Communication Setup in FactoryTalk View Studio
What is FactoryTalk View Studio?
FTView Studio is a software application used to design and configure human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for industrial automation systems. It is a product of GE Digital, a subsidiary of General Electric (GE).
FTView Studio allows users to create custom HMI screens and displays for process control, data visualization, and other applications. It includes tools for creating graphics, animating objects, and configuring data displays and alarms. It also provides integration with GE Digital’s Proficy Historian software, which allows users to access and analyze historical process data.
FTView Studio is typically used in manufacturing, energy, water/wastewater, and other industrial environments to design and deploy HMIs for process control and monitoring. It is compatible with a range of GE Digital’s industrial automation products, including controllers, drives, and programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
FTView Studio Communication
FTView Studio can design and configure human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for industrial automation systems that communicate with other devices and systems over various types of networks.
Some of the communication protocols that are supported by FTView Studio include:
- Modbus: A widely-used protocol for industrial automation and control systems. FTView Studio can communicate with Modbus-enabled devices over serial or Ethernet connections.
- OPC: The OPC (OLE for Process Control) protocol is a standard for exchanging data between automation devices and software applications. FTView Studio can communicate with OPC servers and clients using the OPC Data Access (DA) and OPC Unified Architecture (UA) standards.
- EtherNet/IP: EtherNet/IP is a network protocol used in industrial automation applications. It is based on the Ethernet standard and supports real-time control and information exchange. FTView Studio can communicate with EtherNet/IP-enabled devices over Ethernet connections.
- Other protocols: FTView Studio also supports communication with devices using protocols such as DNP3 (Distributed Network Protocol), BACnet (Building Automation and Control Network), and GE Digital’s own Proficy I/O protocol.
In addition to these protocols, FTView Studio can also communicate with databases and other software applications using industry-standard protocols such as SQL (Structured Query Language) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). This allows users to integrate HMI displays and data from multiple sources in their automation systems.
What are data servers
Data servers provide access to devices, on the network, making it possible to browse, read, and write values from FactoryTalk View applications.
FactoryTalk View ME supports the following types of data servers:
Rockwell Automation Device Servers RSLinx Enterprise is the recommended data server for all Rockwell Automation devices and networks. RSLinx Enterprise does not require activation or licensing and can be installed as often as needed in any application.
OPC Data Servers are any data server that supports the OPC-DataAccess Standard v2.05a. The OPC Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides standards and technology that enables software from different vendors to work together. The following OPC Data Access v2.05a servers are available with FactoryTalk View ME.
KepServer Enterprise is used to communicate with non-Rockwell Automation devices like Siemens or Modicon controllers. KepServer Enterprise does not require activation or licensing for FactoryTalk View ME.
RSLinx Classic can only be used with FactoryTalk View ME Station and should only be considered in the following situations:
- CIP to non-CIP routing is required to reach the device.
- Unsolicited messages are used to send data from controllers.
- Alias topics (multiple paths to the same device) are required.
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About OPC communications
FactoryTalk View ME supports OPC communication on the PanelView Plus family of terminals for use with only KEPServer Enterprise. Any OPC Data Access v2.05a compliant server is supported by FactoryTalk View ME Station running on personal computers. RSLinx Classic and KEPServer Enterprise are OPC DA V2.05a compliant OPC servers.
Create data servers
An RSLinx Enterprise data server is created automatically with a new application. It is located under the application’s HMI server in the Explorer window, just above the FactoryTalk System folder.
You can create additional OPC data servers for your application. For example, you might want to use an RSLinx Enterprise data server and a KEPServer Enterprise data server to communicate with a third-party device.
How to Set up RSLinx Enterprise data servers
You can use the Communication Setup editor to add drivers, add devices, set up driver and device properties, and set up device shortcuts.
To set up communications in RSLinx Enterprise
- In the Explorer window, open the RSLinx Enterprise data server.
- Double-click the Communication Setup editor.
- In a new application, the RSLinx Enterprise Configuration Wizard opens. Follow the instructions to create a new configuration or use an existing device configuration. Once you make a choice and click Finish, the Communication Setup editor opens.
In an existing application, double-clicking Communication Setup opens the Communication Setup editor, with its two tabs.
The Design (Local) tab is for establishing the location of the tags/addresses for editing. The tags/addresses can be online with a controller or other data server, or an offline controller file. This will enable the Tag Browser to find the tags/addresses.
The Runtime (Target) tab is for identifying the connection from the runtime computer or terminal to the controller or other data server. If the paths are the
same, use the Copy button to copy the Design configuration to the Runtime tab.
For more information, see Help for RSLinx Enterprise.
How to Set up an OPC data server
Use a KEPServer Enterprise data server if you need to connect third-party devices.
Use RSLinx Classic data server if you have one of the situations described above and you are using a personal computer in your application.
If you need to view or use tag names when you are not connected to a device, you can set up a cache that will read in tag names from the device and enable them to be used when the device is offline.
How to create an OPC data server
In the Explorer window, right-click the application, select Add New Server, and then click OPC Data Server.
For details about selecting options in the OPC Data Server Properties dialog box, see FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Help.
Update data server caches
If tags are added, modified, or deleted on the data server, you must update (synchronize) the cache manually.
