Here at Avanceon, we’ve been developing solutions for our customers for a long time. And in the process, we’ve run into – and solved – many “interesting” technical challenges. We’ll share some of the more generally applicable ones on this page: after all, if we already have a solution, why should you have to develop your own?
Beware Asynchronous Operation!
Full Info
Issue: Transient data is read by an Ethernet client during array copy
In the PLC code in Figure 1 below (ControlLogix converted from PLC5), the rung copies the alarm array (N750) into another array (MsgBoard), then zeroes out all or portions of the array based on process conditions. This can cause problems.
Figure 1. PLC code with rung copy of alarm array
The rung executes sequentially, so by the time the rung completes execution, the MsgBoard array has the correct contents. However, the Ethernet communication to the PLC is not synchronized to the PLC program scan, which means that periodically, the Ethernet client reads transient data because the rung hasn’t finished executing when the data is read.
This can happen more frequently than one would expect: in the case of the example in Figure 1, about once in every 15 minutes, which can cause considerable problems.
Solution:
If multi-step operations need to be done on data being read by an external client, use buffer tags and move the result to the ‘actual’ tag when the calculations are complete. This ensures that the tags being read by the external system will never have incorrect intermediate values.
In the PLC code in Figure 1 below (ControlLogix converted from PLC5), the rung copies the alarm array (N750) into another array (MsgBoard), then zeroes out all or portions of the array based on process conditions. This can cause problems.
Figure 1. PLC code with rung copy of alarm array
The rung executes sequentially, so by the time the rung completes execution, the MsgBoard array has the correct contents. However, the Ethernet communication to the PLC is not synchronized to the PLC program scan, which means that periodically, the Ethernet client reads transient data because the rung hasn’t finished executing when the data is read.
This can happen more frequently than one would expect: in the case of the example in Figure 1, about once in every 15 minutes, which can cause considerable problems.
Solution:
If multi-step operations need to be done on data being read by an external client, use buffer tags and move the result to the ‘actual’ tag when the calculations are complete. This ensures that the tags being read by the external system will never have incorrect intermediate values.
Forcing Unsupported Conversions in Studio 5000
Bulk Delete FactoryTalk View Tags
SuiteLink Communications Troubleshooting
Problems adding graphics to an InTouch app
Full Info
Issue: Error message when adding an Orchestra Graphic popup to your Intouch application.
You create an Orchestra Graphic popup for your application, test it on the Galrep, then deploy your application only to get this:
Why does this happen and how can you fix it?
This happens because deploying an InTouch app will only include the graphics that are embedded in windows within the application. A popup is not an embedded graphic, so it does not get deployed with the rest of the application.
To fix this, most sources will tell you that you need to “Associate Galaxy Graphics” with the Intouch application. From the Orchestra Graphics User Guide: “This option sets the InTouch View Application to include all the graphics that have been configured in the Galaxy whether they have been embedded in the application or not.” To do this right click on the application in the Galrep and select “Associate Galaxy Graphics”:
While this works like a charm, it has one major drawback. To perform this operation you must un-deploy all instances of the application. In a production environment this is usually impractical.
Solution:
To avoid having to un-deploy your app, you can simply embed your graphic into your app. Once the graphic is embedded in a window, it will be included with the deployment. Embedding a popup doesn’t always fit into most screen layouts, so it is best to find an inconspicuous location. You can do this by creating a new window solely for this purpose, the window is never viewed in the application. After that check in the app in, deploy like normal, and you’ll be off to the races.
You create an Orchestra Graphic popup for your application, test it on the Galrep, then deploy your application only to get this:
Why does this happen and how can you fix it?
This happens because deploying an InTouch app will only include the graphics that are embedded in windows within the application. A popup is not an embedded graphic, so it does not get deployed with the rest of the application.
To fix this, most sources will tell you that you need to “Associate Galaxy Graphics” with the Intouch application. From the Orchestra Graphics User Guide: “This option sets the InTouch View Application to include all the graphics that have been configured in the Galaxy whether they have been embedded in the application or not.” To do this right click on the application in the Galrep and select “Associate Galaxy Graphics”:
While this works like a charm, it has one major drawback. To perform this operation you must un-deploy all instances of the application. In a production environment this is usually impractical.
Solution:
To avoid having to un-deploy your app, you can simply embed your graphic into your app. Once the graphic is embedded in a window, it will be included with the deployment. Embedding a popup doesn’t always fit into most screen layouts, so it is best to find an inconspicuous location. You can do this by creating a new window solely for this purpose, the window is never viewed in the application. After that check in the app in, deploy like normal, and you’ll be off to the races.
Running InTouch on Multiple Monitors
Manage InTouch App Warning
Full Info
Issue: If you delete an embedded ArchestrA graphic from a managed InTouch application, you will receive a message that items are missing from the galaxy, but you will not be notified on the template about which screens are affected or which screens reference the deleted item(s). The warning display will be similar to the following (Fig. 1)
Figure 1 – Notification of Missing Graphic
Figure 2 – Log Message
Figure 1 – Notification of Missing Graphic
Solution:
To find which screens are affected:
• Open the screens in WindowMaker one at a time, with the SMC log open.
• When a screen referencing the missing graphic opens, a log message similar to the following will appear (fig. 2):
Figure 2 – Log Message
While this method does not provide an exact position for the missing graphic, it will at least indicate which screen is affected.
Be sure to consider whether the missing graphic is off-screen.