CitectSCADA Cicode Reference

CitectSCADA
v7.40
Cicode Reference Guide
August 2013
Legal Information
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panies.
August 2013 edition for CitectSCADA Version v7.40.
Manual Revision Version v7.40.
PLEASE NOTE
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by Schneider Electric (Australia) Pty. Ltd. for any consequences arising out of the use of this material. © 2013 Schneider Electric (Aus-
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Contents
Legal Information 1
Contents 3
Introduction 11
Safety Information 13
Chapter 1: Introducing Cicode 15

Getting Started 15
Using Cicode Files 16
Restricted Cicode Keywords 16
Using Cicode 19
Chapter 2: Using Cicode Commands 21

Setting Variables 21
Performing Calculations 22
Using Multiple Command Statements 23
Using Include (Text) Files 23
Getting Runtime Operator Input 25
Chapter 3: Using Cicode Expressions 27

Displaying Data Using Expressions 27
Decision-Making 28
Logging Expression Data 28
Triggering Events Using Expressions 29
Chapter 4: Using Cicode Functions 31

3
Contents
Calling Functions from Commands and Expressions 31

Triggering Functions via Runtime Operator Input 31
Evaluating Functions 32
Combining Functions with Other Statements 32
Passing Data to Functions (Arguments) 33
Using String Arguments 33
String assignment 34
Using the Caret Escape Sequence Character 34
Using Multiple Arguments 35
Using Numeric Arguments 35
Using Variable Arguments 35
Using Operator Input in Functions 36
Returning Data from Functions 36
Chapter 5: Working with Commonly Used Functions 37

Alarm Functions 37
Page Functions 38
Keyboard Functions 39
Report Functions 39
Time/date Functions 39
Miscellaneous Functions 39
Chapter 6: Writing Functions 41

Cicode Function Structure 41
Function Uses 42
Writing Groups of Functions 43
Cicode Function Libraries 43
Creating a Function Outline 44
Pseudocode 44
Using Comments in Cicode 45
Using Comments for Debugging Functions 46
Tag Reference /TagReadEx() behavior in Cicode Expressions 46
Following Cicode Syntax 47
Cicode Function Syntax 48
End of line markers 50
Function Scope 50
Declaring the Return Data Type 51
Declaring Functions 52
Naming Functions 53
Function Argument Structure 54
Declaring Argument Data Type 56
Naming Arguments 57
Setting Default Values for Arguments 58
Returning Values from Functions 60
Chapter 7: Using Variables 63

Declaring Variable Properties 63
4
Contents
Declaring the Variable Data Type 64

QUALITY Data Type 64
TIMESTAMP Data Type 65
Naming Variables 65
Setting Default Variable Values 66
Using Variable Scope 66
Using Database Variables 68
Chapter 8: Using Arrays 69

Declaring Array Properties 69
Declaring the Array Data Type 70
Naming Arrays 70
Declaring the Variable Array Size 70
Setting Default (Initial) Array Values 71
Passing Array Elements as Function Arguments 72
Using One-dimensional Arrays 72
Using Two-dimensional Arrays 72
Using Three-dimensional Arrays 73
Using Array Elements in Loops 74
Using the Table (Array) Functions 74
Chapter 9: Using Cicode Macros 75

IFDEF 75
IFDEFAdvAlm 76
IFDEFAnaAlm 77
IFDEFDigAlm 78
Macro Arguments 79
Chapter 10: Converting and Formatting Cicode Variables 81

Converting Variable Integers to Strings 81
Converting Real Numbers to Strings 82
Converting Strings to Integers 83
Converting Strings to Real Numbers 83
Formatting Text Strings 83
Escape Sequences (String Formatting Commands) 85
Chapter 11: Working with Operators 87

Using Mathematical Operators 87
Using Bit Operators 89
Using Relational Operators 90
Using Logical Operators 91
Order of Precedence of Operators 92
Chapter 12: Working with Conditional Executors 93

Setting IF ... THEN Conditions 93
5
Contents
Using FOR ... DO Loops 94

Using WHILE ... DO Conditional Loops 95
Nested Loops 95
Using the SELECT CASE statement 96
Chapter 13: Performing Advanced Tasks 99

Handling Events 99
How Cicode is Executed 100
Multitasking 101
Foreground and background tasks 101
Controlling tasks 102
Pre-emptive multitasking 102
Chapter 14: Editing and Debugging Code 105

The Cicode Editor 105
Starting the Cicode Editor 106
Changing the default Cicode Editor 107
Creating Cicode files 108
Creating functions 108
Saving files 108
Opening Cicode files 109
Deleting Cicode files 110
Finding text in Cicode files 110
Compiling Cicode files 111
Viewing errors detected by the Cicode Compiler 111
Cicode Editor Options 111
Docking the Windows and Toolbars 112
Displaying the Editor Options Properties dialog 112
Windows and Bars Tab 113
Toolbar options 113
Window options 114
Viewing Editor windows 114
Options Properties Tab 119
Language Formatter Properties Tab 121
Debugging Cicode 122
Using debug mode 122
Debugging functions 122
Debugging functions remotely 123
Using breakpoints 124
Inserting or removing breakpoints 124
Enabling/disabling breakpoints 124
Stepping through code 125
Chapter 15: Using Cicode Programming Standards 127

Variable Declaration Standards 128
Variable Scope Standards 128
Variable Naming Standards 129
6
Contents
Standards for Constants, Variable Tags, and Labels 130

Formatting Simple Declarations 131
Formatting Executable Statements 132
Formatting Expressions 133
Cicode Comments 134
Formatting Functions 134
Format Templates 136
Function Naming Standards 138
Modular Programming 140
Defensive Programming 143
Function Error handling 144
Debug Error Trapping 147
Functions Reference 149
Chapter 16: Accumulator Functions 151
Chapter 17: ActiveX Functions 159
Chapter 18: Alarm and Alarm Filter Functions 173
Chapter 19: Clipboard Functions 281
Chapter 20: Cluster Functions 285

285
Chapter 21: Color Functions 293
Chapter 22: Communication Functions 299
Chapter 23: DDE Functions 307
Chapter 24: Device Functions 321
Chapter 25: Display Functions 351
Chapter 26: DLL Functions 441
Chapter 26: Equipment Database Functions 447
7
Contents
Chapter 27: Error Functions 463
Chapter 28: Event Functions 475
Chapter 29: File Functions 493
Chapter 30: Form Functions 513
Chapter 31: Format Functions 551
Chapter 32: FTP Functions 561
Chapter 33: FuzzyTech Functions 567
Chapter 34: Group Functions 573
Chapter 35: I/O Device Functions 583
Chapter 36: Keyboard Functions 595
Chapter 37: Mail Functions 611
Chapter 38: Math/Trigonometry Functions 617
Chapter 39: Menu Functions 633
Chapter 40: Miscellaneous Functions 649
Chapter 41: Page Functions 701
Chapter 42: Plot Functions 747
Chapter 43: Process Analyst Functions 769
Chapter 44: Quality Functions 777
Chapter 45: Report Functions 791

8
Contents
Scheduler Functions 796
Chapter 46: Security Functions 829
Chapter 46: Sequence of Events 855
Chapter 47: Server Functions 857
Chapter 48: SQL Functions 873
Chapter 49: SPC Functions 927
Chapter 50: String Functions 943
Chapter 51: Super Genie Functions 971
Chapter 52: Table (Array) Functions 1011
Chapter 53: Tag Functions 1015
Chapter 54: Task Functions 1073
Chapter 55: Time/Date Functions 1113
Chapter 56: Timestamp Functions 1135
Chapter 57: Trend Functions 1151
Chapter 58: Window Functions 1243
Chapter 58: XML Functions 1278
Technical Reference 1297
Chapter 59: Cicode Errors 1299

Hardware/Cicode Errors 1299
9
Contents
Cicode and General Errors 1300

MAPI Errors 1323
Chapter 60: Browse Function Field Reference 1327

Server Browse Function Fields 1338
10
Part: 1
Introduction
This section provides some introductory material for CitectSCADA:
Introducing Cicode
11
12
Safety Information
Safety Information
Hazard categories and special symbols
The following symbols and special messages may appear in this manual or on the prod-
uct to warn of potential hazards or to call attention to information that clarifies or sim-
plifies a procedure.
Symbol Description
The addition of either symbol to a “Danger” or “Warning” safety

label indicates that an electrical hazard exists which will result in
or personal injury if the instructions are not followed.
This is the safety alert symbol. It is used to alert you to personal

injury hazards. Obey all safety messages that follow this symbol to
avoid possible injury or death.
DANGER indicates an imminently hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, will result in
death or serious injury.
WARNING indicates a potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, can result in
death or serious injury.
CAUTION indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, can result in
minor or moderate injury.
NOTICE
NOTICE used without a safety alert symbol, indicates a potentially hazardous situation
which, if not avoided, can result in property or equipment damage.
Please Note
Electrical equipment should be installed, operated, serviced, and maintained only by

qualified personnel. No responsibility is assumed by Schneider Electric (Australia) Pty.
Ltd. for any consequences arising out of the use of this material.
13
Safety Information
Before You Begin
CitectSCADA is a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) solution. It facil-

itates the creation of software to manage and monitor industrial systems and processes.
Due to CitectSCADA's central role in controlling systems and processes, you must appro-
priately design, commission, and test your CitectSCADA project before implementing it
in an operational setting. Observe the following:
UNINTENDED EQUIPMENT OPERATION
Do not use CitectSCADA or other SCADA software as a replacement for PLC-based control
programs. SCADA software is not designed for direct, high-speed system control.
Failure to follow these instructions can result in death, serious injury, or equip-
ment damage.
LOSS OF CONTROL
l The designer of any control scheme must consider the potential failure modes of con-
trol paths and, for certain critical control functions, provide a means to achieve a safe
state during and after a path failure. Examples of critical control functions are emer-
gency stop and overtravel stop, power outage and restart.
l Separate or redundant control paths must be provided for critical control functions.
l System control paths may include communication links. Consideration must be given
to the implications of unanticipated transmission delays or failures of the link.
l Observe all accident prevention regulations and local safety guidelines. 1
l Each implementation of a control system created using CitectSCADA must be individ-
ually and thoroughly tested for proper operation before being placed into service.
ment damage.
1. For additional information, refer to NEMA ICS 1.1 (latest edition) "Safety Guidelines
for the Application, Installation, and Maintenance of Solid State Control", and to NEMA
ICS 7.1 (latest edition) "Safety Standards for Construction and Guide for Selection, Instal-
lation and Operation of Adjustable-Speed Drive Systems" or their equivalent governing
your particular location.
14
Chapter 1: Introducing Cicode
Cicode is a programming language designed for use in CitectSCADA to monitor and con-
trol plant equipment. It is a structured language similar to Visual Basic or 'C'. You need
no previous programming experience to use it.
Using Cicode, you can access real-time data (variables) in the CitectSCADA project, and
CitectSCADA facilities: variable tags, alarms, trends, reports, and so on. You can use
Cicode to interface to various facilities on the computer, such as the operating system
and communication ports. Cicode supports advanced features including pre-empted
multitasking, multi threads, and remote procedure calls.
Getting Started
Use the following sections as a quick start to using Cicode in your CitectSCADA projects:
l Cicode can be stored in procedures called functions for multiple reuse and cen-
tralized maintenance. For details, see Using Cicode Files.
l Cicode can be typed directly into command fields in online CitectSCADA forms. For
details, see Using Cicode Commands.
l Cicode expressions are used to display and log data for monitoring and analysis,
and to trigger various elements in your system, such as alarms, events, reports, and
data logging. For information on using expressions, see Using Cicode Expressions.
l A Cicode function is a small program, a collection of statements, variables, operators,
conditional executors, and other functions. A Cicode function can perform complex
tasks and give you access to CitectSCADA graphics pages, alarms, trend data, and so
on. For information on using functions, see the section titled Using Cicode Functions.
Cicode has many pre-defined functions that perform a variety of tasks. For details on
commonly used functions, see the section titled Working with Commonly Used Func-
tions. Where system functionality cannot be achieved with built-in functions, you can
write your own functions. See Writing Functions.
l The Cicode Editor is the code editing tool provided with CitectSCADA for the writing,
editing and debugging of your Cicode code. For details, see The Cicode Editor.
See Also
Performing Advanced Tasks
Using Cicode Programming Standards
15
Using Cicode Files

You write your Cicode functions in Cicode source files, stored on your hard disk. Cicode
files are identified by having a *.CI extension.
To minimize potential future difficulties with maintaining your Cicode files, adopt a pro-
gramming standard as early as possible (see Using Cicode Programming Standards).
Maintain structured Cicode files, by logically grouping your Cicode functions within the
files, and by choosing helpful descriptive names. For details about modular pro-
gramming methods, see Modular Programming. For details about using and debugging
Cicode functions, see Formatting Functions and Debugging Cicode respectively.
When you compile your CitectSCADA project, the compiler reads the functions in your
Cicode source files. Your system can then use these functions in the same way as it uses
built-in functions. You can use as many Cicode files as required. Cicode files reside in
the same directory as your CitectSCADA project. When you back up your project, the
Cicode source files in the project directory are also backed up.
See Also
The Cicode Editor
Creating Cicode files
Opening Cicode files
Restricted Cicode Keywords

The following keywords have specific function in the operation of Cicode and should
not be used for function names, variable names, etc. They are reserved for use as math-
ematical operators, condition executors, or as part of a function definition.
and global quality
bitand if real
bitor int return
bitxor is select
case mod string
cicode module then
CiVBA nop timestamp
do not to
16
else object var
end or while
for private
function public
If you use any of these words inappropriately in your Cicode, it will not be allowed by
the compiler.
17
18
Part: 2
Using Cicode
This section contains information for Users and describes the following:
Using Cicode Commands Using Cicode Macros
Using Cicode Expressions Converting and Formatting

Cicode Variables
Using Cicode Functions Working with Operators
Working with Commonly Used Working with Conditional Exec-

Functions utors
Writing Functions Performing Advanced Tasks
Using Variables Editing and Debugging Code
Using Arrays Using Cicode Programming Stand-

ards
19
20
Chapter 2: Using Cicode Commands
Cicode commands extend the control element of a CitectSCADA control and monitoring
system. You use commands to control your CitectSCADA system and therefore the proc-
esses in your plant.
Each command has a mechanism to activate it. Commands can be issued manually,
through an operator typing a key sequence, or by clicking on a button (or object) on a
graphics page. You can also configure commands to execute automatically:
l When an operator logs into or out of the runtime system
l When a graphics page is displayed or closed
l When an alarm is triggered
l In a report
l When an event is triggered
To define a Cicode command, you enter a statement (or group of statements) in the com-
mand field (Input category) for an object.
Each statement in a command usually performs a single task, such as setting a variable
to a value, calculating a value, displaying a message on the screen, or running a report.
For information on using variables, see the section titled Using Variables.
If you want to evaluate a condition, like checking the state of your plant rather than per-
form an action or command upon your plant, use an expression instead. See the section
titled Using Cicode Expressions.
See Also
Setting Variables
You can set a Variable in CitectSCADA within a Command field, an Expression field, or
in a Cicode Function, by using the mathematical 'equals' sign ( = ) assignment operator.
The value on the right is assigned (set) to the variable on the left, as shown in the fol-
lowing Cicode example :
<VAR_TAG> = Val;
where:
21
<VAR_TAG> is the name of the variable, and Val is the value being assigned to the variable.
Examples
To set a digital variable (named BIT_1) to ON (1), use the command:
BIT_1 = 1;
To set a digital variable (named BIT_1) to OFF (0), use the command:
BIT_1 = 0;
To set a digital variable (named B1_PUMP_101_M) to ON (1), use the command:
B1_PUMP_101_M = 1;
To set a digital variable (named B1_PUMP_101_M) to OFF (0), use the command:
B1_PUMP_101_M = 0;
To set an analog variable (named B1_TIC_101_SP) to a value of ten (10), use the com-
mand:
B1_TIC_101_SP = 10;
You can copy a variable to another by assigning (setting) the value of a variable to the
value of another variable, for example:
B1_PUMP_101_COUNT = B1_PUMP_101_CLIMIT;
The value of B1_PUMP_101_COUNT is set to the value of B1_PUMP_101_CLIMIT only

when that command is issued.
Note: The value of B1_PUMP_101_CLIMIT could change immediately after, but B1_
PUMP_101_COUNT remains unchanged and storing the original value, until this
command is issued again.
Performing Calculations
Mathematical calculations can be performed between variables in a Cicode statement.
For example:
22
B1_TIC_101_SP = B1_TIC_101_PV + B1_TIC_102_PV - 100;
When this command is executed, the variable B1_TIC_101_SP is set to a value that is the
sum of variables B1_TIC_101_PV and B1_TIC_102_PV minus 100.
Using Multiple Command Statements

A single statement in a Cicode command usually performs a single task. When the
CitectSCADA runtime system is in operation, the statement executes whenever the com-
mand is requested. For example, if the statement is linked to a keyboard command, the
task is performed when an operator presses the keyboard key defined as that command.
To perform several tasks at the same time, you combine statements in a command prop-
erty:
B1_PUMP_101_COUNT = B1_PUMP_101_CLIMIT;
BATCH_NAME = "Bread";
B1_TIC_101_SP = 10;
The example above uses three statements, separated by semi-colons ( ; ). The first state-
ment sets the variable B1_PUMP_101_COUNT to the value of the variable B1_PUMP_
101_CLIMIT; the second statement sets the variable BATCH_NAME to the string
"Bread"; and the third statement sets the variable B1_TIC_101_SP to 10. Each statement
is executed in order.
Note: Separate each statement in a command with a semicolon (;). If you don't, Citect-
SCADA will not recognize the end of a statement, and errors will result when the
project is compiled.
The number of statements you can enter in a command property is limited only by the
size of the field. However, for clarity, don't use too many statements; enter the statements
into an Include File or write a Cicode Function. You then refer to the include file or call
the function in the command property field.
Using Include (Text) Files

There is a maximum number of characters that you can type in a Command or Expres-
sion field (usually 128). If you need to include many commands (or expressions) in a
property field, you can define a separate include file that contains the commands or
expressions.
23
An include file is a separate and individual ASCII text file containing only one sequence
of CitectSCADA commands or expressions that would otherwise be too long or com-
plicated to type into the Command or Expression field within CitectSCADA. The include
file name is entered instead, and the whole file is activated when called.
When you compile the project, the commands (or expressions) in the include file are sub-
stituted for the property field, just as if you had typed them directly into the field.
Use a text editor such as Notepad to create the text file.
Enter the name of the include file (either upper- or lower case) in the property, in the fol-
lowing format:
@<filename>
where <filename> is any valid DOS file name. Be aware that the bracket characters (< >)
are part of the syntax.
You can use include files with many properties (except record names), but they are com-
monly used for commands and expressions, for example:
l Key sequence: F5 ENTER
l Command: @<setvars.cii>
In the above example, the setvars.cii include file would contain commands to be sub-
stituted for the Command property when you compile your project, for example:
PV12 = 10;
PV22 = 20;
PV13 = 15;
PV23 = 59;
PageDisplay("Mimic");
Notes
l Include files can not be used for genie properties.
l Do notconfuse include files and includedprojects. Include files contain CitectSCADA
commands and/or expressions and are used as substitutions in a CitectSCADA com-
mand or expression property field. Included projects are separate (usually smaller)
CitectSCADA projects that can be included in another CitectSCADA project so that
they appear together as one project.
l The include file name can contain a maximum of 64 characters, or 253 characters
including a path, and can consist of any characters other than the semi-colon (;) or
the single quote('). There is no need to include the .cii extension, but if the file is not
in the project directory, you need to enter the full path to the file. If the file is not in
the project directory, it will not be backed up with the Backup facility.
24
l If modifying an Include file with the Cicode Editor, when you save your changes a
.ci file extension will be appended to the file name. Change this to a .cii file exten-
sion in Windows Explorer.
Getting Runtime Operator Input

You can define a keyboard command as a key sequence, to perform a specific task each
time the key sequence is pressed, for example:
l Key sequence: F2 ENTER
l Command: B1_TIC_101_SP = 10;
A key sequence can include provision for the operator to enter data. In the following
example, the operator can set the value of the variable B1_TIC_101_SP:
The operator sends out the command by pressing the F2 key, up to three characters, and
the Enter key. The three character sequence (identified by the three hash (#) characters) is
called an argument. The argument is passed into the command (as Arg1) when the com-
mand is completed (when the operator presses the Enter key).
The operator might type:
The value 123 is passed to the command, and B1_TIC_101_SP is set to 123.
It is recommended that you use a specific key (for example, Enter) to signal the end of a
key sequence. If, for example, you use the key sequence F2 ####, the operator needs to
enter 4 characters for the command to be executed - CitectSCADA waits for the fourth
character. But if you use F2 #### Enter, the operator can enter between one and four char-
acters as necessary. The command executes as soon as the Enter key is pressed.
To use more than one argument in a command, separate the arguments with commas ( ,
):
l Key sequence: F2 ###,## Enter
l Command: B1_TIC_101_SP = Arg1; B1_TIC_101_PV = Arg2;
To set both variables, the operator can type:
25
The values 123 and 18 are passed to the command. B1_TIC_101_SP is set to 123 and
B1_TIC_101_PV is set to 18.
26
Chapter 3: Using Cicode Expressions
Cicode expressions are the basic elements of the Cicode language. An expression can be
a constant, the value of a variable tag, or the result of a complex equation. You can use
expressions to display and log data for monitoring and analysis, and to trigger various
elements in your system, such as alarms, events, reports, and data logging.
You can enter a Cicode expression in any CitectSCADA editor form or graphic object that
contains an expression property. Unlike a command, an expression does not execute a
specific task - it is evaluated. The evaluation process returns a value that you can use to
display information on the screen (for example, as a bar graph) or to make decisions.
The following expression returns a result of 12:
l Numeric expression: 8 + 4
In the above example, the value of the expression is a constant (12) because the elements
of the expression are constants (8 and 4).
See Also
Displaying Data Using Expressions
Logging Expression Data
Triggering Events Using Expressions
Using Cicode Files
Displaying Data Using Expressions

In the following example, the value of the expression is the value of the variable B1_
TIC_101_PV. As its value changes, the value of the expression also changes. You can
use this expression to display a number on a graphics page.
l Numeric expression: B1_TIC_101_PV
As the expression changes, the number also changes.
Expressions can also include mathematical calculations. For example, you can add two
variables together and display the combined total:
l Numeric expression: B1_TIC_101_PV + B1_TIC_102_PV
In this case, the value of the expression is the combined total. As the value of one var-
iable (or both variables) changes, the value of the expression changes.
27
See Also
Using Cicode Expressions
Decision-Making
Some expressions return only one of two logical values, either TRUE(1) or FALSE(0). You
can use these expressions to make decisions, and to perform one of two actions, depend-
ing on whether the return value is TRUE or FALSE. For example, you can configure a
text object with appearance as follows:
l On text when: B1_PUMP_102_CMD
l ON text: Pump Running
l OFF text: "Pump Stopped"
In this example, if B1_PUMP_102_CMD is a digital tag (variable), it can only exist in
one of two states (0 or 1). When your system is running and the value of B1_PUMP_
102_CMD changes to 1, the expression returns TRUE and the message "Pump Running"
is displayed. When the value changes to 0, the expression returns FALSE and the mes-
sage "Pump Stopped" is displayed.
See Also
Logging Expression Data

You can log the value of an expression to a file for trending, by defining it as a trend tag:
Trend Tag Name B1_TIC
Expression B1_TIC_101_PV + B1_TIC_102_PV
File Name [log]:B1_TIC
When the system is running, the value of the expression B1_TIC_101_PV + B1_TIC_102_
PV is logged to the file [log]:B1_TIC.
See Also
28
Triggering Events Using Expressions

Logical expressions - those that return either TRUE (1) or FALSE (0) -can be used as
triggers.
For example, you might need to log the expression in the above example only when an
associated pump is running.
Trend Tag Name B1_TIC
Expression B1_TIC_101_PV + B1_TIC_102_PV
File Name [log]:B1_TIC
Trigger B1_PUMP_101_CMD
In this example, the trigger is the expression B1_PUMP_101_CMD (a digital variable

tag). If the pump is ON, the result of the trigger is TRUE, and the value of the expression
(B1_TIC_101_PV + B1_TIC_102_PV) is logged. If the pump is OFF, the result is FALSE,
and logging ceases.
See Also
29
30
Chapter 4: Using Cicode Functions
A Cicode function can perform more complex tasks than a simple command or expres-
sion allows. Functions give you access to CitectSCADA graphics pages, alarms, trend
data, and so on.
CitectSCADA has several hundred built-in functions that display pages, acknowledge
alarms, make calculations, and so on. You can also write your own functions to meet
your specific needs.
See Also
Working with Commonly Used Functions
Writing Functions
Calling Functions from Commands and Expressions

You can call a function by entering its name in any command or expression property.
The syntax is as follows:
Command FunctionName ( Arg1, Arg2, ... );
where:
FunctionName is the name of the function
Arg1, Arg2, ... are the arguments you pass to the function
Triggering Functions via Runtime Operator Input

In the following command, the PageNext() function displays the next graphics page when
the Page Down keyboard key is pressed by the Runtime operator.
Key Sequence Page_Down
Command PageNext();
31
Evaluating Functions
You can use a function in any expression. For example, the AlarmActive() function
returns TRUE (1) if any alarms are active, and FALSE (0) if no alarms are active. In the
following text object, either "Alarms Active" or "No Alarms Active" is displayed, depend-
ing on the return value of the expression.
ON text when AlarmActive(0)
ON Text "Alarms Active"
OFF Text "No Alarms Active"
Note: Functions return a value that indicates the success of the function, or provides
information on an error that has occurred. In many cases (for example, when used in
a command) the return value can be ignored. You need to use the parentheses () in
the function name, even if the function uses no arguments. Function names are not
case-sensitive: PageNext(), pagenext() and PAGENEXT() call the same function.
Combining Functions with Other Statements

In expressions and commands you can use functions alone or in combination with other
functions, operators, and so on.
The following example uses three statements:
Command Report("Shift"); B1_TIC_101_PV = 10; PageDisplay("Boiler 1")
Each statement is executed in order. The "Shift" report is started first, the variable B1_
TIC_101_PV is set to 10 next, and finally, the "Boiler 1" page is displayed.
Functions combine with operators and conditional executors to give you specific control
over your processes, for example, you can test for abnormal operating conditions and act
on them.
32
Passing Data to Functions (Arguments)

The parentheses ( ) in the function name identify the statement as a function and enclose
its arguments. Arguments are the values or variables that are passed into the function
when it executes.
Note: Some functions (such as PageNext()) have no arguments. However you need to
include the parentheses ( ) or CitectSCADA will not recognize that it is a function,
and an error could result when the project is compiled.
Using String Arguments

Functions can require several arguments or, as in the following example, a single argu-
ment:
Command PageDisplay("Boiler 1");
This function displays the graphics page called "Boiler 1". Be aware that when you pass
a string to a function, you need to always enclose the string in double quotes.
You can use the PageDisplay() function to display any graphics page in your system - in
each case, only the argument changes. For example, the following command displays
the graphics page "Boiler 2":
Command PageDisplay("Boiler 2");
You can use the Report() function to run a report (for example, the "Shift" report) when
the command executes:
Command Report("Shift");
The following example uses the Prompt() function to display the message "Press F1 for
Help" on the screen when the command executes:
Command Prompt("Press F1 for Help");
33
String assignment
You can also assign string variables in commands. For example, if BATCH_NAME is a
variable tag defined as a string data type, you can use the following command to set the
tag to the value "Bread":
BATCH_NAME = "Bread";
Note: you need to enclose a string in double quotation marks ( " ).
Using the Caret Escape Sequence Character

The caret character ( ^ ) signifies a special instruction in Cicode, called an escape
sequence, primarily used in the formatting of text strings. Escape sequences include for-
matting instructions such as new line, form feed, carriage return, backspace, horizontal
and vertical tab-spaces, single and double quote characters, the caret character, and hex-
adecimal numbers.
Strings are commonly represented in Cicode between double quote characters ( " ) known
as delimiters. If you want the string to contain a double quote character itself as part of
the string, you need to precede the double quote character with the caret character ( ^" )
so that Cicode doesn't interpret the double quote in the string as the delimiter indicating
the end of the string. The caret character is interpreted as a special instruction, and
together with the characters immediately following it, are treated as an escape sequence
instruction. See the section titled Formatting Text Strings for the list of escape sequences
used in Cicode.
In the following Cicode example, both of these message functions will display the fol-
lowing message.
Message("Info", "P29 has a ^"thermal overload^".", 0);

sCurrentAlmText = "Thermal Overload";
Message("Info", "P29 has a ^""+sCurrentAlmText+"^".", 0);
34
Using Multiple Arguments

Some functions require several arguments. You need to list arguments between the paren-
theses, and separate each argument with a comma ( , ) as in the following example:
Command Login("Manager", "ABC");
The order of the arguments affects the operation of any function. The Login() function
logs a user into your runtime system. The first argument ( "Manager" ) indicates the
name of the user, and the second argument ( "ABC" ) is the user's password. If you
reverse the order of the arguments, the function would attempt to login a user called
"ABC" - if a user by this name does not exist, an error message displays.
Using Numeric Arguments

You can pass numbers (integers and floating point numbers) directly to a function, for
example:
Command AlarmAck(2, 35);
Using Variable Arguments

When variables (such as real-time data) are used as arguments, the value of the variable
is passed, not the variable itself. The following example uses the DspStr() function to dis-
play the value of a process variable at AN25:
Command DspStr(25, "TextFont", B1_TIC_101_PV);
In this instance, the value of B1_TIC_101_PV displays. If it is a real-time variable, the

number that displays depends on its value at the time.
Note: If you use double quotes around variables, for example, "B1_TIC_101_PV", the
text string B1_TIC_101_PV displays, rather than the value of the variable.
35
Using Operator Input in Functions

You can pass operator input to functions at runtime. For example, you can define a Sys-
tem Keyboard Command to let the operator select a page:
Key Sequence F10 ######## Enter
Command PageDisplay(Arg1);
When the command executes, the page name is passed to the function as Arg1. The oper-
ator can then display any page, for example:
Returning Data from Functions

Functions return data to the calling statement (a command or expression). Some func-
tions simply return a value that indicates whether the function was successful. For exam-
ple, both the PageNext() and PageDisplay() functions return 0 (zero) if the page displays
successfully, otherwise they return an error number. For a large number of simple appli-
cations, you can ignore this return value.
Some functions return data that you can use in an expression or command. For example,
the Date() function returns the current date as a string. To display the current date on a
graphics page, use the following expression in a text object display value property:
Numeric expression Date();
The following example shows an entry command event for a graphics page, using a
combination of two functions. The FullName() function returns the name of the user who
is currently logged in to the run-time system, passing this name to the calling function,
Prompt(). When the page is opened, a welcome message displays in the prompt line.
On page entry Prompt("Hello, " + FullName())
For example, if the current user is John Citizen, the message "Hello, John Citizen" dis-
plays.
36
Chapter 5: Working with Commonly Used Func-
tions
Cicode has many functions that perform a variety of tasks. Many of these are used for
building complex CitectSCADA systems. The functions you will often use are divided
into six categories:
l Alarm Functions
l Page Functions
l Keyboard Functions
l Report Functions
l Time/date Functions
l Miscellaneous Functions
See Also
Functions Reference
Alarm Functions
You can use alarm functions to display alarms and their related alarm help pages, and
to acknowledge, disable, and enable alarms. You can assign a privilege to each com-
mand that uses an alarm function, so that only an operator with the appropriate priv-
ilege can perform these commands. However, you should assign privileges to
commands only if you have not assigned privileges to individual alarms.
l AlarmAck: Acknowledges an alarm. The alarm where the cursor is positioned (when
the command is executed) is acknowledged. You can also use this function to
acknowledge multiple alarms.
l AlarmComment: Adds a comment to the alarm summary entry at run time. The com-
ment is added to the alarm where the cursor is positioned when the command is
executed. A keyboard argument passes the comment into the function. Verify that the
length of the comment does not exceed the length of the argument, or an error results.
l AlarmDisable: Disables an alarm. The alarm where the cursor is positioned (when
the command is executed) is disabled. You can also use this function to disable mul-
tiple alarms.
37
Chapter 5: Working with Commonly Used Functions
l AlarmEnable: Enables an alarm. The alarm where the cursor is positioned (when the
command is executed) is enabled. You can also use this function to enable multiple
alarms.
l AlarmHelp: Displays an alarm help page for the alarm. Each alarm in your system
can have an associated help page. The help page for the alarm at the position of the
cursor (when the command is executed) is displayed.
Page Functions
With the page functions, you can display your graphics pages and the standard alarm
pages.
Note: The following page functions are not supported in the server process in a mul-
tiprocessor environment. Calling page functions from the server process results in a
hardware alarm being raised.
l PageAlarm: Displays current alarms on the alarm page configured in the project.
l PageDisabled: Displays disabled alarms on the alarm page configured in the project.
l PageDisplay: Displays a new page on the screen. The Page name or number is
required as an argument. (Use the PageLast() function to go back to the last page - the
page that this new page replaced).
l PageFile: Displays a file on the file page configured in the project.
l PageGoto: Displays a new page on the screen. This function is similar to the Page-
Display() function, except that if PageLast() is called, it does not return to the last
page.
l PageHardware: Displays hardware alarms on the alarm page configured in the
project.
l PageLast: Displays the graphics page that was displayed before the current one. You
can use this function to 'step back' through the last ten pages.
l PageNext: Displays the next graphics page (defined in the Next Page property of the
Pages form).
l PagePrev: Displays the previous graphics page (defined in the Prev Page property of
the Pages form).
l PageSOE: Displays a category of sequence of events (SOE) entries on the SOE page.
l PageSummary: Displays summary alarm information on the alarm page configured
in the project.
l PageTrend: Displays a standard trend page.
38
Keyboard Functions
Keyboard functions control the processing of keyboard entries and the movement of the
keyboard cursor on the graphics page.
l KeyBs: Backspaces (removes) the last key from the key command line. Use this func-
tion with a 'Hotkey' command. It is normally used to erase keyboard characters dur-
ing runtime command input.
l KeyDown: Moves the cursor down the page to the closest animation point number
(AN).
l KeyLeft: Moves the cursor left (across the page) to the closest animation point
number (AN).
l KeyRight: Moves the cursor right (across the page) to the closest animation point
number (AN).
l KeyUp: Moves the cursor up the page to the closest animation point number (AN).
Report Functions
To run a report by operator action, use the following function:
l Report: Runs the report on the report server.
Time/date Functions
The following functions return the current date and time:
l Date: Returns the current date as a string.
l Time: Returns the current time as a string.
Miscellaneous Functions
l Beep: Beeps the speaker on the CitectSCADA computer.
l FullName: Returns the full name of the user who is currently logged in to the system.
l InfoForm: Displays the animation information form. This form displays the real-time
data that is controlling the current animation.
l Login: Allows a user access to the CitectSCADA system.
l LoginForm: Displays a dialog box to allow a user to log in to the system.
l Logout: Logs the current user out of the CitectSCADA system.
39
l Name: Returns the user name of the user who is currently logged in to the system.
l Prompt: Displays a message on the screen. The message String is supplied as an
argument to the function.
l Shutdown: Terminates CitectSCADA. Use this function, or the ShutdownForm() func-
tion, to shut down your system. Otherwise buffered data may be lost.
l ShutdownForm: Displays a dialog box to allow a user to shut down your Citect-
SCADA system.
40
Chapter 6: Writing Functions
CitectSCADA is supplied with over 600 built-in functions. One of these functions (or sev-
eral functions in combination) can usually perform the required tasks in your system.
However, where system functionality cannot be achieved with built-in functions, you
can write your own functions.
A Cicode function is a small program: a collection of statements, variables, operators,
conditional executors, and other functions.
While it is not necessary to be an experienced programmer to write simple Cicode func-
tions, it is strongly recommended not to attempt to write large, complex functions unless
you are familiar with computer programming, and have experience with Cicode. Func-
tions are equivalent to the subroutines of BASIC and assembly language, and the sub-
routines and functions used in Pascal and C.
Note: The Cicode Editor is designed specifically for editing and debugging Cicode
functions.
See Also
The Cicode Editor
Using Cicode Files
Cicode Function Structure

A function in Cicode can be described as a collection or list of sequential statements that
CitectSCADA can perform (execute) in the logical order that they exist within the func-
tion.
A Cicode function starts with the FUNCTION statement and finishes with the END state-
ment. Every statement that lie between the FUNCTION and END statements, will be
executed by the function, when called to do so.
A typical Cicode function is structured like the following example:
FUNCTION
FunctionName ( )
! The exclamation point indicates that the rest of this line contains a comment.
! Further Cicode statements go here, between the function name and the END.
END
41
The line immediately following the FUNCTION statement, contains the name of the func-
tion, which is used to identify the function to CitectSCADA. This name is referred to
when the function is called upon (called) to be executed (perform the statements it con-
tains) by some other event, action, or function in CitectSCADA.
Note: Functions can contain statements that call other functions. These functions are
then executed before returning to the rest of the statements within the calling func-
tion.
The function name has to end with parentheses ( ), which may or may not contain one
or more arguments required by the function. Arguments are explained in the section
titled Function Argument Structure.
Every line between the function name line and the END statement line contain the state-
ments that will be executed when the function is called in CitectSCADA. These state-
ments are executed one at a time in logical order from top to bottom within the function.
For details about function structure, see Formatting Functions. For details about Cicode
function syntax, see Following Cicode Syntax.
For details about using comments in Cicode and in Cicode functions, see Using Com-
ments in Cicode.
Function Uses
Cicode functions can have many purposes. Quite often, functions are used to store a com-
mon set of commands or statements that would otherwise require repetitious typing and
messy command or expression fields.
Some functions are simple, created to avoid a long command or expression. For exam-
ple, the following command increments the variable tag COUNTER:
Com- IF COUNTER < 100 THEN COUNTER = COUNTER + 1; ELSE COUNTER = 0;

mand END;
This command would be easier to use (and re-use) if it was written as a function that
can be called in the command:
Command IncCounter ( );
42
To be able to use the function like this, you need to write it in a Cicode file, and declare it
with the FUNCTION keyword:
FUNCTION
IncCounter ( )
IF COUNTER < 100 THEN
COUNTER = COUNTER + 1;
ELSE
COUNTER = 0;
END
END
Be aware that the indented code is identical in functionality to the long command above.
By placing the command code inside a function, and using the function name in the
command field as in the previous example, this function need only to be typed once. It
can then be called any number of times, from anywhere in CitectSCADA that requires
this functionality. Because the code exists in the one location, rather than repeated
wherever needed (in potentially many places), it can be easily maintained (altered if nec-
essary).
Writing Groups of Functions

To perform complex tasks you need careful design. Large, complex functions are not
only more difficult to understand and debug than simple functions, but they can also
hide tasks that are common to other activities.
Cicode functions allow a modular approach - complex tasks can be organized into small
functions, each with a single, clear purpose. These small functions can then be called by
other functions, or called directly in commands and expressions. In fact, any function
can call - and be called by - any other function.
For example, you might need to write a set of functions for handling alarms. To perform
any action on an alarm, you first need to know which alarm. You would identify the
alarm in a separate function, and call this function from the other functions.
Cicode Function Libraries

Cicode functions are stored within Cicode files. You can use a separate file for each
stand-alone function, or group several functions together into a common file. For easy
maintenance, store functions that perform related tasks in the same file - for example,
store functions that act on alarm data in an Alarms.CI file.
Note: Every Cicode file in your project directory will be included when you compile
43
your project.
Creating a Function Outline

First, define the purpose of the function group, and create an outline of the tasks to be
performed. The following example shows an outline for a group of functions that change
the threshold values of analog alarms during run time. The outline describes the work-
ings of the function group, and is written in pseudocode (also called Program Design
Language).
/*
This file contains functions to allow the operator to make runtime
changes to Analog Alarm thresholds.
This file has 4 functions. The master function calls the other
functions.
ChangeAnalogAlarmThresholds ( )
This calls in turn:
1:GetVariableTag ( )
Argument: cursor position
Return: name of variable tag at cursor
2:GetAlarmThresholds ( )
Argument: tag name
Return: threshold value of alarm
3:DisplayAlarmThresholds ( )
Argument: threshold value of alarm
Displays threshold values in prompt line
Return: success or error code
*/
Pseudocode
The pseudocode above is a Cicode comment, enclosed between the comment markers /*
and */, and is ignored by the compiler. With pseudocode, you can get the logic of the
function correct in a more readable structure, before you write it in Cicode syntax, leav-
ing the pseudocode within the finished code as comments.
It is good practice to use comments as file headers at the start of each Cicode file, to
describe the functions in the file - their common purpose, a broad description of how
they achieve that purpose, special conditions for using them, and so on. You can also
use the header to record maintenance details on the file, such as its version number and
date of revision. For example:
44
/*
** FILE: Recipe Download.Ci
**
** AUTHOR: AJ Smith
**
** DATE: March 2008
**
** REVISION: 1.0 for CitectSCADA v7.1
**
** This file contains functions to allow the operator to load the
** recipe data from the SQL server to the PLC.
*/
Following the file header are the functions in series:
/*
** Main function
*/
FUNCTION
RecipeDownload ( )
! {body of function}
! .
END
/*
** Function to open the SQL connection.
*/
FUNCTION
RecipeConnectSQL ( )
! {body of function}
! .
END
! (and so on)
Using Comments in Cicode

It is good programming practice to include comments in your Cicode files. Comments
allow you to quickly understand how a function works next time you (or another
designer) need to modify it.
The Cicode compiler recognizes the following single line, C style, and C++ style com-
ments:
! A single line comment

WHILE DevNext ( hDev ) DO
Counter = Counter + 1 ; ! An in-line comment
END
/* A block comment is a C-style comment, and can
extend over several lines. Block comments need to
finish with a delimiter, but delimiters at the
45
start of each line are optional only. */

// A double-slash comment is a C++ style comment, for example:
Variable = 42; // This is a comment
Single line ( ! ) and C++ style ( // ) comments can have a line of their own, where they
refer to the block of statements either before or after it. It is good practice to set a con-
vention for these comments. These comments can also be on the same line as a state-
ment, to explain that statement only. Any characters after the ! or // (until the end of the
line) are ignored by the compiler.
Block (C style) comments begin with /* and end with */. These C style comments need no
punctuation between the delimiters.
Using Comments for Debugging Functions

You can use comments to help with the debugging of your functions. You can use com-
ments to temporarily have the compiler ignore blocks of statements by changing them to
comments. C style and C++ style comments can be nested, for example.
FUNCTION
IncCounter ( )
IF COUNTER < 100 THEN
COUNTER = COUNTER + 1 ;
/* ELSE // Comment about statement
COUNTER = 0; // Another comment
*/
END
END
The complete ELSE condition of the IF conditional executor will be ignored (and not
execute) so long as the block comment markers are used in this example.
Note: The inline ( // ) comments have no effect within the block ( /* and */ ) com-
ments (as the whole section is now one big comment), and should remain
unchanged, so that when you do remove the block comments, the inline comments
will become effective again.
Tag Reference /TagReadEx() behavior in Cicode Expressions

The following table describes the tag reference and TagReadEx() behavior in a Cicode
expression if the quality of the tag is BAD:
46
Tag Reference / Error Mode/Ci-

Cicode Expression behavior
TagReadEx syntax tect.ini settings
“Tag1” ErrSet(0) Tag ref returns a BAD quality value, Cicode

[Code]Hal- expression continues, Error is set.
tOnInvalidTagData =
0
TagReadEx(“Tag1”) ErrSet(0) Function returns a BAD quality value, Cicode

[Code]HaltOnError = expression continues, Error is set.
0

[Code]Hal- expression stops.
tOnInvalidTagData =
1

[Code]HaltOnError = expression stops.
1

expression continues, Error is set.

expression continues, Error is set
“Tag1.V” ErrSet(0) or ErrSet Tag ref returns a GOOD quality value, Cicode
(1) expression continues, No error is set.
TagReadEx ErrSet(0) or ErrSet Function returns a GOOD quality value,

(“Tag1.V”) (1) Cicode expression continues, No error is set.
See Also
TagReadEx()
Tag Functions
Following Cicode Syntax

Some programming languages have strict rules about how the code needs to be for-
matted, including the indenting and positioning of the code structure. Cicode has no
indenting or positioning requirements, allowing you to design your own format - pro-
vided only that you follow the correct syntax order for each statement. However, it is a
good idea to be consistent with your programming structure and layout, so that it can be
easily read and understood.
For details about programming standards, see the section titled Using Cicode Pro-
gramming Standards, which includes sections on:
l Standards for constants, variable tags, and labels
l Standards variables: declaration, scope, and naming
47
l Standards for functions: naming , file headers, headers

l Formatting of: declarations, statements, expressions, and functions
l Use of comments
For information on problem solving, see the sections onModular Programming, Defen-
sive Programming, Function Error handling, or Debugging Cicode.
The following is an example of a simple Cicode function:
/*
This function is called from a keyboard command. The operator
presses the key and enters the name of the page to be displayed. If
the page cannot be displayed, an error message is displayed at the
prompt AN.
*/
INT
FUNCTION
MyPageDisplay ( STRING sPage ) ! pass in the name of the page to be displayed
! declare a local integer to hold the results of the pagedisplay function
INT Status;
! call the page Cicode pagedisplay function and store the result
Status = PageDisplay ( sPage ) ;
! determine if the page display was successful
IF Status < > 0 THEN ! error was detected
! display an error message at the prompt AN
DspError ( "Cannot Display " + sPage ) ;
END
! return the status to the caller
RETURN Status;
END
The rules for formatting statements in Cicode functions are simple, and help the com-
piler in interpreting your code.
It is good practice to use white space to make your code more readable. In the example
above, the code between the FUNCTION and END statements is indented, and the state-
ment within the IF THEN conditional executor is further indented to make the con-
ditions and actions clear. Develop a pattern of indentation - and stick to it. Extra blank
lines in the code make it easier to read (and understand).
Cicode Function Syntax
Note: In the following function syntax example:
l Every placeholder shown inside arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be replaced

in any actual code with the value of the item that it describes. The arrow brackets
and the word they contain should not be included in the statement, and are shown
48
here only for your information.

l Statements shown between square brackets ( [ ] ) are optional. The square brackets
should not be included in the statement, and are shown here only for your infor-
mation.
Cicode functions have the following syntax:
[ <Scope> ]
[ <ReturnDataType> ]
FUNCTION
<FunctionName> ( <Arguments> )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
RETURN <ReturnValue> ;
END
where:
l <Scope> = Scope Statement: optional, PRIVATE or PUBLIC, default PUBLIC, no sem-
icolon. See the section titled Function Scope.
l <ReturnDataType> = Return Data Type Statement: optional and one of INT, REAL,
STRING, OR OBJECT. No default, no semicolon. If no return type is declared, the func-
tion cannot return any data. See the section titled Declaring the Return Data Type.
l FUNCTION = FUNCTION Statement: required, indicates the start of the function, key-
word, no semicolon. See the section titled Declaring Functions.
l <FunctionName> = Name statement: required, up to 32 ASCII text characters, case
insensitive, no spaces, no reserved words, no default, no semicolon. See the section
titled Naming Functions.
l ( <Arguments> ) = Argument statement: surrounding brackets required even if no
arguments used, if more than one argument - each need to be separated by a comma,
can contain constants or variables of INT or REAL or STRING or QUALITY or TIMES-
TAMP data type, default can be defined in declaration, can be spread over several
lines to aid readability, no semicolon. See the section titled Function Argument Struc-
ture.
l <Statement> = Executable Statement: required, one or more executable statements that
perform some action in CitectSCADA, often used to manipulate data passed into the
function as arguments, semicolon required.
l RETURN = RETURN Statement: optional, used to instruct Cicode to return a value to
the caller of the function - usually a manipulated result using the arguments passed
in to the function by the caller, need to be followed by Return Value Statement, key-
word, no semicolon.
l <ReturnValue> = Return Value Statement; required if RETURN Statement used in
function, need to be either a constant or a variable, the data type need to have been
49
previously declared in the function Return Data Type Statement - or does not return a
value, semicolon required. See the section titled Returning Values from Functions.
l END = END Statement: required, indicates the end of the function, keyword, no sem-
icolon. See the section titled Declaring Functions.
End of line markers

