S7 - Multiplex Variables in ProTool again!

Does anybody know if there's any way using Cut&Paste or similar techniques to speed up the generation of Multiplex Variables? I need to create the Multiplex Variables for 28 Voltage monitors for 21 Modules - that means with the normal setup, 28 lots of 21 parameters at 4 clicks per parameter + the name, type and the Index Variable.

I've got five of them done so far and my wrist and forefinger are killing me!

Can you export the tags edit them in excel and import them back in?

I see what you mean, it is one of the reasons why I dont use multiplex tags myself.
It may look cool when you switch the contents of a faceplate (for example) when you "pick" the object from a list. But it takes a huge effort to get it working.

Protool lacks such things as wildcards and placeholders. That makes working with large numbers of the same type of objects a real pain.
I try to keep my graphic objects so simple that I only have to exchange one tag in each object. Obviously that limits what you can do with it.

And no, you cant export the tag list or multiplex tag list to an excel file.

And no, you cant export the tag list or multiplex tag list to an excel file.

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I was hoping somebody might come up with something clever like that, or possibly to a DBF file. Unfortunately there's a limit to what you can do to improve things by speeding the mouse up, because the "New Tag" button is so small you start missing it.

Guess I'll just have to carry on the hard way. I'm up to number 17 now but I've just been offered the chance to take a break - somebody's decided that since we can't do any more testing using the dummy load, we might as well start on the short circuit tests. I don't think we'll be starting at 24 kV though!

Win Cc

I did an HMI for a machine and I avoided them like the plague. More out of ignorance than anything. I didn't have time to learn anything that wasn't already in my repertoire.

Has anyone tried the WIN CC yet? Are the multiplexor tags easier to use in it? I need a new laptop before I can think about running it. I heard it was a memory hog from the seimans distributor near me.

Win CC Flexible should be much more potent when dealing with these kind of things. I havent tried the multiplex tags in Flexible yet (actually, I havent worked that much with it at all).
Flexible 2004 is a memory hog and very slow.
Flexible 2005 (should be released around june-july) should be much faster. But count on 1 GB as the minimum for running Flexible. Also count on using a large screen (19" at 1280 x 1024 for example).

I am waiting for the 2005 release, and then I will start working with it seriously.

I did an HMI for a machine and I avoided them like the plague. More out of ignorance than anything. I didn't have time to learn anything that wasn't already in my repertoire.

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You're right, figuring out how to use them on my own was quite a hefty learning curve, but I'm glad I took the trouble, the alternative would be 21 identical pictures for each of the testing and fault screens - not really very nice!

Has anyone tried the WIN CC yet? Are the multiplexor tags easier to use in it? I need a new laptop before I can think about running it. I heard it was a memory hog from the seimans distributor near me.

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I've got Flexible 2004 on the laptop and on a desktop with 1 GB memory, it's painfully slow and pretty buggy, so I abandoned plans to migrate early from ProTool (the customer wants the final version in WinCC because his people are used to it, although it's overkill really).

Rumour has it that Flexible 2005 will be released in August and should be faster and require less memory. Hopefully it will be a bit more stable too!

Protool to WIN CC conversion

Is it true that you could use Protool for most of the programming and convert or import it to win cc when your done?

You would then have your customer satisfied and you could add any win cc bells and whistles at that time.

Protool projects can not be converted to "Win CC", but they CAN be converted to "Win CC Flexible".

What you propose is actually what I am doing right now. I am making a project in Protool Pro, and when Flexible 2005 is released I will convert it and continue with Flexible.

edit:
Just so that you are aware of it. The "old" Win CC will sometime in the future (2006 ?) be integrated into the new Win CC Flexible platform.

I've done a few projects with ProTool, and I can honestly say it is the worst Siemens software I've ever dealt with. It's as if the ProTool developers didn't even talk to the Step 7 developers at all, since it integrates so poorly (the tag "quick pick" function only works with very simple data blocks), and doesn't really have a Windows "feel". The whole thing is practical only for small projects.

Roy, it's too late now, but when I had to do some multiplexing with a TP27 once, I did it at the PLC level. So, in the TP I had some tags that told the PLC which component instance I wanted to control, and then it sent down toggles and setpoints for the PLC to distribute. The PLC then sent back the feedback for the correct component, and the TP27 would display it. If I had tried to use the multiplexing function, I'd probably still be there.