Manual L21 - Introduction To Vizualization Using FactoryTalk View Site Edition

FactoryTalk View Site Edition - Building
Applications Lab

For Classroom Use Only!

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FactoryTalk View Site Edition - Building Applications
Lab
Contents
Before you begin ........................................................................................................................................... 7
About this lab .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
What you will accomplish in this lab .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Who should complete this lab ........................................................................................................................................................... 8
Tools & prerequisites ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
About this section............................................................................................................................................................................ 10
FactoryTalk View SE components .................................................................................................................................................. 10
FactoryTalk View SE - Network and Local ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Section 1: FactoryTalk View SE (Network) application description ............................................................ 19
Specifying the FactoryTalk Directory location ................................................................................................................................. 20
Explore the InstantFizz application ................................................................................................................................................. 21
Explore the InstantFizz_HMI HMI Server ........................................................................................................................................ 23
Explore the RSLinx Enterprise data server ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Explore the Communications Setup ................................................................................................................................................ 26
Create a display and add a numeric display object ........................................................................................................................ 29
Section 2: Tags ........................................................................................................................................... 34
Import/Export Tags Wizard ............................................................................................................................................................. 34
Add an object referencing an HMI tag ............................................................................................................................................ 37
Section 3: Graphic Displays, Objects and Animations ................................................................................ 44
Read about Graphic Displays ......................................................................................................................................................... 45
Graphic Libraries ............................................................................................................................................................................. 46

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Modify an XML file .......................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Tooltips ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 56
Docked displays .............................................................................................................................................................................. 62
Explore docked displays at run-time ............................................................................................................................................... 65
Commands ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Animations and expressions ........................................................................................................................................................... 73
The Object Explorer ........................................................................................................................................................................ 74
Local Messages .............................................................................................................................................................................. 79
Using Symbol Factory Graphics ..................................................................................................................................................... 85
Color Animation Enhancements ..................................................................................................................................................... 98
Section 4: FactoryTalk Alarms and Events ............................................................................................... 102
About this section.......................................................................................................................................................................... 102
Read about types of alarming ....................................................................................................................................................... 102
Read about FactoryTalk Alarms and Events components ............................................................................................................ 104
Subscribing to Device-based Alarms and Events ......................................................................................................................... 107
Working with Device-based Alarms and Events - ALMD .............................................................................................................. 112
Working with Device-based Alarms and Events - ALMA .............................................................................................................. 122
Working with Tag-based Alarms and Events ................................................................................................................................ 132
Setting up historical alarm and event logging ............................................................................................................................... 144
Add a database definition to the FactoryTalk system ................................................................................................................... 145
Associate database definition with alarm servers ......................................................................................................................... 148
Test run using Log Viewer object .................................................................................................................................................. 150
Using FactoryTalk Alarm and Event Objects ................................................................................................................................ 152
Alarm and Event Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 152
Alarm and Event Banner ............................................................................................................................................................... 157
Alarm and Event Log Viewer ........................................................................................................................................................ 162
Alarm and Event Status Explorer .................................................................................................................................................. 164
Section 5: Global Objects .......................................................................................................................... 168
Read about Global Objects ........................................................................................................................................................... 168
Create reference objects ............................................................................................................................................................... 168
Reference object properties .......................................................................................................................................................... 177
Look at the Global Object defaults ................................................................................................................................................ 178
Look at the Reference Properties ................................................................................................................................................. 179
Modifying Global Objects .............................................................................................................................................................. 181

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Section 6: Security .................................................................................................................................... 183
Read about security ...................................................................................................................................................................... 183
Creating a User and User Group .................................................................................................................................................. 185
Configuring action security ............................................................................................................................................................ 189
Configuring runtime security ......................................................................................................................................................... 192
Assign security codes to commands ............................................................................................................................................. 195
Assign security codes to displays ................................................................................................................................................. 197
Assign security codes to tags ....................................................................................................................................................... 198
Verifying security settings ............................................................................................................................................................. 200
Section 7: Data logging and trending ........................................................................................................ 204
Runtime exploration ...................................................................................................................................................................... 204
Configuration exploration .............................................................................................................................................................. 205
Configuring trends ......................................................................................................................................................................... 210
Viewing the trend at runtime ......................................................................................................................................................... 219
Section 8: FactoryTalk Diagnostics Setup and the Viewer ....................................................................... 227
Read about FactoryTalk Diagnostics ............................................................................................................................................ 227
Open the Diagnostics Viewer ........................................................................................................................................................ 229
Filter Diagnostics List .................................................................................................................................................................... 230
Diagnostics setup .......................................................................................................................................................................... 233
ODBC Database as a message source ........................................................................................................................................ 238
View the ODBC Log ...................................................................................................................................................................... 242
Section 9: Language switching ................................................................................................................. 243
Read about language switching .................................................................................................................................................... 244
Configuration of supported languages .......................................................................................................................................... 246
Export strings for translating ......................................................................................................................................................... 249
Import strings that have been translated ....................................................................................................................................... 251
Language switching command ..................................................................................................................................................... 252
View language switching ............................................................................................................................................................... 254
Section 10: Testing displays ..................................................................................................................... 256
Test display ................................................................................................................................................................................... 256

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Configure a client file .................................................................................................................................................................... 258
Run client ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 263
Verify online edits .......................................................................................................................................................................... 265
Section 11: Advanced ............................................................................................................................... 267
Read an SQL database using ODBC and VBA ............................................................................................................................ 267
Displaying an HTML page in the Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX ............................................................................................... 278
Exploring the Network Health Display ........................................................................................................................................... 282
FactoryTalk View Application Documenter ................................................................................................................................... 284
Section 12: FactoryTalk ViewPoint ........................................................................................................... 286
Before you begin ........................................................................................................................................................................... 286
Connecting to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Site ...................................................................................................... 288
Configuring FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Security ......................................................................................................... 289
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server Settings ......................................................................................................................................... 297
Activating FactoryTalk ViewPoint .................................................................................................................................................. 298
Publishing a FactoryTalk View SE application .............................................................................................................................. 299
Running an application in a browser ............................................................................................................................................. 303
Configuring FactoryTalk ViewPoint Application Security .............................................................................................................. 310
Tag Write Functionality ................................................................................................................................................................. 316

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Before you begin
This lab is intended to be a compilation of several smaller exercises designed to instruct the user on the features of FactoryTalk
View Site Edition. The lab can be done linearly, or the user may select which exercises interests them most without having to be
concerned with numerical order.
The following steps must be completed before starting the lab exercise:
1. If the Log On To Windows dialog is active, type Labuser for Username and rockwell for password.
2. Use the same Login information if prompted to Log On to the FactoryTalk Directory or when creating a
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events History Database.
About this lab
Welcome to the FactoryTalk View SE Hands-On Lab series. This session provides you with an opportunity to explore the
features of FactoryTalk View Site Edition (FactoryTalk View SE). The following sections explain what youll be doing in this lab
session and what you will need to do to complete the hands-on exercises.
Factory Talk View SE is an integrated package for developing and running multi-user, networked human-machine interface (HMI)
applications. FactoryTalk View SE is designed for automated process or machine monitoring, and supervisory control.
In this lab, you will be working with a network application containing an HMI Server, a data server, and a single HMI Client. For
this lab, these servers and clients will all be located on the same computer. View Studio, the development environment, will also
be on this computer. In the deployed system however, these components could actually be on separate computers, and
additional HMI clients could be used, since View SE scales easily from small to large systems.
What you will accomplish in this lab
As you complete the exercises in this hands-on session, you will gain an understanding of the functionality and capability of
FactoryTalk View Site Edition by
exploring the InstantFizz network application components
utilizing graphics and animation
test running displays
configuring and running an HMI client file
configuring and monitoring alarms (FactoryTalk device and tag based)
working with Global Objects
implementing security
working with data log models and trends
using the FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer
configuring your application for language switching
learning how to read an SQL database using VBA
using Application Documentor to report on your application
working with FactoryTalk ViewPoint

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Who should complete this lab
This hands-on lab is intended for individuals who:
Have a basic knowledge of HMI software and are involved in the design and implementation of supervisory-level HMI
projects.
Tools & prerequisites
Hardware
This hands-on lab does not require any hardware. A Logix5000 controller could be used in place of SoftLogix 5800.
Note: FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Device Based Alarms require firmware version 16.20 or higher for ControlLogix,
CompactLogix L3x and L4x, and DriveLogix.
Software
This hands-on lab uses the following software:
FactoryTalk Services Platform v2.50
FactoryTalk View SE v6.10
RSLinx Enterprise v5.50
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events v2.40
FactoryTalk Diagnostics v2.50
FactoryTalk Activation Manager v3.50
RSLinx Classic v2.59
RSLogix5000 v20.00
SoftLogix v20.00
FactoryTalk ViewPoint v2.1
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express
Microsoft Office Excel 2010
Microsoft Office Access 2010
Internet Explorer 8
doPDF 7.3
Adobe Reader 10
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition is a free, redistributable version of Microsoft SQL Server.
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events use Microsoft SQL Server as the database engine for logging alarm and
event information. You can connect to an existing SQL Server database, or you can install Microsoft SQL
Server 2008 Express, which is included in the Redist folder on the FactoryTalk View SE and RSLinx
Enterprise CDs.

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Lab Files
This hands-on lab uses the following files located in the following folders:

In C:\Lab Files\FTView SE folder:
InstantFizz.cli - a preconfigured FactoryTalk View SE Client file
ODBC_InstantFizz.mdb a Microsoft Access database

In C:\Lab Files\RSLogix 5000 folder:
InstantFizz_Controller.ACD control program to be used in this lab

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Overview
About this section
This section will outline the major components and fundamental ideas of FactoryTalk View Site Edition. It will specifically:
Discuss the components of FactoryTalk View SE
Discuss the differences between FactoryTalk View SE Local and Network Applications
Discuss HMI Servers, data servers, and Tag Alarm and Event Servers
Discuss FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Services for Device Based and Tag Based Alarms
FactoryTalk View SE components
FactoryTalk View Site Edition
FactoryTalk View Site Edition is an integrated software package for developing and running human-machine interface (HMI)
applications that involve multiple users and servers, distributed over a network.
A member of the FactoryTalk family of products, FactoryTalk View Site Edition (also called FactoryTalk View SE) provides all the
tools you need to create powerful, dependable process monitoring and supervisory control applications.
FactoryTalk View SE software is designed for use with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and 2008, Windows 7, Windows XP,
Windows Vista Business and Windows 2000 operating systems. It can run on 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Windows.
FactoryTalk View Site Edition consists of several pieces of software you can use to build automation applications. Depending on
the particular software packages installed, you will have one or more of the following pieces of software: FactoryTalk View
Studio, FactoryTalk View SE Client, FactoryTalk View SE Server, FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, FactoryTalk Services
Platform, FactoryTalk Administration Console, FactoryTalk Directory, and FactoryTalk Activation.
FactoryTalk View Studio
Start > Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View > FactoryTalk View Studio
FactoryTalk View Studio is configuration software for developing and testing FactoryTalk View SE applications. FactoryTalk View
Studio contains editors for creating complete applications, and includes client and server software for testing the applications you
create. Use the editors to create applications that are as simple or as complex as you need. You can use FactoryTalk View
Studio to develop FactoryTalk View Site Edition (SE) and FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ME) applications.
FactoryTalk View comes with process faceplates, graphic libraries and Symbol Factory graphics objects that can be used in your
applications. Process faceplates are preconfigured to work with various Logix5000 instructions (for example, PIDE, D2SD, and
the ALMD and ALMA instructions). Many of the graphic library objects are preconfigured with animation. Use the objects as they
are, or change them to suit your needs.
When you have finished developing an application, use FactoryTalk View SE Client to view and interact with the application.

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FactoryTalk View SE Client
Start > Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View > FactoryTalk View Client
FactoryTalk View SE Client is a complete runtime operating environment for viewing and interacting with FactoryTalk View SE
local and network applications. To set up a FactoryTalk View SE Client, you need to create a configuration file using the
FactoryTalk View SE Client wizard. The HMI Server does not have to be running when you configure a FactoryTalk View SE
Client. With the FactoryTalk View SE Client you can:
Load, view, and interact with multiple graphic displays at a time from multiple servers
Perform alarm management
View real-time and historical trends
Adjust set points
Start and stop components on any server
Provide a secure operator environment
And much more!
FactoryTalk View Administration Console
Start > Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View > Tools > SE Administration Console
FactoryTalk View Administration Console is for administering FactoryTalk View applications after they have been deployed.
FactoryTalk View Administration Console contains a sub-set of the FactoryTalk View Studio editors, so you can make minor
changes to an application without the need for installing FactoryTalk View Studio. The FactoryTalk View Administration Console
has a two hour run-time limit. A warning message is displayed five minutes before the time is up. To continue using it you simply
shut it down and restart it.
FactoryTalk View Administration Console allows you to:
Change the properties of an HMI server.
Change the properties of a data server.
Add FactoryTalk users to an application, using the Runtime Security editor.
Set up security for commands and macros, using the Runtime Secured Commands editor.
Run FactoryTalk View commands from the Command Line.
Change how HMI tag alarms are logged and annunciated, using the Alarm Setup editor.
Change the path of data log models.
Change which system activities are logged and how frequently, using the Diagnostics Setup editor (on the Tools menu).
Change the location alarms are logged to, and manage log files, using the Alarm Log Setup editor (on the Tools menu).
Import and export HMI tags using the Tag Import and Export Wizard (on the Tools menu)
FactoryTalk View SE Server
The FactoryTalk View SE Server, also called the HMI server, stores HMI project components (for example, graphic displays,

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global objects, and macros) and serves them to clients. The server also contains a database of tags, performs historical data
logging, and HMI alarm monitoring. FactoryTalk Alarms and Events can be used instead of FactoryTalk View SE HMI alarm
monitoring. To maintain compatibility with existing applications, FactoryTalk View still supports the traditional HMI alarm
monitoring.
The FactoryTalk View SE Server has no user interface. Once installed, it runs as a set of headless Windows services that
supply information to clients as they request it.
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events
Before FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, FactoryTalk View SE only supported HMI tag alarm monitoring. To maintain compatibility
with existing applications, this type of alarm monitoring is still supported.
However, FactoryTalk Alarms and Events now allows multiple FactoryTalk products to participate together in a common,
consistent view of alarms and events throughout a FactoryTalk system. FactoryTalk Alarms and Events support two types of
alarm monitoring:
Device-based alarm monitoring - Pre-built alarm instructions, available in RSLogix 5000 v. 16 or later, are programmed in a
logic project and then downloaded into a Logix5000 controller. The controller detects alarm conditions and publishes event
information, which is routed through the system for display and logging.
Tag-based alarm monitoring - If you are not using Logix5000 controllers, or if you do not want to use the pre-built alarm
instructions available with RSLogix 5000, tag-based alarm monitoring offers the equivalent of HMI Tag Alarm Monitoring, but with
an expanded feature set. Software-based Tag Alarm and Event Servers monitor controllers for alarm conditions through data
servers and publish event information for display and logging. Tag-based alarm monitoring is supported for Logix5000
controllers, PLC-5, and SLC 500 devices communicating through Rockwell Automation Device Servers (RSLinx Enterprise), or
for third-party controllers communicating through OPC data servers.
FactoryTalk Services Platform
FactoryTalk Services Platform provides common services (such as diagnostic messages, health monitoring services, and access
to real-time data) to products and applications in a FactoryTalk system.
FactoryTalk Directory
FactoryTalk Directory centralizes access to system resources (for example, FactoryTalk View SE Servers, or OPC servers) and
names (for example, data tags, graphic displays, and log models), for all of the FactoryTalk products and components
participating in an automated control system.
FactoryTalk Directory software works like a telephone directory, or electronic address book, providing a lookup service for parts
of an application to find each other on a single computer, or across a network.
Through the lookup service, application components such as tags and graphic displays can be stored in their original
environments, and yet be made available to all clients participating in an application. No duplication is necessary.

FactoryTalk View Site Edition applications use two types of FactoryTalk Directory:
FactoryTalk Local Directory (also called the Local Directory) manages local applications. All local application components,
except for OPC data servers, must be located on the same computer.
FactoryTalk Network Directory (also called the Network Directory) manages network applications. Network applications
can consist of multiple clients and servers, distributed across several computers connected over a network. One Network
Directory manages all of the FactoryTalk products that participate in a single network application.
Both the Local and the Network Directory are set up on the computer, when you install the FactoryTalk Services Platform.

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FactoryTalk Administration Console
Start > Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Administration Console
Part of the FactoryTalk Services Platform, FactoryTalk Administration Console is an optional, stand-alone tool for developing
applications and managing a FactoryTalk system. You can use FactoryTalk Administration Console or FactoryTalk View Studio
to develop applications and manage a FactoryTalk system. Only FactoryTalk View Studio can be used to create HMI servers and
HMI projects.
FactoryTalk Administration Console allows you to:
Create and configure application, area, and data server elements in a FactoryTalk Directory.
Create and configure alarm and event servers, including both tag-based and device-based servers.
Configure alarm conditions for tag-based alarm detection.
Organize securable actions into groups.
Create database definitions for logging historical alarm and event messages.
Configure options for routing, logging, and viewing diagnostic messages.
Backup and restore an entire directory, an individual application, or system settings.
Set up redundancy for OPC data servers and Tag Alarm and Event Servers.
Configure client computers to recognize the location of a Network Directory Server computer.
Configure system-wide policy settings.
Secure a FactoryTalk system with security services.
FactoryTalk Activation
Start > Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Activation > FactoryTalk Activation Tool
FactoryTalk Activation provides a secure, software-based system for activating Rockwell Software products and managing
software activation files. With FactoryTalk Activation, there is no need for a physical master disk or any physical media; instead,
activation files are generated and distributed electronically.
FactoryTalk Activation provides these types of activations:
Local node-locked activations are locked to a single computer.
Mobile node-locked activations are locked to a hardware dongle.
Shared concurrent activations are locked to an activation server computer, and shared by client computers on the network.
There are two types of shared concurrent activation: floating and borrowed. Floating concurrent activation requires a continuous
network connection, while borrowed concurrent activation does not.
FactoryTalk View SE - Network and Local
Network Applications
A network application can contain several servers, running on multiple computers on a network, with multiple client users

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connecting to the application simultaneously, from anywhere on the network. For example, you may use separate servers for
different functional areas or locations within your enterprise, and allow clients to interface to any of the servers. Network
applications have one or more areas (see Areas definition below), one HMI server per area, and one or more data servers. An
area may contain another area within it.
Once you have created the applications and an HMI server, you can use the FactoryTalk View Studio editors in the HMI server
project to create application components such as graphics displays, global objects, and data log models.
Areas
A key part of the network architecture system is the area. An area is a logical division within your application.
You can think of areas as partitions of your hard drive. The partitions are all on the same main disk (or
application, in this analogy), but they divide it logically and hold information independently of each other. An
area can also be used to organize the application in a way that makes sense for the process it is controlling.
For example, an area might represent a portion of a process, or a region within the process facility. An
automotive plant could be divided into areas called Press and Fabrication, Body Shop, Paint Shop, Engine,
and Transmission; a bakery could be divided into areas called Ingredients, Mixing, Baking, and Packaging.
Alternatively, a plant with identical production lines could be divided into areas called Line 1, Line 2, Line 3,
and so on. This would allow you to add new, identical production lines to the application by copying HMI
server projects into new areas.
Root Area
All FactoryTalk View applications have one system-defined area called the root area, which has the same
name as the application. The application root area can contain one HMI server, and one or more data
servers.
Best practice
Since an area is nothing more than a logical method of organizing the application, and not a physical entity, there is not a limit to
the number of areas that can reside within an application. However, there is a limit of 1 HMI server per area and 10 HMI servers
per application*.
The recommended limit of data servers within an application is 10*. However, it makes sense to logically organize the data
servers that are serving alarms in order for the alarm summary to filter alarms appropriately at runtime. For example, a single
area may contain an HMI server for a physical location of a facility, an RSLinx Enterprise data server (configured as a
FactoryTalk device based alarm server), and a 3rd party OPC server (configured with the FactoryTalk tag based alarm server).
This configuration allows for the alarm summary to filter alarms based on the area name, regardless of which server the alarm
comes from.
What you want to avoid is one physical installation of a data server to be referenced multiple times from different areas of the
application. This is not necessary because FactoryTalk allows any client to see any data point within the application, regardless
of which area it comes from.

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This is an example of a FactoryTalk View SE network application.

The Insta Corp application consists of four different defined areas: ie_packaging, ie_production, is_packaging, and
is_production. The areas are marked by the folders that are right off the root, which is the application Insta Corp.
Look at one of the areas ie_packaging, the topmost area. Notice that the HMI server called IE_CasePack is located inside the
area.
The folders under the ie_packaging HMI Server titled System, HMI Tags, Graphics, Alarms, Logic and Control, and Data Log
are all different components you can configure under each HMI server they are not areas within the area, but are actually
components of an HMI server.
There is a data server called RSLinx Enterprise located under the root area (Insta Corp).
The diagram below shows an example system architecture using a Network application as part of a distributed FactoryTalk
system.
Root Area

Network Directory
Area

Data server

HMI Server

Area

Area

Areas

HMI Server

HMI Server

HMI Servers

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Local Applications
A local application is similar to an RSView32 project; all application components and the FactoryTalk View SE client are located
on a single computer. There is only one HMI server that is created for you in the root area when the application is created. You
may use local applications for parts of the plant or process that are self-contained and are not related to other parts of the
process.
The diagram below shows an example system architecture using a Local application as part of a stand-alone FactoryTalk
system.

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Creating a new FactoryTalk View SE application
Here are the general steps for creating an application:
1. Create a local or network application.
2. If its a network application, add one or more Areas.
3. If its a network application, one HMI server can be added per area (local creates one automatically). Choose to
add any of the faceplate displays into the HMI server.
4. Set up data server communications. Add one or more of the following data servers:
Rockwell Automation Device Server.
OPC Data server.
5. Set up Tag Alarm and Event Server.
6. Create graphic displays, global objects, and other components into your HMI server.
7. Set up historical FactoryTalk alarm and event logging.
8. Set up Security.
9. Set up a run-time FactoryTalk View SE Client.

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Section 1: FactoryTalk View SE (Network) application description
FactoryTalk View Site Edition (SE) can be used to develop and run applications that involve single or multiple users and servers,
and can be distributed over a network or can be local to a single computer.
The two types of SE applications are explained below:
1. FactoryTalk View SE Local (Station) - A local application is similar to an RSView32 project; all application
components and the FactoryTalk View SE client are located on a single computer. There is only one HMI server
that is created for you in the root area when the application is created. You may use local applications for parts
of the plant or process that are self-contained and are not related to other parts of the process.
2. FactoryTalk View SE Network (Distributed) - A network application can contain several servers, running on
multiple computers on a network, with multiple client users connecting to the application simultaneously, from
anywhere on the network. For example, you may use separate servers for different functional areas or locations
within your enterprise, and allow clients to interface to any of the servers. Network applications have one or more
areas, one HMI server per area, and one or more data servers. An area may contain another area within it.
You can use FactoryTalk View Studio to create application components such as graphics displays, global objects, alarms
and data log models.
In this lab you will modify and run a network FactoryTalk View SE application named InstantFizz that we have created for you.
About this section
In this section of the lab you will:
Specify the FactoryTalk Directory location
Explore the Network Application called InstantFizz
Explore the HMI Server called InstantFizz_HMI
Explore the data server called RSLinx Enterprise
Configure a Communications path called shortcut that will point to the SoftLogix controller
Verify communications
Create a display, add a numeric display object
Test the display

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Specifying the FactoryTalk Directory location
As explained in detail in the Overview section, a network application requires a Network FactoryTalk Directory to be configured.
The configuration of the FactoryTalk Directory is generally done during the install, but it can be configured subsequently using
the FactoryTalk Directory Configuration Wizard from Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Tools >
FactoryTalk Directory Configuration Wizard.
Once the FactoryTalk Directory has been configured you can specify what computer will be hosting the Directory. The default
location of the FactoryTalk Directory is the local computer, but it can be any computer on your network. Note: For a FactoryTalk
View Local application, the Local FactoryTalk Directory must be used.
For the purposes of this lab, the FactoryTalk Directory location is the local computer. To confirm that, do the following:
1. Go to Start > Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Tools > Specify FactoryTalk Directory
Location.
Note: In order to specify the FactoryTalk Directory Location you must have administrator rights. During the install of the
FactoryTalk Services Platform, the Windows Administrator and Administrator groups are automatically added to the
Network FactoryTalk Directory. Hence, you can log in with any user belonging to either of these groups.
2. The Specify FactoryTalk Directory Server Location Utility will open. Notice that the FactoryTalk Directory
Location is set to the local computer (localhost). In a FactoryTalk View SE Network application, the FactoryTalk
Directory can be located on any computer on the network that has the FactoryTalk Services Platform installed.
You would use this utility to modify the location of your FactoryTalk Directory.

