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MojoMan Mike

WonderWare Intouch and DASABCIP

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I am really hoping someone can help me out here. I have never used WonderWare before, and we have a project that is using it. At this moment I have some time to figure out how this software works, none the less I think having spent 4 days trying to establish communications with a processor is too long. Here is what I am trying to do... and this is just testing at this point. I have written a sample program in RSLogix5000 ver17 and loaded the program onto an AB 1768-L43 CompactLogix processor. I am using EtherNet/IP as my communications to the development PC (my laptop) and eventually this is what will be used to communicate to the Industrial PC we have for the end customer. The application will be a stand-alone application, and not a part of a bigger SCADA system, the customer does not want Archestra graphics. I have read through the manuals, and have created a new project in Application Manager, and can create screens in WindowMaker...however, before I get carried away with that I want to establish communications (preferably online) with my PLC, and upload my tag database into WonderWare. It is my understanding that this can be done (I am using version 10 of WonderWare) using the DAServer for AB CIP communications (DASABCIP (using version 4)). I have Archestra IDE installed, created a Galaxy, and have created a heirarchy in SMC. I have activated the Archestra.DASABCIP.4 server, but nothing happens. When I create my heirarchy in SMC, in two levels i have the option to create Device Groups.....at the Port CIP level and the controller level. How come these Device Groups don't show up in Diagnostics when the server is activated? How do I know communications is really even established at this point? When I go back to WindowMaker, I follow the manual(s) the best I can, and can not seem to import my online tag database. Is setting up communications in WonderWare really this difficult??? I really could use some guidance....I am truely lost now and seem to be going in circles. In summary, my main neccessity right now is setting up communications and being able to work with tags from my controller....my hope is that everything else will come together after I get this figured out. Can anyone offer suggestions? Feel free to ask questions if I have omitted anything...it is kind of late and my brain is not quite fresh right now. Thanks, Mike

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Lets start at the beginning again... You said the customer does not want ArchestrA graphics, so you are using Intouch Application Server? There is a difference (quite a lot) between 'vintage' Intouch & Application Server. Fortunately, we can use both if the need ever arises, which could be the ideal path for getting you initial comms up & running... By the sound of it, you have not used InTouch before? If that is the case, lets start with vintage InTouch to get the comms established. Unfortunately, I don't have access just now with a DASABCIP driver installed, so cannot comment accurately. But, it sounds like you have followed the manuals to a certain extent, but have you added an item to the Device Groups Tab? This Group then becomes the Topic Name in Intouch. In InTouch (remember, we are starting with Vintage Intouch for now), you need to add an Access name, it is sometimes common practice to name this access name the same as the Device Group that we added to the DAS Server. The nodename can be left blank if the DAS Server is on the same PC, otherwise you need to enter the NodeName where the DAS Server is, and ensure that the correct entries are in the hosts file. The Application name will be DASABCIP. Once this is done, lets create a new tag. This can be any type you want to begin with, starting with a IO Real may be a good starting point. You will need to select the access name that you added in the previous step, and in the item field, the tag as it appears in you Control-Logix file. (A note here, to begin with, ensure that this tag is declared at the global controller level, if it is declared in another task, then this needs to be added to the tagname) Now, add a variable display to Window Maker, switch to runtime, and things should kick into life... I hope this helps, let us know if you have any more questions.
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Sparky, Thank you for your help!! It was creating the access name that was hanging me up. I created a tag and have successfully been able to turn a light on/off from the test button. I will be testing things out further later today after I return from a meeting. This is a huge success for me! To answer your question, yes this is the first time I have used WW. Traditionally I have used FTViewME, and it has been an experience to wrap my mind around WW. To clarify though, can I directly browse my controllers tag database from InTouch WindowMaker, or is this a function limited to the ArchestrA environment?? Thanks! Mike

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This statement is not quite clear. By the sounds of it, you are using InTouch application Server, not Vintage Intouch? Window Maker is part of, can be accessed from the Archestra environment. How are you opening Window Maker, from the IDE? Either way, to answer your question about the controller tags, not that I am aware of. I know this type of feature is possibly available in FT, but that is the benefits of using packages from the same manufacturer!

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I am launching WindowMaker from the Application Manager, and not IDE. I am using the ArchestrA System Management Console to set up communications using the DASABCIP Server seperately from WindowMaker and Application Manager; and then creating an Access Name in WindowMaker to connect the tags I create in WindowMaker's Tagname Dictionary to the tags in my controller via the communications link I set up in the SMC. These tag names must be identical from what I have seen so far. My expectation though is/was that I could browse my controller database once the communications link was set up, but it seems I have to manually type in each tag I am going to use in WindowMaker's Tagname Dictionary, duplicating my efforts. Is this the only way to do this in WW? I figured there would be an easier way to do things.

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You can do a DB dump, then generate tags in excel, and copy your tags from your controller into this spreadsheet, this will take a bit of work to get the formats correct, but once you have it, it does work quite well! I don't know of any products that allow browsing to another manufactures tag database

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Wow.. I too have spent the better part of a day reading through WW manuals and came up in the same boat as the original poster! Having heard nothing but good things about WW, this is my first use of it. Thanks much for the "cut to the chase" answer. Works like a charm!
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Hello. I've been reading MrPLC for a while, but just created an account. I have a similar issue to the original poster, where I'm using WonderWare Intouch for the first time, and trying to get data from a Micrologix 1400. We have a system that an outside vendor built for us, featuring Intouch 10.1 on a PC, communicating with a CompactLogix PLC. That all works fine. I added a MicroLogix 1400 in a related building, connected via ethernet, and added some screens to the existing HMI for the new PLC. I looked at how the Cplx was configured and tried to setup the ML the same way, but I'm having problems getting PLC data to display in Intouch. Thanks! Edited by jrevans
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UPDATE:, I made some progress. On my development machine that I added DASABCIP to, I imported my tags .CSV file and can do some testing. In DASABCIP diagnostics, I see the proper values for all of the variables that are currently referenced on my new InTouch screen. But, on my InTouch screen, the only variable that does not display properly is an integer which has a negative value on the PLC. The negative value displays in DASABCIP diagnostics, but not on my screen. Is there some sort of magical format specifier besides # needed to display an integer with a negative value?
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Fixed. I just needed to change the scaling on the tag, as the Min values were set to zero. Anything below zero was being displayed as zero.
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