Introduction

A M580 safety PAC supports three kinds of animation tables, each associated with one of the following data areas:

  • Process area animation tables can include only data in the process namespace.

  • Safety area animation tables can include only data in the safe namespace.

  • Global animation tables can include data for the entire application, including data created for the safe and process namespaces, and global variables.

    NOTE: In a global animation table, data variable names include a prefix indicating the source namespace, as follows:

    • A data variable from the Safe namespace is displayed as “SAFE.<varname>”.

    • A data variable from the Process namespace is displayed as “PROCESS.<variable name>”.

    • A data variable from the Global (or Application) namespace displays only its <variable name>, with no namespace prefix.

Both process and safety data from an M580 safety PAC are also accessible by external processes (for example, SCADA or HMI).

Your ability to create and modify an animation table, and the ability to execute animation table functions, depend on the namespace of the affected variables and the operating mode of the safety project.

Conditions for Creating and Editing Animation Tables

Creating and editing animation tables involves adding or deleting data variables. Your ability to add data variables to, or delete data variables from an animation table depends on:

  • The namespace (safe or process) in which the data variable resides.

  • The operating mode (safety or maintenance) of the M580 safety PAC.

When Control Expert is connected to the M580 safety PAC, you can create and edit animation tables as follows:

  • Adding process namespace variables to, or deleting process namespace variables from a process or global animation table is supported while the M580 safety PAC is operating in either safety mode or maintenance mode.

  • Adding safe namespace variables to, or deleting safe namespace variables from a safety animation table is supported while the M580 safety PAC is operating in maintenance mode.

  • Adding safe namespace variables to, or deleting safe namespace variables from a safety animation table is supported while the M580 safety PAC is operating in safety mode only if the project settings do not include animation tables in the upload information.

    NOTE: Animation tables are included in, or excluded from, upload information in Control Expert by selecting Tools > Project Settings... to open the Project Settings... window, then navigating to Project Settings > General > PLC embedded data > Upload information > Animation tables.

Conditions for Operating Animation Tables

You can use animation tables to force a variable value, unforce a variable value, modify a single variable value, or modify multiple variable values. Your ability to perform these functions depends on the namespace in which a variable resides and the operating mode of the M580 safety PAC, as follows:

  • Process or global variable values can be read or written in both safety operating mode and maintenance operating mode.

  • Safety variable values can be read or written in maintenance operating mode.

  • Safety variable values can only be read in safety operating mode.

Process for Creating Animation Tables in the Safety or Process Namespace in Control Expert

Control Expert provides two ways to create animation tables for either the safety or process namespace:

  • From a safety or process code section window, right click in the code window, then select either:

    • Initialize Animation Table to add the data object to an existing animation table in safety or process namespace, or

    • Initialize New Animation Table to add the data object to a new animation table in the safety or process namespace.

    In each case, all the variables in the code section are added to the existing or new animation table.

  • From the Project Browser , in either the process or safety data area, right click on the Animation Tables folder, then select New Animation Table. Control Expert creates a new, empty animation table. You can then add individual variables from the namespace (safety or process) related to the table.

Process for Creating Globally Scoped Animation Tables

Create a global animation table in the Project Browser by right clicking the global Animation Tables folder, then selecting New Animation Table. You can add variables to the new animation table in several ways:

  • Drag and drop: You can drag a variable from a data editor and drop it into the global animation table. Because the scope of the animation table includes the entire application, you can drag the variable from the Safety Data Editor , the Process Data Editor , or the Global Data Editor .

  • Instance Selection dialog: You can double-click in a row in the animation table, then click the ellipsis button to open the Instance Selection dialog. Use the filtering list in the top right part of the dialog to select a one of the following project areas:

    • SAFE: to display data objects associated with the safety area.

    • PROCESS: to display data object associated with the process area.

    • APPLICATION: to display higher-level application scope data objects.

    Select a data object, then click OK to add the item to the animation table.

NOTE: Data objects added to a global animation table from the:

  • Process area have the prefix “PROCESS” affixed to the variable name (for example PROCESS.variable_01

  • Safety area have the prefix “SAFE” affixed to the variable name (for example SAFE.variable_02

  • Global area have no such prefix added to the variable name.

Displaying Data on Operator Screens

You can display data on an operator screen – such as an HMI, SCADA or FactoryCast application – in the same way that you link to data in an animation table. The data variables available for selection are those variables that are included in the Control Expert data dictionary.

You can enable the data dictionary by opening the Tools > Project Settings... window, then in the Scope > common area of the window, selecting General > PLC embedded data > Data dictionary.

The data dictionary makes data variables available to operator screens as follows:

  • Safe namespace variables always include the “SAFE” prefix, and can be reached only by using the format “SAFE.<variable name>”.

  • Global or application namespace variables do not include a prefix, and can be reached only by using the “<variable name>” without a prefix.

  • The Usage of Process Namespace setting determines how an operator screen can reach Process namespace variables.

    • If you select Usage of Process Namespace , the operator screen can read process area variables only by using the format “PROCESS.<variable name>”.

    • If you de-select Usage of Process Namespace , the operator screen can read process area variables only by using the format “<variable name>” without the PROCESS prefix.

      NOTE: If two variables are declared with the same name, one in the Process namespace and one in the Global namespace, only the variable from the Global Namespace is accessible by an HMI, SCADA, or Factory Cast application.

You can use the Instance Selection dialog to access individual data objects.

To prevent from accessing the incorrect variable:

  • Use different names for the variables you declare in the Process namespace and in the Global namespace, or

  • select Usage of Process Namespace and use the following syntax to access the variables with the same name:

    • “PROCESS.<variable name>” for variables declared in the Process namespace.

    • “<variable name>” without a prefix for variables declared in the Global namespace

Trending Tool

The Control Expert Trending Tool is not supported for use with an M580 safety project.