Most statements within the function are separated by semicolons ( ; ) but some excep-
tions exist. The FUNCTION and END Statements (the start and end of the function) have
no semicolons, nor does the Scope or Return Data Type Statements, nor any statement
that ends with a reserved word.
Where a statement is split over several lines (for example, within the IF THEN con-
ditional executor), each line ends with a semicolon - unless it ends in a reserved word.
Function Scope
The optional Scope Statement of a function (if used), precedes all other statements of a
function declaration in Cicode, including the FUNCTION Statement.
The scope of a function can be either PRIVATE or PUBLIC, and is declared public by
default. That is, if no Scope Statement is declared, the function will have public scope.
Both PRIVATE and PUBLIC are Cicode keywords and as such, are reserved.
A private scope function is only accessible (can be called) within the file in which it is
declared.
Public scope functions can be shared across Cicode files, and can be called from pages
and CitectSCADA databases (for example, Alarm.dbf).
Because functions are public by default, to make a function public requires no specific
declaration. To make a function private however, you need to prefix the FUNCTION
Statement with the word PRIVATE.
PRIVATE
FUNCTION
FunctionName ( <Arguments> )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
50
Declaring the Return Data Type

For information about the RETURN Statement, see the section titled Returning Values
from Functions.
The optional Return Data Type Statement of a function (if used), follows the optional
Scope Statement (if used), and precedes the FUNCTION Statement declaration in Cicode.
The return data type of a function can be only one of six possible data types: INT (32
bits), REAL (64 bits), STRING (255 bytes), OBJECT (32 bits), QUALITY or TIMESTAMP
(64 bits). If no Return Data Type Statement is declared, the function will not be able to
return any type of data.
INT, REAL, STRING, OBJECT, QUALITY and TIMESTAMP are Cicode keywords and as
such, are reserved.
Note: In the following function syntax example, every placeholder shown inside
arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be replaced in the actual code with the value
of the item that it describes. The arrow brackets and the word they contain should
not be included in the statement, and are shown only for your information.
To declare the data type that will be returned to the calling code, prefix the FUNCTION
Statement with one of the Cicode data type keywords, in the <ReturnDataType> place-
holder in the following example.
<ReturnDataType>
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
The following example returns an integer of value 5:
INT
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
INT Status = 5;
<Statement> ;
RETURN Status;
END
51
If the RETURN Statement within the function encounters a different data type to that
declared in the return data type statement, the value is converted to the declared return
data type.
In the example below, the variable Status is declared as a real number within the func-
tion. However, Status is converted to an integer when it is returned to the caller, because
the data type of the return was declared as an integer type in the return data type state-
ment:
INT ! declare return value as integer

FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
REAL Status = 5; ! declare variable as a REAL number
<Statement> ;
RETURN Status; ! returned as an integer number
END
If you omit the return data type, the function does not return a value.
Declaring Functions
The required FUNCTION Statement follows the optional Scope Statement (if used) and
the optional Return Data Type Statement (if used), and precedes any other statements of
a function declaration in Cicode. Everything between it and the END Statement, contains
the function.
Both FUNCTION and END are Cicode keywords and, as such, are reserved.
You declare the start of a function with the FUNCTION Statement, and declare the end
of a function with the END Statement:
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
The FUNCTION Statement needs to be followed by the Name Statement, then the Argu-
ment Statement, before any code statements that will be processed by the function.
For information on the Name and Argument Statements, see the sections titled Naming
Arguments and Function Argument Structure.
The code (as represented by the <Statement> placeholders) located between the FUNC-
TION and END Statements, will be executed (processed by the function) when called to
do so.
52
Functions can execute a large variety of statements, and are commonly used to process
and manipulate data, including the arguments passed when the function was called,
plant-floor and other CitectSCADA data, Windows data, and so on. CitectSCADA pro-
vides many built-in functions. For more information, see the section titled Working with
Commonly Used Functions.
Naming Functions
The required name statement follows the FUNCTION Statement and precedes the argu-
ments statement in a CitectSCADA function. The function name is used elsewhere in
CitectSCADA to activate (call) the function to have it perform the statements it contains.
Replace the <FunctionName> placeholder in the following function example with an
appropriate name for your function. See the section Function Naming Standards for
details.
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
You can use up to 32 ASCII text characters to name your functions. You can use any
valid name except for a reserved word. The case is ignored by the CitectSCADA com-
piler, so you can use upper and lower case to make your names clear. For example, Mix-
erRoomPageDisplay is easier to read than mixerroompagedisplay or
MIXERROOMPAGEDISPLAY.
FUNCTION
MixerRoomPageDisplay ( <Arguments> )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
Your functions take precedence over any other entity in CitectSCADA with the same
name:
l Variable tags. When you call a function by the same name as a variable tag, the func-
tion has precedence. The variable tag can not be referred to because the function
executes each time the name is used.
l Built-in functions. You can give your function the same name as any built-in Cicode
function. Your function takes precedence over the built-in function - the built-in func-
tion cannot be called. Because built-in Cicode functions cannot be changed, this
53
provides a method of 'modifying' any built-in function to suit an application. For

example, you might want to display the message "Press F1 for Help" whenever you
display a page. You could simply write a new function called PageDisplay ( ). The
body of the function would be the statements that display the page and prompt mes-
sage:
Prompt ( "Press F1 for Help" ) ;PageDisplay ( <Arguments> ) ;
Your function is invoked whenever you use the function name in CitectSCADA.
Function Argument Structure

The optional Arguments Statement follows the required FUNCTION Statement and pre-
cedes the executable statements of a function in Cicode.
Note: The maximum number of arguments you can have in a function is 128.
When you call a function, you can pass one or more arguments to the function, enclosed
within the parentheses ( ) located after the function name statement. Replace the <Argu-
ments> placeholder in the following function example with your Argument Statement.
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
For your function to perform tasks with data, it requires accessibility to the data. One
way to achieve this, is to pass the data directly to the function when the function is
being called. To enable this facility, Cicode utilizes arguments in its function structure.
An argument in Cicode is simply a variable that exists in memory only as long as its
function is processing data, so the scope of an argument is limited to be local only to the
function. Arguments cannot be arrays.
Arguments are variables that are processed within the body of the function only. You
cannot use an argument outside of the function that declares it.
As arguments are variables used solely within functions, they needs to be declared just
as you would otherwise declare a variable in Cicode. See the section titled Declaring Var-
iable Properties. An argument declaration requires a data type, a unique name, and may
contain an initial value which also behaves as the default value for the argument.
Notes: In the following function syntax example:
54
l Every placeholder shown inside arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be replaced

in any actual code with the value of the item that it describes. The arrow brackets
and the word they contain should not be included in the statement, and are shown
here only for your information.
l Statements shown between square brackets ( [ ] ) are optional. The square brackets
mation.
Cicode function argument statements have the following syntax:
<ArgumentDataType>
<ArgumentName>
[ = <InitialDefaultValue> ]
where:
l <ArgumentDataType> = Argument Data Type Statement: required, INT or REAL or
STRING. See the section titled Declaring Argument Data Type.
l <ArgumentName> = Argument Name Statement: required, up to 32 ASCII text char-
acters, case insensitive, no spaces, no reserved words. See the section titled Naming
Arguments.
l <InitialDefaultValue> = Argument Initialization Statement: optional, preceded by
equals ( = ) assignment operator, a value to assign to the argument variable when
first initialized, needs to be the same data type as that declared in the argument
<ArgumentDataType> parameter, defaults to this value if no value passed in for this
argument when the function was called.
See the section titled Setting Default Values for Arguments.
The Argument Statement in a Cicode function can have only one set of surrounding
parentheses ( ), even if no arguments are declared in the function.
If more than one argument is used in the function, each needs to also be separated by a
comma.
Argument Statements can be separated over several lines to aid in their readability.
When you call a function, the arguments you pass to it are used within the function to
produce a resultant action or return a value. For information on passing data to func-
tions, see the section titled Passing Data to Functions (Arguments). For information on
returning results from functions, see the section titled Returning Data from Functions.
Arguments are used in the function and referred to by their names. For instance, if we
name a function AddTwoIntegers, and declare two integers as arguments naming them
FirstInteger and SecondInteger respectively, we would end up with a sample function
that looks like the following:
55
INT
FUNCTION
AddTwoIntegers ( INT FirstInteger, INT SecondInteger )
INT Solution ;
Solution = FirstInteger + SecondInteger ;
RETURN Solution ;
END
In this example, the function would accept any two integer values as its arguments, add
them together, and return them to the caller as one integer value equal to the summed
total of the arguments values passed into the function.
This functionality of passing values into a function as arguments, manipulating the
values in some way, then being able to return the resultant value, is what makes func-
tions potentially very powerful and time saving. The code only needs to written once in
the function, and can be utilized any number of times from any number of locations in
CitectSCADA. Write once, use many.
Declaring Argument Data Type

If an argument is listed in a Cicode function declaration, the Argument Data Type State-
ment is required, and is listed first before the required Argument Name Statement and
the optional Argument Initialisation Statement.
The argument data type of a function can be only one of six possible data types: INT (32
bits), REAL (32 bits), STRING (255 bytes), OBJECT (32 bits), QUALITY or TIMESTAMP
(64 bits).
INT, REAL, STRING, OBJECT, QUALITY and TIMESTAMP are Cicode keywords and as
such, are reserved.

- Every placeholder shown inside arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be
replaced in any actual code with the value of the item that it describes. The arrow
brackets and the word they contain should not be included in the statement, and are
shown here only for your information.
- Statements shown between square brackets ( [ ] ) are optional. The square brackets
mation.
To declare the argument data type that will be used in the function, you need to prefix
the Argument Name Statement with one of the Cicode data type keywords, in the <Argu-
mentDataType> placeholder in the following example.
56
FUNCTION
FunctionName ( <ArgumentDataType> <ArgumentName> [ =
<InitialDefaultValue> ] )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
The Argument Statement in a Cicode function needs to have only one set of surrounding
parentheses ( ) brackets, even if no arguments are declared in the function.
If more than one argument is used in the function, each needs to also be separated by a
comma.
Naming Arguments
If an argument is listed in a Cicode function declaration, the Argument Name Statement
is required, and is listed second, after the required Argument Data Type Statement, and
before the optional Argument Initialization Statement.
The argument name is used only within the function to refer to the argument value that
was passed into the function when the function was called. The name of the argument
variable should be used in the executable statements of the function in every place
where you want the argument variable to be used by the statement.

- Every placeholder shown inside arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be
brackets and the word they contain should not be included in the statement, and are
shown here only for your information.
- Statements shown between square brackets ( [ ] ) are optional. The square brackets
mation.
Replace the <ArgumentName> placeholder in the following function example with an

appropriate name for your Argument variable. See the section titled Function Argument
Structure for details.
FUNCTION
FunctionName ( <ArgumentDataType> <ArgumentName> [ = <InitialDefaultValue> ] )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
57
END
You can use up to 32 ASCII text characters to name your arguments. You can use any
valid name except for a reserved word. The case is ignored by the CitectSCADA com-
piler, so you can use upper and lower case to make your names clear. For example,
iPacketQnty is easier to read than ipacketqnty or IPACKETQNTY .
FUNCTION
FunctionName ( INT iPacketQnty )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
To refer to the argument (in the body of your function) you use the name of the argument
in an executable statement:
INT
FUNCTION
AddTwoIntegers ( INT FirstInteger, INT SecondInteger )
INT Solution ;
Solution = FirstInteger + SecondInteger ;
RETURN Solution ;
END
Setting Default Values for Arguments

If an argument is listed in a Cicode function declaration, the Argument Initialisation
Statement is optional, and if used, is listed last in the Argument Statement after the
required Argument Data Type and the Argument Name Statements. The Argument
Initialization Statement needs to be preceded by an equals ( = ) assignment operator.

Every placeholder shown inside arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be
brackets and the word they contain should not be included in the statement, and
are shown here only for your information.
Statements shown between square brackets ( [ ] ) are optional. The square brackets
mation.
Replace the <InitialDefaultValue> placeholder in the following function example with

an appropriate value for your Argument variable.
58
FUNCTION
FunctionName (<ArgumentDataType> <ArgumentName> [ =
<InitialDefaultValue> ])
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
The default value for an argument needs to be of the same data type as declared for the
argument in the Argument Data Type Statement.
You assign a default argument variable value in the same manner that you assign a
Cicode variable value, by using the equals ( = ) assignment operator. For example:
FUNCTION
PlotProduct ( INT iPackets = 200 , STRING sName = "Packets" )
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
If you assign a default value for an argument, you may omit a value for that argument
when you call the function, because the function will use the default value from the dec-
laration. To pass an empty argument to a function, omit any value for the argument in
the call. For example, to call the PlotProduct function declared in the previous example,
and accept the default string value of "Packets", a Cicode function call would look like:
PlotProduct(500)
Be aware that the second argument for the function was omitted from the calling code.
In this instance, the default value for the second argument ( "Packets" ) would remain
unchanged, and so would be used as the second argument value in this particular func-
tion call.
If you do call that function and pass in a value for that argument in the call, the default
value is replaced by the argument value being passed in. However, the arguments are
reinitialized every time the function is called, so each subsequent call to the function will
restore the default values originally declared in the function.
If the function has more than one argument and none of them are explicitly declared in
the function declaration, the default values for the undeclared arguments will be used.
For more information on function calls, callers, and calling, see the section titled Calling
Functions from Commands and Expressions.
59
Returning Values from Functions

Many of the built-in Cicode functions supplied with CitectSCADA return a data value to
their calling statement. Mathematical functions return a calculated value. The Date ( )
and Time ( ) functions return the current date and time. Other functions, like Page-
Display ( ), perform an action, and return a value indicating either the success of the
action or the type of error that occurred.
You can also use return values in your own functions, to return data to the calling state-
ment. The return value is assigned in the RETURN Statement:
The optional RETURN Statement of a function (if used), needs to be placed in the execut-
able Statements section of a Cicode function between the FUNCTION and END State-
ments. Because the RETURN Statement is used to return data values that have usually
been manipulated by the function, they are usually placed last just before the END State-
ment.
<ReturnDataType>
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
The RETURN Statement consists of the RETURN keyword followed by a value to be

returned and finished with the semicolon (;) end-of-line marker.
The RETURN value needs to be of the same data type as was declared in the Return
Data Type Statement at the start of the function declaration. The return data type of a
function can be only one of six possible data types: INT (32 bits), REAL (64 bits),
STRING (255 bytes), OBJECT (32 bits), QUALITY or TIMESTAMP (64 bits). If no Return
Data Type Statement is declared, the function will not be able to return any type of data.
If the RETURN Statement within the function encounters a different data type to that
declared in the Return Data Type Statement, the value is converted to the declared return
data type. For information about the Return Data Type Statement, see the section titled
Declaring the Return Data Type.
FUNCTION, INT, REAL, STRING, and OBJECT are Cicode keywords and as such, are
reserved.
Note: In the following function syntax example every placeholder shown inside
60
arrow brackets ( <placeholder> ) should be replaced in any actual code with the value
of the item that it describes. The arrow brackets and the word they contain should
not be included in the statement, and are shown here only for your information.
To declare the value that will be returned to the calling code, you need to replace the
<ReturnValue> placeholder in the following example with an appropriate data value to
match the Return Data Type as declared in the function.
<ReturnDataType>
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
<Statement> ;
END
The following example returns an integer of value 5:
INT
FUNCTION
<Statement> ;
INT Status = 5;
<Statement> ;
RETURN Status;
END
The RETURN statement passes a value back to the calling procedure (either another func-
tion, command or expression). Outside of the function, the return value can be read by
the calling statement. For example, it can be used by the caller as a variable (in a com-
mand), or animated (in an expression).
61
62
Chapter 7: Using Variables
A variable is a named location in the computer's memory where data can be stored.
Cicode variables can store the basic data types (such as strings, integers, and real
numbers) and each variable is specific for its particular data type. For example, if you set
up a Cicode variable to store an integer value, you cannot use it for real numbers or
strings.
Note: Each data type uses a fixed amount of memory: integers use 4 bytes of mem-
ory, real numbers use 4 bytes, and strings use 1 byte per character. PLC INT types
use only 2 bytes.
The computer allocates memory to variables according to the data type and the length of
time you need the variable to be stored.
Real-time variables (such as PLC variables) are already permanently stored in database
files on your hard disk. Any variable you use in a database field command or expres-
sion needs to be defined as a variable tag, or the compiler will report an error when the
system is compiled.
Note: Cicode variables can handle a wide range of CitectSCADA variable tag data
types. For example, a Cicode variable of INT data type can be used to store I/O
device data types: BCD, BYTE, DIGITAL, INT, LONG, LONGBCD, and UINT.
See Also
Using Arrays
Variable Declaration Standards
Variable Naming Standards
Variable Scope Standards
Using Cicode Files
Declaring Variable Properties

You need to declare each variable used in your functions (except for variables that are
configured as variable tags). In the declaration statement, you specify the name and data
type of the variable. You can also set a default value for the variable.
63
Declaring the Variable Data Type

You can use variables of the following data types:
INT Integer (32 bits) -2,147,483,648 to

2,147,483,647
REAL Floating point (64 bits) -3.4E38 to 3.4E38
STRING Text string (128 bytes maximum, including null ter- ASCII (null ter-
mination character) minated)
OBJECT ActiveX control
QUALITY Represents the CitectSCADA quality QUAL_GOOD, QUAL_

BAD, QUAL_UNCR
TIMESTAMP 64-bit value representing the number of 100-nano-

second intervals since January 1, 1601
If you want to specify a digital data type, use the integer type. Digital types can either be
TRUE(1) or FALSE(0), as can integer types.
Note: Cicode may internally store floating point values as 64 bit to minimize round-
ing errors during floating point calculations.
QUALITY Data Type

The QUALITY data type is a new data type in Cicode which incorporates the Citect-
SCADA quality. The QUALITY data type and the Cicode quality labels can be used in
Cicode expressions.
The operators allowed for the QUALITY data type are:
l Assignment operator: =.
l Relational operators: =, <>.
The assignment operation also allows for the QUALITY data type.
Example:
QUALITY q1;
QUALITY q2;
q1 = q2;
q1 = Tag1.Field.Q;
64
//the following expression will generate a compiler error as a tag //element can be modified only
as a whole
Tag1.Field.Q = q1;
A set of Cicode functions are provided which allow quality fields to be initialized, a spe-
cific quality field to be extracted, and other operations on the QUALITY data type. Con-
version between the QUALITY data type and other Cicode data types is not allowed.
Direct conversion from Quality to string will return an empty string.
Example:
//this will generate a compiler error
INT n = Tag1.Q;
TIMESTAMP Data Type

The TIMESTAMP data type is a new data type in Cicode which represents the date and
time as a 64-bit value by specifying the number of 100-nanosecond intervals since Jan-
uary 1, 1601.This data type is always in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The operators allowed for the TIMESTAMP data type are:
l Assignment operator: =.
l Relational operators: =, <>, <, >, <=, >=.
Example:
TIMESTAMP t1;
TIMESTAMP t2;
t1 = Tag1.T;
t1 = t2;
IF t1 < Tag2.T THEN

// insert code here
END
A set of Cicode functions are provided which allow initialization, conversion and other
operations on the TIMESTAMP data type. Implicit conversion between the TIMESTAMP
data type and other Cicode data types is not allowed.
Naming Variables
Throughout the body of the function, the variable is referred to by its name. You can
name a variable any valid name except for a reserved word, for example:
STRING sStr;
REAL Result;
65
INT x, y;
OBJECT hObject;
The first 32 characters of a variable name needs to be unique.

See Also
Setting Default Variable Values

When you declare variables, you can set them to an initial (startup) value; for example:
STRING Str = "Test";

REAL Result = ;
INT x = 20, y = 50;
Using Variable Scope

Scope refers to the accessibility of a function and its values. A Cicode variable can be
defined as any one of three types of scope - global, module, and local. By default, Cicode
variables are module scope, unless they are declared within a function.
Variables have the following format:
DataType Name [=Value];
Global variables
A global Cicode variable can be shared across all Cicode files in the system (as well as
across include projects). They cannot be accessed on pages or databases (for example,
Alarm.dbf).
Global Cicode variables are prefixed with the keyword GLOBAL, and needs to be
declared at the start of the Cicode file. For example:
GLOBAL STRING sDefaultPage = "Mimic";

INT
FUNCTION
MyPageDisplay(STRING sPage)
INT iStatus;
iStatus = PageDisplay(sPage);
IF iStatus <> 0 THEN
PageDisplay(sDefaultPage);
66
END
RETURN iStatus;
END
The variable sDefaultPage could then be used in any function of any Cicode file in the
system.
Note: Use global variables sparingly if at all. If you have many such variables being
used by many functions, finding bugs in your program can become time consuming.
Use local variables wherever possible. Global Cicode STRING types are 256 bytes.
Module variables
A module Cicode variable is specific to the file in which it is declared. This means that it
can be used by any function in that file, but not by functions in other files.
By default, Cicode variables are defined as module, therefore prefixing is not required
(though a prefix of MODULE could be added if desired). Module variables should be
declared at the start of the file. For example:
STRING sDefaultPage = "Mimic";

INT
FUNCTION
MyPageDisplay(STRING sPage)
INT Status;
Status = PageDisplay(sPage);
IF Status <> 0 THEN
END
RETURN Status;
END
INT
FUNCTION
DefaultPageDisplay()
END
Note: Use module variables sparingly if at all. If you have many such variables
being used by many functions, finding bugs in your program can become time-con-
suming. Use local variables wherever possible.
Local variables
67
A local Cicode variable is only recognized by the function within which it is declared,
and can only be used by that function. You need to declare local variables before you
can use them.
Any variable defined within a function (that is, after the function name) is a local var-
iable, therefore no prefix is needed. Local variables are destroyed when the function
exits.
Local variables take precedence over global and module variables. If you define a local
variable in a function with the same name as a global or module variable, the local var-
iable is used; the global/module variable is unaffected by the function. This situation
should be avoided, however, as it is likely to cause confusion.
Local Variables and Variable Tags
Local variables have limited functionality compared with variable tags. Limitations are:
l Qualities of Override, OverrideMode, ControlMode and Status elements are showing
Bad with extended substatus QUAL_EXT_INVALID_ARGUMENT. Writing to the ele-
ments returns error Invalid argument passed (274).
l Values of Override, OverrideMode, ControlMode and Status elements are showing 0.
l Respective timestamps and quality of Field, Valid and default elements are the same.
l Field, Valid and default elements can be read.
l Field and default elements can be written.
See Also
Using Database Variables

You can use any variable that you have defined in the database (with the Variable Tags
form) in your functions. To use a database variable, specify the tag name:
<Tag>
where Tag is the name of the database variable. For example, to change the value of the
database variable "LT131" at run time, you would use the following statement in your
function:
LT131=1200; !Changes the value of LT131 to 1200
68
Chapter 8: Using Arrays
A Cicode variable array is a collection of Cicode variables of the same data type, in the
form of a list or table. You name and declare an array of variables in the same way as
any other Cicode variable. You can then refer to each element in the array by the same
variable name, with a number (index) to indicate its position in the array.
See Also
Declaring Array Properties
Declaring the Array Data Type
Naming Arrays
Declaring the Variable Array Size
Setting Default (Initial) Array Values
Passing Array Elements as Function Arguments
Using One-dimensional Arrays
Using Two-dimensional Arrays
Using Three-dimensional Arrays
Using Array Elements in Loops
Using the Table (Array) Functions
Using Cicode Files
Declaring Array Properties

Arrays have several properties that you need to declare to the compiler along with the
array name: data type, size and dimension. You can also set default values for individ-
ual elements of the array. An array declaration has the following syntax:
DataType Name[Dim1Size,{Dim2Size},{Dim3Size}]{=Values};
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
69
Chapter 8:
Using Arrays
Declaring the Array Data Type

As with any other Cicode variable, arrays can have four Data Types:
INT Integer (32 bits)
REAL Floating point (32 bits)
STRING Text string (255 bytes)
OBJECT ActiveX object (32 bits)
QUALITY CitectSCADA Quality
TIMESTAMP Date and Time (64 bits)
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Naming Arrays
Throughout the body of a Cicode function, a Cicode variable array is referred to by its
name, and individual elements of an array are referred to by their index. The index of
the first element of an array is 0 (that is a four element array has the indices 0,1,2, and
3). You can name a variable any valid name except for a reserved word; for example:
STRING StrArray[5]; ! list

REAL Result[5][2]; ! 2-D table
INT IntArray[4][3][2]; ! 3-D table
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Declaring the Variable Array Size

You need to declare the size of the array (the number of elements the array contains), for
example:
70
Chapter 8:
Using Arrays
STRING StrArray[5];
This single dimension array contains 5 elements. The compiler multiplies the number of
elements in the array by the size of each element (dependent upon the Data Type), and
allocates storage for the array in consecutive memory locations.
You cannot declare arrays local to a function. However, they can be declared as Module
(that is at the beginning of the Cicode file), or Global. When referring to the array within
your function, take to care to remain within the size you set when you declared the
array. The example below would cause an error:
STRING StrArray[5];
...
StrArray[10] = 100;
...
The compiler allows storage for 5 strings. By assigning a value to a 10th element, you
cause a value to be stored outside the limits of the array, and you could overwrite
another value stored in memory.
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Setting Default (Initial) Array Values

When you declare an array, you can (optionally) set the individual elements to an initial
(or start-up) value within the original declaration statement. For instance, naming a
string array "ArrayA", sizing it to hold 5 elements, and initializing the array with string
values, would look like the following example:
STRING ArrayA[5]="This","is","a","String","Array";
This array structure would contain the following values:
ArrayA[0]="This"
ArrayA[1]="is"
ArrayA[2]="a"
ArrayA[3]="String"
ArrayA[4]="Array"
See Also
Using Arrays
71
Chapter 8:
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Passing Array Elements as Function Arguments

To pass a Cicode variable array element to a Cicode function, you need to provide the
element's address; for example:
/* Pass the first element of ArrayA. */

MyFunction (ArrayA[0])
/* Pass the second element of ArrayA. */
/* Pass the fifth element of ArrayA. */
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Using One-dimensional Arrays

To use a one-dimensional array:
This array sets the following values:
ArrayA[0]="This"
ArrayA[1]="is"
ArrayA[2]="a"
ArrayA[3]="String"
ArrayA[4]="Array"
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Using Two-dimensional Arrays

To use a two-dimensional array:
REAL ArrayA[5][2]=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.3,9.04,10.178;
72
Chapter 8:
Using Arrays
ArrayA[0][0]=1 ArrayA[0][1]=2
ArrayA[3][0]=7 ArrayA[3][1]=8.3
ArrayA[4][0]=9.04 ArrayA[4][1]=10.178
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Using Three-dimensional Arrays

To use a three-dimensional array:
INT ArrayA[4][3][2]=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,
16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24;
ArrayA[0][0][0]=1 ArrayA[0][0][1]=2 ArrayA[0][1][0]=3
You use arrays in your functions in the same way as other variables, but arrays have
special properties that, in many situations, reduce the amount of code you need to write.
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Chapter 8:
Using Arrays
See Also
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Using Array Elements in Loops

You can set up loops that deal efficiently with arrays by incrementing the index number.
The following example shows a method of initializing an array:
REAL Array[10]
:
FOR Counter = 0 TO 9 DO
Array[Counter] = 0
END
RETURN Total
:
See Also
Working with Conditional Executors
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
Using the Table (Array) Functions

Cicode has built-in functions for processing Cicode variable arrays:
l To perform calculations (max, min, total, etc.) on array elements.
l To look up the index number of an array element.
l To shift the elements of an array left or right.
See Also
Table (Array) Functions
Using Arrays
Using Cicode Files
74
Chapter 9: Using Cicode Macros
Cicode has the following macros:
l IFDEF: Determines one of two possible outcomes based on the existence of a specified
non-alarm tag at compile time. Use one of the macros below for alarm tags.
l IFDEFAdvAlm: Determines one of two possible outcomes based on the existence of a
specified advanced alarm tag at compile time.
l IFDEFAnaAlm: Determines one of two possible outcomes based on the existence of a
specified analog alarm tag at compile time.
l IFDEFDigAlm: Determines one of two possible outcomes based on the existence of a
specified digital alarm tag at compile time.
IFDEF
The IFDEF macro allows you to define two possible outcomes based on whether or not a
specified tag exists within a project at the time of compiling. The macro can be imple-
mented anywhere a simple expression is used, including fields within relevant Citect-
SCADA dialogs.
The macro was primarily created to avoid the "Tag not found" compile error being gen-
erated whenever a genie was missing an associated tag. By allowing a "0" or "1" to be
generated within the Hidden When field of a Genie's properties, elements could simply
be hidden if a required tag was missing, allowing the genie to still be pasted onto a
graphics page.
The macro accepts three arguments: the first specifies the tag that requires confirmation,
the second defines the outcome if the tag exists, the third defines the outcome if it does
not exist. In the case of a genie being pasted on a graphics page, the IFDEF function
would be configured as follows in the Hidden When field of the object properties dialog:
IFDEF("Bit_1",0,1)
If the tag "Bit_1" is defined in the tag database, the value in the Hidden When field will
be 0. If Bit_1 is undefined, the value will be 1. Since the object is hidden when the value
is TRUE (1), the object will be hidden when Bit_1 is undefined. See Hiding Graphics
Objects for details.
75
Chapter 9:
Using Cicode Macros
Beyond this purpose, the IFDEF macro can be broadly used as a conditional variable.
The [<value if defined>] and <value if not defined> arguments can support any variable,
expression, or constant. The [<value if defined>] argument is optional; if you leave it
blank it will generate the current variable. You can also use nested IFDEF macros.
Note: As different types of alarms can share the same name, you have to use a var-
iation of IFDEF to check for the existence of alarm tags. See IFDEFAnaAlm for analog
alarms, IFDEFDigAlm for digital alarms, or IFDEFAdvAlm for advanced alarms.
Syntax
IFDEF(TagName, [<value if defined>], <value if not defined>)
Return Value
If the tag specified in the first argument exists, the value defined by the second argument
is returned. This could be a variable, expression, or constant, or the current tag value if
the argument has been left blank. If the specified tag does not exist, the variable, expres-
sion, or constant defined by the third argument is returned.
Example
! Generate the tag value if tag "Bit_1" is defined

! Generate an empty string if "Bit_1" is not defined
IFDEF("Bit_1",," ")
! Generate a zero value (0) if tag "Bit_1" is defined
! Generate a true value (1) if "Bit_1" is not defined
IFDEF("Bit_1",0,1)
For more examples of how to implement the IFDEF macro, see the CitectSCADA Knowl-
edge Base article Q3461.
See Also
IFDEFAnaAlm, IFDEFDigAlm, IFDEFAdvAlm, Hiding Graphics Objects, IFDEF macro
IFDEFAdvAlm
Based on the IFDEF macro, IFDEFAdvAlm allows you to define two possible outcomes
based on whether or not a specified advanced alarm tag exists within a project at the
time of compiling. The macro can be implemented anywhere a simple expression is
used, including fields within relevant CitectSCADA dialogs.
The macro accepts three arguments: the first specifies the advanced alarm tag that
requires confirmation, the second defines the outcome if the alarm exists, the third
defines the outcome if it does not exist.
76
Chapter 9:
Using Cicode Macros
alarms, or IFDEFDigAlm for digital alarms.
Syntax
IFDEFAdvAlm(TagName, [<value if defined>], <value if not defined>)
Return Value
If the advanced alarm tag specified in the first argument exists, the value defined by the
second argument is returned. This could be a variable, expression, or constant, or the cur-
rent tag value if the argument has been left blank. If the specified alarm does not exist,
the variable, expression, or constant defined by the third argument is returned.
Example
! Generate tag value if advanced alarm "AdvAlarm_1" is defined

! Generate an empty string if "AdvAlarm_1" is not defined
IFDEFAdvAlm("AdvAlarm_1",,"")
! Generate a zero value (0) in Hidden When field if advanced alarm
"AdvAlarm_1" is defined
! Generate a true value (1) in Hidden When field if "AdvAlarm_1"
is not defined
IFDEFAdvAlm("AdvAlarm_1",0,1)
See Also
IFDEFAnaAlm, IFDEFDigAlm, IFDEF
IFDEFAnaAlm
Based on the IFDEF macro, IFDEFAnaAlm allows you to define two possible outcomes
based on whether or not a specified analog alarm tag exists within a project at the time
of compiling. The macro can be implemented anywhere a simple expression is used,
including fields within relevant CitectSCADA dialogs.
The macro accepts three arguments: the first specifies the analog alarm tag that requires
confirmation, the second defines the outcome if the alarm exists, the third defines the out-
come if it does not exist.
Note: As different types of alarms can share the same name, you have to use a
77
Chapter 9:
Using Cicode Macros
variation of IFDEF to check for the existence of alarm tags. See IFDEFDigAlm for dig-
ital alarms, or IFDEFAdvAlm for advanced alarms.
Syntax
IFDEFAnaAlm(TagName, [<value if defined>], <value if not defined>)
Return Value
If the analog alarm tag specified in the first argument exists, the value defined by the sec-
ond argument is returned. This could be a variable, expression, or constant, or the cur-
See Also
IFDEF, IFDEFDigAlm, IFDEFAdvAlm
Example
! Generate tag value if analog alarm "AnaAlarm_1" is defined

! Generate an empty string if "AnaAlarm_1" is not defined
IFDEFAnaAlm("AnaAlarm_1",,"")
! Generate a zero value (0) in Hidden When field if analog alarm
"AnaAlarm_1" is defined
! Generate a true value (1) in Hidden When field if "AnaAlarm_1"
is not defined
IFDEFAnaAlm("AnaAlarm_1",0,1)
For further examples of how to implement the IFDEF macro, see the CitectSCADA Knowl-
See Also
IFDEF, IFDEFDigAlm, IFDEFAdvAlm
IFDEFDigAlm
Based on the IFDEF macro, IFDEFDigAlm allows you to define two possible outcomes
based on whether or not a specified digital alarm tag exists within a project at the time
of compiling. The macro can be implemented anywhere a simple expression is used,
including fields within relevant CitectSCADA dialogs.
The macro accepts three arguments: the first specifies the digital alarm tag that requires
confirmation, the second defines the outcome if the alarm exists, the third defines the out-
come if it does not exist.
78
Chapter 9:
Using Cicode Macros
alarms or IFDEFAdvAlm for advanced alarms.
Syntax
IFDEFDigAlm(TagName, [<value if defined>], <value if not defined>)
Return Value
If the digital alarm tag specified in the first argument exists, the value defined by the sec-
ond argument is returned. This could be a variable, expression, or constant, or the cur-
Example
! Generate tag value if digital alarm "DigAlarm_1" is defined

! Generate an empty string if "DigAlarm_1" is not defined
IFDEFDigAlm("DigAlarm_1",,"")
! Generate a zero value (0) in Hidden When field if digital alarm
"DigAlarm_1" is defined
! Generate a true value (1) in Hidden When field if "DigAlarm_1"
is not defined
IFDEFDigAlm("DigAlarm_1",0,1)
Related macros
IFDEFAnaAlm, IFDEFAdvAlm, IFDEF
Macro Arguments
The Cicode macros use the following arguments.
l TagName
l [<value if defined>]
l <value if not defined>
TagName
79
Chapter 9:
Using Cicode Macros
The name of the tag you would like the IFDEF macro to confirm the existence of. The
CitectSCADA compiler will check the current project database for a tag matching this
name.
[<value if defined>]
Defines the outcome of the macro if the specified tag exists in the current project. This
argument is optional, which means you can:
l Generate any variable, constant, or expression.
l Generate the current value for the specified tag by leaving the argument blank.
<value if not defined>
Defines the outcome of the macro if the specified tag does not exist in the current project.
This will generate any variable, constant, or expression, including a blank string (" ") if
you want nothing to be presented.
80
Chapter 10: Converting and Formatting Cicode Var-
iables
CitectSCADA provides four functions for converting integers and real numbers into
strings, and vice versa.
l IntToStr: converts an integer variable into a string
l RealToStr: converts a floating-point variable into a string
l StrToInt: converts a string into an integer variable
l StrToReal: converts a string into a floating-point variable
You can convert data types without using these Cicode functions, but the result of the for-
mat conversion might not be what you expect. If you want more control over the con-
version process, use the appropriate Cicode functions.
Note: Variables of type object cannot be converted to any other type.
When variables are automatically converted, or when the return value from a function
call is converted, specific rules apply.
See Also
Converting Variable Integers to Strings
Converting Real Numbers to Strings
Converting Strings to Integers
Converting Strings to Real Numbers
Formatting Text Strings
Escape Sequences (String Formatting Commands)
Using Cicode Files
Converting Variable Integers to Strings

To convert an integer variable to a string:
IntVar=5;
StringVar=IntVar;
81
Chapter 10: Converting and Formatting Cicode Variables
The value of StringVar is set to "5".

The format of the string is specified when the variable is defined in the database. How-
ever you can override this default format with the string format (:) operator, and use the
# format specifier to set a new format. For example:
IntVar=5;
StringVar=IntVar:####
The value of StringVar = " 5". (The '#' formatting characters determine the size and
number of decimal places contained in the string, that is a length of 4 with no decimal
places.)
See Also
Converting and Formatting Cicode Variables

Using Cicode Files
Converting Real Numbers to Strings

To convert a real number variable to a string:
RealVar=5.2;
StringVar=RealVar;
The value of StringVar is set to "5.2".
Note: Unpredictable results may occur if you use large numbers with a large number
of decimal places.
The format of the string is specified when the variable is defined in the database. How-
ever you can override this default format with the string format (:) operator, and use the
# format specifier to set a new format. For example:
StrTag1=RealTag1:######.###
The value of StringVar = " 5.200". (The '#' formatting characters determine the size and
number of decimal places contained in the string, that is a length of 10 including a dec-
imal point and three decimal places.)
82
See Also
Using Cicode Files
Converting Strings to Integers

To convert a string variable to an integer:
StringVar="50.25";
IntVar=StringVar;
The value of IntVar is set to 50. If StringVar contains any characters other than numeric
characters, IntVar is set to 0.
See Also
Using Cicode Files
Converting Strings to Real Numbers

To convert a string variable to a real number:
StringVar="50.25";
RealVar=StringVar;
The value of RealVar is set to 50.25. If StringVar contains any characters other than
numeric characters, RealVar is set to 0.
See Also
Using Cicode Files
Formatting Text Strings

A string in Cicode is represented as text positioned between double quote ( " ) delimiters.
For example:
"This is my text string."
A string value can be assigned to a string variable. For example:
83
STRING sMyStringVariable;
sMyStringVariable = "This is my text string.";
More than one string can be joined together (concatenated) using the Cicode 'plus' math-
ematical operator ( + ). For example:
sMyStringVariable = "This is my text string." + "This is my second
text string.";
The two strings would be joined together and assigned to the string variable sMyS-
tringVariable. However, if subsequently displayed somehow, like in the following MES-
SAGE example, the concatenated string would look wrong because there is no space
character positioned between the string sentences.
sMyStringVariable = "This is my text string." + "This is my second
text string.";
MESSAGE("String Concatenation Example",sMyStringVariable,32);
To overcome this potential formatting problem, you could include an extra space as the
last character in the strings, or include the space as a third string in the concatenation.
For example:
sMyStringVariable = "This is my text string. " + "This is my

second text string. ";
or
sMyStringVariable = "This is my text string." + " " + "This is my

second text string. ";
However, these are considered poor programming practices and not recommended.
Instead, you can use special string formatting commands known as escape sequences.
84
If the two strings (as used in the previous example), were formatted using appropriate
escape sequences positioned within the strings, and subsequently displayed somehow,
like in the following MESSAGE example, the concatenated string would look different,
For example:
STRING sNewLine = "^n";
sMyStringVariable = "This is my text string." + sNewLine + "This
is my second text string.";
MESSAGE("String Concatenation Example",sMyStringVariable,32);
Strings and string variables can also be concatenated as in the previous example. Be
aware of how the newline escape sequence ( ^n ) was assigned to the string variable sNew-
Line, and how this value was concatenated between the other strings and assigned to the
string variable sMyStringVariable for display in the MESSAGE function.
See Also
Using Cicode Files
Escape Sequences (String Formatting Commands)

Cicode supports several escape sequences that you can use in text strings for custom for-
matting of the string. By using the appropriate Cicode escape sequences listed below you
can format the string display to do such things as divide onto separate lines at specific
positions, insert tab spaces, insert quotes, or to display Hexadecimal numbers.
Cicode escape sequences are preceded by a caret ( ^ ) character. The caret character is
interpreted as a special instruction, and together with the characters immediately fol-
lowing it, are treated as an Cicode escape sequence formatting command. The escape
sequences used in Cicode are:
^b backspace
85
^f form feed
^n new line
^t horizontal tab
^v vertical tab
^' single quote
^" double quote
^^ caret
^r carriage return
^0xhh where hh is a hexadecimal number (for example, ^0x1A)
See Also
Using Cicode Files
86
Chapter 11: Working with Operators
With Cicode, you can use the data operators that are standard in a large number of pro-
gramming languages: mathematical, bit, relational, and logical operators.
See Also
Using Mathematical Operators
Using Bit Operators
Using Relational Operators
Using Logical Operators
Order of Precedence of Operators
Using Mathematical Operators

Standard mathematical operators allow you to perform arithmetic calculations on
numeric variables - integers and floating point numbers.
Operator Description
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
MOD Modulus (Remainder)
Example
The following are examples of mathematical operators
Com- PV12 = PV10 + PV11;

mand
Com- PV12 is the sum of PV10 and PV11
87
Chapter 11:
Working with Operators
ment
Com- Counter = Counter - 1;

mand
Com- The value of Counter is decreased by 1

ment
Com- PV12 = Speed * Counter;

mand
Com- PV12 is the product of Speed and Counter

ment
Com- Average = Total / ShiftHrs;

mand
Com- Average is Total divided by ShiftHrs

ment
Com- Hold = PV12 MOD PV13;

mand
Com- If PV12 = 10 and PV13 = 8, Hold equals 2 (the remainder when PV12 is
ment divided by PV13)
Com- Hold = PV12 MOD PV13;

mand
Com- If PV12 = 10 and PV13 = 8, Hold equals 2 (the remainder when PV12 is
ment divided by PV13)
Note: Cicode uses the standard order of precedence, that is multiplication and
division are calculated before addition and subtraction. In the statement A=1+4/2, 4
is divided by 2 before it is added to 1, and the result is 3. In the statement A=(1+4)/2 ,
1 is first added to 4 before the division, and the result is 2.5.
You can also use the addition operator (+) to concatenate (join) two strings.
+ Concatenate
88
Chapter 11:
Command Message = "For info see " + "Supervisor";
Comment Message now equals "For info see Supervisor"
For example:
See Also
Using Cicode Files
Using Bit Operators

With a bit operator, you can compare the corresponding bits in two numeric expressions.
(A bit is the smallest unit of data a computer can store.)
BITAND AND
BITOR OR
BITXOR Exclusive OR
For example
Command Tag3 = Tag1 BITAND Tag2;
Command Tag3 = Tag1 BITAND 0xFF;
Command Tag3 = Tag1 BITOR Tag2;
Command Tag3 = Tag1 BITXOR Tag2;
See Also
Using Cicode Files
89
Chapter 11:
Using Relational Operators

Relational operators describe the relationship between two values. The relationship is
expressed as one value being larger than, the same as, or smaller than another. You can
use relational operators for both numeric and string variables, however you can only test
variables of the same type. A numeric variable cannot be compared with a string var-
iable.
= Is equal to
<> Is not equal to
< Is less than
> Is greater than
<= Is less than or equal to
>= Is greater than or equal to
For example:
Command IF Message = "Alarm Active" THEN ...
Expression PV12 <> PV10;
Command IF (Total + Count) / Avg < 10 THEN ...
Expression Counter > 1;
Command IF PV12 <= PV10 THEN ...
Expression Total >= Shift * Hours;
See Also
Using Cicode Files
90
Chapter 11:
Using Logical Operators

With logical operators, you can test several conditions as either TRUE or FALSE.
AND Logical AND
OR Logical OR
NOT Logical NOT
Examples:
Com- Result = (PV12 = 10 AND PV13 = 2);

mand
Com- If PV12 equals 10 and PV13 equals 2 then Result is TRUE(1)

ment
Expres- Motor_1 AND Motor_2;

sion
Com- If both Motor_1 and Motor_2 are TRUE, that is Digital bits are 1 or ON, then
ment the expression is TRUE
Expres- PV12 = 1 OR PV13 > 2 OR Counter <> 0;

sion
Com- If either PV12 equals 1 or PV13 is greater than 2 or Counter is not equal to 0,
ment then the expression is TRUE
Com- Result = (Motor1_Ol OR Motor2_Ol);

mand
Com- If either Motor1_Ol or Motor2_Ol is TRUE, that is Digital bit is 1 or ON, then
ment Result is TRUE (1)
Com- IF NOT PV12 = 10 THEN ...

mand
Com- If PV12 does not equal 10 then the result is TRUE. This is functionally iden-
ment tical to IF PV12 <> 10 THEN . . .
91
Chapter 11:
Expres- NOT Tag_1;

sion
Com- This expression is TRUE if Tag_1 = 0. This is commonly used for testing dig-
ment ital variables
See Also
Using Cicode Files
Order of Precedence of Operators

The table below shows the order of precedence of operators.
Operators have a set of rules that govern the order in which operations are performed.
These rules are called the order of precedence. The precedence of Cicode operators from
highest to lowest is:
1. ()
2. NOT
3. *, /, MOD
4. :
5. +, -
6. >, <, <=, >=
7. =, <>
8. AND
9. OR
10. BITAND, BITOR, BITXOR
See Also
Using Cicode Files
92
Chapter 12: Working with Conditional Executors
The statements that control decisions and loops in your functions are called conditional
executors. Cicode uses four conditional executors: If, For, While, and select case.
See Also
Formatting Executable Statements
Setting IF ... THEN Conditions
Using FOR ... DO Loops
Using WHILE ... DO Conditional Loops
Using the SELECT CASE statement
Using Cicode Files
Setting IF ... THEN Conditions

The IF statement executes one or more statements based on the result of an expression.
You can use If in one of two formats: If Then and If Then Else.
If Expression Then
Statement(s);
END
-or-
If Expression Then
Statement(s);
Else
Statement(s);
END
When you use the If Then format, the statement(s) following are executed only if the
expression is TRUE, for example:
INT Counter;
IF PV12 = 10 THEN
Counter = Counter + 1;
END
In this example, the Counter increments only if the tag PV12 is equal to 10, otherwise the
value of Counter remains unchanged. You can include several statements (including
other IF statements), within an IF statement, for example:
93
INT Counter;
IF PV12 = 10 THEN
IF Counter > 100 THEN
Report("Shift");
END
END
In this example, the report runs when the Counter increments, that is when PV12 = 10,
and the value of the counter exceeds 100.
You can use the If Then Else format for branching. Depending on the outcome of the
expression, one of two actions are performed, for example:
INT Counter;
IF PV12 = 10 THEN
Report("Shift");
ELSE
END
In this example, the report runs if PV12 is equal to 10 (TRUE), or the counter increments
if PV12 is anything but 10 (FALSE).
See Also
Using FOR ... DO Loops

A For loop executes a statement or statements a specified number of times.
FOR Variable=Expression To Expression DO

Statement(s);
END
The following function uses a For loop:
INT
FUNCTION
DisplayArray()
INT Counter;
FOR Counter = 0 TO 4 DO
Prompt(ArrayA[Counter]);
Sleep(15);
END
END
94
This function displays the single message "This is a String Array" on the screen one
word at a time pausing for 15 seconds between each word.
See Also
Using WHILE ... DO Conditional Loops

