Tagname Dictionary Wonderware Intouch Scada
Define tag types
Create tags with the Tag Editor
Modify tag and Tagname Browser filter configurations
YOUTUBE-https://youtu.be/F3lxcKqVkts
Tags and Tag Features
Section Objectives
- Introduce the Tagname Dictionary
- Create, define, and modify Tags
- Define and configure Tagname Browser Filters
- Print Tagname Dictionary
This section will define tags, tag types, tag creation, and tag modification. It will also demonstrate Tagname Browser filters and printing the Tagname Dictionary.
Tags
A Tag is simply defined as a value. The value represents a tank level, temperature, communication status, switch position, and other real-time values in your processes. Each tag has a variety of attributes such as tagname, min/max values, and access name.
InTouch requires different information for different tag types. For instance, for I/O-type tags, InTouch requires more information in order to be able to acquire the value from an external data source and convert it for internal use. The information about the tag is contained within the Tagname Dictionary.
The Tagname Dictionary (Runtime database) is the heart of InTouch. It contains the current value of all of the tags in the database. In order to create the Runtime database,InTouch requires information about all of the variables being created. Each tag must be assigned a tagname and type.
During Runtime, an InTouch application accesses the Tagname Dictionary and provides specific tag information via animation links, scripting, and so on. When tags change (e.g. created, value change, configuration change), the changes are stored in the Tagname Dictionary.
Manual creation and configuration of tags is performed using two interfaces of the Tagname Dictionary: The Tag Editor and the Tag Browser.
Tagname Naming Conventions
A Tagname identifies a tag to InTouch and to the user. Tagnames can be up to 32 characters long and may begin with an alpha character (A-Z or a-z) or numeric character (0-9). The remaining characters can be A-Z, a-z, 0-9, !, @, -, ?, #, $, %, _, and &. If a tagname starts with a numeric character, it must also be followed by at least one alpha character other than “e” or “E” or “x”. Tagnames cannot have spaces.
Tagnames may not take the form of any valid numeric expressions. For example, 123E4 or strings that could be hexadecimal numbers such as 0xABCDEF are not permitted.
Indexing
Tagnames can be auto-indexed, provided the tagname includes a number. For example, if you enter and save tagname R4001 and then click New, the tagname will automatically be indexed to R4002.
Character Separators
If a tagname contains a character used to separate numbers, it is auto-indexed by the first whole number InTouch finds, for example N7-0 would be indexed as N7 -1. Only positive changes (increments) are permitted, such as R4002-to-R4003 followed by R4003-to-R4004.
Use caution when including dashes (-) in tagnames. Dashes are valid for use in tagnames that do not start with numbers, but they are also used as the negation and subtraction operator in mathematical expressions or logic. The dash can create ambiguity in certain situations. For example, if you use A=B-C in an expression, the expression means that A equals B minus C.
However, InTouch assumes that you want to assign a tagname named B-C to a tagname named A. You can prevent this confusion by separating the tagnames from the operators with blank space (s), for example, A = B – C.
Consider this example: X-101=FT-101*SP-101. In the expression, FT-101 is being multiplied by SP-101 and assigned to X-101 because no spaces were used.
Tag Types
InTouch tags are either Memory-type tags or I/O-type tags. For example, if the tag reads or writes values coming to or from an external application, such as an I/O Server, it is an I/O type tag. When you are defining tags in the InTouch database, you must assign a specific type to each tag according to its usage.
Memory Type
Memory tag types are used internally (within your InTouch application). They are used to create system constants and simulations. They can also be used to create calculated variables that are accessed by other Windows programs.
For example, in a process simulation, memory tags are used to control the actions of a background QuickScript by defining a memory tag called COUNT that is changed by an Action QuickScript. The Quick Script causes various animation effects to occur for the current STEP of a process.
There are four Memory types.
Memory Discrete: Internal discrete tag with a value of either 0 (False, Off, or Low) or 1 (True, On, or High).
Memory Integer (Analog): A 32-bit signed integer value between -2,147,483,648 and2,147,483,647.
Memory Real (Analog): Floating (decimal) point value. The floating point value may be
between -3.4e38 and 3.4e38. All floating point calculations are performed with 64-bit resolution, but the result is stored in 32-bit.
Memory Message: Text string tag that can be up to 131 characters long.
I/O Type
All tags that read or write their values to or from an external source are I/O type tagnames. This includes all inputs and outputs from programmable controllers, process computers, and data from network nodes.
I/O tags are accessed either through the Microsoft Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) or Wonderware SuiteLink (recommended for network communication and diagnostics) communication protocols.
