. Thanks again! :D

Steve
 
I've done it using the string data type in the PLC and the Character array tag type in the panelview--not for alarms, but for recipe names. The string data type may contain 82 characters, but my screen width will only allow me to display 28. I configured a message display object. driven by an integer tag type (my recipe number, your alarm number). You may have, say, 50 alarm messages.

Your PLC string file would be 50 elements long. There must be a panelview tag assighed for each string element address. alarm_text_0 thru alarm_text_49--coinciding with string elements 0-49. (or maybe indirect addressing in the PLC could write any of the 50 string elements to a single display tag element--I didn't think of that, before, and I did 90 tags for strings--sheesh. Then you don't need a list, just a data display object with the ascii display tag embedded.)

Embed the alarm_text_0 tag in the text area of state 0 of the message display (panelview calls it embedded variable), alarm_text_1 tag in state 1 of the message display, etc. The message display will have 50 possible states.

If alarm 0 is active, send the value 0 to the integer tag for the meassage display object--and the characters stored in string element 0 are displayed.

If alarm 20 is active, send the value 20 to the integer tag for the meassage display object--and the characters stored in string element 20 are displayed.

In my systen, I use an ascii entry object to allow the operator to change the names of his recipes in the PLC String file.

The point, here, is to use string variables--not ascii. And let the PLC do the work--not the panelview.

The nice thing about doing it with string elements rather than simple text in the panelview is that you can change the wording of the alarms on line, on the fly with the PLC programmer--as opposed to editing and downloading the panelview file.
 
just a little heads up

Just a little heads up. I worked on a project about 3 years ago doing a similar thing with a PLC5/40E and a Panelview. I ran out of memory in the PLC5/40E really really quick using the String data files. I think that the PLC 5 reserves 42 words of memory for each string element used, regardless of how many characters the string is containing. This adds up really really quickly. I eventually ended up storing the Alarm Messages in the PanelView, and used the PLC to trigger which alarm was sent to the overhead ASCII display sign.
 
ControlLogix and string type

Did any one have used a string tag on the Control Logix and was able to see it on the Rsview? (maybe in the PanelView, but one question at a time.....)

For example, if the tag name is ZZZ, then how to select that tag from the Rsview? ZZZ? ZZZ.DATA? ZZZ.DATA[0]?

thanks,
Luis
 
I have done this before but at least on a PV 1000 firmware 4.x I have not been able to download an application w/ alarms that reference variables in a SLC processor on DH+ (Can't vouch for other comms).

BUT

A somwhat inexpensive way of changing a configuration for a customer who doesn't have Panelbuilder is with an ATA Compact Flash card and PCMCIA adapter. You could even have them buy the card and adapter and send it to you to make changes (along w/ a 20 dollar bill or six pack or whatever it takes to get you rolling :) ). You send it back to them and they plug it into the back of their box and download the new app from the card.

Also, they can backup all of their panelviews on the card and now have an additional safety backup for when you get hit by a bus crossing the street with your laptop :p

For more info on flash cards and panelviews look here:

http://www.software.rockwell.com/forum/rslogix/messageview.cfm?catid=88&threadid=4102

and here:

http://www.software.rockwell.com/forum/rslogix/messageview.cfm?catid=88&threadid=4334
 
For example, if the tag name is ZZZ, then how to select that tag from the Rsview? ZZZ? ZZZ.DATA? ZZZ.DATA[0]?

Based on this statement I assume you are using ethernet? I dont know if RSView 32 is different than the panelview, but in the panelview I would make a tag called ZZZ, and it would be pointing to ZZZ.Data . The tag would have to be a character array, and match the length to the size of the tag in control logix

good luck!
 
john, could you go a little more in depth on how to do this? This is my first project like this, so I'm learning on the go. I've got 12 strings in my SLC and I'd like to display their contents on the panelview. These strings are getting their contents from a 'troubleshooting' server that will send troubleshooting instructions according to my machine status tag to the panelview for our operators and maintenance techs.

I've gotten ASCII strings to display, but I don't see an easy way to get RSView to write a string into the ascii files.

help...
 

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