How to use System Variables

Introduction

Hello and welcome to a new quick start guide on how to best use Movicon.NExT™.
In this technote you will discover what Movicon.NExT Project Server system tags are and how to use them at runtime.

System Variables

The Server's system tags are variables that are exposed by the I/O Data Server and report information relating to the functioning of the Movicon.NExT project server side or the platform's OPC UA Server.
These tags are divided into two groups:

• System Tags: these are system variables of the server relating to the project and they are found in the System Tags folder. This group includes tags related to alarms, the historical part, redundancy, and the tag count for product licensing purposes.
• OPC UA Server tags: these are system variables of the server relating to the OPC UA specifications and they are found in the Server folder. This group includes all those tags relating to the server's configuration, status, and its characteristics at a functional level.

Example

For instance, these tags are useful when providing a page with information about the project status or server operation.
Let's try and display some of them.

Creating a screen

Make sure you have the Movicon.NExT editor open and loaded a project, or created a new one, then 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.
Open the Display folder and select and drag the Display object onto the screen.
Once the Display object has been placed on the screen, select it to open its Properties window. Search for the Tag property and click on the its corresponding three dots to configure it.
A window will open to allow you to select a project tag, local client tag, a system tag or an external OPC UA Server item.
Select the System Variables tab and select a tag from the list, such as CurrentTime for example that contains the PC's current time.
Press OK to confirm.

Make a duplicate of the object you have just configured by copying and pasting it using the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V shortcut keys and place it next to the first Display object.
By using the same procedure to configure it, assign it with the CurrentDate tag, which is a system tag that contains the system's current date.

Once you have finished creating the screen, save the project by clicking the Save All button located on the toolbar.

Runtime Test

When you start the project up in runtime, the two Display object will display showing the date and time of the system respectively.