Panelview Plus 400

[Shiner 2]

I have been working on a simple program that interfaces the PP400 with a Micrologix 1000 Analog. I have been successful with most of this except for inputting numbers into the screen that are supposed to go into the register. They are moving through the tags fine, but I was hoping to do the math in the panelview and send the converted result to the 1000. I am converting motor rpms and vacuum pressure into values that control the analog 4-20mA signal. The second difficulty I am having with this is I would like the screen to diplay the last input number, respectively. Instead I get ???? on one and #### on the other. Any Ideas? - Lost as the Bills-

[Eddie Willers 2]

Can you create an Archive file (*.APA) using FactoryTalk View Studio and post it ? Are you attempting to perform scaling in an Numeric Input Object, or in a Macro, or something else ? What kind of display objects are you using, and how are they configured ? Being able to see the application, rather than a brief description of the application, is the best way for a Forum member to help you.

[Kiwi Sparky 0]

Where there are question marks, there are probably errors with the tag or the math you are doing. Where there are hashes, the numeric display is probably too small. Try allowing more digits or allowing decimal places

[Shiner 2]

I cannot find a way to archive this file as you mentioned. I have FTVS Machine Edition. I am trying to use a Numeric Input Enable button from the toolbar, with my PLC read/write location in the value, my math in the optional expression category, and I am also using upper and lower limits. I wish I could find a way for you to view this, I am good with plc's but this is a new one on me. thanks

[Shiner 2]

I don't know how thorough the program is when you run the Validate function to check your math, but I know the displays are sized proverly (if not oversized). The only thing is the math statement may not be runnable if I do not have my tags properly input. Does this sound like a possibility?

[Eddie Willers 2]

Archiving, re-naming, deleting, etc. of FTView projects is done with the Application Manager, which you launch from Start -> Programs -> Rockwell Software -> FactoryTalk View -> Tools -> Application Manager. Thanks, Kiwi Sparky, for pointing out the difference in meaning between question marks and hashes in a numeric display. MrPLC has a pretty good image display mechanism. I use alt-PrintScreen to capture a screenshot from FTView Studio, then paste it into MS-Paint and save as a GIF or PNG file type to decrease the file size. Post the file to your Forum entry using the Attachments function (below your Forum post entry window). Sizing your file size (and cropping images) becomes more important when you have to show several images. Nobody wants to see giant desktops or scroll through quoted passages that include the previous images. Once the Attachment has been uploaded, the "Manage Current Attachments" lets you paste it into your Forum post window, as seen here:

[Shiner 2]

[Eddie Willers 2]

Aren't you going to tell us the solution ?

[Shiner 2]

Sorry, Yes. I found that although my comms recognized the PLC was there I had a communications setup issue that didn't allow data transfer. Once I solved that I moved on to fixing my math issues by doing all the functions in the PLC instead of the panelview. that way the panelview reads (for the displayed last input) the number it writes to the integer function in the plc and displays it. The other issue I had was setting up my configuration in the program I downloaded into the panelview. In the communications folder of the project If you do not configure your local comms, and then copy them to your runtime targetyou will have problems as well. Most of this is probably elementary but as I am new to panelview programming I was learning as I went. Now if only I can get the 4-20mA signal between the Toshiba drive and the PLC to reflect each other........ If anyone happens to go after a job with a drive/plc speed control setup, use a tach or encoder......using the VI/II and FM as 4-20 command in and 4-20 speed reference out makes any math functions very difficult if you want to precisely control RPMs out.