New gauge...

The latest HMI release has a new gauge graphic element. It has many configurable settings, up to 3 needles, 3 sections, opacity, etc..

 

Drag and drop...

Before today importing graphics into the graphic editor was via the clipboard. Some external program (MS Paint, Photoshop, etc.) copied the graphic to the clipboard and the HMI could then ‘paste’ the graphic from the clipboard and convert it to an internal HMI graphic element for display.

The HMI graphic editor now supports drag and drop for graphic files.

PNG                Portable Network Graphics       

GIF                  Graphics Interchange Format
JPG/JPEG      Joint Photographic Experts Group
WMF/EMF   Windows Meta File/ Enhanced Metafiles
BMP               Bitmap Image File
ICO                 Icon

The file name extension is used to determine the file type. The clipboard can continue to be used to import graphics. The nature of WMF/EMF files might require a particular file to be imported via the clipboard.

User/operator log...

The HMI now has a runtime user/operator log. This provides for the entry of text into a log during runtime. For example, a machine stops running. The operator can add a log entry as to why the machine stopped.

The log entries are stamped with a date/time and the current user name as well as an optional category.

The log entries can be viewed at runtime and/or only log entry is allowed. The log can be exported to a text file or printed at design time or runtime.

This is a screen shot of the configuration window.

New HMI feature...

The HMI graphic animation configuration is a very easy “point & click” feature with many options. The configuration of graphic animations does not require scripting.

Sometimes, a need arises to render graphics in such a way that no amount of “built in” animations can cover all the possible situations. In these cases the option, before today, was to use the HMI scripting engine and store scripting results in one of the internal tags. Then the graphic animations would reference the internal tag.

As of today, graphic elements provide, as one of the animations, a script animation. Built in animation and/or scripting can be used for the same graphic object.

Here is a screen shot of the script editor with a simple script:

TLS/SSL...

TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol) has become a requirement for some email providers.

Today we released a new version of the HMI with support for TLS/SSL in the “Notification” feature of the HMI. We tested the new feature against two email providers. Non TLS/SSL support remains.

Also added was a test command to use while configuring the notification feature. When the test is initiated, a test email message will be sent to the selected email address using the settings configured.

 

HMI graphic editor...

A new feature was added to the graphic editor.

Lock/Unlock

An object can be locked in place and cannot be moved or resized until the object is unlocked.

1. When an object is locked the eight selection rectangles that appear when an object is selected will be eight circles.

2. Locked objects included in a group are unlocked when the group is created. The group can be locked.

3. Objects in a locked group can be resized and moved using the "group editor".

4. Locking only applies during design time. Locking does not apply to objects during runtime.

 

Mini single pen trend...

Today we released a new graphic element for the HMI. It is a sizeable mini single pen trend. It can be used in graphic windows were the full sized trend element, and all its features, are not required. The mini trend displays the previous 2-100 seconds of any analog or digital point. The point does not need to be configured for data logging.

The trend supports 5 trend styles with attributes for grid size, grid type, colors, text settings, etc.

This is a screen capture of the configuration dialog.