[New feature for List of Text Variable]

Can you get away with just using a "Text" variable, and setting its value to an "Indirect Select Library String"? That won't let you touch the value and modify it (select a value from a list), but if you're just looking to _display_ a value from the string library, it works fine.

Hi Phil,

Yes and no. I wanted to create an active alarm display with a change of colors based on the status of the machine - green for no alarms, red for alarm text. You can't do that with a regular text variable.

I did do exactly what you describe for the alarm history though. And since there isn't an option right now (and I don't have 2 days to copy text entries one by one into the variable), I did something similar for the active alarm window.

Since I'm using a background bitmap, I set the background of the HMI screen to black, made a text variable in red, and used the hide operand to conceal the variable if no alarm is active. This creates a window on the screen that is blank if there are no alarms, and displays in red if there is an alarm. Not ideal, but workable.

I could have set the background to green, but no text would have displayed ("No Alarms Active"), and I'd rather have it blank than use a color to indicate something with no expression of what that color means.

Thanks for the tip, though

[Default Ethernet Ports]

Just to throw this out here -

Pop off the back cover and make SURE the ethernet card is seated completely flush. It's possible to put these in and not quite have them in all the way.

I've done it, a guy I helped out did it, lots of people have done it...

TM

[Making Modbus easier]

PPHPTT!

[Making Modbus easier]

On a related note, CanOpen could sure benefit from some improved automation. Damian and I were both harping about having to essentially write a driver from component parts to assemble a motion control method.

If only there were some standard that emphasized motion control over CanOpen, and had pre-configured PDOs for communicating with drives directly...

Oh, wait - there is! DSP402!

That would surely help us CanOpeners over here

Thanks!

TM

[New feature for List of Text Variable]

Hi again!

When using Sting Library values in a list-of-text variable, you have to choose each entry one... by one...by one...

That's really slow going when you've got over 200 to do...

It would be great if we could choose to use a string value, then highlight a range within the string library, and insert them all sequentially into the variable.

Something to consider.

Thanks!

TM

[Paste into String Library problem]

Hi guys,

I wanted to copy a vector of operand descriptions into my string library to serve as descriptions for my fault history. When I pasted them into the string library, the empty descriptions (which I put there intentionally) were removed and everything was put into a single contiguous list. I then had to cut - paste in the library to move descriptions back where they belonged.

It would be best if the strings were copied into the library exactly as they came out of the operands - empty spaces included.

Thanks!

TM

[Duplicate coil check]

Hi all,

I'm currently working on a project where I have used over 200 timers. Gee, that's alot of timers. Additionally, alot of the code modules are similiar, so copy-paste-edit is the way to go for creating the code.

That being the case, it would be really great if Visilogic offered a utility to check for duplicate coils. Specifically, I would like to be able to check if any timer is used more than once (as a coil) within the program (they should all be unique).

Right now, I would have to do a search on each indivdual coil, and that's very time consuming.

This should NOT be part of the compilation process, since there are some instances where you might want duplicate coils, and don't need compilation hanging up on it, or drowning you in irrelevant warnings. Just an additional option in the edit menu, along side the other "Find"s, would be great.

Thanks!

TM

[Chickens for geeks]

Bwa hah hah!

TM