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valerio81

cimplicity

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hi there. im using Citect SCADA to monitor my plant but a customer ask me if it's possible to communicate between this system and Cimplicity. I've never used Cimplicity but someone at Citect told me that it's possible communicate and exchange datas by OPC. Does Cimplicity have the packet OPC included?? Or is an optnional?? Thank you for all Valerio

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Proficy (the new name for Cimplicity) does have many software module. Your customer should check which module does he have or check with GE. But to answer, yes it would be possible with the right module which I don't know

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All of the "Cimplicity" software packages (old and new) have OPC Client included in some manner. If it is not installed it will be on the CD. If you have the Citec OPC Server you are all set. BTW, Cimplicity used to be a generic term for GE Fanuc software as stated above this generic term has been changed to "Proficy". The only official Cimplicity that still exists is 'Cimplicity HMI'.

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so thank u very much for answers. but probably ill have to do a new software with cimplicity (or Proficy i dont know) so i have to learn it to use... where i can find docs or guides? thank u again valerio

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Start here: http://globalcare.gefanuc.com/

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thank you. i have some new questions. 1- can i use Cimplicity with any industrial pc? or need i some particular operativ system? 2- are there different versions of Cimplicity or only one? Can i freely download or have i pay the software? 3- is there an hardware key to connect to my industrial pc? 4- if so, have i some limit on using words or "tags" i repeat that i usually use citect and i dont know how different they are. thank u a lot again. bye

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From the installation CD for Cimplicity HMI v6: Windows XP Pro, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows NT v4.0 SP6a Pentium Class PC, 233 mHz or faster, 256 MB RAM, 800 MB free hard drive space. Cimplicity is sold based on the number of tags; 75 points, 150 points, 300 points, 700 points, 1500 points, 35000 points, unlimited points. You can purchase either a run-time or a development license. The PLC programming software from GE Fanuc can be purchased with either a hardware (USB) key or software licensed. I'm not positive, but I would expect that Cimplicity HMI offers the same options. You should confirm this with your local supplier. Of course, the USB hardware key won't be a viable option if you're running Windows NT.

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thank you for answer. only last question (i hope ) the Cimplicity HMI v6 CD is downloadable from GE website o have i to request it to my local supplier? thank u. valerio

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As far as I know, Cimplicity HMI is not downloadable. You need to get the CD from your local supplier.

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hi. my local supplier gives me the Cimplicity CD.. now ive try to use demos to learn something about using of variables, texts and images. now i have to connect my plc rx3i (IC965CPU310) to my pc. i have to use the com1 (rs232?) because the other is used by hakko panels on rs422. is it possible? there is a special cable? have i to use SNP / SNPX protocol??? ive seen the manual but last update in 2001 and i cant find rx3i thank you a lot. valerio

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The port on the CPU is set up in the PLC's hardware configuration. You will need to see how it has been set up. Port 1 is RS232 and it defaults to RTU slave. Details of the pin assignments can be found in the manual GFK-2222D, available from the GE Fanuc website. http://globalcare.gefanuc.com/ Click on "Product Manuals (No Login Required)"

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hi i've a problem. i have my Industrial PC with touchscreen but without mouse and keyboard. i've seen that doesent exist an object Keyboard on Cimplicity. Someone know where i can take it? Or the only solution is build it myself? thank you again and again :)

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If this is Cimplicity PE (HMI) and you are running Windows XP, you can execute a program called osk.exe in the /Windows/system32 directory. This can be done with a Macro. This is an OnScreenKeyboard emulator that gets installed with the Microsoft Accessory options and is part of Windows XP Setup so if you can not find it, it's easily added. Or you can searsh the internet for "virtual keyboard" there are several to choose from, from free - expensive. Edited by RussB

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hi there.. im here again thank you for the answer about keyboard. im trying to use the internal one launching pages with "/keyboard" command. i have another question. i want to build a graphic library (in ex. valves grey-close and green-open) i would like to create it such as a SmartObject. How can i do that? i've seen the included objects but i prefer to do mine... thank you a lot valerio

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Follow-up from previous: Cimplicity has had an OPC client included free with the HMI since at least version 4 (that's the earliest version I have used). They also had an OPC server which you had to pay for up to version 6. In version 7 (just released), OPC server is now free. Build your object as normal. There is an event that you can trigger in the properties which handles smart objects. Via script, the entire Cimedit & Cimview object model is scriptable via VBA. This interface is nice if you were going to construct objects with very highly customized editors. For instance, you could prompt the user for a variable name via VBA, and then insert that variable into a particular property of the object. That's what the smartobject examples in the library do, but it's pretty primitive. If you simply right-click and select properties, you can see the actual code in the Events, Procedures, and Scripts tabs for yourself. Frankly, the smartobject usage in the built-in libraries is kind of stupid. It isn't really necessary and mostly just gets in the way. The one advantage of it from GE Fanuc's point of view is that users don't have to understand either of the two alternative systems I'm about to describe to use the objects they created...users just have to figure out to double-click the object. You can also create linked objects which is much easier to understand and deal with. Everywhere I need a configurable parameter, I just insert a public variable. Then when I create a new copy of the linked object, I just edit all those variables. It doesn't have quite the power of the smart object system but it is considerably simpler and probably fits your situation much better. For instance with an on/off light, you could create a variable called "ONVAL". Then in the color animation, use an expression like this: "{ONVAL} eq 1". When you use the object, put the name of your tag or even an entire expression into the variable. When Cimplicity evaluates expressions with variables, it first does simple string substitution on the variables. Then it evaluates the resulting expression as-is. This string substitution allows you to pull off a whole slew of "macro" tricks that you'd do with other HMI's. There is an entirely different system designed to create many copies of the same configurable object for use throughout your project. The object "class" system in the work bench isn't really a class/object system that you would think it is. It's really a macro system for when you need to create lots of copies of the same object with a configurable parameter list. Setting it up is similar to the linked object example above, but the parameters have actual titles and show up in a configurable list. However, I can honestly say that I didn't really understand how to use this sytem until I took one of GE's training classes.

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