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VBS - how to assign new global constants to the whole project? Is it possible to manage .ini files?

Created by: adp at: 4/3/2006 9:27 AM (11 Replies)

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4/3/2006 9:27 AM	Rate (0)
adp Posts: 14 Rating: (0)	Hi, how is possible to assign new general constant to VBS scripts? In VBS there are already defined some system constants such as vbGreen and vbBlack and so on. I want to add some new constants to my project that define some parameters of the plant I want to control (i.e. the color of the motor running or others). 1. I've tried to create a global action executed at the beginning with the constant definition, but nothing. There are some other ways to follow? 2. Is it possible to read at the project startup an .ini file with all the constant in order that the process manager in the plant (that is not a automation engineer) can freely modify? 3. One solution could be to create a new table in WinCC Database via SQL Enterprise Manager, but it is not a simple solution for the user to modify it!!![:cry:] My interest is on both the first and second solution. Ciao[:P]
adp Posts: 14 Rating: (0)
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4/3/2006 10:54 AM	Rate (1)
Salma Gold Member Joined: 9/27/2005 Last visit: 11/27/2007 Posts: 1398 Rating: (151)	In C it is very easy to define global variables. However it is not as simple in VBS as property and event scripts run on different threads. My suggestion would be to use internal tags instead. Internal tags do not count towards your licenced tag count so you can use as many as you need. You could easily display / change these values in runtime too [:D] To load data into these tags you could have a C or VBS script that runs when WinCC is activated to read your INI file. · This faq shows how to read a file in C http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/view/en/850338 · In VBS you can use the FileSystemObject. Syntax and examples can be found in the WinCC manual. I hope this helps Salma

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4/3/2006 1:14 PM	Rate (0)
Michel Bronze Member Joined: 9/8/2005 Last visit: 9/11/2024 Posts: 177 Rating: (15)	Hi, since WinCC version 6.0 SP3 WinCC VBS provides a new object, called 'DataSet' - object. It allows to create global tags and exchange the values between different scripts. For more information search in the WinCC manual for the object 'DataSet' Michel

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4/3/2006 3:27 PM	Rate (0)
Salma Gold Member Joined: 9/27/2005 Last visit: 11/27/2007 Posts: 1398 Rating: (151)	Hi Michel Do you happen to have any useful examples for the DataSet object? I have not had any luck getting this to work across all global scripts, property scripts AND event scripts. Possibly I am not declaring or calling the object correctly. Salma

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4/3/2006 6:54 PM	Rate (0)
adp Posts: 14 Rating: (0)	Just to understand... but how is faster use internal tags as constants in VBS. When I need one of these constants I have to read a tag from the database!!! Is it correct? Doesn't this method slow down the project? ADP[:o]
adp Posts: 14 Rating: (0)
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4/4/2006 9:08 AM	Rate (2)
Salma Gold Member Joined: 9/27/2005 Last visit: 11/27/2007 Posts: 1398 Rating: (151)	You are right,internal tags arenotfaster. However they are easy to use and easily modified by users in runtime. It was just a suggestion / workaroundas I have had no luck using the DataSet object. Another suggestion would be to use your idea of a database table to store the values. It is very easy to read / write values in SQL Server from a WinCC script. However the overhead would be similar to reading the values from internal tags. Hope this makes sense [:)] Salma

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5/31/2011 10:23 PM	Rate (0)
Komi Posts: 291 Rating: (69)	Salma You are right,internal tags arenotfaster. However they are easy to use and easily modified by users in runtime. Hi adp & Salma, I agree with the above very much!! But ~ Salma It was just a suggestion / workaroundas I have had no luck using the DataSet object. It's quite easy & convenient (useful) to read-in settings of a bundle of 'Global Constants' from an .ini file or an .xls/.mdb/ .txtfile (all being as an 'portable' TABLE for querying), then save the return recordset rows into DataSet Object for furthurmore usage. I would like to write a sample if you need. B.R., Komi
Komi Posts: 291 Rating: (69)	Last edited by: Komi at: 5/31/2011 10:23 PM
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6/1/2011 7:12 AM	Rate (0)
SteBo Platinum Member Joined: 10/3/2010 Last visit: 11/18/2024 Posts: 1563 Rating: (192)	Komi Salma You are right,internal tags arenotfaster. However they are easy to use and easily modified by users in runtime. Hi adp & Salma, I agree with the above very much!! But ~ Salma It was just a suggestion / workaroundas I have had no luck using the DataSet object. It's quite easy & convenient (useful) to read-in settings of a bundle of 'Global Constants' from an .ini file or an .xls/.mdb/ .txtfile (all being as an 'portable' TABLE for querying), then save the return recordset rows into DataSet Object for furthurmore usage. I would like to write a sample if you need. B.R., Komi Hey Komi, you feel it coming, right ... I'm interested in learning how you do that, so if you have some spare time, please provide a sample.
	B r g d s , S t e B o SIMATIC HMI in Online Support Forum
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6/1/2011 7:15 PM	Rate (0)
Komi Posts: 291 Rating: (69)	Hi SteBo, Firstly ~ please do me a favor -- decide the datasoure for me! Make a choice among: 1. .INI, .CSV, .TXT 2. .XLS 3. .MDB Having too many choice takes my time to make a decision ^-^; So ... thanks for saving my time in advance! (The sample should be coming in a couple weeks. Because I've been in site doing engineering commission recently.) Have a nice day, Komi
Komi Posts: 291 Rating: (69)
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6/1/2011 9:04 PM	Rate (0)
SteBo Platinum Member Joined: 10/3/2010 Last visit: 11/18/2024 Posts: 1563 Rating: (192)	1. .INI, .CSV, .TXT is fair enough but take your time
	B r g d s , S t e B o SIMATIC HMI in Online Support Forum
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