AutomationTechBrian
Lifetime Supporting Member
I'm focusing on Rockwell programming for a couple of projects, and I've been thinking about some of the details I've come across while working with others' project files. It's the little details that I'm curious about. The thing I'm thinking about this morning is this person's use of UDTs for all the components, like HMI tags. Usually, I just make my tags like 'HMI_EnableMachine,' and then I have all of my 'HMI_' tags in one area in the controller tags. But in the file I'm working on, he used a UDT for all the HMI tags... 'HMI.EnableMachine,' etc. From an organization standpoint, it's nice. You have one line in the controller tags, and you can expand it and then see all the HMI tags. He has a UDT for every component of the machine... Press, Printer, RollFormer, SafetySystem, etc. Up to this point, I've only used UDTs when I knew all the tags beforehand. When you edit a UDT that is already being used, you get a warning about the consequences of editing. I assume it's the consequences of eliminating something, and not adding new tags. But I think I'd like to use UDTs more this way, live editing, to make the program more organized. So I'd like to see what you all think of using UDTs like this. Thoughts? Experiences?
And while we're talking, what about AOIs... is there a big collection of AOIs somewhere, like on the Rockwell site? I've picked them up here and there, from manufacturers like ABB for a VFD. But they are used so much, that I wonder about a larger collection to browse online.
And while we're talking, what about AOIs... is there a big collection of AOIs somewhere, like on the Rockwell site? I've picked them up here and there, from manufacturers like ABB for a VFD. But they are used so much, that I wonder about a larger collection to browse online.
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