FactoryTalk - Change MultiState Indicator Parameters

[mejadiaz]

Hello,
I have a few multistate indicators that I am using to represent what product is in the location that it represents. They are all identical in the setup of the states and will always be for this application. The only thing that changes is the indicator. However, the client wants to be able to change the states in the PanelView easily. For example, if there is a 1 in the indicator, the color will be grey, a 2 then the color is blue, etc. Then he would change 1 from grey to orange. Is there any way these state settings can be changed through the HMI application? Is there any way to change the setup of all the multistate indicators simultaneously? There are around 80+ and I have changed them all manually a few times now. Which can take around 3 hours to do one by one. Is there any other alternative to multistate indicators I could use?

 

[PLCENGR014]

I have never heard of anyone trying to dynamically change the color of an indicator while the PanelView code is live. The color of the Multistate indicator is a set property of that particular block, so the only way I can think of that you MIGHT be able to edit it live would be through VBA code.

A better solution if you want dynamically changing colors would be through the color animation of regular objects. You would have to do some logix coding in your processer to control what colors appear and when, but anytime I think of dynamic changes to an HMI, I go to the processor to control them.

The best solution would be to get the client to decide what colors they want, where and when and lock them in. From my experiance, having an indicator that can have different colors for the exact same state is a good recipie for confused operators. Keeping things simple, static and easy to read is always the best way!

As for changing a bunch of objects at once, you would need to explore using the 'Global Object' feature. Otherwise each object is a unique instance.

 

[Phrog30]

Assuming FT ME, that's the wrong platform to do fancy things like that. I'm not even sure if SE could handle that. If you want to change the multistate indicators easily, I recommend doing the edits in Excel.