EcoStruxure Machine Expert Single Variable Definition
By publishing the variables in EcoStruxure Machine Expert, they will automatically be available for use in the Vijeo-Designer HMI application.
For variable exchange with the Machine Expert protocol, perform the following steps:
oCreate variables in the controller part.
oPublish the variables by defining them as Symbols in the controller part. They are now available in the HMI part as EcoStruxure Machine Expert variables.
oConfigure the physical connection (automatically setup by EcoStruxure Machine Expert).
NOTE: The last step is not necessary for XBTGC controllers because they may communicate with their own control variables.
Disabling Automatic Symbol Export to Vijeo-Designer
By default, EcoStruxure Machine Expert automatically exports those variables defined as Symbols to the Vijeo-Designer HMI application.
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Step |
Action |
|---|---|
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1 |
Select the Options... command from the Tools menu. Result: The Options dialog box is displayed. |
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2 |
Select the entry Vijeo-Designer from the list on the left-hand side. |
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3 |
On the right-hand side, enable the check box Disable automatic symbol export. 
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4 |
Click OK to close the dialog box. |
NOTE: Activating the Disable automatic symbol export function inhibits the automatic export of EcoStruxure Machine Expert variables defined as Symbols to Vijeo-Designer. In order to perform this transfer manually, right-click the Symbol configuration node in the Devices window and execute the Export Symbols to Vijeo-Designer command. If you do not perform this manual transfer, Vijeo-Designer may not show the correct symbols which, in turn, may lead to errors being detected in the project.
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UNINTENDED EQUIPMENT OPERATION |
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Execute the Export Symbols to Vijeo-Designer command if you have activated the Disable automatic symbol export before you start working in Vijeo-Designer. |
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Failure to follow these instructions can result in death, serious injury, or equipment damage. |
Variable Types for EcoStruxure Machine Expert - HMI Data Exchange
The following table lists the variable types for EcoStruxure Machine Expert - HMI data exchange:
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Variable Type in EcoStruxure Machine Expert |
Variable Type in Vijeo-Designer |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
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BOOL |
BOOL |
-- |
|
BYTE |
Integer |
-- |
|
WORD |
UINT |
-- |
|
DWORD |
UDINT |
-- |
|
SINT |
Integer |
-- |
|
INT |
INT |
-- |
|
DINT |
DINT |
-- |
|
USINT |
Integer |
-- |
|
UINT |
UINT |
-- |
|
UDINT |
UDINT |
-- |
|
REAL |
REAL |
-- |
|
STRING |
STRING |
-- |
|
WSTRING |
STRING |
WSTRING is supported in Vijeo-Designer as a general STRING type. This means that you can either exchange only STRINGS or only WSTRINGS with the HMI. A mixture of these two variable types is not allowed. If you use WSTRINGs, all your strings must be WSTRINGs. Indicate to the Vijeo-Designer driver that all strings should be managed as UNICODE WSTRINGs as follows: Select the node SoMachineNetwork or SoMachineCombo in the Navigator tree of Vijeo-Designer and set the parameter String Encoding to the value Unicode. |
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Array |
– |
In Vijeo-Designer, you can only reference the elements of an array, not the whole array. Example: Your array consists of SINTs called myValues. In Vijeo-Designer, you can reference myValues[0] or myValues[5] and put this into a variable on the HMI controller. Arrays must not contain more than 2,048 elements. If you try to use arrays with more than 2,048 elements in Vijeo-Designer, a message is issued. |
|
DUT |
– |
In Vijeo-Designer you can only reference the elements of a DUT, not the whole DUT. This behavior is similar to the behavior of arrays. |
The following variable types are not supported for EcoStruxure Machine Expert - HMI data exchange:
oThe 64-bit integer formats
oLREAL
oThe time and date formats
oNon-zero based arrays: you cannot import an array that is defined, example: myArray[1..100].
oArrays of arrays: you cannot import an array that has an array as its element type, such as ARRAY [0..9] OF ARRAY [0..9] OF INT. Nevertheless, you can use multi-dimensional arrays, such as ARRAY [0..9, 0..9] OF INT.
NOTE: The variables from the PLC_R structures of the PLCSystem library cannot be shared via the Symbol Configuration with the Vijeo-Designer application of HMI targets (including HMI controllers).
NOTE: Do not share references to a structured variable in the symbol configuration editor, as their values will not be displayed correctly on the HMI.
For further information on variable types for EcoStruxure Machine Expert - HMI data exchange, see the Vijeo-Designer online help.
In Vijeo-Designer, the maximum length of the Symbol name is limited to 32 characters.
