PanelMate 1100 String Editing?

[pittpanther]

Hello all - I am looking to modify some existing PanelMate 1100 applications for a downtime collection project. I just opened the applications in the PanelMate Configuration Editor for the first time, and I can't figure out how to display/edit string variables from the PLC. I need to allow the supervisors to edit a group of PLC string tags that represent the reasons for being down.

I was also hoping to automatically display a downtime selection page based on a PLC trigger, but I don't see how to do this either.

Are these just limitations of this platform? Thanks!

 

[Steve Bailey]

If the PLC logic writes "Shutdown due to E-Stop" to a string variable monitored by the Panel Mate, there's nothing the Panel Mate can do to alter that. It's no different than if the PLC logic writes a constant to an integer variable.

 

[pittpanther]

Thanks for the reply Steve. I was hoping to have a PanelMate page that would display 20 possible downtime reasons that could be edited (through the PanelMate), so that a Supervisor could actually specify the names of the downtime reasons (i.e.: "Shutdown Due to E-Stop", etc.)

 

[OkiePC]

Steve, I think what he is looking for is the syntax to reference String files in the PLC and whether or not he can edit those with the PanelMate. I never did text entry on a PanelMate and haven't touched one in 7 years.. Is there a text keypad/text entry object?

I know with the Panelview standard, to get the actual characters in a SLC (or PLC-5) ST type file, you must address the string with a .1 delimiter like this: "ST30:1.1".

"ST30:1.0" would be the LENgth of the string.

 

[pittpanther]

Hi Steve - that is exactly right. I can't seem to find a text edit object, nor can I find a way to remotely open a page from a PLC trigger.

 

[Steve Bailey]

Its been several years since my last Panel Mate project and I've never done one with the 1100.

The PLC variable to trigger a page change is called the "Page Change Register". In the old Panel Mate configuration software that I have, its located in the "Remote" tab under System Parameters in the project navigator.

In the older Power Series I don't remember there being a keyboard object for text entry. In the HMIs I've worked with more recently, if they support text entry, there will be a pop-up keyboard object. Either that or they might have a USB port where you can attach a keyboard.

 

[Steve Bailey]

Thinking about it a little more, you could roll your own keyboard for the Panel Mate. When you touch the object labeled "A" it could write the ASCII code for the "A" to a PLC memory location. I'm not sure what good that would do if the Panel Mate isn't capable of interpreting the data in PLC memory as anything other than a numeric value. I'm not whether there are any Panel Mate models with that capability.

In the older ones that I'm familiar with when you want to display a text message, the PLC needs to write a number into a memory location. The Panel Mate looks at that number and displays the corresponding message number. You need the Panel Mate software to edit the message text. I know of no way to provide that capability to an operator from the Panel Mate.

 

[pittpanther]

Steve - I see the Page Change Register now - thanks!

It looks like my options are going to be very limited. I just can't believe there is no support for string entry!

 

[Steve Bailey]

Panel Mate once had a substantial share in the HMI market. In recent years Eaton has done next to nothing to improve the product line.

 

[pittpanther]

Thinking about this some more, and creating my own keyboard seems feasible. Each key could just be a bit down to the PLC, where I could perform the string concatenation(s). Only trouble is, I would still need to display the string that is being built, and I don't even that is possible .