3. Press Cancel to close.

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Explore the InstantFizz application
1. Run FactoryTalk View Studio. Select the Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View >
FactoryTalk View Studio menu item. (For convenience, a shortcut to FactoryTalk View Studio has also been
added to the Start menu.)

Select FactoryTalk View Studio

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2. Open the Network application called InstantFizz by following steps a to e.

a. Select Site Edition
(Network)
b. Select Continue
c. Select InstantFizz
e. Select Open.
d. Ensure English
language is selected.

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Wait for several seconds to allow FactoryTalk View Studio to open the application. The diagram below shows the
InstantFizz application once it is open.

Explore the InstantFizz_HMI HMI Server
1. Follow steps a to e to explore the InstantFizz_HMI HMI Server.

b.Expand HMI_Area to see the
InstantFizz_HMI HMI server.
a. Expand InstantFizz to see the
HMI_Area icon.
c. Right-click on InstantFizz_HMI
and select Properties to see
the server properties.

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Note the properties of the HMI server.

Explore the RSLinx Enterprise data server
To allow our application to monitor and control the tag values within the SoftLogix Controller that is running the control program
for this lab. we added an RSLinx Enterprise data server. It provides the best performance when communicating with Logix5000
controllers. As well, the RSLinx Enterprise data server will allow us to monitor device-based alarms that originate in the
Logix5000 controller program.
1. Follow the steps a to b to explore the RSLinx Enterprise data server.

d. Notice that the server
is set to start up when
the computer boots up.
e. Click Cancel to close.
a. Expand InstantFizz to
see the Data_Area icon.
b. Right-click on RSLinx Enterprise
and select Properties menu.

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2. The RSLinx Enterprise Communication general property page will appear as shown below. Note that the server
is running on the current computer (i.e. SERVER01).

Click on the Alarms and
Events property page.

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3. The Alarms and Events property pages will look like the following. Follow steps a to c. The FactoryTalk Alarms
and Events will be discussed in more detail during the Alarming section.

Explore the Communications Setup
We are going to now explore the device shortcut.
Device Shortcuts: A Device Shortcut allows you to create a pointer to a device that you can refer to
throughout the application while developing displays. This enables the user to change the location of a
processor or other such device in one place, which then propagates throughout the rest of the project,
without having to change all tag references to that processor. A device shortcut is similar to a Windows
shortcut on your computers desktop that provides easy access to an application.

a. Notice that Alarms and Event
support is enabled.
b. Notice that Enable history is
disabled. It will be enabled later in the
lab.

c. Press Cancel to close the dialog.

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Communications Setup Editor Improvements
Offline tag browsing no longer requires you to associate the device shortcut with a controller. In previous
releases, you were required to associate a shortcut with both a controller and an offline tag file to be able to
browse the tags in the offline tag file. You can now create a shortcut that is associated only with the offline
tag file if all you want to do is browse tags in that file.
The Communication Setup editor has been enhanced to prevent the creation of shortcuts that point to
devices that do not provide data (such as communication modules and backplanes).
The Communication Setup editor now provides status messages about shortcuts as you create them as well
as a summary of all messages via a shortcut verification report.
The Communication Setup editor has a option for enabling alarm and event support at the device level.
Warnings have been added to FactoryTalk to tell users if making an edit in the development environment will
adversely affect the run-time system. If the change is made through a dialog box, this warning icon
appears next to the component where the edit can be made.
1. Open the Communication Setup. Expand the RSLinx Enterprise device server. Double-click on
Communication Setup.

The Communication Setup dialog will appear to the right of the Explorer tree.

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2. Explore the Device Shortcut by following steps a-d.

Offline Tag Browsing
The offline tag file will enable you to browse a ControlLogix controller's tags when that controller is not online.
The file must be located on the local PC, not on a networked location.
a. Notice the device shortcut named Shortcut
assigned to slot 2 which is the slot number of the
SoftLogix module that is running the
InstantFizz_Controller program.
c. Notice that Alarms and Events property is
enabled for this shortcut.
d. Press Cancel to close.
b. Notice the path to the offline
tag file.

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Create a display and add a numeric display object
Lets take a minute to verify that communications is working correctly. Verify that you are communicating by adding a Numeric
Display Object to a display and then testing that display in FactoryTalk View Studio. Verify that you can access controller tags
from the online SoftLogix Controller and the offline tags file by performing tag browses.
1. In the Explorer, right-click on the Displays folder, select the New context menu item:

An untitled display will be opened.
2. Single-click to select the Numeric Input object from Objects > Numeric and String > Numeric Input.

3. On the empty display, single-click and hold down the mouse button, drag the cursor to draw the numeric input
and release the mouse button. As you are dragging the mouse you will see a rectangle to show the size of the
object that will be created.

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4. When you release, the Numeric Input Properties dialog will appear.

Numeric Input Min and Max
Numeric input object allows for user-assigned minimum and maximum values that are validated prior to
download.
5. Click on the Connections tab.
6. Click on the Tag button next to the Value field.

7. The Tag Browser will open. The Shortcut folder should appear under Data_Area. If you dont see a folder for
Shortcut, right-click on InstantFizz, and select the Refresh All Folders context menu item.

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8. Expand the Shortcut folder, then notice two sub-folders - Online and Offline. The Online folder references the
tags of the online controller that the shortcut is pointing to (such as our SoftLogix controller). The Offline folder
references the tags in the ControlLogix controller file (.ACD). Use the Offline tag browsing and Offline Tag File in
the RSLinx Enterprise Communications Setup when the online controller is not available, and you only have
access to the controller file (.ACD). Follow steps a to b to select the MixSteps tag.

a. Select the Online
folder.
b. Select the MixSteps
tag, then click OK.

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9. The tag will appear in the Tag/Expression field next to the Value. Your selected tag should look like this:

10. Click the OK button on the Numeric Input Properties dialog.
11. After adding an object to our display, we can verify the communications to our controller and Test the display.

12. A value (ex. 3) should appear on the display. This actually verifies that you got the tag from the online tag file
and you are online with the controller. If you were not online with the controller, it would appear as what is called
a wireframe, because the data is not available at this time. It would look something like this instead:

13. Click the Edit Display button to get back to edit mode.

Single-click on the Test Display
button from the tool menu.

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14. Close the display, and when prompted to save your changes select No.
Section 1 is complete. You have explored a simple network application. You have the building blocks in place and are ready to
start creating your graphic displays.

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Section 2: Tags
About this section
Export tags
Add an object and reference an HMI tag
Learn about Tag Labels
Import/Export Tags Wizard
Lets export the HMI tags using the Tag Import/Export Wizard. Use the Tag Import and Export Wizard to convert databases to
and from a CSV (Comma Separated Variable) format compatible with Excel. You can also merge one FactoryTalk View tag
database with another tag database and import an A.I. Series or Logic 5 text database.
Import & Export Choices:
There are several Import / Export options as shown in the Tag Import/Export Wizard.

Export a FactoryTalk View tag database to CSV files
Exports a FactoryTalk View tag database to CSV files.
Import FactoryTalk View tag CSV files
Imports tag information from CSV files into a FactoryTalk View database. You can create your tags in Excel then
import them into the project using this setting in the Tag Import/Export Wizard.
Merge FactoryTalk View tag database
Merges tag information from one FactoryTalk View project with another FactoryTalk View database.
Import A.I. Series or Logic 5 database files
Imports symbols from the Rockwell Software A.I. Series or Logic 5 CSV format into a FactoryTalk View database.
Import RSLogix5/500 Address & Symbol ASCII files
Imports symbols from the ASCII export file of RSLogix5 or RSLogix 500 into a FactoryTalk View database.

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1. Return to FactoryTalk View Studio and open the Tag Import/Export Wizard from the Tools menu.

2. Select the Export FactoryTalk View tag database to CSV files option from the drop-down and then click
Next.

a. Select Site Edition as
Project Type.
b. Browse to our HMI project under
C:\Users\Public\Documents\RSView
Enterprise\SE\HMI
Projects\InstantFizz_HMI. Select the file
InstantFizz_HMI.sed.
c. Select Next to continue.

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3. Lets open up the exported tag (.CSV) file in Excel. Double-click the following file to see them in Excel:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\RSView Enterprise\SE\HMI Projects\InstantFizz_HMI\InstantFizz_HMI-
Tags.csv

4. Notice that you have a mixture of Device and Memory tags. Scroll over to Column W (Address) to see the
Device tag addresses in the controller.
5. We could make changes to this file and add, delete or modify tags and then re-import them back into the HMI
project using the Import option of the wizard.
6. Close the Excel file.
d. Select Finish to export.

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Add an object referencing an HMI tag
1. Open a new display.

2. Single-click to select the Numeric Display object from Objects > Numeric and String > Numeric Display.

3. On the empty display, single-click and hold down the mouse button, drag the cursor to draw the numeric display
and release the mouse button. As you are dragging the mouse you will see a rectangle to show the size of the
object that will be created:

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4. The Numeric Display Properties window will open:

Select Tags to open the Tag
Browser and find a tag to
reference.

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5. The same Tag Browser window is used to browse for HMI Tags, Direct Reference Tags associated with an
online and offline controller, Diagnostic Items and pre-defined System tags.
Let us review the Tag Browser.

Structured Tag Support in FactoryTalk Tag Browser
The tag browser lets you select a structure tag in the left-hand pane of the object browser and return a partial
tag identifier to the editor that launched the browser. This structure tag can be assigned to a faceplate object
to supply values to multiple objects.
b. CIP and RapidMix are
folders created in the HMI Tag
Database.
a. Shortcut is the device shortcut associated with
the SoftLogix controller. It contains all the direct
reference tags to the controller.
- Diagnostic Items: Pre-defined diagnostics tags to
Logix controllers, such as @Mode, which indicates
the current mode of the controller (Run, Program,
Remote)
- Offline: Direct reference tags to the Offline Tag
File that was associated with the Shortcut
- Online: Direct reference tags to the controller.
c. System contains the pre-
defined memory tags and are
stored in the HMI Server. For
example, System\Second.

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6. Browse to the HMI tag RapidMix\WaterAmount in the HMI_Area.

Expand the RapidMix folder, then select
WaterAmount and click OK.
The tag has been added to the object. Click
Apply then OK to exit.

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7. Add a Tag Label object on the same display to the right of the Numeric Display object using Objects <
Advanced > Tag Label menu and drawing out the object on the display.
Use Tag Label objects to display information about a tag's properties at run time. You can display the value
of one property per tag label. The properties include: Low EU (tags Minimum Value), High EU (tag Maximum
Value), Contact Value (tag Status), Engineering Units (EU) (tag Units), Tag Name, Tag Description, Contact
Open Label (tag Off Label), and Contact Close Label (tag On Label).

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8. The Tag Label Properties window will open. Set up the properties as shown below. Browse to the same
RapidMix\WaterAmount tag and set the Property to Engineering Units (EU).

9. Click OK to close.
10. Test the display.

11. Review the display.

Note: The Tag Label object only works with HMI Tags, because we defined the properties (such as Units) of this tag in the
HMI Tag Database. It does not work with direct references. To display the engineering units of a direct reference you can
add a Text Object and type the applicable units.
button from the tool menu.
The Numeric Display object will display the
current value of the RapidMix\WaterAmount
HMI Tag and the Tag Label will display the
defined Engineering Units of the HMI Tag.

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13. Close the display without saving.

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Section 3: Graphic Displays, Objects and Animations
About this section
Learn about graphic displays
Modify an XML file
Configure a tooltip
Learn about docked displays
Use Commands
Configure and use Animations and Expressions
Use the Object Explorer
Use Local Messages
Use Symbol Factory Graphics
Learn about color animation enhancements
To help with the navigation within FactoryTalk View Studio for the components used in this section, you can again refer to the
Application Explorer image from Section 2.

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Read about Graphic Displays

Types of Graphic Displays
Standard Displays - stored in the Displays folder. These are the displays that the operator sees at run time.
They present views of automated plant activity or processes. They can show system or process data and
provide operators with a way to write values to a real-time database or network devices such as a controller.
Global Object Displays - stored in the Global Objects folder. Global object displays let you link the
appearance and behavior of a graphic object on a global object display to multiple copies of that object in
standard displays. When you make changes to the original object, the changes are automatically applied to
the copies.
Library Displays - stored in the Libraries folder. A library display contains ready-made graphic objects that
you can use in other displays.
A graphic display represents the operators view of plant activity. The display can show system or process data, and provide
operators with a way to write values to external devices such as programmable controllers. The elements that make up a graphic
display are called graphic objects. The Objects menu in the Graphic Displays editor (Figure 1) provides simple drawing elements
such as line, rectangle and ellipse, as well as ready-made objects such as push buttons, input and display fields, and alarm
summaries. Use these elements to create visual representations of processes and activities then animate the display by linking
objects to tags so that the appearance of the objects will change as the values of the tags change.
The graphics editor allows you to easily duplicate objects, reshape or resize objects, and arrange them in a variety of ways like
stacking them, aligning them with each other, spacing them horizontally or vertically, flipping them horizontally or vertically,
rotating them, and grouping them so they behave as a single object. Graphic objects can be:
Created using the Graphic Display editor.
Copied and pasted from the Graphics Libraries.
Copied to the clipboard from another Windows application and then pasted into the graphics display.
Created by another Windows application and inserted into the graphic display using object linking and embedding.
Dragged and dropped from another graphic display or library, or another Windows application.
Figure 1: Objects Menu

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Graphic Libraries
FactoryTalk View SE offers two kinds of graphics libraries: Symbol Factory and the standard Libraries.
Symbol Factory
Symbol Factory is a graphics library interface that can be launched from FactoryTalk View Studio. It is a common library between
FactoryTalk View Machine Edition and Site Edition. Symbol Factory is built on Software Toolboxs Symbol Factory, and
contains over 5,000 graphical objects. Approximately 4,000 of these are grouped object based graphics with the remainder being
static bitmaps. The Symbol Factory library supports drag-and-drop and copy/paste onto a native FactoryTalk View display.

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Libraries
The Graphics Library comes with a number of ready-made graphic displays containing objects that you can use in other displays.

There are many different library objects that you can use within your applications.
Note: Any animation that has been attached to an object will be included with it when it is copied into a display.

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Modify an XML file
In FactoryTalk View Studio, you can also use the Graphics Import Export Wizard to export graphic display information to an XML
file, or to import a graphic display XML file into an application. XML has a standardized format and structure. You can modify the
elements and attributes of a graphic display by changing them, or by adding new ones, in the XML file.
You can edit the XML files before importing them back into an application, to modify existing graphic objects, or to add new
objects to a display.
You can create or edit graphic displays independent of FactoryTalk View Studio, including display settings, objects, object
properties, connections, animations, groupings, key assignments etc.
In this section, we will export a graphic display to an XML file, modify the XML file and then import the XML file back into the
graphic display.
1. Double-click the CIP Process Steps display to open it.

We will modify the Step 1 text of this
display in the XML file. Currently, the text
displays
Step 1: Adding H2O.

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3. Lets export the graphic display to an XML file. Right-click on Displays and select Import and Export.

4. Select Export graphic information into displays, then select Next.

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5. Press the Clear All button and just select the cip process steps graphic display, then select Next.

6. If the folder displayed is not C:\Lab Files\FTView SE then press the button and browse to that folder, then
select Finish.

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7. The export will then begin and a progress bar will appear. When the export has completed, a status file will be
displayed in Notepad. You can ignore any export errors in the status file. Press the X in the top right corner of
the Notepad window to close it.

8. Go to the C:\Lab Files\FTView SE\ folder in Windows Explorer. To modify the file we must open it up in
Notepad. Right-click on the file CIP Process Steps.xml then select Open With and choose Notepad. The
file will now open in Notepad:

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9. We will change the text Step 1: Adding H2O to Step 1: Adding Water.

10. Fill the Replace window as follows then click the Replace All button.

11. Save the file from File>Save, then Exit.
12. Lets import the modified display. Right-click on Displays and select Import and Export.

In the Notepad file, select the
Edit menu item, then click
Replace.
Type the text as indicated, press
the Replace All button, then
click Cancel to exit. The Find
What text is letter H, number 2
and letter O.

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13. Select Import graphic information into displays, then select Next.

14. Select No, then click Next.

15. Select Single Display Import File, then click Next.

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16. Configure the window as shown below. The XML file to import can be found in C:\Lab Files\FTView SE\CIP
Process Steps.xml. This is the file we have just modified.

17. Click Finish to complete the import. The Graphics Import Export Wizard provides a status file on the success of
the import/export. Close the file.

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18. Lets review the modified display. Now, open the CIP Process Steps display by double-clicking on it from the
Displays item in FactoryTalk View Studio.

Note: In this example it would have been easier to simply change the text in the display within FactoryTalk View Studio.
There are applications, however, in which you may need to automatically create many objects and/or displays. Creating
them in an XML file can save a lot of engineering time.

Review the display. The text
has been changed from H2O
to Water.

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Tooltips
To provide information about a graphic object to an operator, you can add a tooltip to objects:
Tooltips can be added to graphical objects
Tooltips supports embedded variables
Language switching is supported on tooltip text
By default, an object has no tooltip. If you add a tooltip, it displays at run time, when the operator positions the pointer over the
object for a few seconds.

Parameter Enhancements
Added parameter enhancements provide support for embedded variables in tooltips and title bars; literal
numbers and strings in the embedded variable syntax; and display for the right-most characters in embedded
string variables.

In this lab we will add a Numeric Input object to show a tooltip example.
1. Open the CIP Process Steps display (it should already be open.)
2. We will add a Numeric Input object to the CIP Process Steps display.

From the Objects menu,
select Numeric and String,
then click on Numeric Input.

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3. Add the Numeric Input object in the display location shown below.

4. Configure the Numeric Input Properties as shown below by following steps a-d.

a. Select the Connections tab.
b. Click on the ellipses button to browse
(see below) and add the Value tag:
{/Data_Area::[shortcut]SodaCIPTanks.
RecoveredWater.Value
c. Click on the ellipses button to browse
and add the Minimum tag: {/Data_Area::
[shortcut]SodaCIPTanks.RecoveredW
ater.Minimum
d. Click on the ellipses button to browse and
add the Maximum tag: {/Data_Area::
[shortcut]SodaCIPTanks.RecoveredWater.
Maximum
Add the object here.

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5. Click OK to close.
6. Save the display.

7. Test the display

button from the Tool menu.

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8. We have specified the Minimum and Maximum values for the Numeric Input Object. Lets write a value 22000
into our object. This value has to be higher than the Minimum and lower than the Maximum values.

The object background will turn red indicating that the value enter is outside the valid minimum and maximum bounds.
How will the operator know what the valid bounds are? Add a tooltip!

10. Double-click on the Numeric Input object to open up its properties. Or right-click and select Properties.

11. Add a Tooltip by following steps a-e.

Type 22000 then
press Enter.
b. Type Minimum: in
the ToolTip Text area .
a. Select the
Common tab.
c. Click on Insert Variable
and select Numeric to add a
variable.

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12. Repeat steps a-e to add the Maximum information as well. The Maximum tag to browse to is
{/Data_Area::[Shortcut]SodaCIPTanks.RecoveredWater.Maximum}.
The final ToolTip text should look as follows:


d. Browse to the {/Data_Area::[Shortcut]SodaCIPTanks.
RecoveredWater.Minimum} tag.
e. Click OK.
Click OK.
Click Save Icon

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14. Test the display.

15. Lets try this again. Write a value 22000 into our object.

Again, the object background will turn red indicating that the value enter is outside the valid minimum and maximum
bounds.
16. Hover the mouse over the object and you should see our tooltip text indicating the proper value bounds.


18. Close the display CIP Process Steps.
Single-click on the Test
Display button from the Tool
menu.
Type 22000 then
press Enter.
Hover mouse over the
Numeric Input object and
observe the Tooltip text!

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Docked displays
Docked Displays
At run time, graphic displays can be docked to an edge of the FactoryTalk View SE Client window, allowing
an operator to gain access to certain displays at all times. Docked displays cannot be accidentally closed by
the operator and cannot have other graphics placed on top. They will, therefore, always remain visible to the
operator.
For example, you might consider docking:
Navigational menus - that allow the operator to move among displays in an application.
Headers or banners - that provide specific information to the operator, such as the current users name and
area, or information about alarms.
Control panels - that contain standard buttons for special purposes, such as changing users, closing open
windows, or sending information to a maintenance team.

In this lab we will use docked displays for navigational menus and as an alarm banner. The docked display will be visible to the
operator at all times.
1. Open the display Navigation. This will be the first docked display.

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2. Open the Alarm Banner display. This will be our second docked display.

3. To dock a display to an edge of the SE Client window, after the client starts up, we will use a start-up macro that
utilizes a display command.
A macro is a list of commands or command symbols stored in a text file. To run a macro you use its name
just as you would a command. The commands in the macro will be executed in the order in which they are
listed.
A macro can be specified on startup or shutdown of a client or display. It can be called from a command line in FactoryTalk
View Studio, from a button or from the Factory Talk View Administration Console for system administration.
FactoryTalk View has multi-tasking capabilities that you can take advantage of when you create macros.
Some commands (such as Print) finish quickly and the next command can start. Others, such as Set, take longer. In the
case of Set, it does not finish until the message has been sent to the controller. In cases like that, you can set up the macro
so that the next command can be executed before the previous command is finished. Use the ampersand character (&) to
do this.
4. Expand the Macros menu item and double-click on startup to open.

5. Review the first two display commands in the startup macro file:
Display Navigation /DB
Display Alarm Banner /DT
Double-click on
startup to open.

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In general, to dock a display uses the syntax shown below:

To dock a display in this position Use this syntax
Top edge of the client window Display <display name> /DT
Bottom edge of the client window Display<display name> /DB
Left edge of the client window Display <display name> /DL
Right edge of client window Display <display name> /DR

These commands will be executed when the macro is run at the start-up of the FactoryTalk View SE Client.

How to configure this Startup macro in the client will be discussed in a later section.
6. Close the startup macro without saving.

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Explore docked displays at run-time
Lets explore the docked displays functionality at run-time. An SE client file has already been created for you to run with this
application. Our StartUp macro will be executed when the SE client file is launched.
1. Click the Launch SE Client icon

2. Browse to the C:\Lab Files\FTView SE\InstantFizz.cli then click OK.

NOTE: It will take a few minutes for the client to fully load.

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3. Review the layout of the client. The startup macro docked displays in 2 areas. The header display contains an
alarm banner and is located at the top of the client window; the footer display contains navigation buttons and is
located at the bottom of the client window.

4. Minimize the Plant Overview display.
5. Drag the minimized title bar around to the edges of the display client:
Top edge: Bottom edge:
6. Click the Restore button on the Plant Overview display.
Observe that it will not overlay the docked areas.
Alarm Banner is
docked on the top
edge.

Navigation is
docked on the
bottom edge.

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7. Drag the Plant Overview display to the lower edge or lower right corner of the client.

Observe that it will not overlay the docked areas and scroll bars will appear, so the display will still be visible.
8. Move the Plant Overview display so the Close button is visible and close the display.

9. Select the Overview button on the footer display to open the Overview display. Notice how it is sized to fit in the
main viewable area of the docked displays.

10. Leave the Client running because we will use it in the next section.

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Commands
FactoryTalk View commands allow you interact with and control application components. Most commands accept parameters for
added precision and control.
You can set up keys and graphic objects to run commands at run time. For example, as the press, release, or repeat action
when you assign touch animation to an object in a graphic display, or as the action for a button.
You can run commands from the HMI servers command line.
You can create a list of commands in a macro, and run the macro in places where the commands are required.
You can run commands at a particular event, using Event file.
There are approximately 80 different commands. Use the Command Wizard for assistance with selecting and building
commands.
We will create a Button object with a display command.
1. In FactoryTalk View Studio, close all the currently open displays without saving.
2. Open the Rapid Mix - Overview display.
3. Select the Button menu item.

4. Draw the Button in the Rapid Mix Overview Display as shown below:

Draw the Button
here.

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5. Configure the Button Properties by following steps a-b.

6. Select the Display command by following steps a-b. You can either select All Commands and Macros and find
the Display command alphabetically, or select Graphics > Graphic Displays > Navigation > Display.

a. Select the Display
Command.
b. Click Next to
continue.
a. Select the Action
tab.
b. Click on the ellipses button to
open the Commands Wizard.

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7. Fill the display command information as shown below by following steps a-b. If our application had more than
one area we could choose to open a display from a different area.

8. Add a Button Caption by following steps ab.

Fill out as shown. The Display
command has many additional
properties, leave these unchecked for
this example.
b. Click Finish to
complete.
a. Select the Up Appearance
tab. Then in the Caption field
type Rapid Mix- Process
Steps
b. Click OK to complete.

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9. Save the display then close .
10. Return to the running client window and select the Rapid Mix button in the navigation display.

11. Open the Rapid Mix Process Steps display.

The new button added should
look as shown here. Resize the
button if needed.
Click on Rapid Mix
button.
In the upper right corner of the
Rapid Mix display, click on the newly
added Rapid Mix Process Steps
button.

