sevanstech
Member
Hey guys, just wanted to get this info out there, I can't find any other reference to this limitation anywhere online. Maybe it can help someone else when considering design resolutions.
I believe I've discovered that FactoryTalk View Studio 6.1 has a design-time stability issue when running the application window at a resolution greater than 1920x1080. This limitation applies to the window dimensions of the Windows-based application VStudio.exe, when resized to a window resolution greater than 1920x1080. I am using FTV Studio to create a Site Edition (Local) application. I contacted Rockwell who of course denied that there are any limitations to screen resolution, however, I can replicate the issue consistently every time I exceed this threshold.
Computer Environment:
Tried 3 different Windows 7 Pro 64-bit host computers
Oracle VM VirtualBox virtual machine (tried 2 clean VMs each with varying configuration settings)
Windows XP Pro 32-bit (installed on VM)
FactoryTalk View 6.1 Studio (for SE/ME)
HP Z30i Monitor (2560x1600 native res) using DisplayPort
Problem Details:
-- FTVStudio will not crash immediately after stretching the window to a greater resolution; however, after clicking Save a few times, or after closing and opening a display a couple times, VStudio.exe will hang, and then give you the app crash message (FactoryTalk has experienced an error and needs to close...etc).
-- The displays that I am designing are 1920x1080.
-- I found that I can stretch the window out to see the entire display, and make a few changes, then shrink the app window back down below 1920x1080 and click Save, and the application continues to run without crashing.
-- It only seems to crash after performing multiple operations while the app window is stretched outside of this resolution.
-- As usual with Rockwell software, once the program has crashed, you must reboot the computer (in this case, VM) before running Studio again, otherwise you'll gain valuable insight to the quality of Rockwell's FactoryTalk programming (i.e. you'll experience endless bugs).
-- One tell-tale sign to me that this is a hard-coded Rockwell limitation is that after an app crash and Windows reboot, the VStudio.exe application defaults to a 1920x1080-sized window, plus the pixel height of the Windows application title bar (about 30 pixels); I took a screenshot and pasted into Microsoft Paint to do a pixel count.
Troubleshooting:
-- Tried 2 different clean-installed virtual machines
-- Installed FTV prior to installing any 3rd-party software.
-- No FactoryTalk patches or updates were applied
-- Tried creating another new, fresh Site Edition (Local) program.
-- Tried backing up the application, and restoring it again; also restored it to another computer, which experienced the same issue when plugged into the big monitor.
Workarounds:
-- I made a desktop wallpaper with vertical and horizontal lines drawn at lateral pixel 1920, and vertical pixel 1080, and keep the app window sized within that margin.
-- If I need to stretch the app window larger in order to view the full size of my 1920*1080 display graphic, I do so briefly, and quickly return it to a sub-1920x1080 size before hitting Save.
-- I save my changes to displays constantly to minimize the chance of losing my work.
-- After completing my programming work for the day, I click "File > Close Application", wait for Rockwell to unload the application, then click "File > Exit", then shutdown Windows; I never suspend the computer (save the VM state) while Studio is running because this introduces memory errors next time you use Studio.
I have not yet tested the run-time application for this same limitation, only FTVStudio. I have not been able to see if FTV 7 or 8 also have this issue. If anyone else has experienced any similar problems, please post it here to help document this issue.
I believe I've discovered that FactoryTalk View Studio 6.1 has a design-time stability issue when running the application window at a resolution greater than 1920x1080. This limitation applies to the window dimensions of the Windows-based application VStudio.exe, when resized to a window resolution greater than 1920x1080. I am using FTV Studio to create a Site Edition (Local) application. I contacted Rockwell who of course denied that there are any limitations to screen resolution, however, I can replicate the issue consistently every time I exceed this threshold.
Computer Environment:
Tried 3 different Windows 7 Pro 64-bit host computers
Oracle VM VirtualBox virtual machine (tried 2 clean VMs each with varying configuration settings)
Windows XP Pro 32-bit (installed on VM)
FactoryTalk View 6.1 Studio (for SE/ME)
HP Z30i Monitor (2560x1600 native res) using DisplayPort
Problem Details:
-- FTVStudio will not crash immediately after stretching the window to a greater resolution; however, after clicking Save a few times, or after closing and opening a display a couple times, VStudio.exe will hang, and then give you the app crash message (FactoryTalk has experienced an error and needs to close...etc).
-- The displays that I am designing are 1920x1080.
-- I found that I can stretch the window out to see the entire display, and make a few changes, then shrink the app window back down below 1920x1080 and click Save, and the application continues to run without crashing.
-- It only seems to crash after performing multiple operations while the app window is stretched outside of this resolution.
-- As usual with Rockwell software, once the program has crashed, you must reboot the computer (in this case, VM) before running Studio again, otherwise you'll gain valuable insight to the quality of Rockwell's FactoryTalk programming (i.e. you'll experience endless bugs).
-- One tell-tale sign to me that this is a hard-coded Rockwell limitation is that after an app crash and Windows reboot, the VStudio.exe application defaults to a 1920x1080-sized window, plus the pixel height of the Windows application title bar (about 30 pixels); I took a screenshot and pasted into Microsoft Paint to do a pixel count.
Troubleshooting:
-- Tried 2 different clean-installed virtual machines
-- Installed FTV prior to installing any 3rd-party software.
-- No FactoryTalk patches or updates were applied
-- Tried creating another new, fresh Site Edition (Local) program.
-- Tried backing up the application, and restoring it again; also restored it to another computer, which experienced the same issue when plugged into the big monitor.
Workarounds:
-- I made a desktop wallpaper with vertical and horizontal lines drawn at lateral pixel 1920, and vertical pixel 1080, and keep the app window sized within that margin.
-- If I need to stretch the app window larger in order to view the full size of my 1920*1080 display graphic, I do so briefly, and quickly return it to a sub-1920x1080 size before hitting Save.
-- I save my changes to displays constantly to minimize the chance of losing my work.
-- After completing my programming work for the day, I click "File > Close Application", wait for Rockwell to unload the application, then click "File > Exit", then shutdown Windows; I never suspend the computer (save the VM state) while Studio is running because this introduces memory errors next time you use Studio.
I have not yet tested the run-time application for this same limitation, only FTVStudio. I have not been able to see if FTV 7 or 8 also have this issue. If anyone else has experienced any similar problems, please post it here to help document this issue.