When the value of a read/write I/O type tagname changes, it is immediately written to the remote application. The tag may also be updated from the remote application when the item to which the tagname is linked changes in the remote application.
By default, all I/O tagnames are set to Read/Write. However, you can restrict them to read-only by selecting the Read Only option in the Tagname Dictionary dialog box.
There are four I/O Types.
I/O Discrete: Discrete input/output tag with a value of either 0 (False, Off) or 1 (True, On).
I/O Integer (Analog): A 32-bit signed integer value between -2,147,483,648 and2,147,483,647.
I/O Real (Analog): Floating (decimal) point tag. The floating point value may be between
-3.4e38 and 3.4e38. All floating point calculations are performed with 64-bit resolution, but the result is stored in 32-bit.
I/O Message: Text string input/output tag that can be up to 131 characters long.
Miscellaneous Tag Types
There are several special tag types that you can assign to tags that perform complex functions, such as creating dynamic alarm displays, historical trends, monitoring or controlling the tag that each historical trend pen is plotting, and so on.
Note: Group Var (Alarms), HistTrend/Tag ID, Indirect Tags, and SuperTags are included in module 6, “Alarms,” Module 7, “Real-time and Historical Trending,” and Module 9, “Advanced Tag Functionality,” respectively. They are introduced here for purposes of context.
Group Var
The Group Var type is used for a tag with an assigned Alarm Group to create dynamic alarm displays, disk logs, and print logs. Group Var type tags are used to create alarm windows or alarm logs that display all alarms associated with a specific group variable. You can also control the alarms that are displayed or logged by assigning a different Alarm Group to the Group Var tag.
You can also use a Group Var type tag to create application buttons the operator can click to selectively display alarms for different areas of a plant within the same alarm window. All of the .fields associated with Alarm Groups can be applied to Group Var tagnames.
Hist Trend
InTouch requires a Hist Trend type tag when you create a historical trend. All of the .fields associated with historical trends can be applied to Hist Trend tags.
Tag ID
This is a special type that is used with historical trend objects. You use Tag ID type tagnames to retrieve information about tagnames being plotted in a historical trend. In most cases, you would use Tag ID tagnames to display the name of the tagname assigned to a specific pen or to change the tagname assigned to the pen.
You can process a statement in a QuickScript to assign a new tagname to any pen in any historical trend. For example, the following statement could be used in your QuickScript:
MyHistTrendTag.Pen1=MyLoggedTag.TagID;
When this QuickScript is executed, Pen1 in the historical trend associated with the Hist Trend tagname “MyHistTrendTag” would begin trending the historically logged data for the “MyLoggedTag.”
Creating Tags
Tags and their tagnames (and other attributes) are created using the Tagname Dictionary’s Tagname Editor.
a. Select Special / Tagname Dictionary from the main WindowMaker menu or double-click on the Tagname Dictionary in the explorer.
The first time you access the Tagname Dictionary, the definition for the internal system tagname $AccessLevel is displayed. This is the first tag in the Tag Browser list. After saving the tag definition in the Tagname Editor, the last edited tagname’s definition is displayed
The first time you access the Tagname Dictionary, the definition for the internal system tagname $AccessLevel is displayed. This is the first tag in the Tag Browser list. After saving the tag definition in the Tagname Editor, the last edited tagname’s definition is displayed.
b. Click the << or >> buttons to browse through the tagname definitions currently stored in your Tagname Dictionary (The browse buttons are inactive when there are no previous or next tagnames to display).
c. Click New.
The Tagname field clears:
d. In the Tagname: field, enter RealTag.
e. Click the Type:… button.
The Tag Types dialog box appears:
f. Select Memory Real.
g. Click OK.
h. Define RealTag further with these values:
Enter250in theInitial Valuefield Enter0in theMin Valuefield
Enter500in theMax Valuefield Leave the other values the same
The Tagname Dictionary dialog box should now appear like the following figure:
i. Click Save.
The Tagname Dictionary is now ready for another tag to be defined.
Note that the previous tag values remain in their respective fields. Replace the existing values with the new tag information.
Tagname Editor Configuration OptionsTagname :
Tagnames have a limit of 32 characters. A tagname may begin with a numericcharacter that is not followed by the letter E, or InTouch will read it as exponential.
Group: Assigns the tag to a specific Alarm Group. Clicking this button displays the Alarm Group dialog box, from which the Alarm Group is selected.
If you do not assign the tag to a specific Alarm Group, InTouch assigns it to the root group, $System by default.
Once you create a tag and assign it to an Alarm Group, if you do not close the dialog box, all subsequent tags that you define will be assigned to the same Alarm Group, unless changed.
