InTouch 10.1 tag current values search

[iLikeWaffles]

I have an InTouch HMI that has PID parameters.

I need to find what the PID values were in the past.

I have backups from the past, but none of the wonderware intouch files give me tag values. I checked dde.cfg, db.csv etc. Those files have initial values, which are all set to zero.

Which file holds the tag values? Hopefully a backup saves these values.

The PLC is older Omron, which also has no info for me.

 

[Bit_Bucket_07]

Only tags checked to be memory retentive will store the tag's value during runtime.

If the tags in question were checked for historical trending, then their previous values may be recorded in a trend history file.

 

[iLikeWaffles]

How do the values get repopulated when the HMI is restarted? There's gotta be some kind of file. The PLC gets it from the HMI so I know they're saved somewhere.

 

[NetNathan]

If the tags are not logged (check tag config), you will not have much luck.
If logged, you may have *.lgh and *.idx files.

 

[greatteacher]

If the tags are not logged (check tag config), you will not have much luck.
If logged, you may have *.lgh and *.idx files.

Thanks for the explanation and guide.

 

[lostcontrol]

How do the values get repopulated when the HMI is restarted? There's gotta be some kind of file. The PLC gets it from the HMI so I know they're saved somewhere.

Are you saying, that if you change a value in the plc & restart the HMI, the value in the plc changes.?

This is not usual, unless there is a script or that writes some values from the HMI or a DB.
If that is happening, then they source should be locatable.

 

[Bit_Bucket_07]

How do the values get repopulated when the HMI is restarted? There's gotta be some kind of file. The PLC gets it from the HMI so I know they're saved somewhere.

Strictly speaking, InTouch doesn't communicate directly with a PLC. The IO Server acts as an intermediary between the two. InTouch only records tag values in a binary file in the application directory for tags that are configured to be retentive.

For tags that are configured to be logged, Historical Trending will maintain history files in whichever folder it is configured to use. If no trend history folder is specified, then the history files will be written to the application directory by default.

 

[NetNathan]

Do you have a development license?

 

[ynpmoose]

If the startup of the HMI changes values in the PLC, and initial values are not what is setting it, it could be in HMI scripts. If you have a dev license like NetNathan suggested, you could dump the scripts to disk to search them for the InTouch tagname dictionary tag names.

 

[Bit_Bucket_07]

Are you saying, that if you change a value in the plc & restart the HMI, the value in the plc changes.?

This is not usual, unless there is a script or that writes some values from the HMI or a DB.
If that is happening, then they source should be locatable.

That would be unusual behavior. InTouch IO Servers typically only write data to the PLC on exception. Of course, a script could be causing values to be written to specific tags.

I assumed that the OP had lost the values of the PID gains in the PLC program and was hoping that the HMI would either restore those values on start-up or otherwise reveal what the lost data values were so that they could be manually re-entered into the PLC program.

 

[iLikeWaffles]

Unfortunately I don't see any *.lgh and *.idx files. These values are not logged to historian anyway.

The PLC gets these values from the HMI. There's nothing in the offline PLC project.

If it's stored in an InTouch binary then I'm screwed. That's a bad design of the software IMO.

I do have a development license.

 

[NetNathan]

The PID values may also be logged as events, so you see what it was and what it was changed to with a date stamp.
BUT..
The tags need to be configured as events and the Alarm DB Manager must be running to save event changes to WWALMDB database file... other wise you will loose the information with in about 1 day.
I prefer the Intouch Log History or Historian for saving data.

 

[NetNathan]

Unfortunately I don't see any *.lgh and *.idx files. These values are not logged to historian anyway.

The PLC gets these values from the HMI. There's nothing in the offline PLC project.

If it's stored in an InTouch binary then I'm screwed. That's a bad design of the software IMO.

I do have a development license.

If you are still learning about an HMI, I would not really jump forward say it is bad design.
In any HMI, you have to set up what tags you want to log. An HMI does not read your mind and decide what you want to log.
You will have no access to old data if they are not logged.
But you can start logging the tags from now on.
I gather you have no *.lgh files for any tags that are logged. Do you have Historian installed? Are you logging any data?
Maybe send DB dump and we will investigate.

 

[iLikeWaffles]

No .lgh files, that is correct. There's hundreds of tags that are logged to historian, but these are not. I will add them from now on that's for sure. It's a 20 year old machine.

I just don't understand how the HMI comes up with the setpoints when it is rebooted. Like where does it get it from? That is the question.

The PLC get's these values from the HMI. I checked the Omron PLC memory and there is nothing there other than zeros in the offline project.

 

[NetNathan]

The HMI uploads the tags from the plc when it is started.
If they are "retentive" tags then it may load them from the associated "retentive.?" file that is stored in the app folder.
20 years old? What version of Wonderware is it? What Windows OS?