CompactLogix, RS Linx and gathering data on Excel

Good Afternoon ,

I need to gather some data on a Excel spreadsheet from a CompactLogix PLC. I understand , thru RS Linx as a "go between" , that I can populate an Excel Spreadsheet , in real time with data .

How easy is this to do ?

Thank you so much in advance ,

This is a fairly simple process to do, you will have to have RSlinx OEM which is not a free program, RSlinx classic is free but wont work for this.

Couple of things you will need to do.
Open RSlinx (activated as OEM) and set up the topic for your PLC.
After you have your topic set up for your PLC you can enter in a string into an excel cell and it will pull the value from the PLC.
This string is the basic structure that I used to read values in the PLC.
with a little bit of visual basic for excel (VBA) you can do a lot of fancy things in excel.

=RSLINX|RSLinx Topic!'PLC TAG'



If your going to automate this task, make sure you give time for things to populate, excel gets doggy when you try to make it do too many things at once.

If you have a fairly new AB panel, it is likely that you can use the DataStore feature that is embedded in the AB panel program FT Sudio ME.



Another option is to compile the data points into print strings that are separated by commas for each line (or row). A standard serial or TCP capture program can be running continuously from another computer.or device. This option requires no special "in between" service or software.

It's easy, but first you need to setup a "trend" of the data point(s) you want to log. Trend folder is in the project tree on the left.

Once the trend is setup and before you RUN it, there is a LOG pulldown menu at the top of the trend screen that allows you to save the data as .csv

Another option to check out is a free program called AdvancedHMI
I have used AdvancedHMI for quite a few things.

Here is a quick link I found about transferring data to excel.
Greatest thing about advancedhmi is that it is self contained, does not need a go between, and its open source with lots and lots of examples.

https://www.advancedhmi.com/forum/index.php?topic=2120.msg12154#msg12154

Check it out and see what works out best for you.

Thanks for the information . So you say RS Linx Classic will not work ?

So FactoryTalk Linx Gateway is the same ? Such as ……

Basic - Would this work ?
Standard - Would this work ?
Professional - I imagine this would work ?

About Advanced HMI , I did hear about that. I will study up on it.

Thanks again

As with anything Rockwell, understanding the subtle differences between their products, particularly related to licencing, is incredibly frustrating.

RSLinx has two major largely unrelated families of communication software.

RSLinx Classic
This is traditionally used to go online to PLCs with RSLogix 5/500/5000/ Studio 5000 Logix designer * / CCW / Drive executive.

It has several different licence versions:
RSLinx Classic Lite- No cost. Can be used to go online with the above software, can't link with third party software
RSLinx Classic Single Node, OEM, Professional, Gateway : Paid Licensed versions which provide OPC and DDE access for linking with third party software. There are subtle differences between these versions above. Professional isn't available any more, but largely the same as OEM. Single node only lets you communicate with one PLC at a time. Gateway offers other gateway options (other RSLinx clients can connect through that RSLinx session)

FactoryTalk Linx (formally RSLinx Enterprise)
Native communication platform for Factorytalk View platform (though they can use RSLinx Classic). Newer versions of Logix Designer let you optionally use it to communicate with controllers. ControlFlash Plus uses it for communication to devices.

There's the free version of Factorytalk Linx for use with the above Rockwell software. Licenced versions are available that provided OPC UA access.

----------
Summary: An easy way to pull data into Excel is using DDE, which requires a licensed version of RSLinx Classic (Eg: RSLinx Classic OEM)

Check this video, I made this after having the same need..hope it helps...

How can I tell if I have free version or licensed version of Factory Talk Linx? I'm unsure on the current laptop I have with this software.

Also, what is annual cost of RS Linx Classic OEM edition? Thanks,

alive15 said:

How can I tell if I have free version or licensed version of Factory Talk Linx? ...

Click to expand...

Open RSLinx and click Help / About RSLinx

It will pop up a window that the bottom section will show if it is licensed with a serial number or just the installed owner if not.

Aabeck said:

Open RSLinx and click Help / About RSLinx

It will pop up a window that the bottom section will show if it is licensed with a serial number or just the installed owner if not.

Click to expand...

Yes, I tried this, however, a file opened up on google chrome called "The Network Browser". That box you are talking about is not popping up, like it does with Rs Logix.