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Using the Command Wizard we have created a button which when pressed opens another display.
The Commands Wizard contains many more commands related to closing/opening displays, alarming, printing, languages,
external applications and many others.
Rapid Mix Process
Steps display will
open!

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Animations and expressions
Animation is the ability to add logic to a graphic object so that some characteristic of the object will change when a tag value
changes. For example, an object can be made to fill (up, down, left, or right) or change color in relation to a tag value.
Expression: An expression is a mathematical or logical equation that returns a value. It can contain tag
names, constants and mathematical, relational, logical and/or bitwise operators. A single tag name is often
used for simple expressions.
In Figure 1, the animation dialog shows that expressions are used to animate objects. There is a tab for each type of animation.
If there is a check mark in front of the animation type it means that the selected object is using that animation. If an animation
type is not available for a selected object, the fields on that animation tab will be grayed out. In the example below, the Fill and
Color animations are being used on the selected object. Selecting a new object while the Animation dialog is opened will update
the Animation dialog for the object that was just selected.

Figure 1: Animation Dialog

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The Object Explorer
The Object Explorer provides a list of all the objects in the current graphic display, including those that are hidden by other
objects. A group of objects has a plus sign in front of its name. Click this to expand the list of objects that make up the group.
You can expand or collapse the whole list using the Expand and Collapse buttons.
When you click an object in the display to select it, its corresponding entry in the Object Explorer is highlighted in gray.
When you click an item in the Object Explorer, the object it corresponds to is selected. If an object is hidden by another, or is part
of a group, when you select it in the Object Explorer the handles outlining the selected object are visible.
Lets open up one of the displays and take a look at animation.
To open the Object Explorer
1. Return to FT View Studio. To open the Rapid Mix - Overview display, expand the Displays folder and double-
click on the Rapid Mix Overview display.
The Rapid Mix - Overview display will be opened.

2. Select the View > Object Explorer menu item
-or-
select the Show/Hide Object Explorer button from the menu bar to show or hide it.

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Once selected (indicated by a check next to the menu item name), the Object Explorer appears. The Object Explorer can
be resized and moved. You can click on any of the objects listed, and you will notice that the objects will be highlighted in
the display.

The Object Explorer is truly useful when you group items together and want to reference individual elements within that
group.
Grouping is useful when you have common objects that you want to move around or apply behaviors
toward, for example, animation behavior.
Highlighted
TankMixture group.

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Look at groups and animation by using the object explorer
1. Expand and select the TankMixture group in the Object Explorer.
2. Right-click on the Water element within the TankMixture group and select the Animation > Fill context menu
item.

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3. The Animation dialog will appear and open on the Fill tab.

The Fill animation expression has already been pre-entered for you. You can review and familiarize yourself with the Fill
and other animation properties, such as Color.
4. Close the Animation window.
5. Return to the running client and press the PUSH TO START button on the Rapid Mix Process Steps display
to see the animations in action. If the button says PUSH TO STOP, then the process is still working on the last
processing cycle and is waiting for the user to press the Completed! button on Step 3 to continue. If this is the
case, then press the Completed! button and wait for the previous cycle to completethen press the PUSH TO
START to start another cycle and watch the animations in action.

Press the START
button to start the
Rapid Mix process.

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Watch the water tank fill!

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Local Messages
Use local message displays to provide an operator with information about a process, or about what to do next, at run time. For
example, the Rapid Mix Process Steps display contains a Local Message object that gives the operators instructions on what
the current step is in the mixing tank.
1. In the client window, close the Rapid Mix-Process Steps Display.

2. Return to FactoryTalk View Studio. Lets review the RapidMix Local Message file that has been pre-created for
you. Open this file.

In the running client, close the Rapid-Mix
Process Steps display by clicking the
door icon.

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3. Local Message editors consist of Trigger Value and Message columns. When the value of the Local Message
tag equals the Trigger Value, the corresponding Message will be displayed. For example, if the tag value is
equal to 6, the message STEP 6: Initiate CIP Clean will be displayed.

4. Click Close.
5. In order to view the messages on a display at run-time, a Local Message object needs to be added. Open the
Rapid Mix Process Steps display.

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6. Add the Local Message Display to Rapid Mix Process Steps display by following steps a-b.

7. We will modify some properties of the message text, such as font and color. Double-click on the Local Message
Display object to view the object properties. Follow steps a-c.

a. Double-click on the Local Message
Display object to view the object
properties.

a. Select the Local Message
Display to add.
b. Draw the Local Message Display object
as shown.

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b. Select the General
tab.

c. Change the font size to
16.

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8. We would like this Local Message Display to display messages from the RapidMix Local Message File, which
we imported into the application. The messages will be triggered by the /Data_Area::[Shortcut]MixSteps tag.
Follow steps a-d to configure the Local Message display.

b. Select RapidMix then
click OK to close.

c. Select the Connections tab and browse to the
/Data_Area::[Shortcut]MixSteps tag. In the tag
browser expand Shortcut, select Online then on
the right side select the MixSteps tag. The value
of this tag will determine which message will be
displayed.

d. Click OK to close.

a. Click on the ellipses
button to browse the
Local Message File.

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9. Save the display, then close.

10. View the Local Messages in action! Go back to the running client and launch the Rapid Mix Process Steps
display from the Rapid Mix Overview display. Follow steps a-c.

11. Click on the Exit button to close the client. . Select YES to confirm exit

a. Click the Rapid Mix Process
Steps button to open the display.

Click the START button at the bottom of
the Rapid Mix Process Steps display to
start the process. It may be already
started.

c. Follow the Local Message
steps/instructions and watch the
animation in the Rapid Mix
Overview display.

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Using Symbol Factory Graphics
In this section you will create a new display and learn the ways to launch the Symbol Factory library as well as how to select
graphics and place them on the new display. This will allow you to get a look at the types of graphics that can be found in the
Symbol Factory library, as well as how the library fits into the FactoryTalk View Studio interface.
1. Expand the Graphics folder in the Explorer pane. Right-click Displays and select New to create a new Display.

A new display is opened in the workspace area.
Right-click Displays and
select New to create a
new Display.

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2. Double-click Symbol Factory in the Project Explorer.

The Symbol Factory library browser will be displayed.
3. Close library browser.

Double-click Symbol
Factory
Close the library after it is
displayed

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4. With library browser closed after the last step, select the Symbol Factory icon on the Objects Toolbar:

5. Close library browser.
6. With library browser closed after the last step, select Symbol Factory from the Objects pull down menu.

7. Do not close the library browser.
Symbol Factory icon on
Objects Pull down menu
Symbol Factory icon on
Objects Toolbar

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Symbol Factory library layout

8. Select different categories in Category window. You will notice that the graphical objects in each category are
displayed in the Symbols Thumbnail window.
9. When a graphical object is selected in the Symbols Thumbnail window, a larger thumbnail image is displayed in
the Preview window.
Adding a Symbol Factory Graphic to a display
Copy Button
1. Select the Boilers category in the Symbol Factory library.
2. Select the Boiler 1 graphic.
3. Select from menu above Symbols Thumbnail Windows.
When Copy is selected, the library window will minimize.
Categories window
Preview window
Symbols Thumbnail
window

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4. On the new Graphic Display, right-click to display menu and select Paste.

5. Boiler 1 graphic will be copied to display as shown below.

This is one way to copy and paste a Symbol Factory graphic to a display.

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Drag and Drop
1. The library browser minimizes to the Windows Task Bar when a symbol is copied. You might need to select it
from the Task Bar to display it again.
2. With Symbol Factory library displayed, select the Buildings category.
3. Select the Factory 1 symbol from the library.

4. Select the Factory 1 symbol in the Preview window and with the left mouse button held down, drag the Factory
1 symbol on to the display screen under the boiler symbol.

Copy and Paste / Paste Special
A third method to add a graphic to a display from the library is Copy and Paste or Paste Special.

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1. With Symbol Factory library displayed, select the Blowers Etc. category.
2. Right-click the Vortex blower symbol in the Preview window,to display the menu.

3. Select Copy from menu.

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4. On the display screen, right-click and select Paste.

The Vector blower symbol will be copied to the upper left-hand corner of the display.

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5. Click and drag to move the symbol from that position to another location on the display.

Those are the three main ways to copy a Symbol Factory graphic from the library to a display screen.
Adding a Symbol Factory Graphic to Images for use on a button
1. In the Explorer, right-click on the Display folder and select the New context menu item:

2. Select the button icon from the objects toolbar and add a Command Button to the new display.

The Button Properties window is automatically opened:

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3. Select the Up Appearance Tab.
4. In the Image settings section, select the Use Image reference radio button.

5. Select next to Image: name. This will launch the Image Browser dialog.
The Image Browser dialogue has been modified to allow you to launch the Symbol Factory Library, select and copy a
symbol, and paste it into the images folder for use on buttons.

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6. Select Launch Library to launch the Symbol Factory library.
7. Select the Gadget Buttons 1 category in the library and select the Industrial button on gray enamel (Red Up)
symbol.

8. Select above the Symbols Thumbnail window in library.
Symbol Factory Library will automatically minimize.
9. Select Paste from Library on Image Browser dialogue.

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10. You will be prompted to enter a unique name for the image.

11. Enter Red Button Up in Image Name Entry dialogue and select OK.
This will paste symbol into Preview area of the Image Browser as well as add it to the images folder for future use.

Note that the image has been added:

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12. Select OK. The Image Browser will be closed and Red Button Up will be listed in the Image: entry on the
Button Properties.

13. Select OK to close Button Properties.The image is now displayed on the button face.

14. Close this screen without saving.

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Color Animation Enhancements
In addition to Symbol Factory graphics library, FactoryTalk View SE also provides improved color/shading animation. In this
section you will review the color animation capability.
Symbol Factory Color Animation Demo Screen
1. From explorer, open the display sf_color_demo.

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2. Right-click on the Blower 1 symbol under the middle Shaded area and select Animation > Color to open the
Animation dialog.

The Color tab shows the color animation configuration for the blower. Note that for the A) 0 state, the Original Fill Style is
selected. This means that when the expression evaluates to a value of 0, the blower graphic will be displayed in its original
color.

Fill Styles include
Original, Shaded, and
Solid.

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An HMI Memory Tag, SF_Test, has been configured for this example.

When Fill Style is set to Original, the color indicators reflect this selection by displaying the symbol.
3. Scroll through the A to P thresholds on the left. . This graphic symbol has been
configured for a color selection and value for each threshold. Threshold A (Value=0) has a Fill Style of Original.
The remaining thresholds (B to P) are configured for the Shaded Fill Style. Thresholds K, L, and M are
configured to blink the Fill Color.

4. When you are finished looking at the color animation configuration, click Close to close the Animation dialog.
5. Test run this screen by selecting Test Display button ( ) on the top menu.
The screen will appear like this when running:

The Solid Column
has Fill Style set to
Solid
The Shaded Column has Fill Style set to
Shaded

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The starting value is zero (0). If the value shown in the right-hand indicator is not zero, then click
RESET to set it back to zero (0). Each graphic symbol on this display is configured to maintain the original library color at
value zero (0).
6. To show the color changes on each symbol, increment the analog value by selecting the Ramp Up button
. The value will increase by 1 and each symbol will change to the next color. Notice that even with the
color change, the shading of the objects in the middle column has been maintained.
When the value is greater than zero, notice the difference between the Solid and Shaded Fill Style.

7. Ramp the value to 11, 12, and 13 to see the object blink between two colors.
8. Stop the running the display by selecting Edit Display

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Section 4: FactoryTalk Alarms and Events
About this section
In this section, you will be reading and doing the following:
Read about types of Alarming Systems
Read about FactoryTalk Alarms and Events components
Subscribing to Alarms and Events
Enabling Alarms and Events on an existing data server
Testing the Alarms and Events connection using the default alarm summary object in FactoryTalk View Studio.
Exploring RSLogix 5000 alarm instructions: ALMD and ALMA
Acknowledging an alarm from RSLogix 5000
Learning about Associated Tags
Embedding variables in alarm messages
Exploring Tag-based Alarms and Events
Viewing alarms as tags
Changing tag update rates
Acknowledging alarms from the alarm summary object.
Acknowledging alarms remotely.
Read about types of alarming
Alarms are an important part of plant control applications because they alert operators when something goes wrong. Often, it is
also important to have a record of alarms, what time they occurred, and if they were acknowledged and by whom.
FactoryTalk View SE supports the existing traditional HMI tag alarm system and the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system. The
choices you make will depend on factors such as the design of your application, the processes you need to monitor for alarms,
the types of devices used in the application, and whether you want to build alarm detection into those devices.
Traditional HMI Tag Alarm System
In FactoryTalk View Studio, you can set up a complete alarm system. At run time, alarm monitoring occurs at the HMI server. If
alarms are detected tag values outside the configured limits - notification is sent to connected FactoryTalk View SE clients,
where operators can view and acknowledge the alarms. This is a traditional HMI tag alarm system.
An HMI tag alarm system only detects alarms set up for tags in an HMI servers tag database. HMI tag alarm detection does not
include FactoryTalk alarms. Use a traditional HMI tag alarm system if your application uses HMI tags for other purposes, and you
want to monitor these tags for alarms. FactoryTalk View SE Clients receive HMI tag alarm information by way of the FactoryTalk
View SE Servers (also called HMI servers) that contain the HMI tags.
Traditional HMI tag alarm data is not managed by FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services. To monitor and respond to HMI tag
alarms, you must use the HMI tag alarm displays and logs available in FactoryTalk View SE. This section of the lab will not
demonstrate any features of the traditional HMI Tag Alarm system.

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FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events allows multiple FactoryTalk products to participate together in a common, consistent view of
alarms and events throughout a FactoryTalk application.
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events supports two types of alarm monitoring:
Device-based alarm monitoring. Built-in alarm instructions that are available in RSLogix 5000 v. 16 or later, are
programmed in a logic project and then downloaded to a Logix5000 controller. The controller detects alarm conditions and
publishes event information, which can be displayed and logged.
Tag-based alarm monitoring. If you are not using Logix5000 controllers, or if you do not want to use the built-in alarm
instructions that are available with RSLogix 5000, tag-based alarm monitoring offers the equivalent of HMI tag alarm
monitoring, but with an expanded feature set. Software-based Tag Alarm and Event servers monitor controllers for alarm
conditions through data servers and publish event information that can be displayed and logged. Tag-based alarm monitoring
is supported for Logix5000 controllers, PLC-5, and SLC 500 devices communicating through Rockwell Automation device
servers (RSLinx Enterprise), or for third-party controllers communicating through OPC Data Servers.
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events:
Provides a single, integrated set of alarm information. All participating FactoryTalk products work together to provide a
consistent way to define, manage, log, and view alarm and event information across a FactoryTalk application.
Streamlines alarm programming and eliminates polling with device-based alarm monitoring. If your automation
system includes Logix5000 controllers, you can use pre-built alarm instructions, available in RSLogix 5000 v. 16 or later, to
simplify coding, and then download them to the controller. Device-based alarm monitoring eliminates the need for duplicating
alarm tags in an HMI server and requires fewer controller communication resources by eliminating polling.
Supports other controllers in the integrated system with tag-based alarm monitoring. If your automation system
includes other Rockwell Automation controllers, such as PLC-5s or SLC 500s, or if you prefer not to use the alarm
instructions with Logix5000 controllers, software-based tag servers monitor controllers for alarm conditions and publish event
information.
Monitors alarms and events from third-party controllers. Tag-based alarm monitoring also makes it possible to monitor
alarm conditions from third-party controllers, which communicate through OPC Data Servers.
Provides accurate time stamps on alarm conditions that are generated from Logix5000 controllers using device-based
alarm monitoring. When you use device-based alarm monitoring, timestamps are applied immediately in the controller and
are not delayed until alarms reach an HMI server. To make sure that the timestamps on device-based alarms are accurate,
synchronize the clocks of all controllers that produce alarms. The event time is propagated throughout the FactoryTalk
Alarms and Events system, so inaccurate timestamps can affect where alarms are displayed in the Alarm and Event
Summary or the Alarm and Event Banner as well as reports about the alarm and event history.
Sends process data with events and messages. You can associate up to four tags with each alarm to include process
data with event information and alarm messages.
Secures access to alarm and event operations through integration with FactoryTalk Security.
Generates messages for logging, including audit messages that track operator actions, system-related diagnostic
messages, and historical alarm and event messages.
Displays alarm messages and status information at run time, from FactoryTalk View graphic displays.

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Read about FactoryTalk Alarms and Events components
The diagram below shows a high-level view of the components of the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system.

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1. Device-based alarm monitoring
To do device-based alarm monitoring, you program alarm instructions, that are available with RSLogix 5000 v. 16 or later, and
then download them to Logix5000 controllers. The controller detects alarm conditions and notifies RSLinx Enterprise of alarm
states. A Rockwell Automation Device Server (RSLinx Enterprise) extracts the alarm information and publishes it to FactoryTalk
Alarms and Events services.
Use device-based alarm monitoring with:
Logix5000 controllers, that you have programmed with RSLogix 5000 v. 16 or later software, and Rockwell Automation
device servers (RSLinx Enterprise).
2. Tag-based alarm monitoring
The Tag Alarm and Event Server uses tags to monitor programmable controllers for alarm conditions. When an alarm condition
is detected, the server publishes the information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services.
Use tag-based alarm monitoring with:
PLC-5 or SLC 500 controllers, and Rockwell Automation device servers (RSLinx Enterprise).
RSLinx Classic and RSLinx Gateway.
Third-party controllers and OPC Data Servers.
Logix5000 controllers.
3. FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services
Both device-based and tag-based alarms and events are published to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services, which then
routes the information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects hosted in FactoryTalk View, the alarm and event history log,
and to diagnostic logs and audit logs.
4. Alarm and Event Historian Log
The Alarm and Event Historian is a logging component that installs silently as part of the alarms and events software. It manages
connections between alarm servers and databases and logs data from each alarm server to an alarm history database. You can
use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer to view and print data from alarm history databases. Third-party database tools can also
retrieve, view, analyze, and print alarm history information. To use alarm and event logging, install Microsoft SQL Server
separately, or use an existing Microsoft SQL Server database.
5. Diagnostic and audit logs
FactoryTalk Diagnostics routes messages generated by FactoryTalk Alarms and Events to local logs on the computers hosting
FactoryTalk components, and optionally to a centralized database log. Audit messages are routed to the local log and to the
FactoryTalk Audit Log if FactoryTalk AssetCentre is installed.
6. Alarm and event setup and monitoring
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events includes a number of software components that allow engineers and operators to define alarm
conditions, set up alarm servers, view and interact with alarm conditions, and view historical alarm and event information.
Alarm and Event Summary
Use the Alarm and Event Summary object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to acknowledge, disable, suppress,
filter, and sort alarms at run time.
Alarm and Event Banner
Use the Alarm and Event Banner object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to monitor and respond to the most
serious alarms that require immediate attention.

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Alarm Status Explorer
Use the Alarm Status Explorer object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to enable or disable alarms, suppress or
unsuppress alarms, and view operator comments.
Database definitions
Use database definitions to define logging options from an alarm server to a Microsoft SQL Server database.
Alarm and Event Log Viewer
Use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to view and filter historical alarm
information stored in Microsoft SQL Server databases.
Diagnostics Viewer
Use the Diagnostics Viewer to view, filter, and export system-generated diagnostic messages. Run the Diagnostics Viewer from
either FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console.
FactoryTalk Audit Log
Use the FactoryTalk Audit Log to view and manage audit messages routed by FactoryTalk Diagnostics. To access the Audit Log,
use FactoryTalk AssetCentre software.

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Subscribing to Device-based Alarms and Events
Your application has been pre-configured to enable device-based alarms. Lets explore how this was enabled and display some
of those alarms.
1. Run FactoryTalk View Studio and open the InstantFizz application if it is not already open.
2. In the FactoryTalk View Studio Explorer window of FactoryTalk View Studio, open the application node (
InstantFizz). Open the area named Data_Area. Right-click RSLinx Enterprise and select Properties.

3. In the RSLinx Enterprise Server Properties dialog box, click the Alarms and Events tab and notice that the
Enable alarm and event support check box is checked.

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4. Click Cancel to close the RSLinx Enterprise Server Properties dialog box.
5. In the FactoryTalk View Studio Explorer window, double-click the RSLinx Enterprise server to expand it, and
then double-click Communication Setup. Resize the dialog (if needed) so that you can see everything.

6. In the Communication Setup dialog box, under Device Shortcuts, select the shortcut named Shortcut.
7. Under Alarms & Events, notice that the Enable setting is set to Yes.

8. Click Cancel to close.
This confirms that device-based alarms is enabled and that the RSLinx Enterprise server is subscribing to alarms and events
from the SoftLogix controller running on this computer
9. If you have not already done so, maximize the FactoryTalk View Studio window.

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10. In the Explorer window, right-click the Displays node (located under the HMI server node in the Graphics
folder), and then click New.

A blank display appears in the workspace.
11. On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event, and then click Summary or on the toolbar, click the Summary
button .

The mouse pointer changes to the Object drawing cursor.

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12. Using the mouse, drag the rectangle to fill the display. Start in the upper left corner, drag down to the lower right
and then release the left mouse button.
The Alarm and Event Summary object will appear in the display as follows:

13. On the Graphics toolbar, click Test Display button .
You will see alarms!

You are looking at the default configuration of alarm summary object. This control is highly configurable, so if
you dont like the display choices, dont worry! Later in the lab, youll be learning how to configure this control
and work with one that has already been modified.

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14. On the Graphics toolbar, stop testing the display by clicking the Edit Display button .
15. Save the display by clicking the Save button on the toolbar. In the Save dialog box, type
My Alarm Summary for the name of the display and then click OK.

16. You can leave this display open and just minimize FactoryTalk View SE Studio. Youll come back to it in the
next part.

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Working with Device-based Alarms and Events - ALMD
You will now explore device-based digital alarms with the RSLogix 5000 instruction named ALMD.
A digital alarm (ALMD instruction) is configured to monitor its input for one of the following alarm conditions:
the input value equal to one
the input value equal to zero
When the alarm condition is true, the alarm enters the In Alarm state. When the alarm condition is false, the alarm enters the
Normal or Out of Alarm state.
In this part of the lab, you will:
Trigger a digital alarm within RSLogix 5000.
Change an alarms severity level and message while online.
Acknowledge an alarm within RSLogix 5000.
View the alarm status in a FactoryTalk View SE test display.
1. Double-click on the InstantFizz_Controller.ACD shortcut from the Desktop to open the project that is
used in this lab. (For convenience, a shortcut to InstantFizz_Controller.ACD has also been added to the Start
menu.)
2. Go online with the controller by clicking the pull down next to the Controller Status display and selecting Go
Online

If you are prompted with the Connected To Go Online dialog, choose choose Download twice and select Yes when
prompted to change to the controller back to Remote Run.

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3. In the left pane, expand the Main folder under Tasks, and then double-click the Alarms routine.

Look at Rung 0 and notice that the ALMD alarm instruction named CIPValve1 is active. You can tell by looking at the
instructions output parameter InAlarm. Notice that it is highlighted green.

The InAlm parameter is active because the input condition is true. In this case, the input condition is the BOOLEAN tag
named CIPAlarmTrigger[1]. You can tell this condition is true because it is also highlighted in green.

4. Return to FactoryTalk View SE Studio you should have it minimized in your Windows task bar from the
previous section.

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5. Select the My Alarm Summary screen you created earlier and click the Test Display button from the
Graphics toolbar.
Notice that the alarm in the list, with the Alarm Name of CIPValve1, corresponds to the ALMD instruction we had just
observed on Rung 0 of RSLogix 5000. The Alarm and Event Summary object is indicating that the alarm is active just as
we would expect.

6. Return to RSLogix 5000. In Rung 0, select the Examine On instruction for CIPAlarmTrigger[1]. Right-
click and select Toggle Bit or select Control+T to turn the bit to off.

Notice now that the input condition of CIPAlarmTrigger[1] is off and the InAlm parameter of the CIPValve1 ALMD instruction
is no longer active.

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7. Return to FactoryTalk View SE Studio and select the My Alarm Summary screen you created earlier. If it is
not still running in test mode, on the Graphics toolbar, click Test Display button .

You will see in your test display that the CIPValve1 alarm is still in the alarm list, but it is no longer active. (Tip: You may
have to scroll down your alarm list to find it.)
8. Return to RSLogix 5000. Now we will see how the ALMD instruction is configured.
Inside the alarm instruction, click the Browse button to open the ALMD Properties dialog box.

9. Change the Severity to 500.

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10. Change the Message from Water Valve Jammed. Open Valve. to Water Valve Jammed. Call Maintenance
Staff. or to whatever message you want. Feel free to be creative!

There are many properties of an ALMD instruction that you can configure within this dialog box. If youd like
more information about them and what they do, click Help on this dialog box.