A While loop executes a statement or statements in a loop as long as a given condition
is true.
WHILE Expression DO
Statement(s);
END
The following code fragment uses a WHILE loop:
INT Counter;
WHILE DevNext(hDev) DO
END
/* Count the number of records in the device (hDev)*/
Be careful when using WHILE loops in your Cicode functions: WHILE loops can cause
excessive loading of the CPU and therefore reduce system performance. If you use a
WHILE loop to loop forever, you should call the Cicode function Sleep() so that Citect-
SCADA can schedule other tasks. The Sleep() function increases the performance of your
CitectSCADA system if you use many WHILE loops.
See Also
Nested Loops
You can "nest" one loop inside the other. That is, a conditional statement can be placed
completely within (nested inside) a condition of another statement.
See Also
95
Using the SELECT CASE statement

The select case statement executes on several groups of statements, depending on the
result of an expression. SELECT CASE statements are a more efficient way of writing
code that would otherwise have to be done with nested IF THEN statements.
SELECT CASE Expression

CASE CaseExpression1,CaseExpression2
Statement(s);
CASE CaseExpression3 TO CaseExpression4
Statement(s);
CASE IS >CaseExpression5,IS<CaseExpression6
Statement(s);
CASE ELSE
Statement(s);
END SELECT
Where CaseExpressionn is any one of the following forms:
- expression
- expression TO expression
Where the TO keyword specifies an inclusive range of values. The smaller value needs
to be placed before TO.
- IS <relop> expression.
Use the IS keyword with relational operators (<relop>). Relational operators that may be
used are <, <=, =, <>, >, >= .
If the Expression matches any CaseExpression, the statements following that CASE
clause are executed up to the next CASE clause, or (for the last clause) up to the END
SELECT. If the Expression matches a CaseExpression in more than one CASE clause,
only the statements following the first match are executed.
The CASE ELSE clause is used to indicate the statements to be executed if no match is
found between the Expression and any of the CaseExpressions. When there is no CASE
ELSE statement and no CaseExpressions match the Expression, execution continues at
the next Cicode statement following END SELECT.
You can use multiple expressions or ranges in each CASE clause. For example, the fol-
lowing line is valid:
CASE 1 To 4, 7 To 9, 11, 13, Is > MaxNumber
96
You can also specify ranges and multiple expressions. In the following example, CASE
matches strings that are exactly equal to "everything", strings that fall between "nuts"
and "soup" in alphabetical order, and the current value of "TestItem":
CASE "everything","nuts" To "soup",TestItem
SELECT CASE statements can be nested. Each SELECT CASE statement needs to have a
matching END SELECT statement.
For example, if the four possible states of a ship are Waiting, Berthed, Loading, and
Loaded, the Select Case statement could be run from a button to display a prompt detail-
ing the ship's current state.
select case iStatus

CASE 1
Prompt("Waiting");
CASE 2
Prompt("Berthed");
CASE 3
Prompt("Loading");
CASE 4
Prompt("Loaded");
CASE Else
Prompt("No Status");
END SELECT
See Also
97
98
Chapter 13: Performing Advanced Tasks
This section introduces and explains event handling, CitectSCADA tasks, CitectSCADA
threads, how CitectSCADA executes, and multitasking - including foreground and back-
ground tasks, controlling tasks, and pre-emptive multitasking.
See Also
Handling Events
How CitectSCADA Executes
Multitasking
Foreground and background tasks
Controlling tasks
Pre-emptive multitasking
Handling Events
Cicode supports event handling. You can define a function that is called only when a
particular event occurs. Event handling reduces the overhead that is required when
event trapping is executed by using a loop. The following example illustrates the use of
the OnEvent() function:
INT
FUNCTION MouseCallback()
INT x, y;
DspGetMouse(x,y);
Prompt("Mouse at "+x:####+","+y:####);
RETURN 0;
END
OnEvent(0,MouseCallback);
The function MouseCallBack is called when the mouse is moved - there is no need to poll
the mouse to check if it has moved. CitectSCADA watches for an event with the OnEvent()
function.
Because these functions are called each time the event occurs, you should avoid complex
or time consuming statements within the function. If the function is executing when
another call is made, the function can be blocked, and some valuable information may
be lost. If you do wish to write complex event handling functions, you should use the
queue handling functions provided with Cicode.
99
Chapter 13:
See Also
How Cicode is Executed

Your multi-tasking operating system gives CitectSCADA access to the CPU through
threads. However, this access time is not continuous, as CitectSCADA needs to share the
CPU with other applications and services.
Note: Be careful when running other applications at the same time as CitectSCADA.
Some applications place high demands on the CPU and reduce the execution speed
of CitectSCADA.
The CitectSCADA process has many operations to perform, including I/O processing,
alarm processing, display management, and Cicode execution - operations that are per-
formed continuously. And, because CitectSCADA is a real-time system, it needs to per-
form the necessary tasks within a minimum time - at the expense of others. For this
reason, CitectSCADA is designed to be multitasking, so it can efficiently manage it's own
tasks.
CitectSCADA performs its tasks in a specific order in a continuous loop (cycle). Citect-
SCADA's internal tasks are scheduled at a higher priority than that of Cicode and have
access to the CPU before the Cicode. For example, the Alarms, Trends, and I/O Server
tasks all get the CPU before any of your Cicode tasks. The reports are scheduled at the
same priority as your Cicode. CitectSCADA background spoolers and other idle tasks are
lower priority than your Cicode.
For Cicode, which consists of many tasks, CitectSCADA uses round-robin single priority
scheduling. With this type of scheduling each task has the same priority. When two or
more Cicode tasks exist, they each get a CPU turn in sequence. This is a simple method
of CPU scheduling.
Note: If a Cicode task takes longer than its designated CPU time to execute, it is
preempted until the next cycle - continuing from where it left off.
See Also
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Multitasking
Multitasking is when you can run more than one task at the same time. Windows sup-
ports this feature at the application level. For example you can run MS-Word and MS-
Excel at the same time.
CitectSCADA also supports multitasking internally; that is you can tell CitectSCADA to
do something, and before CitectSCADA has completed that task you can tell Citect-
SCADA to start some other task. CitectSCADA will perform both tasks at the same time.
CitectSCADA automatically creates the tasks, leaving you to call the functions.
Multitasking is a feature of CitectSCADA not the operating system. Many applications
cannot do this, for example if you start a macro in Excel, while that macro is running
you cannot do any other operation in Excel until that macro completes.
A multitasking environment is useful when designing your Cicode. It allows you to be
flexible, allowing the operator to perform one action, while another is already taking
place. For example, you can use Cicode to display two different input forms at the same
time, while allowing the operator to continue using the screen in the background.
See Also
Foreground and background tasks

Cicode tasks (or threads) can be executing in either foreground or background mode. A
foreground task is one that displays and controls animations on your graphics pages.
Any expression (not a command) entered in a property field (that is Text, Rectangle, But-
ton, etc.) is executed as a foreground task. Any other commands and expressions are
executed in background mode.
The difference between a background and foreground task is that a background task can
be pre-empted. That is, if system resources are limited, the task (for example, the printing
of a report) can pause to allow a higher priority task to be executed. When the task is
completed (or when system resources become available) the original task resumes. Fore-
ground tasks are the highest priority and can not be pre-empted.
See Also
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Controlling tasks
You can use the Task functions to control the execution of Cicode tasks, and use the
CitectSCADA Kernel at runtime to monitor the tasks that are executing. Since Citect-
SCADA automatically creates new tasks (whenever you call a keyboard command, etc.),
schedules them, and destroys them when they are finished, users rarely need to consider
these activities in detail.
Sometimes it is desirable to manually 'spawn' a new task. For example, suppose your
Cicode is polling an I/O Device (an operation which need to be continuous), but a sit-
uation arises that requires operator input. To display a form would temporarily halt the
polling. Instead you can spawn a new task to get the operator input, while the original
task continues polling the device.
Note: The TaskNew Cicode function is used to spawn new tasks.
See Also
"Using the CitectSCADA Kernel" in the CitectSCADA User Guide
Task Functions
Pre-emptive multitasking
Cicode supports pre-empted multitasking. If a Cicode task is running, and a higher prior-
ity task is scheduled, CitectSCADA will suspend the original task, complete the higher
priority task and return to the original task.
Preemption is supported between Cicode threads and other internal processes performed
by CitectSCADA. You can, therefore, write Cicode that runs forever (for example, a con-
tinuous while loop) without halting other Cicode threads or CitectSCADA itself. For
example:
INT FUNCTION MyLoopFunction()

WHILE TRUE DO
// Whatever is required in the continuous loop
Sleep(1); // Optional
END
END
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In the above example, the function Sleep() is used to force preemption. The Sleep() func-
tion is optional, however it will reduce the load on the CPU, because the loop is sus-
pended each second (it will not repeat at a high rate).
See Also
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Chapter 14: Editing and Debugging Code
This section describes how to edit and debug your Cicode using the Cicode Editor.
The Cicode Editor

You use the Cicode Editor to write, edit, and debug your Cicode code. The Cicode Editor
behaves similarly to other code editing tools like Microsoft Dev Studio, and contains
many advanced editing features such as:
l Dockable windows and toolbars.
l Syntax highlighting - color highlighting of syntax functions.
l IntelliSense AutoPrompt - function definition tooltips.
l IntelliSense AutoComplete - automatic inline prompting and completion of functions
with their parameters.
l AutoCaseCorrect - automatic case correction of function keywords.
l AutoIndent - automatic indent alignment of code.
l AutoScroll - automatic mouse middle button support.
l Drag and Drop - copy or move of selected text.
l Bookmark and Breakpoint indicator bar - single click set and reset of bookmarks and
breakpoints.
l Keyboard Shortcuts support.
Cicode Editor starts automatically when you double-click a Cicode file object in Citect
Explorer, or click the Cicode Editor button in Citect Explorer. See the topic Starting the
Cicode Editor.
Cicode files are stored as text files. For more information see the Introducing Cicode and
the section Using Cicode Files.
Note: Be careful not to confuse a Cicode file (*.ci) with an Include file (*.cii).
You could use any text editor to view or edit the Cicode files, however, the Cicode Editor
provides integrated views specific to Cicode. As well as the features listed above, it
includes:
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Editing and Debugging Code
l Breakpoint window
l Output window,
l Global Variable Window
l Stack window
l Thread window
l Compile Errors window
l CitectVBA Watch window
l Files window
To minimize potential future problems with maintaining your Cicode files, you should
adopt a programming standard as early as possible, as discussed in the section Using
Cicode Programming Standards. Maintain structured Cicode files, by logically grouping
your Cicode functions within the files, and by choosing helpful descriptive names.
Modular programming methods are discussed in the section Modular Programming.
Cicode functions are introduced in the section titled Using Cicode Functions. Suggestions
for debugging your Cicode is included in the section titled Debugging Cicode.
Starting the Cicode Editor

To start the Cicode Editor:
1. Click the Citect Explorer button.

2. Open the Cicode Files folder in the project list area of your project.
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3. Do either of the following:

l Double click a Cicode file (*.ci).
l Choose Tools | Cicode Editor in a CitectSCADA application.
l Click the Cicode Editor button.
Changing the default Cicode Editor

CitectSCADA allows you to use any text editor supported by Windows (for example, ED
for Windows, Windows Notepad, or Microsoft Word), instead of the default Cicode
Editor.
To change the default Cicode Editor:
1. Click the Project Editor button.

2. Choose Tools | Options.
3. Enter the editor application file name in the Cicode Editor field.
Note: The application name of the default Cicode Editor is ctcicode.exe located in
the CitectSCADAbin folder. The application name for Notepad is notepad.exe,
located in the Microsoft Windows c:\windows\ folder. The relative path to the
editor application need to be included if the application is not stored in the Citect-
SCADAbin folder.
4. Click OK to save the changes and close the form, or Cancel to abort changes without
saving.
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Creating Cicode files

To create a new Cicode file:
1. Start the Cicode Editor.

2. Choose File | New, or click New.
Save the Cicode file after creating it. The file is only stored on disk after you save it.
Creating functions
To create a new Cicode function:

2. Choose File | New, or click New.
3. Type in your new Cicode function in the blank space, or at the end of the file. Format
the Cicode function correctly, following the documented syntax.
4. Save the Cicode file.
Saving files
To save a Cicode file:
1. Choose File | Save, or click Save.

2. If the file is new, you will be prompted by the Save as dialog. CitectSCADA auto-
matically suggests a name.
3. Type in a new name in the File name field.
4. Click Save to save the file, or Cancel to abort the save.
To save your Cicode file under a new name, choose Save as instead of Save. The orig-
inal file will remain in your project under the original filename, until you delete it. All
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source files in your project directory will be included when you compile your project.
Opening Cicode files

To open a Cicode file:

2. Choose File | Open, or click Open.
3. Select a file from the list. You can use the dialog controls to open other projects and
directories.
4. Click the Open button to open the file, or Cancel to abort.
Note: Double clicking on any Cicode file (*.ci) in the Citect Explorer will launch
the Cicode Editor and open the Cicode file. However, be careful not to confuse a
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Cicode file with an Include file (*.cii).
Deleting Cicode files

To delete a Cicode file:
1. Run the Cicode Editor.

2. Choose File | Open, or click the Open button.
3. Select the target file from the list. You can use the dialog controls to open other
projects and directories.
4. Press the Delete key.
5. Click the Yes button to confirm delete, or No to abort.
6. Click the Cancel button to close the Open form.
Finding text in Cicode files

To find text in a Cicode file:
1. Choose Edit | Find, or click the Find button.

2. Complete the Find dialog, filling in the Find what field.
3. Click the Find Next button to begin searching, or Cancel to abort. The search is per-
formed down the file from the cursor. Hits are highlighted.
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Compiling Cicode files

To compile Cicode:

2. Choose File | Compile, or click the Compile button.
Note: You cannot compile Cicode functions individually. When you compile Citect-
SCADA, it automatically compiles the entire contents of the project.
Viewing errors detected by the Cicode Compiler

To view errors detected by the Cicode compiler:
Do either of the following:
l From the Compile Errors in the File menu of the Project Editor, click Goto. This
launches the Cicode Editor and opens the appropriate file at the correct line.
l Choose View | Compile Errors, then double-click the compile error you want to
view.
Cicode Editor Options

Cicode error handling behavior is controlled through the Cicode Editor Options Prop-
erties Dialog. These allow you to set (and change) what should happen when errors
occur in running Cicode, under which circumstances the debugger should be started,
and how the debugger behaves when in debug mode.
There are three tabbed property pages of options within the Debugger Options Properties
dialog:
l View Windows and ToolBars tab
l Options Properties tab
l Language Formatter Properties tab
See Also
Debugging Cicode
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Docking the Windows and Toolbars

The view windows and toolbars of the Cicode Editor can be docked or free floating
within the editing and debugging environment.
Toolbars are docked by default within the toolbar area at the top of the Cicode Editor.
Windows are docked by default in the document display area at the lower portion of the
Cicode Editor, beneath the toolbar area.
Docked windows are those that resize themselves to fit totally within the Cicode Editor
display area, by docking (attaching) themselves to an internal edge of the display area.
Docked windows cannot be resized manually, and will share the display space with the
Editor toolbars and other docked windows. Docked windows and toolbars share the dis-
play space side-by-side, without obscuring the view of each other.
Free floating windows are those that are not docked to the editor, nor are necessarily con-
strained by the editor boundaries. Free floating windows can be resized manually, and
are subject to layering (Z-order), in which they can be partly or wholly obscured by
another window, and they could partly or wholly obscure the view of another window
themselves. The window or toolbar with the current focus, is the one completely visible
at the top of all other display window layers, partly or wholly obscuring any beneath it
in the Z-order.
Windows and toolbars can be moved about in the Cicode Editor environment by click-
ing and dragging the titlebar of a window, or non-button area of a button bar. Docking
behaviour is by default, and can be overridden by holding down the CTRL key during
the drag-and-drop to force the window or bar to be free floating.
The position of the mouse during the drop action determines which side the window or
toolbar docks to. Docking outlines of the window or toolbar are displayed with gray
lines during the drag action to indicate the potential docked position.
Debugging Cicode
Displaying the Editor Options Properties dialog

To view/hide the Editor Options properties dialog:

2. Choose Debug | Options, or press Ctrl + T and then select the appropriate Window
from the dialog.
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Note: You can also choose View | Options, and then select the appropriate Win-
dow from the dialog.
Windows and Bars Tab
The Windows and Bars tab displays the current display state of the listed Toolbars and
Debug Windows within the Cicode Editor. A check mark in the checkbox next to the Win-
dow or Toolbar name enables the display of that Window or Toolbar in the Cicode
Editor. A grayed-out checkbox indicates that the window is disabled (presently unable to
be displayed). For example: Many of the debug windows which display the active state
of project Cicode variables are disabled when a Cicode project is not running, and there-
fore the Cicode Editor cannot be in debug mode).
Note: Right-click in the toolbar area to view a menu of available toolbars and debug
windows. For a description the buttons, see The Cicode Editor.
Toolbar options
Click the button on the toolbar to display the tool bar you want; for example, click Edit to
display the Edit tool bar.
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Window options
The Cicode Editor has several editing and debug windows that you can use to display
information about running Cicode and CitectVBA.
The Cicode Editor windows available are:
l Breakpoint window
l Output window
l Global Variable window
l Stack window
l Thread window
l Compile Errors window
l CitectVBA Watch window
l Files window
Viewing Editor windows

You can choose to view Editor windows or hide them to give you more room on your
screen.
To view/hide an Editor Window:

2. From the View menu, select the appropriate Window, or click the toggle button you
want in the View toolbar.
Breakpoint window
Displays the Breakpoint Window, which is used to list all breakpoints that are currently
set within the project. Double clicking an item in the list loads the file into the editor and
jumps to the breakpoint position. Right-clicking an item allows the ena-
ble/disable/removal of the list item.
The Breakpoint Window has the following fields:
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l File: the full name and location of the code file in which the breakpoint exists.
l Line: the line number (in the code file) where the breakpoint is located.
l Enabled: indicates if the breakpoint is enabled or not. Yes indicates it is active, No
indicates it is not.
Output window
Displays the Output Window, which lists the output messages sent by CitectSCADA dur-
ing debugging. It states when threads start and terminate, and if a break occurs. This
window will show messages sent by the TraceMsg() function.
The Output window shows entries in the order that they occur:
Note: you need to be in debug mode to view the messages.
Global Variable Window
Displays the Global Variables Window, which lists the names and values of all global
variables processed to date in the running project during debugging. A global variable is
added to the list when it is first assigned a value. Each time the Global variable is proc-
essed, its value will be updated in the Global Variable Window.
Note: you need to be in debug mode to view global variable values in this window.
Stack window
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Displays the Call Stack window, which lists the stack values of the current thread. The
stack consists of the functions called (including the arguments), any variables used in
the functions, and return values. This is especially useful during debugging to trace the
origin of the calling procedures.
A stack is a section of memory that is used to store temporary information. For example,
when you call a Cicode function, the variables used inside the function exist only as
long as the function runs.
To view the values of arguments and variables in a procedure, place a breakpoint
within the procedure under watch. When that breakpoint is reached, the Stack Window
will display the current call stack of the procedure containing the breakpoint. The values
of the stack are updated as the values change.
Note: you need to be in debug mode to view this window.
Thread window
Displays the Threads History window.
The Thread Window has the following fields:

l Name: The name of the Cicode thread. This is the name of the function called to start
the thread (from the TaskNew() function for example).
If you click on the Name of the Cicode thread, you will make the selected thread the cur-
rent focus of the Debugger. The Debugger will change the display to show the source of
the new thread.
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Note: If the thread was not started from TaskNew(), the Name shown will be
Command.
l Hnd: The Cicode thread handle.

l CPU: The amount of CPU the Cicode thread is currently using, as a percentage of the
total CPU usage. Cicode is efficient and this value should be quite small (0-25%). If
this value is large it can indicate a problem with the Cicode program you have
created. For example, values over 60% can indicate that your thread is running in
'hard' loops, and needs a Sleep() function inserted.
l State: The state of the Cicode thread. The states are defined as follows:
l Ready: The Cicode is ready to be run.
l Sleep: Suspended using the Sleep() function.
l Run: The thread is running.
l CPU_Time: The total amount of CPU time that the Cicode thread has consumed.
This tracks how much CPU time the thread has used over its lifetime.
Note: you need to be in debug mode to view this window.
Compile Errors window
Displays the Compile Errors window, which lists any code errors that have occurred dur-
ing compile. You can double-click on the file name in the list, to open that code file in
the Cicode Editor, and jump to the line of code that caused the compile error.
CitectVBA Watch window
Displays the CitectVBA Watch window. During debugging mode, you can use the
CitectVBA Watch window to watch the value of any CitectVBA variables in the current
scope. Click in the Variable column and type in the name of the variable under watch.
As it comes into scope, its value is updated and appears in the Value column.
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Note: You need to be in debug mode to view this window.
Files window
Displays the Files window containing three tabs.

l The 'All Projects' tab displays a tree hierarchy view of all projects and their Cicode
and CitectVBA files available within Citect Explorer.
l The 'Open Project' tab displays a tree hierarchy view of the currently selected project,
and all included projects. The currently selected project will be the top entry.
l The 'Open Files' tab lists the names of all files currently open for editing in the
Cicode Editor.
Note: Clicking any of the file names displayed in the tree will open that file in the
editor and give it the focus.
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Options Properties Tab
The Options properties tab has the following features:

[Dynamic properties] Break on all hardware errors
Stops a Cicode thread if a hardware error is detected. A Cicode error will be generated
and the thread will terminate (without executing the rest of the function).
[Dynamic properties] Suspend all Cicode threads while stepping
All Cicode threads will be suspended while the debugger is stepping (or when the
debugger reaches a breakpoint, or the user performs a manual break). If you try to run
any Cicode thread at such a time (by pressing a button at runtime, and so on), the Com-
mand paused while in debug mode message will display in the runtime prompt line.
This option allows better isolation of any software errors that are detected, especially
those that occur when your Cicode thread interacts with other threads. Foreground
Cicode cannot be suspended and will continue running when this option is set.
Note: This option will help prevent all new Cicode threads from running (including
keyboard and touch commands), and should not be used on a running plant.
[Dynamic properties] Warning on break in foreground Cicode

If a break point is 'hit' in a foreground Cicode task, the Foreground Cicode cannot break
(343) error message is generated, and will be displayed on the Hardware Alarm page.
Disable this option to stop the alarm message from displaying.
[CitectSCADA startup options] CitectSCADA will start debugger on hardware errors
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CitectSCADA will automatically start the debugger when a Cicode generated hardware
error is detected. The debugger will display the Cicode source file, and mark the location
of the error.
Note: This option will interrupt normal runtime operation, and should only be used
during testing and commissioning of systems.
Do not use the following options during normal plant or process operations:
l Suspend all Cicode threads while stepping.
l CitectSCADA will start debugger on hardware errors.
These options are only for use during system testing and commissioning.
ment damage.
[CitectSCADA startup options] Notify debugger of errors in foreground Cicode

CitectSCADA will automatically start the debugger if an error is detected in a foreground
task. The debugger will display the Cicode source file, and mark the location of the error.
This option is overridden by the CitectSCADA will start debugger on hardware errors
option. That is, if the above option is disabled, then this option is disabled also.
Note: Foreground Cicode cannot be suspended. The break point will be marked, but
you will not be able to step through the function.
[CitectSCADA startup options] Allow remote debugging

Allows debugging of Cicode on this computer from a remote CitectSCADA computer.
[CitectSCADA startup options] Remote IP Address
The Windows Computer Name or TCP/IP address of the remote CitectSCADA computer.
The Windows Computer Name is the same as specified in the Identification tab, under
the Network section of the Windows Control Panel. You specify this name on the com-
puter from which you are debugging.
The TCP/IP address (for example, 10.5.6.7 or plant.yourdomain.com) can be determined
as follows:
l Go to the Command Prompt, type IPCONFIG, and press Enter.
[Debugger options] Save breakpoints between sessions
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Save the location and states of breakpoints between running sessions of the Cicode
Editor and Debugger. This means breakpoints inserted using the Cicode Editor can later
be recalled when an error is detected - even though the file (and application) has been
closed.
[Compile options] Incremental compile
Enables the incremental compilation of the project.
See Also
Debugging Cicode
Language Formatter Properties Tab
This dialog displays the currently selected programming language that the editor will
use to format the syntax of the file being edited in the code window. If you open a
Cicode file (with a .Ci extension), the current language formatter changes to Cicode. If
you open a CitectVBA file (with a .bas extension), the current language formatter
changes to CitectVBA.
Similarly, if you open a file with neither a Cicode nor a CitectVBA extension, say a text
file (with a .txt extension), the editor will not know which language type you want to
use, and will not apply any formatting to the file. You can use this dialog to select which
programming language the file contains, and it will format the file appropriately for dis-
play in the code window.
Note: The Cicode Editor can be used to edit any ASCII text based file, including
Microsoft JScript. The editor recognizes JScript files (with a .jav extension) and will
change the current language formatter to JScript. CitectSCADA does not support
JScript, and will not compile it into your project. However, the editor can still be used
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separately to edit or create a JScript file or any other ASCII text based file.
Current
Displays the currently selected programming language formatter for appropriate syntax
coloring of the file displayed in the code window.
Selection
Displays the range of possible programming languages that can be chosen as the current
language for formatting and display in the code window.
Debugging Cicode
To help you locate Cicode errors, you can switch the Cicode Editor to debug mode to
analyze running Cicode. You can toggle debugging on and off as required, but Citect-
SCADA needs to be running for the debugger to work.
Note: The Cicode Editor cannot debug foreground Cicode. A break in a foreground
Cicode will result in the Foreground Cicode cannot break message.
See Also
Cicode Editor Options | Function Error handling | Debug Error Trapping
Using debug mode

To switch to debug mode:

2. Choose Debug | Start Debugging, or click the Toggle Debug button.
Note: If the current project is not running, CitectSCADA compiles and runs it auto-
matically. The bug in the bottom right-hand corner is green when debugging.
Debugging functions
To debug a function:

2. Open the file containing the function you wish to debug.
3. Click the Toggle Debug button, or choose Debug | Start Debugging.
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Note: If the current project is not running, CitectSCADA compiles and runs it auto-
matically. The bug in the bottom right-hand corner is green when debugging.
4. Insert a breakpoint where you want to start debugging.

5. From the View menu, select any debug windows you want to use. If you are unsure,
you can use them all.
6. Initiate the thread by calling the function. You can do this directly from the Cicode
window in the Kernel, or by using a function, etc.
7. The function will break at the specified breakpoint. You can then use the step tools to
step through and trace your function.
8. Click the Toggle Debug button to stop debugging, or choose Debug | Stop Debugging.
Debugging functions remotely

You can debug functions remotely if both computers are running identical projects and
the CitectSCADA Path is the same on both machines.
To remotely debug Cicode:
1. Click the Cicode Editor button on the computer that will be running CitectSCADA
(the remote).
2. Choose Debug | Options.
3. Check (tick) the Allow remote debugging option.
4. Click OK.
5. Click the Run button (you can close the Cicode Editor first), or choose File | Run.
6. On the computer that will be debugging CitectSCADA, click the Cicode Editor button.
7. Choose Debug | Options.
8. Enter the Windows Computer Name or TCP/IP address of the remote CitectSCADA
computer.
The Windows Computer Name is specified on the Computer Name tab of the System
Properties dialog (go to Control Panel and select System).
The TCP/IP address (for example, 10.5.6.7 or plant.yourdomain.com) can be determined
by going to the Command Prompt, typing IPCONFIG, and pressing Enter.
9. Click OK.
10. Click the debug button to start remote debugging.
Note:CitectSCADA uses Named Pipes for remote debugging. To enable the Windows
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Named Pipe service, you need to enable the Server service. Select Administrative
Tools from Control Panel, then select Services. Locate the Server service in the list
that appears, and confirm that it is running. You can start and stop a service by
right-clicking on it.
Using breakpoints
There are three ways for a processing thread to halt:
l Manually inserting a breakpoint.
l Using the DebugBreak() Cicode function.
l If a hardware error is detected.
To debug a function, you need to first be able to stop it at a particular point in the code.
You can place a breakpoint on any line in the source code functions. Breakpoints may be
inserted or removed while editing or debugging without the need for them to be saved
with the file.
For a detected hardware error to halt a function, you need to have either the Break on all
hardware errors or Break on hardware errors in active thread option set (Debug menu -
Options). When the break occurs, the default Cicode Editor will be launched (if it is not
open already), with the correct code file, function, and break point line displayed. To
launch the debugger in this case, you need to have the CitectSCADA will start
debugger on hardware errors option set.
Inserting or removing breakpoints

You can insert and remove breakpoints to halt processing.
To insert/remove a breakpoint:
1. Open the Cicode Editing window.

2. Position the cursor on the line where you want the breakpoint to be placed or
removed.
3. Click the Debug indicator bar. Alternatively, you can press F9 or choose Debug |
Insert/Remove Breakpoint.
The breakpoint appears as a large red dot at the beginning of the line.
Enabling/disabling breakpoints
You can enable or disable breakpoints you have inserted into your Cicode.
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To enable/disable a breakpoint:
1. Open the Cicode Editing Window.

2. Position the cursor on the line where the breakpoint is located.
3. Press Ctrl + F9, or choose Debug | Enable/Disable Breakpoint.
Note: A disabled breakpoint appears as a large dark gray (disabled) dot at the begin-
ning of the line.
Stepping through code

Once you have halted a thread, the debugger marks the position in the code with an
arrow. Now you can step through the function, line by line, and watch what happens in
the debug window (see below). The following tools are provided in the Cicode Editor, to
control stepping through functions.
Step Advances the current Cicode thread by one statement. If the statement is a
Into user defined function, the debugger steps into it (the pointer jumps to the
first line of the source code).
Step Advances the current Cicode thread by one statement. If the statement is a
Over user defined function, the debugger steps over it (the function is not
expanded).
Step Advances to the end of the current function and return. If there is no calling
Out function, the thread terminates.
Con- Re-starts normal execution of the current Cicode thread. If there are no more
tinue breaks, the thread terminates normally.
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Chapter 15: Using Cicode Programming Standards
Implementing programming practices results in Cicode that is more robust, manageable,

and predictable in execution, regardless of the author. Using programming standards
entails:
l Adopting modular programming techniques.
l Helping to ensure that programs are adequately described by suitable module head-
ers.
l Formatting code to improve readability.
The following topics are presented as a suggested means of achieving good pro-
gramming standards:
l Variable Declaration Standards
l Variable Scope Standards
l Variable Naming Standards
l Standards for Constants, Variable Tags, and Labels
l Formatting Simple Declarations
l Formatting Executable Statements
l Formatting Expressions
l Cicode Comments
l Formatting Functions
l Modular Programming
l Defensive Programming
l Function Error handling
l Debug Error Trapping
See Also
Using Cicode Functions
127

When declaring variables you should use consistent formatting. A variable declaration
has up to five parts. Each part is separated by at least one tab stop:
Note: Parts contained within square brackets are optional. For example, you may
omit the variable scope (it defaults to local). Parts contained within greater than ( < )
and less than ( > ) signs should be replaced with the relevant text/value. For exam-
ple, you would replace <initial value> with an actual value. (You would not bracket
your value with greater than and less than signs.)
When declaring your variables, the parts of each should align vertically (the scope part
of each should be vertically aligned, the type part of each should be aligned, etc.). Each
part of the declaration is allotted a set amount of space. If one part is missing, its space
should be left blank. The missing part should not affect the positioning of the next part:
Module int miRecipeMax=100;

int iRecipeMax;
string sRecipeDefault ="Tasty";
See Also

Local variable standards
Local Variables should be initialized, for example:
INT iFile = 0;
STRING sName = "";
128
INT bSuccess = FALSE;
Module variable standards

Module Variables should be initialized, for example:
MODULE INT mhForm = -1;

MODULE STRING msPageName = "Loop";
Global variable standards

Global variables should be initialized, for example:
GLOBAL INT ghTask = -1;

GLOBAL STRING gsLastPage = "Menu";

The following naming conventions should be applied to variables:
l Variable names should have a small case letter prefix as follows:
Type Pre- Used for

fix
INT (32 bits) i index, loop counter
INT (32 bits) and OBJECT (32 bits) h handle
INT (32 bits) b boolean (TRUE/FALSE)
REAL (64 bits) r real type variables
STRING (255 bytes) s string type variables
l Variable names typically consist of up to three words. Each word in a variable name
should start with a capital letter, for example:
iTrendType, rPeriod, sFileName
l Module variable names should be prefixed with an "m", for example:

miTrendType, mrPeriod, msFileName
l Global variable names should be prefixed with a "g", for example:

giTrendType, grPeriod, gsFileName
129
l Local variable names should not be prefixed (when you declare a variable without
specifying the scope, it is considered a Local variable by default):
iTrendType, rPeriod, sFileName
See Also
Standards for Constants, Variable Tags, and Labels

When coding constants, variable tags and labels in Cicode you should try to use the fol-
lowing standards:
l Constants
l Variable tags
l Labels
Constants
In Cicode there is no equivalent of #defines of C language, or a type that will force var-
iables to be constants (read-only variables). However, the variable naming convention
makes constants easily identifiable so developers will treat those variables as read-only
variables.
l Constants are recommended to have the prefix `c'.
l Constants need to be declared and initialized at the beginning of the Cicode file and
under no circumstances assigned a value again.
For example:
INT ciTrendTypePeriodic = 1;
INT ciTrendTypeEvent = 2;
STRING csPageName = "Mimic";
Variable tags
Variable tags that have been defined in the database (with the Variable Tags form) can
be used in all functions in the Cicode files. Variable tags are identifiable because they
will not have a prefix (also, they are generally in uppercase letters).
Labels
130
Labels, like variable tags, can be used in all functions in the Cicode files. They can be
either all upper case letters or mixed case. In order to differentiate them from the variable
tags and other Cicode variables they should have an `_' (underscore) in front of them.
For example:
_BILLING_EVENT, _UNIT_OFFLINE, _AfterHoursEvent
Note: There are a few labels without an underscore defined in the Labels form in the
INCLUDE project. Although they do not follow the guidelines set in this document
their wide usage makes changing those labels impractical. These labels are: TRUE,
FALSE, BAD_HANDLE, XFreak, XOutsideCL, XAboveUCL, XBelowLCL, XOut-
sideWL, XUpTrend, XDownTrend, XGradualUp, XGradualDown, XErratic, XStrat-
ification, XMixture, ROutsideCL, RAboveUCL, RBelowLCL
See Also
Formatting Simple Declarations

The following conventions should be observed when formatting simple Cicode dec-
larations:
l Only one item should be declared per declaration; there should be no comma sep-
arated list of variables.
l Tab stops should be used for declarations and indentation.
For example:
INT hFile,hForm; // WRONG

INT hFile; // RIGHT
INT hForm; // RIGHT
The reasons for this are:

l Only the first identifier in the WRONG case is obvious and the others are often
missed in a quick glance;.
l It is harder to add a comment or initialization to an item in the WRONG case.
l Types, items, and initialization within a group of declarations should be vertically
aligned.
For example:
131
STRING sFileName = "temp.dat"; // WRONG

INT iOffset = -1; // WRONG
INT iState = 3; // WRONG
STRING sFileName = "temp.dat"; // RIGHT
INT iOffset = -1; // RIGHT
INT iState = 3; // RIGHT
See Also
Using Cicode Commands
Formatting Executable Statements

The following conventions should be observed when formatting executable statements:
l Statements are placed on new lines, indented one tab stop from the level of their sur-
rounding block.
Note: Do not place more than one statement on a single line. While this practice is
permitted in other programming languages, in Cicode the subsequent statements will
not be interpreted and will effectively be lost, potentially affecting your program's
runtime behavior.
Do not place more than one statement per line.
ment damage.
Although it may be argued that some statements are logically related, this is not suf-
ficient justification. If they are logically related, place the statements on consecutive lines
and separate the statements by a blank line before and after. For example:
hFile = -1; hForm = -1; // WRONG

hFile = -1; // RIGHT
hForm = -1; // RIGHT
l IF statements can be used in one of the formats below. When indenting the IF state-
ments, a tab stop should be used. For example:
l Simple IF block
132
IF <expression> THEN
...
END
l IF-THEN-ELSE block
...
ELSE
...
END
l To simulate ELSEIF blocks, use nested statements. For example:
...
ELSE
...
ELSE
...
ELSE
...
END
END
END
l For WHILE and FOR statements see Working with Conditional Executors.
See Also
Formatting Expressions
The following conventions should be observed when formatting Cicode functions:
l When an expression forms a complete statement, it should, like any other statement,
occupy one or more lines of its own and be indented to the current level. Operators
should be surrounded by spaces. For example:
i= i*10+c-'0'; // WRONG
i = i * 10 + c - '0'; // RIGHT
133
l When a sub-expression is enclosed in brackets, the first symbol of the sub-expression

should be placed hard against the opening bracket. The closing bracket should be
placed immediately after the last character for the sub-expression. For example:
a = b * ( c - d ); // WRONG
a = b * (c - d); // RIGHT
l The round brackets which surround the arguments of a function attract no spaces, for
example:
DisplayText( "hello" ); // WRONG

DisplayText("hello"); // RIGHT
l Commas, whether used as operators or separators, would be placed hard against the
previous symbol and followed by a space. For example:
DevSeek(hDev ,Offset); // WRONG

DevSeek(hDev, Offset); // RIGHT
See Also
Cicode Comments
Comments are designed to to aid understanding and maintenance of code. You should
place comments in the notes of the function header so as not to clutter up the code.
Small one-line comments are acceptable to explain some small part of the code which
may be hard to understand in the normal header comment.
See Also
Formatting Functions
Cicode functions have up to seven parts: Scope, Type, Keyword, Name, Argument(s),
Statement(s), Keyword.
[Scope]
134
The scope of the function. If the scope is omitted, the function will be Public by default.
That is, it will be available to all Cicode files, pages, and CitectSCADA databases (for
example, Alarm.dbf). To make a function Private (that is only available within the file in
which it is declared), you need to prefix it with the word PRIVATE.
[Type]
The return type of the function. This should be on a separate line.
Keyword
The keyword FUNCTION. This should be on a separate line.
Name
The function name. Function names should follow the Function Naming Standards. This
should be on a separate line.
Argument(s)
The argument list. The arguments are separated by commas and they can have default
values. The argument list is normally on the same line as the function name but mul-
tiple line argument list is also acceptable if it improves readability.
Statement(s)
The statements. Each statement should be on a separate line.
Keyword
The keyword END which marks the end of the function. This should be on a separate
line.
Note: Parts contained within square brackets - [ ] - are optional. For example, the
scope may be omitted and if so, it will default to Public. Parts contained within
greater than & less than signs - < > - should be replaced with the relevant text/value.
For example, you would replace <initial value> with an actual value. You would not
bracket your value with greater than & less than signs.
For example:
FUNCTION
PlotInit()
<statements>
END
INT
FUNCTION
PlotOpen(STRING sName, INT nMode)
INT hPlot = _BAD_HANDLE;
...
hPlot = .....;
...
135
RETURN hPlot;
END
PRIVATE
STRING
FUNCTION
WasteInfoName(INT nType, INT nMode)
STRING sName = "Sydney";
...
sName = .....;
...
RETURN sName;
END
See Also
Writing Functions
Using Cicode Functions
Format Templates
The format of a format template string
[text]{<name>[,width[,justification]]}[text]...
Rules for valid format template display

1. If the "width" value is not present then the width is set to the length of the number of
characters inclusive between '{' and '}'. This means that the field value may be trun-
cated or padded depending on the name value length.
2. If the "width" value is specified then that is the length of the field. This means that
the name value length may be truncated or padded.
3. The justification is made up of a single character with the following behaviours as
specified:
l 'R' or 'r' will align the field on the right hand side. If the width is longer than
the name value length then the left hand side of the name value is padded with
spaces.
l 'L' or 'l' will align the field on the left hand side. If the width is longer than the
name value length then the right hand side of the name value is padded with
spaces.
l 'Z' or 'z' will align the field on the right hand side. If the width is longer than
the name value length then the left hand side of the value is padded with zeros.
136
l 'N' or 'n' will remove any extra padding that is used. Essentially any padding
of the name value is trimmed.
4. If a justification is not specified then the name value is assumed to be left justified.
5. Any spaces appearing after the first comma onwards in the format template will be
stripped out at no penalty to the user.
Malformed format template display
There are two types of malformed templates and below are examples of each and the
resulting output.
Internal malformation
This is when there is a correct open and close bracer '{' and '}' but inside the format tem-
plate there is a malformation. For example there may be a space not a comma separating
the name and the width. In this case the whole field is ignored which means nothing
between and including '{' and '}' is displayed.
For example:
Take the following string
< { LocalTimeDate , 20 , R } > TagLabel < { Tag , 20 L } > DescriptionLabel < {

Desc , 20 , L } >
The output would as follows:
< 2009-07-17 11:13:17 > TagLabel < > DescriptionLabel < ValidAlarm1Desc >
Note: The "Tag" name value is not outputted as the field has no ',' between the width
and justification.
Bracer malformation
This is when there is an open bracer '{' but no closing bracer '}'. In this case the mal-
formation is printed as a string literal.
For example:
Take the following string:
< { LocalTimeDate , 20 , R } > TagLabel < { Tag , 20 , L > DescriptionLabel < {

Desc , 20 , L } >
The output would be as follows:
< 2009-07-17 11:31:44 > TagLabel < { Tag , 20 , L > DescriptionLabel <
ValidAlarm1Desc >
137
Note: The "Tag" name value is outputted as a literal as no closing bracer '}' is
detected.
Functions Reference
Function Naming Standards

Function names should contain at least the following information:
l A three-to-five letter description of the function type (Trend, Plot, Win).
l A one or two word description of the data to be operated on (Info, ClientInfo, Mode).
l A one word action to be taken (Get, Set, Init, Read).
For example:
PlotInit();TrendClientOpen();TrendClientInfoRead();
See Also
Naming Functions
Source file headers
Source files (the files that contain your Cicode) should have a header to provide a basic
overview of the file. This header should be formatted as follows:
//** FILE: <name of file.CI>

//**
//** DESCRIPTION: <description of basically what is in the file>
//**
//** FUNCTIONS: PUBLIC
//** <list of the PUBLIC functions contained
//** in this file>
//**
//** PRIVATE
//** <list of the PRIVATE functions contained
//** in this file>
//**
//*************** MODULE CONSTANTS***********************
<module constants> //<comments (optional)>
//**************** MODULE VARIABLES ***********************
<module variables> //<comments (optional)>
//*********************************************************
Note: Declare all module variables at the MODULE VARIABLES section at the
138
beginning of the file and initialize the module variables.
For example:
//** FILE: Recipe.CI

//**
//** DESCRIPTION: Contains all functions for gathering recipe data.
//**
//** FUNCTIONS: PUBLIC
//** OpenRecipeDatabase
//** CloseRecipeDatabase
//** ReadRecipeData
//** WriteRecipeData
//** GatherRecipeData
//** RecipeForm
//** OpenRecipeDatabase
//**
//** PRIVATE
//** ButtonCallback
//**
//*************** MODULE CONSTANTS***********************
module int cmiRecipeMax =100; //Maximum number of recipes
//**************** MODULE VARIABLES ***********************
module int miRecipeNumber =0; //Minimum number of recipes
//*********************************************************
Function headers
Functions should have a descriptive header, formatted as follows:
//** FUNCTION : <name of function>

//**
//** DESCRIPTION : <suggests the operation, application source and
//** multi-tasking issues>
//** REVISION DATE BY COMMENTS
//** <revision number> <date> <author> <comments about the change>
//**
//** ARGUMENTS: <argument description>
//**
//** RETURNED VALUE: < description of possible return values>
//**
//** NOTES:
The order of functions in a file is important for efficient operation.

