FTV SE 8.0 Datalogging

JonAW · Jul 15, 2015

Hi Guys,

Following on from this post: http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?p=649410#post649410

I've realised I can use the FTV SE data log set to log to an ODBC Datasource (MS Access) on demand. It seems straight forward to do. Has anyone used this method to log batch recordings and if so is it a reliable method?

thanks

Jonny

rdrast · Jul 15, 2015

JonAW said:
Hi Guys,

Following on from this post: http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?p=649410#post649410

I've realised I can use the FTV SE data log set to log to an ODBC Datasource (MS Access) on demand. It seems straight forward to do. Has anyone used this method to log batch recordings and if so is it a reliable method?

thanks

Jonny

The FTView datalog really isn't all that great for batching. There are specific products that can handle batching, but FTView's datalog isn't. It is just a raw dump on values.

For batch recording here, I write my own, individual records to a database with several tables. A master record table for batch header information, then a process values table, an alarms table, and others as needed. At the end, everything is assembled into a report by Crystal.

FTView does trends, and poorly. Stressing it is asking for (more) trouble.

JonAW · Jul 15, 2015

The FTView datalog really isn't all that great for batching.

Thanks for the heads up. Can you give me reasons as to why it's not that great? I only need a maximum of 100 pieces of information. Ie 100 tags. It does need to be reliable although speed is not an issue here. The frequency of recordings will be an absolute maximum of 15 per hour.

thanks

Jonny

arlenjacobs · Jul 15, 2015

For your 100 tags logging 15 times an hour, the FTView SE data log will work well.
Use on demand and then issue the DataLogSnapshot command anytime you want to record your values.

Try it out and see if it does what you need. It's simple to use.
Then, if do you end up going the VBA route you will know exactly why.

Some things to note:
When you turn the data log on, it logs your tag values.
When you turn the data log off, if logs your tag values.
You must have the data log on in order to use the DataLogSnapshot, so you may not like having those extra two data sets turning the data log on and off.

When the data log is on, it scans your tags at the Max update rate. For 100 tags, it's not likely to cause problems. But if you wanted a large number of tags (ex. 1,000) that adds load to the system with wasted tag scans.

If you try to work around the tag scans by turning the data log on and off, you end up logging two more sets of data.

Using the data log is a write/store operation only. Yes, you could use the Trend to display data log data. But like rdrast I also avoid the trend, and it's not applicable to your Batch situation.

JonAW · Jul 16, 2015

arlenjacobs said:
For your 100 tags logging 15 times an hour, the FTView SE data log will work well.
Use on demand and then issue the DataLogSnapshot command anytime you want to record your values.

Try it out and see if it does what you need. It's simple to use.
Then, if do you end up going the VBA route you will know exactly why.

Some things to note:
When you turn the data log on, it logs your tag values.
When you turn the data log off, if logs your tag values.
You must have the data log on in order to use the DataLogSnapshot, so you may not like having those extra two data sets turning the data log on and off.

When the data log is on, it scans your tags at the Max update rate. For 100 tags, it's not likely to cause problems. But if you wanted a large number of tags (ex. 1,000) that adds load to the system with wasted tag scans.

If you try to work around the tag scans by turning the data log on and off, you end up logging two more sets of data.

Using the data log is a write/store operation only. Yes, you could use the Trend to display data log data. But like rdrast I also avoid the trend, and it's not applicable to your Batch situation.

Thanks for this info Arlen. It really helps me this time. I'll look into the VBA route at some stage as it appears to be the overall better solution but for this project, as I've spent enough time on it already, I'll push on down the datalog route.

I'm very much a beginner with VBA and looking through RDRasts previous posts on the VBA routine (very helpful by the way) to pull data from the plc to a database via FTV SE it is quite involved.

Can anyone point me towards a website, a book or any other info that could help me learn VBA with a much better understanding than having to cut and paste from the net?

thanks for your help

Jonny

FTV SE 8.0 Datalogging

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