11. Click Apply to apply changes.
12. Click OK to close the ALMD Properties dialog box.

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13. Select again the Examine On instruction for CIPAlarmTrigger[1]. Right-click and select Toggle Bit or
select Control+T to turn the bit to on.

Notice now that the input condition of CIPAlarmTrigger[1] is on, the InAlm parameter of the CIPValve1 ALMD instruction
is active.

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Scroll down to about the middle of your alarm list and you will see the CIPValve1 alarm active, but with different colors than
previously seen and your new message.

The color change occurs because we changed the Severity of the alarm. Also notice that the severity icon has changed
from (Urgent) to (Medium).
15. Return to RSLogix 5000. Inside the alarm instruction, click the Browse button to open the ALMD
Configuration Dialog box.

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16. In the ALMD Properties dialog box, select the Status tab and then observe the In Alarm Time and Return To
Normal Time.

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17. To acknowledge the alarm from RSLogix 5000, click the Acknowledge button near the bottom of the dialog
window.

The Acknowledge Time will update on the Status tab.

You will also see the Acked output of the alarm instruction becomes active (green highlight).

18. Click OK to close the ALMD Properties dialog box.

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19. Return again to FactoryTalk View SE Studio and select the My Alarm Summary screen you created earlier. If
it is not still running in test mode, on the Graphics toolbar, click Test Display button.
Find the CIPValve1 alarm in your list.

Notice that the alarm status icon has changed from (In Alarm and Unacknowledged) to (In Alarm and
Acknowledged) indicating that the alarm has been acknowledged.

Congratulations! You have just:
Observed and manipulated an ALMD instruction online while the program is running.
Acknowledged an alarm within RSLogix 5000.
Viewed the alarm status in a FactoryTalk View SE test display.

Whether you realize it or not, you have also witnessed that online changes to alarm instructions take effect
without having to reboot your PC or restart your client. If an active alarm has a pending edit, the update
takes affect whenever the alarm changes state next.

In the next section, you will explore ALMA instructions in a similar way.

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Working with Device-based Alarms and Events - ALMA
Now we will explore analog device-based alarms using the RSLogix 5000 instruction named ALMA.
An analog alarm can be configured to monitor for two types of alarm conditions: Level and Rate of Change.
A Level alarm monitors an input for alarm conditions that go In Alarm when the input value goes above or below predefined
limits. When defining a level alarm, you can configure up to four alarm level conditions each with limits (sometimes called
thresholds), a severity and alarm message. The supported alarm conditions are:
High High (HIHI)
High (HI)
Low (LO)
Low Low (LOLO)
A Rate of Change alarm monitors an input for alarm conditions that go In Alarm when the input value changes faster or slower
than predefined limits. When defining a level alarm, you can configure up to two rate of change conditions each with limits, a
severity, and an alarm message. The supported alarm conditions are:
Rate of Change Positive (ROC_POS)
Rate of Change Negative (ROC_NEG)
Trigger different levels of an analog alarm within RSLogix 5000.
Learn about associated tags.
Learn how to embed a variable in an alarm message.

1. Return to RSLogix 5000.
2. If the Alarms subroutine is not open, then in the left pane, expand the Main folder under Tasks, and then
double-click the Alarms routine.
3. If not already online with the controller, click the pull down next to the Controller Status display and select Go
Online

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4. Scroll down to Rung 4 to see an ALMA alarm instruction named MotorOverheatAlarm. Notice that no alarm
levels are active you can tell because none of the alarm condition parameters are highlighted in green.

The In input for this alarm is the tag named MotorTemp. The value of this tag will trigger this alarm if it crosses any of the
defined threshold limits.
Input
tag value
Alarm
threshold
limits.

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5. Double-click the 35 value below MotorTemp and change the value to 501.

Notice how the HInAlarm condition is now true and the HAcked condition is now false.

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Notice now that both the HInAlm and HHInAlm conditions are true, while both the HAcked and HHAcked conditions have
turned false.

If a High High (HIHI) alarm level condition is met, the High (HI) alarm level condition is always true as well.
Therefore, whenever a HH alarm is active the H alarm is as well. The same case applies to the two low level
alarms. If the Low Low (LOLO) alarm condition is met, the Low (LO) alarm is also triggered.

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Find the 2 entries (HI, HIHI) for the MotorOverheatAlarm. You may need to scroll down the list.

While both conditions are active, they each have a different severity level as designated by the different display colors and
the different severity icons: (Urgent) and (High).
You can see on the alarm summary screen that the alarm message for the HI condition is The Motor is overheating. The
current temperature of the motor is 501. Recall that 501 is the first value we set to MotorTemp to trigger the HI
condition.
In many cases it is useful to have additional process information associated with an alarm. When an alarm is
defined, you can associate up to four tags with the alarm. At run time, the tag values are recorded in the
alarm and event history log and can also be displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary or Alarm and Event
Log Viewer. The values of associated tags can also be embedded in alarm messages and the contents of
the Alarm and Event Summary or Alarm and Event Log Viewer can also be filtered based on the value of an
associated tag.

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8. Notice how the alarm message for the HIHI condition is too long to be properly displayed on the summary
screen. Fear not, however, the complete alarm message is not lost! Use the mouse to click on the HIHI alarm in
the summary display. The alarm details will appear in the Details Pane below the summary display. Use the
scrollbar on the right to scroll to the end of the Details Pane where you will see the complete message: The
Motor has overheated. Motor has stopped. The current temperature of the motor is 1001.

Recall that 1001 is the second value we set to MotorTemp to trigger the HIHI condition.
9. Return to RSLogix 5000. Inside the alarm instruction, click the Browse button to open the ALMA
Configuration Dialog box.

Notice on the Configuration tab the three levels that are enabled: High High, High, and Low. The Low Low limit is not
enabled, as indicated by the unchecked check box.

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10. Select the Messages tab to see the messages defined for each level, as well the Associated Tag (MotorTemp)
that we observed was included in each of the messages.

11. In the Low level field, type The Motor is cooling down. The current temperature of the motor is: then click
the Browse button to open the Alarm Message Editor.

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12. Select the variable to add to the alarm message by selecting Tag 1 (Motor Temp) from the Add Variable pull
down menu.

13. Click <- Add to add the variable to the message.
14. Click OK to close the Alarm Message Editor and add your changes.
The resulting message will look like this:

Notice the Messages tab now says Messages* which indicates there are unsaved configuration changes to the instruction.
Like the ALMD instruction, there are many properties of an ALMA instruction that you can configure within
this dialog box. If youd like more information about them and what they do, click Help on
this dialog box.
15. Click Apply to apply changes.
16. Click OK to close the ALMA Properties dialog box.

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The LInAlarm condition will now be true and LAcked parameter will turn false.

18. Return to FactoryTalk View SE Studio and select the My Alarm Summary screen you created earlier. If it is not
still running in test mode, on the Graphics toolbar, click Test Display button .
19. Find the MotorOverheatAlarm entries on the alarm summary list.

The LO alarm condition is now active and the HIHI, HI conditions are now normal (but unacknowledged).
Notice also the alarm messages displayed for the HIHI and HI conditions. Both say The current temperature of the motor
is: 25. What happened to the tag values 501 and 1001?

The messages now display the current temperature of the motor since it was that tag input value that cleared the alarm
state for that condition. The original messages containing 501 and 1001 would already been saved in the historical
database. (Well configure our historical database later.)

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21. Close the My Alarm Summary display by clicking the in the corner.
22. Return to RSLogix 5000 and save the program by clicking the Save button on the toolbar and then click
Yes on the confirmation dialog.
Congratulations! You have just:
observed and made online edits to an ALMA instruction.
learned about Associated Tags and how to embed variables in alarm messages.
In the next part, we will explore Tag-Based FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.

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Working with Tag-based Alarms and Events
Observe tag-based FactoryTalk alarms that have already been configured.
Learn how to configure tag-based alarms for remote acknowledgement, allowing alarms to be acknowledged from faceplates
or pushbuttons.
With tag-based alarm detection, a Tag Alarm and Event Server uses tags to monitor programmable controllers for alarm
conditions. When an alarm condition is detected, the server generates an alarm to the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system.
Use tag-based alarm monitoring with:
PLC-5 or SLC 500 controllers, communicating through RSLinx Classic or RSLinx Gateway.
Third-party controllers, communicating through OPC-DA servers (e.g., KEPWare).
Logix5000 controllers that have not been programmed with pre-built alarm instructions available in RSLogix 5000 v. 16 or
later. Tag-based alarms are also useful for monitoring alarm conditions in instructions that do not currently produce device-
based alarms (e.g., PIDE).

1. Switch back to FactoryTalk View Studio.
2. In the Explorer window, under the application node ( Instant Fizz), expand the FTAETag_Area, expand
the FTAETag_Server, double-click the Alarm and Event Setup.

3. Notice in the Alarm and Event Setup, there are 5 alarms pre-configured one Level alarm and four Digital
alarms.

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4. Select and double-click the first alarm in the list, which is a Level alarm, named ChemValveFlow.

Notice that the configuration of the tag-based Level alarm is very similar to the device-based ALMA with the following
exceptions:
Input Tag This is the tag that is monitored for the alarm condition.
Show Alarm as Tag This option allows you to monitor the status and operate on alarms programmatically at run
time using tags that are exposed by the Tag Alarm and Event server. Live Data clients can read and write to the alarm
tags to monitor and change alarm states.
Status Tags Status tags allow you to keep alarm state changes synchronized with a programmable controller. For
example, if you assign a tag to the Acknowledged status tag, when an operator acknowledges the alarm from the
Alarm Summary, the status tag is set to 1.
Like the device-based alarms, there are many properties of a Level Alarm that you can configure within
Level Alarm Properties dialog box. If youd like more information about them and what they do, click Help
on this dialog box.

5. Click OK to close the Level Alarm Properties dialog box.

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6. Select and double-click the Digital alarm in the list named PaperOut.

Notice that the configuration of the tag-based Digital alarm is very similar to the device-based ALMD with the following
exceptions:
Input Tag This is the tag that is monitored for the alarm condition.
Show Alarm as Tag This option allows you to monitor the status and operate on alarms programmatically at run
time using tags that are exposed by the Tag Alarm and Event server. Live Data clients can read and write to the alarm
tags to monitor and change alarm states.
Status Tags Status tags allow you to keep alarm state changes synchronized with a programmable controller. For
example, if you assign a tag to the Acknowledged status tag, when an operator acknowledges the alarm from the
Alarm Summary, the status tag is set to 1
Like the device-based alarms, there are many properties of a Digital Alarm that you can configure within the
Digital Alarm Properties dialog box. If youd like more information about them and what they do, click Help
on this dialog box.
7. Select and enable the Show Alarm as a Tag checkbox.

This will allow us to browse the alarm parameters in the tag browser later on in the section.
8. Click OK to close the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box.

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9. In the Alarm and Event Setup window, select the Tag Update Rates tab.

The default update rate for the tag-based alarms is 2 seconds. This means that tag values are polled and
evaluated for alarm status every 2 seconds. The default rate can be modified to a value between .10s
120s and will affect all new alarms defined afterwards. The update rate for alarms already configured can
be changed individually as desired.

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10. Select the AlarmPaperOut alarm and right-click. Select Change Update Rate and select 1.
Instead of being polled every 2 seconds, we will poll for this tag value every second.

Be cautious when selecting higher-speed tag update rates such as 0.10 and 0.25. It does not mean that new
alarms will appear on the alarm summary screen faster. Alarms can only be polled as fast as the data server
allows, depending on its load with the rest of the application. Additionally, the alarm summary screen
refreshes at its own update rate; tag-based alarm server Tag Update Rates affect only the time stamp of the
alarm.
11. Save the changes to the Alarm and Event Setup by clicking the Save button on the toolbar.

Clicking Save immediately loads any alarm edits or new alarms to the Alarms and Events server.

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12. Click the X button in the corner to close the Alarm and Event Setup.
13. In the Explorer window of Factory Talk View Studio, double-click the alarms screen located under the HMI
server node in the Graphics > Displays folder.

The pre-configured alarm summary screen for the InstantFizz demo application will open.
You may want to maximize Factory Talk View Studio to see the entire screen, if you havent done so already.
14. On the alarms screen, select and double-click the Acknowledge button below the Labeler out of paper button.
We are going to configure this button to acknowledge the AlarmPaperOut alarm.

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15. On the Button Properties dialog, select the Action tab. Beside the Release Action field click on the Browse
button to open the Command Wizard.

16. Choose the Set command and click Next.

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17. Click the Browse button next to the Tag field to open the FactoryTalk Tag Browser.

18. Right-click on the InstantFizz application name and select Refresh All Folders.
19. Browse under the FTAETag_Area folder to select PaperOut and select OperAck from the Contents panel.

Take a moment to note that all tags appearing in the Tag Browser under FTAETag_Area are all of the tag-based alarms
that have Show Alarm as Tag enabled.

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20. Set Value or Label to 1.

21. Click Finish to exit the Command Wizard.
22. The resulting Button Properties window will look like this:

23. Click OK to close the Button Properties dialog box.
24. Save the display by clicking the Save button on the toolbar.
25. On the Graphics toolbar, click Test Display button . Since a simulation program is running, the display will
be filled with alarms!

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26. Select the Acknowledge All icon from the Alarm Summary toolbar and select Acknowledge on the
following Acknowledge Alarm with Comment confirmation dialog.
The resulting display will probably look something like this:

Note: The simulation is still running so more alarms will keep appearing, but with the majority of the alarms already
acknowledged, it will make it easier to search the list to find the alarms we will trigger in the following steps.
27. To simulate some tag-based Digital alarms, click the 3 buttons shown below, rapidly in succession.

Notice that the new alarms will appear in the alarm summary list after 3-4 seconds.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events capture the time of the event on the alarm server (for tag-based alarms) or in
the controller (for device-based alarms) at the moment when the alarm condition was observed. It is this
time stamp that is sent with the alarm data and populated in any of the alarm objects. Although there may be
a delay in displaying the alarm data, the time and date at which it is being reported is accurate.

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28. Select the Tank1Jam alarm and acknowledge by clicking the Acknowledge icon on the Alarm
Summary toolbar.

The alarm will change state from Active to Acknowledged . (The blue highlight is because the alarm is still
selected.
The Alarm Summary object and its toolbar is typically how operators will interact with alarms. In some cases, however, it is
desired that operators be able to Acknowledge, Disable, or Suppress alarms from a custom screen or a faceplate.
29. Select the Acknowledge button that you configured earlier, under the Labeler out of paper button.

Notice that the PaperOut alarm has been acknowledged , requiring no interaction with the Alarm Summary object.

30. Click the Turn off buttons for each of the three alarms to return the alarm conditions to normal.

Observe that the 2 acknowledged alarms (PaperOut and Tank1Jam) will be removed from the
alarm list, while Tank2Jam will change from Active to Normal .
32. Close the alarms display by clicking the in the corner. Click Yes to save your changes.

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Congratulations! You have just
Observed and made online edits to tag-based alarms.
Enabled a tag-based alarm to be seen as a tag in the tag browser.
Changed the update rate for a tag-based alarm.
Configured a button to remotely acknowledge a tag-based alarm.
Acknowledged alarms at runtime via the alarm summary object and remotely via a button.
In the next section, we will enable Alarm History and explore ways to query the historical database.

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Setting up historical alarm and event logging
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events can log alarm and event information to a database so that the information can be viewed or
reported on at a later date.
The Alarm and Event Log Viewer object is used to view the historical alarm and event information in a simple grid view.
Set up historical alarm and event logging.
View historical events using the Log Viewer object.
View historical events in Excel
View historical events by querying the database with VBA.

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Add a database definition to the FactoryTalk system
1. In the FactoryTalk View Studio Explorer window, expand the folders System > Connections, and then right-
click the Databases folder. On the context menu, click New Database.

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2. In the Alarm and Event Historian Database Properties dialog box:
For the Definition name, type FTAEHistory.
For the Database user name, type Labuser.
For the Database password, type rockwell.
For the Database name, type FTAEHistory.
When you are finished, the Alarm and Event Historian Database Properties dialog box should look as follows:

3. Click on the Advanced tab. The system will attempt to create the database and the user account. On the
Database does not exist dialog box, click the Yes button.

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4. In the Advanced tab, change the Log events to database every setting from 100 to 1.
This change is just for testing purposes so that we do not have to wait for information to be logged to the database.

The Log events to database every settings control how many events are cached before sending them to the
database. This makes writing to the database more efficient. The events are cached to a file located on the
computer hosting the alarm server that is generating the alarm and event information. If the connection to the
database is lost, alarm and event information will continue to be cached to files. Once the connection is
restored, the cached information will be sent to the database. The Limit database buffering to settings control
how much information will be cached if the database connection is lost for a long period of time. Once the
limits are reached the oldest information is overwritten.
5. Click OK to save the Database Definition.

Change from 100 to 1.

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Associate database definition with alarm servers
For device-based FactoryTalk Alarms and Events servers:
1. Right-click the alarm server named RSLinx Enterprise. (RSLinx Enterprise is both a data server and an alarm
server). On the context menu, click Properties

2. In the RSLinx Enterprise Server Properties dialog box, click the Alarms and Events tab.
3. Under Alarm and Event History, select the Enable history check box.
4. In the Database definition list, select FTAEHistory.

5. Click OK to save the changes.

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For tag-based FactoryTalk Alarms and Events servers:
1. Right-click the alarm server named FTAETag_Server. On the context menu, click Properties
2. In the FTAETag_Server Properties dialog box, click the Priorities and History tab.
3. Under Alarm and Event History, select the Enable history check box.
4. In the Database definition list, select FTAEHistory.

5. From the Log Language definition list, select English (United States), en-US.

6. Click OK to save the changes.
The Log language setting is related to the Language Switching feature which allows you to configure multiple
languages for user defined strings that can be switched between at runtime. The combo box allows you to
select the language to log alarm messages in (only one language is supported for the alarm and event log).
Congratulations! You have just configured the both FactoryTalk Alarms and Events servers to send their alarm and event
information to the database.

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Test run using Log Viewer object
1. In the Explorer window of Factory Talk View Studio, double-click the alarmlogviewer screen located under the
HMI server node in the Graphics > Displays folder).

The screen will automatically populate with the last 2000 events from the alarm history database.

Since we have just added a historical database, we wont have 2000 events. These events are alarms that are occurring in
the simulation program thats running. The actual number of events is listed in the corner of the display.

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3. Click the Refresh button on the Log Viewer toolbar. The event count will increase since our simulation
program is continuously triggering and clearing alarms.
4. Select an alarm (any alarm) from the list to see details in the Details pane of the Log Viewer object.

The detailed information documents information about that particular event such as: Alarm State, Priority, Severity,
Current Value (triggering condition), any User Comment, and much more.
There are 4 events captured for each alarm, each designated by its respective icon:
Alarm Active
Alarm Acknowledged
Alarm Normal and Acknowledged
Alarm Normal and Unacknowledged
5. On the Graphics toolbar, stop testing the display by clicking the Edit Display button . You may also close
the display by clicking the in the corner.

Congratulations! You have just
Added a history database to the application.
Linked the history database to both the device-based and tag-based Alarms and Events servers.
Verified the database connection by viewing events in the standard Log Viewer control.
In the next section, we will query the history database using Excel.

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Using FactoryTalk Alarm and Event Objects
To monitor and respond to FactoryTalk device-based and tag-based alarms at run time, the following FactoryTalk Alarm and
Event objects are available and can be embedded into FactoryTalk View SE graphic displays.
Alarm and Event Status Explorer
HMI tag alarm monitoring and FactoryTalk Alarms and Events are two separate alarm monitoring systems that do not share
alarm information with each other. FactoryTalk tag-based and device-based alarm information can only be displayed in the
FactoryTalk Alarm and Event objects. FactoryTalk View HMI tag alarm information cannot be displayed in FactoryTalk Alarm and
Event objects and the HMI tag alarm monitoring objects remain available for compatibility with existing applications.
In this section, you will observe all of the FactoryTalk Alarm and Event objects in both runtime via the SE client and design time
via FactoryTalk View Studio. You should have both FactoryTalk View Studio and the Client opened.

(display: Alarms)
Use the Alarm and Event Summary object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to acknowledge, disable, suppress,
filter, and sort alarms during run time. You must use the Alarm Status Explorer to un-suppress an alarm that has already been
suppressed.
Run Time: Alarm Summary Object
1. Double-click on the FactoryTalk View SE Client file, InstantFizz.cli , from the Desktop to launch
the InstantFizz application. (For convenience, a shortcut to InstantFizz.cli has also been added to the Start
menu.)
You may want to maximize the client in order to see the objects clearly.
2. From the FactoryTalk View SE client, click the button in the navigation display.
3. The Alarms display is opened containing an Alarm and Event Summary object

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4. Click on the HIHI Limit button to trigger some alarms. (It may take a few seconds to generate the alarms.)

5. Select a row in the summary list to see details about the alarm in the details pane. Scroll down if necessary.

6. Mouse over the toolbar on the Summary to see what the configured buttons do (read the tool tips).

Observe also the Status Bar at the bottom of the Summary. Mouse over those icons to see what information it is telling you
(read the tool tips).

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7. Select a row in the Summary and click on the run alarm command button or double-click on the row in
the Summary. The FactoryTalk View Command defined in the alarm configuration is then executed.
Note: If the button is gray there is not a FactoryTalk View command associated with that alarm or the row is not
selected. Select another row and try it again.
For example, the CIPValve1 alarm properties use the FactoryTalk View Command field to define Display commands and
pass parameters.

When you double-click on the CIPValve1 alarm, you will then have the CIP Valves popup and the Logix_ALMD displays
since both were defined in the FactoryTalk View command of the alarm property.

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Feel free to experiment by clicking more of the buttons in the tool bar to see what they do. Next well move on to using the
Summary object in design time.
8. Close the two pop-up displays in order to view the Alarm and Event Summary display once again.
Design Time: Alarm Summary Object
1. From the Studio Explorer, double-click on the Alarms display to open it.

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2. Double-click on the Alarm and Event Summary Design View object in the display and the Alarm and Event
Summary Properties will open.

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3. Click on each tab to look at all the properties.

A few key points are:
Appearance
- Button sizes and text fonts can be configured
Columns
- Hide and show columns
- Resize columns
- Reorder columns
Toolbar and Status Bar
- Hide and show buttons/panes
- Reorder buttons/panes
Event Subscriptions
- This object, by default, will subscribe to all events with any priority
Display Filters
- This object has four pre-configured filters. Each filter uses the Alarm Name field for the criteria.
Sort
- Configure sort order
States
- Configure text and background colors for the alarm states and priorities
Behavior
- The Run Alarm Command will be invoked when the operator double-clicks on an alarm in the Alarm
Summary object.
4. Feel free to make configuration changes to the Alarm and Event Summary properties and click OK. Skip to
Step 7 if there are no changes made.
5. On the Graphics toolbar, click Test Display button . Alternately, you can save your changes and use the
button on the navigation display of the Client to open the display again to see your changes.
7. Close the Alarms display in FactoryTalk View Studio when you are done.
(display: Alarm Banner)
The Alarm and Event Banner displays only the highest priority, most severe, most recent alarms in the following order:

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Alarms whose alarm condition is In Alarm and Unacknowledged.
Alarms whose alarm condition is In Alarm and Acknowledged.
Alarms whose alarm condition has returned to Normal but remain Unacknowledged. (Not displayed by default.)
Use the Alarm and Event Banner object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to monitor and respond to the most
current alarms requiring immediate attention.
Run Time: Alarm Banner Object
In this section, we are going to use the Alarm Summary object described in the previous section to demonstrate the features of
the Alarm Banner object. So just as in the previous section
1. Switch to the FactoryTalk View SE Client. The Alarm and Event Summary display should already open but if
not click the button in the navigation display.
Observe that alarms appear both in the Alarm Banner located on the header of your client, as well as in the Alarm
Summary.

Note: The text and background colors have been pre-defined in this application.

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2. Now click the and buttons to programmatically turn off some of
the alarms.
Observe how the digital device-based alarms have been replaced by a higher priority, more severe or more recent alarm in
the Alarm Banner but stay visible in the Alarm Summary until they are acknowledged by the operator.

3. For the next step, click the button to enable alarms again.
4. Navigate to another display other than Alarms.
5. Now, select a row in the Alarm Banner in the header display and double-click.

6. Observe that the Alarm and Event Summary display is automatically launched. Note that this behavior is
configurable and will be discussed on the next section.
Design Time: Alarm Banner Object
1. From the Studio Explorer, double-click on the Alarm Banner display to open it.

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2. Double-click on the Alarm and Event Banner Design View object in the display and the Alarm and Event
Banner Properties will open.