Initialization and shutdown functions should be placed at the top of the file. Command
functions should be next. Local utility functions should be at the bottom of the file.
For example:
139
//** FUNCTION : OpenRecipeDatabase

//**
//** DESCRIPTION : Opens the specified database.
//**
//** REVISION DATE BY COMMENTS
//** 1 28/09/97 BS Original
//** 2 05/10/97 SFA Added INI checking
//**
//** ARGUMENTS:
//**
//** STRING sName Name of the recipe database.
//**
//** INT dwMode Mode to open the recipe database.
//** 0 for read only, 1 for read/write.
//**
//** RETURNED VALUE: Handle if successful, otherwise -1.
//**
//** NOTES:
INT
FUNCTION
OpenRecipeDatabase(STRING sName, INT dwMode)
...
END
Modular Programming
One of the more effective programming practices involves partitioning large, complex
programming challenges into smaller and more manageable sub-tasks and reusable func-
tions. A similar approach should be taken when using a programming language like
Cicode to complete a task. Reducing the task to smaller tasks (or functions) has the fol-
lowing advantages:
l Reduced Complexity - Once the function is created and tested, the detailed operation
about how it works need not be revisited. Users need only focus on the results
produced by the function.
l Avoids Duplicate Code - Creating a generic function instead of copying similar code
reduces the total amount of code in the system. It also means the function can be
reused by separate code areas. This makes the code more maintainable because it is
smaller in size, and only one instance needs to be modified.
l Hides Information - Information can be in the form of operations, data, or resources.
Access to information can be controlled when functions are written that provide a
limited set of actions to be performed on the information. For example, if a user
wishes to log a message to a database, he or she should only send the message to a
function, say LogDBaseMessage("hello world"), and the function should control the
database resource. The function then becomes the single interface to the database
resource. Resources that have multiple interfaces to them are harder to control. This
140
is because in a multitasking environment, the user cannot control or even know in

advance the order of code execution, and hence a resource may be modified at the
same time by different tasks. Information hiding can also smooth out any wrinkles in
standard functions, minimizing possible misuse of resources such as semaphores,
queues, devices, and files. Functions that do this are often called `wrapper' functions
as they add a protective shell to existing functions.
l Improves Performance - Optimizing code that resides in one place immediately
increases the performance of code that calls this function. Scattered code will require
multiple areas to be modified should any optimization be necessary.
l Isolates Complex Code - Code that requires complex operations such com-
munications protocols, complex algorithms, boolean logic, or complex data manip-
ulation is susceptible to errors. Placing this code in a separate function reduces the
possibility of this code corrupting or halting other code.
l Improves Readability - A small function with meaningful parameter names assists
readability as it is a step towards self-documenting code and reduces the need to
scan multiple pages of code to establish what the operation is meant to achieve.
Modular programming has a few rules that define how functions should be structured -
Cohesion - and how they are related to other functions - Coupling.
See Also
Defensive Programming
Cohesion
A goal of modular programming is to create simple functions that perform a single task,
but perform that task well. This can be described as how 'cohesive' a function is.
Two factors that affect the level of cohesion are:
l Number of tasks the function performs.
l Similarity of the tasks.
The following table illustrates the different levels of cohesion:
Sim- Cohesion
Number of tasks Example
ilarity level
1 Not appli- High Sin(x)

cable
More than 1 Similar Moderate SinAndTan(x)
141
Sim- Cohesion
Number of tasks Example
ilarity level
More than 1 Dissimilar Low SinAndLength(x)
Many Radically None SinAndDateAndTimeAndSQLNext

different (x)
For example, the function Sin(x) will perform one task - return the trigonometric Sine
value of x. This is an example of a highly cohesive function. The function SinAndTan(x)
performs two tasks - calculate the trigonometric Sine and Tan of the value X. This func-
tion has lower cohesion than Sin(x) because it performs two tasks.
Highly cohesive functions are more dependable, easier to modify, and easier to debug
than functions that have lower levels of cohesion and are hence acceptable and encour-
aged.
Low cohesion functions are typically complex, prone to errors, and are more costly to fix.
Low cohesion functions are regarded as poor programming practice and discouraged.
Coupling
Another rule of modular programming is to reduce the number of relationships between

functions. This is referred to as function coupling. Functions that have few, or no, rela-
tionships between them are loosely coupled. Loosely coupled functions provide simple,
visible interfaces to the function. This makes the functions easier to use and modify. For
example, the Cicode function TimeCurrent() is a loosely coupled function. To use this
function, a user need only call its name, and the function will return with the desired
result. The user does not need to be aware of any relationships because there are no
parameters passed to the function, and it does not read from, or write to, any global
data. There is very little likelihood of error with this function; it only returns a time/date
variable and does not support error codes. In the unlikely event that the function did not
return the time/date variable, it would be through no error of the calling function
because it has no relationship to it.
Functions that have many relationships between them are tightly coupled. For example,
a user written function like AddCustomerRecord(hDatabase, sFirstName, sSurname,
sAddress, sAge, sPhone) has a higher level of coupling than the function TimeCurrent
(). Tightly coupled functions are inflexible in their use, less robust, and harder to main-
tain. The AddCustomerRecord() function is less robust because it could experience an
error of its own accord, or if the function calling it passes bad data to it. Tightly coupled
functions are harder to maintain because modifying a function with many relationships
in it may result in modifications to other functions to accept the data.
The different types of function relationships are listed below:
142
l Passed parameters. A simple, visible form of loose coupling that is encouraged. Once
the number of parameters passed to a function exceeds seven, you should consider
partitioning the function into two smaller functions. These types of relationships are
acceptable.
l Control information. Control information causes the called function to behave in a
different way. For example, the function ChangeData(iMode), behaves differently
depending on the value of the variable iMode that is passed into it. It may be respon-
sible for deleting, inserting, or updating data. In addition to being a tightly coupled
function, it has low cohesion because it performs multiple tasks. This function could
be divided into three separate functions to perform the separate tasks. These types of
relationships are moderately acceptable.
l Shared common data. This is often referred to as global variable data. This is an
invisible form of tight coupling that, particularly in pre-emptive, multi-tasking envi-
ronments, can result in an unpredictable, hard-to-maintain program. When functions
write to the global variable data there is no monitoring of or restriction on who is
writing to the variable. Hence the value can be indeterminate. Global variables are
acceptable when they are used for read-only purposes, otherwise their use is dis-
couraged. Similarly, module variable data in CitectSCADA should be treated the
same way. The use of local function variables is encouraged to decrease function cou-
pling.
Defensive Programming
Defensive programming is an approach to improve software and source code. It aims to
improve general quality by reducing the number of software bugs. It promotes making
the source code readable and understandable. It aims to make your code behave in a pre-
dictable manner despite unexpected input or user actions.
You should try to:
l Verify that your code does not produce unexplained hardware alarms.
l Check that denominators in division are not zero.
l Check that array indexes cannot go out of range.
l Check that arguments from external sources are valid.
l Check that loop terminations are obvious and achievable.
l Only write code once. If you find that two sections of code look identical or almost
identical it is worth spending the time to re-write or re-design it. This will generally
reduce the size of the code in question by a third or more, which reduces complexity
and therefore maintenance and debugging time. An effective method to achieve this
is to convert the identical code to a new function.
143
l Do not access the module data in any function other than the member functions.
l Write the member functions whenever an array is defined. Do not try to pass arrays
between functions, make the arrays the centre piece of the object.
l Cicode is a multitasking language. Several tasks (commands, expressions and tasks
created by TaskNew function) can be executed concurrently. This powerful feature of
Cicode should be used with care as some of the functions may be modifying module
data. It is essential that the number of tasks running at any point in time be mini-
mized. This may require the use of semaphores to help protect the module data from
interference and corruption. (For the use of semaphores, refer to SemOpen, SemClose,
SemSignal and SemWait functions in on-line help or the Cicode Reference manual).

l Write your Cicode programs with the minimum number of concurrent instructions
suitable to your application.
l Use semaphores or some related means to coordinate program flow if your program
will execute a high number of concurrent instructions.
ment damage.
See Also
Modular Programming
Function Error handling
Function Error handling

Errors are handled by examining the return values of the functions. The Cicode func-
tions can be classified as regards their return value as follows:
Functions return-
Calling functions should check for
ing
Error code only 0 no error (success)
> 0 error code
Handles -1 bad handle
>= 0 valid handle
144
Functions return-
Calling functions should check for
ing
Random values the return of IsError()
The following Cicode functions can halt the current task:

DevOpen, DevHistory, DevNext, DevPrev, DevSeek, DevFind, DevFlush, DevRecNo, DevRead,
DevReadLn, DevAppend, DevDelete, DevZap, DevControl , DevPrint , DevModify, ErrTrap;
FileOpen, FileClose, FileReadBlock, FileWriteBlock, FileSeek, FileDelete, FileReName,
FileSize, FileReadLn, FileCopy; FormNew; SQLConnect, SQLTraceOn, SQLTraceOff, SQLErrMsg.
If an error is detected in one of these functions, your Cicode task will generate a hard-
ware error and be halted. You may stop your Cicode task from being halted by using the
ErrSet() function and checking for errors using IsError().
The parameter [Code]HaltOnError allows you to stop any errors detected in these func-
tions from halting your Cicode. If you set. . .
[code]
HaltOnError=0
then your Cicode will continue to run after a hardware error is detected in these func-
tions.
For example:
l Example of error code only
INT
FUNCTION
ExampleInit()
INT nError = 0;
nError = ExampleOpen("MyForm");
IF nError = 0 THEN
...
END
END
INT
FUNCTION
ExampleOpen(STRING sName)
INT nError = 0;
...
IF <an error has been detected> THEN
nError = 299;
END
RETURN nError;
END
l Example of handles
145
INT
FUNCTION
ExampleInit()
INT hFile = BAD_HANDLE;
...
hFile = ExampleFileOpen("MyFile.txt");
IF hFile <> BAD_HANDLE THEN
...
END
END
FUNCTION
ExampleFileOpen(STRING sName)
INT hFile = BAD_HANDLE;
hFile = FileOpen(sName, "r+");
IF hFile = BAD_HANDLE THEN
hFile = FileOpen(sName, "r");
END
RETURN hFile;
END
l Example of random values
INT
FUNCTION
ExampleInit()
INT nSamples = 0;
...
ErrSet(1);
nSamples = ExampleSamples();
IF IsError() = 0 THEN
...
END
ErrSet(0);
END
INT
FUNCTION
ExampleSamples()
INT nSamples = 0;
INT nError = 0;
...
ErrTrap(nError);
RETURN nSamples;
END
See Also
Debugging Cicode
146
Debug Error Trapping

The functions listed below can also be used during normal project execution to trap run-
time problems:
l DebugMsg function
l Assert function
DebugMsg function
DebugMsg() internally calls the TraceMsg() function if the debug switch is on. The imple-
mentation of this function can be found in DEBUG.CI in the INCLUDE project. You can
turn the debug switch on or off by doing any of the following:
l Calling DebugMsgSet(INT bDebugMsg) on the Kernel Cicode window. (Or, this function
can be called from a keyboard command or something similar.)
l Changing the [Code]DebugMessage parameter in the INI file.
For example:
INT
FUNCTION
FilePrint(STRING sDeviceName, STRING sFileName)
INT hFile;
INT hDev;
STRING Str1;
hDev = DevOpen(sDeviceName, 0);

IF (hDev = -1) THEN
DebugMsg("Invalid arg to FilePrint - 'DeviceName'");
RETURN 261; /* File does not exist */
END
hFile = FileOpen(sFileName, "r");
IF (hFile = -1) THEN
DebugMsg("Invalid arg to FilePrint - 'FileName'");
DevClose(hDev);
RETURN 261; /* File does not exist */
END
WHILE NOT FileEof(hFile) DO
Str1 = FileReadLn(hFile);
DevWriteLn(hDev, Str1);
END
FileClose(hFile);
DevClose(hDev);
RETURN 0;
END
Assert function
147
Assert reports an error if the test passed by the argument does not return the expected
value. The implementation of this function can be found in DEBUG.CI in the INCLUDE
project.
For example:
INT
FUNCTION
FileDisplayEx(STRING sFileName)
INT hFile;

ASSERT(hFile <> -1);
...
FileClose(hFile);
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Debugging Cicode
148
Part: 3
Functions Reference
This section describes Cicode functions, and provides syntax and use
examples.
Note: In some examples, lines of code might wrap due to page

size limitations. Cicode does not support code written over more
than one line and has no line continuation character. Cicode uses
the semicolon (;) as the end-of-line character. If you copy these
examples into your project, reassemble any lines that have
wrapped and place them back onto the one line in your code.
Cicode includes the following function categories:
Accumulator Functions I/O Device Functions
ActiveX Functions Keyboard Functions
Alarm Functions Mail Functions
Clipboard Functions Math/Trigonometry Functions
Cluster Functions Miscellaneous Functions
Color Functions Page Functions
Communication Functions Plot Functions
149
DDE Functions Quality Functions
Device Functions Report Functions
Display Functions Scheduler Functions
DLL Functions Security Functions
Equipment Database Functions Sequence of Event Functions
Error Functions SPC Functions
Event Functions SQL Functions
File Functions String Functions
Form Functions Super Genie Functions
Format Functions Table (Array) Functions
FTP Functions Tag Functions
FuzzyTech Functions Task Functions
Group Functions Time/Date Functions
Trend Functions
Window Functions
150
Chapter 16: Accumulator Functions
Following are functions relating to accumulators.
AccControl Controls accumulators for example, motor run hours.
AccumBrowseClose Closes an accumulator browse session.
AccumBrowseFirst Gets the oldest accumulator entry.
AccumBrowseGetField Gets the field indicated by the cursor position in the browse
session.
AccumBrowseNext Gets the next accumulator entry in the browse session.
Accum- Returns the number of records in the current browse ses-

BrowseNumRecords sion.
AccumBrowseOpen Opens an accumulator browse session.
AccumBrowsePrev Gets the previous accumulator entry in the browse session.
See Also
Functions Reference
AccControl
Controls accumulators, for example, motor run hours. You can reset the values of Run
Time, Totalizer Inc, and No. of Starts (defined in the Accumulator database), re-read
these values from the I/O device, or flush pending writes of these values to the I/O
device.
Syntax
AccControl(sName, nMode [, sClusterName] )

sName:
The name of the accumulator or a mask for the names of accumulators. You can use the following
wildcards:
l * matches all following characters, for example, "Motor*" matches all
accumulators starting with the word "Motor"
151
l ? matches any single character, for example, "Motor?10" matches "Moto-

rA10" and "MotorB10"
This argument can be prefixed by the name of the cluster for example Clus-
terName.AccumulatorName.
nMode:
The mode of the control:
1 - Reset Run Time and Totalizer value

2 - Reset No. of Starts
3 - Reset Run Time, Totalizer value, and No. of Starts
4 - Flush pending writes to the I/O device
5 - Re-read Run Time, Totalizer value, and No. of Starts from the I/O device
sClusterName:
Name of the cluster in which the accumulator resides. This is optional if you have one cluster or are
resolving the reports server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation
marks "".
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Example
! Reset all accumulator variables for accumulator "MCC123".

AccControl("MCC123", 3, "ClusterXYZ");
See Also
Accumulator Functions
AccumBrowseClose
The AccumBrowseClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans
up all resources associated with the session.
This function is a non-blocking function. It does not block the calling Cicode task.
Syntax
AccumBrowseClose(iSession)
iSession:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a AccumBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
152
0 (zero) if the accumulator browse session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
AccumBrowseFirst, AccumBrowseGetField, AccumBrowseNext, Accum-

BrowseNumRecords, AccumBrowseOpen, AccumBrowsePrev
See Also
AccumBrowseFirst
The AccumBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
This function is a blocking function. It blocks the calling Cicode task until the operation
is complete.
Syntax
AccumBrowseFirst(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AccumBrowseClose, AccumBrowseGetField, AccumBrowseNext, Accum-

See Also
AccumBrowseGetField
The AccumBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the rec-
ord the data browse cursor is currently referencing.
Syntax
STRING AccumBrowseGetField(LONG Session, STRING FieldName)

Session:
FieldName:
153
The name of the field that references the value to be returned. Supported fields are:
AREA, CLUSTER, EQUIPMENT, NAME, PRIV, RUNNING, STARTS,
TOTALISER, TRIGGER, VALUE
See Browse Function Field Reference for information about fields.
Return Value
The value of the specified field as a string. An empty string may or may not be an indi-
cation that an error has been detected. The last error should be checked in this instance
to determine if an error has actually occurred.
Related Functions
AccumBrowseClose, AccumBrowseFirst, AccumBrowseNext, AccumBrowseNumRecords,

AccumBrowseOpen, AccumBrowsePrev
Example
STRING fieldValue = "";

STRING fieldName = "TYPE";
INT errorCode = 0;
...
fieldValue = AccumBrowseGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
IF fieldValue <> "" THEN
// Successful case
ELSE
// Function returned an error
END
...
See Also
AccumBrowseNext
The AccumBrowseNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If
you call this function after you have reached the end of the records, error 412 is returned
(Databrowse session EOF).
is complete.
Syntax
AccumBrowseNext(iSession)
iSession
154
Return Value
Related Functions
AccumBrowseClose, AccumBrowseFirst, AccumBrowseGetField, Accum-

See Also
AccumBrowseNumRecords
The AccumBrowseNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the
filter criteria.
Syntax
AccumBrowseNumRecords(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
The number of records that have matched the filter criteria. A value of 0 denotes that no
records have matched. A value of -1 denotes that the browse session is unable to pro-
vide a fixed number. This may be the case if the data being browsed changed during the
browse session.
Related Functions
AccumBrowseClose, AccumBrowseFirst, AccumBrowseGetField, AccumBrowseNext,

AccumBrowseOpen, AccumBrowsePrev
Example
INT numRecords = 0;
...
numRecords = AccumBrowseNumRecords(iSession);
IF numRecords <> 0 THEN
// Have records
ELSE
// No records
END
...
155
See Also
AccumBrowseOpen
The AccumBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to
the new session that can be used in subsequent data browse function calls.
is complete.
Syntax
INT AccumBrowseOpen( STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters] )

Filter:
A filter expression specifying the records to return during the browse. An empty string indicates
that all records will be returned. Where a fieldname is not specified in the filter, it is assumed to be
tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "name=AAA".
All string fields can be filtered based on regular expressions. Using operators other than = and <>
will cause strings to not match the filter criteria. The following regular expressions are supported
*expr, expr*, and *expr*.
Note: Use the following fields with care in filters since they return the actual value of
the variable tag which they refer to.
RUNNING, STARTS, TOTALISER, TRIGGER, VALUE.
Fields:
Specifies via a comma delimited string the columns to be returned during the browse. An empty
string indicates that the server will return all available columns. Supported fields are:
COMMENT, EQUIPMENT, TAGGENLINK.
Clusters:
An optional parameter that specifies via a comma delimited string the subset of the clusters to
browse. An empty string indicates that the connected clusters will be browsed.
Return Value
Returns an integer handle to the browse session. Returns -1 when an error is detected.
The returned entries will be ordered alphabetically by name. After a reload of the Report
Server, any new records may be added at the end.
Related Functions
156

AccumBrowseNumRecords, AccumBrowsePrev
Example
INT iSession;
...
iSession = AccumBrowseOpen("NAME=ABC*", "NAME,AREA",
"ClusterA,ClusterB");
IF iSession <> -1 THEN
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
AccumBrowsePrev
The AccumBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you
call this function after you have reached the beginning of the records, error 412 is
returned (Databrowse session EOF).
Syntax
AccumBrowsePrev(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

AccumBrowseNumRecords, AccumBrowseOpen
See Also
157
158
Chapter 17: ActiveX Functions
Following are functions relating to ActiveX objects:
_ObjectCallMethod Calls a specific method for an ActiveX object.
_ObjectGetProperty Retrieves a specific property of an ActiveX object.
_ObjectSetProperty Sets a specific property of an ActiveX object.
AnByName Retrieves the animation point number of an ActiveX

object.
CreateControlObject Creates a new instance of an ActiveX object.
CreateObject Creates the automation component of an ActiveX object.
ObjectAssociateEvents Allows you to change the ActiveX object's event class.
Objec- Establishes an association between a variable tag and

tAssociatePropertyWithTag an ActiveX object property.
ObjectByName Retrieves an ActiveX object.
ObjectHasInterface Queries the ActiveX component to determine if its spe-

cific interface is supported.
ObjectIsValid Determines if the given handle for an object is valid.
ObjectToStr Converts an object handle to a string.
See Also
Functions Reference
_ObjectCallMethod
Calls a specific method for an ActiveX object. (See the documentation for your ActiveX
object for details on methods and properties.)
Note: The parameter list passed to the control can only have Cicode variables or
159
variable tags; it cannot use values returned directly from a function because an Acti-
veX control may modify parameters passed to it.
For example:
//Calculate a value and pass to ActiveX control

_ObjectCallMethod(hControl, "DoSomething", CalcValue());
is not allowed because the return value of a function cannot be modified. The following
should be used instead:
INT nMyValue;
//Calculate Value
nMyValue = CalcValue();
//Pass Value to ActiveX control
_ObjectCallMethod(hControl, "DoSomething", nMyValue);
Syntax
_ObjectCallMethod(hObject, sMethod, vParameters)

hObject:
The handle for the object (as returned by the ObjectByName() function).
sMethod:
The name of the method.
vParameters:
A variable length parameter list of method arguments. The variables will be passed however you
enter them, and will then be coerced into appropriate automation types. Likewise, any values mod-
ified by the automation call will be written back - with appropriate coercion - into the passed
Cicode variable.
Return Value
The return value from the method - if successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
ObjectByName, DspAnCreateControlObject, CreateObject, CreateControlObject
Example
See CreateControlObject.
See Also
ActiveX Functions
160
_ObjectGetProperty
Gets a specific property of an ActiveX object.
Syntax
_ObjectGetProperty(hObject, sProperty)
hObject:
sProperty:
The name of the property you want to get.
Return Value
The value of the property - if successful, otherwise error code is returned.
Related Functions
Example
See CreateControlObject
See Also
ActiveX Functions
_ObjectSetProperty
Sets a specific property of an ActiveX object.
Syntax
_ObjectSetProperty(hObject, sProperty, vValue)

hObject:
sProperty:
The name of the property you want to set.
vValue:
The value to which the property will be set. This value can be of any data type. Appropriate coer-
cion will take place when creating the equivalent automation parameter.
Return Value
161
Related Functions
Example
See Also
ActiveX Functions
AnByName
Retrieves the animation point number of an ActiveX object.
Syntax
AnByName(sName)
sName:
The name given to the ActiveX object. This name is visible in the "Identification" tab of the ActiveX
control in the Graphics Builder and is used to access the object.
If the Animation number for an object is 35 and you renamed the object to fred use AnByName
("Fred"); which will return 35.
If you left the name of the object as the default use AnByName("AN35"); which will return 35.
Return Value
The animation point number of the object - if successful, otherwise an error code is
returned.
Related Functions
CreateControlObject
See Also
ActiveX Functions
CreateControlObject
Creates a new instance of an ActiveX object.
An object created using this function remains in existence until the page is closed or the
associated Cicode Object is deleted. This function does not require an existing animation
point. When the object is created, an animation point is created internally. This
animation point is freed when the object is destroyed.
Syntax
162
CreateControlObject(sClass, sName, x1, y1, x2, y2, sEventClass)

sClass:
The class of the object. You can use the object's human readable name, its program ID, or its GUID.
If the class does not exist, the function will return an error message.
For example:
l "Calendar Control 8.0" - human readable name
l "MSCAL.Calendar.7" - Program ID
l "{8E27C92B-1264-101C-8A2F-040224009C02}" - GUID
sName:
The name for the object in the form of "AN" followed by its AN number, for example, "AN35". This
name is used to access the object.
x1:
The x coordinate of the object's top left hand corner as it will appear in your CitectSCADA window.
y1:
The y coordinate of the object's top left hand corner as it will appear in your CitectSCADA window.
x2:
The x coordinate of the object's bottom right hand corner as it will appear in your CitectSCADA win-
dow.
y2:
The y coordinate of the object's bottom right hand corner as it will appear in your CitectSCADA win-
dow.
sEventClass:
The string you would like to use as the event class for the object.
Return Value
The newly created object, if successful, otherwise an error is generated.
Related Functions
DspAnCreateControlObject, CreateObject, AnByName
Example
// This function creates a single instance of the calendar control

at the designated location with an object name of "CalendarEvent"
and an event class of "CalendarEvent"//
FUNCTION
163
CreateCalendar()
OBJECT Calendar;
STRING sCalendarClass;
STRING sEventClass;
STRING sObjectName;
sCalendarClass = "MSCal.Calendar.7";
sEventClass = "CalendarEvent";
sObjectName = "MyCalendar";
Calendar = CreateControlObject(sCalendarClass, sObjectName, 16,
100, 300, 340, sEventClass);
END
// This function shows how to change the title font of the
calendar//
FUNCTION
CalendarSetFont(STRING sFont)
OBJECT Font;
OBJECT Calendar;
Calendar = ObjectByName("MyCalendar");
Font = _ObjectGetProperty(Calendar, "TitleFont");
_ObjectSetProperty(Font, "Name", sFont);
END
// This function shows how to change the background color of the
calendar//
FUNCTION
CalendarSetColor(INT nRed, INT nGreen, INT nBlue)
OBJECT Calendar;
_ObjectSetProperty(Calendar, "BackColor",
PackedRGB(nRed,nGreen,nBlue));
END
// This function shows how to call the NextDay method of the
calendar//
FUNCTION
CalendarNextDay()
OBJECT Calendar;
_ObjectCallMethod(Calendar, "NextDay");
END
// This function shows you how to write a mouse click event
handler for the calendar//
FUNCTION
CalendarEvent_Click(OBJECT This)
INT nDay;
INT nMonth;
INT nYear;
nDay = _ObjectGetProperty(This, "Day");
nMonth = _ObjectGetProperty(This, "Month");
nYear = _ObjectGetProperty(This, "Year");
...
Your code goes here...
...
END
See Also
ActiveX Functions
164
CreateObject
Creates a new instance of an ActiveX object. If you use this function to create an ActiveX
object, it will have no visual component (only the automation component will be
created).
If you assign an object created with the CreateObject() function to a local variable, that
object will remain in existence until the variable it is assigned to goes out of scope. This
means that such an object will only be released when the Cicode function that created it
ends.
If you assign an object created with the CreateObject() function to a module or global
scope variable, then that object will remain in existence until the variable either has
another object assigned or is set to NullObject, provided the CreateObject() call is not made
within a loop.
Objects created by calls to CreateObject() within WHILE or FOR loops are only released
on termination of the Cicode function in which they are created, regardless of the scope
of the variable to which the object is assigned. The use of CreateObject() within a loop
may therefore result in the exhaustion of system resources, and is not generally rec-
ommended unless performed as shown in the examples below.
Do not use the CreateObject() function within a loop except in strict accordance with the fol-
lowing instructions.
ment damage.
Syntax
CreateObject(sClass)
sClass:
If the class does not exist, the function will return an error.
For example:
l "{8E27C92B-1264-101C-8A2F-040224009C02}" - GUID
Return Value
165
Related Functions
DspAnCreateControlObject, CreateControlObject
Example
The following examples show correct techniques for calling CreateObject() within a loop.
/* In the example below, the variable objTest is local. Resources

associated with calls to ProcessObject() will be released each
time that function ends. */
FUNCTION Forever()
WHILE 1 DO
ProcessObject();
Sleep(1);
END
END
FUNCTION ProcessObject()
.OBJECT objTest;
objTest=CreateObject("MyObject");
- do something
END
/* In the example below, the variable objTest is global. Resources
associated with calls to ProcessObject() will be released when
objTest is set to NullObject. */
FUNCTION Forever()
WHILE 1 DO
ProcessObject();
Sleep(1);
END
END
FUNCTION ProcessObject()
objTest=CreateObject("MyObject");
- do something
objTest=NullObject;
END
See Also
ActiveX Functions
ObjectAssociateEvents
Allows you to change the ActiveX object's event class. If you have inserted an object on a
graphics page using Graphics Builder, it allows you to change the event class to some-
thing other than the default of PageName_ObjectName
Syntax
ObjectAssociateEvents(sEventClass, hSource)
sClass:
166
If the class does not exist, the function will report an error.
hSource:
The source object firing the events which are to be handled by the event handler.
For example:
l "{8E27C92B-1264-101C-8A2F-040224009C02}" - GUID
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
DspAnCreateControlObject, CreateControlObject
Example
Inserting ActiveX objects using Cicode

If you have created an ActiveX object using Cicode (for example, by calling the function
CreateControlObject()), the parameter 'sEventClass' would have required you to define
an event class for the object to enable event handling. If you want to change the class
you used, you can call ObjectAssociateEvents().
Inserting ActiveX objects via Graphics Builder
If you have inserted an ActiveX object in Graphics Builder, runtime will automatically
create an event class for the object in the form PageName_ObjectName. If this is the
case, you may want to change the object's event class.
Using the example of an ActiveX sludge tank controller, the default event class for the
object could be "PageName_AN35". This means any events handlers for the object would
take the form "PageName_AN35_Click" (presuming this example relates to a click
event). You may want to define this more clearly, in which case you can call the fol-
lowing:
// This function redefines the event class for the ActiveX sludge
tank controller at AN35 to "SludgeTank". //
ObjectAssociateEvents ("SludgeTank", ObjectByName("AN35"));
..
With the event class for the object now defined as "SludgeTank", the event handlers can
take the form "SludgeTank_Click".
167
This would be useful if you define event handlers in relation to an object that will even-
tually be copied to other graphics pages, as it will reduce the need to redefine the event
handlers to identify the default event class associated with each new placement of the
object.
See Also
ActiveX Functions
ObjectAssociatePropertyWithTag
Establishes an association between an ActiveX property and a variable tag. This means
that any changes made to an ActiveX object property will be mirrored in the variable
tag.
Generally, ActiveX objects issue "property change notifications" to CitectSCADA when-
ever a change occurs to a specific property value. This notification tells CitectSCADA
when to read the property value.
Note: An association will not succeed if property change notifications are not sup-
ported and the OnChangeEvent argument is left blank. Verify that the scaling and
units of the associated tag are compatible with the ActiveX property values. How-
ever, some property changes do not trigger property change notifications. If this is
the case, you need to choose an appropriate "on change" event instead - an event
fired by the ActiveX object in response to a change. An "appropriate" event is one
that happens to be fired whenever the property value changes. For example, the MS
Calendar Control fires an AfterUpdate event whenever a day button is pressed.
Syntax
ObjectAssociatePropertyWithTag(sObject, sPropertyName, sTagName [, sOnChangeEvent] )

sObject:
The object instance that associates a property with a tag.
sPropertyName:
The name of the ActiveX property to associate with the tag.
sTagName:
The name of the CitectSCADA variable tag to associate with the property.
sOnChangeEvent:
168
The name of the "on change" event that informs CitectSCADA of a change to the ActiveX object.
This is required where the ActiveX object does not automatically generate a property change noti-
fication. Choose an event that happens to be fired whenever the ActiveX object property changes,
for example, the MS Calendar Control fires an AfterUpdate event whenever a day button is
pressed.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspAnCreateControlObject, CreateObject, CreateControlObject

See Also
ActiveX Functions
ObjectByName
Retrieves an ActiveX object. This is useful when you know the object by name only (this
will often be the case for objects created during configuration, rather than those created
at runtime using a Cicode function).
Syntax
ObjectByName(STRING Name)
Name:
The name used to access the object, as specified when creating it in Cicode. For objects created in
the Graphics Builder, the object name is set in the Access (Identification) tab, and defaults to "AN"
followed by its AN number, for example, "AN35". The Name argument should be enclosed in
quotes "".
"".
Return Value
The requested object, if successful, otherwise an error is generated.
Related Functions
DspAnCreateControlObject, CreateObject, CreateControlObject
Example
See Also
ActiveX Functions
ObjectHasInterface
169
Queries the ActiveX component to determine if its specific interface is supported. (Refer
to the ActiveX object's documentation for details of its interfaces.)
Syntax
ObjectHasInterface(hObject, sInterface)
hObject:
sInterface:
The name of the interface (case sensitive).
Return Value
0 if the interface is not supported, otherwise 1.
Related Functions
ObjectByName, CreateObject, CreateControlObject
Example
hPen = _ObjectGetProperty(hControl, "Pen");

IF ObjectHasInterface(hPen, "IDigitalPen") THEN
//Fill is only supported on digital pen
_ObjectSetProperty(hPen, "Fill", 0)
END
See Also
ActiveX Functions
ObjectIsValid
Determines if the given handle for an object is a valid handle. This function is useful for
programmatically checking that an object was returned for a call.
Syntax
ObjectIsValid(hObject)
hObject:
Return Value
0 if the handle is not valid, otherwise 1.
Related Functions
170
Example
hFont = _ObjectGetProperty(hControl, "Font");

IF ObjectIsValid(hFont) THEN
_ObjectSetProperty(hFont, "Size", 22)
END
See Also
ActiveX Functions
ObjectToStr
Converts an object handle to a string.
Syntax
ObjectToStr(hObject)
hObject:
Return Value
A string containing the converted object handle
Related Functions

See Also
ActiveX Functions
171
172
Chapter 18: Alarm and Alarm Filter Functions
Alarm functions display alarms and their related alarm help pages, and acknowledge,
disable, and enable alarms. They provide information about alarms and allow your oper-
ators to add comments to alarm records. You can also access alarms at the record level
(on the alarms server) for more complex operations.
Following are functions relating to alarms:
AlarmAck Acknowledges alarms.
AlarmAckRec Acknowledges alarms by record number.
AlarmAckTag Acknowledges a specified alarm
AlarmActive Determines if any alarms are active in the user's area.
AlarmCatGetFormat Returns the display format string of the specified alarm cat-
egory.
AlarmClear Clears acknowledged, inactive alarms from the active alarm list.
AlarmClearRec Clear an alarm by its record number.
AlarmComment Allows users to add comments to alarm summary entries.
AlarmCount Counts the available alarms for the selected filter criteria.
AlarmCountList Counts the available alarms for the selected alarm list.
AlarmDelete This function is now obsolete.
AlarmDisable Disables alarms.
AlarmDisableRec Disables alarms by record number.
AlarmDsp Displays alarms.
AlarmDspClusterAdd Adds a cluster to a client's alarm list.
AlarmDspClusterInUse Determines if a cluster is included in a client's alarm list.
AlarmDspClusterRemove Removes a cluster from a client's alarm list.
173
AlarmDspLast Displays the latest, unacknowledged alarms.
AlarmDspNext Displays the next page of alarms.
AlarmDspPrev Displays the previous page of alarms.
AlarmEnable Enables alarms.
AlarmEnableRec Enables alarms by record number.
AlarmEventQue Opens the alarm event queue.
AlarmFirstCatRec Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm category and

type.
AlarmFirstPriRec Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm priority and

type.
AlarmFirstTagRec Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm tag, name, and
description.
AlarmGetDelay Gets the delay setting for an alarm.
AlarmGetDelayRec Gets the delay setting for an alarm via the alarm record
number.
AlarmGetDsp Gets field data from the alarm record that is displayed at the
specified AN.
AlarmGetFieldRec Gets alarm field data from the alarm record number.
AlarmGetInfo Gets information about an alarm list displayed at an AN.
AlarmGetOrderbyKey Retrieves the list of key(s) used to determine the order of the
alarm list.
AlarmGetThreshold Gets the thresholds of analog alarms.
AlarmGetThresholdRec Gets the thresholds of analog alarms by the alarm record

number.
AlarmHelp Displays the help page for the alarm where the cursor is posi-
tioned.
AlarmNextCatRec Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm category and

type.
174
AlarmNextPriRec Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm priority and

type.
AlarmNextTagRec Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm tag, name, and
description.
AlarmNotifyVarChange Activates a time-stamped digital or time-stamped analog

alarm
AlarmQueryFirstRec Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm category (or

priority) and type.
AlarmQueryNextRec Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm category (or

priority) and type.
AlarmResetQuery Clears the filter of the specified filter source. Used to reset the
filter set up by the Cicode function AlarmFilterForm().
AlarmSetDelay Changes the delay setting for an alarm.
AlarmSetDelayRec Changes the delay set for an alarm via the alarm record
number.
AlarmSetInfo Changes the display parameters for the alarm list displayed at
an AN.
AlarmSetQuery This function is now obsolete. Use the Alarm Filter Edit Func-
tions.
AlarmSetThreshold Changes the thresholds of analog alarms.
AlarmSetThresholdRec Changes the thresholds of analog alarms by the alarm record

number.
AlarmSplit This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumAppend This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumCommit This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumDelete This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumFind This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumFirst This function is now obsolete.
175
AlarmSumGet This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumLast This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumNext This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumPrev This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumSet This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumSplit This function is now obsolete.
AlarmSumType This function is now obsolete.
AlmBrowseAck Acknowledges the alarm tag at the current cursor position in

an active data browse session.
AlmBrowseClear This function is now obsolete.
AlmBrowseClose Closes an alarm tags browse session.
AlmBrowseDisable Disables the alarm tag at the current cursor position in an

active data browse session.
AlmBrowseEnable Enables the alarm tag at the current cursor position in an

AlmBrowseFirst Gets the oldest alarm tags entry.
AlmBrowseGetField Gets the field indicated by the cursor position in the browse
session.
AlmBrowseNext Gets the next alarm tags entry in the browse session.
AlmBrowseNumRecords Returns the number of records in the current browse ses-

sion.
AlmBrowseOpen Opens an alarm tags browse session.
AlmBrowsePrev Gets the previous alarm tags entry in the browse session.
AlmSummaryAck Acknowledges the alarm at the current cursor position in an

AlmSummaryClear Clears the alarm at the current cursor position in an active
176
data browse session.
AlmSummaryClose Closes an alarm summary browse session.
AlmSummaryCommit This function is now obsolete.
AlmSummaryDelete Deletes alarm summary entries from the browse session.
AlmSummaryDeleteAll Deletes all alarm summary entries from the browse session.
AlmSummaryDisable Disables the alarm at the current cursor position in an active

AlmSummaryEnable Enables the alarm at the current cursor position in an active

AlmSummaryFirst Gets the oldest alarm summary entry.
AlmSummaryGetField Gets the field indicated by the cursor position in the browse
session.
AlmSummaryLast Places the data browse cursor at the latest summary record
from the last cluster of the available browsing cluster list.
AlmSummaryNext Gets the next alarm summary entry in the browse session.
Alm- Retrieves the number of records in an alarm summary browse

SummaryNumRecords session.
AlmSummaryOpen Opens an alarm summary browse session.
AlmSummaryPrev Gets the previous alarm summary entry in the browse ses-
sion.
Alm- This function is now obsolete.

SummarySetFieldValue
AlmTagsAck Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsClear Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsClose Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsDisable Deprecated in this version
177
AlmTagsEnable Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsFirst Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsGetField Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsNext Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsNumRecords Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsOpen Deprecated in this version
AlmTagsPrev Deprecated in this version
HwAlarmQue Returns the handle of the hardware alarm queue.
Alarm Filter Functions
Following are the functions relating to alarm filters:
AlarmFilterEditFirst Retrieves the first part of the filter.
AlarmFilterClose Removes the session from memory.
Alarm- Appends the provided expression to the current filter session con-
FilterEditAppend tent without any validation.
Alarm- Removes the session from the memory.

FilterEditClose
Alarm- Validates the filter built in this session and, if valid, applies the
FilterEditCommit filter to the list associated with the session.
AlarmFilterEditLast Retrieves the last part of the filter.
AlarmFilterEditNext Retrieves the next part of the filter.
Alarm- Creates a session for the historical list associated with the pro-
FilterEditOpen vided animation number (aN) or FilterName.
AlarmFilterEditPrev Retrieves the previous part of the filter.
AlarmFilterEditSet It replaces the current filter session content by the provided

expression without any validation.
AlarmFilterForm Available when using the Legacy Filter Form. Use to display an alarm
form to specify filter criteria for an alarm list or a named filter.
178
AlarmFilterOpen Creates a new named filter.
AlarmGetFilterName Retrieves the name of the filter for the AN.
AlarmResetQuery Use when using the AlarmFilterForm(). Clears the filter of the spec-
ified filter source.
LibAlarmFilterForm Displays a generic alarm filter popup for specifying filter criteria for
either an alarm list or named filter. Only available if 'Lib_controls'
project is included in main project.
See Also
Functions Reference
AlarmAck
Acknowledges alarms. You can acknowledge the alarm where the cursor is positioned,
one or more alarm lists on the active page, a whole category of alarms, or alarms of a
particular priority.
This command takes the currently logged in user into account. In other words, only the
alarms that the user can see are acknowledged.
You would normally call this function from a keyboard command. No action is taken if
the specified alarms have already been acknowledged.
Note:Alarm commands on single clusters will return either 0 if successful or an error

code if unsuccessful. Alarm commands across multiple clusters may also return a
partial success result, whereby a command has been successful on 'at least' one
cluster but unsuccessful on another cluster.
Syntax
INT AlarmAck(INT Mode, INT Value [, STRING ClusterName])

Mode:
The type of acknowledgment:
0 - Acknowledge a single alarm.

l Set Value to the AN where the alarm is displayed.
l If Value is set to 0, the current cursor position will be used.
1 - Acknowledge a page of alarms. An alarm page can contain more than one
alarm list:
l Set Value to the AN where the alarm list is displayed.
l Set Value to 0 to acknowledge the (displayed) alarm list (on the active
page) where the cursor is positioned.
179
l Set Value to -1 to acknowledge all (displayed) alarm lists on the active

page.This only applies to alarm lists created using AlarmDsp (and not
those created using AlarmDspLast).
2 - Acknowledge a category of alarms:
l Set Value to the alarm category (0 to 16375) of the alarms to be acknowl-
edged. Please be aware that Alarm category 0 indicates all categories;

alarm category 255 indicates hardware alarms.
l Set Value to the group number to acknowledge a group of categories.
3 - Acknowledge alarms of a specific priority.

l Set Value to the alarm priority (0-255) of the alarms to be acknowledged.
Alarm priority 0 indicates all priorities.

Hardware alarms are not affected by priority.
Set Value to the group handle to acknowledge a group of alarms of dif-
ferent priorities.
Value:
Used with Mode 1 and 2 to specify which alarms to acknowledge.
sClusterName:
Used with Mode 2 or 3 to specify the name of the cluster in which the alarms being acknowledged
reside. This argument is optional if the client is connected to only one cluster containing an Alarm
Server or are resolving the alarm server via the current cluster context.
This argument is not required where:

l the mode is 2 and the value is 255 (hardware alarm category).
This argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error code will return
Note: In some cases an error code is not returned.This function is non-blocking, and as such, any error that
is detected when the alarm server processes the command will not be returned.
Related Functions
GrpOpen
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence LeftButton
180
Command AlarmAck(0, 0)
Comment Acknowledge the alarm where the cursor is positioned
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ShiftLeftButton
Command AlarmAck(1, -1)
Comment Acknowledge a page of alarms
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AlarmAck ### Enter
Command AlarmAck(2, Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Acknowledge alarms of a specified category in cluster XYZ
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AckPri ############# Enter
Command AlarmAck(3,Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Acknowledge alarms of a specific priority in cluster XYZ
! Acknowledge alarms of the specified group of categories.

FUNCTION
AckGrp(STRING CategoryGroup)
INT hGrp;
hGrp=GrpOpen("CatGroup",1);
StrToGrp(hGrp,CategoryGroup);
AlarmAck(2,hGrp, "clusterXYZ");
GrpClose(hGrp);
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmAckRec
181
Acknowledges alarms by record number on both the Primary and Standby Alarm
Servers. This function can be called from Alarm Server or Client and should not be used
with a MsgRPC() call to the Alarm Server.
This is a blocking function. If the function is called from a foreground task that is unable
to block, an error will be returned.
Syntax
INT AlarmAckRec(LONG Record [, STRING ClusterName] )

Record:
The alarm record number, returned from any of the following alarm functions:
l AlarmFirstCatRec() or AlarmNextCatRec(): used to search for a record by
alarm category, area, and type (acknowledged, disabled, etc.).
l AlarmFirstPriRec() or AlarmNextPriRec(): used to search for a record by
alarm priority, area, and type (acknowledged, disabled, etc.).
l AlarmFirstTagRec() or AlarmNextTagRec(): used to search for a record by
alarm tag, name, and description.
l AlarmGetDsp(): used to find the record that is displayed at a specified AN,
for either an alarm list or alarm summary entry. Set the sField argument in
AlarmGetDsp() to "RecNo".
To store this value, use data type Int in Cicode or Long for variable tags (Long needs 4 bytes).
ClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Alarm Server resides. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the alarm server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmFirstCatRec, AlarmFirstTagRec, AlarmNextTagRec, AlarmGetDelayRec
Example
/* Acknowledge all unacknowledged (Type 1) alarms of the specified

alarm category. */
FUNCTION
AutoAccept(INT Category)
INT Current;
INT Next;
Current=AlarmFirstCatRec(Category,1);
WHILE Current<>-1 DO
182
Next=AlarmNextCatRec(Current,Category,1);
AlarmAckRec(Current);
Current=Next;
END
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmAckTag
Acknowledge a specified alarm.
Syntax
INT AlarmAckTag(STRING Tag, [, STRING ClusterName])

Tag:
The name of the tag to acknowledge
ClusterName:
The cluster where the tag resides
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error code will return
Example
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmActive
Determines if any alarms are active in the user's area. Call this function from the Page
Strings database, to display an alarm message at a specified AN on a graphics page.
You can specify the type of alarms, for example, active hardware alarms or disabled
non-hardware alarms.
Syntax
AlarmActive(Type [, sClusterName] )
nType:
The type of alarms to check:
Non-hardware alarms
0 - Active alarms
183
1 - Unacknowledged alarms, ON and OFF

2 - Highest priority unacknowledged alarm
3 - Disabled alarms
Hardware alarms
5 - Active alarms
6 - Unacknowledged alarms, ON and OFF
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster to check for active alarms. If this argument is blank or empty, the function
will check the connected clusters.
Return Value
l 1 or 0 for Non-hardware alarms (modes 0, 1, and 3).

l The priority of the highest priority unacknowledged alarm (mode 2).
l The number of active alarms for Hardware alarms (modes 5 and 6).
Example
Strings
AN 9
Expression AlarmActive(5)
True Text "Hardware Alarms Active"
False Text "No Active Hardware Alarms"
Comment Display the alarm status at AN 9
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmCatGetFormat
Returns the display format string of the specified alarm category.
Syntax
STRING AlarmCatGetFormat(INT Category [, INT Type] )

Category:
The alarm category.
Type:
184
The type of display format string:

l 0 - Alarm format. Default value.
l 1 - Summary format.
l 2 - SOE format
Return Value
The display format string of the specified category. If the alarm category is not spe-
cifically defined or it has no format string specified in your project, the format string of
category 0 will be returned.
Example
sFormat = AlarmCatGetFormat(0, 0);

! sFormat is assigned to the format string as defined in the Alarm Format field of
the Alarm Categories form for category 0 in your project.
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmClear
Clears an acknowledged (and off) alarm from the active alarm list. You can clear the
alarm where the cursor is positioned, one or more alarm lists on the active page, a
whole category of alarms, or alarms of a particular priority.
If you set the [Alarm]AckHold parameter to 1, alarms that go off and have been acknowl-
edged are not removed from the active list until this function is called.
Syntax
AlarmClear(Mode, Value [, ClusterName] )

Mode:
The type of clear:
0 - Clear a single alarm where the cursor is positioned:

l Set Value to 0 (zero) - it is not used.
1 - Clear a page of alarms. AN alarm page can contain more than one alarm
list:
l Set Value to 0 to clear the (displayed) alarm list (on the active page)
where the cursor is positioned.

l Set Value to -1 to clear every (displayed) alarm list on the active page.
2 - Clear a category of alarms:
185
l Set Value to the alarm category (0 to 16375) of the alarms to clear. Please
be aware that alarm category 0 indicates all categories; alarm category
255 indicates hardware alarms.
l Set Value to the group number to clear a group of categories.
3 - Clear alarms of a specific priority.
l Set Value to the alarm priority (0-255) of the alarms to be cleared.
Alarm priority 0 indicates all priorities. Hardware alarms are not

affected by priority. Set Value to the group handle to clear a group of
alarms of different priorities.
Value:
Used with Mode 1 or 2 to specify which alarms to clear.
ClusterName:
Used with Mode 2 or 3 to specify the name of the cluster in which the alarms being cleared reside.
This argument is optional if the client is connected to only one cluster containing an Alarm Server or
you are resolving the alarm server via the current cluster context.

Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmAck
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Clear
Command AlarmClear(0, 0)
Comment Clear the alarm where the cursor is positioned
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ClearAll
186
Command AlarmClear(1, -1)
Comment Clear a page of alarms
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AlarmClear ### Enter
Command AlarmClear(2, Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Clear alarms of a specified category in cluster XYZ
System Keyboard
Key Sequence CtrlClear
Command AlarmClear(2, 0, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Clear categories of inactive alarms in cluster XYZ
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ClearPri ########### Enter
Command AlarmClear(3,Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Clear alarms of a specific priority in cluster XYZ
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmClearRec
Clears an alarm by its record number on both the Primary and Standby Alarms Servers.
This function can be called from Alarm Server or Client.
This function should not be used with a MsgRPC() call to the Alarm Server.
Syntax
AlarmClearRec(Record [, ClusterName] )
Record:
l AlarmFirstCatRec() or AlarmNextCatRec() - used to search for a record by
187
l AlarmFirstPriRec() or AlarmNextPriRec() - used to search for a record by

l AlarmFirstTagRec() or AlarmNextTagRec() - used to search for a record by
l AlarmGetDsp() - used to find the record that is displayed at a specified AN,
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmFirstCatRec, AlarmAck, AlarmFirstTagRec, AlarmNextTagRec, AlarmGetDelayRec,

MsgRPC
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmComment
Allows an operator to add a comment to a selected alarm summary or SOE entry during
runtime. You would normally call this function from a keyboard command.
Syntax
INT AlarmComment(STRING Comment[, INT An])

Comment:
The comment to add to the alarm summary entry. Currently for the Alarm summary page the max-
imum length of a comment is 128 characters. The maximum length for a comment on the SOE page
is 244 characters. If you exceed the maximum length it will be truncated and an ellipsis appended.
AN:
An animation identifier. It is required that this animation is an alarm event.
Return Value
Related Functions
188
AlarmDsp
Example
System Keyboard
Key Com ################## Enter

Sequence
Command AlarmComment(Arg1)
Comment Add an alarm comment to the alarm where the cursor is positioned
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmCount
Counts the available alarms for the selected filter criteria.
Syntax
LONG AlarmCount(INT Type [, STRING FilterCriteria [, LONG KeepAliveSeconds [, INT

CachedMode]]])
Type
0 – All active alarms,that is Types 1 and 2
1 – All unacknowledged alarms, On and OFF
2 – All acknowledged ON alarms
3 – All disabled alarms
4 - All configured (non-hardware) alarms
11 - All ON alarms
12 - All OFF alarms.
FilterCriteria:
A filter name OR filter text
Refer to the topic Implementing alarm filters using Cicode for more information regarding filter syn-
tax.
KeepAliveSeconds:
Optional length of time (in seconds) that the count will remain in memory.
CachedMode:
189
Optional flag that causes the current cached value to be supplied even when the value is being
refreshed. This makes the function non-blocking. If the property has not yet been cached, an error
is set.
0 - Do not force cached read. Cicode is blocking
1 - Force cached read. Cicode is non-blocking
Default value is 1 (true).
A count in memory will be accessed when its filter criteria matches a subsequent filter
criteria and the count’s “KeepAliveSeconds” period will be extended.
A count will stay in the cache for 'at least' the duration specified by “Kee-
pAliveSeconds”, and may stay in the cache for an unspecified period of time before
being discarded.
The period set for an existing count will be overridden in the event a longer duration is
set using 'KeepAliveSeconds".
A count that is added to the cache is not immediately available for reading, so a fore-
ground call to AlarmCount that causes a new count to be added will return a value of -1
and an error of 345 (Data not ready).
Return Value
Returns counted alarms for the selected filter criteria. Returns -1 when an error is
detected.
Example
INT iRet, iErr; // return values

INT iCountWhile=0; // loop counter
// counts all unacknowledged alarms, ON and OFF, default non-blocking cicode
iRet = AlarmCount(1);
iErr = IsError(); //check error code
// repeat the above non-blocking function

INT iCountWhile=0; // loop counter
WHILE (iRet = 0) AND (iErr = 0) AND (iCountWhile < 10) DO
SleepMS(100);
iErr = IsError();
iCountWhile = iCountWhile + 1;
END
190
// counts all disabled alarms, default non-blocking cicode

iErr = IsError();
// repeat this non-blocking function as shown above (see while loop)

// counts all unacknowledged alarms with category 10 – non-blocking cicode
iRet = AlarmCount(1,”Category=10”,1,1);
iErr = IsError();
// repeat this non-blocking function as shown above (see while loop)

// counts all unacknowledged alarms with category 10 – blocking cicode
iRet = AlarmCount(1,”Category=10”,1,0);
IF iRet = -1 THEN
iErr = IsError(); // get error code)
END
// counts all unacknowledged tag alarms of equipA without it's children equipment
// and keeps the count in memory for 3 seconds - blocking cicode
// (where is equipment structure is equipA.equipB.equipC.equipD)
iRet = AlarmCount(1,”Equipment=equipA”,3,0);
IF iRet = -1 THEN
END
// counts all acknowledged ClusterA tag ON alarms of equipA and it's children equip-
ment
// and keeps the count in memory for 3 seconds - blocking cicode
iRet = AlarmCount(2,”Equipment=equipA*;cluster=ClusterA”,3,0);
IF iRet = -1 THEN
END
// counts all active tag alarms of equipB and it's children equipment
// and keeps the count in memory for 3 seconds - non-blocking cicode
iRet = AlarmCount(0,”Equipment=equipA.equipB*”,3,1);
iErr = IsError()
// counts all ON alarms of equipB and it's children equipment

// and keeps the count in memory for 3 seconds - non-blocking cicode
iRet = AlarmCount(11,”Equipment=equipA.equipB*”,3,1);
iErr = IsError()
// This example shows how to count the alarms using a named filter
// This example requires that the named filter "Myfilter" exists.
INT nActiveAlarmType;
INT nCount;
INT nError;
191
nCount = AlarmCount(nActiveAlarmType, "MyFilter");

IF nCount greater 0 THEN
nError = IsError();
ELSE
nError = 0;
END
Related Functions
AlarmCountList
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmCountList
Counts the available alarms for the selected filter criteria.
Syntax
LONG AlarmCountList(INT AN)

AN:
An animation identifier of an alarm list.
Return Value
Returns counted alarms for the selected filter criteria. Returns -1 when an error is
detected.
Example
// counts all listed alarms on the slected alarm page

INT iRet, iErr; // return values
iRet = AlarmCountList(21);
IF iRet = -1 THEN
END
Related Functions
AlarmCount
192
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDisable
Disables alarms. You can disable the alarm where the cursor is positioned, one or more
alarm lists on the active page, a whole category of alarms, or alarms of a particular prior-
ity.
You would normally call this function from a keyboard command. No action is taken if
the alarms are already disabled. Use the AlarmEnable() function to re-enable an alarm.
After you disable an alarm, it does not display on the alarm page, alarm summary page,
or alarm log. If you set the [Alarm]DisplayDisable parameter to 1, logging of disabled
alarms continues, but the disabled alarms are not displayed on the alarm display or
alarm summary pages.
Syntax
INT AlarmDisable(INT Mode, INT Value [, STRING ClusterName] )

Mode:
The type of disable:
0 - Disable a single alarm where the cursor is positioned.

l If Value is set to 0, the current cursor position will be used.
1 - Disable a page of alarms. An alarm page can contain more than one alarm
list:
l Set Value to 0 to disable the (displayed) alarm list (on the active page)

l Set Value to -1 to disable all (displayed) alarm lists on the active page.
This only applies to alarm lists created using AlarmDsp (and not those
created using AlarmDspLast).
2 - Disable a category of alarms.
l Set Value to the alarm category (0-16375) of the alarms to be disabled.
Please be aware that alarm category 0 indicates all categories; alarm cat-
egory 255 indicates hardware alarms.
l Set Value to the group number to disable a group of categories.
3 - Disable alarms of a specific priority.

l Set Value to the alarm priority (0-255) of the alarms to be disabled.
Alarm priority 0 indicates all priorities. Hardware alarms are not

affected by priority. Set Value to the group handle to disable a group
of alarms of different priorities.
Value:
193
Used with Mode 1 and 2 to specify which alarms to disable.
ClusterName:
Used with Mode 2 or 3 to specify the name of the cluster where the alarms being disabled reside in.
are resolving the alarm server via the current cluster context.

Return Value
Related Functions
GrpOpen, AlarmEnable, AlarmDisableRec
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Disable
Command AlarmDisable(0, 0)
Comment Disable the alarm where the cursor is positioned
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ShiftDisable
Command AlarmDisable(1, -1)
Comment Disable a page of alarms
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AlarmDisable ### Enter
Command AlarmDisable(2, Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Disable alarms of a specified category in cluster XYZ
194
System Keyboard
Key Sequence DisPri ############# Enter
Command AlarmDisable(3,Arg1,"clusterXYZ")
Comment Disable alarms of a specific priority in cluster XYZ
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDisableRec
Disables alarms by record number on both the Primary and Standby Alarms Servers.
This function can be called from Alarm Server or Client and should not be used with a
MsgRPC() call to the Alarm Server.
Syntax
INT AlarmDisableRec(LONG Record [, STRING ClusterName] )

Record:
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
195
Related Functions
AlarmFirstTagRec, AlarmNextTagRec, AlarmDisable
Example
/* Disable/enable the specified "Pump" alarm. Flag determines

whether the alarm is disabled (Flag=0) or enabled (Flag=1). */
FUNCTION
DisablePumps(STRING sTag, INT Flag)
INT Current;
INT Next;
Current=AlarmFirstTagRec(sTag,"Pump","");
WHILE Current<>-1 DO
Next=AlarmNextTagRec(Current,sTag,"Pump","");
IF Flag=0 THEN
AlarmDisableRec(Current);
ELSE
AlarmEnableRec(Current);
END
Current=Next;
END
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDsp
Displays an alarm list, starting at a specified AN and then on subsequent ANs. You
specify the number of alarms to display, the type of alarms and the name of the cluster
the alarms belong to, for example, active hardware alarms or disabled non-hardware
alarms in cluster XYZ. Before you call this function, you need to first add animation
points to the graphics page for each alarm to be displayed.
If you only need to display the standard alarm page, use the PageAlarm function - it
uses this AlarmDsp() function to display alarms. If you need more control over the dis-
play of alarms you can use this function, but only to display alarms on the alarm page.
Use the AlarmDspLast function to display alarms on another graphics page (it uses less
memory).
Syntax
INT AlarmDsp(INT AN, Count [, INT Type] [, STRING ClusterName] [, INT NoDraw] [,
STRING CallbackFunc] )
AN:
The AN where the first alarm is to display.
196
Note: The [Animator]MaxAn citect ini parameter sets the maximum AN which
AlarmDsp will work with.
Count:
The number of alarms to display.
Type:
The type of alarms to display:
Non-hardware alarms
0 - All active alarms, that is Types 1 and 2
1 - All unacknowledged alarms, ON and OFF
2 - All acknowledged ON alarms
3 - All disabled alarms
4 - All configured (non-hardware) alarms, that is Types 0 to 3, plus
acknowledged OFF alarms.
Hardware alarms
9 - All configured alarms, that is Types 5 to 8
Alarm Summary
10 - All summary alarms
15 – Sequence of event list
Alarm General
11 - All ON alarms
12 - All OFF alarms
13 - All ON hardware alarms
14 - All OFF hardware alarms
If you omit the Type, the default is 1.
ClusterName:
The cluster name to which the alarms belong. This is optional if you have one cluster or are resolv-
ing the alarm server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
If the client is connected to only one cluster containing an Alarms Server then this argument is
optional, the list returned will be limited to alarms within this cluster.
If the client is connected to clusters containing more than one Alarms Server then the Cluster Name
needs to be specified. If a cluster name is not specified, alarms are returned for all clusters.
NoDraw:
197
Makes call to Alarm Server to update the ALMCB but does not automatically perform the animation
of the data when the result is returned.
CallbackFunc:
Callback function to associate with the return of the ALMCB data from the Alarm Server.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmDspNext, AlarmDspPrev, AlarmDspLast, AlarmGetInfo, PageAlarm, AlarmDsp-

ClusterAdd, AlarmDspClusterRemove, AlarmDspClusterInUse
Example
Advanced Animation
Command AlarmDsp(20,15,3)
Comment Display 15 disabled alarms at AN 20
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDspClusterAdd
Adds a cluster to a client's alarm list. Alarms in the specified cluster (that correspond to
the mode set in AlarmDsp) will be added to the alarm list at the AN number.
Syntax
AlarmDspClusterAdd(nAN, sClusterName)
nAN:
The AN used in the original AlarmDsp() call.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster to be used for this alarm list. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks
("").
Return Value
Related Functions
198
AlarmDspClusterRemove AlarmDSPClusterInUse AlarmDsp

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDspClusterInUse
Determines if a cluster is included in a client's alarm list.
Syntax
AlarmDspClusterInUse(nAN, sClusterName)
nAN:
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster to query an alarm list for to determine if it's included. The argument is
enclosed in quotation marks ("").
Return Value
Returns a Boolean value: True(1) if successful, otherwise False(0) is returned.
Related Functions
AlarmDspClusterAdd, AlarmDSPClusterRemove, AlarmDsp

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDspClusterRemove
Removes a cluster from a client's alarms list. Alarms for the specified cluster will be
removed from the alarms list at the AN number.
If the cluster to be removed is the last cluster, the call will be unsuccessful.
Syntax
AlarmDspClusterRemove(nAN, sClusterName)
nAN:
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster to remove from this alarm list. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks
("").
Return Value
199
Related Functions
AlarmDspClusterAdd, AlarmDSPClusterInUse, AlarmDsp

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDspLast
Displays the latest alarms, at a specified AN with the cluster name. Use this function to
display the last alarms. You can specify the number of alarms to display of a specified
type, for example, active hardware alarms or disabled non-hardware alarms.
Syntax
AlarmDspLast(nAN [, nCount] [, nType] [, sClusterName] [, iNoDraw] [, sCallbackFunc] )

nAN:
Note: The [Animator]MaxAn citect ini parameter sets the maximum AN which
AlarmDspLast will work with.
The AN where the last alarms are to be displayed.
Count:
The number of alarms to display. If you omit the Count, the default is 1.
nType:
The type of alarms to display:
Non-hardware alarms

4 - All configured (non-hardware) alarms, that is Types 0 to 3, plus acknowl-
edged OFF alarms.
Hardware alarms

9 - All configured alarms, that is Types 5 to 8
200
Alarm Summary
10 - All summary alarms
Alarm General
11 - All ON alarms
12 - All OFF alarms
13 - All ON hardware alarms
14 - All OFF hardware alarms
If you omit the Type, the default is 1.
sClusterName:
The cluster name to which the alarms belong. This is optional if you have one cluster or are resolv-
ing the alarm server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
If a cluster name is not specified, alarms are returned for all clusters.
iNoDraw:
Makes call to Alarm Server to update the ALMCB but does not automatically perform the animation
of the data when the result is returned.
sCallbackFunc:
Callback function to associate with the return of the ALMCB data from the Alarm Server.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmDsp
Example
Advanced Animation
Command AlarmDspLast(11, 'ClusterXYZ')
Comment Display the last alarm at AN 11
Advanced Animation
Command AlarmDspLast(21,3, 'ClusterXYZ')
Comment Display the last 3 alarms at AN 21
201
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDspNext
Displays the next page of alarms. This function pages down (scrolls) the alarms dis-
played by the AlarmDsp() function. You would normally call this function from a key-
board command.
Syntax
INT AlarmDspNext(INT AN)

AN:
The AN where the alarm list is displayed, or:
-1 - Scroll every alarm list displayed on the page.

0 - Scroll the alarm list where the cursor is positioned.
Note: An alarm page can contain more than one alarm list.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmDsp, AlarmDspPrev
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence NextAlarm
Command AlarmDspNext(20)
Comment Display the next page of alarms (from the alarm list) at AN20
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmDspPrev
202
Displays the previous page of alarms. This function pages up (scrolls) the alarms dis-
played by the AlarmDsp() function. You would normally call this function from a key-
board command.
Syntax
INT AlarmDspPrev(INT AN)

AN:
The AN where the alarm list is displayed, or:
-1 - Scroll every alarm list displayed on the page.

0 - Scroll the alarm list where the cursor is positioned.
Note: An alarm page can contain more than one alarm list.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmDsp, AlarmDspNext
Example
System Keyboard
Key PrevAlarm
Sequence
Command AlarmDspPrev(20)
Comment Display the previous page of alarms (from the alarm list) at AN20
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmEnable
Enables an alarm on the active alarm list. You can enable the alarm where the cursor is
positioned, one or more alarm lists on the active page, a whole category of alarms, or
alarms of a particular priority.
No action is taken if the alarms are already enabled. You would normally call this func-
tion from a keyboard command.
203
Syntax
INT AlarmEnable(INT Mode, INT Value [, STRING ClusterName] )

Mode:
The type of enable:
0 - Enable a single alarm where the cursor is positioned.

l If value is set to 0, the current cursor position will be used.
1 - Enable a page of alarms. An alarm page can contain more than one alarm
list:
l Set Value to 0 to enable the (displayed) alarm list (on the active page)

l Set Value to -1 to enable all (displayed) alarm lists on the active
page.This only applies to alarm lists created using AlarmDsp (and not
those created using AlarmDspLast).
2 - Enable a category of alarms.
l Set Value to the alarm category (0-16375) of the alarms to be enabled.
Please be aware that alarm category 0 indicates all categories; alarm cat-
egory 255 indicates hardware alarms.
l Set Value to the group number to enable a group of categories.
3 - Enable alarms of a specific priority.

l Set Value to the alarm priority (0-255) of the alarms to be enabled.
Alarm priority 0 indicates all priorities. Hardware alarms are not affected by
priority. 3) Set Value to the group handle to enable a group of alarms of
different priorities.
Value:
Used with Mode 0, 1 and 2 to specify which alarms to enable.
ClusterName:
Used with Mode 2 or 3 to specify the name of the cluster where the alarms being enabled reside in.
are resolving the alarm server via the current cluster context.

Return Value
204
Related Functions
GrpOpen, AlarmDisable, AlarmEnableRec
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Enable
Command AlarmEnable(0, 0)
Comment Enable the alarm where the cursor is positioned
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ShiftEnable
Command AlarmEnable(1, -1)
Comment Enable a page of alarms
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AlarmEnable ### Enter
Command AlarmEnable(2, Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Enable alarms of a specified category in cluster XYZ
System Keyboard
Key Sequence EnPri ############# Enter
Command AlarmEnable(3,Arg1, "clusterXYZ")
Comment Enable alarms of a specific priority in cluster XYZ
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmEnableRec
205
Enables alarms by record number on both the Primary and Standby Alarms Servers.
This function can be called from Alarm Server or Client and should not be used with a
MsgRPC() call to the Alarm Server.
Syntax
INT AlarmEnableRec(LONG Record [, STRING ClusterName])

Record:
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmFirstTagRec, AlarmNextTagRec, AlarmEnable, AlarmDisableRec
Example
See AlarmDisableRec
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmEventQue
206
Opens the alarm event queue. The Alarms Server writes events into this queue as they
are processed. These events include activated, reset, acknowledged, enabled and dis-
abled alarms. To read events from this queue, use the QueRead() or QuePeek() functions.
The data put into the queue is the alarm record identifier (into the Type field) and the
alarm event format (into the Str field). The function puts every state change into the
queue and CitectSCADA does not use this queue for anything.
To use this function, you need to enable the alarm event queue with the [Alarm]Event-
Que parameter. This parameter will tell the Alarms Server to start placing events into
the queue. The [Alarm]EventFmt parameter defines the format of the data placed into the
string field. You can enable the EventQue parameter without setting the event format so
that the Alarms Server does not place a formatted string into the queue.
Enabling this formatting feature can increase CPU loading and reduce performance of
the Alarms Server as every alarm is formatted and placed in the queue. You should
reconsider using this feature if a decrease in performance is noticeable.
The maximum length of each queue is controlled by the [Code]Queue parameter. You
may need to adjust this parameter so as not to miss alarm events. When the queue is
full, the Alarms Server will discard events.
You may need to adjust the [Code]Queue parameter so as not to miss alarm events. When
the queue is full, the Alarms Server will discard events.
ment damage.
Syntax
AlarmEventQue()
Return Value
The handle of the alarm event queue, or -1 if the queue cannot be opened.
Related Functions
QueRead, QuePeek, TagWriteEventQue
Example
hQue = AlarmEventQue()
WHILE TRUE DO
QueRead(hQue, nRecord, sAlarmFmt, 1);
207
/* do what ever with the alarm event */

...
Sleep(0);
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmFilterClose
This function removes the named filter from memory.
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterClose(STRING FilterName)

FilterName
Name of Filter
Return Value
Example
// This example shows how to open and close the named filter "Myfilter"
// nothing of interest is done with the filter in this example.
INT nOpenModeOld = 0;
INT nOpenModeNew = 1;
INT nOpenModeAny = 2;
INT nCloseModeManual = 0;
INT nCloseModePageChanged = 1;
INT nError;
nError = AlarmFilterOpen("MyFilter", nOpenModeNew, nCloseModeManual);
IF nError = 0 THEN
nError = AlarmFilterClose("MyFilter");
END
Related Functions
AlarmFilterOpen
See Also
AlarmFilterEditAppend
208
The AlarmFilterEditAppend function takes a session handle and a filter expression as

parameters. It appends the provided expression to the current filter session content with-
out any validation. This does not apply to all filters on the list (see Alarm-
FilterEditCommit).
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterEditAppend(INT hSession, STRING FilterCriteria)

Session:
Session handle for the historical list previously returned by the function AlarmFilterEditOpen().
FilterCriteria:
Filter expression as a string. For example:"(Tag=A) OR (TAG=B)"
tax.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the alarm filter session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
Example
// This example shows how to update an edit session.

// This example requires that the edit session hEdit exists.
// This example shows how you would split the parts of the filter
// to avoid an overflow error when handling strings.
INT nError;
nError = AlarmFilterEditSet(hEdit,"Tag");
nError = AlarmFilterEditAppend(hEdit,"=");
nError = AlarmFilterEditAppend(hEdit,"Dig*");
nError = AlarmFilterEditCommit(hEdit);
sRet = AlarmFilterEditFirst(iHndl); // Tag=Dig*;
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditSet
See Also
AlarmFilterEditClose
The AlmFilterEditClose function removes the session from the memory. The filter is not
reset and is valid until a new filter is created and applied.
Syntax
209
INT AlarmFilterEditClose(INT hSession)

Session
Return Value
Example
iHndl = AlarmFilterEditOpen(iAN);
iRet = AlarmFilterEditSet(iHndl,"Tag=Dig*;Category=1;Area=1;");
iRet = AlarmFilterEditAppend(iHndl, "Priority<20");
sRet = AlarmFilterEditNext(iHndl); // Category=1;
sRet = AlarmFilterEditLast(iHndl); // Priority<20;
sRet = AlarmFilterEditPrev(iHndl); // Area=1;
iRet = AlarmFilterEditClose(iHndl);
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditOpen
See Also
AlarmFilterEditCommit
The AlarmFilterEditCommit function takes a session handle as parameter. It validate the
filter created in this session and, if valid, applies this filter to the list associated with the
session.
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterEditCommit(INT hSession)

Session:
Return Value
Example
// This example requires that the edit session hEdit exists.

INT nError;
nError = AlarmFilterEditSet(hEdit,"tag=Dig*;Category=1;");
210
nError = AlarmFilterEditCommit(hEdit);
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditSet, AlarmFilterEditAppend
See Also
AlarmFilterEditFirst
This function takes a session handle parameter. It gets the first part of the filter. Each
part is either
• A filter expression delimited with “;”
• A partial filter expression truncated at 254 character (if no “;” found before)
Syntax
STRING AlarmFilterEditFirst(INT hSession)

Session
Return Value
First part of filter or if does not exist an empty string "".
Example
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditNext, AlarmFilterEditPrev
See Also
AlarmFilterEditLast
211
This function takes a session handle parameter. It gets the last part of the filter. Each
part is either
Syntax
STRING AlarmFilterEditLast(hSession)
Session
Return Value
First part of filter or if does not exist an empty string "".
Example
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditPrev
See Also
AlarmFilterEditNext
This function takes a session handle parameter. It gets the next part of the filter. Each
part is either
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterEditNext(INT hSession)

Session:
212
Return Value
Next part of filter or if does not exist an empty string "".
Example
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditFirst, AlarmFilterEditPrev
See Also
AlarmFilterEditOpen
The AlmFilterEditOpen function creates a session for the historical list (or lists) asso-
ciated with the provided animation number (AN) or FilterName or all alarm lists dis-
played on the page via (-1) option. This session is initialised with the current filter
applied on the lists.
It returns a session handle which will be used as parameter in all other functions to ref-
erence the session or BAD_HANDLE if the parameter is not a valid animation number
or if this animation number is not linked to an historical list.
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterEditOpen(STRING FilterName or INT AN or INT -1)
FilterName
Name of Filter
AN
Animation Number, for example 21 or 11
-1
Change the display parameters of all alarm lists displayed on the page
Return Value
213
Returns a session handle to the filter browse session. Returns -1 when an error is
detected.
Example
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditClose
See Also
AlarmFilterEditPrev
This function takes a session handle parameter. It gets the previous part of the filter.
Each part is either
Syntax
STRING AlarmFilterEditPrev(INT hSession )

Session:
Return Value
Previous part of filter or if does not exist an empty string "".
Example
214

Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditFirst, AlarmFilterEditNext, AlarmFilterEditLast

See Also
AlarmFilterEditSet
The AlarmFilterEditSet function takes a session handle and a filter expression as param-
eters. It replaces the current filter session content by the provided expression without any
validation. This does not apply to all filters on the list (see AlarmFilterEditCommit).
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterEditSet(INT hSession, STRING FilterCriteria )

Session:
FilterCriteria:
Filter expression as a string. For example:"(Tag=A) OR (TAG=B)"
tax.
Return Value
Example
Related Functions
AlarmFilterEditOpen, AlarmFilterEditClose, AlarmFilterEditAppend,

See Also
215
AlarmFilterOpen
This function creates a named filter. The filter is initialised with empty content (matches
all alarms).If unable to open the named filter an error code is returned.
Syntax
INT AlarmFilterOpen(STRING FilterName, INT OpenMode [, INT AutoCloseMode])

FilterName
Name of Filter
OpenMode
The values for OpenMode are:

l 0 - Open an existing named filter.
l 1- Create a new named filter.
l 2- Attempts to open an existing named filter. If the named filter does not
exist, a new named filter is created.
AutoCloseMode
Values for AutoCloseMode are bit flags.
The values for the bits are:
l 0 bit - Will not automatically close filter. Use AlarmFilterClose.
l 1 bit - When set, the named filter will be closed when the page is
changed or otherwise closed.
Note: All other modes are reserved
Return Value
0 (zero) if the filter was opened or created or an error if unsuccessful.
Example
// This example shows how to open and close the named filter "Myfilter"
// nothing of interest is done with the filter in this example.
INT nOpenModeOld = 0;
INT nOpenModeNew = 1;
INT nOpenModeAny = 2;
INT nCloseModeManual = 0;
INT nCloseModePageChanged = 1;
INT nError;
nError = AlarmFilterOpen("MyFilter", nOpenModeNew, nCloseModeManual);
IF nError = 0 THEN
nError = AlarmFilterClose("MyFilter");
END
Related Functions
216
AlarmFilterClose, AlarmSetInfo
See Also
"Understanding Named Filters" in the CitectSCADA User Guide
AlarmFirstCatRec
Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm category and type. You can search all areas,
the current area only, or specify an area to limit the search.
This function returns an alarm record identifier that you can use in other alarm func-
tions, for example, to acknowledge, disable, or enable the alarm, or to get field data on
that alarm.
Note: Record numbers obtained from AlarmGetDsp are not valid for this function.
to block, the return value will be -1 and a hardware alarm set. Use IsError() to retrieve
the error code.
Syntax
LONG AlarmFirstCatRec(INT Category, INT Type [, INT Area] [, STRING ClusterName] )

Category:
The alarm category or group number to match. Set Category to 0 (zero) to match all alarm cat-
egories.
Type:
The type of alarms to find:
Non-hardware alarms
0 - All active alarms, that is Types 1 and 2.

1 - All unacknowledged alarms, ON and OFF.
2 - All acknowledged ON alarms.
3 - All disabled alarms.
4 - All configured alarms, that is, types 0 to 3, plus acknowledged OFF alarms.
If you do not specify a type, the default is 0. If [Alarm]DisplayDisable =
1, then disabled alarms, type 3, will not be included in type 4.
Area:
The area in which to search for alarms. If you do not specify an area, or if you set Area to -1, only
the current area will be searched.
ClusterName:
217
quotation marks "".
Return Value
The alarm record identifier or -1 if no match is found.
Related Functions
GrpOpen, AlarmNextCatRec, AlarmFirstPriRec, AlarmNextPriRec, AlarmGetFieldRec,

AlarmAckRec, AlarmDisableRec, AlarmEnableRec, AlarmGetThresholdRec, Alarm-
SetThresholdRec
Example
See AlarmAckRec
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmFirstPriRec
Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm priority and type. You can search all areas,
the current area only, or specify an area to limit the search.
that alarm.
the error code.
Note: This function will return a match for an Acknowledge Off alarm with [Alarm]
AckHold=1 even after it has been cleared using AlarmClear or AlarmClearRec.
Syntax
LONG AlarmFirstPriRec(INT Priority, INT Type [, INT Area] [, STRING ClusterName] )

Priority:
The alarm Priority or group handle of a group of alarm priorities. Set Priority to 0 (zero) to match all
alarm priorities.
Type:
218
Non-hardware alarms

4 - All configured alarms, that is types 0 to 3, plus acknowledged OFF alarms.
If you do not specify a type, the default is 0.
Area:
The area in which to search for alarms. If you do not specify an area, or if you set Area to -1, only
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
The alarm record identifier or -1 if no match is found. If you do not specify an area, only
alarms in the current area on the alarms server are searched.
Related Functions
GrpOpen, AlarmNextCatRec, AlarmFirstPriRec, AlarmNextPriRec, AlarmGetFieldRec,

SetThresholdRec
Example
/* Acknowledge all unacknowledged (Type 1) alarms of the specified

alarm priority. */
FUNCTION
AutoAccept(INT iPriority)
INT iCurrent;
INT iNext;
iCurrent=AlarmFirstPriRec(iPriority,1,-1);
WHILE iCurrent <>-1 DO
iNext=AlarmNextPriRec(iCurrent,iPriority,1,-1);
AlarmAckRec(iCurrent);
iCurrent=iNext;
END
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
219
AlarmFirstTagRec
Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm tag, name, and description.
the error code.
that alarm.
Note: This function will return a match for an Acknowledge Off alarm with [Alarm]
AckHold=1 even after it has been cleared using AlarmClear or AlarmClearRec.
For complex filtering operations it is more efficient to use the alarm tag browse functions
AlmBrowseOpen and AlmBrowseNext.
Syntax
LONG AlarmFirstTagRec(STRING Tag, STRING Name, STRING Description [, STRING

ClusterName] )
Tag:
The alarm tag to be matched. Specify an empty string (" ") to match all alarm tags.
Name:
The alarm name to be matched. Specify an empty string (" ") to match all alarm names.
Description:
The alarm description to be matched. Specify an empty string (" ") to match all alarm descriptions.
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
220
AlarmNextTagRec, AlarmGetFieldRec, AlarmAckRec, AlarmDisableRec, Alar-

mEnableRec, AlarmGetThresholdRec, AlarmSetThresholdRec, AlmBrowseOpen , Alm-
BrowseNext
Example
See AlarmDisableRec
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetDelay
Gets the delay setting for the alarm the cursor is currently positioned over.
Syntax
LONG AlarmGetDelay(Type)
nType:
The type of delay:
0 - Delay (digital alarm/advancedalarm)

1 - High high delay (analog alarm)
2 - High delay (analog alarm)
3 - Low delay (analog alarm)
4 - Low low delay (analog alarm)
5 - Deviation delay (analog alarm)
Return Value
The alarm delay if successful, otherwise -1 is returned. Use IsError() to retrieve extended
error information.
Related Functions
AlarmNotifyVarChange, AlarmSetDelayRec, AlarmGetDelayRec

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetDelayRec
Gets the delay setting for an alarm via the alarm record number.
to block, the return value will be -1 and a hardware alarm set.
Syntax
221
LONG AlarmGetDelayRec(LONG Record, INT Type [, STRING ClusterName] )

Record:
Type:
The type of delay:
0 - Delay (digital alarm/advancedalarm)

ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
The alarm delay if successful, otherwise -1 is returned. Use IsError() to retrieve extended
error information.
Related Functions
AlarmNotifyVarChange, AlarmSetDelayRec, AlarmGetDelay

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetDsp
222
Gets field data from the alarm record that is displayed at the specified AN. You can use
this function for both Alarm Pages and Alarm Summaries (an Alarm Page or Alarm
Summary needs to be displayed before this function can be used).
You can call this function on an Alarms Server or a client to get the contents of any field
in the alarm record at that AN.
You can return the record number of the alarm record for use in other alarm functions,
for example, to acknowledge, disable, or enable an alarm (on an Alarms Server).
The AlarmGetDsp() function does not support hardware alarms.
Syntax
STRING AlarmGetDsp(INT AN, STRING Field)

AN:
AN number of an ALMCB Alarm record. Equal to AN where actual ALMCB resides + Offset into
the list of ALMCB records.
Field:
The name of the field from which the data is retrieved. The contents of the following fields can be
retrieved when the Alarm Page is displayed:
Field Description
Area The area to which the alarm belongs. The user needs to have access to this
area to access this alarm data.
AlmComment The text entered into the Comment field of the alarm properties dialog.
Category Alarm category
Cluster The name of the cluster the alarm tag applies.
Comment Operator comments attached to the Alarm Log entry (if any)
Custom1..8 Custom Filter Fields
Date The date that the alarm changed state (mm/dd/yyyy)
DateExt The date that the alarm changed state in extended format
Deadband Deadband (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Deviation Deviation Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Desc Alarm description
Font Font of alarm.
Format Format of alarm.
High High Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
223
Field Description
HighHigh High High Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Help Alarm help page
LogState The last state that the alarm passed through
Low Low Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
LowLow Low Low Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Name Alarm name
Paging Alarm paged flag
PagingGroup Paging group for alarm
Priority The alarm priority
Rate Rate of change trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
RecNo The alarm record number
State The current state of the alarm
State_desc The configured description (for example, healthy or stopped) of a particular

state
Tag Alarm tag
Time The time that the alarm changed state (hh:mm:ss)
Type The type of alarm or condition
Value The current value of the alarm variable
The contents of the any of the above fields (except for State) and the following fields can
be retrieved when the Alarm Summary is displayed:
Field Description
UserName The name of the user (User Name) who was logged on and performed
some action on the alarm (for example, acknowledging the alarm or
disabling the alarm, etc.). Be aware that when the alarm is first acti-
vated, the user name is set to "system" (because the operator did not
trip the alarm).
FullName The full name of the user (Full Name) who was logged on and per-
formed some action on the alarm (for example, acknowledging the
alarm or disabling the alarm, etc.). Be aware that when the alarm is
first activated, the full name is set to "system" (because the operator
did not trip the alarm).
OnDate The date when alarm was activated
OnDateExt The date (in extended format) when the alarm was activated
(dd/mm/yyyy)
224
Field Description
OffDate The date when the alarm returned to its normal state
OffDateExt The date (in extended format) when the alarm returned to its normal
state (dd/mm/yyyy)
OnTime The time when the alarm was activated
OffTime The time when the alarm returned to its normal state
DeltaTime The time difference between OnDate/OnTime and OffDate/OffTime, in

seconds
OnMilli Adds milliseconds to the time the alarm was activated.
OffMilli Adds milliseconds to the time the alarm returned to its normal state.
AckTime The time when the alarm was acknowledged
AckDate The date when the alarm was acknowledged
AckDateExt The date (in extended format) when the alarm was acknowledged
(dd/mm/yyyy)
SumState Describes the state of the alarm when it occurred
SumDesc A description of the alarm summary
Native_SumDesc A description of the alarm summary, in the native language
Native_Comment Native language comments the operator adds to an Alarm Summary

entry during runtime.
String that uniquely identifies SOE records within the cluster. On the
RecordId Alarm Summary table, this field references the associated SOE rec-
ord.
Return Value
The alarm field data (as a string) or empty string "".
Related Functions
AlarmDsp
Example
! Display the tag and category for the alarm at the specified AN.
FUNCTION
AlarmData(INT AN)
STRING Category;
STRING Tag;
Category=AlarmGetDsp(AN,"Category");
Tag=AlarmGetDsp(AN,"Tag");
Prompt("Alarm "+Tag+" is Category "+Category);
END
225
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetFieldRec
Gets the contents of the specified field in the specified alarm record.
the error code.
Syntax
STRING AlarmGetFieldRec(LONG Record, STRING Field [, INT Ver [, STRING Clus-

terName]])
Record:
Field:
The name of the field from which the data is retrieved.
Field Description
Category Alarm category
Desc Alarm description
Help Alarm help page
Name Alarm name
Tag Alarm tag
Time The time that the alarm changed state (hh:mm:ss)
Comment Operator comments attached to the Alarm Log entry (if any)
Date The date that the alarm changed state (dd/mm/yyyy)
226
Field Description
DateExt The date that the alarm changed state in extended format
Type The type of alarm or condition
State The current state of the alarm
Value The current value of the alarm variable
High High Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
HighHigh High High Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Low Low Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
LowLow Low Low Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Rate Rate of change trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Deviation Deviation Alarm trigger value (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
Deadband Deadband (Only Valid on Analog Alarms)
LogState The last state that the alarm passed through
AlmComment The text entered into the Comment field of the alarm properties
dialog.
Custom1..8 Custom Filter Fields
State_desc The configured description (for example, healthy or stopped) of a par-

ticular state
UserName The name of the user (User Name) who was logged on and performed
some action on the alarm (for example, acknowledging the alarm or
disabling the alarm, etc.). Be aware that when the alarm is first acti-
vated, the user name is set to "system" (because the operator did not
trip the alarm).
FullName The full name of the user (Full Name) who was logged on and per-
formed some action on the alarm (for example, acknowledging the
alarm or disabling the alarm, etc.). Be aware that when the alarm is
first activated, the full name is set to "system" (because the operator
did not trip the alarm).
OnDate The date when alarm was activated
OnDateExt The date (in extended format) when the alarm was activated
(dd/mm/yyyy)
OffDate The date when the alarm returned to its normal state
OffDateExt The date (in extended format) when the alarm returned to its normal
state (dd/mm/yyyy)
OnTime The time when the alarm was activated
OffTime The time when the alarm returned to its normal state
227
Field Description
DeltaTime The time difference between OnDate/OnTime and OffDate/OffTime, in

seconds
OnMilli Adds milliseconds to the time the alarm was activated.
OffMilli Adds milliseconds to the time the alarm returned to its normal state.
AckTime The time when the alarm was acknowledged
AckDate The date when the alarm was acknowledged
AckDateExt The date (in extended format) when the alarm was acknowledged
(dd/mm/yyyy)
SumState Describes the state of the alarm when it occurred
SumDesc A description of the alarm summary
Native_SumDesc A description of the alarm summary, in the native language
Native_Comment Native language comments the operator adds to an Alarm Summary

entry during runtime.
Area The area to which the alarm belongs
Governs the order in which alarms are displayed, acknowledged, ena-

Priority
bled, etc.
nVer:
The version of an alarm.
If an alarm has been triggered more than once in a given period, the version lets you distinguish
between different instances of the alarm's activity.
The version is used in filtering alarms for display. A query function passes a value to this parameter
in order to get field information for a particular alarm.
This parameter is not needed when you use AlarmGetFieldRec() for purposes other than filtering. It
will default to 0 if omitted.
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
The alarm field data (as a string) or empty string "".
Related Functions
AlarmFirstTagRec, AlarmNextTagRec,
Example
228
FUNCTION
GetNameFromTag(STRING sTag)
INT record;
STRING sName
record = AlarmFirstTagRec(sTag, "", "");
IF record <> -1 THEN
sName = AlarmGetFieldRec(record,"NAME");
ELSE
sName = "";
END
RETURN sName;
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetFilterName
Retrieves the name of the linked named filter for the supplied An. If empty text, there is
currently no linked named filter.
Syntax
STRING AlarmGetFilterName(INT An)

An
Animation number
Return Value
Name of linked filter or "".
Example
// This example shows how to link, unlink and check the linking of a
// named filter to an alarm list (by its animation number)
// This example requires that the named filter "Myfilter" exists.
STRING sName;
INT nError;
INT nAnimationNumber=21;
INT nSetInfoFilterName=12;
nError = AlarmSetInfo(nAnimationNumber, nSetInfoFilterName, "MyFilter");
IF nError = 0 THEN
sName = AlarmGetFilterName(nAnimationNumber); //"MyFilter"
END
nError = AlarmSetInfo(nAnimationNumber, nSetInfoFilterName, "");
IF nError = 0 THEN
sName = AlarmGetFilterName(nAnimationNumber); //""
END
229
Related Functions
AlarmFilterOpen
See Also
AlarmGetInfo
Gets data on the alarm list displayed at a specified AN. Use this function to display the
current alarm list information on an alarm page. If only one alarm list has been con-
figured on an alarm page, modes 2 and 3 of this function return the current alarm page
information.
Note: You cannot retrieve the order by key setting for an alarm list using this func-
tion, as it can only returns numeric values. To retrieve this information, use the func-
tion AlarmGetOrderbyKey
Syntax
LONG AlarmGetInfo(INT AN, INT Type)

AN:
The AN where the alarm list (with the required information) is displayed. Set the AN to 0 (zero) to
get information on the alarm list where the cursor is positioned.
Type:
The type of data:
0 - Alarm page number. The vertical offset (in pages) from the AN where the
alarm list commenced. The alarm list need to have scrolled off the first
page for this type to return a non-zero value.
1 - Alarm list offset. The vertical offset (in lines) from the AN where the alarm
list commenced. You need to have scrolled off the first page of alarms for
this type to return a non zero value.
2 - Category of alarms displayed on the alarm list. You can use a group
number to display a group of categories.
3 - Type of alarms displayed on the alarm list. See AlarmDsp() for a list of
these types.
7 - Priority of alarms displayed on the alarm list. The return value may be a
group number if the alarm list contains alarms of more than one prior-
ity.
8 - Display mode of the alarm list.
9 - Sorting mode of the alarm list.
230
10 – Reading this field is invalid, use the function AlarmGetOrderbyKey.

11 – Retrieves the error code for the last alarm summary request that was not
able to be processed due to a buffer overflow. The last request error value
will be reset on the next successful response from the servers.
12 – Returns values as follows;
l 0 = no named filter, and no custom filter
l 1 = named filter set, no custom filter (this means that the content of the
named filter is empty)

l 2 = no named filter, but there is custom filtering applied (this is possible
if the filter is edited using (via the AN) AlarmFilterEdit functions for
example, or any other method)
l 3 = named filter set, custom filtering is applied (it is possible that this is
due to the named filter being edited or any other method through the
AN)
Return Value
Alarm list data as a numeric value.
Related Functions
AlarmDsp, AlarmSetInfo, AlarmGetOrderbyKey.
Example
/* In the following examples, data is returned on the alarm

list where the cursor is positioned. */
page = AlarmGetInfo(0,0);
! returns the alarm page number.
offset = AlarmGetInfo(0,1);
! returns the alarm list offset.
cat = AlarmGetInfo(0,2);
! returns the alarm category displayed.
type = AlarmGetInfo(0,3);
! returns the type of alarms displayed.
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetOrderbyKey
Retrieves the list of key(s) that are used to determine the order of the alarm list. These
keys can be set by the AlarmSetInfo() function.
Syntax
AlarmGetOrderbyKey(nAN)
nAN:
231
The AN where the alarm list (with the required information) is displayed.
Return Value
Order-by key (as a string).
Example
page = AlarmGetOrderbyKey(21);
! returns the order-by key string of the alarm list at AN '21'.
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetThreshold
Gets the threshold of the analog alarm where the cursor is positioned.
Syntax
AlarmGetThreshold(Type)
nType:
The type of threshold:
0 - High high
1 - High
2 - Low
3 - Low low
4 - Deadband
5 - Deviation
6 - Rate of change
Return Value
The alarm threshold.
Related Functions
AlarmGetThresholdRec, AlarmSetThreshold, AlarmSetThresholdRec

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmGetThresholdRec
Gets the threshold of analog alarms by the alarm record number.
232
the error code.
Syntax
INT AlarmGetThresholdRec(LONG Record, INT Type [, STRING ClusterName])

Record:
Type:
0 - High high
1 - High
2 - Low
3 - Low low
4 - Deadband
5 - Deviation
6 - Rate of change
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
The alarm threshold or 0.0.
Related Functions
AlarmGetThreshold, AlarmSetThreshold, AlarmSetThresholdRec

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmHelp
233
Displays the alarm help page (associated with the alarm) where the cursor is positioned.
You can assign a help page to each alarm when you define it (using the Digital Alarms
or the Analog Alarms database, depending on the type of alarm). You need to also
define the help page in the Pages database.
Syntax
AlarmHelp()
Return Value
Related Functions
PageAlarm
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AlmHelp
Command AlarmHelp()
Comment Display the alarm help page
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmNextCatRec
Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm category and type, commencing with the
specified alarm record identifier (returned from the previous search through the Alarm-
FirstCatRec function). You can search all areas, the current area only, or specify an area
to limit the search.
that alarm.
the error code.
Syntax
234
LONG AlarmNextCatRec(LONG Record, INT Category, INTType [, INT Area] [, STRING

ClusterName] )
Record:
Category:
The alarm category or group number to match. Set Category to 0 (zero) to match all alarm cat-
egories.
Type:
Non-hardware alarms
0 - Active alarms, that is Types 1 and 2.

1 - Unacknowledged alarms, ON and OFF.
2 - Acknowledged ON alarms.
3 - Disabled alarms.
4 - Every configured alarms, that is Types 0 to 3, plus acknowledged OFF
alarms. If you choose to omit the Type, the default is 0.
Area:
The area in which to search for alarms. If you choose to omit the area, or if you set Area to -1, only
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
235
GrpOpen, AlarmFirstCatRec, AlarmFirstPriRec, AlarmNextPriRec, AlarmGetFieldRec,

SetThresholdRec
Example
See AlarmAckRec
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmNextPriRec
Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm of a specified priority and type, com-
mencing with the specified alarm record identifier (returned from the previous search
through the AlarmFirstPriRec() function). You can search all areas, the current area only,
or specify an area to limit the search.
that alarm.
the error code.
Syntax
INT AlarmNextPriRec(LONG Record, INT Priority, INT Type [, INT Area] [, STRING Clus-
terName] )
Record:
236
Priority:
The alarm Priority or group handle of a group of alarm priorities. Set Priority to 0 (zero) to match all
alarm priorities.
Type:
Non-hardware alarms

4 - All configured alarms, that is Types 0 to 3, plus acknowledged OFF alarms.
If you do not specify a Type, the default is 0.
Area:
The area in which to search for alarms. Set Area to -1 to search all areas. If you do not specify an
area, only alarms in the current area on the Alarms Server are searched.
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
GrpOpen, AlarmFirstCatRec, AlarmFirstPriRec, AlarmNextCatRec, AlarmGetFieldRec,

SetThresholdRec, AlarmSetInfo
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmNextTagRec
Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm tag, name, and description, starting with
the alarm record identifier (returned from the previous search through the Alarm-
FirstTagRec() function).
that alarm.
237
the error code.
For complex filtering operations it is more efficient to use the alarm tag browse functions
AlmBrowseOpen and AlmBrowseNext.
Syntax
LONG AlarmNextTagRec(LONG Record, STRING Tag, STRING Name, VDescription [,

STRING ClusterName] )
Record:
Tag:
The alarm tag to be matched. Specify an empty string (" ") to match all alarm tags.
Name:
The alarm name to be matched. Specify an empty string (" ") to match all alarm names.
Description:
The alarm description to be matched. Specify an empty string (" ") to match all alarm descriptions.
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
238
Related Functions
AlarmFirstTagRec, AlarmGetFieldRec, AlarmAckRec, AlarmDisableRec,

AlarmEnableRec, AlarmGetDelayRec, AlarmGetThresholdRec, AlarmSetThresholdRec,
AlmBrowseOpen, AlmBrowseNext
Example
See AlarmDisableRec.
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmNotifyVarChange
This function is used to provide time-stamped digital and time-stamped analog alarms
with data. When called, it notifies the alarm server that the specified variable tag has
changed.
The alarm server will then check all time-stamped digital and time-stamped analog
alarms that use the variable tag to see if their alarm states need to be updated as a result
of the change. Any alarm state changes that result from this check will be given the
timestamp passed into this function as their time of occurrence.
Note: Although you can hardcode a value into the setpoint when using analog
alarms, you cannot use hardcoded values with time-stamped analog alarms. If the
setpoint is hardcoded, this function cannot be used to notify the alarm when the var-
iable changes.
Syntax
AlarmNotifyVarChange(Tag, Value, Timestamp [, TimestampMS] [, sClusterName] [, bSync] )

Tag:
Name of the variable tag that has changed as a string. This name may include the name of the tag's
cluster in the form cluster.tagname. This cluster name may be different from the cluster of the alarm
server indicated by ClusterName below.
The Tag parameter is resolved on the alarm server, so the alarm server should be configured to con-
nect to the tag's cluster.
Value:
Value of the variable tag at the time of the change as a floating-point number
Timestamp:
Time/date at which the variable tag changed in the standard CitectSCADA time/date variable format
(Seconds since 1970).
239
TimestampMS:
Millisecond portion of the time at which the variable tag changed.
sClusterName:
Name of the cluster of the alarm server. This is optional if you have one cluster or are resolving the
alarm server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
bSync:
An optional boolean argument that specifies whether the command is synchronous (blocking) or
asynchronous (non-blocking). If it is specified as synchronous (true) the function will wait until the
notification has been recorded into the alarm database before further code execution. If it is spec-
ified as asynchronous (false) the function will only return an error if no alarm server is currently
available.
Return Value
For synchronous mode, the return value will be the error that was detected when the
function was called. For asynchronous mode, the return value will be 0, unless there
was no server available.
Example
AlarmNotifyVarChange("LOOP_1_SP", 50.0, TimeCurrent() - 10, 550,

"ClusterXYZ");
This will tell the alarm server in cluster XYZ that the value of
variable tag LOOP_1_SP changed to 50.0 at 9.450 seconds ago.
See Also
Time-stamped Digital Alarm Properties, Time-stamped Analog Alarm Properties
Alarm Functions
AlarmQueryFirstRec
Searches for the first occurrence of an alarm category (or priority) and type. This is a
wrapper function of AlarmFirstCatRec and AlarmFirstPriRec.
the error code.
Syntax
AlarmQueryFirstRec(Group, nType, Area, QueryType [, sClusterName] )

Group:
Alarm category if QueryType is 0 or alarm priority if QueryType is 1.
240
nType:
Type of alarms to find:
Non-hardware alarms
0 - All active alarms; that is, types 1 and 2.

4 - All configured alarms; that is, types 0 to 3, plus acknowledged OFF alarms.
Area:
Area in which to search for alarms. Set Area to -1 to search all areas.
QuerynType:
Query type.
0 - Search by category.
1 - Search by priority.
sClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmQueryNextRec
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmQueryNextRec
Searches for the next occurrence of an alarm category (or priority) and type, commencing
with the specified alarm record identifier (returned from the previous search through the
alarm query functions).
the error code.
This is wrapper function of AlarmNextCatRec and AlarmNextPriRec.
Syntax
241
AlarmQueryNextRec(Record, Group, nType, Area, QueryType [, sClusterName] )

Record:
Alarm record number.
Group:
Alarm Category if QueryType is 0 or alarm priority if QueryType is 1.
nType:
Type of alarms to find:
Non-hardware alarms
0 - All active alarms; that is, types 1 and 2.

