WIN CC Flex help

[Nick B]

Scott,

Upon further inspection your problems are as follows:
1. Some addresses don't line up with your symbols in HMI. I would let WinCC-Flex fix this but I would need to Integrate your PLC & HMI projects and make changes. I'm running the most latest HotFix and as such you would not be able to open.

2. The TAG's are showing but you can't see them because of some setting problems (refer to screen shots). You Tags have limits (see tag properties). Once your Tags are out of limits they display in BLACK (see attached) and your text is in Black (see attached) and thus you have tags that are to paraphrase my friends at AC-DC...back-in-black or simply put black on black.

Hope this helps.

Nick

 

[allscott]

Thanks,

The black on black I figured out as soon as I powered it up. If I enter a valid number I can see it. I was planning on fixing that once I got the major issues resolved.

I now see that some of the tags don't line up. In my screen shots I should have showed the tag I have been working on (DB20.DBD20, S_Linespeed). This one is right and I figured if I could get this one working properly the others will follow. The reason I know this is right is that if I open a VAT table and force a linespeed I get what I am asking for.

Right now I don't know if I sent you the wrong PLC copy, the wrong flex copy, or both. My predecessor was very good at keeping absolutley everything (I have quattropro for win 3.1 on 3.5" disks if anyone is interested). Unfortunately everything I have for this project is either labeled "new" or "latest".

So now a very newbie question. What is the best way to upload the program from the processor into what I think might be the latest offline project. The only way that I know how to do this is to try to go online with a block and get a message something like "the online and offline blocks are different, do you want to open the online version". I do this and then save it, which seems to work. I don't care so much about the comments as they are in German anyway and that is another issue I need to deal with. I can do this with each block but there must be a better way.

This is also why I am somewhat afraid of integrating the project when I don't know if I have the latest PLC program.

Again NickB thanks for the help, I don't work with these often enough to really know what I am doing. And yes I will download the latest upgrade first thing in the morning.

 

[Nick B]

Scott,

OK well it looks like your making progress. Careful with addressing because I'm sure we have a mix-up here. It looks like it runs ok on my simulator.

You can update the program by copying your Online to your Offline blocks...but it would be better to find correct projects and let Flex line up Tags-Addresses. Looks like a nice machine (minus the German comments...Achtung Baby)

Nick

http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/view/en/18177884

 

[allscott]

I will work with the OEM to get the latest program. Unfortuantely they are 5000 miles away and don't work when I do....

And yes it is a nice machine!!. In this biz it is the cat's A$$ for doing what it does. Unfortunatley it doesn't break down enough so I don't know the internals well enought to be able to fix it :}

I'll be back.

 

[Jeebs]

So now a very newbie question. What is the best way to upload the program from the processor into what I think might be the latest offline project. The only way that I know how to do this is to try to go online with a block and get a message something like "the online and offline blocks are different, do you want to open the online version". I do this and then save it, which seems to work. I don't care so much about the comments as they are in German anyway and that is another issue I need to deal with. I can do this with each block but there must be a better way.

Hi,

Open your S7-project, open PLC-folders until you see the folder named: Blocks. Right click on that. Select: Compare Blocks.
In the new window select Online/Offline in the upper part. Hit enter.

This will compare the online/offline programs. If it finds any differences it'll show up in a list. (usually a lot of DB's will pop up) What I usually do is: Select the first on it tells me is different(result of comparison should be red), then click on Go To.
This will open both online and offline blocks next to each other and jump to the first difference it finds. Bottom of your screen there should be a list with the differences in that block and 3 buttons: prev, next and update.
Note: It will only show the first difference in a network.

I like to check out the differences and see wether the change needed to be done or just a way to make the machine run again.

Hope this helps u figuring out the correct project...

Jeebs

 

[allscott]

Update (this is getting ugly)

Here's what I have done.

- Installed the latest hot fix for flex from siemens.

- Fixed the black on black thing.

- Double checked the DB addresses with an online/offline compare.

- Integrated the project into step 7

- Tried to set up connection in Netpro. I tried to upload the existing configuration from the PLC and it created another Profibus subnet???? (see screen shot).

Net result, Same thing less hair. I can read variables on the screen and write integers but not reals.

I know what I've got here ain't right. I'm a little worried about fixing it up because I don't want to mess with the Profibus. At least right now the machine will still run.

 

[allscott]

Found it

I should have listened to CharlesM both times he told me it was something to do with a recipe.

The old app had capabilities for using a recipe that were never used.

Unchecked the syncronize tags box and everything is fine.

Oh well I learned a bunch about WinCC and Step7 I didn't know before. Thanks for the help

 

[CharlesM]

Im glad you found something I know stuff like that can be hard to find.