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General
- The double-click action was configured as the Alarm and Event Summary command. This is why the
Alarm and Event Summary display appeared when you double-clicked on the row in the Alarm Banner
- Button sizes and text fonts can be configured
Columns
- Resize columns
- Reorder columns
Status Bar
- Hide and show panes
- Reorder panes
Event Subscriptions
- This object, by default, will subscribe to all events with any priority
States
- Configure text and background colors for the alarm states and priorities
- Normal and unacknowledged alarms will not appear in the banner.
4. Feel free to make configuration changes to the Alarm Banner properties, click OK and save any changes. Skip
to Step 7 if there are no changes made.
7. Close the Alarm Banner display in FactoryTalk View Studio when you are done.

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(display: AlarmLogViewer)
Use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to view and filter historical alarm
information stored in Microsoft SQL Server databases.
Run Time: Alarm Log Viewer Object
2. Click the Alarm and Event Log Viewer button from the Alarm Summary display.
3. Select a row in the list to see details about the alarm in the Details Pane.
4. Explore the use of the toolbar buttons: Refresh , Find and Show/Hide Details Pane .
5. Use the Close This Display button to close the Alarm and Event Log Viewer display when finished.
Design Time: Alarm Log Viewer Object
1. Switch back to Studio. From the Explorer, double-click on the AlarmLogViewer display to open it.

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2. Double-click on the Alarm and Event Log Viewer Design View object in the display and the Alarm and Event Log
Viewer Properties will open.


General
- The log must be selected
- Text fonts can be configured
Columns
- Resize columns
- Reorder columns
Toolbar
- Hide and show buttons
- Reorder buttons
Display Filters
- This Log Viewer object can have pre-configured filters.
Notice that there is not an Event Subscription tab. This is strictly a historical view of what is in the log or database.

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4. Feel free to make configuration changes to the Alarm and Event Log Viewer properties and click OK. Skip to
Step 7 if there are no changes made.
button on the Alarm and Event Summary display of the Client to open the display again
to see your changes.
7. Close the AlarmLogViewer display in FactoryTalk View Studio when you are done.
Alarm and Event Status Explorer
(display: AlarmStatusExplorer)
Use the Alarm Status Explorer object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to enable or disable alarms and
suppress or unsuppress alarms.
Run Time: Alarm Status Explorer
2. Click the Alarm Status Explorer icon from the Alarm Summary toolbar to launch a default
Alarm Status Explorer object.
To configure the default Alarm and Event Status Explorer object launched from the Alarm Summary toolbar,
use the Toolbar configuration settings on the Appearance tab of the Alarm and Event Summary
Properties dialog.
3. Close the display.

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4. Click the Alarm and Event Status Explorer button.

This time a display contained within the InstantFizz application was opened. The display was
developed like any other display and contains an Alarm Status Explorer object within it. A
separate display is not needed to use the Alarm Status Explorer object, as seen in Step 2, but it
does allow you to incorporate other common features of your application if you choose.
5. Mouse over the icons on the Status Explorer to see what the toolbar buttons do.
6. Select a row in the list and select the show details for selected alarm button from the toolbar. Review the
details window then close.
7. Select a couple of rows and then click the Suppress button. On the Suppress Alarm pop up press the
Suppress button to confirm the action.
8. Click on a column header to see the list sort by that column. You may need to resize the columns to fully see
text.
9. Click the Suppress column until the suppressed alarms appear at the top of the list.
10. Select all the suppressed alarms and then click the Unsuppress button. On the Unsuppress Alarm pop
up press Unsuppress button to confirm the action.

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11. Type *Valve2* (note the asterisks) in the name field for the Alarm source filter and click the Apply Filter
button.

12. Observe the list is filtered to show only the alarms that contain Valve2 in the name.
13. Click the Cancel Filter button.
14. Observe the list shows all alarms once again.
15. Use the Close This Display button to close the Alarm and Event Status Explorer display when
finished.

Design time: Alarm Status Explorer
1. In the Explorer window of Factory Talk View Studio, double-click on the AlarmStatusExplorer display to open
it.
2. Right-click on the Alarm Status Explorer object in the display and then select the Properties context menu
item to open the Alarm Status Explorer Properties:.

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3. Feel free to make configuration changes to the Alarm Status Explorer Properties and click OK. Skip to Step 7
if there are no changes made.
button on the Alarm and Event Summary display of the Client to open the display again to
see your changes.
6. Close the AlarmStatusExplorer display in FactoryTalk View Studio when you are done.

Congratulations!! You have completed the section on the available FactoryTalk Alarms and Events graphical objects. Lets
quickly review:
Alarm and Event Summary object: Use to acknowledge, disable, suppress, filter, and sort alarms during run time
Alarm and Event Banner object: Use to monitor and respond to the most current alarms requiring immediate attention
Alarm and Event Log Viewer object: Use to view and filter historical alarm information stored in Microsoft SQL Server
databases
Alarm Status Explorer object: Use to enable or disable alarms and suppress or unsuppress alarms.

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Section 5: Global Objects
About this section
In this section, you will learn the following about Global Objects:
Create reference objects in a display, and view the display
Using Global Object Parameters
Reference Object Properties
Modifying a global object, and view the changes in a display
Design recommendations for working with global objects
Read about Global Objects
FactoryTalk View global objects allow you to link the appearance and behavior of one graphic object to multiple references of
that object in the same application.
Global objects are created on global object displays. In FactoryTalk View Studio, you create global object displays in the Global
Objects folder, the same way you create standard graphic displays in the Displays folder.
Changes you make to the base object are reflected in all of the reference objects linked to it the next time a display containing
the reference objects are opened, or refreshed by closing and reopening them.

Global Object Parameters
Global object parameters let you customize each reference global object instance with a specific tag(s) for
that instance without having to break the link to the base object's tags and expressions. This means each
reference object can have a unique data source(s) and still be able to be updated with changes to other
aspects of the base global object.
Parameter passing is dynamic, meaning it happens at runtime on the client. Global object parameters give
you an alternative way of using parameter passing at design time.
Create reference objects
In this section of the lab, you will use a pre-created global object and add a reference object on a display. You will use the
parameter values to specify which tags you want to view and animate. You will then run the client to test your work.
Pre-created Global Object displays
1. Open the CIPComponents global object - Expand the Global Objects folder in the Explorer, double-click on
CIPComponents.

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2. Right-click on the green tank global object and select Global Object Parameter Definitions

3. Review the Global Object Parameter Definitions for the tank global object.
Global object parameters are defined in base objects in global object displays. They let you customize each reference
global object instance with a specific tag(s) for that instance without having to break the link to the base object's tags and
expressions.
Right-click on the tank global object
and select Global Object
Parameter Definitions

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When you copy a global object from a global object display onto a standard display from the Graphics folder, you can assign
values to the global parameters in the resulting reference object.

The placeholder parameters can be used in any object contained on the global object display but the Global Object
Parameter Definitions are assigned at the top level group.
4. Open the CIP Overview display - Expand the Displays folder in the Explorer, double-click on CIP Overview

We have defined parameters #1 -
#5 and provided a description for
each.

Click Cancel to close.

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5. Create a reference object on the CIP - Overview display single-click on the tank global object (in the
CIPComponents) to select, drag and drop it on the tank location of the CIP Overview display. You may need
to bring the CIPComponents display to the front (by double-clicking on the CIPComponents under Global
Objects again) so that it is not covered by the CIP Overview display.

6. Put the Sanitizer group object on top of the tank by selecting it, then right-clicking and selecting Arrange >
Bring To Front.
7. Close the CIPComponents global object. Dont save the display if prompted.

Drag and drop the tank from the
global objects display into the
CIP Overview display. Position
the object in the location shown.

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8. Open the Global Object Parameters dialog on the reference object - right-click on the reference object and select
the Global Object Parameter Values context menu item.

The Global Object Parameter Values dialog is opened.
Notice that there is a description for the #1 to #5 parameters. You will be browsing for several tags.
Right-click on the reference
object and select the Global
Object Parameter Values
context menu item.

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9. Assign tags for #1 - click on the button under the Tag column for #1. When the Tab Browser opens navigate
to {/Data_Area::[Shortcut]CIPFilling[3]}

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10. Click the OK button.
11. Repeat the above step for #2 - #5 using the tags below:

Name Tag Description
#2 {/Data_Area::[Shortcut]CIPTimer[3].ACC} The value of the liquid in the tank
while the tank is filling.
#3 {/Data_Area::[Shortcut]Program:Main.TempCalc[3]} The value of the liquid in the tank
while the tank is emptying
#4 {/Data_Area::[Shortcut]CIPTankColour[3]} Colour of the tank
#5 {/Data_Area::[Shortcut]CIPActive} CIP active?

12. Click the OK button on the Global Object Parameter Values dialog.
You can use the test display mode to test global objects. However, this global object uses parameter placeholders and even
though we set the values they are ignored. Remember, not all FactoryTalk View commands work in test display mode and
parameter placeholders are ignored.
13. Close the CIP Overview display and save.
Test display
Now you will have to test the display in the client.
1. Go to the running Client file. If the client is not running launch it from Studio.

The completed Global Object
Parameter Values dialog should
look as follows.

Click the Launch SE Client
icon.

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2. Select the C:\Lab Files\FTView SE\InstantFizz.cli then click OK.

3. Click the CIP button from the navigation bar.

What happens? The CIP - Overview display should be opened and you should see values and animations for all tanks.
Each one of the tanks is a reference object to the tank global object. We have assigned unique Global Object Parameter
Values for each tank, resulting in different colors, fill values and data for every tank.
4. To see the animation in action, press the CIP Repeat Cycle button.

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Reference object properties
The reference object has a LinkBaseObject property that specifies the name and location of the base object the reference object
is linked to. You cannot modify the LinkBaseObject property. If the specified global object display or base object does not exist,
the reference object will appear in red outline, with a red cross on a white background.
Once you have a reference object, you cannot easily change the object name in the base object. You will get a warning message
when attempting to rename a base object. If you accidentally perform a name change or delete a base object, it can be restored.
To restore the reference object, you must recreate the base global object with the same name, on the same global object display
in order to allow the reference objects to work again.
A reference object has properties that link it to its base object. When a reference object is created, the global object defaults are
used to set how the reference object will be linked to the base object. These properties can be modified after the object has been
created. You can choose to break the link to the base object after the reference object is created. If you break the link the object
will become a graphics object and will no longer reference the base object.
The values of the Link properties determine whether aspects of the reference objects appearance and behaviors are defined by
the base object, or by the reference object itself.
LinkAnimation
The LinkAnimation property determines whether the reference object uses the animation set up for its base
object.
Set up the LinkAnimation property of the reference object by selecting:
Link with expressions - to use the animation, including expressions, set up for the base object.
Link without expressions - to use the animation, excluding expressions, set up for the base object. This
means you can set up the expressions for the reference object separately.
Do not link - to set up animation and expressions for the reference object separately.
For a Button push button object, the LinkAnimation property determines whether the reference object uses
the press, release, or repeat actions set up for the base object. This is true when you select either Link with
expressions or Link without expressions.

LinkConnections
The LinkConnections property determines whether the reference object uses the connections set up for its
base object.
Set up the LinkConnections property of the reference object by selecting:
True - to use the connections assigned to the base object.
False - to set up connections for the reference object separately.
In FactoryTalk View Site Edition, a reference object that is a tag label, trend, or push button with an action
other than Command always uses the connections assigned to its base object. You cannot set up
connections for these reference objects separately.

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LinkSize
The LinkSize property determines whether the reference object uses the height and width set up for its base
object.
Set up the LinkSize property of the reference object by selecting:
True - to use the height and width set up for the base object.
False - to set up the height and width of the reference object separately.
If you attempt to resize a reference object with its LinkSize property set to True the object will snap back to
its original size.

LinkToolTipText
The LinkToolTipText property specifies whether the reference object will use the tooltip text assigned to the
base object.
Set up the LinkToolTipText property of the reference object by selecting:
True - to use the base objects tooltip text
False - to use the reference objects tooltip text. The reference objects tooltip can be edited.
Look at the Global Object defaults
1. Open up any display then from Explorer in FactoryTalk View Studio, select the Edit > Global Object Defaults
menu item.

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Global Object Default Settings
The Global Object Defaults are now set to Link with expressions for the LinkAnimation properties and True
for the LinkConnections. These have changed because Global Object Parameters allow you to use
placeholders in the connections and expressions. This means each reference object can have a unique data
source(s), and still be able to be updated with changes to other aspects of the base global object.
All the reference objects in this application have been created with these defaults. This means that any changes we make to
the animation, connection, or size of the base object will be reflected in the reference object.
2. Click the Cancel button to close the Global Object Defaults dialog.
Look at the Reference Properties
1. From Explorer, open the CIP Overview display that we just modified.
2. Click on the Sanitizer tank object, then right-click and select Property Panel.

Right-click on our Sanitizer tank
and select Property Panel.

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3. Observe the reference object properties:

[LinkToolTip Text] Property
The reference object can be set to use base object tooltip text or create unique tooltip text for each reference
object.
4. When you are done close the display.

Reference object Properties you
can view the Global Object display
name and base object name, that
this reference object is linked with.

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Modifying Global Objects
What happens when you think you have your application all done and then you get a change request? The change could be
adding a new item to a display or changing colors on an animation. Global objects allow you to make the change in the base
object and the reference objects will inherit that change. This makes maintaining your application a lot easier.
You will be modifying the CIPComponents Global Object.
Modify text
We will change the color of text that is used several times in the CIP Overview display. Instead of changing the color property
several times for each reference, we will only change it once in the base object and every reference object will reflect that
change.
1. From Explorer, open the CIPComponents Global Object.
2. Open the Object Explorer by selecting the View > Object Explorer menu item.
3. Find the object Text1 object in the Object Explorer .

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4. Double-click on Text1 in the Object Explorer to open the Text Properties dialog.

6. Save the global object.
7. Go to the running Client.
8. If the CIP overview display is already open, we need to re-open it. To do this, click the Overview button and
then click the CIP button from the navigation bar. If the CIP overview display is not already open, then just click
the CIP button from the navigation bar.
Notice the four reference objects have been changed:

So we made a change in 1 place, the base object and the 4 reference objects now reflect the change. The text label change
would have been updated in all of the reference objects regardless of what the link properties were set to.
After Text1 properties have been
opened, change the Fore color
of the text to RED.

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Section 6: Security
About this section
In this section, you will learn about:
Security
Creating a User and User Group
Configuring Action Security
Configuring Runtime Security - Assigning security codes (A - P)
Users and User Groups
Commands
Display Settings
Verifying Security Settings
Read about security
For FactoryTalk products like FactoryTalk View SE, the FactoryTalk Directory stores information about which users are allowed
access to the parts of a control system.
FactoryTalk Security uses this information to provide two basic services:
User authentication verifies the users identity, and whether a request for service actually originated with that user.
User authorization verifies the users request to access a software resource, based on the access rights and privileges
defined for that user.
For example, when a FactoryTalk View SE network application user logs on to FactoryTalk View Studio, FactoryTalk Security
services verify the users identity first.
If authentication succeeds, security services check permissions assigned to the user, to authorize actions performed on secured
parts of the application.
In a network application, security services also check whether the user is allowed to perform authorized actions on the current
computer.
In addition, FactoryTalk Security services manage system-wide policies, such as how often users must change their passwords,
or whether users can back up and restore applications.

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The security system is extremely powerful. Some particular considerations:
You can enforce line-of-sight security by restricting operators to specific computers that are within visual range of the
machine or process.
Inheritance allows you to define basic levels of access for a broad set of users, across a FactoryTalk-enabled system. You
can then refine security settings for selected users as necessary, by overriding inherited permissions on lower-level
resources.
In a FactoryTalk View Site Edition application, an HMI server always inherits the permissions assigned to the area in which it
resides. You cannot set up access to an HMI server separately.
You can explicitly deny rights to certain users from all computers or from specific computers. Selecting the Deny check box
for an action denies permission explicitly. This always takes precedence over allowing permission.
If a user belongs to two different groups, and one group is allowed to delete applications but the other group is denied that
permission explicitly, then the user will not be allowed to delete applications.
Security
Following installation of the FactoryTalk View SE software, the All Users account is automatically added to
the Runtime Security list and allowed all run-time security codes. This gives any FactoryTalk View SE Client
user permission to run a client, open displays, write to tags, and execute commands and macros.
In a secured FactoryTalk system, you must remove the All Users account, add users to the Runtime Security
list, and then give the users the security permissions needed to run an application.
After the FactoryTalk View SE software is installed, all users have full initial access to network and local applications on the
computer.
There is no need to log on, to run FactoryTalk View Studio, the FactoryTalk View SE Administration Console, or a FactoryTalk
View SE Client. The current Windows user is automatically logged on to FactoryTalk View SE.
However, you do need to log on and off to change users, or to gain access to secured parts of the FactoryTalk system.
FactoryTalk View runtime security
FactoryTalk View runtime security manages run-time security for HMI project components, including FactoryTalk View
commands and macros, graphic displays, OLE objects, and HMI tags. In FactoryTalk View Studio, you can secure access to HMI
project components by assigning security codes (A - P) to users and user groups (in the Runtime Security editor); to commands
and macros (in the Runtime Secured Commands editor), to graphic displays and OLE object animation (in the Graphics editor),
and to HMI tags (in the Tags editor).
Before you can assign FactoryTalk View security codes to users and user groups, you have to create the user and user group
accounts in FactoryTalk Security, and then add them to the Runtime Security editor.

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Creating a User and User Group
When setting up security for a FactoryTalk View application, it is recommended that you create group accounts and set up
access permissions for them first. Using group accounts makes it easier to assign and manage permissions for multiple users
with similar security needs. Rather than assigning permissions to each user in the system, you can create accounts for new
users, and then add the users the appropriate groups.
You are going to create a new user and user group. You will assign the user to a user group. You will do this from FactoryTalk
View Studio.
1. From the Explorer, expand the Users and Groups folder.
2. Right-click on the User Group folder, select the New > User Group context menu item.

The New User Group dialog will be opened.
3. Type Operators in the Name field:

4. Click the button.

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5. The Select User or Group dialog will open, click the Show users only radio button and click Create New >
User menu item.

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6. The New User dialog will open. Type CIPOperator for the user name, check User cannot change password,
check the Password never expires, and type password for the Password. Follow steps a-f to configure.

7. Confirm the fields. Click the OK button.
You will be back at the Select User or Group dialog.
8. Select the CIPOperator and click the button.
You will be back at the New User Group dialog. CIPOperator should be in the Members list:

a. Type CIPOperator
b. Select User cannot change password

c. Select Password never expires
d. Type password
e. Type password

f. Click the OK button

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Operators will appear under User Groups and CIPOperator will appear under Users in the Explorer.

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Configuring action security
When setting up security, you can specify which actions a user or group can perform on the resources in your system while
working from a particular computer or group of computers. In a FactoryTalk Local Directory, actions can only be performed from
the local computer the FactoryTalk Local Directory does not contain any computer accounts.
Action
An organized activity performed on a resource in order to accomplish an objective. Actions are grouped into
categories. In addition to a set of common actions that apply to most FactoryTalk products, each product can
also include its own set of actions. For information about those actions, see Help for the FactoryTalk product.

Resources
The objects in a FactoryTalk system for which actions can be secured. Each FactoryTalk product defines its
own set of resources. For example, some products might allow you to configure security for resources such
as servers in an area. Other products might allow you to configure security for logic controllers and other
devices. FactoryTalk Administration Console allows you to configure security for the System folder and its
contents, applications, areas, and many other items. Do not confuse resources with resource groupings:
resource groupings allow you to group together control hardware represented in the Networks and Devices
tree and then configure security for the grouping in one step.
Lets specify that our operators cannot perform certain alarming actions.
1. From the Explorer, right-click on InstantFizz and select the Security context menu item.

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2. Security Settings for InstantFizz dialog appears. Click the Add button.

3. The Select User or Computer dialog appears. Select the Operators and click the OK button.

In the Security Settings for
InstantFizz, click the Add button.

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4. While the Operators group is selected, expand the Alarming action, check the Deny check box next to
Alarming and check the Allow checkbox next to Acknowledge.
You are only allowing the operators to acknowledge FactoryTalk Alarm and Events Alarms. They cannot perform the other
actions.
Your dialog should look like this.

5. Click the OK button. When prompted with this message, select the Yes button
The Security Settings for InstantFizz dialog closes.

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Configuring runtime security
After you have created users and user groups in FactoryTalk Security, you add them to the security accounts list in the Runtime
Security editor in FactoryTalk View SE. When you add an account, you also assign the security codes that will give them access
to secured HMI components. (Secured HMI components are those that have been assigned security codes.)
These codes (A through P), along with those assigned to HMI project components, determine which components a user has
access to at run time.
To restrict access to a command, macro, graphic display, OLE object verb, or HMI tag, you assign a security code from A
through P to it, and then assign that code only to the users who are supposed to have access to the component.
Assign security codes to users and user groups
1. Double-click on the Runtime Security icon in the Explorer

Or
Select the Settings > Runtime Security menu item.

The Runtime Security dialog is opened.

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2. Click on the Security Accounts button.
The Security Settings for InstantFizz dialog is opened.
3. Select the Add button.
The Select User and Computer dialog is opened.
4. Select the Operators and click the OK button.

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5. The Select User and Group dialog is closed and the Operators group is added to the Users list. While it is
highlighted, expand the FactoryTalk View Security Codes actions. Select the Deny checkbox for A.
Your settings should look like this.

7. When prompted, select the Yes button.

8. Select the Close button on the Runtime Security dialog
9. When prompted with the message Save changes to document? Select the Yes button.
The Runtime Security dialog closes.

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Assign security codes to commands
Security can be assigned to commands to limit who can execute them.
1. Select the Settings > Runtime Secured Commands menu item.

2. The Runtime Secured Commands dialog is opened. Expand the window to see all the fields.
3. Click in a cell in row 2 to select it.

4. Click the button next to the Command field.

The Command Wizard is opened.

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5. Observe all the commands that can be assigned security codes. Select the DisplayClientClose command from
the Logic and Control > Display Client folder, then click Finish.

6. Observe the Security Code drop down list that can be used to assign a security code to a command.
7. Select Security Code A, then click Accept.

8. Click the Close button on the Runtime Secured Commands dialog.
9. When prompted with the message Save changes to document? select the Yes button.
The Runtime Secured Commands dialog will close.
We have secured the DisplayClientClose command. Only users with Security Code A will be able to stop the running client.

Select the DisplayClientClose
Command then click Finish.

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Assign security codes to displays
Security can be assigned to displays, to limit who can have access to certain displays.
You will assign the A security code to the CIP-Valves display.
1. Open the CIP-Valves display from the Explorer.
2. Select the Edit > Display Settings menu item.
The Display Settings dialog will open.
3. Select the A from the Security Code drop down list.


We have secured the CIP - Valves display. Only users with Security Code A will be able to access this display.
Set the display
Security Code to A.

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Assign security codes to tags
Security can be assigned to tags, to limit who can write to certain or all tags.
1. Open the tag database from the Explorer window. Double-click on Tags to open.

The Tags dialog is opened.

2. Click the Close button on the Tags dialog.
3. When prompted with the message Do you wish to continue? select the Yes button.

You can assign Security Codes to
Tags, to prevent users from being
able to write to certain tags.

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4. Using the tag database we can secure individual tags and assign permissions to them. The users will be able to
write to some tags but not to others. If there is a need to secure ALL tags for a certain user group or user, then
we can deny the Write action for this user.
5. From the Explorer, right-click on InstantFizz and select the Security context menu item.

Security Settings for InstantFizz dialog appears.

6. Click Cancel to exit.

You can select the user group or
user (for example Operators) and
in the Common Permissions deny
the Write action.

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Verifying security settings
In this section you will verify your security settings with the client. You will log in in as the CIPOperator and then try to suppress
an alarm. First you will try to suppress it from the Alarm display, then from the CIP Valves display. Your attempts should fail
because of the security settings. Lets see what happens.
1. Go to the running client. Launch the client if it is not open.
2. Click on the Overview button on the navigation display to go to the plant overview.
3. Click the Security button to open the security pop-up display. Then click on Log In.

4. Log in as the new user CIPOperator using the password of password. Then click OK. Note user name is not
case sensitive.

The information message CIPOperator has been logged in. will appear in the diagnostics list.
5. Close the Security pop-up window by clicking the door icon in the top right-hand corner.
6. Click on the CIP button from the navigation display.
Click on Log In button.

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7. From the CIP display click on a tank valve. The valves have Touch animation associated with them, which when
clicked opens the CIP Valves display.

What happened? Nothing! The message Currently logged-in user does not have security access to CIP - Valves. will
appear in the diagnostics list. The display setting security worked!

8. Click on the Alarms button in the navigation bar.
The Alarms is displayed. We did not secure this display. We only secured the CIP Valves display.
9. Select a row (alarm) in the summary list and click the suppress button.

Click on the valve to launch the
CIP Valves display.

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10. When the Suppress Alarm dialog comes up, click the suppress button to confirm that you want to suppress the
alarm.