4 - All configured alarms; that is, types 0 to 3, plus acknowledged OFF alarms.
Area:
Area in which to search for alarms. Set Area to -1 to search all areas.
QuerynType:
Query type.
0 - Search by category.
1 - Search by priority.
sClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmQueryFirstRec
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmSetDelay
242
Changes the delay setting for an alarm (that is Delay, High High Delay, Deviation Delay,
etc.). This function acts on the alarm that the cursor is positioned over. Use this function
during runtime to change the delay values that were specified in the alarms database.
Delay changes made using this process are persistent (that is they are saved to the
project).
Syntax
AlarmSetDelay(Type, Value)
nType:
The type of delay:
0 - Delay (digital alarm/advanced alarm)

Value:
The new value for the delay. Enter a blank value " " to remove the delay setting.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmGetDelay, AlarmSetDelayRec, AlarmGetDelayRec

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmSetDelayRec
Changes the delay setting for an alarm (that is Delay, High High Delay, Deviation Delay,
etc.) by the alarm record number. You can only call this function on an alarms server for
local alarms, or on a redundant server if one has been configured.
Syntax
INT AlarmSetDelayRec(LONG Record, INT Type, INT Value, STRING ClusterName)

Record:
243
nType:
The type of delay:
0 - Delay (digital alarm/advanced alarm)

Value:
The new value for the delay. Enter a blank value " " to remove the delay setting.
sClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Related Functions
AlarmGetDelay, AlarmNotifyVarChange, AlarmGetDelayRec

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmSetInfo
Controls different aspects of the alarm list displayed at a specified AN. Currently applies
only to non-hardware alarm lists.
Syntax
INT AlarmSetInfo(INT AN, INT Type, STRING Value)

AN:
244
The AN where the alarm list originally commenced. (AN alarm page can contain more than one
alarm list). You can also specify:
-1 - Change the display parameters of all alarm lists displayed on the page.
0 - Change the display parameters of the alarm list where the cursor is posi-
tioned.
Type:
The type of data. The aspects and related types are listed below:
Display aspect Types
Change display line and page offset 0, 1
Formatting of alarms in the alarm list 4, 5, 6
Filtering of alarms 2, 3, 7, 8
Sorting of alarms - to control the sorting 9, 10

aspect of the alarm list, type 9 and 10
should be used together.
Linking or unlinking to a named filter 12
0 - Alarm page number. The vertical offset (in pages) from the AN where the
alarm list commenced.
1 - Alarm list offset. The vertical offset (in lines) from the AN where the alarm
list commenced.
2 - Category of alarms displayed on the alarm list. To specify all categories use
a value of 0.
You can use a group handle to display a group of categories. (A group can be
defined using Groups - from the Project Editor System menu - or by
using the GrpOpen() function.) Before you can display a group of cat-
egories, you need to first open the group using the GrpOpen() function.
You would usually do this by entering the GrpOpen() function as the
Page entry command for your alarm page (set using Page Properties). Be
aware, however, that you should not close the group until you close the
display page. If you do, the group will be lost and the group handle will
become invalid. The page would then be unable to continue displaying
the desired group. The handle may be reused for another group, which
means the page may display a different category, or display all alarms.
You would normally close the group by entering the GrpClose() function as the
Page exit command.
245
3 - Type of alarms displayed on the alarm list. See AlarmDsp() for a list of
these types.
4 - Display all alarms according to the format and fonts specified for one cat-
egory (specified in Value).
5 - The display format for all alarms specified by a format handle. All of the
alarm categories will display in the same format.
6 - The display font for all user alarms specified by a font handle. All of the
user alarms will appear in the same font and color.
7 - The priority of the alarms to be displayed in the alarm list. You can use a
group number to display a group of priorities.
You can use a group handle to display a group of priorities. (A group can be
defined using Groups - from the Project Editor System menu - or by
using the GrpOpen() function.) Before you can display a group of prior-
ities, you need to first open the group using the GrpOpen() function. You
would usually do this by entering the GrpOpen() function as the Page
entry command for your alarm page (set using Page Properties). Be
aware, however, that you should not close the group until you close the
display page. If you do, the group will be lost and the group handle will
become invalid. The page would then be unable to continue displaying
the desired group. You would normally close the group by entering the
GrpClose() function as the Page exit command.
8 - Use the Value argument of the AlarmSetInfo() function to specify whether
the display mode of the alarm list is based on Alarm Category or Prior-
ity:
l Set the Value argument to 0 (zero) to display by Category.
l Set the Value argument to 1 to display by Priority.
9 - Use the Value argument of the AlarmSetInfo() function to specify the sorting
mode of the alarm list:
l Set the Value argument to 0 (zero) to display alarms sorted by ON time
within their groups.

l Set the Value argument to 1 to display alarms sorted by the order-by
keys. Please be aware that this option will only be meaningful if you
have already called the AlarmSetInfo() function with a Type of 10 to set
the order-by keys.
10 - Use the Alarm Order-by key specified in the Value argument of the Alarm-
SetInfo() function to determine the order in which the alarm list will be
displayed.
The AlarmSetInfo() function should then be called again using a Type of 9 and
a Value of 1 for CitectSCADA to sort the alarms in the order specified.
11 – Invalid to set this field.
246
12 – Associate or disassociate a named filter. By setting this field to text, you

associate the specified AN to a named filter which is then applied to an
alarm display list. Setting this type to empty text, will unlink from any
named filter, but the disassociated alarm list will retain its value, hence
the filter will still be in place until a new filter is applied. If setting the
Value to text that does not correspond to a named filter, the value read
back (using AlarmGetFilterName()) will be empty.
Value:
The meaning of the Value argument depends on the data type specified in the Type argument.
l If you set Type = 8, the Value argument determines whether alarms are dis-
played by category or priority:
l 0 - Alarm list displayed by Category.
l 1 - Alarm list displayed by Priority.
l If you set Type = 10, the Value argument specifies the order-by keys to be
used in sorting. Up to sixteen keys may be specified:
{KeyName [,SortDirection]}[ {KeyName [,SortDirection]}]
The Keyname argument specifies the name of the pre-defined order-by key to be used. The valid
options are a subset of the alarm display fields: Tag, Name, Category, Priority, Area, Priv, Time,
State.
The SortDirection argument is optional, and indicates whether the sort will be ascending or
descending. Valid options are: 0 Descending (default), 1 Ascending.
For example:
{Time,0} : sorts by <Time> (descending)
{Tag,1} : sorts by <Tag> (ascending)
{Tag,1}{Time} : sorts by <Tag> (ascending), then <Time> (descending)
Return Value
Related Functions
GrpOpen, AlarmDsp, AlarmGetInfo
Examples
In the following example, the alarm list is set to display in the order of the order-by key.
Please be aware that this is a two-step process requiring two calls to the AlarmSetInfo()
function, and that it applies only to non-hardware alarm lists.
! Set the order-by key.

AlarmSetInfo(21,10,"{Time}");
! Set the sorting mode.
247
AlarmSetInfo(21,9,1);
Type 8 of the function is used to set the display mode to either category or priority. This
is helpful when filtering based on either of these fields. So In order to filter on category 2
we should use:
AlarmSetInfo(21, 8, 0);
Once we do this the alarms with category 2 will be displayed in the alarm list and
remaining although active will not be displayed.
Similarly if we want to filter on priority we set the mode to priority and then use type 7.
For example to filter on priority 4 we should use:
AlarmSetInfo(21, 8, 1); ! priority mode

AlarmSetInfo(21, 7, 4); ! apply filter
In the following examples, the display parameters of the alarm list where the cursor is
positioned are changed.
! Change the vertical offset (pages) to 2.

! Change the vertical offset (lines) to 15.
Change the alarm category to 10.
Change the type of alarms displayed to type 5 (hardware alarms).
In the following examples, the display parameters of the alarm list at AN 20 are
changed.
! Display alarms with category 120 format and fonts

! Display alarms with a new format
hFmt=FmtOpen("MyFormat","{Name}{Desc,20}",0);
AlarmSetInfo(20, 5, hFmt);
! Display alarms with a new font
hFont = DspFont("Times",-60,black,gray);
AlarmSetInfo(20, 6, hFont);
248
The following example displays alarms with categories 1-10, 20, or 25. Before Alarm-
SetInfo() is run, the page entry command for the alarm display page is configured as fol-
lows:
On page entry command: hGrp=GrpOpen("MyGrp",1); StrToGrp(hGrp,"1..10,20,25");
The page exit command for the alarm display page is configured as follows:
On page exit command: GrpClose(hGrp); AlarmSetInfo(20, 2, hGrp);
Note:hGrp is defined in the variables database.
Related Functions
AlarmFilterOpen
See Also
Alarm Functions
"Understanding Named Filters" in the CitectSCADA User Guide
AlarmSetThreshold
Changes the thresholds (that is High High, Low etc.) of analog alarms. This function
acts on the analog alarm where the cursor is positioned. Use this function to change (at
run time) the threshold values that were specified in the Analog Alarms database.
Threshold changes made using this function are permanent (that is they are saved to the
project). The display format currently specified for the record (in the Analog Alarms
form) will be applied to these values.
Syntax
AlarmSetThreshold(Type, Value)
nType:
0 - High high
1 - High
2 - Low
3 - Low low
4 - Deadband
5 - Deviation
6 - Rate of change
Value:
The new value of the threshold. Enter a blank value "" to remove the threshold.
249
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmSetThresholdRec
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence SetHighHigh ### Enter
Command AlarmSetThreshold(0, Arg1)
Comment Change the threshold of a high high alarm
System Keyboard
Key Sequence SetHigh ### Enter
Comment Change the threshold of a high alarm
System Keyboard
Key Sequence SetLow ### Enter
Comment Change the threshold of a low alarm
System Keyboard
Key Sequence SetlowLow ### Enter
Comment Change the threshold of a low low alarm
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlarmSetThresholdRec
250
Changes the threshold (that is High High, Low etc.) of analog alarms by the alarm rec-
ord number. You can call this function only on an Alarms Server for alarms on that
server, or on the redundant server (if a redundant server is configured).
Threshold changes made using this function are permanent (that is they are saved to the
project). The display format currently specified for the record (in the Analog Alarms
form) will be applied to these values.
To permanently update alarm threshold limits using AlarmSetThresholdRec(), set the
parameter [Alarm]UseConfigLimits to 1.
Syntax
INT AlarmSetThresholdRec (LONG Record, INT Type, STRING Value [, STRING Clus-
terName])
Record:
Type:
0 - High high
1 - High
2 - Low
3 - Low low
4 - Deadband
5 - Deviation
251
6 - Rate of change
Value:
The new value of the threshold. Enter a blank value "" to remove the threshold.
ClusterName:
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
AlarmSetThreshold
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseAck
The AlmBrowseAck function acknowledges the alarm tag at the current cursor position
in an active data browse session.
Syntax
INT AlmBrowseAck(LONG iSession)

iSession:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a AlmBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the alarm browse session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
AlmBrowseClear, AlmTagsDisable, AlmBrowseEnable, AlmBrowseClose, Alm-

BrowseFirst, AlmBrowseGetField, AlmBrowseNext, AlmBrowseNumRecords, Alm-
BrowseOpen, AlmBrowsePrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseClose
252
The AlmBrowseClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans up
resources associated with the session.
Syntax
INT AlmBrowseClose(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmBrowseAck, AlmBrowseDisable, AlmBrowseEnable, AlmBrowseFirst, Alm-

BrowseGetField, AlmBrowseNext, AlmBrowseNumRecords, AlmBrowseOpen, Alm-
BrowsePrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseDisable
The AlmBrowseDisable function disables the alarm tag at the current cursor position in
Syntax
INT AlmBrowseDisable(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmBrowseAck, AlmBrowseEnable, AlmBrowseClose, AlmBrowseFirst, Alm-

BrowsePrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
253
AlmBrowseEnable
The AlmBrowseEnable function enables the alarm tag at the current cursor position in
Syntax
INT AlmBrowseEnable(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmBrowseAck, AlmBrowseDisable, AlmBrowseClose, AlmBrowseFirst, Alm-

BrowsePrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseFirst
The AlmBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
is complete.
Syntax
INT AlmBrowseFirst(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmBrowseAck, AlmBrowseDisable, AlmBrowseEnable, AlmBrowseClose, Alm-

BrowsePrev
254
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseGetField
The AlmBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the record
the data browse cursor is currently referencing.
Syntax
STRING AlmBrowseGetField(LONG iSession, STRING FieldName)

iSession:
sFieldName:
ACQERROR, CUSTOM1, CUSTOM2, CUSTOM3, CUSTOM4, CUSTOM5, CUS-

TOM6, CUSTOM7, CUSTOM8, DATEEXT, ERRDESC, ERRPAGE, EQUIP-
MENT, FORMAT, GROUP, LEVEL, LOCALTIMEDATE, LOGSTATE,
NATIVE_DESC, NATIVE_NAME, OFFTIMEDATE, ONTIMEDATE,
PRIV, QUALITY, RECEIPTLOCALTIMEDATE, RECEIPTIME, RECEIPT-
DATE, SUMTYPE, TAGEX, TIMEDATE, TYPE, TYPENUM.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmBrowseAck, AlmBrowseDisable, AlmBrowseEnable, AlmTagsClose, AlmBrowseFirst,

AlmBrowseNext, AlmBrowseNumRecords, AlmBrowseOpen, AlmBrowsePrev
Example

INT errorCode = 0;
...
fieldValue = AlmBrowseGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
// Successful case
255
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseNext
The AlmBrowseNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If you
call this function after you have reached the end of the records, error 412 is returned (Dat-
abrowse session EOF).
is complete.
Syntax
INT AlmBrowseNext(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
0 (zero) if the browse has successfully been moved to the next record, otherwise an error
code is returned.
Related Functions

BrowseFirst, AlmBrowseGetField, AlmBrowseNumRecords, AlmBrowseOpen, Alm-
BrowsePrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseNumRecords
The AlmBrowseNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the filter
criteria.
Syntax
LONG AlmBrowseNumRecords(LONG iSession)

iSession:
256
Return Value
browse session.
Related Functions

BrowseFirst, AlmBrowseGetField, AlmBrowseNext, AlmBrowseOpen, AlmBrowsePrev
Example
INT numRecords = 0;
...
numRecords = AlmBrowseNumRecords(iSession);
// Have records
ELSE
// No records
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowseOpen
The AlmBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to
the new session that can be used in subsequent data browse function calls. Use this func-
tion to browse all configured alarms.
is complete.
Note: After calling AlmBrowseOpen() it is necessary to call AlmBrowseFirst() in order to place the cursor at
the beginning of the browse session, otherwise a hardware alarm is invoked.
Syntax
LONG AlmBrowseOpen( STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters] )

Filter:
257
tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "Tag=AAA". Multiple filters separated by
semicolons are supported.
Note: When using Date/Time fields specify in the number of seconds since 1970. E.g
LOCALTIMEDATE>=1348723732.
See Implementing alarm filters using Cicode for information about filter syntax
Fields:
ACKDATE, ACKDATEEXT, ACKTIME, ACQERROR, ALARMTYPE, ALM-

COMMENT, AREA, CATEGORY, CLUSTER, COMMENT, CUSTOM1,
CUSTOM2, CUSTOM3, CUSTOM4, CUSTOM5, CUSTOM6, CUSTOM7,
CUSTOM8, DATE, DATEEXT, DEADBAND, DELTATIME, DESC, DEVI-
ATION, ERRDESC, ERRPAGE, EQUIPMENT, FORMAT, GROUP, HELP,
HIGH, HIGHHIGH, LEVEL, LOCALTIMEDATE, LOGSTATE, LOW,
LOWLOW, MILLISEC, NAME, NATIVE_COMMENT, NATIVE_DESC,
NATIVE_NAME, NATIVE_SUMDESC, OFFDATE, OFFDATEEXT, OFF-
MILLI, OFFTIME, OFFTIMEDATE, OLD_DESC, ONDATE, ONDATEEXT,
ONMILLI, ONTIME, ONTIMEDATE, PAGING, PAGINGGROUP, PRIOR-
ITY, PRIV, QUALITY, RATE, RECEIPTLOCALTIMEDATE, RECEIPTIME,
RECEIPTDATE, STATE, STATE_DESC, STATE_DESC0, STATE_DESC1,
STATE_DESC2, STATE_DESC3, STATE_DESC4, STATE_DESC5, STATE_
DESC6, STATE_DESC7, SUMDESC, SUMSTATE, SUMTYPE, TAG,
TAGEX, TIME, TIMEDATE, TYPE, TYPENUM, USERNAME, VALUE.
Clusters:
Return Value
The returned entries will be ordered alphabetically by name.
Related Functions
258

BrowsePrev
Example
INT iSession;
...
iSession = AlmBrowseOpen("NAME=ABC*", "NAME,TYPE",
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmBrowsePrev
The AlmBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you call
this function after you have reached the beginning of the records, error 412 is returned
Syntax
INT AlmBrowsePrev(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

BrowseOpen
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryAck
259
The AlmSummaryAck function acknowledges the alarm in the active alarm list which is
linked to the current entry of the alarm summary browse session.
If the current alarm summary browse session entry is a user event the function will have
no effect.
Syntax
INT AlmSummaryAck(INT Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a AlmSummaryOpen call.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmSummaryClear, AlmSummaryClose, AlmSummaryDelete, AlmSummaryDeleteAll,

AlmSummaryDisable, AlmSummaryEnable, AlmSummaryFirst, AlmSummaryGetField,
AlmSummaryLast, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryOpen, AlmSummaryPrev, Alm-
SummaryNumRecords
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryClear
The AlmSummaryClear function clears the alarm at the current cursor position in an
Syntax
INT AlmSummaryClear(INT Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
260
AlmSummaryAck, AlmSummaryClose, AlmSummaryDelete, AlmSummaryDeleteAll,

SummaryNumRecords
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryClose
The AlmSummaryClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans
up all resources associated with the session.
Syntax
AlmSummaryClose(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmSummaryAck, AlmSummaryClear, AlmSummaryDelete, AlmSummaryDeleteAll,

SummaryNumRecords
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryDelete
The AlmSummaryDelete function deletes the record in the filtered list that the cursor is
currently referencing.
is complete.
Syntax
AlmSummaryDelete(iSession)
iSession:
The handle to a filtered list previously returned by a AlmSummaryOpen call.
261
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmSummaryAck, AlmSummaryClear, AlmSummaryClose, AlmSummaryDeleteAll,

SummaryNumRecords
Example
INT errorCode = 0;
...
errorCode = AlmSummaryDelete(iSession);
IF errorCode = 0 THEN
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryDeleteAll
The AlmSummaryDeleteAll function deletes every record from the filtered list source.
is complete.
Syntax
AlmSummaryDeleteAll(iSession)
iSession:
The handle to a filtered list previously returned by a AlmSummaryOpen call.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the alarm filtered list session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
AlmSummaryAck, AlmSummaryClear, AlmSummaryClose, AlmSummaryDelete, Alm-

SummaryDisable, AlmSummaryEnable, AlmSummaryFirst, AlmSummaryGetField, Alm-
SummaryLast, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryOpen, AlmSummaryPrev,
AlmSummaryNumRecords
262
Example
INT errorCode = 0;
...
errorCode = AlmSummaryDeleteAll(iSession);
IF errorCode = 0 THEN
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryDisable
The AlmSummaryDisable function disables the alarm at the current cursor position in
Syntax
AlmSummaryDisable(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryDeleteAll, AlmSummaryEnable, AlmSummaryFirst, AlmSummaryGetField,
SummaryNumRecords
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryEnable
The AlmSummaryEnable function enables the alarm at the current cursor position in an
Syntax
263
INT AlmSummaryEnable(INT Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryDeleteAll, AlmSummaryDisable, AlmSummaryFirst, AlmSummaryGetField,
SummaryNumRecords
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryFirst
The AlmSummaryFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
is complete.
Syntax
AlmSummaryFirst(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryDeleteAll, AlmSummaryDisable, AlmSummaryEnable, AlmSummaryGetField,
SummaryNumRecords
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryGetField
264
The AlmSummaryGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the rec-
Syntax
AlmSummaryGetField(iSession, sFieldName)
iSession:
sFieldName:

MENT, FORMAT, FULLNAME, GROUP, LOCALTIMEDATE,
LOGSTATE, NATIVE_DESC, NATIVE_NAME, OFFTIMEDATE,
ONTIMEDATE, PRIV, QUALITY, SUMTYPE, TAGEX, TIMEDATE,
TYPE, TYPENUM.
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryDeleteAll, AlmSummaryDisable, AlmSummaryEnable, AlmSummaryFirst, Alm-
SummaryLast, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryOpen, AlmSummaryPrev,
Example

INT errorCode = 0;
...
fieldValue = AlmSummaryGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
265
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryLast
The AlmSummaryLast function places the data browse cursor at the most recent sum-
mary record from the last cluster of the available browsing cluster list.
is complete.
Syntax
AlmSummaryLast(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryGetField, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryOpen, AlmSummaryPrev,
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryNext
The AlmSummaryNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If
you call this function after you have reached the end of a summary, error 412 is
is complete.
Syntax
AlmSummaryNext(iSession)
iSession:
266
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryGetField, AlmSummaryLast, AlmSummaryOpen, AlmSummaryPrev,
See Also
Alarm Functions
The AlmSummaryNumRecords function retrieves the number of records in an alarm
summary browse session.
Syntax
LONG AlmSummaryNumRecords(LONG iSession)

iSession:
Return Value
browse session.
Related Functions

SummaryGetField, AlmSummaryLast, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryPrev
Example
INT numRecords = 0;
...
numRecords = AlmSummaryNumRecords(iSession);
// Have records
ELSE
267
// No records
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryOpen
The AlmSummaryOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to
is complete.
The AlarmSummaryOpen function allows direct, successful subsequent execution of
AlmSummaryNext and AlmSummaryPrev functions.
The AlmSummaryNext function executed directly after AlmSummaryOpen will place the
data browse cursor at the earliest summary record.
The AlmSummaryPrev function executed directly after AlmSummaryOpen will place the
cursor at the most recent summary record.
Syntax
INT AlmSummaryOpen(STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters] )

Filter:
tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "TAG=AAA".
Fields:

ATION, ERRDESC, ERRPAGE, EQUIPMENT, FORMAT, FULLNAME,
GROUP, HELP, HIGH, HIGHHIGH, LOCALTIMEDATE, LOGSTATE,
LOW, LOWLOW, MILLISEC, NAME, NATIVE_COMMENT, NATIVE_
DESC, NATIVE_NAME, NATIVE_SUMDESC, NODE, OFFDATE, OFF-
DATEEXT, OFFMILLI, OFFTIME, OFFTIMEDATE, OLD_DESC,
ONDATE, ONDATEEXT, ONMILLI, ONTIME, ONTIMEDATE, PAGING,
268
PAGINGGROUP, PRIORITY, PRIV, QUALITY, RATE, STATE, STATE_

DESC, STATE_DESC0, STATE_DESC1, STATE_DESC2, STATE_DESC3,
STATE_DESC4, STATE_DESC5, STATE_DESC6, STATE_DESC7, SUM-
DESC, SUMSTATE, SUMTYPE, TAG, TAGEX, TIME, TIMEDATE, TYPE,
TYPENUM, USERNAME, VALUE.
Clusters:
Return Value
Returns an integer handle to the browse session. Returns -1 on error.
Related Functions

SummaryGetField, AlmSummaryLast, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryPrev,
Example
INT iSession;
...
iSession = AlmSummaryOpen("NAME=ABC*", "NAME,TYPE",
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmSummaryPrev
The AlmSummaryPrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you
call this function after you have reached the beginning of a summary, error 412 is
is complete.
Syntax
269
INT AlmSummaryPrev(INT Session)

iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

SummaryGetField, AlmSummaryLast, AlmSummaryNext, AlmSummaryOpen,
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsAck
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseAck func-
tion instead.
The AlmTagsAck function acknowledges the alarm tag at the current cursor position in
Syntax
AlmTagsAck(iSession)
iSession:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a AlmTagsOpen call.
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmTagsClear, AlmTagsDisable, AlmTagsEnable, AlmTagsClose, AlmTagsFirst, Alm-

TagsGetField, AlmTagsNext, AlmTagsNumRecords, AlmTagsOpen, AlmTagsPrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsClear
270
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use the AlmBrowseClear

function instead.
The AlmTagsClear function clears the alarm tag at the current cursor position in an
Syntax
AlmTagsClear(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmTagsAck, AlmTagsDisable, AlmTagsEnable, AlmTagsClose, AlmTagsFirst, Alm-

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsClose
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseClose func-
tion instead.
The AlmTagsClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans up all
Syntax
AlmTagsClose(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
271
AlmTagsAck, AlmTagsClear, AlmTagsDisable, AlmTagsEnable, AlmTagsFirst, Alm-

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsDisable
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseDisable
function instead.
The AlmTagsDisable function disables the alarm tag at the current cursor position in an
Syntax
AlmTagsDisable(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmTagsAck, AlmTagsClear, AlmTagsEnable, AlmTagsClose, AlmTagsFirst, Alm-

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsEnable
The AlmTagsEnable function enables the alarm tag at the current cursor position in an
Syntax
AlmTagsEnable(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
272
Related Functions
AlmTagsAck, AlmTagsClear, AlmTagsDisable, AlmTagsClose, AlmTagsFirst, Alm-

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsFirst
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseFirst func-
tion instead.
The AlmTagsFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
is complete.
Syntax
AlmTagsFirst(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
AlmTagsAck, AlmTagsClear, AlmTagsDisable, AlmTagsEnable, AlmTagsClose, Alm-

See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsGetField
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseGetField
function instead.
The AlmTagsGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the record
Syntax
AlmTagsGetField(iSession, sFieldName)
273
iSession:
sFieldName:

MENT, FORMAT, GROUP, LEVEL, LOCALTIMEDATE, LOGSTATE,
NATIVE_DESC, NATIVE_NAME, OFFTIMEDATE, ONTIMEDATE,
PRIV, QUALITY, RECEIPTLOCALTIMEDATE, RECEIPTIME, RECIEPT-
DATE, SUMTYPE, TAGEX, TIMEDATE, TYPE, TYPENUM.
Return Value
Related Functions

TagsFirst, AlmTagsNext, AlmTagsNumRecords, AlmTagsOpen, AlmTagsPrev
Example

INT errorCode = 0;
...
fieldValue = AlmTagsGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsNext
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseNext func-
tion instead.
274
The AlmTagsNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If you call
this function after you have reached the end of the records, error 412 is returned (Dat-
is complete.
Syntax
AlmTagsNext(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
0 (zero) if the browse has successfully been moved to the next record, otherwise an error
code is returned.
Related Functions

TagsFirst, AlmTagsGetField, AlmTagsNumRecords, AlmTagsOpen, AlmTagsPrev
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsNumRecords
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use Alm-
BrowseNumRecords function instead.
The AlmTagsNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the filter
criteria.
Syntax
AlmTagsNumRecords(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
browse session.
275
Related Functions

TagsFirst, AlmTagsGetField, AlmTagsNext, AlmTagsOpen, AlmTagsPrev
Example
INT numRecords = 0;
...
numRecords = AlmTagsNumRecords(iSession);
// Have records
ELSE
// No records
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
AlmTagsOpen
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowseOpen func-
tion instead.
The AlmTagsOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to the
new session that can be used in subsequent data browse function calls.
is complete.
Note: After calling AlmTagsOpen() it is necessary to call AlmTagsFirst() in order to place the cursor at the
beginning of the browse session, otherwise a hardware alarm is invoked.
Syntax
AlmTagsOpen( sFilter, sFields [, sClusters] )

sFilter:
tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "Tag=AAA".
sFields:
276

ATION, ERRDESC, ERRPAGE, EQUIPMENT, FORMAT, GROUP, HELP,
HIGH, HIGHHIGH, LEVEL, LOCALTIMEDATE, LOGSTATE, LOW,
LOWLOW, MILLISEC, NAME, NATIVE_COMMENT, NATIVE_DESC,
NATIVE_NAME, NATIVE_SUMDESC, OFFDATE, OFFDATEEXT, OFF-
MILLI, OFFTIME, OFFTIMEDATE, OLD_DESC, ONDATE, ONDATEEXT,
ONMILLI, ONTIME, ONTIMEDATE, PAGING, PAGINGGROUP, PRIOR-
ITY, PRIV, QUALITY, RATE, RECEIPTLOCALTIMEDATE, RECEIPTIME,
RECIEPTDATE, STATE, STATE_DESC, STATE_DESC0, STATE_DESC1,
STATE_DESC2, STATE_DESC3, STATE_DESC4, STATE_DESC5, STATE_
DESC6, STATE_DESC7, SUMDESC, SUMSTATE, SUMTYPE, TAG,
TAGEX, TIME, TIMEDATE, TYPE, TYPENUM, USERNAME, VALUE.
sClusters:
Return Value
Related Functions

TagsFirst, AlmTagsGetField, AlmTagsNext, AlmTagsNumRecords, AlmTagsPrev
Example
INT iSession;
...
iSession = AlmTagsOpen("NAME=ABC*", "NAME,TYPE",
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
Alarm Functions
277
AlmTagsPrev
This command is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA. Use AlmBrowsePrev func-
tion instead.
The AlmTagsPrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you call
Syntax
AlmTagsPrev(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions

TagsFirst, AlmTagsGetField, AlmTagsNext, AlmTagsNumRecords, AlmTagsOpen
See Also
Alarm Functions
HwAlarmQue
Returns the handle of the hardware alarm queue. The Alarms Server writes hardware
alarm information into this queue as each hardware alarm occurs. To read events from
this queue, use the QueRead() or QuePeek() functions. The data written into the queue is
the hardware alarm format, and is stored in the Str field.
To use this function, you need to enable the hardware alarm queue by specifying the
[Alarm]HwAlarmQueMax parameter. This parameter specifies the maximum length that
the queue can grow to. The [Alarm]HwAlarmFmt parameter defines the format of the
data placed into the string field. If HwAlarmFmt is not specified then the format defaults
to "Time: {Time,12} Date:{Date,11} Desc:{Desc,40}".
The following format fields are relevant to hardware alarms:
l {Tag,n}
l {TagEx,n}
l {Cluster,n}
l {Name,n}
278
l {State,n}
l {Time,n}
l {Date,n}
l {Desc,n}
l {ErrDesc,n}
l {ErrPage,n}
For a description of the fields see the "Alarm Display Fields" help page.
The number of buffers available for user queues is controlled by the [Code]Queue param-
eter. Each entry in any user queue consumes one buffer. When all buffers have been used
the Alarms Server will not be able to add new hardware alarms to the queue, and the
error message "Out Of Buffers Usr.Que" will be written to syslog.dat.
Note:When similar hardware alarms are triggered, for example “Tag not found”
alarms, the hardware alarm page and hardware alarm queue show the last invalid
entry. The previous entry of the same description is overwritten.
Syntax
HwAlarmQue()
Return Value
The handle of the hardware alarm queue, or -1 if the queue cannot be opened.
Related Functions
QueRead(), QuePeek()
Example
hQue = HwAlarmQue()
WHILE TRUE DO
QueRead(hQue, nAlarmType, sHwAlarmString, 1);
/* do what ever with the alarm information */
....
Sleep(0);
279
END
See Also
Alarm Functions
280
Chapter 19: Clipboard Functions
Following are functions relating to the Windows clipboard:
ClipCopy Copies a string to the Windows clipboard.
ClipPaste Pastes a string from the Windows clipboard.
ClipReadLn Reads a line of text from the Windows clipboard.
ClipSetMode Sets the format of data sent to the Windows clipboard.
ClipWriteLn Writes a line of text to the Windows clipboard.
See Also
Functions Reference
ClipCopy
Copies a string to the Windows clipboard. When the string is in the clipboard, you can
paste it to any Windows program.
Syntax
ClipCopy(sText)
sText:
The string to copy to the clipboard.
Return Value
Related Functions
ClipWriteLn
Example
ClipCopy("put this in clipboard");
See Also
Clipboard Functions
281
ClipPaste
Pastes a string from the Windows clipboard.
Syntax
ClipPaste()
Return Value
The contents of the clipboard (as a string). If the clipboard is empty, an empty string is
returned.
Related Functions
ClipReadLn
Example
/* Get string from clipboard into sText. */

sText = ClipPaste();
See Also
Clipboard Functions
ClipReadLn
Reads a single line of text from the Windows clipboard. With this function, you can read
a block of text from the clipboard - line by line. Call the function once to read each line of
text from the clipboard. When the end of the clipboard is reached, an empty string is
returned.
Syntax
ClipReadLn()
Return Value
One line of text from the clipboard (as a string). If the clipboard is empty, an empty
string is returned.
Related Functions
ClipPaste
Example
/* Get first line of text from clipboard. */

sText = ClipReadLn();
282
WHILE StrLength(sText) > 0 DO

! Do something with text
...
! Read next line of clipboard
sText = ClipReadLn();
END
See Also
Clipboard Functions
ClipSetMode
Sets the format of data sent to the Windows clipboard.
Syntax
ClipSetMode(nMode)
nMode:
The mode of the data:
1 - ASCII Text
2 - CSV (Comma separated values) format
You can select multiple modes by adding modes together.
Return Value
The value of the previous mode.
Related Functions
ClipCopy, ClipWriteLn
Example
/* Set the clipboard to CSV mode, write two values, and reset the
clipboard to the original mode. */
nOldMode = ClipSetMode(2);
ClipCopy("100,200");
ClipSetMode(nOldMode);
See Also
Clipboard Functions
ClipWriteLn
283
Writes a line of text to the Windows clipboard. With this function, you can write any
amount of text to the clipboard. Call this function once for each line of text. To terminate
the block of text, call this function and pass an empty string.
Syntax
ClipWriteLn(sText)
sText:
The line of text to write to the clipboard, or an empty string ("") to end the write operation.
Return Value
Related Functions
ClipCopy
Example
ClipWriteLn("first line of text");

ClipWriteLn("second line of text");
ClipWriteLn(""); ! End of write operation
See Also
Clipboard Functions
284
Chapter 20: Cluster Functions
Following are functions relating to clusters:
ClusterActivate Allows the user to activate an inactive cluster.
Clus- Allows the user to deactivate an active cluster.

terDeactivate
ClusterFirst Allows the user to retrieve the first configured cluster in the project.
ClusterGetName Deprecated in this version
ClusterIsActive Allows the user to determine if a cluster is active.
ClusterNext Allows the user to retrieve the next configured cluster in the project.
Clus- Allows the user to determine which servers are defined for a given
terServerTypes cluster.
ClusterStatus Allows the user to determine the connection status from the client to
a server on a cluster.
ClusterSetName Deprecated in this version
Clus- Allows the user to deactivate an active cluster at the same time as
terSwapActive activating a deactive cluster.
See Also
Functions Reference
ClusterActivate
This function allows the user to activate an inactive cluster. When a cluster is made
active, all data associated with that cluster is available to the client, and hardware
alarms will occur if no connections can be made to the servers in the cluster.
Syntax
ClusterActivate(ClusterName)
sClusterName:
285
The name of the cluster to activate enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
ClusterDeactivate, ClusterFirst, ClusterGetName, ClusterIsActive, ClusterNext, Clus-

terServerTypes, ClusterSetName, ClusterStatus, ClusterSwapActive, TaskCluster
See Also
Cluster Functions
"About cluster context" in the CitectSCADA User Guide
ClusterDeactivate
This function allows the user to deactivate an active cluster. When a cluster is made
inactive, no data associated with that cluster is available to the client, and hardware
alarms will not occur if no connections can be made to the servers in the cluster.
Syntax
ClusterDeactivate(ClusterName)
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster to deactivate enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
ClusterActivate, ClusterFirst, ClusterGetName, ClusterIsActive, ClusterNext, Clus-

See Also
Cluster Functions
ClusterFirst
This function allows the user to retrieve the first configured cluster in the project.
Syntax
ClusterFirst()
Return Value
286
The name of the first configured cluster.
Related Functions
ClusterActivate, ClusterDeactivate, ClusterGetName, ClusterIsActive, ClusterNext, Clus-

See Also
Cluster Functions
ClusterGetName
ClusterGetName is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA.
Syntax
ClusterGetName(sPrimary, sStandby, nMode)

sPrimary:
The variable containing the name of the cluster's primary server (that is that which was set as sPri-
mary using the ClusterSetName() function).
sStandby:
The variable containing the name of the cluster's standby server (that is that which was set as
sStandby using the ClusterSetName() function).
nMode:
The mode is for future expansion of the function - set to 0 (zero).
Return Value
The status of the get name.
Related Functions
ClusterActivate, ClusterDeactivate, ClusterFirst, ClusterIsActive, ClusterNext, Clus-

Example
// Return and display the server names.//

ClusterGetName(sPrimary, sStandby, 0);
Prompt("Name of Cluster" + sPrimary);
See Also
Cluster Functions
287
ClusterIsActive
This function allows the user to determine if a cluster is active.
Syntax
ClusterIsActive(ClusterName)
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster to query enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
TRUE if active, FALSE otherwise. If the cluster name was invalid, this function will
return FALSE and a hardware alarm will be generated.
Related Functions
ClusterActivate, ClusterDeactivate, ClusterFirst, ClusterGetName, ClusterNext, Clus-

See Also
Cluster Functions
ClusterNext
This function allows the user to retrieve the next configured cluster in the project.
Syntax
ClusterNext(ClusterName)
sClusterName:
Any configured cluster name enclosed in quotation marks "", this will usually be the name of the
previous cluster as returned from ClusterFirst, or a previous call to ClusterNext.
Return Value
The name of the next configured cluster or an empty string if there is no more clusters.
Related Functions
ClusterActivate, ClusterDeactivate, ClusterFirst, ClusterGetName, ClusterIsActive, Clus-

See Also
Cluster Functions
288
ClusterServerTypes
This function allows the user to determine which servers are defined for a given cluster.
Syntax
ClusterServerTypes(ClusterName)
sClusterName:
Return Value
Logical OR of the following server flags:

l 0001 - 1st bit set means an Alarm Server is configured
l 0010 - 2nd bit set means a Trend Server is configured
l 0100 - 3rd bit set means a Report Server is configured
l 1000 - 4th bit set means an IO Server is configured
For example, a return value of 14 indicates an IO Server, a Report Server, and a Trend
Server are configured.
Related Functions

terNext, ClusterSetName, ClusterStatus, ClusterSwapActive, TaskCluster
See Also
Cluster Functions
ClusterSetName
ClusterSetName is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA.
Syntax
ClusterSetName(sPrimary, sStandby, nMode)

sPrimary:
The name of the cluster's primary server (Reports Server, Alarms Server etc.), as defined using the
Computer Setup Wizard. When the ClusterSetName() function is used, CitectSCADA will attempt
to connect to this server.
sStandby:
289
The name of the cluster's standby server (Reports Server, Alarms Server etc.), as defined using the
Computer Setup Wizard. If the sPrimary server is unavailable when the ClusterSetName() function
is used, CitectSCADA will attempt to connect to this server.
If there is no standby server, enter an empty string for sStandby.
nMode:
The mode of the connection:
0 - If you select this mode, CitectSCADA will renew the last connection. If it
was connected to the sPrimary server, when this function was last used,
it will attempt to connect to it again. If it was last connected to the
sStandby server, it will attempt to connect to it again.
This mode is useful when a server is known to be unavailable, as it facilitates
faster cluster switching.
1 - CitectSCADA will attempt to connect to the sPrimary server first, each time
this function is used. If the sPrimary server is unavailable, CitectSCADA
will try the sStandby server.
Return Value
Related Functions

terNext, ClusterServerTypes, ClusterStatus, ClusterSwapActive, TaskCluster
Example
// Connect to Cluster A, with server CITECTA1 as primary server,

and CITECTA2 as standby.//
ClusterSetName("CITECTA1", "CITECTA2", 0);
// Display the menu page for Cluster A Project.//
PageDisplay("MenuA");
See Also
Cluster Functions
ClusterStatus
This function allows the user to determine the connection status from the client to a
server on a cluster.
Syntax
ClusterStatus(clusterName, serverType)
290
clusterName:
servernType:
The type of server (not a bit mask):

l 1 - Alarm Server
l 2 - Trend Server
l 4 - Report Server
l 8 - IO Server
Return Value
One of the following values:

l -1 - if the cluster does not contain a server of the given type.
l -2 - if the cluster does not exist"
l 0 - if the cluster contains the server but the cluster is inactive.
l 1 - if the cluster is active but the connection to the server is offline.
l 2 - if the cluster is active and the connection to the server is online.
Related Functions

terNext, ClusterServerTypes, ClusterSetName, ClusterSwapActive, TaskCluster
See Also
Cluster Functions
ClusterSwapActive
This function allows the user to deactivate an active cluster at the same time as acti-
vating an inactive cluster. The arguments may be passed in any order, but one cluster
needs to be active and the other needs to be inactive.
Syntax
ClusterSwapActive(clusterNameA, clusterNameB)
clusterNameA:
The name of the cluster to activate or deactivate enclosed in quotation marks "".
clusterNameB:
The name of the cluster to activate or deactivate enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
291
Related Functions

terNext, ClusterServerTypes, ClusterSetName, ClusterStatus, TaskCluster
See Also
Cluster Functions
292
Chapter 21: Color Functions
Following are functions relating to colors:
Citect- Converts a CitectSCADA color into a packed RGB color value

ColourToPackedRGB that can be used by an ActiveX object.
GetBlueValue Returns the Blue component of a packed RGB color.
GetGreenValue Returns the Green component of a packed RGB color.
GetRedValue Returns the Red component of a packed RGB color.
MakeCitectColour Creates a color from red, green and blue component parts.
PackedRGB Returns a packed RGB color based on specified red, green, and
blue values.
PackedRGB- Converts a packed RGB color into the nearest equivalent Citect-
ToCitectColour SCADA color.
See Also
Functions Reference
CitectColourToPackedRGB
Converts a CitectSCADA color value into a packed RGB color value that can be under-
stood by an ActiveX object.
Syntax
CitectColourToPackedRGB(nCitectColor)
nCitectColor:
The CitectSCADA color value to be converted into a packed RGB color. CitectSCADAcolors are
defined in the labels database, or calculated by the function MakeCitectColour
Return Value
The packed RGB color value - if successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
PackedRGBToCitectColour
293
See Also
Color Functions
GetBlueValue
Returns the Blue component of a packed RGB color.
Syntax
GetBlueValue(nPackedRGB)
nPackedRGB:
The packed RGB color.
Return Value
The red value (0-255) - if successful, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
GetRedValue, GetGreenValue
See Also
Color Functions
GetGreenValue
Returns the green component of a packed RGB color.
Syntax
GetGreenValue(nPackedRGB)
nPackedRGB:
Return Value
Related Functions
GetRedValue, GetBlueValue
See Also
Color Functions
GetRedValue
Returns the red component of a packed RGB color.
294
Syntax
GetRedValue(nPackedRGB)
nPackedRGB:
Return Value
Related Functions
GetGreenValue, GetBlueValue
See Also
Color Functions
MakeCitectColour
Creates a color from red, green and blue component parts.
Note: To define a transparent color, use the label TRANSPARENT.
Syntax
MakeCitectColour(nRed,nGreen,nBlue)
nRed:
The color value for red, from 0-255
nGreen:
The color value for green, from 0-255
nBlue:
The color value for blue, from 0-255
Return Value
An integer that is an encoded representation of the color created.
Examples
! creates the color red

MakeCitectColour(255,0,0)
! creates the color white
MakeCitectColour(255,255,255)
295
See Also
Color Functions
PackedRGB
Returns a packed RGB color based on specified red, green, and blue values.
Syntax
PackedRGB(nRed, nGreen, nBlue)

nRed:
The red component of the desired packed RGB color.
nGreen:
The green component of the desired packed RGB color.
nBlue:
The blue component of the desired packed RGB color.
Return Value
The packed RGB color value - if successful, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
See Also
Color Functions
PackedRGBToCitectColour
Converts a packed RGB color into a calculated CitectSCADA color value.
Syntax
PackedRGBToCitectColour(nPackedRGB)
nPackedRGB:
Return Value
The CitectSCADA color value if successful; otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
296
See Also
Color Functions
297
298
Chapter 22: Communication Functions
Following are functions relating to communications:
ComClose Closes a communication port.
ComOpen Opens a communication port for access.
ComRead Reads characters from a communication port.
ComReset Resets the communication port.
ComWrite Writes characters to a communication port.
SerialKey Redirects serial characters from a port to the keyboard.
See Also
Functions Reference
ComClose
Closes a communication port. Any Cicode tasks that are waiting for a read or write oper-
ation to complete (or that are retrying to read or write) return with a range error. Citect-
SCADA automatically closes all communication ports at shutdown.
This function can only be called from an I/O Server.
Syntax
ComClose(hPort)
hPort:
The communication port handle, returned from the ComOpen() function. This handle identifies the
table where all data on the associated communication port is stored.
Return Value
0 if the port is successfully closed, or an error if the port is already closed or if the port
number is invalid.
Related Functions
ComOpen, ComRead, ComWrite
299
Example
See ComOpen
See Also
Communication Functions
ComOpen
Opens a communication port for access. The board and port need to both be defined in
the database (using the Boards and Ports forms from the Communication menu).
If you try to open the same COM port twice with ComOpen(), the second open will not
succeed and return -1. If this is passed without checking other Com functions, the COM
port may not do anything. For this reason, do not open COM ports twice, and always
check the return value from ComOpen().
The communication system should be used for low speed communications only. You
should not use the communication functions to communicate with high speed PLCs -
the performance may not be adequate. If you need high speed communication (for com-
municating with PLCs, etc.), you should write a protocol driver. Refer to the Citect-
SCADA "Driver Development Kit".
Syntax
ComOpen(sPort, nMode)
sPort:
The port name as specified in the Ports database.
nMode:
The mode of the open:
0 - Take control of the port from CitectSCADA. In this non-shared mode, you
have complete access to the port - CitectSCADA cannot use the port.
Communication will be restored when the port is closed.
1 - Share the port with CitectSCADA. In this mode, you can write to the port,
and CitectSCADA can also use it. Please be aware that ComRead will be
unreliable if the communication port is opened as shared.
Return Value
A communication port handle if the communication system is opened successfully,

otherwise -1 is returned. The handle identifies the table where all data on the associated
port is stored. You can use the handle in the other communication functions, to send
and receive characters from the port.
300
Related Functions
ComClose, ComRead, ComWrite
Example
INT
FUNCTION
StartSerial(STRING sPort)
INT hPort;
hPort = ComOpen(sPort, 0);
IF hPort < 0 THEN
Prompt("Cannot open port " + sPort);
RETURN -1;
END
TaskNew("SerialRead", hPort, 0);
TaskNew("SerialWrite", hPort, 0);
ComClose(hPort);
RETURN 0;
END
INT
FUNCTION
SerialWrite(INT hPort)
STRING buffer;
INT SerialWriteError;
INT length;
WHILE 1 DO
! put data into buffer and set length
.
.
SerialWriteError = ComWrite(hPort, buffer, length, 2);
IF SerialWriteError THEN
Prompt("Error Writing port");
ComReset(hPort);
END
END
RETURN 0;
END
INT
FUNCTION
SerialRead(INT hPort)
STRING buffer;
INT length;
INT total;
INT SerialReadError;
total = 0;
WHILE 1 DO
length = 128; ! need to set length as read modifies
SerialReadError = ComRead(hPort, buffer, length, 2);
IF SerialReadError THEN
Prompt("Error from port " + SerialReadError : ####);
ComReset(hPort);
ELSE
! get data from buffer, length is set to number read
.
301
.
END
END
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
ComRead
Reads characters from a communication port. The characters are read from the com-
munication port into a string buffer. If no characters have arrived after the specified time-
out, the function returns with a timeout error. If the timeout is 0, the function gets any
characters that have arrived from the last call, and returns immediately.
You use the iLength variable to specify the length of the buffer, or the maximum number
of characters to read when ComRead() is called. When ComRead() returns, iLength is set
to the actual number of characters read. Because iLength is modified by this function,
you need to reset it before each call.
You should not treat the string buffer as a normal string - it has no string terminator.
Use the StrGetChar() function to extract characters from the buffer.
It is strongly recommended not to call ComRead() while another ComRead() is still pend-
ing on the same port, because it can produce unexpected results.
Do not call ComRead() if another instance of ComRead() is still pending on the same port.
ment damage.
is complete. This function can only be called from an I/O Server.
Syntax
ComRead(hPort, sBuffer, iLength, iTimeOut)

hPort:
table where the data on the associated communication port is stored.
sBuffer:
302
The buffer into which to put the characters. The actual number of characters read is returned in
iLength.
iLength:
The number of characters to read into the buffer. The maximum length you may read in one call is
128 characters. When the function returns, this variable is set to the actual number of characters
read.
iTimeOut:
The timeout for the read to complete:

l If iTimeOut = 0 (zero), the function checks for characters in the buffer and
returns.
l If iTimeOut > 0, the function returns after this number of seconds - if no char-
acters have been received.
l If iTimeOut < 0, the function waits forever for characters.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the read is successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
ComOpen, ComClose, ComWrite, StrGetChar
Example
See ComOpen
See Also
ComReset
Resets the communication port. This function can only be called from an I/O Server.
Syntax
ComReset(hPort)
hPort:
Return Value
0 (zero) if the write is successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
303
ComOpen, ComClose, ComRead, StrGetChar
Example
See ComOpen
See Also
ComWrite
Writes characters to a communication port. The characters are written from the string
buffer to the port. If the characters have not been transmitted after the specified timeout,
the function returns with a timeout error. If the timeout is 0, the function returns imme-
diately and the characters are transmitted in the background.
ComWrite() does not treat the buffer as a true string, but rather as an array of characters
of the length specified - you can send any character to the communication port. Use the
StrSetChar() function to build the buffer. Do not call ComWrite() while another ComWrite
() is still pending on the same port, because it can produce unexpected results.
You use the iLength variable to specify the length of the buffer, or the maximum number
of characters to write when ComWrite() is called. When ComWrite() returns, iLength is
reset to zero.
is complete.
Syntax
ComWrite(hPort, sBuffer, iLength, iTimeOut)

hPort:
sBuffer:
The buffer from which to write the characters.
iLength:
The number of characters to write from the buffer. The maximum number of characters you can
write is 128.
iTimeOut:
The timeout for the write to complete.
304
l If iTimeOut = 0 (zero), the characters are copied to the communication buffer

and the function returns immediately - the characters are transmitted in the
background.
l If iTimeOut > 0, the function returns after this number of seconds - if the
characters cannot be transmitted.
l If iTimeOut < 0, the function waits forever to transmit the characters.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the write is successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
ComOpen, ComClose, ComRead, StrGetChar
Example
See ComOpen
See Also
SerialKey
Redirects all serial characters from a port to the keyboard. If using a keyboard attached
to a serial port, you should call this function at startup, so that CitectSCADA copies all
characters (read from the port) to the keyboard. The Port needs to be defined in the Ports
database.
If the port is not on an I/O server, you need to create a dummy I/O server record (for
example, name the server DServer1). Complete the Boards and Ports records. Set the fol-
lowing parameters in the CITECT.INI file:
[IOServer]Name to the server name (for example, DServer1)

[IOServer]Server to 0
This method enables the port without making the computer an I/O server. (If the I/O
server is enabled (and not required as an I/O server), extra overhead and memory are
used.)
This function can only be called from an I/O server.
Syntax
SerialKey(sPort)
sPort:
The name of the port connected to the serial keyboard.
Return Value
305
Related Functions
ComOpen
Example
SerialKey("Port1"); ! enable the serial keyboard
See Also
306
Chapter 23: DDE Functions
Following are functions relating to Dynamic Data Exchange:
DDEExec Executes a command in an external DDE compliant Windows appli-

cation.
DDEPost Makes a CitectSCADA variable available for DDE linking by other DDE
compliant Windows applications.
DDERead Reads a variable from a DDE compliant Windows application.
DDEWrite Writes a variable to a DDE compliant Windows application.
DDEhExecute Executes a command in an external DDE compliant Windows appli-

cation.
DDEhGet- Gets the latest Windows DDE error code.