For information about updating the data server cache periodically after you create it, see FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Help.
For information about editing and removing data servers, see FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Help.
Steps for transferring applications to a PanelView Plus terminal
Follow these steps:
- Install hardware and software on a PanelView Plus 7, PanelView Plus 6, PanelView Plus, PanelView Plus Compact, or PanelView Plus CE terminal.
- Transfer your application to the PanelView Plus 7, PanelView Plus 6, PanelView Plus, PanelView Plus Compact, or PanelView Plus CE terminal.
For information about installing FactoryTalk View ME Station, see the FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Installation Guide.
How to set up communications
- Gather information about your network, and the devices that are connected to it. You will need this information to set up RSLinx Enterprise, KEPServer Enterprise, RSLinx Classic, or another OPC server. Do one of the following:
* If you want to use KEPServer Enterprise as the OPC server that enables communications on your network, set up KEPServer Enterprise on the development computer. For details, see KEPServer Enterprise Help.
* If you want to use RSLinx Classic as the OPC server that enables communications on your network, set up RSLinx Classic on the development computer. RSLinx Classic is included on the FactoryTalk View installation DVD. For details, see Getting Results with RSLinx, or see Help for RSLinx.
RSLinx Classic is available for FactoryTalk View ME Station on personal computers only.
* If you want to use an OPC server other than RSLinx Classic for communications on your network, set up the OPC server on the development computer. For details, see the documentation supplied with your OPC server. - In FactoryTalk View Studio, create a data server that points to the OPC server you have installed.
If you are using RSLinx Enterprise for communications, you don’t need to create a data server because it is created automatically when you create your FactoryTalk Machine Edition application.
Note:
KEPServer Enterprise is the only OPC Server supported on PanelView Plus terminals
- If you want to use HMI tags in your application, open the Tags editor, and then create device tags that point to addresses in devices. For details about creating HMI tags, see Use HMI tags on page 97.
If you do not want to use HMI tags, but instead want to reference addresses in devices directly, skip this step.
The best practice is to use direct reference tags. - In objects in graphic displays, or anywhere else you want access to values in tags, type the tag name using the syntax for your OPC server, or use the Tag Browser to select tags. For details about using tags, see Work with tags on page 85.
- Create the runtime application file. For details, see Create runtime applications on page 221.
All the necessary tag information is compiled with the runtime application file. - If you are using an OPC server other than RSLinx Enterprise or RSLinx Classic, install the OPC server software on the runtime computer.
For applications that will run on a personal computer, the OPC server can be on a different (remote) computer than the runtime computer, but the remote computer must be on the same network as the runtime computer.
How to Setting up Ethernet Communication in FTView Studio
In FTView Studio, open your application and go to the bottom of the Explorer tree.
Expand ‘RSLinx Enterprise’ so you can see ‘Communication Setup’ below it.
Double-Click on ‘Communication Setup’
If you get this pop-up.. Choose ‘Create a new configuration’ and hit Finish.
If you’ve opened Communication Setup before, you probably won’t get this pop-up, and will be directed
to the Communication Setup window instead.
Your Communication Setup window should look like this:
To manually add our ethernet processor, we will need to right-click on ‘Ethernet, Ethernet’ and choose
‘Add Device’
I am planning to communicate with a CompactLogix processor (1769-L32E), so I am going to expand
‘EtherNetIP Devices’
Then scroll down the list until you find your processor, highlight it and click OK.
Type in the controller’s IP address and say OK
Once you’ve given it an IP address, it will show up like below. Next, click the plus sign next to the IP
address, and then right-click on ‘CompactLogix System’ and choose ‘Add Device’
Find your Processor in the list, highlight it and click OK
Set the slot number and click OK in the next dialog box that pops up:
You should now see your processor on the right
Next we will add a shortcut that points to the processor..
Highlight your processor on the right, and then click the ‘Add’ button on the left:
Give your shortcut a name. I named mine ‘PLC’
All your tags will be pre-fixed by this shortcut name.
Now that we’ve added a shortcut, we need to ‘Apply’ it to the processor path.
Once again, highlight the processor on the right, but this time click the ‘Apply’ button on the left
You will get this warning:
Click ‘Yes’
Now we need to click the ‘Copy from Design to Runtime’ button
And we will get the warning message again… Click ‘yes’ again.
Your shortcut is now assigned to the design and the runtime tabs, but let’s check to be sure..
Click the ‘Verify’ button
Clicking the Verify button brings up this window:
The circled area is what we’re looking for. It says the Path has been assigned. That means we were
successful. We can close the Shortcut Verifier pop-up.
You can now click ‘OK’ to save your changes to the communication setup window or see below how to
add your Logix 5000 offline tag file to your project:
This last step is optional, and can only be done if you are using a Logix 5000 processor.
You can browse for the controller.ACD file and add it to your application. This will allow you to browse
for the tags in the processor, even if you are not connected to the PLC.
Click the Browse button:
Browse to where your logix 5000 program is stored.
Highlight the file and click ‘Open’
You can see that your offline ACD file is now linked:
One last note: After you create your runtime file, and you are going to transfer your application to the Panelview.. you will need to make sure you check the box ‘Replace Communications’ in the transfer utility to apply the changes that we’ve made.
That’s it!
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