11. What happened? There is a message right? The message should read something like Failed to Suppress
Alarm alarm [alarm name] CIPOperator does not have Suppress/Unsuppress permission. The message
will appear in the diagnostics list. If the option to display errors from operator action in a dialog was checked
when configuring the summary (which it was originally), a dialog with the message will appear. If the message
dialog appears, click the OK button.

The actions security worked!
12. Open the Alarm Status Explorer by clicking the Status Explorer button in the Alarm Summary display.
Or click the Status Explorer icon from the Alarm Summary toolbar.
13. Select an alarm in the list and then click on each of the first 4 buttons (enable alarm, disable alarm, suppress
alarm, unsuppress alarm) to try to perform these actions. Observe what happens. The actions are secured and
the operator cannot perform them.
14. Click Close to close the Alarm Status Explorer.

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15. Right-click on an alarm in the summary and select one of the Ack context menu items.

The alarm will be acknowledged because the CIPOperator has permission to perform that action.
We have assigned security to the command DisplayClientClose. Only users with security code A will be able to execute
this command. Our CIPOperator does not have security code A permission.
Lets verify command security.
16. Click on the Exit button in the navigation window to close the running client. Select YES / EXIT to confirm.
17. What happened? The client did not close. A message will appear in the diagnostics list, indicating that the
current user does not have the permissions to close the client.

18. Click the Security button to open the security pop-up display. Then click on Log In.
19. Log in as the new user Labuser using the password of rockwell. Then click OK. Note user name is not case
sensitive.
The information message Labuser has been logged in. will appear in the diagnostics list.
20. Close the Security pop-up window.
21. Perform some of the steps above. Do not close the client at this time. You should be able to open the CIP
Valves display and perform all actions on the alarms.

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Section 7: Data logging and trending
About this section
Runtime Exploration
o Data Logging
o Trending
Configuration Exploration
o Historical Trending
o Runtime Trending
o Data Log Models
Configuring Methods using the Invoke command
You will be using the CIP Sensor Trend display and CIP data log model that we will add Adding existing HMI Components.
Runtime exploration
Data logging
Data logging is a FactoryTalk View component that collects and stores tag values. You specify which tag values to collect, when
to collect them, and where to store them by defining a data log model.
The HMI tag database does not store actual tag values; it only defines which values are to be collected. The values themselves
are stored on a given HMI server. When the HMI server is turned off, the value table is cleared (excluding retentive tags). To
have a permanent record of tag values, log them to the data log file on disk. Remember: controller tags will keep their value
when an HMI server is powered down because theyre located within the controller; theyre not HMI (or memory) tags stored on
the server itself.
To log tag values to disk, you create a data log model and specify the tags that are to be logged. This is done in the Data Log
Model editor. The values can also be logged to an ODBC-compliant database.
An application can have up to 20 data log models running at a time. The maximum number of tags that can be logged by one
data log model is 10,000.
Trending
A trend is a visual representation, or chart, of current or historical tag values. A trend provides operators with a way of tracking
plant activity as it is happening. The trend object displays real-time data and historical data from the FactoryTalk View Site
Edition data logs. Pens on the run-time chart represent data from the tags and expressions that you add to the trend object. The
trend object provides extensive, flexible run-time control. You can add pens, toggle between isolated and non-isolated graphing,
specify unique line settings, plot one variable against another in XY plots, and print chart data.
There are two different types of Trending:
Historical Trending
Historical Trending is when a trend polls data from a data log that is previously configured. This will allow the user to browse
through a timeline to look at the data over a given period of time.

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Runtime trending
A Runtime trend displays data trends directly from the processor. The trend will start trending its runtime data from the time
its first loaded on the display.
Configuration exploration
Data log models
1. Double-click the CIP datalog model to open.

The CIP Data Log Model dialog opens to the Setup tab.

You can set up logging to log to a file set or to log to any database that you can connect to with ODBC.
The data log model can be configured to be stored as a file set or an ODBC database. Notice that this data model is being
stored in an ODBC database. There is a System Data Source Name (DSN) called ODBC_InstantFizz that points to a
Microsoft Access database called ODBC_InstantFizz.
This is a pre-configured System
DSN pointing to a database that is
called ODBC_InstantFizz. For this
example the ODBC data source
points to Microsoft Access. An
alternative could be SQL Server.
Click the Create Tables
button.

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An ODBC System DSN stores information about how to connect to the indicated data pointer. If you want to see how the
System DSN was configured, Select the Start > Settings > Control Panel menu item. From the Control Panel, select
Administrative Tools, and then select Data Sources (ODBC). Look at the System DSN tab and the DSN called
ODBC_InstantFizz.
2. Click the Create Tables button if you havent already done so. You should get a FactoryTalk View Datalog
Editor message saying ODBC tables were successfully created. Click the OK button.
3. Click on the Paths tab.

This configuration tab is used to set the file location of the data logs. This is useful if you have a distributed
network set up; you will want to store the logs to one common location instead of on each individual HMI
server on the network.
Notice that the Enable ODBC Backup Path was selected and a logging path was specified. If the connection to the ODBC
database fails (Microsoft Access) you will be able to see the historical data in the trend display because of the secondary
Backup Path.
Notice Enable ODBC Backup
Path is enabled.

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4. Click the File Management tab.
This configuration tab is used to configure how long you want to keep logging to individual files until you
either create a new file or delete older files.

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5. Click the Log Triggers tab.
This configuration tab is used to decide how often and based upon what event the log should be updated.
Notice that the trigger for logging is Periodic.

The data log can be configured to log Periodically, On Change, or On Demand.
Periodic
To log tag values periodically, select Periodic, then type a time in the Interval field and select a time unit to specify how often tag
values will be logged. All tags will be logged each time this interval expires.
On Change
On Change logging only logs tags whose values have changed. Use the On Change trigger to log tag values once a certain
percentage of change in the value has occurred. The percentage is based on the tag's minimum and maximum (or High EU and
Low EU) values. For example, specifying 10 means a tag's value must change by 10 percent to be logged. This applies to analog
HMI tags only. For data server tags and digital and string HMI tags, which do not have minimum/maximum properties, every
change is logged.
On Demand
Choose On Demand as the trigger, to log data only when the FactoryTalk View command DataLogSnapshot is issued. This
command can be given anywhere that other FactoryTalk View commands and macros can be. For example, it could be typed in
the command line, or specified as the action for an event. If you specify Periodic or On Change, you can still use on demand
logging whenever it is appropriate.
Trigger is Periodic
Log periodically every 3
seconds.

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6. Click the Tags in Model tab.
This configuration tab is used to select what information is logged. You can add or remove different tags from
this menu using the tag browser.
Notice 10 tags have been added to the model.
7. Click the OK button to close the CIP Data Log Model dialog.

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Configuring trends
Do not add a new trend or change this one. You can do so at the end of this section.
1. From the Explorer, double-click on the CIP Sensor Trend display to open it.
The Trend object can be created by selecting the Objects > Advanced > Trend menu item

or by selecting the Trend button on the menu bar

2. Double-click on the grid of the Trend object.
The Trend Properties dialog will open. Lets get familiarized with trend properties and capabilities.

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3. Click on the General tab.
The general tab contains several configurable properties. The Chart Style determines the plotting style of the chart. A trend
chart can either plot values against time or against a selected pen.

A trend chart can either plot
values against time or against
a selected pen.

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4. Click the Pens tab.
Notice that the Model column has CIP which is the data model that was created.

These pens were added by setting the Pen Source to Data Log Model and then selecting the Add Pen(s) button. The
Configure Tags dialog opened. The Add All button was selected to add all the tags. Then the OK was clicked to accept the
changes.

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5. Click on the X-Axis tab.
Use this tab to set up the time range and display options for the chart's run-time horizontal axis. The Time Span controls the
amount of data that displays on the run-time chart. For a standard line chart, the time span controls the chart's horizontal
scale. For an XY plot, the Min and Max properties (set up on the Pens tab) of the selected pen control the horizontal scale,
and the time span controls the number of data points plotted.

The Time Span controls the
amount of data that displays
on the run-time chart.

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6. Click on the Y-Axis.
Use this tab to set up the minimum/maximum value options, display options, and scale options for the chart's run-time
vertical axis. For example, Isolated graphing places each pen in a separate band of the chart. To allow pens to overlap,
you would need to clear the check box.

You can set the Minimum/Maximum
values of the trend.
Each pen can be displayed in a
separate band of the chart
(isolated) or all pens can overlap.

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7. Click on the Overlays tab.
With the trend object, you can capture and save a snapshot of graphed data at run-time and then layer that saved data over
current data in a trend. This feature allows you to overlay and compare historical data with current data or any multiple sets
of data.

You can capture a snapshot of runtime
data and overlay it over current data in a
running trend.

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8. Click on the Template tab.
Use this tab to save the settings for the current trend as a template, to load another template for the current trend to use, or
to delete a template. The settings that are saved for the template are those from the General, Display, Pens, and X and Y
Axis tabs.
A template can be applied to all trends in an application to create a consistent appearance. You can load templates during
design time and runtime.

We will import several pre-created templates into the application. But first we will complete reviewing the Trend properties and
capabilities.
You can save current trend settings in a
template, than load the template when
needed, during design time or runtime.

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9. Click on the Runtime tab.
Use this tab to determine which trend options are available to operators at run time. To prevent operators from changing
these options, the Runtime tab is not available at run time.

10. Click the Cancel button on the Trend Properties dialog to close the dialog.
Notice that we have a few Trend Templates already added to the project.

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11. In the CIP Sensor Trend display, double-click on the Start button to open the button properties.
12. Click the Action tab and look at the Press action. This command DataLogOn CIP starts the data logging for the
model.

The datalogon command can be placed in a start-up macro as well. When the client is launched, the datalogging is started
automatically from the start-up macro.
13. Click the Cancel button to close the button properties.
14. Double-click on the Stop button to open the button properties.
15. Click the Action tab and look at the Press action. This command DataLogOff CIP stops the data logging for the
model.

16. Click the Cancel button to close the button properties.
17. Close the CIP Sensor Trend display. If prompted to save changes, select the No button.

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Viewing the trend at runtime
1. Go to the running client. If you have any open pop-up displays, please close them.
2. Click the CIP button from the navigation display. Then click on CIP Trend button in the top right corner .
The CIP Sensor Trend will be displayed.
3. Click the Start button. The start button will start historical logging.
4. While the CIP Sensor Trend display is open, click on the CIP Repeat Cycle button on the CIP Overview
display to start the CIP clean.
5. The CIP data is being logged. Observe the trend in the CIP Sensor Trend display. To view the data of another
CIP cleaning cycle, click the CIP Repeat Cycle button again.

CIP data trend.
Configurable trend
legend.

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6. Earlier we have executed the DataLogOn command with the START button. The trend historical data is stored in
the Microsoft Access database. If we close the trend and then re-open it, we will still be able to view our CIP
cycle from a few minutes ago. You can try it. Click the close button on the CIP Sensor Trend display by
clicking the door icon. Then re-open the trend display from the CIP Overview display. You may need to Scroll
back on the trend to see the CIP cycle data.

7. The CIP Sensor Trend display contains several buttons to demonstrate trend functionalities and capabilities.

8. As seen earlier, the trend can be configured to display data in different time spans, for example 2 Minutes, 1
Hour, 1 Day etc. To view the different time spans at runtime, the trend configurations can be saved to templates,
such as the templates we had imported earlier. The templates can then be loaded at runtime using the Invoke
command.
9. Go back to FactoryTalk View Studio and open the CIP Sensor Trend display (if it is not already open). Then
double-click on the 2 Minutes button. You will have to drill down through the group to reach that object.
10. The Button Properties window will open. Select the Action tab.

11. Click the Cancel button to exit the button properties.
Invoke command to
launch the template called
2Minute at runtime.

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12. Go back to the running client. Click on the different time spans buttons to see the trend object X-Axis change.

13. You can also use templates to switch between different pen views: Isolated pens or all pens on one scale. Click
on the Pen Display buttons to see the pens change.

Isolated pens. Each pen
has a separate trend band.
Notice the Y-axis.

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Many objects in FactoryTalk View SE have Object Methods for additional object functionality. You must use Invoke commands
to call a Method. Lets explore some Object Methods for the trend object.
14. Go back to FactoryTalk View Studio and the CIP Sensor Trend display.
15. Right-click on the trend and select Methods.

All pens on 1 Scale.
Notice the Y-axis.

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The Object Methods dialog box appears. It displays methods and properties implemented in the selected trend object. A
method is a function that is part of an object.

16. Click Close.
17. Lets see an example where the Object Methods can be used. We have already used the LoadTemplate
method to load our Time Span templates. Double-click on the Print Trend button on the CIP Sensor Trend
display.
18. In the Button Properties, select the Action tab.
The Invoke command was used to launch the PrintChart Method.

Always use the Invoke command to call a method. When you use the Invoke command to call a method, you need to
specify the name of the object in which the method is implemented. In our case the name of the object is Trend1. For help
on how to use the Invoke command, go to FactoryTalk View Help and search for Invoke.
Explore the different
methods available.

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19. Click Cancel to exit the Button Properties.
20. Lets see our PrintChart method in action. Return to the running client. On the CIP Sensor Trend display
click on the Print Trend button.
21. The Print properties will open. In this example, we are printing to a .PDF file select the doPDF v7 printer.

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22. Click OK.
The print dialog will open.

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23. Press OK. This will save and then open the PDF file in Adobe Reader.

24. As discussed in Configuring Trends section, many of the trend properties can be configured to be accessible
during run-time. Right-click on the trend in the client and explore the options.

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Section 8: FactoryTalk Diagnostics Setup and the Viewer
About this section
In this section, you will learn about these topics:
FactoryTalk Diagnostics
Diagnostics List
Diagnostics Viewer
Diagnostics Setup
Configuring the FactoryTalk View Diagnostics List
Configuring the Local Log
ODBC Database as a message source
Read about FactoryTalk Diagnostics
The idea behind FactoryTalk Diagnostics is to answer the question, Why did that happen? FactoryTalk Diagnostics collects and
provides access to a global store of time-and-date stamped messages that can help answer that question.
The FactoryTalk Diagnostics service includes a Diagnostics Setup editor, a Diagnostics Viewer, and a Local Log on each
computer where the FactoryTalk Services Platform is installed. Other custom logging destinations are also available. For
example, the FactoryTalk AssetCentre software product provides customized FactoryTalk Audit Logs.
Use the Diagnostics Setup editor to set up options for logging destinations and to filter the types of messages you want to log on
the local computer.
Use the Diagnostics Viewer to review diagnostics messages. You can view both local messages and messages retrieved and
merged from logs on multiple computers.
FactoryTalk View SE, FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, and other FactoryTalk software products are all sending messages to one
Local Log and to one FactoryTalk Audit Log on one computer. When you set options for a particular logging destination, the
options you choose affect the log on this computer that any number of FactoryTalk products may be using. Likewise, when you
configure message routing options, the filtering options you choose affect the types of messages routed from all FactoryTalk
products that send messages.
Each FactoryTalk product and service categorizes the messages that it generates using a matrix of Severity options (Error,
Warning, Information, and Audit) together with Audience options (Operator, Engineer, Developer, and Secure). For example, a
product might generate a series of security messages classified as Operator-Audit and Operator-Information, and also generate
a series of communication messages classified as Operator-Warning, Engineer-Warning, and Developer-Error.
Diagnostics information can be displayed in the Diagnostics List or in the FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer. The Diagnostics List is
intended to show messages as they occur. Messages displayed in the Diagnostics List are not time stamped. The Diagnostics
Viewer provides a way to retrieve messages after they occurred. New messages do not appear in the Diagnostics Viewer. A
refresh can be done to reload the messages. Messages that appear in the Diagnostic Viewer are time stamped so you know
when they occurred.
Diagnostics List
The Diagnostics List can be displayed in a FactoryTalk View Studio window, FactoryTalk View SE Client, and FactoryTalk View

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Administration Console window. You have used the FactoryTalk View Diagnostics List in earlier sections of this lab. You can
clear messages from the Diagnostics List by selecting a row or multiple rows and clicking the Clear button or by clicking the
Clear All button. Removing a message from the Diagnostics List does not delete the message from the Diagnostics log.
Removing a message from one Diagnostics List does not remove it from another Diagnostics List. I.e., removing a message
from the View Studio window does not remove it from the View Client window. When the application (View Studio, View Client, or
View Administration Console) starts new messages begin to get logged to the list. Old messages will be removed from the list as
new ones come in and the message limit has been reached. When the application is closed, the list is cleared.
Diagnostics Viewer
The FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer allows you to view both local messages and messages retrieved and merged from multiple
products running on multiple computers logging to multiple destinations.

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Open the Diagnostics Viewer
1. In FactoryTalk View Studio, from the menu, select the Tools > Diagnostics Viewer menu item
or
Select the Start > Diagnostics Viewer menu item.
The FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer will open.
2. When the Diagnostics Viewer window is open, new messages do not appear automatically. To refresh the view
and reload messages, press the F5 key or click the Refresh button.

Diagnostics Icons
Diagnostics messages can be easily identified with Audience and Severity icons.
Audience - intended audience for the logged message.
Severity - message categories.
3. Mouse over the toolbar and look at the menus to see the operations you can perform with the Diagnostics
Viewer.

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Filter Diagnostics List
1. Select the View > Options menu item.

2. On the General tab of the Properties dialog, make sure message source is set to Local Log.
\
3. Click the tab on the Properties dialog. Move the Properties dialog so that you can see the items in
the Diagnostic Viewer. Follow steps a e.

4. Click on Apply from the Properties dialog.
b. Click the Add Where Condition button
c. Select Equals
d. Select Developer
e. Select the OK button
a. Select the Audience

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5. Observe the list was updated but no messages appear in the list. Follow steps a-e to change the Audience
from Developer to Operator.

6. Click on Apply from the Properties dialog.
Observe the list was updated to only show messages that were created with the audience set to operator.
7. Select the Audience = Operator select records where condition and click the Remove button.

b. Click the Modify button
c. Select Equals
d. Select Operator
e. Select the OK button
a. Select the Audience = Developer

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8. Create a message filter by following steps a-e.

9. Click on OK from the Properties dialog.
Observe the list was updated to only show messages that contained the string CIP.
10. Close the Diagnostics Viewer without saving.
Lets take a look at the diagnostics setup to see why you didnt see any developer messages.

b. Click the Add Where Condition button
c. Select Contains
d. Type CIP
e. Select the
OK button
a. Select the Message

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Diagnostics setup
Open the Diagnostics Setup
1. Run the Diagnostics Setup from within the FactoryTalk View Studio. From the Tools menu, select the
Diagnostics Setup menu item.
The FactoryTalk Diagnostics Configuration dialog will open.
2. Expand the Destination Setup.

3. Click on each item and look at the settings.
Configuring the FactoryTalk View Diagnostics List
Earlier in the lab you used the Diagnostics List in FactoryTalk View Studio and Client to look at diagnostic messages. Look at
the Destination Setup and the Message Routing configuration to see what messages got routed to the FactoryTalk View
Diagnostics List.
1. Expand the Destination Setup, select the FT View Diagnostics List item. Notice that there arent any
configuration settings. The destination is the Diagnostics List, which is managed by FactoryTalk View.

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2. Select the Message Routing setup and then select the FT View Diagnostics List. Change the Message
Routing for the FT View Diagnostics List to include all message types for the developer audience. Check all
the options in the Developer row.

3. Click Apply to apply your changes.
Based on the setup, messages that were intended for Operator, Engineer and Developer audience that were of type Error,
Warning, Info and Audit appeared in the FactoryTalk View Diagnostics List.

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Configuring the Local Log
You just used the Diagnostics Viewer to look at the local log. Now lets look at the configuration.
1. Select the Destination Setup > Local Log item.

The local log is a file that exists on this computer. There are options for overwriting events, log size, and an option to clear
the log.
2. Select the Message Routing setup and then select the Local Log.

Messages that were intended for Developer audience were not logged to the Local Log; that is why we did not see any.

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3. Change the Message Routing for the Local Log to include all message types for the developer audience.
Check all the options in the Developer row.

4. Click the Apply button. Minimize the Diagnostics Configuration window.
5. Go to the running client; click the clear all button in the Diagnostics List at the bottom.
6. Click on the CIP button in the navigation display. Then click on the CIP Process Steps display.
7. Type 7000 in the Step 1: Adding Water input field and select the Enter key.

Notice 3 messages in the diagnostics list got updated. You will need to scroll up/down in the client Diagnostics List to view
the messages.

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8. From FactoryTalk View Studio, select the Tools > Diagnostics Viewer menu item.
9. Select the last few messages in the list to look at the details. Notice that they are developer messages one is of
type audit and the other is of type information.

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ODBC Database as a message source
Depending on the products you have installed and the configuration options you have set, FactoryTalk Diagnostics can also
route these messages to other centralized logging destinations, such as an ODBC database or FactoryTalk Audit Log.
Use the ODBC Database Destination Setup window to send messages to an ODBC data source. To send messages from
multiple computers, configure the destination on each computer where the FactoryTalk Diagnostics service is installed.
The ODBC Database destination supports these ODBC-compliant databases:
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Access
Oracle
Some types of information cannot be logged to an ODBC database destination. This includes:
Any additional database fields not included in the ODBC table format, that a FactoryTalk product might use. Even if you
create the additional fields manually, nothing will be logged to them. The additional information logged by a FactoryTalk
product will, however, appear in the Local Log on the computer where the product is installed.
Any messages where the audience type is set to Secure, or the severity type set to Audit. Secure messages can only be
logged by the FactoryTalk AssetCentre software product to the FactoryTalk Audit Log.

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Configure the ODBC Database Setup
1. Go to the Diagnostics Setup on the task bar.
You are going to configure the destination setup. You will use a System DSN called ODBC_InstantFizz that has been
configured to point to a MS Access database called ODBC_InstantFizz.
2. Select the Destination Setup > ODBC Database item.

Browse

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3. Click the button next to the data source name. When the Select Data Source dialog opens, click the
System Data Source tab. Click the ODBC_InstantFizz data source name.

5. Type FTDiagnostics for the target table and click the Create Table button.

Select the System Data Source tab.
Select the ODBC_InstantFizz
Data Source Name.
a. Type FTDiagnostics
b. Click the Create table
button

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6. Click the OK button when you get the message that The table FTDiagnostics was successfully created.
7. Change the Log message to database every setting to be 30 seconds.

8. Select the Message Routing setup and then select the ODBC Database. Ensure that all the options in the
Developer row are checked.

Notice that Audit messages cannot be routed to the ODBC destination.

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View the ODBC Log
1. Go to the Diagnostics Viewer
2. Select the View > Options menu item. Move the Properties window so you can view the list.
3. Click the ODBC Database as the message source.
Notice the list is empty because nothing has happened since we created this destination.
5. Go to the running client; click the clear all button in the Diagnostics List.
6. If not already open, click on the CIP button in the navigation display. Then click on the CIP Process Steps
display.
7. Type 7500 in the Step 1: Adding Water input field and select the Enter key.
Notice a download message is logged in the Diagnostics List.
8. Go to the Diagnostics Viewer
9. Wait 30 seconds, click the Refresh button.
Notice that 2 messages got logged.

10. Close the Diagnostics Viewer window without saving.

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Section 9: Language switching
About this section
Language Switching
FactoryTalk View SE Language Switching
o Configuration of supported languages
o Export strings for translating
o Translate strings
o Import strings that have been translated
o Language switching command
o View language switching
Language switching in alarm messages (FactoryTalk Alarms and Events)
Device-based alarm language switching
o Export alarm messages
o Translate alarm messages
o Import alarm messages
Tag-based alarm language switching
o Create a Tag Alarm and Event Server
o Translate alarm messages
o Import alarm messages
o Verify alarm import
o Export alarm messages
View language switching of alarm messages

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Read about language switching
Language switching allows operators to view user-defined text strings in FactoryTalk View SE Client applications in multiple
languages at run time. This includes FactoryTalk device-based alarm messages created in RSLogix 5000 and FactoryTalk tag-
based alarm messages created in the Alarm Setup Editor. FactoryTalk historical alarm and event information is only logged in
one language which is specified on the alarm server properties.
At run time in a network application, multiple FactoryTalk View SE clients can switch between any of the languages the
application supports. Multiple clients can also run in different languages at the same time.
With language switching you can:
Develop an application in one language, export the user-defined text strings for the application, and then import translated
strings for up to 40 languages into the same application.
Deploy a distributed application across different countries, allowing operators in each location to view the application in their
own language.
Enable operators in multilingual countries to use the language of their choice.
String Spreadsheet Editing
String spreadsheet editing lets you export text strings for all languages supported by an application to an
Excel spreadsheet in one easy operation. You can also import text strings in one or multiple languages from
an Excel spreadsheet to an application.
The Optimize Duplicate Strings feature allows you to translate only 1 occurrence of each string to reduce
errors and translation costs.
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events
Language switching is supported in FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.
Faceplate Language Switching
All built-in faceplates have been translated to several languages: English, French, Spanish, German,
Chinese and Japanese.
FactoryTalk View SE language switching
In general, the user-defined strings that support language switching are those that an operator sees in an application at run time.
Specifically, these are:
Text you specify for graphic objects and global objects including
o captions
o tool tip text
o time and date embedded variables
o local messages
o numeric embedded variables
FactoryTalk View text objects (Note: A text object with its SizeToFit property set to True might change in size when
displayed in different languages.)
Text strings defined for FactoryTalk Alarm and Event summaries, banners, and log viewers
Graphic and global object display titles specified in the Display Settings dialog box

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Among the text strings that do not support language switching are:
Text strings that are part of the graphical user interface of FactoryTalk View Studio or View SE Client software, such as
menus, which are displayed in the same language as the operating system. These are translated when FactoryTalk View is
localized
Text that can be displayed at run time but is used to operate the application, such as the names of graphic displays and
command strings
Tag descriptions and string constants in expressions
Text in the title bar of the FactoryTalk View SE Client window, which is part of the setup of the client, not part of the
application
Text associated with HMI tag alarms
Alarm Fault List messages displayed in FactoryTalk Alarm and Event Summary and Banner objects.