LastError
DDEhInitiate Starts a DDE conversation with an external DDE compliant Windows

application.
DDEhPoke Writes data to a DDE compliant Windows application.
DDEhReadLn Reads a line of text from a DDE Conversion.
DDEhRequest Requests data from a DDE compliant Windows application.
DDEhSetMode Set the mode of a DDE conversation.
DDEhTer- Closes a DDE conversation with a Windows application.

minate
DDEhWriteLn Writes a line of text to the DDE conversation.
See Also
Functions Reference
DDEExec
307
Executes a command in an external Windows application running on the same com-

puter. With this function, you can control other applications that support DDE. Refer to
the documentation provided with the external Windows application to determine if DDE
is supported and what functions can be called.
You cannot use DDEExec() to call macros on a remote computer or to call Access SQLs.
For these calls, Network DDE needs to pass the sDocument argument, so you need to use
the DDEh... functions, passing sDocument in the DDEhInitiate() function.
Syntax
DDEExec(sApplication, sCommand)
sApplication:
Application name (.EXE filename), for example, "WinWord".
sCommand:
The command that the application will execute.
Return Value
1 (one) if successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
DDEPost, DDERead, DDEWrite, DDEhExecute
Example
/* Instruct the Excel application to recalculate its spreadsheet

immediately. */
DDEExec("Excel","[Calculate.Now()]");
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhExecute
Executes a command in an external Windows application. You need to first start a con-
versation with the DDEhInitiate function, and use the handle returned by that function
to identify the conversation.
With this function, you can control other applications that support DDE. Refer to the doc-
umentation provided with your other Windows application to determine if DDE is sup-
ported and what functions can be called.
This function is a blocking function. It will block the calling Cicode task until the oper-
ation is complete.
308
Syntax
DDEhExecute(Handle, sCommand)
Handle:
The integer handle that identifies the DDE conversation, returned from the DDEhInitiate function.
sCommand:
The command that the application will execute.
Return Value
Related Functions
DDEhInitiate, DDEhRequest, DDEhPoke, DDEhTerminate, DDEhGetLastError
Example
See DDEhInitiate
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhGetLastError
Gets the latest error code issued from Windows for the conversation identified by the
handle.
Syntax
DDEhGetLastError(Handle)
Handle:
Return Value
The error code last issued from Windows DDEML (for that conversation):
DMLERR_ADVACKTIMEOUT 0x4000
DMLERR_BUSY 0x4001
DMLERR_DATAACKTIMEOUT 0x4002
309
DMLERR_DLL_NOT_INITIALIZED 0x4003
DMLERR_DLL_USAGE 0x4004
DMLERR_EXECACKTIMEOUT 0x4005
DMLERR_INVALIDPARAMETER 0x4006
DMLERR_LOW_MEMORY 0x4007
DMLERR_MEMORY_ERROR 0x4008
DMLERR_NOTPROCESSED 0x4009
DMLERR_NO_CONV_ESTABLISHED 0x400a
DMLERR_POKEACKTIMEOUT 0x400b
DMLERR_POSTMSG_FAILED 0x400c
DMLERR_REENTRANCY 0x400d
DMLERR_SERVER_DIED 0x400e
DMLERR_SYS_ERROR 0x400f
DMLERR_UNADVACKTIMEOUT 0x4010
DMLERR_UNFOUND_QUEUE_ID 0x4011
Related Functions
DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhRequest, DDEhPoke, DDEhTerminate
Example
See DDEhInitiate
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhInitiate
Starts a conversation with an external Windows application. When the data exchange is
complete, you should terminate the conversation to free system resources.
Syntax
310
DDEhInitiate(sApplication, sDocument)
sApplication:
The application name (.EXE filename), for example, "WinWord".
sDocument:
The document, topic, or file name.
Return Value
An integer handle for the conversation between CitectSCADA and the other application,
or -1 if the conversation is not started successfully. The handle is used by the other
DDEh... functions, to identify the conversation.
Related Functions
DDEhExecute, DDEhRequest, DDEhPoke, DDEhTerminate, DDEhGetLastError
Example
! Read from Excel spreadsheet

STRING FUNCTION GetExcelData();
INT hChannel;
STRING sData;
hChannel = DDEhInitiate("EXCEL", "DATA.XLS");
IF hChannel > -1 THEN
sData = DDEhRequest(hChannel, "R1C1");
DDEhTerminate(hChannel);
hChannel = -1;
END;
RETURN sData;
END
! Write to Excel spreadsheet
FUNCTION SetExcelData(STRING sData);
INT hChannel;
DDEhPoke(hChannel, "R1C1", sData);
hChannel = -1;
END;
END
! Execute Excel Macro
FUNCTION DoExcelMacro();
INT hChannel;
DDEhExecute(hChannel, "[RUN(^"TestMacro^")]");
hChannel = -1;
END;
END
311
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhPoke
Writes a value to an external Windows application, for example, an Excel spreadsheet.
The value is written once to the application. (To write the value dynamically, you need
to call this function at the rate at which the data needs to be updated.)
You need to first start a conversation with the DDEhInitiate function, and use the handle
returned by that function to identify the conversation.
ation is complete.
Syntax
DDEhPoke(Handle, sItem, sValue)

Handle:
sItem:
A unique name for the item; for example, the variable name, field name, or spreadsheet cell posi-
tion.
sValue:
The value of the item.
Return Value
Related Functions
DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhRequest, DDEhTerminate, DDEhGetLastError
Example
See DDEhInitiate
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhReadLn
312
Reads a line of text from a DDE Conversion, for example, from an Excel spreadsheet.
You need to first start a conversation with the DDEhInitiate function, and use the handle
returned by that function to identify the conversation. This function allows you to read a
large amount of data via DDE. Keep calling the function until an empty string is
returned to verify that all the data has been read.
ation is complete.
Syntax
DDEhReadLn(Handle, sTopic)
Handle:
sTopic:
A unique topic name for the item; for example, the variable name, field name, or spreadsheet cell
position.
Return Value
A line of data, or an empty string when all data has been read.
Related Functions
DDEhSetMode, DDEhWriteLn, DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhRequest, DDEhTer-

minate, DDEhGetLastError
Example
See DDEhWriteLn
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhRequest
Reads a value from an external Windows application, for example, from an Excel spread-
sheet. You need to first start a conversation with the DDEhInitiate function, and use the
handle returned by that function to identify the conversation.
ation is complete.
Syntax
DDEhRequest(Handle, sItem)
Handle:
313
sItem:
tion.
Return Value
A string of data, or an empty string if the function cannot read the value.
Related Functions
DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhPoke, DDEhTerminate, DDEhGetLastError
Example
See DDEhInitiate
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhSetMode
Set the mode of the DDE conversation. The default mode of a DDE conversation is to use
TEXT data format - a simple string of data. This function allows you to set the mode to
CSV (Comma Separated Values). Some Windows applications support this mode of data
as it helps them to separate the data. For example, when you send CSV format to Excel,
each value will be placed into a unique cell. If you use TEXT mode all the data will be
placed into the same cell.
Syntax
DDEhSetMode(Handle, sMode)
Handle:
sMode:
The mode of the DDE conversation:
1 - Text (default)
2 - CSV
Return Value
The error code.
Related Functions
314
DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhRequest, DDEhTerminate, DDEhGetLastError,

DDEhPoke, DDEhReadLn, DDEhWriteLn, DDEhSetMode
Example
See DDEhWriteLn
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhTerminate
Closes the conversation identified by the handle, and frees the resources associated with
that conversation. After you call this function, the handle is no longer valid.
With Network DDE, you might need to terminate and re-initiate a conversation. For
example, if you delete rows on an MS Access sheet, the deleted rows display as #DELE-
TED until you terminate and re-initiate the conversation.
Syntax
DDEhTerminate(Handle)
Handle:
Return Value
Related Functions
DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhPoke, DDEhRequest, DDEhGetLastError
Example
See DDEhInitiate
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEhWriteLn
Writes a line of text to the DDE conversation. With this function, you can write any
amount of text to the DDE conversation. Call this function once for each line of text. To
terminate the block of text, call this function and pass an empty string.
Syntax
DDEhWriteLn(Handle, sTopic, sData)
315
Handle:
sTopic:
A unique name for the topic the data will be written to; for example, the spreadsheet cell position.
The topic is only used when you complete the write by passing an empty string for data.
sData:
The line of data to write. To terminate the data and make CitectSCADA send the data, set the data
to an empty string.
Return Value
Related Functions
DDEhInitiate, DDEhExecute, DDEhRequest, DDEhTerminate, DDEhGetLastError,

DDEhPoke, DDEhReadLn, DDEhWriteLn, DDEhSetMode
Example
! Write to Excel spreadsheet

! write the numbers 1..8 into 8 unique cells in Excel.
FUNCTION WriteExcelData(STRING sData);
INT hChannel;
// set to CSV mode so EXCEL will put each value in a cell
DDEhSetMode(hChannel, 2);
DDEhWriteLn(hChannel, "", "1,2,3,4");
DDEhWriteLn(hChannel, "R1C1:R2C4", "5,6,7,8");
DDEhWriteLn(hChannel,"R1C1:R2C4","");
hChannel = -1;
END;
END
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEPost
Makes a CitectSCADA variable value available for DDE linking (that is posts a DDE link
so that it can be read by other DDE compliant applications running on the same com-
puter). This sets-up CitectSCADA to behave as a DDE Server for this DDE channel.
316
After a value is posted, other Windows applications running on the same computer can
read the value by using their own DDE Client functions. If the value of the posted var-
iable changes, any linked applications are informed of the new value.
To link to this value from any DDE Client applications running on the same computer,
they need to appropriately use the DDE Client syntax with:
l "Citect" as the <DDE Server application name>
l "Data" as the <DDE Topic name>
l The name used for the first parameter sItem in this DDEPost() function as the <DDE
data item name>.
Unlike the DDERead() and DDEWrite() Cicode functions which are static, the DDEPost()
function can be used to create a dynamic DDE link, providing the DDE Client appli-
cations appropriately set their side of the DDE channel to be automatically updated.
Syntax
DDEPost(sItem, sValue)
sItem:
tion.
sValue:
Return Value
The value that is posted, or 0 (zero) if the function does not succeed in posting the link.
Related Functions
DDEExec, DDERead, DDEWrite
Example
! In Citect Project Editor, create a variable tag named PV1

! In Cicode, post a link to the tag PV1 for external DDE
applications to connect with DDEPost("TAGONE",PV1);
/* To link to this posted tag from a cell in Excel, set the cell to
=Citect|Data!TAGONE. This will set the value of the Excel cell to
the value of tag PV1. */
/* To link to this posted tag from a field in Word, set the field
to{DDEAuto Citect Data TAGONE}. This will set the value of the
field link to the value of tag PV1. */
See Also
DDE Functions
317
DDERead
Reads values from an external DDE compliant Windows application running on the
same computer, (for example, from an Excel spreadsheet cell or a Word document).
This is a one-way static communication which is read once from the application per
call. To read the value dynamically, call this function at the rate at which the data is
required to be updated.
Use this function when you want precise control over exactly what you want from the
DDE exchange.
Syntax
DDERead(sApplication, sDocument, sItem [, Mode] )

sApplication:
sDocument:
sItem:
tion.
Mode:
A flag that tells the application whether or not to set up an advise loop:
0 - Do not set up advise loop.

1 - Set up advise loop (default).
Return Value
The value (from the external application) as a string, or an empty string if the function
cannot read the desired values.
Related Functions
DDEExec, DDEPost, DDEWrite
Example
/* Read the value from R1C1 (Row1,Column1) of an Excel spreadsheet

named "Sheet1". */
DDERead("Excel","Sheet1","R1C1");
/* Read the value from the Item1 bookmark of the Word document
named "Recipes.doc". */
DDERead("Winword","Recipes","Item1");
318
See Also
DDE Functions
DDEWrite
Writes a value to an external Windows application, for example, to an Excel spread-
sheet. The value is written once to the application. To write the value dynamically, you
need to call this function at the rate at which the data needs to be updated.
Use DDEWrite() to cause CitectSCADA runtime to initiate the DDE conversation with a
DDE compliant application running on the same computer.
Syntax
DDEWrite(sApplication, sDocument, sItem, sValue)

sApplication:
sDocument:
sItem:
tion.
sValue:
Return Value
The value that is sent to the other application, or an empty string if the function does not
successfully write the value.
Related Functions
DDEExec, DDEPost, DDERead
Example
/* Write the value of a CitectSCADA variable named

TAGONE to R1C1 (Row1,Column1) of an Excel spreadsheet named
"Sheet1". The value is in string format. */
DDEWrite("Excel","Sheet1","R1C1",TAGONE);
319
See Also
DDE Functions
320
Chapter 24: Device Functions
Following are functions relating to devices:
DevAppend Appends a blank record to the end of a device.
DevClose Closes a device.
DevControl Controls a dBASE or SQL device.
DevCurr Gets the current device number.
DevDelete Deletes the current record in a database device.
DevDisable Disables (and re-enables) a device from any access.
DevEOF Checks for the end of a file.
DevFind Finds a record in a device.
DevFirst Finds the first record in a device.
DevFlush Flushes buffered data to a device.
DevGetField Gets field data from the current record.
DevHistory Renames a device file and any subsequent history files.
DevInfo Gets device information.
DevModify Modifies the attributes of a device.
DevNext Gets the next record in a device.
DevOpen Opens a device for access.
DevOpenGrp Opens a group of devices.
DevPrev Gets the previous record in a device.
321
DevPrint Prints free-format data to a group of devices.
DevRead Reads characters from a device.
DevReadLn Reads a line of characters from a device.
DevRecNo Gets the current record number of a device.
DevSeek Moves to any record in a device.
DevSetField Sets new field data in the current record.
DevSize Gets the size of a device.
DevWrite Writes a string to a device.
DevWriteLn Writes a string with a newline character to a device.
DevZap Zaps a device.
Print Prints a string in a report.
PrintLn Prints a string with a newline character in a report.
PrintFont Changes the printing font on the current device.
See Also
Functions Reference
DevAppend
Appends a blank record to the end of a device. After the record is appended, you can use
the DevSetField() function to add data to fields in the record.
Note: For SQL devices data should be added to all requested fields in the row via the
Cicode function DevSetField() before DevAppend() is applied.
You need to first call the DevOpen() function to get the device handle (hDev).
Syntax
DevAppend(hDev)
hDev:
322
The device handle, returned from the DevOpen() function. The device handle identifies the table
where all data on the associated device is stored.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the record is successfully appended, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevSetField
Example
INT FUNCTION WriteAlarmCount( INT hDevice, STRING sAlarm, INT iCount, INT iTime )
DevAppend(hDevice);
DevSetField(hDevice, "ALARM", sAlarm);
DevSetField(hDevice, "TIME", IntToStr(iTime));
DevSetField(hDevice, "COUNT", IntToStr(iCount));
END
For SQL devices the above example will not work. Instead use the following example:
INT FUNCTION WriteAlarmCount( INT hSqlDevice, STRING sAlarm, INT iCount, INT iTime )
DevSetField(hSqlDevice, "ALARM", sAlarm);
DevSetField(hSqlDevice, "TIME", IntToStr(iTime));
DevSetField(hSqlDevice, "COUNT", IntToStr(iCount));
DevAppend(hSglDevice);
END
See Also
Device Functions
DevClose
Closes a device. Any data in the buffer is flushed to the device before it is closed. After a
device is closed, its device handle becomes invalid and cannot be used.
Syntax
DevClose(hDev, Mode)
hDev:
where data on the associated device is stored.
Mode:
The mode of the close:
323
0 - Close the device in user mode - the default mode if none is specified. A device
opened by Cicode function DevOpen() need to be closed in this mode.
1 - Close the device in remove logging mode - under this mode, the current device will
be rolled over to history files immediately. You should only use this mode in a report.
2 - Close the device in keep logging mode - under this mode, the current device will not
be rolled over to history files. This allows subsequent messages to be written to the same
file. This mode is used internally in a report written in rich text format (rtf).
Note:Do not call DevClose() to the current device in an rtf report. This may make the
output file unreadable.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen
Example
DevClose(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevControl
Controls a dBASE or SQL device. You can pack a dBASE device to physically remove
deleted records, or re-index a dBASE device to regenerate the keys. You can issue queries
to an SQL device, or get the error status of the last SQL query.
Syntax
DevControl(hDev, Type [, sData])

hDev:
nType:
The type of command:
0 - Re-index the device based on the key defined in the device record (dBASE
devices only).
324
1 - Pack the database file - all deleted records are removed (dBASE devices
only).
2 - Issue a direct SQL query to the device (SQL devices only).
3 - Get error status of the last SQL query (SQL devices only).
Note: ASCII files and printers are not supported.
sData:
The command data, that is the SQL query to be issued. Used only for Type 2 commands.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevZap
Example
! pack a dBASE file device

DevControl(hDev, 1, "");
See Also
Device Functions
DevCurr
Gets the current device handle. You can only call this function in a report, to get the
handle of the device where the report is logging. You can then use the other device func-
tions (for example, DevPrint()) to access that logging device. (To get the handle of a
device other than a logging device, you need to use the DevOpen() function.)
If the report is logging to a group of devices, this function will return the group handle.
However, not all device functions support group handles, for example, you cannot read
from a group of devices.
Syntax
DevCurr()
Return Value
The current device handle or group handle. If no device is configured, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevPrint
325
Example
! Get the report device number.

hDev=DevCurr();
See Also
Device Functions
DevDelete
Deletes the current record in a dBASE database device. The record is not physically
deleted, but is marked for deletion. You can physically delete the record by packing the
database with the DevControl() function.
Syntax
DevDelete(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
0 (zero) if the record is successfully deleted, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevClose, DevControl
Example
! Delete the current record.

DevDelete(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevDisable
Disables (and re-enables) a device from all access, and discards any data written to the
device. When a device is disabled, it cannot be opened, and data cannot be read from
the device. Use this function to disable logging to a database or printer.
The State argument is a toggle. A State of 1 disables the device(s), but you can then re-ena-
ble the device(s) by repeating the function with State = 0.
Syntax
326
DevDisable(sName, State)
sName:
The device name, or * (asterisk) for all devices.
State:
The disable state:
0 - Enable the device.

1 - Disable the device.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen
Example
! Disable the AlarmLog device.

DevDisable("AlarmLog",1);
:
DevDisable("AlarmLog",0); ! Re-enable the device.
See Also
Device Functions
DevEOF
Gets the status of the end of file (EOF) flag for a device. When you use the DevPrev(),
DevNext(), or DevSeek() function, the start or end of the device will eventually be
reached, and the EOF flag will be set. Use this function to test the EOF flag.
Syntax
DevEOF(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
1 if the EOF flag has been set, otherwise 0 (zero).
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevPrev, DevNext, DevSeek, DevReadLn
327
Example
hDev = DevOpen("Log", 0);

WHILE NOT DevEOF(hDev) DO
Prompt(DevGetField(hDev,"Tag"));
DevNext(hDev);
END
DevClose(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevFind
Searches a device for a record that contains specified data in a specified field. The search
starts at the current record and continues forward until the matched data is found or the
end of the database is reached. If the file has a keyed index, an indexed search is used.
Syntax
DevFind(hDev, sFind, sField)

hDev:
sFind:
The data to find in sField, as a string.
For SQL devices: The DevFind() function can distinguish between numbers, strings, and dates, so
you do not need to enclose the data in quote marks. Dates and times need to be in the correct for-
mat:
l Date: YYYY-MM-DD
l Time: HH:MM:SS
l DateTime: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.F...] (The fraction .F... is optional.)
sField:
The field name to match.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevSeek
Example
328
! Find the Ice cream recipe.

DevNotFount=DevFind(hDev,"Ice cream","Recipe");
IF DevNotFount=0 THEN
! Get the recipe values.
..
ELSE
Prompt("Ice cream not found");
END
See Also
Device Functions
DevFirst
Finds the first record in a device.
Syntax
DevFirst(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
The first indexed record (if the device is an indexed database), otherwise the first record
in the device.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevClose
Example
! Find the first record.

FirstRec = DevFirst(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevFlush
Flushes buffered data to the physical device. CitectSCADA normally optimizes the writ-
ing of data for maximum performance, so use this function only if it is really necessary.
Syntax
DevFlush(hDev)
329
hDev:
where data on the associated device is stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevClose
Example
! Flush device to disk.

DevFlush(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevGetField
Gets field data from the current record in a device.
Syntax
DevGetField(hDev, sField )
hDev:
sField:
The field name, as a string of up to 10 characters. (The dBASE file format limits all field names to a
maximum of 10 characters.)
Return Value
The field data (as a string). If the field is not found an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevSetField
Example
INT
FUNCTION
330
GetRecipe(STRING sName)
INT hDev;
hDev = DevOpen("Recipe", 0);
IF hDev >= 0 THEN
DevSeek(hDev, 1);
IF DevFind(hDev, sName, "NAME") = 0 THEN
PLC_FLOUR = DevGetField(hDev, "FLOUR");
PLC_WATER = DevGetField(hDev, "WATER");
PLC_SALT = DevGetField(hDev, "SALT");
PLC_MILK = DevGetField(hDev, "MILK");
ELSE
DspError("Cannot Find Recipe " + sName);
END
DevClose(hDev);
ELSE
DspError("Cannot open recipe database");
END
END
See Also
Device Functions
DevHistory
Renames a device file and any subsequent history files. The current device is closed and
renamed as the first history file. For example, the device file 'Templog.txt' is renamed as
'Templog.001'. If a history file 'Templog.001' already exists, it is renamed as 'Tem-
plog.002', and so on. The next time data is written to the device, a new device file is
created.
Note: If the device file has not been created (that is data has not been written to the
device), only existing history files are renamed. Use this function for direct control of
the device history process.
The DevHistory function does not support SQL devices.
Syntax
DevHistory(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
Related Functions
331
DevOpen, DevControl
Example
! Create history file

DevHistory(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevInfo
Gets information on a device.
Syntax
DevInfo(hDev, nType)
hDev:
nType:
Type of information:
-n: Name of field n (where n is any number up to the total number of fields). For example, if there
are 10 fields, -7 will return the name of field 7.
- (Total no. of fields + n): Length of field n (where n is any number up to the total number of
fields). For example, if there are 10 fields, -15 will return the length of field 5.
0: Device Name
1: Format
2: Header
3: File Name
4: Number of history files
5: Form length
6: Number of fields
7: Disable flag
8: Device type
9: Record size
10: Format number
332
11: Type of history schedule:

0: Event triggered
1: Daily
2: Weekly
3: Monthly
4: Yearly
12: The history period, in seconds, or week day, month or year, for example, if history is weekly
then this is the day of the week, that is 1 to 7
13: Synchronisation time of day of the history in seconds, for example, 36000 (that is, 10:00:00)
14: The time the next history file will be created in seconds
Return Value
The device information as a string if successful, otherwise an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
DevControl
Example
! Get the number of fields in a device.

NoFields=DevInfo(hDev,6);
FOR I=1 TO NoFields DO
! Get and display the name of each field.
sField=DevInfo(hDev,-I);
nLength=DevInfo(hDev,-I - NoFields);
Prompt("Field Name "+sField + "Length " + nLength:##);
END
See Also
Device Functions
DevModify
Modifies the attributes of a device. The device needs to be closed before you can modify
a device.
This function allows you to dynamically change the file name or other attributes of a
device at run time. You can use a single device to access many files. For example, you
can create a device called Temp with a file name of TEMP.DBF. Using this function you
could dynamically change the file name to access any dBASE file.
This function is useful in conjunction with the FormOpenFile() or FormSaveAsFile() func-
tions. (These functions allow the operator to select file names easily.)
333
When using this function, you should be careful that no other Cicode function is already
using the same device. Check the return value of this function before opening the device
or you will destroy the data in the device to which it is already attached. If the device is
already open, calling DevModify will return an error (and raise a hardware alarm to
notify user).
If DevModify returns error, it means it has not modified the device and the device
parameters will remain as they were before the call to DevModify.
Use a semaphore to help protect your Cicode.
Syntax
DevModify(sName, Format, Header, FileName, nType)

Name:
The name of the device.
Format:
A new format for the device or "*" to use the existing format.See Format Templates for more infor-
mation.
Header:
A new header for the device or "*" to use the existing header.
FileName:
A new file name for the device or "*" (asterisk) to use the existing filename.
nType:
A new device type.
Device Type Device
ASCII_DEV ASCII file
PRINTER_DEV Printer
dBASE_DEV dBASE file
SQL_DEV SQL database
or -1 to use the existing device type.
Return Value
334
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevClose, DevSetField, DevInfo, DevAppend, FormOpenFile
Example
! change the file name of MyDev

DevModify("MyDev", "*", "*", "c:\data\newfile.dbf", -1);
! change the fields and file name of MyDev
DevModify("MyDev", "{time}{date}{tags}", "*",
"C:\DATA\OLDFILE.DBF", -1);
! change the device to TXT file
DevModify("MyDev", "*", "*", "C:\DATA\OLDFILE.TXT", ASCII_DEV);
See Also
Device Functions
DevNext
Gets the next record in a device. If the end of the database is reached, the EOF flag is set
and an error code is returned.
Syntax
DevNext(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
0 if the next record is read, or an error if the end of the database is reached.
Related Functions
DevEOF, DevPrev
Example
Status=0;
I = 0;
WHILE Status = 0 DO
DspText(20 + I, 0, DevGetField(hDev,"Tag"));
I = I + 1;
Status = DevNext(hDev);
END
DevClose(hDev);
335
See Also
Device Functions
DevOpen
Opens a device and returns the device handle. The device needs to be defined in the
CitectSCADA database. If the device cannot be opened, and user error checking is not
enabled, the current Cicode task is halted.
You can use this function to return the handle of a device that is already open. The
DevOpen() function does not physically open another device - it returns the same device
handle as when the device was opened. The mode of the second open call is ignored. To
re-open an open device in a different mode, you need to first close the device and then
re-open it in the new mode.
When using an ODBC driver to connect to an SQL server or database, experience has
shown that connecting only once on startup and not closing the device yields the best
performance. ODBC connection is slow and if used on demand may affect your system's
performance. Also, some ODBC drivers may leak memory on each connection and may
cause errors after a number of re-connects.
Note: If you are opening a database device in indexed mode (nMode=2), an index file
will automatically be created by CitectSCADA if one does not already exist. If you
feel a device index has become corrupt, delete the existing index file and a new one
will be created the next time the DevOpen function is run.
Syntax
DevOpen(sName [, nMode] )
Name:
The name of the device.
nMode:
0 - Open the device in shared mode - the default mode when opening a device
if none is specified.
1 - Open the device in exclusive mode. In this mode only one user can have
the device open. The open will return an error if another user has the
device open in shared or exclusive mode.
336
2 - Open the device in indexed mode. In this mode the device will be accessed
in index order. This mode is only valid if the device is a database device
and has an index configured in the Header field at the Devices form.
Please be aware that specifying mode 2 when opening an ASCII device
is ignored internally.
4 - Open the device in 'SQL not select' mode. If opened in this mode, you need
to not attempt to read from an SQL device.
8 - Open the device in logging mode. In this mode the history files will be
created automatically.
16 - Open the device in read only mode. In this mode data can be viewed, but
not written. This mode is supported only by DBF and ASCII files - it is
ignored by printers and SQL/ODBC databases.
Return Value
The device handle. If the device cannot be opened, -1 is returned. The device handle iden-
tifies the table where all data on the associated device is stored.
Related Functions
DevClose, DevOpenGrp
Example
INT
FUNCTION
PrintRecipe(STRING sCategory)
STRING sRecipe;
INT hRecipe, hPrinter;
ErrSet(1); ! enable user error checking
hRecipe = DevOpen("Recipe", 0);
IF hRecipe = -1 THEN
DspError("Cannot open recipe");
RETURN FALSE;
END
hPrinter = DevOpen("Printer1", 0);
IF hPrinter = -1 THEN
DspError("Cannot open printer");
RETURN FALSE;
END
ErrSet(0); ! disable user error checking
WHILE NOT DevEof(hRecipe) DO
sRecipe = DevReadLn(hRecipe);
DevWriteLn(hPrinter, sRecipe);
END
DevClose(hRecipe);
DevClose(hPrinter);
RETURN TRUE;
END
337
See Also
Device Functions
DevOpenGrp
Opens a group of devices.
Syntax
DevOpenGrp(hGrp [, nMode] )
hGrp:
The handle to a database containing a group of devices.
nMode:
0 - Open the device in shared mode - the default mode when opening a device.
1 - Open the device in exclusive mode. In this mode only one user can have
the device open. The open will return an error if another user has the
device open in shared or exclusive mode.
2 - Open the device in indexed mode. In this mode the device will be accessed
in index order. This mode is only valid if the device is a database device
and has an index configured in the Header field at the Devices form.
Please be aware that specifying mode 2 when opening an ASCII device
is ignored internally.
4 - Open the device in 'SQL not select' mode. If opened in this mode, you need
to not attempt to read from an SQL device.
8 - Open the device in logging mode. In this mode the history files will be
created automatically.
16 - Open the device in read only mode. In this mode data can be viewed, but
not written. This mode is supported only by DBF and ASCII files - it is
ignored by printers and SQL/ODBC databases.
Return Value
Returns 0 if successful or -1 if the function is provided with a bad handle and cannot
open the group.
Related Functions
DevClose, DevOpen
DevPrev
338
Gets the previous record in a device. If the start of the database is reached, the EOF flag
is set and an error code is returned.
Syntax
DevPrev(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
0 if the record is read successfully, or an error code if the start of the database is reached.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevEOF, DevNext
Example
Status=0;
I = 0;
iError = DevSeek(hDev, DevSize(hDev)); ! seek to end
WHILE iError = 0 DO
DspText(20 + I, 0, DevGetField(hDev,"Tag"));
I = I + 1;
iError = DevPrev(hDev);
END
DevClose(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevPrint
Prints free-format data to groups of devices. Using this function, you can write data to
many devices at the same time. You would normally use this function in a report.
Syntax
DevPrint(hGrp, sData, NewLine)

hGrp:
The device handle, or the group handle for a group of devices.
sData:
The data to print to the group of devices.
339
NewLine:
The newline flag:
0 - Do not insert a newline character.

1 - Insert a newline character.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevWriteLn, DevCurr
Example
! Get the report device number or group number (for a group of

devices).
hGrp=DevCurr();
! Print PV123 to a group of devices.
DevPrint(hGrp,"PV123="+PV123:###,1);
See Also
Device Functions
DevRead
Reads characters from a device. If the device is record-based, the current field is read. If
the device is free-format, the specified number of characters is read. If the number of char-
acters specified is greater than the number of characters remaining in the device, only
the remaining characters are read.
The DevRead function does not support SQL devices. Use the DevGetField function for
these devices.
Syntax
DevRead(hDev, Length)
hDev:
Length:
The number of characters to read.
Return Value
The data (in string format). If the end of the device is found, an empty string is returned.
340
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevReadLn, DevFind
Example
! Read 20 characters from a device.

Str=DevRead(hDev,20);
See Also
Device Functions
DevReadLn
Reads data from the current record of a device until the end of the line, or end of the rec-
ord. If the device is record-based, the record number is incremented. The carriage return
and newline characters are not returned.
The DevReadLn function does not support SQL devices. Use the DevGetField function
for these devices.
Syntax
DevReadLn(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
The data (in string format). If the end of the device is found, an empty string is returned
and the EOF flag is set.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevRead, DevEOF, DevFind
Example
Str=DevReadLn(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevRecNo
341
Gets the current record number of a device. If the device is record-based, the record
number ranges from 1 to the maximum size of the file. If the device is free-format, the rec-
ord number ranges from 0 to the maximum byte size -1.
The DevRcNo function does not support SQL devices. For these devices -1 is returned.
Syntax
DevRecNo(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
The record number. If an error is detected while getting the record number, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevSeek
Example
! Get the current record number.

Rec=DevRecNo(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevSeek
Moves the device pointer to a specified position in the device. If the device is a database,
and it is opened in indexed mode, DevSeek will seek to the record number - not through
the index. To locate the first record in an indexed device, call the DevFirst() function.
Syntax
DevSeek(hDev, Offset)
hDev:
Offset:
The offset in the device. If the device is a database device, the offset is the record number. If the
device is a binary device, the offset is in bytes (from 0 to the maximum file size -1).
342
Note: If offset causes a seek past the end of the file, DevSeek returns no error, but sets
the EOF flag (that is, a subsequent DevEOF() call will return true). For SQL devices,
the function can use only either 0 or 1 offset (beginning of the table).
Return Value
0 (zero) if the seek was successful, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevEOF, DevRecNo, DevFirst
Example
hDev=DevOpen("Log", 0);
DevSeek(hDev,100);
DevGetField(hDev,"Tag");
! Gets the value of the "Tag" field at record 100.
See Also
Device Functions
DevSetField
Sets new field data in the current record in a device.
Syntax
DevSetField(hDev, sField , sData)

hDev:
sField:
The field name, as a string of up to 10 characters. (The dBASE file format limits all field names to a
maximum of 10 characters.)
sData:
New field data, in string format. CitectSCADA converts any other data type into a string before set-
ting the data.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the data is successfully set, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
343
DevOpen, DevAppend, DevGetField
Example
! Set the fields in the "Recipe" device.

hDev=DevOpen("Recipe", 0);
DevSeek(hDev, 1);
DevSetField(hDev,"Name", "WhiteBread");
DevSetField(hDev,"Flour", IntToStr(iFlour));
DevSetField(hDev,"Water", iWater:####);
DevSetField(hDev,"Salt", iSalt);
DevClose(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
DevSize
Gets the size of a physical device.
The DevSize function does not support SQL devices. For these devices -1 will be
returned.
Syntax
DevSize(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
If the device is a database device, the number of records is returned. If the device is a
binary device, the number of bytes in the file is returned. If an error is detected, -1 is
returned.
Related Functions
DevRecNo, DevSeek
Example
INT NoRec;
NoRec=DevSize(hDev);
! Seek to the last record.
DevSeek(hDev,NoRec);
See Also
Device Functions
344
DevWrite
Writes a string to a device. If the device is free-format, the data is written to the device as
specified. If the device is record-based, the data is written to the current field, and the
field pointer is moved to the next field.
Writing to a DBF device appends the data to the device.
Writing to a SQL device appends the data to the device only when all fields of the row
have been written.
Syntax
DevWrite(hDev, sData)
hDev:
sData:
The data to write, as a string.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevWriteLn
Example
! Write PV123 to the device.

DevWrite(hDev,"PV123="+PV123:###.#);
For SQL devices: The DevWrite() function can distinguish between numbers, strings, and
dates, so you do not need to enclose the data in quote marks. Dates and times need to be
in the correct format:
l Date: YYYY-MM-DD
l Time: HH:MM:SS
l DateTime: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.F...] (The fraction .F... is optional.)
See Also
Device Functions
DevWriteLn
345
Writes a string to a device. If the device is free-format, the data is written to the device,
followed by a newline character. If the device is record-based, a new record is appended
to the device and the data is written to this record. The record pointer is then moved to
the next record.
Syntax
DevWriteLn(hDev, sData)
hDev:
sData:
The data to write, as a string.
Return Value
Related Functions
DevOpen, DevWrite
Example
/* Write PV123 to the device followed by a newline character */

DevWriteLn(hDev,"PV123="+PV123:###.#);
See Also
Device Functions
DevZap
Zaps a device. If a database device is zapped, all records are deleted. If an ASCII file is
zapped, the file is truncated to 0 (zero) length. Use this function when you want to delete
all records in a database or file without deleting the actual file.
Syntax
DevZap(hDev)
hDev:
Return Value
346
Related Functions
DevDelete
Example
! Delete all records in the alarm log database.

hDev = DevOpen("AlarmLog", 0);
DevZap(hDev);
See Also
Device Functions
Print
Prints a string on the current device. You should call this function only in a report. The
output is sent to the device (or group of devices) defined in the Reports database (in the
output device field).
Note: To print a new line in an RTF report, use the "\par" special character. For
example, Print("String" + "\par").
Syntax
Print(String)
String:
The string (data) to print.
Return Value
Related Functions
PrintLn, DevCurr, DevPrint, DevWrite
Example
! Print "Testvar" and stay on the same line.

Print("Value of Testvar="+Testvar:##.#);
See Also
Device Functions
PrintFont
347
Changes the printing font on the current device. You should call this function only in a
report. It will change the font style for the device (or group of devices) defined in the
Reports database (output device field). It has effect only on reports being printed to a
PRINTER_DEV - it has no effect on other types of devices, such as ASCII_DEV and
dBASE_DEV.
Syntax
PrintFont(Font)
Font:
The CitectSCADA font (defined in the Fonts database).
Return Value
Related Functions
Print
Example
The following report file...
{! example.rpt }
-------------------------------------
AN example Report
-------------------------------------
{CICODE}
PrintFont("HeadingFont");
{END}
Plant Area 1
{CICODE}
PrintFont("ReportFont");
{END}
{Time(1) } {Date(2) }
PV_1 {PV_1:#####.##}
PV_2 {PV_2:#####.##}
----------End of Report---------------
...will print as...
-------------------------------------
AN example Report
-------------------------------------
Plant Area 1
04:41:56 19-10-93
PV_1 49.00
PV_2 65.00
----------End of Report---------------
348
See Also
Device Functions
PrintLn
Prints a string on the current device, followed by a newline character. You should call
this function only in a report. The output will be sent to the device or group of devices
defined in the Reports database (in the output device field).
Note: To print a new line in an RTF report, use the "\par" special character. For
example, PrintLn("String" + "\par").
Syntax
PrintLn(String)
String:
The string (data) to print.
Return Value
Related Functions
Print , DevCurr, DevPrint, DevWrite
Example
! Print "Testvar" followed by a new line.

