Bill Linne

I lifted the following from a post by BobLfoot: "If you have a block of text or an entire program you want to edit with excel it can be done from RS500. 1. Export the ladder file portion or entire file as a library file. 2. I can't recall the extension the library file will have but find it and change the extension to .csv 3. Now you can import the file into excel and edit it. Note it may be necessary to open with wordpad first and convert commas to ampersands or some other unused symbol and insert commas where you want to speed up editing. I had an Excel VBA macro which wrote all my overload, product flow jams and start stop logic for a very large amterial handling machine. 2 weeks of donkey work reduced to 2 hours. not bad." I know it has been mentioned that some guys prefer to use memonics and program via Excel, then import the file. I can see where this would allow great flexability in making changes BEFORE things are committed to memory areas or specific tag names. Bill

About the only use I have found for program scoped tags is in situations where you re-use the same code repeatedly in one processor to control many similar devices. By program scoping those tags, the fact that the tag names are repeated causes no problems. Only the tags containing the input and output data (to and from those routines) need be controller scoped. But for the most part, controller scope is the way to go for me. Bill On a slightly different note, who was it that strongly advocated developing logic in Excel? I think I've seen the wisdom in that approach, an am looking for any "getting started" and "for Gawd sakes, don't make this mistake" type info I can find. Thanks!

Maybe I'm missing something here, but this is my take on it. I am currently writing the logic for a large "Plant Expansion" project. The equipment has been identified, the PLC to which it will be connected has been identified, but the actual I/O diagrams have not yet been developed. I do not need the I/O diagrams in order to write the logic. The logic is written using tag names. Once the I/O diagrams are completed (by the instrumentation contractor) all I need do is go through the database and "connect" each tag to a physical point. Yes, that will involve some time, but just think how time consuming it would be if I used actual I/O addresses to wrtie the code and had to change them all cuz the wiring came out differently for whatever reason. THis job involves probably a thousand new I/O and 500 existing will be (or already have been) moved. This is my first time doing a project this way, and so far, I love it. Bill

If the 0-10vdc is usually stable, but becomes unstable when connected to the input module with the other signals, you may want to try a loop-powered isolator. These are commonly available, and have solved many a "cross-talk" problem for me in the past. Another thing to check for is the possibility of AC voltage riding on your DC inputs. A small capacitor across the input will usually eliminate this problem. Bill

AND requires code. Bill

There probably IS a way to configure the number of decimals DISPLAYED. What HMI are you using? Bill

I don't think so. These processors aren't known for doing much of anything without code. Why the "no code" restriction, if I may ask. Not that I know of a way (yet) to do it in, say a Function Block Diagram, would that be acceptable if it could be done? Bill

I believe the SLC's are the same as 5's. BTW/BTR happen when the rung is true, up to and including every scan. That is NOT to say that there is no affect on scan time . . . you are correct, of course, that some amount of time is consumed by those instructions. Hence, scan time increases. What kind of input are you monitoring that requires update EVERY scan? (Just curious.) Bill

Running 5K on a dual-screen PC under XP. When 5K is open on the primary screen, all is fine (maximized or less than full screen). Two identical Samsung SyncMaster 940Be displays. To make more room for logic, I tried stretching the left edge of the screen over onto the secondary display monitor, which it will do. But when any item on the secondary screen is double-clicked, it only highlights; no action results. Example: Try to switch from the "Alarm Handling" subroutine to the "Totalizers" subroutine. Totalizers highlights, but nothing changes on the primary screen where the actual logic is being displayed. If I drag the ENTIRE 5K screen to the secondary monitor, the same reduced functionality prevails. Looks nice; does nothing. Got me scratchin! Any ideas? Thanks, Bill

Me, too. I've made the change and it works great! Now I just gotta get used to the new orientation, but that's a small price to pay. I'm a happy camper, now !

Whoda thunkit! Well, that is a simple enough solution. Thank you very much! Bill

The only times I've had similar issues with RSLogix was when I got in a hurry and selected the incorrect hardware from the drop-down menu. Some of those entries look similar, so I'd suggest a CLOSE examination of your selection vs your actual hardware. Just a thought, you may already have done this. Bill

The easiest way is to MOV the float to an integer address. You will lose the decimal value. If that is not acceptable, you can multiply the float times ten to an integer address and then compensate in the PID loop. Bill

Could not get the data to copy/paste in readable format within this text box, so I sent an email. Bill

Hello Senior Chief! (Small world, eh?) I kinda figured you could delete them without too much trouble, but thought it worth clarification. We are not using RS View, but I do have access to a boatload of Rockwell documentation. Let me do some digging . . . Bill RMCM(SS) Command Master Chief U.S. Submarine Force, Retired

If a cross-over cable from your PC to the CLX does not solve the problem, it would almost have to be a grounding/shielding problem. Are the CLX inputs wired with shielded cable? If so, are the shields bonded to equipment chassis at only the instrument end (shields should NOT be connected at the instrument AND the PLC, as you probably know). An optical bluetooth mouse might solve the problem so you can do the data retrieval, but would not explain the root cause of the problem. Bill

How to remove them or how to identify them as unused so you know which ones to delete? Bill

Cool. Glad it was that easy! Bill

Sounds to me like the TYPE of tag you are using is invalid. The Instruction Help file lists SINT, INT, DINT, and REAL as valid tag types for this instruction. I just added a LIM instruction to a file that has no I/O configured and had no trouble. Bill

The only thing that comes to mind is if you were saving to a network drive, and the network went down.I can't determine that from your posted error message because it does not show the target drive and file name. If you tried to do yur "save as" to a different drive and file name, I'd say you experienced a bug. Bill

Sounds like what you are saying is that the CLX is connected to an external network using the ethernet switch, and that there was a cable left connected to the switch that you used to connect your computer. If that is the case, the noise could be coming from anywhere ahead of the switch, or even from the switch (not likely). If the system can tolerate you disconnecting it from the external network and connecting the CLX directly to your PC, and the problem goes away, you know which way to start looking. Even if you don't have a cross-over cable, this experiment should isolate the problem to either the CLX side or the network side (with no cross-over you may not establish comms with the CLX, but the mouse should not mis-behave). Bill

Bob: I do the exact same thing, but at 0330 because the "Spring Ahead" of DST is done by 0330. All other PLC's in the system get their time from the one sync'd to NIST. There are two NIST transmitters. One in Fort Collins, Colorado, the other in Hawaii. You can listen on 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0 and 20.0MHZ and hear the broadcasts. If you hear the voice of a male announcer, you are listening to Fort Collins; a female voice is Hawaii. I used those signals a great deal while at sea on submarines. Some of those freqs may have been taken down in recent years, but they were active in the seventies and eighties. Bill

I'm not sure I understand the question, but it sounds to me like you can use the STI if you are satisfied with the accuracy of plus/minus 1 minute in 360 hours. That equates to about plus/minus 5 minutes in a two thousand hour count. Is that what you are asking? Bill

My first thought is that if you've tried all the setting possibilities in the Report Setup, the culprit may be the PRINTER setup. Have you verified paper size and orientation? Tried sending the job to a different printer? Print to a file and examine the file? That is the next approach I would take. Just an idea. Bill

That is probably correct, Bob. For Mracer: I think the general consensus here is that you need to do the compare as I described above, then cause the "source" to be reset using a MOV or COP instruction to get a null value into the source, and you'll be good to go. Let us know. Bill