From Event to Action: Accelerate Your Decision Making with Real-Time Automation
Wonderware tutorial
1. Wonderware Tutorial
Creating Basic Shapes in Wonderware
Select Start/Programs/Intouch For Windows/Intouch. When the Intouch dialog box appears, select
Create Directory. Name the directory C:Intouch.16ENT311. Press OK.
Select Window Maker (this is the icon with the pencil on it). When WindowMaker loads, select
File/NewWindow. Enter the following information in the dialog box:
Next select Rounded Rectangle from the Toolbox. Move the cursor to position 40, 110 and hold down the
left mouse button. Drag the mouse to position 250, 20 and release the left mouse button.
Now select Polygon from the Toolbox. Move the mouse to position 30, 90 and click (don’t hold) the left
mouse button. Move the mouse to position 50, 90 and click the left mouse button. Finally move the mouse
to position 40, 110. At this position double click the left mouse button. This will close the polygon and fill
it with a white color.
Creating a Tagname
A tagname is similar to a variable in a programming language. It is used to store information to be shared
by various components of Wonderware. Select Special/Tagname Dictionary. Click NEW on the dialog
box and fill in the information shown below:
Be sure to enable Data Logging. Click Done when finished.
2. Animating Basic Objects
Now that the tagname has been created, we can use it to animate some basic shapes. Double click on the
triangular shape you created earlier. Press the Horizontal Slider button. Enter the data shown below in the
dialog box:
Double click on the Rounded Rectangle. Select Percent Fill/Horizontal. Enter slider as the Tagname.
Press Done.
Now press Runtime! Move the polygon left and right with the mouse. The polygon serves as a slider and
the rectangle fills with a color as the polygon is moved. The tagname in the rectangle dialog box could
easily be changed to, say, the timer on a programmable controller to represent the current timer state.
Placing Animated Text on the Screen
The value of tagname slider can be shown on the screen with Text. Select Text from the Toolbox and place
it at 100, 170. Enter:
Slider = ####.##
The # indicator will be replaced with the value of a tagname at runtime. Now double click on the text.
Select Value Display/Analog. Enter slider for the Expression, then press Done.
Press Runtime! The ####.## in the text area is replaced by the slider value. Move the slider left and right
and observe the effect on the text. Press Development! When finished.
Creating a Bottle Fill Operation
Draw a rounded rectangle near the center of the screen. Next draw a polygon or top of the rectangle as
shown below:
3. Next draw a polygon on top of the rectangle as shown below. Try to match your polygon as close as
possible to the one shown below.
Double click on the last endpoint to ensure closure. Click on the polygon to select it and press Duplicate
Selection from the Toolbox. Immediately after press Flip Horizontal. Move the inverted polygon next to
the original until the overall shape resembles a bottle, as shown below:
The bottle contains three shapes, a rounded rectangle and two polygons. These three shapes can be made
into one object with the Make Symbol button in the Toolbox. Select the three objects with the mouse and
press the Make Symbol button.
Next double click on the bottle and select Percent/Vertical. Enter slider as the Expression. Change the
background color by selecting Background Color. Press Done when finished. Now change the bottle fill
color by clicking on the bottle, pressing Fill (on the Toolbox), and selecting a color.
Select Runtime! and observe the bottle fill operation. Press Development! when finished.
Controlling Visible Lines
Note the bottle has lines from the polygons and rectangle. Delete these lines by selecting Lines from the
top menu and No Lines. Press Runtime! and observe the results.
Selecting Text Fonts
The text font for Slider = ####.## can be changed by selecting the Font button on the Toolbox. Change the
font to Times New Roman, size 20.
Creating New Tagnames
Enter WindowMaker. Create a new tagname with the following parameters:
Name:bottle
Type: Memory Real
Minimum Value: 0
Maximum Value: 500
Log Data: Enabled
4. Log Events: Disabled
Controlling the Bottle Motion
Double click on the bottle. Press the Location/Horizontal button. Enter the following
data:
Expression:bottle
Value Horizontal Movement
Left End 0 Left 0
Right End 400 Right 400
Click OK. Next click on the Object Size/Height button. Enter the following data:
Value at Max Height: 320 Max % Height: 70
Value at Min Height: 0 Mm % Height: 100
Middle
Click on the Object Size/Width button. Enter the following data:
Value at Max Height: 320 Max % Height: 70
Value at Min Height: 0 Min % Height: 100
Center
Select Special/Scripts/Window Scripts from the top menu. Enter the following script file in the While
Showing screen:
bottle = bottle+ 10;
IF bottle == 100 THEN
IF slider< 100 THEN
slider=slider+l;
bottle=90;
ENDIF;
ENDIF;
IF bottle> 320 THEN
bottle=0;
slider=0;
END IF;
Note: You can use the buttons on the bottom of the screen to help enter the commands. Next select On
Show from the Window Scripts menu. Enter the following data:
bottle=0;
slider=0;
Select Runtime! The bottle should now appear to move along the conveyor, and stop to be filled at the fill
station. Select Development! when finished.
Creating an Alarm Condition
An alarm occurs when something out of the ordinary happens to the physical process. Wonderware
provides for monitoring and acknowledging alarms. The alarm for this process will occur when the
conveyor is not running. Create a new tagname called ConvStop. It should be type Memory Discrete, with
Log Events Enabled. Click on the Alarms box and set Alarm State On.
Now click on the Wizard button on the Toolbox. Select Switches and On/Off Rocker Discrete Switch.
Place this switch on the screen to the left of the conveyor. Double click on the switch and set the Tagname
to ConvStop.
