.xml reading, bar-code printing w/PLC+HMI

[Charles1]

Hey guys,
We are wondering what would be involved to have a remote computer populate an excel spreadsheet and a PLC or HMI read these values(via ethernet), carry out the logic, (This would be a recipe management application) and print out bar-codes corresponding to the read information. What software do I need to look into? What PLC and HMI combination do you recommend or what do I need to look for in selecting these?

 

[12brich]

PLC to read XL may not be simple but with an HMI it's very easy. There are so many ways to do this. OPC is very cool but it takes a little more knowledge and effort. DDE is (a joke to lots of people) but extremely simple. Most major HMI packages support some forms of DDE. Just treat the XL sheet as a DDE server. All you have to do next is to tie your HMI tags to a cell reference and you are done.