Several questions about the Unilogic software

[Leo0n]

Hello everyone,

 

I have a few questions about the software Unilogic and using it together with the USP-070-B10.

 

First, what I want to know if it is possible to read the files on the SD card in the map "/DT" and especially the files for the data table because I want to show the user which files are on the sd card, but I dont want to use the uniapps menu. I have created now that everytime the user send a file over ftp to the PLC, the data table will add a new row with the name, but if the user change the sd card or remove a file from it, the PLC need to see this also.

 

Second, I have created a data table with strings, if I'm trying to search for a specific string a column. But if the string is for example 10 long and the word I'm trying to search is only 4 long, I cannot find it. But if i make search first from 10 long and the second 9 and the third one 8 the value will be found. but the fourth value cannot be found with a length of 7. this mean that I can only search for 3 different lengths, but if the users insert more different values between 1 and 10, only a few values can be found in the data table. But if you use integers and search for integers he can find all the values. how can this problem been solved? the search value will be typed in a text box on the display.

 

third, Is it possible to program on the PLC that if there are any excel files on the SD card to create a data table file on the PLC itself. then the user can send the excel file through TCP to the PLC and does not need to send the data table file.

 

If someone could help me with this problems, you would be thankfull!

 

Leon

[Eyal Koren]

Hi Leon,

Please see my answers in the same order you asked them:

1. Currently there is no other way to browse the content of SD cards, besides via Uniapps. Could you please explain why this is not a good solution for you?

2. This is a known issue. It is resolved in Unilogic latest version (V1.6 rev. 83).

3. Unfortunately it is not possible to convert Excel files to data table files during PLC runtime. However, it is possible to convert Excel files to UDTF files via Unilogic, or via an external tool that you can run on the PC. If you are interested in that tool please contact support@unitronics.com

[Leo0n]

Hi Eyal,

 

First thank you for your support!

1. The reason why I want to search the SD card without using uniapps is because I dont want the end-user to go to another menu beside the menu I have created. And if the end-user need to go to the uniapps menu, he can also change some details from the PLC itself. Because if I protect it with a password as guest, than the user cannot see the items on the PLC in uniapps, if I am right. 

2. Thank you, I am downloading the newest version right away!

3. That is regretful indeed, I knew indeed that I can convert them with unilogic itself so I will using that. If I need the external software I will contact the support center.

 

Thank you for your answer!

[LPK]

1. Currently there is no other way to browse the content of SD cards, besides via Uniapps. Could you please explain why this is not a good solution for you?

 

I'd just like to mention that I've also been trying to find a way to pass files (in my case containing logged data) from the same model of HMI/PLC to a PC. I also wanted to do this without going into the UniApps, and encountered the same surprise when asking for support (i.e. why didn't want to use UniApps?).

 

It seemed pretty clear to me that if you have a simple program running on the PLC, that you want to make copying files across to a memory stick ("DOK") or to another computer via FTP an equally simple matter. That is to say, if this could be done via the ladder or some other type of "normal programming", it could transform a complex set of actions to a simpler one - the action of doing this via UniApps is currently:

 

hold down the top right of the screen (to go to UniApps), chose a particular tab, then press a particular button, then press a particular folder name, then press a particular button to go into that folder, then choose a particular file (noting that only one file can be moved/copied at a time), then press a particular button to move/copy, then agree to the message, and so on for each file (and then if moving/copying to a DOK, go to another part of UniApps to "Safely Remove DOK" - another four tab/button presses).

 

This could be changed to (if file details etc. could be exposed to the ladder "code") to:

 

press a button.

 

That argument is in terms of complexity of the file move/copy task compared to the complexity of the programs that might be written on the PLC for doing the "main stuff" that it does, but I also agree that you don't want to encourage the users to go fiddling around in UniApps as so many settings can be changed in there and that would make subsequent (perhaps remote) support of any problems that might arise a nightmare.

 

So I can see that it's fine to use UniApps if I'm only writing PLC programs for my own use, but I wouldn't want to place that extra complexity on a non-technical user just to get hold of some data - it would be far more complex than the other interactions in the program I'm writing and would expose the PLC to being changed into an unwanted and unsupportable state.

 

 

I'm still having trouble trying to find a simple way to transfer files, but even asking them to ftp to the PLC and download files one at a time via a web browser, or setting them up with a way to log in via FileZilla (or similar) so they can simply drag and drop / move / delete files to from the SD card from their own PC seems an easier task than the use of UniApps.

 

Really it'd be nice to just press a button and have all of the files copied off the SD card to a memory stick, then release the stick, or just squirt all files to a PC via ftp, but that doesn't seem to be possible, from what I've been told.

[Robin P]

In Unilogic the Data Tables menu offers Upload Data Table files from PLC. In fact this enables browsing and uploading of the zipped CSV files which is what the client typically needs, and delivers them to the client's PC. Unfortunately the client must install and run Unilogic on their PC, and then click on Data Tables in the Solution Explorer to gain access to the Data Tables menu. This seems unnecessarily complex: could that menu item or program function be made available to the client more simply?

 

Also I have found the COM.FTP ladder functions which may offer another route by enabling the PLC to act as an FTP server, but I don't know how to do this.

 

Regards

 

Robin Proctor

[LPK]

I do wish there was an easy way for the ladder logic to pick up on what files are on the SD Card and allow people to delete them, or trigger something that could be "delete everything that is over a month old", "delete the oldest 10 files" or something useful like that, just so that they can regularly do some clear-outs on the card data.

 

I'm not really sure I want users having to go through UniApps to delete stuff via a slow process of poking the screen, or even be in there fiddling with the PLC's underlying stuff... I'd rather just having something that does a fixed thing (like clear out old files) and keep the users on the main screens, to keep it al simple and controlled. Unless, of course there are other, maybe remote ways to get access and do this more simply via some kind of app.

 

I've managed to use FileZilla to access the files on the PLC and I find it the easiest way to get data table files and "Data Sampling" output files onto and off the PLC. Doing it that way means you're not limited to doing things just one file at a time, too, as you seem to be in UniApps (and it therefore means it's all a lot quicker). So I think I'm going to have to recommend that method to users (though it does mean that they could end up deleting some other vital files!)

 

I think there was a video tutorial on the subject(s) of FTP, Ethernet, etc. that tells you what settings you need to change/set up.

[YINGD]

I am working on a UDFB and I want to use Transition bits such as a Positive or Negative transition and link it to a local tag or an input but Unilogic tells me that "Tag cannot be linked to this scope". Does this mean that a UDFB cannot contain transition bits unless they are linked to global tags? If so, is it possible that this ability can be added in a later version? If one has to link to a global tag within a UDFB, it is no longer a true UDFB.

[s.pratt]

Hello Y.INDS,

 

Local tags are contained in a 256 byte buffer and are only used within the subroutine, and then that memory is erased.  This is why positive and negative transaction contacts cannot be used with local tags: the tags are not monitored every scan.  If positive and negative transaction contacts are needed, you must use a global tag. 

 

I am not sure of your application for the positive transition contact, but you may be able to monitor a function in or function out variable to have a rung only run once in the ladder.

 

Hope this helps.