5. Again select Wizards and Lights/Tube Lights. Place the Tube Light on the screen just below the switch.
Double click on the light and name the Expression ConvStop.Alarm.
Next revise the Scripts/Window Scripts/While Showing script as shown below:
bottle = bottle+ 10;
IF ConvStop == 1 THEN
bottle = bottle - 10;
ENDIF;
IF bottle == 100 THEN
IF slider<100 THEN
slider=slider+1
Bottle = 90;
ENDIF;
ENDIF;
IF bottle > 320 THEN
Bottle = 0;
Slider = 0;
ENDIF;
Select Runtime! and observe the movement of the bottle.
Creating an Alarm Panel
Create a new window by selecting File/New Window. Press Yes when asked “Copy Window Scripts?”.
Name the window Alarm, and keep the size the same as the Bottle window.
Select Wizards from the Toolbox menu. Next select Alarm Display/Std. Alarm Display. Using the left
mouse button, size the alarm display on the screen so that 10 entries (rows) are shown.
Double click on the alarm display. We do not wish to create priorities, so click on Format Alarm Message
and unselect Priority. Also select Alarm History on the screen. Press OK.
From the top menu, select Special/Configure/Alarm Logging/Logging Enabled. Press OK twice.
Now that the Alarm screen has been created, there must be a way to go back and forth between the Alarm
and Bottle screen. Open the Bottle screen (you will either have to use File/Open Window or Windows
from the top menu). Select Button from the Toolbox. Select Special/Substitute Strings from the top
menu. Enter Alarm for the string. Double click on the button and select Show Window. Select Alarm
(only Alarm should be highlighted). Now open the Alarm Window. Repeat the process above, this time
naming the button Bottle. Double click on the button and select Show Window. Select Bottle (only Bottle
should be highlighted).
Press Runtime! It should now be possible to go back and forth between each screen by pressing the
appropriate button. As conditions change on the Bottle screen, the appropriate alarms should be displayed.
Select Development! when finished.
Alarm Acknowledging
Alarms can be acknowledged. Any alarm that has been acknowledged is recorded on the alarm display
screen. To acknowledge an alarm, first draw a button. Using Special/Substitute Strings, rename the button
Alarm Acknowledge. Double click on the button and select Touch Pushbuttons/Action. Enter Ack
ConvStop; in the white box. Run the program and test the Alarm Acknowledge by pressing it and viewing
the alarm screen.
Creating a Historical Trend
6. A historical trend chart records past events in the process. In this example both tagnames slider and bottle
are recorded. Use File/NewWindow to create a new window named History. In this window, select the
Wizard button on the toolbox and Trends/ Hist Trend w/Scooters and Scale. Place the trend chart on the
upper left of the screen. Next select Trend Zoom/Pan Panel (second from left) and place it on the screen
below the trend chart.
Double click on the chart and press Suggest and OK. Wonderware will create the appropriate tagnames for
you. Next select the Trend Zoom/Pan Panel and press Suggest and OK. Wonderware will link the Trend
Zoom/Pan Panel with the chart.
Now create buttons and use Show Window to have a method of going from the History to the Bottle
window and back. Run the program. Allow the bottle to fill a couple of times. Go to the history window
and press the right arrow key, as shown below:
7. Note: The Historical Trends chart will not update automatically. An event must occur, such as an arrow
button pressed. Press Development! when finished.
Zooming In on the Historical Trend Window
The Trend Zoom/Pan has a zoom feature on it. Adjust the sliders on the screen to select a small part of the
graph. Press Zoom In to zoom in on the window. Study the other buttons n the Trend Zoom/Pan Panel
until you understand the operation.
Configuring a Real Time Display
Besides a Historical Display, Wonderware can also display a Real Time Display. Select Real-Time Trend
from the Toolbox menu. Draw the chart on the upper right of the bottle window. Double click on the chart
and enter the slider and bottle in pens 1 and 2. Press OK. Run the program. You should see the tagnames
slider and bottle continually updated on the screen.
Saving Historical Data in a CSV File
A CSV file can be generated with the Wizards/Trends/HistData Wizard. Select the item and place it
below the Trend Zoom/Pan Panel. Double click on it and fill in the dialog box. Press OK. Run the
program. Click the button HISTDATA.EXE when prompted. After collecting some data, press the Save
button on the Historical Trend box. You can change the filename if you like. After saving the file, exit
Wonderware, load Excel and use File/Open. Change Files Type to .CSV files. Find the directory, select the
file, and open it. The recorded date, time, and tagnames will now appear in Excel. Graph the tagnames
using a scatter diagram.
DDE Data Transfer
Just like Visual Basic, Wonderware can transfer data to other programs through DDE. Wonderware
requires and Access Name, Application/Server Name, Topic name, and Item name. We will illustrate this
process with the following example.
Select Special/DDE Access Names. Select Add. Fill in the following data:
DDE Access Name DDELink
DDE Application/Server Name Excel
DDE Topic Name Sheet1
Leave everything else at the default values.
Select Special/Tagname Dictionary create bottlefill as a DDE Real. For the DDE Access Name choose
DDELink, and for the Item choose R1C1.
In the Special/Scripts/Window Scripts, enter bottlefill = slider; in the While Showing screen.
8. Start Excel and minimize it. Press Runtime! in Wonderware. As the bottle moves on the screen, Row1
Column1 of Excel should show the present value.
All of this should be fairly straight forward. You can get help in the Wonderware help menu. The DDE can
also transfer to another server. Suppose we wanted to transfer to another computer named ENT12. The
DDE Application/Server Name would change to //ENT12/Excel.
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