For I/O type tags, select Read Only if you wish to restrict the tag to read-only capabilities in Runtime. Select Read Write to grant the I/O tag both read and write capabilities in Runtime.
Comment: Contains any miscellaneous comment you want the system to store regarding your tag(up to 50 characters).
Alarm Comment: You can configure your alarm windows to display these comments when the tag is in alarm. The distributed alarm system can be configured to use the tag’s Alarm Comment field to store an operator’s comments regarding an acknowledged alarm.
Log Data: Logs the tag data to the historical log file during Runtime when its engineering unit value changes more than the specified Log Deadband value or, by default, once an hour, regardless of change.
For tag values to be logged, historical logging must be enabled by selecting Special /Configure Historical Logging from the main WindowMaker menu. If this option is disabled later (tag value NOT logged), the data previously logged for the tag will be inaccessible to InTouch in historical trend displays.
If the option is re-enabled, all logged data is accessible, but a historical trend would display a gap in the trend trace. Also, if you make logging changes in WindowMaker while WindowViewer is running, the changes do not take affect until WindowViewer is restarted.
Log Events: Logs all data changes to the tag that are initiated by the operator, I/O, a QuickScriptor by the system.
When you define a tagname to do event monitoring, an event message is logged to the Alarm System each time the tagname’s value changes. The event message logs how the value changed and whether the change was initiated by the operator, I/O, scripts or the system.
When the Log Events option is selected, the Priority field becomes active. Valid entries in this field are 1 to 999, where 1 is the highest and 999 is the lowest priority.
Retentive Value: Retains the current value of the tag when WindowViewer is closed. This value will be used as the initial value for the tag when WindowViewer is restarted. Retentive values cannot be selected or cleared for new or existing tags when WindowViewer is running.
Retentive Parameters: Retains any changes the operator makes to the value of any alarm limit fields for the tag. This value will be used as the initial value for the alarms when WindowViewer is restarted. Note: Since changes are logged immediately, it is strongly recommended that you only select the above two retentive options for values that do not change often.
Tag Details
Many tags require greater level of detail to be properly handled. A specific Details area is displayed for each type of tag to define the details and alarm types for the tag type.
Note: Do NOT click Cancel or Close at this time.
Initial Value: Value of the tag at start-up until it receives a different value or it is overridden bya Retentive value.
Eng Units: Engineering Units. A notation for the tag that is reserved to indicate a unit ofmeasurement, i.e. PSI.
Min/Max Value: Expected range for tag.
Note: The minimum/maximum values of Memory Tags do not limit the range of a tag. Limiting of atag must be done via Input Animation links.
Deadband: Minimum value the tag must change by for its value to be refreshed. This isusually used for I/O tags that update frequently.
Log Deadband: Minimum value the tag must change by for its value to be logged historically.
Other Notes
The names of any SuperTags created in the TemplateMaker also appear in the Tag Details area and member tags can be selected as the tag type. Note that SuperTags can contain as many as 64 member tags using 2 nesting levels).
For SuperTags NOT created using the SuperTag TemplateMaker, for instance SuperTags created in an animation link tagname or expression input box, a QuickScript, or created in an external file and then loaded the DBLoad utility, the name SuperTag appears in the Type field.
Tag Browser
The Tag Browser displays all tags contained within the Tagname Dictionary. The Tag Browser is your primary tool for viewing and selecting local and remote tagnames and tagname .fields from FactorySuite applications or any other tag source that supports the InTouch Tagname Dictionary interface. It enables selection of existing tags, addition of new tags and viewing of basic Tagname Dictionary information.
The Tag Browser is also used to access the Tag Editor to perform editing, replication and configuration of remote references to remote tag sources. The first time the Tag Browser is accessed, by default, <local> will be selected for the tag source. This means that the tagnames in the local application’s Tagname Dictionary will be displayed. Thereafter, the last accessed tag source’s tagnames will be displayed.
The Tag Browser operates in either a Dictionary or selection mode. The mode is determined by the method used to access it.
j. Click Select… in the Tagname Dictionary window.
The Select Tag dialog box appears in Dictionary mode:
Tagnames displayed in Details View, with column information
k. Click the List View button to see a list of the tags without Details.
The Select Tag window displays without tag details:
Filtered Selection Mode
If you click Select in the Tagname Dictionary dialog box, the tagnames displayed (and available for selecting) are limited to the current InTouch application. The same condition is true if, during Runtime, an operator selects a new tag for a historical trend pen.
a. Click the Select… button in the Tagname Dictionary.
