PVP Data Store Plus

[cwal61]

Also, The Object will make a new file each time the program is started no matter what day it is set to create one.

 

[ASF]

Thanks for all the info!

So I got it up and going, albeit with a few modifications in the end.

Original plan:
1. PVP starts on a Startup Screen (999), which when started runs the following macro:
- Turn off tag "DataLogStarted"
- Set RemoteDisplayNumber to 100 (100=screen on which the datalogging ActiveX controls reside; on top display, cannot be replaced, positioned off screen)

2. Datalogging screen is called, which when called runs the following macro:
- Turn on tag "DataLogStarted"
- Set RemoteDisplayNumber to 0 (return to operator control)

3. On the Startup screen, there is a button to go to the main menu, which is invisible unless the DataLogStarted tag is on. If datalog starts successfully, operator presses button, goes to main menu, makes widgets. Hooray! If datalog does not start successfully, a supervisor can use the always-visible login button on the startup screen, which will make a Main Menu button appear to take the user to the main menu without worrying about data logging. Operator makes widgets but without data logging and less "hooray".

Reason this didn't work: if the memory card is removed, screen 100 is still called, but then everything gets stuck. It doesn't run the macro to reset the RemoteDisplayNumber to 0. But more than that: my RemoteDisplayNumber tag is a HMI tag, but it is a PLC-based tag (as opposed to a Device tag). It's setting the HMI tag to 100, but not even getting so far as to update the PLC tag. It's just stuck. I can no longer use my Main Menu button to go to the main menu, as the "Display Change is Currently Controlled Remotely". Changing the PLC tag for remote display number to something other than zero doesn't bring up the requested display; nor does then setting ti back to zero release the display control. No macros will run at all, so I can't use another macro button to reset the HMI RemoteDisplayNumber tag, or to do anything else. At this point, I'm stuck. Added to this, about one in ten times this happened the HMI would completely freeze - to the point that buttons wouldn't even animate being pressed when you pressed them. The only way out from here was a power cycle. Called tech support, who looked into it for a day and then said it'd have to be escalated, by which time I'd come up with a better solution:

1. PVP starts on a Startup Screen (999), which runs no macro. Text on the screen says "please wait - waiting for PLC connection". Once the connection to the PLC is established, a button appears (by virtue of visibility animation tied to an always on tag in the PLC) saying "press to start"
2. Button runs macro to call display 100 (data logging screen from before)
3. Data logging display runs macro to call display 1 (main menu)
4. Main menu runs macro to reset RemoteDisplayNumber to 0

If the SD card is removed, the log in button on the startup screen can be used to navigate directly to the main menu without going via the datalogging screen. There is no way back to the startup screen or datalogging screen from that point, so no risk of crashing the screen during operation. Basically, the way it will work is that they will power up the machine, realise everything has crashed, go and get the supervisor who will cycle the power and start up without data logging. Not ideal, but it works!

Thanks for the very comprehensive advice cwal, hopefully this thread can help others in the future as much as it helped me!

 

[ASF]

Called tech support, who looked into it for a day and then said it'd have to be escalated...

Just to update: tech support have come back with "ah, yes. That's a problem. We'll fix that in firmware v8.20"