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Configuration of supported languages
You will need to add the desired languages to the application.
1. From FactoryTalk View Studio, select the Tools > Languages menu item.

2. Click the Add button on the Language Configuration dialog.
The languages in the list are supported for language switching by the application at run time. Be sure that
these Windows languages are installed on the development and client computers before trying to switch
languages.
To find out which languages are installed on a computer, check the Regional Options (Windows 2000) or
Regional and Language Options (Windows XP and Windows Server 2003), in the Control Panel.
The languages you will be selecting are installed.

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3. Select the German (Germany) language and click the OK button.

5. Select the Spanish (Mexico) language and click the OK button.
7. Select the Chinese (Simplified, PRC) language and click the OK button.
9. Select the Japanese language and click the OK button.
11. Select the French (France) language and click the OK button.
12. Notice that these languages have been added to the list and English is set as the default language as indicated
by the check mark next to English.

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13. Check the Display undefined strings using the default language option.

14. Click the Apply button.
Your application has been configured to support 6 languages. Now you will need to perform an export to get the strings that you
will need for translation.

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Export strings for translating
There are a number of ways to change the text strings in a graphic display besides editing them individually by object. The best
approach is to export the strings to Excel and use the Optimize duplicate strings feature. The Optimize duplicate strings feature
allows strings that occur more than once in the application to be written to the spreadsheet only once. After the first occurrence,
a placeholder is inserted into the spreadsheet for other occurrences.
1. Highlight the English language then click the Export button.
2. Select the Export strings for all languages to an Excel spreadsheet radio button. Check the Optimizing
duplicate strings and Open exported file options.

3. Click the Next button.
For a network application with multiple HMI Servers you are prompted to select a HMI Server at this point.

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4. Select /HMI_Area:InstantFizz_HMI, then click Next.

5. Leave the default location and click the Finish button.
The String Export in Progress will start and then complete. This will take a few minutes.
The Excel document will be created and opened.
Observe the open Excel file. Everywhere you see the text **REF: in the language columns (i.e., en-US, de-DE, es-MX, and
zh-CN) is referencing a duplicate string in the REF column before the language column. That means you dont have to
translate the text for that object. You only have to translate the first occurrence of that text indicated by the text
**UNDEFINED**.
6. Lets translate one of the English strings into French. Feel free to translate more if you like. In Excel, search
(using Ctrl-F) for the strings CLEAN IN PLACE (CIP). In the column with heading fr-FR (which represents the
French column), change the word **UNDEFINDED** to NETTOYAGE EN PLACE (CIP). If you have followed
the lab exactly as above, the fr-FR column is the L column in Excel.
7. Save and close the Excel file.

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Import strings that have been translated
Now that you have a file with some translated strings, lets import them.
1. Select the Import button from the Language Configuration dialog.
2. Select the option to Import strings from an Excel spreadsheet. from the String Import Export Wizard
dialog and click the Next button.

3. Select the Browse button and browse to this file C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\RSView
Enterprise\Strings\Instant_Fizz_11.xls and click the Finish button.
String import in Progress will start. This will take a few minutes. Once it is completed, you will see the message String
import completed successfully in the Diagnostics List.
4. Click the OK button on the Language Configuration dialog.
In the next section, you will learn how to see the results of your translation in the running client.

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Language switching command
There is a FactoryTalk View language switch command that you use to perform language switching. Buttons that use this
command have been configured on the Languages display. Lets look at them.
1. From View Studio, open the Languages display.
2. Double-click on the US flag button to open the Button Properties dialog. You will have to drill down through the
group object to get to the button.
3. On the Button Properties dialog, click on the Action tab. Notice the Press action - Language en-US.
The Language command was added to the Press action by clicking the button and then using the Command Wizard. The
command Language is located under the System Languages folder.

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Only the languages that have been added to your application will be displayed in the language ID list.

4. Click the Cancel button.
5. Repeat steps 2 4 for the other flags to observe the press action.
6. Close the Languages display.

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View language switching
Language switch commands are ignored in Test Display mode. Since the client was up and running before we added the new
languages, we need to close the client and open it again for the additional languages to appear.
1. Go to the running client.
2. Close the running client by pressing the Exit button in the navigation display.
3. Go back to View Studio and launch the client.

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4. Click the Languages button in the navigation display. The Languages display will pop open. Go ahead and
navigate through different languages and the different displays. You will notice that almost all strings in the
project have been translated into the other 5 languages.

Notice that on the Overview display the date and time are still displayed in English.
System Tags and Language Switching
You can use FactoryTalk View SE system tags in an application to display text in graphic displays. For
example, the tag, system\dateandtimestring, displays the current date and time. Text in the following system
tags is always displayed in the format prescribed by the language of the Windows operating system:
System\Time
System\Date
System\DateAndTimeString
System\MonthString
System\AlarmMostRecentDate
System\AlarmMostRecentTime
System\AlarmStatus
If you use the Time and Date object instead of the above system tags then the date and time will language
switch as well.
5. To see the string you translated in the last section, press the French button on the Languages display and then
press the CIP button on the navigation bar. You should see your translated string at the top left of the CIP
display.
Notice that most of alarm messages are already translated. This is because we pre-configured the lab to include the translated
alarm messages. To learn how to translate alarm messages, please attend the Implementing FactoryTalk Alarms and Events
lab.

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Section 10: Testing displays
About this section
Test Run Displays in the FactoryTalk View Studio Graphics Editor
Configure a FactoryTalk View Client File called InstantFizz
Observe Startup Macro
Observe Client Keys
Run the FactoryTalk View Client File called InstantFizz
o Explore Docked Displays at Runtime
o Verify Client Keys work at Runtime
Test display
Being able to test your display within View Studio without having to run it in a Client is a very powerful feature of FactoryTalk
View.
Behavior when test running a display might not always be identical to run-time behavior if changes made during development are
not saved. To make the behavior as close as possible you should save a display before testing it.
The Microsoft VBA IDE (Visual Basic for Applications Integrated Design Environment) lets you write, edit, test run, and debug
code.
Not everything can be done by test running your display. Some FactoryTalk View commands are ignored
when run in test display mode. For example, screen navigation commands, using parameter placeholders in
a display, and using parameter values in a reference global object will not function in test display mode. To
test these features, run the display in a FactoryTalk View SE Client.
Testing a graphic display in FactoryTalk View Studio is not the same as running the display in the FactoryTalk View SE Client.
Before you deploy an application, it is recommended that you test it in the FactoryTalk View SE Client, to verify that everything
works as intended.
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Objects
The existing (legacy) HMI Tag Alarm Summary object will not be animated when you run a display in test
display mode. The FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Objects will work in test display mode.
You can test the objects in a graphic display quickly, by switching to test display mode in the Graphics editor. Lets try this to
animate the Labeling display.
1. Open the Labeling display in FactoryTalk View Studio.

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2. From the FactoryTalk View Studio toolbar, click on the Test Display button.

Observe that the Labeling graphic begins to animate.
3. Click on the PUSH TO START button. You may need to select PUSH TO STOP first and then PUSH TO
START.
What happened? Notice that the labeler animation works.

6. Open the cip sensor trend display and then click on the Test Display button to start animating it.
7. Observe that the cip sensor trend graphic begins to animate. Click on the Close button (i.e. the door icon).
What happened? Nothing. Look at the Diagnostics List. The Abort Me command on the button was issued but the
command is ignored in FactoryTalk View Studio. Certain commands cannot be executed in test display mode. You will need
to configure and run a client to be able to execute these commands.

Now you will need to configure a client file and run the client to finish testing the display.

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Configure a client file
Before you configure the client file, look at a few of the components that were preconfigured for you to use with your client.
Configure a macro
A macro is a list of commands or command symbols stored in a text file. To run a macro you use its name
just as you would a command. The commands in the macro will be executed in the order in which they are
listed.
A macro can be specified on startup or shutdown of a client or display. It can be called from a command line in FactoryTalk View
Studio or from the Factory Talk View Administration Console for system administration.
FactoryTalk View has multi-tasking capabilities that you can take advantage of when you create macros. Generally, the
commands in a macro are executed in the order in which they are listed, with one command finishing before the next begins
execution.
Some commands (such as Print) finish quickly and the next command can start. Others, such as Set, take longer. In the case of
Set, it does not finish until the message has been sent to the controller. In cases like that, you can set up the macro so that the
next command can be executed before the previous command is finished. Use the ampersand character (&) to do this.
To invoke the command wizard from the macro file, double-click in the macro, or select Edit Commands (Ctrl- M).
Observe the configured macro
These commands will dock displays at the top and bottom of the client window, and set tag values in the controller.
1. From the Explorer, expand the Macros folder.

2. Double-click on the StartUp macro. The macro will be opened.

This macro will open a header display in a docked area on the top of the client. It will open a footer display in a docked area
on the bottom of the client. Finally, it will open the Plant Overview display that will be undocked.
3. Close the StartUp macro. If prompted to save changes, select the No button.
Configure a client key
Sometimes it is useful to have a single key stroke perform a function or multiple functions in your application. For example, when
you press F5 in Internet Explorer you will refresh the page. FactoryTalk View SE has similar functionality.

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Client Keys allow the operator to interact with the system at run time to do things like change displays or set
tag values. Client keys are defined for an application. They are enabled whenever the application is running
on a FactoryTalk View SE Client.
There are also object and display keys. Object and display keys are defined in the Graphics editor. They are active only when
their associated object or display is. However, object and display keys take precedence over client keys.
The order of precedence for key animation is: object keys, display keys and client keys. This means, for example, that if a key
has object and client key definitions, when the object has focus at run time and the key is pressed, the object key action will be
carried out and the client key action will not.
Observe pre-configured client keys
These commands will perform a refresh of your client. This is useful for testing since you may need to make changes to displays
and you dont want to have to close and open the client each time you add or change something on a display.
Lets investigate a pre-configured Client Key file.
1. From the Explorer, open up the ClientKeys client key file by double-clicking on it.

On the release action of function key 5, all displays including docked displays will be closed. The header display will then be
re-opened and docked at the top and the footer display will be docked at the bottom of the client.
2. Close the ClientKeys. If prompted to save changes, select the No button.

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Configure client file
The FactoryTalk View Client can be launched from FactoryTalk View Studio. If a client is already running, close it using the Exit
button from the navigation display.
1. Configure and launch a new client. Select the SE Client button on the tool menu.

2. When the Launch FactoryTalk View SE Client dialog opens, select the New button.
The FactoryTalk View SE Client Wizard will open.

3. Click the New button again.
4. Type InstantFizzTest for the name of the configuration file and click the Next button. Follow steps a-b.

a. Type InstantFizzTest
Click on New.
b. Click Next.

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5. Select the Network radio button and click the Next button.
and then
6. Select the InstantFizz application and the English initial language, leave the defaults, and click the Next button.
Follow steps a-c.

7. Select the ClientKeys key file as the Initial client key file, select the startup macro as the Startup macro, and
click the Next button. Note: If you used parameters in the initial display, they would be specified in the Display
parameters field. If you use a network application, the area would need to be specified for the initial display.
Follow steps a-d.

b. Select ClientKeys.
c. Select Startup.
a. Select InstantFizz
b. Select English
a. Select HMI_Area as the area.
c. Click Next
d. Click Next.

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8. Type InstantFizz for the title bar text, check the maximize window option, and click the Next button. Follow
steps a-c.

9. Leave the defaults for auto logout and click the Next button.
and .
10. Leave the default to save configuration and open FactoryTalk View SE Client now and click the Finish button.
and .
The FactoryTalk View Client will start with the specified configuration.
b. Check Maximize
Window option.
a. Type InstantFizz.
c. Click Next.

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Run client
The InstantFizz application is now running in a FactoryTalk View SE Client window. The startup macro docked displays in 2
areas. The header display contains an alarm banner and is located at the top of the client window; the footer display contains
navigation buttons and is located at the bottom of the client window.
Docked Displays
At run time, graphic displays can be docked to an edge of the FactoryTalk View SE Client window, allowing
an operator to gain access to certain displays at all times. Docked displays cannot be accidentally closed by
the operator and cannot have other graphics placed on top. They will, therefore, always remain visible to the
operator.
For example, you might consider docking:
Navigational menus, that allow the operator to move among displays in an application.
Headers or banners, that provide specific information to the operator, such as the current users name and
area, or information about alarms.
Control panels, that contain standard buttons for special purposes, such as changing users, closing open
windows, or sending information to a maintenance team.
Explore docked displays
1. Minimize the Plant Overview display.
2. Drag the minimized title bar around to the edges of the display client:
Top edge: Bottom edge:
3. Click the restore button on the Plant Overview display.
Observe that it will not overlay the docked areas.

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4. Drag the Plant Overview display to the lower edge or lower right corner of the client.

Observe that it will not overlay the docked areas and scroll bars will appear so the display will still be visible.
Test the client keys
1. Select the F5 key (using the client keys defined to close all displays and re-display the header and footer).
Observe that all displays are closed. The header and footer display are re-docked.

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Verify online edits
Changes made to the development environment that can be transferred to the application while it is running are commonly called
run-time edits. These fall into four groups:
Changes that take effect immediately.
Changes that require a non-disruptive action, such as reopening a graphic display, before they take effect.
Changes that require a disruptive action, such as restarting a server or a run-time client, before they take effect.
Changes that cause adverse effects immediately.
Warnings have been added to FactoryTalk to tell users if making a particular change in the development environment will
adversely affect the run-time system. If the change is made through a dialog box, a warning icon appears next to the component
where the change can be made. When the mouse cursor hovers over the icon, the following warning is displayed:
For example, you can add a FactoryTalk alarm, add a tag or change a graphic without the need to restart the client.

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We will modify one of the displays in FactoryTalk View Studio and observe the update in the client.
1. In the client, click on the Filling button from the navigation display.
Look around the display. We will modify the display in FactoryTalk View Studio.
2. Go back to FactoryTalk View Studio.
3. Open the Filling display.
4. Select the grouped information object at the bottom and then select the delete key.

5. Save the Filling display .
6. Close the Filling display
7. Go back to client.
8. Select the F5 key (using the client keys defined to close all displays and re-display the header and footer).
9. Observe that all displays are closed. The header and footer display are re-docked. Re-open the Filling display.
Notice that the grouped information object is no longer present.
We have just completed an online change. After modifying a display in FactoryTalk View Studio we only needed to re-open
that particular display on the client to see the updates. We did not need to restart the client.

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Section 11: Advanced
About this section
Read an SQL database using ODBC and VBA
Displaying an HTML page in the Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX
Explore the Network Health display
Learn about the Application Documenter
Read an SQL database using ODBC and VBA
In this section, you will learn how to read an SQL database using ODBC and VBA. The SQL database we will be reading is the
FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Historian database which should be populated with recent alarm events if you have done the
following previous sections of this lab:
Add a database definition to the FactoryTalk system (from Section 4 - page 145)
Associate database definition with alarm servers (from Section 4 - page 148)
If you have not done these sections, please go back and do them now and then return back here.

The steps in the following section will describe how to:
Configure an ODBC data source
Write some VBA code to read the SQL database using ODBC and write the results to an HTML file

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1. Open the ODBC Data Source Administrator from Start > Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC).

ODBC, which stands for Open Database Connectivity, offers a framework for database engines to
communicate with client applications. ODBC drivers work as a bridge between a database and a client
application, coordinating transactions and translating between the client and the database
You can make data sources available to clients by creating a Data Source Name (DSN). There are three
types of DSNs. They are as follows:
User: A user DSN is visible only to the user who is logged on when the DSN is created.
System: A system DSN is visible to all local services on a computer and all users who log on locally to the
computer.
File: A file DSN can be shared by all users who have the same drivers installed and who have the necessary
permissions to access the DSN. Unlike user and system DSNs, file DSNs are stored in text files, rather than
the registry.
The DSN recognizes the data source, the driver related with a data source, and other properties that define
the interaction between the client and the data source, such as timeout, read-only mode, and so on. You can
use the same process to create a DSN for most database types. The exception is SQL Server, which gives a
wizard for setting up a data source.

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2. Choose File DSN and click Add

3. In the Create New Data Source dialog, scroll to the end of the list. Select the SQL Server driver and click Next.

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4. Type FTAEHistory.dsn as the name for the file data source.

5. Select Next then Finish.

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6. When prompted, enter a description for the connection, as well as the name of the PC hosting the database,
which in our case is SERVER01\SQLExpress. NOTE: The Server: combo-box will not show this selection, you
need to type it in. Click Next.

7. When asked for the authentication type, choose Windows NT (also known as mixed mode). This allows the
Windows login to open this data source. Click Next.

The system will now try to connect to the database. This may take a few seconds.

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8. Check the Change the default database to: checkbox and use the drop down menu to change the option from
master to FTAEHistory. Click Next if your configuration looks like the following:

9. No changes are necessary on the next screen, just click Finish.

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Server setup is finished! You should see a happy confirmation window like this.

10. Choose the option to Test Data Source which should complete successfully! Click OK to the three ODBC
windows that remain open.

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So, now you have created the ODBC data source that is connected to the SQL database named FTAEHistory. The
FTAEHistory database should be populated with alarms from the running InstantFizz application which is constantly
generating new alarms. The next step is to write some VBA code to read that SQL database using the ODBC data source
that you just created. Luckily, we have already written the VBA code for you ! We will review how we did that in a minute.
First, lets look at results.
11. From the FactoryTalk View SE client, press the Alarms button on the navigation bar to open the Alarms
display.
12. Press the Alarm and Event History Results button to open up the Alarm History Event Results display.
13. Press the Last 15 min button. Doing this will run our VBA code which will do the following:
Read the ODBC database and make a SQL query to get the last 15 minutes of alarms from the SQL database.
Convert the alarm information returned by that SQL query into HTML and then write that HTML to an output file
located at C:\Lab Files\FTView SE\AlarmReport.HTML
14. To see the results, navigate to the C:\Lab Files\FTView SE folder and double-click the AlarmReport.HTML file.
It will open up in Internet Explorer and look similar to the following figure.

Use the scroll bar to browse through the data.
Lets look at the VBA code now.

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15. In the Explorer window of Factory Talk View Studio, double-click the Alarm History Event Results screen
located under the HMI server node in the Graphics > Displays folder.

You may want to maximize Factory Talk View Studio to see the entire screen.
16. Select Alt+F11 on the keyboard to open the Visual Basic Editor. Alternatively, you could select the Edit > VBA
Code menu item. However, if you open up the editor using this method, the editor would be minimized and
appear blinking on the Windows Task Bar. You would need to click on it to restore it to an open window.

17. Notice in the VBA Project Explorer window, there are 4 modules present. One titled ThisDisplay which is
always present for each screen that is using VBA. The ThisDisplay module contains the code that interacts with
graphic objects on the display. There are three additional modules added to the code of this display:
DBConnect, SQLModule, and SystemLogModule. We have pre-created these last 3 modules for you and
populated them with VBA code.

Module DBConnect handles the connection to the database using an ODBC connection
Module SQLModule creates the SQL statement to query the database
Module SystemLogModule compiles the error string to be logged to FactoryTalk Diagnostics.

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18. Double-click DBConnect to open it.

In the beginning of the module, you will find the definition of the ODBC connection that the code is using. The VBA code
FILEDSN=FTAEHistory.DSN needs to match the ODBC data source that we created earlier in this section. The rest of the
module handles the database connection, such as initialization, opening, reading, and closing.
19. Now double-click SQLModule to open it.

In the beginning of the module, you will find the definition of the SQL table wed like to query. The VBA code
[FTAEHistory].[Labuser].[ConditionEvent] needs to match the following information:
[FTAEHistory] is the name of the alarm history database as defined earlier in the lab
[Labuser] is the name of the administrator/owner of the database as defined earlier in the lab
[ConditionEvent] is the name of the SQL view containing the alarm events. An SQL view is like a database table.
Refer to the FactoryTalk Alarms and Event online help for more information about the available database views and
schema.
The rest of the module defines the entire SQL statement used to query the database.

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20. Now double-click SystemLogModule to open it. This module creates a wrapper around the standard
Application.LogDiagnosticsMessage method so that all messages logged to the FactoryTalk Diagnostics
contain the same format. This will help to debug if there are ever problems.
When using VBA, proper error handling is essential. If your VBA code crashes due to unhandled errors, it
can halt your View SE client completely and require a reboot.
21. Now, double-click ThisDisplay to open it.
22. Earlier, when you pressed the Last 15 min button, you executed the VBA code for the button press handler
named FifteenMin_Button_Released. Search for this method by typing Ctrl-F and then typing in Fifteen in
the Find dialog box.
23. The FifteenMin_Button_Released method in turn called the GetEventsForPreviousMinutes method which in
turn called the writeEvents method. To navigate through this VBA method calling sequence, do the following:
From the FifteenMin_Button_Released method, right-click on the text GetEventsForPreviousMinutes and select
the Definition menu. Notice how the editor moved the cursor position to where that method was defined.
From the GetEventsForPreviousMinutes method, right-click on the text writeEvents (near the bottom of the
method) and select the Definition menu. Notice how the editor moved the cursor position to where that method was
defined.
24. The writeEvents method is where most of the work is done to read the SQL database and create the HTML file.
Review this method and notice the following:
The DBRead method performs the SQL query to get the alarms. The results are placed in the oEvents variable which
is a variable containing all the alarm records returned from the SQL query.
A For loop is used to go through each record in the recordset and write it out to the HTML file using the a.writeline
method. You will also notice that this alarm information is also added to Events_ListBox object (which is shown on the
graphic display) but that is not part of this lab.
25. If you are done exploring the VBA code, you may close the Visual Basic Editor by clicking the in the corner.
Congratulations! You have just learned how to read an SQL database using VBA.
You may find this screen with similar VBA code on the Rockwell Automation Knowledgebase in AID 51768 - Sample VBA: Query
the A&E History database and display results in ViewSE

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Displaying an HTML page in the Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX
In this part of the lab, you will learn how to view an HTML file using the Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX control. You will be
viewing the HTML file that you generated in the previous section: Read an SQL database using ODBC and VBA. If you have not
done that section, please go back and do it now and then return back here.
The Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX control is useful for displaying reports, Help files, web pages or other documents within a
graphic display. It can display the following kinds of documents:
HTML files
Web pages
Adobe PDF files
PowerPoint files
Word documents
Text files
Live video stream (via a web page)
This Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX control is installed with Microsoft Internet Explorer.
1. In the Explorer window of Factory Talk View Studio, right-click on Displays and select New to create a new
blank display. Stretch the display window and make it large.
2. Select Objects > ActiveX Control menu and then click and drag on the display to draw a large rectangle
which represents where the object will be created. When the Insert an ActiveX Control dialog appears, scroll
down and select Microsoft Web Browser and press OK.

This will place the Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX on your display.

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3. Right-click on the object and select Property Panel.

4. In the Property Panel, modify the ExposeToVBA property to be VBA Control. Close the Property Panel.

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5. Open the VBA editor by typing Alt-F11. Click on the combo-box at top and select Display. This will place the
cursor inside the Display_AnimationStart method.

6. Type the following MicrosoftWebBrowser1 followed by a period. Notice how the Intellisense shows you the
methods of this object. Scroll down and select Navigate2 and double-click it.

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7. Type a space and notice how VBA shows you the syntax for the Navigate2 method.

8. Type the string C:\Lab Files\FTView SE\AlarmReport.html. Dont forget the double quotes around the string.

9. Close the VBA editor and return to the display.
10. Press the Test Display button and you should see your alarm file being displayed.

11. If you have troubles getting the VBA code to work, we have precreated a display named alarmreport.gfx that
has the VBA code and the Web Browser object already configured. To see it working, open that display in
FactoryTalk View Studio and press the Test Display button.

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Exploring the Network Health Display
A display, named Network Health, has been created and incorporated into the InstantFizz application.
1. To view it, press the Network Health button on the navigation bar in the client.

