How to use Data Structures

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the new quick start guide on how to best use Movicon.NExT™.
In this technote, we will introduce you to Data Structures, and show you how to use them in your Movicon.NExT project.

Data Structures

The Data Structures are complex data types that allow users to configure them with data models.
Like tags, they can also be defined within the I/O Data Server but by using the Data Structures tab instead.
The complex Data Structure types are defined with structure members that represent the elements that compose them.
Structure members have a MemberOrderID property which is used to set the order with which the communication driver will use to exchange data.
To define a Data Structure, open the Movicon.NExT editor and load a project, then:

• Open the I/O Data Server found in the Project Explorer window's tree structure.
• Select the I/O Data Server tab's corresponding Data Structure Tab.
• Right click within the workspace and select the Add New Structure option.
• Once a new structure has been added, select and right click it to open a contextual menu. Select the Add New Member option.
• Configure the structure's member or members according to your project needs.

Once you have defined the Data Structure, create structure type tags:

• Open the I/O Data Server found in the Project Explorer window's tree structure.
• Go to the Tags List by selecting the corresponding I/O Data Server tab.
• Right click within the workspace and select the Add New Tag option.
• Configure the tag by selecting its Model Type as Structure in the tag's Properties window.

A structure type tag will be created as indicated containing members.
All members have a "UseShared" option property which is checked by default and, therefore it will not be possible to configure the member's I/O address, user access level and other properties.
When this option is unchecked, you will be able to:

• Enter physical I/O address.
• Enter a description.
• Enter an initial value.
• Assign an engineering unit.
• Assign an Historian.
• Set a user access level.
• Assign one more alarms.
• Assign one or more views.
• Assign a script.

Example

We will now show you how to use Data Structures by using an example.

Creating a Data Structure

Open the Movicon.NExT development environment and load a project, or create a new one, and then create a new Structure:

• Open the I/O Data Server located in the Project Explorer Window's tree structure.
• Go to the I/O Data Server tab corresponding to the Data Structure.
• Right click within the workspace and select the Add New Structure option and call it Motor.
• Once the structure has been added, right click it to open the contextual menu. Select the Add New Member option. Call it State and select Boolean as its Data Type.
• Repeat this step by configuring another member and calling it Speed and Int16 as Data Type.
• Set a user access level.
• Save the project by clicking Save All.

Creating tags

Now that we have created the structure, we will go ahead and create two Motor type tags:

• Open the I/O Data Server located in the Project Explorer Window's tree structure.
• Go to the Tag List by selecting the corresponding I/O Data Server tab.
• Right click within the workspace and select the Add New Tag option from the menu that shows.
• Configure the tag in its properties as follows:
• 
  

  Name	Mot1
  Model Type	Structure
  Data Structure	Motor

• Confirm the changes by clicking on the Accept Changes button on the toolbar at the top of the tag properties window.
• Repeat this procedure to add a second tag but configure its properties as follows:



• Name	Mot2
  Model Type	Structure
  Data Structure	Motor

• Confirm the changes by clicking on the Accept Changes button on the toolbar at the top of the tag properties window.

Creating the screen

Now that the part concerning data has been configured, we shall now create a screen:

• Look for the Screens resource in the project's tree structure in the Project Explorer window and select it.
• Right click it and select the New option from the menu which opens.
• A New Screen popup will appear which will allow you to set the screen's main properties. Configure the screen as follows:
• • Width: 1920
  • Height: 1080
  • Name: Main
• Click the OK button to confirm the configuration.

Once the screen has been created, change the project's properties by designating the Main screen as the project's startup screen. Therefore:

• Select the name of the project in the application tree.
• Open its Properties window.
• In the project properties window, change the following:
• • Startup PageType: Main Screen
  • Startup Screen Name: Main

When you have finished configuring the project startup page, click on the Save All icon located on the toolbar at the top to save the project.

Open the Main screen that you have just created and click on the Toolbox tab on the far right next to the Properties windows to open the Toolbox library provided by Movicon.NExT.
Go to the Buttons > Standard subfolder and select the Standard Metro Style button and drag it onto the screen and assign it Mot1\State tag and enter ON as its text.
Assign it two commands to change the Motor's state from 0 to 1 and its speed from 0 to a fixed value, such as 80 for example. To do this:

• Select the button placed on screen and open the Commands window by clicking on the Commands tab at the bottom of the Movicon.NExT editor.
• Select the Tag Value command from the pane of those available and configure it in this way:
  

1. Tag	Mot1\State
   Value to Set	1
   Command Type	Set

   Once the value has been configured for the state of the Motor 1, now configure the command to set the motor's speed in the same way. Therefore, select the Tag Value command again and configure it in this way:
   
   

2. Tag	Mot1\Speed
   Value to Set	80
   Command Type	Set

Make a duplicate of the Motor 1's ON button and replace the ON text with OFF and the values in the commands from 1 to 0 and from 80 to 0 respectively.

Place a motor with animation on the screen:

• Open the Symbol Library tab, go to the Digital Animated tab in the Motors folder, then select and drag a motor onto the screen.
• Assign the Mot\State tag to the graphical motor object you have just placed on screen.

Now that you have a motor on screen, place a gauge object on screen in the same way and which can be found either in the Gauge folder or the Advance Gauge folder in the Toolbox. When you have placed the gauge on screen, assign it the Mot1\Speed tag.

Once you have finished configuring the graphical objects associated to Motor1, select and duplicate them by copying and pasting it on the screen.
After duplicating the objects, change the reference in each object from Mot1 to Mot2.

Once you have finished this procedure, save the project by clicking the Save All button.

Runtime Test

Click the "Start Runtime" button to enter runtime mode and test the configured settings.