lamboom

Image primitive for Red Lion Crimson 2.0

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Page 171 of the Crimson 2.0 manual for RedLion G3 HMI series talks about being able to display a photo/image as a primitive object.  On the HMI G3 series that must use Crimson 2.0.   The photo must be stored on the installed Compact Flash, using a command line utility program called "makepic".   The manual mentions most of the steps required; but, like so many "instructions", the Devil is in the details.

I need a little help to launch this user program .. kind of a "tutorial"   Because I'm not really good with Command Line processes.    Yes. Crimson 2.0 is dated stuff, and Crimson 3.0 is awesome.. and it's very easy to use pictures on your HMI with C3  (been there done that :-)

I'm new to C2 ..  an' didn't appreciate what can happen if you purchase a RedLion G3 on eBay, without checking first if it can be configured with C3 ..DUH.  

I just need the starting steps to launch makepic"  Thanks much, Regards, Michael

Crimson_User_Manual_-_C2_Manual_for_G3_operator_interfaces_and_Data_Station_Plus__English_-_Rev_12__6468KB_pdf.jpg

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Perhaps this is best a post for Windows 7 help Forums.. :-)

This is more an issue about the proper operation of Command Prompt, than anything related to the RedLion HMI... sorry, But that's the way RedLion chose to do this.  I can navigate to the final folder where "makepic.exe" is located in the command line... but how to launch the application..is beyond me, and the above text from RedLion.   I was just hoping that if this above instruction makes any sense to you out there, you might give me some clue what the steps and expectations are.  I have a folder: MyImages, which contains two images: picture.bmp 1 and picture.bmp 2    That folder is located at C:\  MyImages.   The folder where makepic.exe is located:   C:\ Program Files (x86) \ Red Lion Controls \ Crimson 2.0 \ makepic

The instruction above claims  makepic C:\MyImages\picture.bmp 1  ... as a command line, will launch that application, and make a file "under the makepic installation folder"  (whatever that means?)  

Yes..I should ask Red Lion support directly.... sigh!     but, this isn't really a RedLion problem (other than their bad instructions) it's a PC thing isn't it... ?    Thanks

Edited by lamboom

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What happens when you run that "makepic" command from command prompt?

I think I do see a problem. Your source image filenames don't look right. Go to that directory in Windows Explorer. Open the "Organize" menu and select "Folder and search options". On the "View" tab, un-check "Hide extensions for known file types" and click "OK". Look at the filenames of your images. If you see this before showing extensions...

Picture1.PNG.b1e772816f0259cdd0edb6f402a

....and this after...

Picture2.PNG.96090fa60d1f4157efa7476ca3e

...then I think I see what's wrong. With the "Hide extensions..." option UN-CHECKED, rename the image file Picture1.bmp like this...

Picture3.PNG.603e8a16c8f5a32476f08f6ad5e

...and try this command:

makepic C:\MyImages\picture1.bmp 1

NOTE: I have NOT tried any of this, so I don't know if I'm on the right track at all, so YMMV.

 

I will also say that Red Lion has great support. If you reach out to them they will get it sorted out for you.

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Thanks, Joe     I think picture1.bmp 1 is correct.  And, you have the command line correct also.  

I posted this problem in PLCs.net: http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=120117 

got some interesting solutions .. This isn't so easy after all.. Then I'm reminded that there is a simple way to load a picture file in Crimson 2.0 (which I wasn't aware of ..it's not mentioned in the manual :-)    Only thing in the manual is the stuff i posted above.

There's a good solution at the end of that thread .. like putting all the important files, makepic & the actual .bmp picture in a folder in the C:\ root directory or on the desktop..and run a simple command line for that configuration.      Will try that next.  .... because

placing the image files in the compact flash saves a lot of HMI's memory.    Thanks again for your reply ...

I'll get back to you if I have any success...

 

 

 

 

 

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Have  you contacted Red Lion support about this?

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 Hi Joe E. & Jazzplayermark ...  Sorry I've been away.  Somehow got locked out of the account, forgot my password. and didn't know there was a junk mail for gmail.com  on my PC  DUH!

I have finally met with success, with some really good suggestions from Kolyur  on my thread, I also posted there.  I wasn't sure which forum would be best for Red Lion G3:

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=120117

My favorite solution is to create a file in the root directory of C:\  named Pics. in that file is the program makepic (copied it from the Red Lion Controls install files also in the root directory)  along with all the .bmp photo files I wanted to convert and load into the Red Lion Compact Flash to save memory.  However, the photos do not have a .bmp in their name. (like Photo1)   Then open the command prompt as administrator, and change directory:  cd C:\ Pics     Now, the command line is very simple:   C:\ makepic  Photo1.bmp 1   

 

Notice the spaces ... no quotes!  no backslash.  That "1" at the end can be any number between 0 and 999 .. which is used by the HMI to call the picture from the Compact Flash.

If you use any of the "switches" like  -wide  (use RGB 555 16-bit color values), the command line would look like: C:\ makepic  -wide Photo1.bmp 1

One thing that caught me, is the picture won't show up on the PC when programming the Red Lion, but, it will show up on the HMI... :-)

I did contact Red Lion Support... and got a better tutorial than was posted in their C2 manual ... But, I liked Kolyur's method better...

Thanks for your help .. there are many ways to screw up this process in command line programming.  especially if you are not fluent in that area. 

 

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