The Network Health display was based upon two sample displays. The first sample was used for the top Server Status
section and provides status for the FactoryTalk Directory, HMI, Data and FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Servers.
See Answer ID 44624 - Determining any Server's Current Status and State in a Display Client for a copy of the sample
display and instructions on its configuration.
In this section, each panel represents a different server in your application: the FactoryTalk Directory, HMI Server, Data
Server and FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Servers where information about the Area Name, Server Name, Active Machine
and the Server Status is displayed using the Display Client Object Model. The configuration of this information is done
during development within the VBA code of the display.
The second sample display uses RSLinx Enterprise predefined items to display data items for diagnostic purposes.
Predefined items are internal counters and strings that differ from regular data items in that they access internal information
contained in RSLinx Enterprise.
See Answer ID 30148 - RSLinx Enterprise: using Diagnostic Counters - Predefined items for a copy of the sample display
and instructions on its configuration.
The Tag Browser is used to access the predefined items for a device and can be used like any other regular data item.
These predefined items are prefixed with @ and are found in the Diagnostic Items folder under the appropriate shortcut
folder within the application.

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Predefined items can also be combined in expressions to provide additional data. For example, for ControlLogix controllers,
you can calculate the used memory in a section based on the amount of total and free memory of that section:
@TotalMemIO - @FreeMemIO = I/O memory in use.
Use the Expression Editor with the predefined Diagnostic Items in FactoryTalk View SE to accomplish this.

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FactoryTalk View Application Documenter
FactoryTalk View ME/SE Application Documenter is a utility that provides detailed information on HMI projects in Factory Talk
View SE applications (both Network and Local) and Factory Talk View ME applications. The utility allows a user to view, export
and print the content of the HMI project components including the tag cross reference information associated with each
component as well as the VBA code (for SE applications) associated with the graphic displays.
About this section
Learn how to use the FactoryTalk View Application Documenter
Starting FactoryTalk View Application Documenter and Opening a Project
1. Start Application Documentor. From the Start menu, select All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk
View > Tools > Application Documenter.
2. Select the application type as Site Edition (Network) then press OK.

3. Select the InstantFizz application. Follow steps a to c.

a. Select the InstantFizz application from the list.
b. Make sure English is selected
as a language.
c. Click OK.

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4. Once the application is opened, the Application Documenter main window will open, presenting the list of project
components to choose from in the left pane. Navigate to Displays to open a display. Details of this display will
be shown on the right pane.
Note that a screen shot of the display is also shown.

5. Application Documenter is capable of generating a report for the selected components and exporting it into an
html format. To generate a report select Export from the File menu. The html reports can be exported to any
location specified. Note that html report will be generated only for the components with the check box checked.
The report contains links to other pages in the report. These other pages are stored in the xml format in the HMI project
and/or area subfolders, depending on the components the report has been generated on.
6. Printing functions are available from the File menu. Similar to Exporting feature, the report will be printed only for
the components with the check box checked.
Feel free to play with this useful tool to check on things like tag and parameter file cross referencing.

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Section 12: FactoryTalk ViewPoint
Before you begin
FactoryTalk ViewPoint is an add-on to FactoryTalk View Site Edition (SE) and FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ME) running
on PanelView Plus that provides for a fully scalable, fully animated view of existing applications from a Web browser.
To make information about your plant or process available on demand, from a Web browser in your office, home, or hotel, all you
have to do is select FactoryTalk View graphic displays you want to make ready for the Web, and then publish the displays to a
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server (also called the Web server).
You don't need to install any Rockwell Software products on the browser computer: all you need to connect to a published
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Web application is the name (or IP address) of the computer or PanelView Plus hosting the FactoryTalk
ViewPoint Server that stores the application.

Then, you can enter a simple address directly into the Web browser, or click a link to the Web address from some other
application. For example, you could receive a link to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server in an e-mail message, a Microsoft Office
PowerPoint presentation, or an Excel spreadsheet.
When a web browser connects to a published web application, the initial display (or displays, if specified in a startup macro)
selected for the application opens first. To navigate to other displays, use buttons and touch animation in the initial display, or
use the web browser's navigation tools.
Displays in a FactoryTalk ViewPoint application are no longer read-only. As of FactoryTalk ViewPoint 2.0 release, graphic
objects in the displays are fully animated and you can use the objects to write to tags or to start and stop HMI components. For
example, a numeric input object with a tag connection will display the tag's current value and will also permit downloads.
In the lab youll be using a Network type application called ViewPoint that has been configured in FactoryTalk View SE. A typical
Network system could have separate machines for the FactoryTalk View SE Server, the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server, and the
FactoryTalk ViewPoint client. For this lab we will be running all three roles on the same server.

VMWare Image
FactoryTalk
ViewPoint Server
FactoryTalk
View SE Server
FactoryTalk
ViewPoint
Client
.
About this section
This section provides you with an opportunity to explore the basics of FactoryTalk ViewPoint SE. FactoryTalk ViewPoint SE is
used to develop and run web applications for FactoryTalk View SE network and local projects.
The FactoryTalk ViewPoint client is a comprehensive web client that can connect to FactoryTalk View Point server.

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As you complete the exercises in this session, you will gain an understanding of the functionality and capability of FactoryTalk
ViewPoint by:
Connecting to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Site
Configuring FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Security
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server Settings
Activating FactoryTalk ViewPoint
Publishing a FactoryTalk View SE application
Running an application in a browser
Configuring FactoryTalk ViewPoint Application Security
Tag Write Functionality

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Connecting to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Site
FactoryTalk ViewPoints configuration is web enabled. This allows configuration of the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server from any
machine with network access to the ViewPoint Server. The FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration is served to the connecting
client computer. No additional software packages beyond an internet browser need to be installed.

1. Double-click the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration shortcut on the desktop.

The FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration pages allow you to publish displays to the web, configure security, set up
activation, view server settings and access the on-line help.

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Configuring FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Security
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Security has been redesigned in ver. 2.0 to accommodate tag writing capabilities that were introduced in
this latest product version. It still allows you to secure access to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration site and the published
web application but with added flexibility and granularity. Security is now role based where a role refers to a FactoryTalk
Security group, as you will see in this section.
1. Select Security Settings on the red navigation bar in the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration Site window.

You will notice two security tabs:
Administration - used for securing access to FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration console and
Secured Displays used for configuring run-time security.
In this section we will focus on Administration portion of FactoryTalk ViewPoint security. Run-time security will be covered
later in the lab.
In the Users Group area you can see two default groups that have been automatically created by FactoryTalk View SE:
Windows Administrators and Administrators. In addition you can see a user group called VP_Admin that has been pre-
configured for this lab. If you have completed earlier sections of the lab, you will also see other user groups.

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2. In the next steps we will create new user groups for Factory Talk ViewPoint specific roles. Minimize FactoryTalk
ViewPoint Administration console and open FactoryTalk Administration Console: select Start > All Programs >
Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Administration Console.

3. Select the Network directory and then OK.

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4. Expand Users and Groups folder and User Groups and Users subfolders.

Under User Groups you will notice a previously mentioned pre-configured group called VP_Admin. Configured members of
this group are Windows Administrators which include the labuser user.
Also, note the two pre-configured users: Operator1 and Viewer1. Currently, these users are not members of any user
group. In order to use these users in FactoryTalk ViewPoint application, we will create two new ViewPoint specific groups. If
you have done earlier sections of the lab, you will see other users as well.

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5. Right-click on User Groups folder and select New > User Group

6. In the Name field type in VP_Operators and then click Add

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7. Select Show users only, click on Operator1 and select OK.

8. Select OK again to finish creating VP_Operators group.

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9. Repeat steps 5 - 8 to create VP_Viewers group and add Viewer1 user as its member. Upon completion, your
User Groups tree should look like the screen capture below:

10. Close FactoryTalk Administration Console and click on icon on the Task bar to restore the FactoryTalk
ViewPoint Administration Console if it is minimized.
11. Press F5 to refresh the browser and select Security Settings again (as you did in step 1). The two new user
groups that you just created, VP_Operators and VP_Viewers, now show up in the User Groups list.
12. Expand all user groups to see the users that belong to each of the groups. Your FactoryTalk ViewPoint User
Groups tree should look like the screen capture below:

Next, we want to setup the security so that only the users in the VP_Admin group can have access to FactoryTalk
ViewPoint Administration Console. Remember that VP_Admin has been pre-configured to include Windows Administrators
group as its member. This means that all the users belonging to Windows Administrators are also members of the
VP_Admin user group.

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13. Select the check box next to Enable Administration Security, then select the check box next to VP_Admin
and save the changes by clicking on the Save button.

14. The message window will show up warning you that the selected user group contains no users.

It is true that VP_Admin group has no explicitly added users. However, since the Windows Administrators group is a
member of VP_Admin group, all the Windows Administrators users have also been added indirectly to VP_Admin group.
Click Yes to continue.
15. Press F5 to refresh the browser.

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16. You will notice that security is now enabled and you are required to log in to access the Administration Site. Log
in using the username Operator1 and password Operator1.

Although the entered credentials for Operator1 are valid, the logon attempt will fail because the user Operator1 is not a
member of the VP_Admin group.

17. We had only given access to the Administration site to VP_Admin users which are also Windows administrators.
Since the labuser is the member of this group, log on using the username labuser and the password rockwell.
Do not select Remember me on this computer checkbox. The logon attempt will be successful this time.

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18. In the top-right corner of the browser window you can see which user is currently logged on and you are also
given the option to log off.

19. Click on Security Settings tab again.
20. Clear the check box next to Enable Administration Security

and save the changes by clicking on the Save button. This will allow all users full access to
FactoryTalk Administration web page so that security logins are no longer required for the rest of this lab.
21. Press F5 to refresh the browser.
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server Settings
Additional information about the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Server can be found on the Server Settings tab.

Most important is the name of the server, the port its using and the URL that is used to connect to that server.

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Activating FactoryTalk ViewPoint
Licensing is not required for FactoryTalk ViewPoint server functionality; however, the FactoryTalk ViewPoint clients do require a
client access license (CAL) to connect to a FactoryTalk ViewPoint server. Client access licenses (CALs) are concurrent
FactoryTalk activations and are provided to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint clients by the FactoryTalk ViewPoint server. When a
client consumes a CAL, it allows three browser or tabbed instances of the published web application to be open at a time.

The FactoryTalk ViewPoint server is configured to consume CALs from the FactoryTalk Activation server. In the case where
multiple FactoryTalk ViewPoint servers are being used, licenses can be shared among the FactoryTalk ViewPoint servers by
configuring each server to consume a selected number of CALs.

1. Select the Activation tab.

By default, a ViewPoint server will automatically consume 3 licenses after install but this can also be configured by entering
a new number of licenses, ranging from 1 to the number of available licenses, and selecting Apply. As you can see, there
is a total of 150 licenses for this lab. We will leave the number of assigned licenses set to 3.

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Publishing a FactoryTalk View SE application
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration also allows you to publish web applications to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint server.
FactoryTalk ViewPoint supports both Site Edition Network and Site Edition Local applications. Lets go ahead and publish an
application.

1. Select the Publish displays to Web tab.

Select Site Edition (Network) and make sure that the application InstantFizz is selected.
2. Click the Select graphic displays button in the bottom right corner of the browser.

FactoryTalk ViewPoint will only maintain one FactoryTalk ViewPoint application configuration at a time.

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Selecting a different FactoryTalk View application, or selecting a different set of displays to publish, will
replace the current Web application configuration and the published content.
3. A list of displays within the ViewPoint application will be displayed. Expand the area HMI_Area, if its not
already, by clicking on the + next to HMI_Area to view the entire list.
4. The mgr_dashboard display is not currently published so lets add it to the list by selecting the checkbox beside
the display name.

All displays are initially selected, but you can choose which displays you would like to publish. By default the initial
displaythe first display that opens in the Web browseris the first display listed in the Administration Site.
To remove a display from a published application, uncheck the display prior to publishing.
5. You can change the initial display by selecting an alternative display in the Initial Display column or you can
alternatively select a startup macro for opening displays on startup. If you specify a startup macro, the Initial
Display setting is ignored.
Since the ViewPoint application uses a docked display, select the startup macro named Startup_ViewPoint.
This macro displays the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen as a docked display and then the Plant
Overview screen by running the following FactoryTalk View SE commands:

Display Navigation /DB
Display Plant Overview

Using docked displays and a startup macro is the best approach for configuring FT View applications with multiple display
windows that also need to run in FactoryTalkViewPoint.

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6. Select the Publish Displays button. Observe progress as the Site analyzes the selected displays and prepares
these displays to be hosted in the browser before publishing.

Depending on the size of the displays, the publishing process may take several minutes when performed for the first time.
Subsequent publish actions are optimized to analyze and prepare any displays that have been changed or selected to be
published. In the interest of time, a majority of the displays have already been published and are currently selected in the
Web Enable column. Republished will be only the displays that have been modified in the previous sections of the lab.

You also have the option of re-publishing all selected displays, whether or not they have been modified. The Re-publish all
selected displays option deletes the entire existing published content before the new content is created based on selected
displays. This selection is useful after upgrading to a new version of ViewPoint to ensure that the published application
contains the latest features.

When the publishing process is complete, you will be provided with a link to the publishing report which will describe any
errors or warnings that may have occurred during publication and a link to your initial FactoryTalk ViewPoint display. Any
objects which are not supported in FactoryTalk ViewPoint will be listed as a warning.
7. Click the View publishing report link to open a separate browser window containing the publishing report.
When you are finished reviewing the report, close the browser window containing the report.

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8. After exploring the publishing report, close the browser window that hosts it.

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Running an application in a browser
1. After the publishing process finishes, the Open Web Application button becomes available. Click on this
button.

This opens Internet Explorer and the initial display specified in the selected startup macro. In Internet Explorer, you will see
the Plant Overview display.
2. Maximize the browser. The FactoryTalk ViewPoint screens automatically scale to fit the size of the browser
window.

We had specified the Startup_ViewPoint macro during publishing so that when a FactoryTalk ViewPoint client gets
connected to the Server, the macro would execute the Display commands providing the navigation bar at the bottom of the
screen as a docked display and the Plant Overview as the initial screen.

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FactoryTalk ViewPoint provides a thin client solution for FactoryTalk View. There is no need to install and maintain any
Rockwell Software on the client machine. This lowers a total cost of ownership, minimizes downtime and improves security.
FactoryTalk ViewPoint also provides convenient access to FactoryTalk View applications from anywhere (central office,
home, internet) which extends the reach of visualization to remote, casual and mobile users such as plant managers,
central maintenance engineers, OEMs and System Integrators. Think of all of the remote users in your facility or your
customers facility that could benefit from improved access to plant floor visualization information as you run the InstantFizz
application in FactoryTalk ViewPoint.

Starting a FactoryTalk ViewPoint client from wtihin FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration browser is just one of a number of
different ways to start it. You could also use browser features to do this.
3. Close FactoryTalk ViewPoint client browse window. You should now be showing FactoryTalk ViewPoint
Administration browser. If not, restore this browser instance.
4. Open a new browser tab by clicking on it.

5. In the New Tab address bar type in http://server01/FTVP, the default FactoryTalk ViewPoint page for published
content.

You can now conveniently switch between FactoryTalk ViewPoint client and FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration within the
same browser instance. Keep both tabs open as this will be handy for the steps in the next section of the lab.
6. FactoryTalk ViewPoint provides a rich, interactive browser user experience. All of the navigation built into the
FactoryTalk View SE application also works in the browser.
Navigate from the Overview display to the Filling display and observe how the navigation functionality works in
FactoryTalk ViewPoint.

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The Filling display should now be shown in FactoryTalk ViewPoint. Observe that the animation used to simulate the bottles
filling and moving along the bottling line is fully functional in FactoryTalk ViewPoint. FactoryTalk ViewPoint supports full
animation of FactoryTalk View SE displays without the need to refresh your browser.

Maximize the browser window if it is not already at full size.
7. Navigate from the Filling display to the Packaging display.
The Packaging display should now be shown in FactoryTalk ViewPoint. Once again, observe that the packaging line
objects, such as numeric displays and color animation used to show line status, are updating dynamically. FactoryTalk
ViewPoint is fully interactive and does not use static screen captures to display information in the browser.

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If the Internet Explorer window is maximized, you can double-click on the top blue Internet Explorer title bar to restore the
window to the previous size. Then, by clicking on the bottom right hand corner of the internet explorer window while holding
down the left mouse key and dragging, resize the browser window again.

Notice the screen resizes at runtime. This allows you to develop a single display and run it on a wide variety of client
devices with different screen sizes and resolutions (including wireless, mobile devices).
8. Navigate from the Packaging display to the CIP display. The CIP display should now be shown in FactoryTalk
ViewPoint.

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9. In the Internet Explorer click on Favorites icon and then on Add to Favorites button.

10. Click Add to add the CIP Overview display to your Favorites list.

You can now navigate to CIP Overview display using Favorites feature of the Internet Explorer.
11. In the Internet Explorer click on Recent Pages button and click on the link FTVP HMI_Area:: (which is a short
name for the initial Overview display).

Instead of using FactoryTalk ViewPoint navigation buttons, you navigated back to the Plant Overview display using Internet
Explorer navigation feature.

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12. From the Plant Overview display navigate to the Line 1 Dashboard display by clicking the Dashboard button.

13. The Dashboard display provides a nice example of a display specifically designed for a remote, casual
ViewPoint user such as a Plant Manager. This display provides an overview of line status, production data,
current alarms and trends. Try clicking the Line 1 Status buttons to see how you can drill down into the
application for further troubleshooting and remote monitoring when needed.

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14. Try putting Internet Explorer browser in full screen mode by hitting the F11 function key. FactoryTalk ViewPoint
application will occupy the entire screen. Press F11 again to return to a normal view mode.
15. Continue to browse the application with FactoryTalk ViewPoint by navigating to the Rapid Mix, Blending,
Inventory and other displays and observe the behavior in FactoryTalk ViewPoint.
16. FactoryTalk ViewPoint has an informative help file that is easily accessible from any FactoryTalk ViewPoint client
or FactoryTalk Administration site.
Open the product Help file by clicking Help in the upper right hand corner.

17. The help file covers important topics like creating and viewing applications, security, alarms, tag write
functionality and trends. It also contains the Release Notes which outlines System Requirements, unsupported
FactoryTalk View features, and installing any prerequisite software.

Navigate through these topics and any others you choose to view what information is available.

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18. Click on Troubleshooting ViewPoint from the menu on the left side.

This special section in the Help file allows users to learn about any issues that they may encounter and provides assistance
if troubleshooting is required. The user would find the heading that describes what they were doing at the time and clicks on
the link that best characterizes the behavior that was observed.
19. Close the Help window by clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner.
Congratulations! You have successfully published the FactoryTalk View SE ViewPoint application and can now run it using
your web browser. Note that FactoryTalk ViewPoint automatically converted and published the displays to the FactoryTalk
ViewPoint Server; you did not need to make any modifications to the FactoryTalk View SE application to accomplish this.
Configuring FactoryTalk ViewPoint Application Security
As mentioned in the previous section, there are two portions of security Administration and Secured Displays. In the next steps
we will configure and explore effects of application security at the application and display level.
Global Application Security
1. Navigate to the CIP display again.
2. The CIP Repeat Cycle button sets a tag in the controller that initializes the CIP process. Click on this
button.
You will notice that the button does not respond to click action. This is because tag write operations are disabled in
FactoryTalk ViewPoint Security by default.

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3. In the Internet Explorer switch to the tab hosting FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration console. (if you no
longer have this tab open, start a new tab and type in http://server01/FTVP/admin on the New Tab address bar
to start a new instance of the console)
4. Click on Security Settings,

and select the Secured Displays tab.

5. Application security is currently disabled. Select the Enable Write checkbox

and click on the Save button to save the changes.

6. Switch back to the browser tab running the FactoryTalk ViewPoint client and press F5 to refresh the browser.
7. Click on CIP Repeat Cycle button again.
This time the click action will take place and you will see CIP process steps being executed. In the Status Area at the
bottom of the screen you will see the message:

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This means that the Set command associated with the button was executed successfully.
8. Close FactoryTalk ViewPoint client browser tab by clicking on the close button.

9. Back in the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration browser instance clear Enable Write checkbox

and click on the Save button to save the changes.

Display Application Security
Next, we will configure Application security so that only VP_Operators group members can execute CIP related operations.
1. Select Enable Application Security checkbox.

The open table lists all the User groups and their associated Write or View security permissions. At this point, we have not
enabled any application security.

As noted above the table, the Security permissions apply to the entire InstantFizz application because the root of the
InstantFizz application is selected in the left hand pane. The security configured at this level will be automatically
applied to all the displays within the application.

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2. Double-click on all of the checkboxes in the View column so that the permissions look like the following:

3. In the left hand pane expand HMI_Area by clicking on next to it.
4. Click on cip process steps display to highlight it.

5. Select the Show Effective Permissions checkbox in the upper right corner of the right hand pane. You may
need to resize your browser window to view the entire description. The security permission table should look like
the snapshot below:

The table indicates that all user groups have permission to view the CIP Process Steps display but none of them have
tag write permission. As per the Legend, note how both Allow and Deny permissions are Inherited. This means that the
permissions are inherited from the level above. In our case the permissions were inherited from the application level (refer
back step 1).

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6. Next, you will assign Write permission to VP_Operators. Clear the Show Effective Permissions checkbox.
7. In the Write column, click twice on the checkbox in VP_Operators row to define the Allow permissions.

8. Click on cip overview to highlight it and configure the security in the same manner as for cip process in the
previous step.

9. Click Save again to save the changes
10. Start FactoryTalk ViewPoint client by right-clicking on the Internet Explorer icon in the Task Bar and then select
Internet Explorer from the context menu. Point the browser to http://server01/FTVP.

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11. Log in using the username labuser and password rockwell.
12. Navigate to the CIP display and click on the button CIP Process Steps .
13. Try to change the value in any of the four numeric input fields on a pop-up display. Notice how you cannot do
that because the tag write permission for CIP - Process Steps display has only been granted to the members of
VP_Operators group.
14. Log off by clicking in the upper right corner.
15. Log back in using the username Operator1 and password Operator1.
16. Navigate to the CIP display and from there to CIP Process Steps again.
17. In the Step1: Adding Water numeric input field type in 6000 and press Enter

Youve successfully changed the value. This is also confirmed in the Status Area at the bottom of the screen:

18. Minimize FactoryTalk ViewPoint client and switch to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint Administration browser instance
by clicking on the Internet Explorer icon in the task bar and choosing the proper instance.

19. Clear Enable Application Security checkbox

and then select Enable Write checkbox again

Note that we are disabling display level security and enabling application level security.
20. Click on the Save button to save the changes.

This will allow all users full read/write control of the entire application so that security logins are no longer required for the
rest of this lab.

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21. Similar as you did in step 18, switch back to the FactoryTalk ViewPoint client browser by clicking on the Internet
Explorer icon in the task bar and choosing the proper instance.
22. Press F5 to refresh it so that the new security settings take effect.

Note that FactoryTalk ViewPoint does not use FactoryTalk View Security Codes (A to P permissions) and will ignore
any security codes used in the published web application. For example, expressions that use the
CurrentUserHasCode( ) function are not evaluated in FactoryTalk ViewPoint.
Tag Write Functionality
FactoryTalk ViewPoint 2.0 has been enhanced to include the ability to write to tags. You have already experienced some of the
tag write functionality in the previous section when you were asked to start the CIP process and enter a new value in the CIP
process steps. In this section you will learn about this feature in more detail.
In addition to already supported Abort and Display navigation commands, FactoryTalk ViewPoint SE supports the following tag
write commands:
= (Equal)
Ramp
Set
Toggle
In the following steps you will use various control objects that support tag write functionality.
1. On the navigation bar click on the Filling button
2. In the Change Filling Product area click on any of the four buttons to change the current product. Behind each of
these buttons there is an object with Touch animation that executes Set command. As soon as the associated
tag is set, you will notice that current product has changed. Again, successful command execution is
accompanied with the message:

3. Click on Start/Stop button to stop and re-start the production line. The status area message will indicate yet
another supported tag write using a different type of button.

4. On the navigation bar click on the Alarms button
5. In the Simulate tag-based alarms area there are three toggle type buttons that set and reset a digital alarm.
Click on any of them i.e. Label out of paper button . You will notice a new alarm
messages in the alarm summary.
6. Click the Turn Off button to turn off the alarm. The alarm message will disappear.
Feel free to explore further navigate to other displays, click on control buttons and/or enter new numeric input
values where possible. Observe the results of your actions and the messages logged in the Status area.

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Congratulations !! You have finished the lab!
Notes

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Publication XXXX-XX###X-EN-P Month Year Copyright 2011 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All rights reserved.
Supersedes Publication XXXX-XX###X-EN-P Month Year

Manual L21 - Introduction To Vizualization Using FactoryTalk View Site Edition

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Manual L21 - Introduction To Vizualization Using FactoryTalk View Site Edition

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FactoryTalk View Site Edition - Building

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