When the Tag Browser is accessed from the Tagname Dictionary and a tagname is selected from the list, its Tagname Dictionary Tag Editor appears after you click OK.
The primary methods that display the Tag Browser in the filtered selection mode include:
Clicking the Select button in the Tagname Dictionary when adding or editing tags
When WindowMaker is running, double-clicking a cell in the Unit# column in a Recipe Manager Unit Template definition
In Runtime, clicking any Pen# button in the Historical Trend Setup dialog box
In this instance, the Tag Browser only displays the tags that are defined with the LogData option selected in the Tagname Dictionary
This functionality is only enabled when the Allow Runtime Changes option has been selected for the historical trend during development In Runtime, clicking any object linked to the HTSelectTag() function
Defining Tag Browser Filters
By defining browser filters, you can sort any tagname list and display only the tags that meet the specified criteria. Tags can be sorted based on Tagname, Tag Type, Access Name, AlarmGroups and Comments.
You can use one or a combination of any of these items to set the criteriafor your display. You can also save each filter instance and reuse it at any time.
For example, if you have 40,000 tags defined in your Tagname Dictionary and you want to see the 20 that are assigned to a particular Access Name, create a filter to specify the Access Name and/ or Alarm Group as the criteria that the tagsmust meet to display in the Tag Browser.
Use these procedures to define the filters (search criteria) to populate the Tag Browser.
a. At the bottom of the Select Tag window, click the Define Filter button . The Define Tag Filter dialog box appears:
Filter Name: A unique name that identifies the filter that you are defining. As you define filters,the Filter Name you enter is added to the Filter Name drop-down list.
Tagname: Tagname expression to use as a filter. If left blank, the system ignores this field inthe filter definition.
Access Name: The local Access Name expression to use as a filter. If left blank, the systemignores this field in the filter definition.
Alarm Group: The name of the Alarm Group expression to use as a filter. If left blank, thesystem ignores this field in the filter definition.
Comment: The comment expression to use as a filter. If left blank, the system ignores thisfield in the filter definition.
OK: Exit the dialog box.
The Filter Name appears in the Filter list in the Tag Browser and you can select it to display only the tagnames meeting the criteria specified in the filter.
Note: All of the Filter Option fields (Tagname, Tag Type, Access Name, Alarm Group and Comment) support wildcard expressions to limit the scope of your search. If no filter is used, all ofthe tagnames in the currently displayed tag source will be displayed.
Deleting a Search Filter
a. Open the Filter drop-down list and select the filter name in the list that you want to delete.
b. Click Delete. The filter is immediately deleted.
Printing the Tagname Dictionary
Printing the Tagname Dictionary details can help determine tagname usage. In addition to printing a .CSV (comma separated values) file, you can print listings of the Tagname Dictionary details, alarm information, link details and scripts.
a. Click File / Print from the WindowMaker main menu. The WindowMakerPrintout dialog box appears:
b. Check Database Entries to print all database information. When selected, the following options become active:
Details: Includes the database details in your report.
Alarm Information: Includes the database alarm information in your report.
With Window Cross-Reference: Prints all database entries with window cross-references.
Level of Detail:
‰ Link Details to print the location and animation link details where the tagnamewas used
‰ Window Names Only to print only the name of the cross-referenced windows(s)
c. Check Windows to print a listing of the database entries used in the application windows. The following options become active:
AllPrints the database entries for all windows in the application.
SelectedPrints only the database entries for specific windows. CheckingSelectedopensthe Windows to Print dialog box. Select the windows to print and click OK (By default, all window names will be selected when the dialog box appears).
With Link Details:Prints the link details for the window(s).
Window Scripts:Prints the scripts associated with the window(s). Database entries used in window:Prints the tagnames used in the window(s).
All Scripts:Prints all Scripts for the selected window(s).
Application Scripts:Prints the application scripts.
Condition Scripts:Prints the condition scripts associated with the window(s).
Data Change Scripts:Print the data change scripts associated with the window(s).
Key Scripts:Prints the key scripts associated with the window(s).
Quick Functions:Prints your QuickFunctions.
ActiveX Event Scripts: Prints any ActiveX Event Scripts used.
d. Click Next in the WindowMaker Printout window.
The Select Output Destination dialog box appears, allowing you to select your output destination (to Printer or to Text File):
e. If you send the output to a Text File, browse with the ellipses icon or type the file name and directory string.
f. If you send the output to a Printer, browse to select the correct printer.
Note: Printing the window in this manner will NOT produce a graphical representation of thewindow. It will instead print a textual/detailed description of the window.
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