PrintLn("Value of Testvar="+Testvar:##.#);
See Also
Device Functions
349
350
Chapter 25: Display Functions
Following are functions relating to the display of graphics pages and objects:
DspAn- Creates a new instance of an ActiveX object. If the object

CreateControlObject already exists for the given Animation Point Number, then
that object will be used (a new object is not created).
DspAnFree Frees (removes) an AN from the current page.
DspAnGetArea Gets the area configured for an object at a specific AN

(animation-point number).
DspAnGetMetadata Retrieves the field value of the specified metadata entry.
DspAnGetMetadataAt Retrieves metadata information at the specified index.
DspAnGetPos Gets the x and y coordinates of an AN (animation-point

number).
DspAnGetPrivilege Gets the privileges configured for an object at a specific AN

(animation-point number).
DspAnInfo Gets information on the state of the animation at an AN.
DspAnInRgn Checks if an AN is within a specified region.
DspAnMove Moves an AN.
DspAnMoveRel Moves an AN relative to its current position.
DspAnNew Creates an AN.
DspAnNewRel Creates an AN relative to another AN.
DspAnSetMetadata Non-blocking function, that sets the value of the specified

metadata entry.
DspAnSetMetadataAt Sets the value of a metadata entry.
DspBar Displays a bar graph at an AN.
351
DspBmp Displays a bitmap at a specified AN.
DspButton Displays a button at an AN and puts a key into the key com-
mand line (when the button is selected).
DspButtonFn Displays a button at an AN and calls a function when the but-

ton is selected.
DspChart Displays a chart at an AN.
DspCol DspCol is deprecated in this version.
DspDel Deletes the objects at an AN.
DspDelayRenderBegin Delays screen updating until DspDelayRenderEnd() is called.
DspDelayRenderEnd Ends the screen update delay set by DspDelayRenderBegin().
DspDirty Forces an update to an AN.
DspError Displays an error message at the prompt AN.
DspFile Defines the screen attributes for displaying a text file.
DspFileGetInfo Gets the attributes of a file to screen display.
DspFileGetName Gets the name of the file being displayed in the display "win-
dow".
DspFileScroll Scrolls a file (displayed in the display "window") by a number

of characters.
DspFileSetName Sets the name of the file to display in the display "window".
DspFont Creates a font.
DspFontHnd Gets a font handle.
DspFullScreen Enables or disables the fullscreen mode of the active window.
DspGetAnBottom Gets the bottom extent of the object at the specified AN.
DspGetAnCur Gets the current AN.
352
DspGetAnExtent Gets the extent of the object at a specified AN.
DspGetAnFirst Returns the first AN on the current page.
DspGetAnFromPoint Gets the AN of the object at a specified set of screen coor-

dinates.
DspGetAnHeight Gets the height of the object at a specified AN.
DspGetAnLeft Gets the left extent of the object at the specified AN.
DspGetAnNext Returns the AN following a specified AN.
DspGetAnRight Gets the right extent of the object at the specified AN.
DspGetAnTop Gets the top extent of the object at the specified AN.
DspGetAnWidth Gets the width of the object at a specified AN.
DspGetEnv Gets a page environment variable.
DspGetMouse Gets the mouse position.
DspGetMouseOver Determines if the mouse is within the boundaries of a given

AN.
DspGetNearestAn Gets the nearest AN.
DspGetParentAn Gets the parent animation number (if any), for the specified
AN.
DspGetSlider Gets the current position (value) of a slider at an AN.
DspGetTip Gets the tool tip text associated with an AN.
DspGrayButton Greys and disables a button.
DspInfo Gets object display information from an AN.
DspInfoDestroy Deletes an object information block created by DspInfoNew().
DspInfoField Gets stored and real-time data for a variable tag.
DspInfoNew Creates an object information block for an AN.
353
DspInfoValid Checks if an object information block is still valid.
DspIsButtonGray Gets the current status of a button.
DspKernel Displays the Kernel window.
DspMarkerMove Moves a trend or chart marker to a specified position.
DspMarkerNew Creates a new trend marker.
DspMCI Controls a multimedia device.
DspPlaySound Plays a waveform (sound).
DspPopUpConfigMenu Displays the contents of a menu node as a pop-up (context)

menu, and runs the command associated with the selected
menu item.
DspPopupMenu Creates a menu consisting of a number of menu items.
DspRichText Creates a Rich Text object at the animation point.
DspRichTextEdit Enables/disables editing of the contents of a rich text object.
DspRichTextEnable Enables/disables a rich text object.
DspRichTextGetInfo Returns size information about a rich text object.
DspRichTextLoad Loads a copy of a rich text file into a rich text object.
DspRichTextPgScroll Scrolls the contents of a rich text object by one page length.
DspRichTextPrint Prints the contents of a rich text object.
DspRichTextSave Saves the contents of a rich text object to a file.
DspRichTextScroll Scrolls the contents of a rich text object by a user defined

amount.
DspRubEnd Ends a rubber band selection.
DspRubMove Moves a rubber band selection to the new position.
DspRubSetClip Sets the clipping region for the rubber band display.
354
DspRubStart Starts a rubber band selection (used to rescale a trend with

the mouse).
DspSetSlider Sets the current position of a slider at the specified AN.
DspSetTip Sets tool tip text associated with an AN.
DspSetTooltipFont Sets the font for tool tip text.
DspStatus Sets the communication status error for a specified animation

number.
DspStr Displays a string at an AN.
DspSym Displays a symbol at an AN.
DspSymAnm Displays a series of animated symbols at an AN.
DspSymAnmEx Displays a series of animated symbols at an AN.
DspSymAtSize Displays a symbol at a scale and offset from an AN.
DspText Displays text at an AN.
DspTipMode Switches the display of tool tips on or off.
DspTrend Displays a trend at an AN.
DspTrendInfo Gets information on a trend definition.
See Also
Functions Reference
DspAnCreateControlObject
Creates a new instance of an ActiveX object. If the object already exists for the given
Animation Point Number, then that object will be used, that is a new object will not be
created, the existing object will merely be refreshed.
AN object created using this function remains in existence until the page is closed or the
associated Cicode Object is deleted.
Syntax
DspAnCreateControlObject(nAN, sClass, Width, Height [, sEventClass] )

nAN:
355
The animation-point number.
sClass:
If the class does not exist, the function will return an error.
For example:
l "{8E27C92B-1264-101C-8A2F-040224009C02}" - GUID
Width:
The width of the ActiveX object.
Height:
The height of the ActiveX object.
sEventClass:
The string you would like to use as the event class for the object.
Return Value
Related Functions
CreateObject, CreateControlObject
Example
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnFree
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and will be super-
seded in future releases.
Frees (removes) an AN from the current page. If an animation exists at the animation
number, it is deleted before the AN is freed. Use this function to free existing ANs or
ANs created with the DspAnNew() function. Please be aware that the ANs are only freed
in memory - the change is not persistent. The next time the page is opened it will dis-
play the AN.
Syntax
356
DspAnFree(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
Related Functions
DspAnNew
Example
/* Remove AN20 from the current page. */

DspAnFree(20);
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnGetArea
Gets the area configured for an object at a specific AN (animation-point number). The
area is returned as an integer.
Note: This function does not return the areas of keyboard commands associated with
the object.
Syntax
DspAnGetArea(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The area if successful, otherwise an error is returned. If the object is configured with
'Same area as page' checked, the area of the page will be returned. AN area of 0 (zero)
means no areas are configured for the object.
Related Functions
DspAnGetPrivilege
Example
357
/* Get the area configured for the object at AN60. /

DspAnGetArea(60);
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnGetMetadata
Retrieves the field value of the specified metadata entry.
Syntax
DspAnGetMetadata(nAN, sMetaName)
nAN:
An animation number that uniquely identifies an object. This object contains the list of metadata def-
initions that will be used to perform the association operations. When -2 is specified, it is equivalent
to using DspGetAnCur(). (See DspGetAnCur for usage and limitations.)
sMetaName:
The name of the metadata entry for which to search.
Note: Before calling this function, it may be worthwhile to call ErrSet(1) to disable
error checking as this function will generate a hardware error for any object that does
not have a metadata entry 'sMetaName', and the cicode task will stop executing.
Return Value
Value for the specified metadata. Returns empty string if a matching metadata entry is
not defined and error code if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
DspAnGetMetadataAt,DspAnSetMetadata, DspAnSetMetadataAt
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnGetMetadataAt
Retrieves metadata information at the specified index.
Syntax
DspAnGetMetadataAt(nAN,nIndex,sField)
nAn:
358
nIndex:
The index of the metadata in the animation point. The index is 0-based; i.e. the first metadata entry
has an index of 0, the next 1, and so on.
sField:
The name of the field from which to retrieve the information for the metadata. Supported fields are:
l Name
l Value
Return Value
The field value string. If there is an error, an empty string is returned. The error code can
be obtained by calling the IsError Cicode function.
Related Functions
DspAnGetMetadata,DspAnSetMetadata, DspAnSetMetadataAt
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnGetPos
Gets the x and y coordinates of an AN, in pixels, relative to the top-left corner of the win-
dow.
Syntax
DspAnGetPos(nAN, X, Y)
nAN:
X, Y:
The variables used to store the x and y pixel coordinates of the AN, returned from this function.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned. The X and Y variables are set to the
AN's position if successful, or to -1 if an error has been detected.
Related Functions
359
DspAnMove, DspAnInRgn, DspGetAnCur, DspGetMouse, DspGetNearestAn, Page-

TransformCoords
Example
/* Get the position of AN20 into X and Y. /

DspAnGetPos(20,X,Y);
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnGetPrivilege
Gets the privileges configured for an object at a specific AN (animation-point number).
The privilege is returned as an integer.
Note: This function does not return the privileges of keyboard commands associated
with the object.
Syntax
DspAnGetPrivilege(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The privilege if successful, otherwise an error is returned. A privilege of 0 (zero) means

no privileges are configured for the object.
Related Functions
DspAnGetArea
Example
/* Get the privileges of the object at AN45. /

DspAnGetPrivilege(45);
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnInfo
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and has been
360
superseded by future releases.
Gets information on an AN - the type or state of the animation that is currently dis-
played.
Syntax
DspAnInfo(nAN, nType)
nAN:
nType:
The type of information:
0 - The type of animation currently displayed at the AN. The following is returned:
0 - No animation is displayed.
1 - Color is displayed.
2 - A bar graph is displayed.
3 - Text is displayed.
4 - A symbol is displayed.
5 - AN animation symbol is displayed.
6 - A trend is displayed.
7 - A button is displayed.
8 - A slider is displayed.
9 - A plot is displayed.
1 - The state of the animation currently displayed. If color is displayed, the color is returned. If a
bar graph, trend, or symbol is displayed, the bar, trend, or symbol name is returned. If text is dis-
played, the font handle is returned.
2 - The value of the text or the name of a button at the given AN point is returned.
Return Value
The animation information, which depends on the type passed argument, as described
above, as a string.
Related Functions
DspGetAnCur
Example
361
IF DspAnInfo(25,0) = "1" THEN

/* If color on AN 25, then get the color */
col = DspAnInfo(25,1);
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnInRgn
Checks if an AN is within a region bounded by two ANs.
Syntax
pAnInRgn(nAN, One, Two)

nAN:
One, Two:
One - the AN at a corner of the region; two - the AN at the opposite corner of the region.
Return Value
1 if the AN is within the region, or 0 (zero) if it is not.
Example
DspGetMouse(X,Y);
DspAnMove(250,X,Y);
IF DspAnInRgn(250,20,30) THEN
Prompt("Mouse in region bounded by AN20 and AN30");
ELSE
Prompt("Mouse not in region");
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnMove
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and was super-
seded by future releases.
Moves an AN to a new position. Any animation at this AN is also moved.
Syntax
362
DspAnMove(nAN, X, Y)
nAN:
X:
The x pixel coordinates of the new position.
Y:
The y pixel coordinates of the new position.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspAnMoveRel
Example
DspAnMove(25,100,200);
! Moves AN25 to pixel location 100,200.
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnMoveRel
seded by future releases.
Moves an AN relative to its current position. Any animation at this AN is also moved.
Syntax
DspAnMoveRel(nAN, X, Y)
nAN:
X:
The number of pixels to move the AN in the x plane.
Y:
The number of pixels to move the AN in the y plane.
363
Return Value
Related Functions
DspAnMove
Example
DspAnMoveRel(25,10,20);
/* Moves AN25 by 10 pixels to the right and 20 pixels downward,
relative to its current position. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnNew
seded in later releases.
Creates an AN at the specified x and y coordinates.
Syntax
DspAnNew(X, Y)
X:
The x pixel coordinate where the new AN is created.
Y:
The y pixel coordinate where the new AN is created.
Return Value
If successful, the new AN is returned. If the AN cannot be created, -1 is returned. If an

AN already exists at this location, that AN is returned.
Related Functions
DspAnNewRel, DspAnFree
Example
AN=DspAnNew(100,200);
DspSym(AN,20);
364
/* Displays symbol 20 at pixel location 100,200 */
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnNewRel
Creates an AN at a distance of x,y pixels from a specified AN.
Syntax
DspAnNewRel(nAN, X, Y)
nAN:
The AN used as a reference for the new AN.
X:
The distance in the x plane (in pixels) from the reference AN to the new AN.
Y:
The distance in the y plane (in pixels) from the reference AN to the new AN.
Return Value
If successful, the new AN is returned. If the AN cannot be created, -1 is returned. If an

AN already exists at this location, that AN is returned.
Related Functions
DspAnNew, DspGetAnCur
Example
AN=DspAnNewRel(20,100,200);
/* Creates an AN at 100x and 200y pixels from AN20 */
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnSetMetadata
Non-blocking function, that sets the value of the specified metadata entry.
365
Note: Metadata items can only be set using Cicode if the name is configured in the
object properties -metadata tab and saved with the page.
Syntax
DspAnSetMetadata(nAn, sMetaName, sValue)

nAn:
sMetaName:
The name of metadata entry for which to search.
Note: Before calling this function, it may be worthwhile to call ErrSet(1) to disable
error checking as this function will generate a hardware error for any object that does
not have a metadata entry called 'sMetaName', and the cicode task will stop execut-
ing
sValue:
The value for the metadata to be set.
Return Value
0 if successful, error code if unsuccessful
Related Functions
DspAnSetMetadataAt,DspAnGetMetadata, DspAnGetMetadataAt
See Also
Display Functions
DspAnSetMetadataAt
Non-blocking function, that sets the value of a metadata entry.
Note: Metadata items can only be set using Cicode if the name is configured in the
object properties -metadata tab and saved with the page.
Syntax
DspAnSetMetadataAt(nAN, nIndex, sField, sFieldValue)

nAn:
366
nIndex:
The index of the metadata in the animation point.
sField:
The name of the field in which to set the information for the metadata. Supported fields are:
l Name
l Value
sFieldValue:
The value to set in the specified field of the metadata entry.
Note: Clusters should be configured either directly by specifying a full tag name such
as C1.TagA or indirectly via the function calls (such as WinNewAt(…)) or via the
page configuration parameter.
Return Value
0 if successful, error code if unsuccessful
Related Functions
DspAnSetMetadata, DspAnGetMetadata, DspAnGetMetadataAt

See Also
Display Functions
DspBar
Displays a bar graph (on a graphics page) at a specified AN. To scale a tag into the cor-
rect range, use the EngToGeneric() function.
Syntax
DspBar(nAN, Bar, Value)

nAN:
The AN where the bar graph will be displayed.
Bar:
367
The name of the bar graph to display in the format <[LibName.]BarName>. If you do not specify
the library name, a bar graph from the Global library displays (if it exists). To display a Version
1.xx bar graph, specify the bar definition (1 to 255). For example, if you specify bar 1, CitectSCADA
displays the bar graph Global.Bar001.
Value:
The value to display on the bar graph. The value needs to be from 0 to 32000 to give 0 to full-scale
range on the bar.
Return Value
Related Functions
EngToGeneric
Example
DspBar(25,"Bars.Loops",320);
/* Displays a value of 320 (that is 10%) on the loops bar (from the
bars library) at AN25. */
DspBar(25,3,320);
/* Displays a value of 320 (that is 10%) on bar definition 3
(CitectSCADA Version 1.xx) at AN25. */
DspBar(26,"Loops_Bar",EngToGeneric(Tag1,0,100));
/* Displays Tag1 on the loops_bar (from the global library) at
AN26. Tag1 has an engineering scale of 0 to 100. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspBmp
Displays a bitmap at a specified AN. This function allows you to display any bitmap file
at run time. (You can get a new bitmap file from operator input or from the plant, and
display it dynamically.)
Syntax
DspBmp(nAN, sFile, Mode)

nAN:
sFile:
368
The name of the bitmap (.BMP) file. The file needs to be in the user project path. (Does not support
1 bit, 24 bit or OS/2 bitmaps.)
Mode:
The mode of bitmap display:
0 - Erase the existing bitmap and display this bitmap.

1 - Do not erase the existing bitmap, just draw the new bitmap. (This mode pro-
vides smoother animation than Mode 0, but the bitmaps needs to be the
same size).
2 - Do not erase the existing bitmap, just draw the new bitmap. This mode is
similar to mode 1, but it displays the bitmap about 3 times faster. How-
ever, the bitmap should not contain any transparent color, or it will dis-
play as a random color. Use this mode for fast, smooth animation.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDel
Example
// Display the bitmap "MyImage.bmp" at AN 60

DspBMP(60, "MyImage.bmp", 0)
See Also
Display Functions
DspButton
Displays a button at a specified AN. When the button is selected, the key definition is
put into the key command line. The font, width, height, and down and repeat keys of the
button are optional. If you do not specify a width and height, the button adjusts to the
size of the button sName.
Syntax
DspButton(nAN, UpKey, Name [, hFont] [, Width] [, Height] [, DownKey] [, RepeatKey] [,

Style])
nAN:
369
UpKey:
The key generated when the command button is selected (when the mouse button is released after
being clicked down). This is the default operation for commands activated by a button.
Name:
The name to display on the button.
hFont:
The handle of the font used to display the button name. Use the DspFont() function to create a new
font and return the font handle. Use the DspFontHnd() function to return the font handle of an exist-
ing font. The Windows button font is used if the font is omitted or is not defined in the database.
Width:
The width of the button in pixels.
Height:
The height of the button in pixels.
DownKey:
The key generated when the mouse button is clicked down (over the command button). Normally
this parameter is not used, because most buttons are configured to activate a command when the
mouse button is released (returning to the `up' position).
RepeatKey:
The key generated repetitively, while the mouse button is being held down (over the command but-
ton).
Style:
A number indicating the visibility style of the button:

l 0 - NORMAL: The button appears as a standard button.
l 1 - BORDER_3D: The button is drawn with only the 3-D border (transparent
face).
l 2 - BORDER: The button is drawn with only a thin line border.
l 3 - TARGET: The button is totally transparent - this constitutes a screen tar-
get.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspButtonFn, KeySetSeq, DspFont, DspFontHnd
370
Example
/* Display a self-sizing button at AN20 using the default font.

The button is named "Help". When selected, the Key Code "KEY_F1"
is put into the key command line. */
DspButton(20,KEY_F1,"Help");
/* Display the same button at AN20, but in an existing font called
"BigFont". */
DspButton(20,KEY_F1,"Help",DspFontHnd("BigFont");
See Also
Display Functions
DspButtonFn
Displays a button at a specified AN. When the button is selected, a user function is
called. If the width and height are 0 (zero), then the button adjusts to the size of the but-
ton sName.
Syntax
DspButtonFn(nAN, UpFunction, Name [, hFont] [, Width] [, Height] [, DownFunction] [,

RepeatFunction] )
nAN:
UpFunction:
The user function called when the command button is selected (when the mouse button is released
after being clicked down). This is the default operation for commands activated by a button. This
callback function can have no arguments, so specify the function with no parentheses (). The call-
back function needs to return INT as its return data type. You cannot specify a CitectSCADA built-
in function for this argument.
Name:
The name to display on the button.
hFont:
The handle of the font used to display the button name. Use the DspFont() function to create a new
font and return the font handle. Use the DspFontHnd() function to return the font handle of an exist-
ing font. The Windows button font is used if the font is omitted or is not defined in the database.
Width:
371
The width of the button in pixels.
Height:
The height of the buton in pixels.
DownFunction:
The user function called when the mouse button is clicked down (over the command button). Nor-
mally this parameter is not used, because most buttons are configured to activate when the mouse
button is released (returning to the `up' position). The callback function needs to have no argu-
ments, so specify the function with no parentheses (). The callback function needs to return INT as
its return data type. You cannot specify a CitectSCADA built-in function for this argument.
RepeatFunction:
The user function called repetitively, while the mouse button is being held down (over the com-
mand button) The callback function needs to have no arguments, so specify the function with no
parentheses (). The callback function needs to return INT as its return data type. You cannot specify
a CitectSCADA built-in function for this argument.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspButton, DspFont, DspFontHnd
Example
DspButtonFn(20,MyFunc,"Help",0,50,10);
! Call this function when the button is selected.
INT
FUNCTION
MyFunc()
PageDisplay("Help");
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspChart
Displays a chart at an AN. Charts are trend lines with markers on them. Values are
plotted on the chart pens. You need to specify Value1, but Value2 to Value8 are optional.
If more values (than the configured pens) are specified, the additional values are
ignored. If fewer values (than the configured pens) are specified, the pens that have no
values are not displayed.
372
You should use this function only if you want to control the display of charts directly.
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and was superseded in later releases.
Syntax
DspChart(nAN, Chart, Value1 [, Value2 ... Value8] )

nAN:
The AN where the chart will be displayed.
Chart:
The chart to display.
Value1:
The value to display on Pen 1 of the chart.
Value2 ... 8:
The values to display on Pen 2...Pen 8 of the chart. These values are optional.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDel, DspTrend
Example
/* Using chart definition 5 at AN25, display a value of 10 on

Pen1, 20 on Pen2, 30 on Pen3 and 40 on Pen4 of the chart. */
DspChart(25,5,10,20,30,40);
/* Using chart definition 6 at AN26, display a value of 100 on Pen1
and 500 on Pen2 of the chart. */
DspChart(26,6,100,500);
See Also
Display Functions
DspCol
DspCol is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA.
Syntax
DspCol(nAN, Color)
373
nAN:
Color:
The color to display at the AN.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDel
Example
DspCol(25,RED);
/* Displays the color red at AN25. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspDel
Deletes all objects from a specified AN.
Syntax
DspDel(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDirty
Example
DspDel(25);
374
! Deletes all animation at AN25.
See Also
Display Functions
DspDelayRenderBegin
Delays screen updating until DspDelayRenderEnd is called. This function should be
used with DspDelayRenderEnd() to "sandwich" Cicode that will modify the appearance
of a page. The code should be preceded by DspDelayRenderBegin(), and followed by
DspDelayRenderEnd(). This will reduce screen update times, because the modifying code
is given time to execute before the page is updated with the changes, and the changes
are all made in a single re-draw.
Note: If you have not changed the [Page]DelayRenderAll parameter from its default
(TRUE), then you do not need to use this function.
You can call this function as many times in a row as you like, as long as each is ended
with a call to DspDelayRenderEnd.
Because your display will stop updating while the "sandwiched" code runs, you should
try to make that code as efficient as possible. Do not call Sleep() or any other Cicode func-
tions that will take a long time to run.
Do not call WinSelect within the "sandwiched" code. Do not call this function directly
from the Kernel.
Syntax
DspDelayRenderBegin()
Related Functions
DspDelayRenderEnd
Example
/* Begin delay so the following code can be executed before the

images are re-drawn. */
DspDelayRenderBegin();
DspBMP(50, "Image1.bmp", 0) ! Display the bitmap "Image1.bmp"
at AN 50
at AN 100
at AN 150
375
at AN 200
at AN 250
/* End delay so the images can be re-drawn. */
DspDelayRenderEnd();
See Also
Display Functions
DspDelayRenderEnd
Ends the screen update delay set by DspDelayRenderBegin. This function should be
used with DspDelayRenderBegin() to "sandwich" Cicode that will modify the appear-
ance of a page. The code should be preceded by DspDelayRenderBegin(), and followed
by DspDelayRenderEnd(). This will reduce screen update times, because the modifying
code is given time to execute before the page is updated with the changes, and the
changes are all made in a single re-draw.
Because your display will stop updating while the "sandwiched" code runs, you should
try to make that code as efficient as possible. Do not call Sleep() or any other Cicode func-
tions that will take a long time to run.
Do not call WinSelect within the "sandwiched" code. Do not call this function directly
from the Kernel.
Note: If you have not changed the [Page]DelayRenderAll parameter from its default
(TRUE), then you do not need to use this function.
Syntax
DspDelayRenderEnd()
Return Value
No value is returned.
Related Functions
DspDelayRenderBegin
Example
/* Begin delay so the following code can be executed before the

images are re-drawn. */
DspDelayRenderBegin();
at AN 50
376
at AN 100
at AN 150
at AN 200
at AN 250
/* End delay so the images can be re-drawn. */
DspDelayRenderEnd();
See Also
Display Functions
DspDirty
Forces CitectSCADA to update an AN. Normally, CitectSCADA updates the animation
on the AN only if the data has changed. This function tells CitectSCADA to update the
AN the next time it animates the AN - even if the data has not changed.
Use this function when you have complex animations that overlap. If two or more
animations overlap, you should use the DspDel() or DspDirty() function on their ANs,
and then display them in the same order (when they need to be updated).
Syntax
DspDirty(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDel
Example
DspDirty(20);
! Forces an update of AN20.
See Also
Display Functions
377
DspError
Displays an error message at the prompt AN on the operator's computer. You can dis-
able the error message display (of this function) by setting the Cicode execution mode in
the CodeSetMode() function.
Syntax
DspError(String)
String:
The message to be displayed.
Return Value
Related Functions
CodeSetMode, Prompt
Example
DspError("Error found");
! Displays "Error found" at the prompt AN.
See Also
Display Functions
DspFile
Defines the screen attributes for displaying a text file. This function defines a "window"
where the file will be displayed. You should call this function before any file-to-screen
function.
you need to define sequential ANs for each line of text in the display. The file is dis-
played starting at the specified AN, then the next (highest) AN, and so on. You should
not use proportionally-spaced fonts, because the columns of text might not be aligned.
You would normally call this function as the entry function for a graphics page. Use the
DspFileSetName() function to specify the file to be displayed. This function is a low level
animation function - it controls exactly how the file is to display. If you just want to dis-
play a file, use the PageFile() function.
Syntax
DspFile(nAN, hFont, Height, Width)

nAN:
378
The AN where the file display window will be positioned. When this is set to -2, the window will
be created in the Citect Kernel. However, the hFont argument is ignored.
hFont:
The handle for the font that is used to display the file, returned from the DspFont() or DspFontHnd
() function. The font handle identifies the table where data on the associated font is stored.
Height:
The maximum number of lines to display on one page of the file display window.
Width:
The width of the file display window, in characters.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageFile, DspFileGetInfo, DspFileGetName, DspFileScroll, DspFileSetName, DspFont,

DspFontHnd
Example
DspFile(20,0,20,80);
/* Defines the attributes of a screen display to start at AN20,
using the default font, with a window size of 20 lines x 80
columns. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspFileGetInfo
Gets the attributes of a file-to-screen display (used for displaying text files).
Syntax
DspFileGetInfo(nAN, Type)
nAN:
The AN where the file display window will be located. This AN needs to be the same as the AN
specified with the DspFile() function.
nType:
The type of data required:
0 - The width of the file display window, in characters.
379
1 - The maximum number of lines that can display in one page of the file dis-
play window.
2 - The file-to-screen row offset number.
3 - The file-to-screen column offset number.
4 - The number of lines in the displayed file.
Return Value
The attributes of the "window" as an integer. If an incorrect AN is specified, an error is

returned.
Related Functions
DspFile, DspFileGetName, DspFileScroll, DspFileSetName
Example
! Display the page number of the file display.

PageNumber=IntToStr(DspFileGetInfo(20,2)/DspFileGetInfo(20,1)+1);
DspText(12,0,"Page No "+PageNumber);
See Also
Display Functions
DspFileGetName
Gets the name of the file being displayed in the display "window". You can use this
function to display the file name on the screen.
Syntax
DspFileGetName(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The name of the file (as a string). If an incorrect AN is specified, an error is returned.
Related Functions
DspFile, DspFileGetInfo, DspFileScroll, DspFileSetName
Example
DspText(11,0,DspFileGetName(20));
! Displays the name of the file displayed at AN20.
380
See Also
Display Functions
DspFileScroll
Scrolls a file (displayed in the display "window") by a number of characters.
Syntax
DspFileScroll(nAN, Direction, Characters)

nAN:
Direction:
The direction in which to scroll:
1 - Left
2 - Right
3 - Up
4 - Down
Characters:
The number of characters to scroll. To page up or page down through the file, scroll by the height
of the file-to-screen window (returned by DspFileGetInfo(AN, 1)).
Return Value
Related Functions
DspFile, DspFileGetInfo, DspFileSetName, DspFileGetName
Example
Page Keyboard
Key Sequence PgUp
Command DspFileScroll(20,3,10)
Comment Scroll up 10 lines
381
See Also
Display Functions
DspFileSetName
Sets the name of the file to display in the display "window". You should call the DspFile
() function first (as the entry function for a graphics page) to define the attributes of the
display. You can then use the DspFileSetName() function (as a keyboard command) to
display a user-specified file. When you call this function, the specified file name is read
from disk and displayed on the screen.
Syntax
DspFileSetName(nAN, sName)
nAN:
sName:
The name of the file to display.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspFile, DspFileGetInfo, DspFileGetName, DspFileScroll
Example
Pages
Page Name FilePage
Entry Command DspFile(20,0,20,80)
Comment Defines a file to screen display to commence at AN20
Page Keyboard
Key Sequence ######## Enter
Command DspFileSetName(20, Arg1)
Comment Displays a specified file on the page
382
DspFile(20,0,20,80);
/* Defines the file-to-screen display to commence at AN20 using
the default font, with a window size of 20 lines x 80 columns. */
DspFileSetName(20,"C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT");
! Displays file C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT.
See Also
Display Functions
DspFont
Creates a font and returns a font handle. If the requested font already exists, its font han-
dle is returned. You can use this font handle in the functions that display text, buttons,
and text files.
If the exact font size does not exist, the closest font size is used.
Syntax
DspFont(FontType, PixelSize, ForeOnColor, BackOnColor [, ForeOffColor] [, BackOffColor] )

FontType:
The font type, for example, "Helv".
PixelSize:
The font size, as a positive number for pixels, or a negative number for points.
ForeOnColor:
The foreground color used for the text. If implementing flashing color, this is the initial color that
will be used. Select a color from the list of Predefined Color Names and Codes or create an RGB-
based color using the function MakeCitectColour.
BackOnColor:
The color used for the background of text. If implementing flashing color, this is the initial color
that will be used. Select a color from the list of Predefined Color Names and Codes or create an
RGB-based color using the function MakeCitectColour.
ForeOffColor:
An optional argument only required if implementing flashing color for the font foreground. It rep-
resents the secondary color used. Select a color from the list of Predefined Color Names and
Codes or create an RGB-based color using the function MakeCitectColour.
BackOffColor:
An optional argument only required if implementing flashing color for the font background. It rep-
resents the secondary color used. Select a color from the list of Predefined Color Names and
Codes or create an RGB-based color using the function MakeCitectColour.
383
Return Value
The font handle as an integer. If the font cannot be created, -1 is returned. The font han-
dle identifies the table where all data on the associated font is stored.
Related Functions
DspFontHnd, DspText, DspButton, DspButtonFn, DspFile
Example
Font = DspFont("Helv", -12, White, Red);

DspText(20, Font, "Text in Helv Font");
/* Displays "Text in Helv Font" in 12-point Helvetica font in
white on red at AN20. */
Font = DspFont("Helv", 24, White, Red, Black);
DspText(20, Font, "Text in Helv Font");
/* Displays "Text in Helv Font" in 24 pixel Helvetica font in
flashing black and white on red at AN20. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspFontHnd
Gets the font handle of a font that is defined in the Fonts database. You can use this font
handle in the functions that display text, buttons, and text files.
Syntax
DspFontHnd(sName)
Name:
The font name in the fonts database.
Return Value
The font handle as an integer. If the font cannot be found, -1 is returned. The font handle
identifies the table where the data on the associated font is stored.
Related Functions
DspFont, DspText, DspButton, DspButtonFn, DspFile
Example
Fonts
384
Font Name BigFont
Font Type Helv
Pixel Size 24
Foreground Color Blue
Background Color -1
Comment Defines a font
hBigFont=DspFontHnd("BigFont");
DspText(20,hBigFont,"Text in Big Font");
/* Displays "Text in Big Font" in 24-point Helvetica font in blue
on an unchanged background at AN20. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspFullScreen
Disables or enables the fullscreen mode of the currently active window. This function
does not resize the window when it is called; it merely sets the mode flag. The next time
the window is displayed, its size (on screen) changes to reflect the setting of the flag.
This function overrides the [Animator]FullScreen parameter setting.
If [Page]DynamicSizing is turned on, a page in fullscreen state takes up the entire dis-
play area (assuming this does not affect its aspect ratio), and it cannot be resized. Also, a
fullscreen page will display without a title bar unless Title Bar is checked in Page Prop-
erties (or was checked when the page was created). Resizing pages can result in lower
picture quality. If this is unacceptable, you should re-design the page using the desired
resolution.
If [Page]DynamicSizing is turned off, fullscreen will have the same limitations as it had
in versions of CitectSCADA prior to V5.10. In other words, for a page to be displayed in
fullscreen, the size of the page needs to be the same size as the display (or bigger). If the
page is smaller than the display, the title bar will still display even if fullscreen mode is
enabled. Check the size of the graphic pages in CtDraw Tools|Page Attributes Dialog to
verify that it is the same as the display resolution. For example 640x480 for VGA,
800x600 for SVGA and 1024x768 for XGA.
Syntax
DspFullScreen(Mode)
385
Mode:
Fullscreen mode:
0 - Disable fullscreen mode.

1 - Enable fullscreen mode without title bar
2 – Enable fullscreen mode with title bar.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinMode
Example
/*Minimize the Window, Enable fullscreen mode and then maximize

the window.*/
WinMode(6);
DspFullScreen(1);
WinMode(3);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnBottom
Gets the bottom extent of the object at the specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnBottom(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The y coordinate of the bottom extent of the object at the AN. If no object exists at the
AN, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnBottom, DspGetAnWidth, DspGetAnHeight, DspGetAnLeft, DspGetAnRight,

DspGetAnTop, DspGetAnNext, DspGetAnExtent
Example
386
nBottom = DspGetAnBottom(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnCur
Gets the AN of the current graphics object. This function should only be used by expres-
sions or Cicode functions called from the condition fields of a graphics object, excluding
input/command fields. If you need to know the AN that triggered the input/command,
the KeyGetCursor function may be used as it returns the AN where the cursor is cur-
rently positioned.
You cannot call this function from the Button or Keyboard forms.
Syntax
DspGetAnCur()
Return Value
The AN associated with the current graphics object. If this function is called outside the
page animation system or from an input/command field, -1 will be returned.
Example
Numbers
AN 20
Expression MyFunc(PV_10)
Comment Display the value of PV_10 at AN20
/* Function displays a number at the current AN and returns the

value supplied in the call */
INT
FUNCTION
MyFunc(INT value)
INT AN, hNew;
AN = DspGetAnCur();
hNew = DspAnNewRel(AN, 0, 20);
DspStr(hNew, "Default", VALUE:###.#);
RETURN value;
END
387
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnExtent
Gets the extent of the object (the enclosing boundary) at the specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnExtent(nAN, Top, Left, Bottom, Right)

nAN:
The AN at which the object is positioned.
Top:
A buffer that contains the top-most extent of the object.
Left:
A buffer that contains the left-most extent of the object.
Bottom:
A buffer that contains the bottom-most extent of the object.
Right:
A buffer that contains the right-most extent of the object.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned. The Top, Left, Bottom, and Right argu-
ments contain the extents of the object, in pixels.
Related Functions
DspGetAnWidth, DspGetAnHeight, DspGetAnLeft, DspGetAnRight, DspGetAnBottom,

DspGetAnTop, PageTransformCoords
Example
// Get extents at AN 25.

DspGetAnExtent(25, Top, Left, Bottom, Right);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnFirst
388
Gets the first AN on the current page, based on the order in which the ANs were stored
by Graphics Builder.
Syntax
DspGetAnFirst()
Return Value
The value for the first AN, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnNext
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnFromPoint
Gets the AN of the object at a specified set of screen coordinates. If the X and Y coor-
dinates given are within the extents of an object, then the AN number of the object will
be returned.
For example, if there is a button at coordinates (300, 140), and it is 100 wide, 50 high,
this function would return the AN if it uses X between 300 & 400 and Y between 140
and 190, such as DspGetAnFromPoint(325,180).
Hint: If you are using groups and the specified coordinates point to an object that is
part of a group, the AN of the object is returned, not the AN of the group.
Syntax
DspGetAnFromPoint(X, Y [, PrevAN] )
X:
The x coordinate of the screen point.
Y:
The y coordinate of the screen point.
PrevnAN:
389
Retrieves the previous AN (in z-order) in situations where a number of objects overlap at the spec-
ified point. The default of 0 (zero) specifies no previous AN. A non-zero value should only ever be
passed if it is the result of a previous call to DspGetAnFromPoint.
Return Value
The AN or 0 (zero) if no object exists at the point.
Example
DspGetMouse(X,Y);
// GetMouse position
AN = DspGetAnFromPoint(X,Y);
// Gets AN if mouse is over the object
Prompt("AN of object ="+nAN:###);
!Displays the object's AN at the prompt line
If several objects overlap each other at the specified point, the PrevAN argument can be
used to produce a list of the associated ANs. This is achieved by using PrevAN to pass
the previous result into another call of the function until a zero return is given.
INT nAn;
nAn = DspGetAnFromPoint(100,100)
WHILE nAn <> 0 DO
//Do Something
nAn = DspGetAnFromPoint(100,100,nAn);
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnHeight
Gets the height of the object at a specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnHeight(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The height of the object (in pixels). If no object exists at the AN, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnWidth, DspGetAnLeft, DspGetAnRight, DspGetAnBottom, DspGetAnTop
Example
390
nHeight = DspGetAnHeight(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnLeft
Gets the left extent of the object at the specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnLeft(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The x coordinate of the left extent of the object at the AN. If no object exists at the AN, -1
is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnWidth, DspGetAnHeight, DspGetAnRight, DspGetAnBottom, DspGetAnTop,

DspGetAnExtent
Example
nLeft = DspGetAnLeft(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnNext
Returns the AN that follows the specified AN, based on the order in which the ANs
were stored on a page by Graphics Builder.
Syntax
DspGetAnNext(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
391
The value for the next AN. If -1 is returned, it means the specified AN is invalid or it is
the last AN on the page.
Related Functions
DspGetAnFirst
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnRight
Gets the right extent of the object at the specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnRight(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The x coordinate of the right extent of the object at the AN. If no object exists at the AN, -
1 is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnWidth, DspGetAnHeight, DspGetAnLeft, DspGetAnBottom, DspGetAnTop,

DspGetAnExtent
Example
nRight = DspGetAnRight(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnTop
Gets the top extent of the object at the specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnTop(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
392
The y coordinate of the top extent of the object at the AN. If no object exists at the AN, -1
is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnWidth, DspGetAnHeight, DspGetAnLeft, DspGetAnRight, DspGetAnBottom,

DspGetAnExtent
Example
nTop = DspGetAnTop(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetAnWidth
Gets the width of the object at a specified AN.
Syntax
DspGetAnWidth(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The width of the object (in pixels). If no object exists at the AN, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnHeight, DspGetAnLeft, DspGetAnRight, DspGetAnBottom, DspGetAnTop,

DspGetAnExtent
Example
nWidth = DspGetAnWidth(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetEnv
Gets a page environment variable.
Syntax
DspGetEnv(sName)
393
sName:
The name of the variable (set using the page environment dialog)
Return Value
The value of the variable (as a string).
Example
FUNCTION
PageGroup()
PageDisplay(DspGetEnv("GroupMenu"));
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetMouse
Gets the x and y coordinates of the mouse position, relative to the top left corner of the
window.
Note: Locally declared Cicode variables need to be used for X and Y, otherwise an
"Incompatible Type" compile error may be generated.
Syntax
DspGetMouse(X, Y)
X:
The variables used to store the x pixel coordinate of the mouse position, returned from this func-
tion.
Y:
The variables used to store the y pixel coordinate of the mouse position, returned from this func-
tion.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned. The X and Y variables are set to the
mouse position.
Related Functions
KeyGetCursor, DspAnGetPos, DspGetMouseOver, DspGetNearestAn, Page-

TransformCoords
Example
394
! If the mouse cursor is at x,y pixel coordinate 43,20;

DspGetMouse(X,Y);
! Sets X to 43 and Y to 20.
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetMouseOver
Determines if the mouse is within the boundaries of a given AN.
Syntax
DspGetMouseOver(nAN)
nAN
The AN of the animation you wish to check, or -1 for the current AN. Defaults to -1.
Return Value
1 if within the specified AN, 0 if not.
Related Functions
KeyGetCursor, DspAnGetPos, DspGetMouse, DspGetNearestAn

See Also
Display Functions
DspGetNearestAn
Gets the AN nearest to a specified x,y pixel location.
If using groups and the nearest object to the specified coordinates is part of a group, the
AN of the object is returned, not the AN of the group.
Syntax
DspGetNearestAn(X, Y)
X:
The x coordinate (in pixels).
Y:
The y coordinate (in pixels).
Return Value
The animation point number (AN). A value of -1 is returned if no AN is found.
395
Related Functions
DspGetMouse, DspAnGetPos, DspGetAnFromPoint
Example
DspGetMouse(X,Y);
! Gets mouse position.
AN=DspGetNearestAn(X,Y);
! Gets AN nearest to the mouse.
Prompt("Mouse At AN"+nAN:###);
! Displays AN nearest to the mouse.
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetParentAn
Gets the parent animation number (if any), for the specified animation number. AN
animation point will have a parent animation point if it corresponds to an object in a
group.
Syntax
DspGetParentAn(nAN)
AN:
Return Value
The parent animation point number (AN). If no parent animation exists or an invalid
animation number is passed, 0 (zero) is returned.
Related Functions
DspGetAnCur
Example
// Get the parent animation for object 89 (part of a symbol set)

AN = DspGetParentAn(89);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetSlider
396
Gets the current position (value) of a slider at an AN. You can call this function in the
slider event to find the new position of the slider.
Syntax
DspGetSlider(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The value of the slider from 0 to 32000. If no animation exists at the AN, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DspSetSlider
Example
// Get the position of the slider at AN 30

nPos = DspGetSlider(30);
See Also
Display Functions
DspGetTip
Gets the tool tip text associated with an AN.
Syntax
DspGetTip(nAN, Mode)
nAN:
The AN from which to get the tool tip text. If no object is configured at the AN, the function will
return an empty string.
Mode:
0 - Tool tips from all animation records configured at the AN. Tips are concatenated with a newline
character between each string. (This mode is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and has
been subsequently superseded.)
1 - The tool tip from the object configured at the AN.
Return Value
397
The tool tip text (as a string). If no user tip is available, an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
DspSetTip, DspTipMode
Example
!Display the tool tip text on AN19

DspText(19, 0, DspGetTip(KeyGetCursor(), 1));
See Also
Display Functions
DspGrayButton
Grays and disables a button. If the button is a symbol, the symbol is overwritten with a
gray mask. (When a button is grayed, it cannot be selected.) If the Disabled field in the
Buttons database is blank, the button is enabled unless you use this function. If the Dis-
abled field in the Buttons database contains an expression, this function will not over-
ride the expression.
Syntax
DspGrayButton(nAN, nMode)
nAN:
The AN where the button is located.
nMode:
The mode of the operation:
0 - Ungray the button.

1 - (GRAY_SUNK) Recess the text or symbol (the text or symbol on the button
is recessed and shadowed).
2 - (GRAY_PART) This mode is now obsolete - it now has the same effect as
GRAY_ALL.
3 - (GRAY_ALL) - Mask the entire button (a gray mask displays over the face
of the button).
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise, -1 (if no AN is found).
398
Related Functions
DspButton, DspButtonFn, DspIsButtonGray
Example
! Disable button at AN21

DspGrayButton(21, GRAY_SUNK);
See Also
Display Functions
DspInfo
Extracts individual pieces of object information from an AN. Each AN can have mul-
tiple expressions associated with it, and each expression can have multiple variables
associated with it. You use an index to refer to each individual expressions or variables.
Typically, you would query the number of expressions, then the number of variables in a
given expression, then the details of a given variable tag.
Note: Before calling this function you need to first use DspInfoNew() to create a han-
dle to the information block from which you want to extract information.
Syntax
DspInfo(hInfo, Type, Index)

hInfo:
The object information block handle, as returned by DspInfoNew(). This handle identifies the table
(or block) where all object data is stored.
nType:
The type of data to extract:
0 - Object title (the name of the object type)

1 - Object expression text
2 - Object expression result text
3 - The variable tag name
4 - Not supported.
Note: Getting the raw value using DspInfo is no longer supported. To
get the raw value of a tag, use the TagSubscribe function, specifying a
value of “Raw” for the sScaleMode parameter. When using Tag-
Subscribe, you can either call SubscriptionGetAttribute to obtain the
399
value whenever required or register a callback cicode function to run

when the value changes. See TagSubscribe for more details.
5 - The engineering value associated with the variable
6 - The Cicode context. Calling DspInfo with this Type will return a string
describing the context in which the Cicode expression is contained. For
example, if it appears on the horizontal movement tab it would return
"Move X".
7 - The number of Cicode expressions. Calling DspInfo with this Type will
return the number of Cicode expressions associated with this animation
point.
8 - The number of tags in the expression. Calling DspInfo with this Type will
return the number of tags that appear in the given Cicode expression.
9 - Name of the cluster in which the variable tag resides.
10 - Full name of the variable tag in the form cluster.tagname.
Index:
An index to the variable within the information block. The required index changes according to the
Type as follows:
l For Types 0 to 2, 6 and 8, the index needs to be set to the index of the expres-
sion that you wish to query.
l For Types 3 to 5, the index needs to be set to the index of the tag that you
wish to query. When one of these types is used, DspInfo will query the tag
in the most recently queried expression (otherwise expression 0).
l For Type 7, the index is ignored.
Return Value
The object information (as a string). A blank string is returned if you specify a non-exis-
tent expression or variable.
Related Functions
DspInfoNew, DspInfoField, DspInfoDestroy, TagSubscribe, SubscriptionAddCallback,

SubscriptionGetAttribute
Example
INT hInfo;
INT iEngineeringValue;
INT iNumberOfExpressions;
INT iNumberOfTags;
INT iExpressionIndex;
INT iTagIndex;
STRING sObjectType;
STRING sExpressionText;
400
STRING sExpressionResult;
STRING sExpressionContext;
STRING sTagName;
hInfo = DspInfoNew(AN);
IF (hInfo > -1) THEN
sObjectType = DspInfo(hInfo, 0, 0);
iNumberOfExpressions = StrToInt(DspInfo(hInfo, 7, 0));
FOR iExpressionIndex = 0 TO iExpressionIndex < iNumberOfExpressions DO
sExpressionText = DspInfo(hInfo, 1, iExpressionIndex);
sExpressionResult = DspInfo(hInfo, 2, iExpressionIndex);
sExpressionContext = DspInfo(hInfo, 6, iExpressionIndex);
iNumberOfTags = StrToInt(DspInfo(hInfo, 8, iExpressionIndex));
FOR iTagIndex = 0 TO iTagIndex < iNumberOfTags DO
sTagName = DspInfo(hInfo, 3, iTagIndex);
iEngineeringValue = StrToInt(DspInfo(hInfo, 5, iTagIndex));
..
END
..
END
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspInfoDestroy
Destroys an object information block created by DspInfoNew(). You should destroy an
object information block when you no longer need it, to free CitectSCADA resources.
When the page (with which the object is associated) is closed, CitectSCADA auto-
matically destroys the object information block.
Syntax
DspInfoDestroy(hInfo)
hInfo:
Return Value
Related Functions
DspInfo, DspInfoNew, DspInfoField, DspInfoValid
Example
hInfo=DspInfoNew(20);
401
! Do animation operation
DspInfoDestroy(hInfo);
See Also
Display Functions
DspInfoField
Obtains static and real-time data from a variable tag. You get static data from the Var-
iable Tags database. The additional field "Eng_Value", returns dynamic real-time data
for the variable tag. To get this real-time data, you need to first call the DspInfoNew()
function to get the information block handle hInfo.
Getting the raw value of a variable tag using DspInfoField is no longer supported. To get
the raw value of a tag, use the TagSubscribe function, specifying a value of "Raw" for the
sScaleMode parameter. When using TagSubscribe, you can either call Sub-
scriptionGetAttribute to obtain the value whenever required or register callback cicode
function to run when the value changes. See TagSubscribe for more details.
Syntax
DspInfoField(hInfo, sTag, sField [, sClusterName] )

hInfo:
(or block) where data on the object is stored. Set this handle to 0 (zero) if you do not require real-
time data.
sTag:
The name of the variable tag. The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is
"ClusterName.Tag". This argument does not support arrays. If array syntax is used, the information
will be retrieved for only the tag name.
sField:
The name of the field from which to extract the data:
Cluster - Name of the cluster in which the Tag resides

Comment - Variable tag comment
Eng_Full - Engineering Full Scale
Eng_Zero - Engineering Zero Scale
Eng_Units - Engineering Units
Eng_Value - Scaled engineering value - Dynamic
Field - Description
FullName - Full name of the tag in the form cluster.tagname.
Name - Variable Tag Name
402
Type - Data Type

Unit - I/O Device Name
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Tag resides. This is optional if you have one cluster
or are resolving the tag via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks
"".
Return Value
The data (as a string).
Related Functions
DspInfo, DspInfoNew, DspInfoDestroy, SubscriptionGetAttribute, Sub-

scriptionAddCallback, TagSubscribe
Example
! Get the I/O device that Variable Tag "PV123" belongs to.
IODev=DspInfoField(0,"PV123","Unit");
! Get the real-time engineering value of a tag.
hInfo=DspInfoNew(20);
sTag=DspInfo(hInfo,3,0);
EngValue=DspInfoField(hInfo,sTag,"Eng_Value");
See Also
Display Functions
DspInfoNew
Creates an object information block. Use this function with the associated low-level
animation information functions to get and process object information on an AN.
Note: When you have finished with the object information block, you need to destroy
it with the DspInfoDestroy() function. There are limited number of info 383 blocks
that can be allocated, if they are not freed properly DspInfoNew will return -1.
If you need simple animation help, use the InfoForm() or the InfoFormAn() functions.
Syntax
DspInfoNew(nAN)
nAN:
The AN for which object information is provided.
Return Value
403
The object information block handle. If no object data is available, then -1 is returned.
Related Functions
DspInfo, DspInfoField, DspInfoDestroy, InfoForm, InfoFormAn
Example
/*This example creates a form, with the title "Tag Info" and a
size of 25 x 5 characters. It creates an information block for the
AN closest to the mouse cursor and then extracts the name, I/O
device, and engineering value for the first tag in the object
expression.*/
INT hInfo;
STRING sTag;
hInfo=DspInfoNew(DspGetNearestAN());
IF hInfo>-1 THEN
FormNew("Tag Info",25,5,2);
sTag=DspInfo(hInfo,3,0);
FormPrompt(0,0,sTag);
FormPrompt(0,16,DspInfoField(hInfo,sTag,"Unit"));
FormPrompt(0,32,DspInfoField(hInfo,sTag,"Eng_Value"));
FormRead(0);
DspInfoDestroy(hInfo);
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspInfoValid
Checks if an object information block handle is valid. An object information block han-
dle becomes invalid after it is destroyed, or if the user closes the page it is associated
with. Use this function if background Cicode is using the object information block, and
the operator closes the page.
Syntax
DspInfoValid(hInfo)
hInfo:
Return Value
1 if the information block handle is valid, otherwise 0 (zero).
Related Functions
DspInfoNew, DspInfoField, DspInfoDestroy
404
Example
IF DspInfoValid(hInfo) THEN
EngValue=DspInfoField(hInfo,sTag,"Eng_Value");
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspIsButtonGray
Gets the current status of a button.
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and has been
superseded.
Syntax
DspIsButtonGray(nAN)
nAN:
The AN for which object information is provided.
Return Value
The current mode of the button:

l 0 - The button is active (not grayed).
l 1 - (SUNK_GRAY) The button is inactive (the text or symbol on the button is
recessed).
l 2 - (PART_GRAY) This mode is now obsolete. The button will be inactive even if
part_gray is returned.
l 3 - (ALL_GRAY) The button is inactive (the entire button is masked).
Related Functions
DspButton, DspButtonFn, DspGrayButton
Example
! Check the status of the button at AN21

status = DspIsButtonGray(21);
See Also
Display Functions
405
DspKernel
Displays the Kernel window and prompts the user to login as the 'kernel' user. A cor-
responding 'kernel' user must have already been defined in the project. Kernel access
should be restricted to authorised personnel only as once they are in the Kernel, they can
execute any Cicode function without further privilege restrictions and therefore have
total control of CitectSCADA (and subsequently the plant and equipment). Please be
aware that you can also open the Kernel by setting the Citect [Debug]Menu parameter to
1 and, when your system is running, selecting Kernel from the control-menu box.
Note: You should be experienced with CitectSCADA and Cicode before attempting to
use the Kernel as these facilities are powerful, and if used incorrectly, can corrupt
your system.
Note: You should only use the Kernel for diagnostics and debugging purposes, and
not for normal CitectSCADA operation.
Kernel access should be restricted to authorised personnel only as once they are in
the Kernel, they can execute any Cicode function without further privilege restric-
tions and therefore have total control of CitectSCADA (and subsequently the plant
and equipment).

l Do not use the kernel for normal CitectSCADA operation. The kernel is only for diag-
nostics and debugging purposes.
l Configure your security so that only approved personnel can view or use the kernel.
l Do not view or use the kernel unless you are an expert user of CitectSCADA and
Cicode, or are under the direct guidance of Schneider Electric (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Support.
ment damage.
Syntax
DspKernel(nMode)
nMode:
The display mode of Kernel:
1 - Display the Kernel. If the Kernel is already displayed and nMode=1, the key-
board focus is changed to the Kernel.
0 - Hide the Kernel
Return Value
406
Related Functions
KerCmd, TraceMsg
Example
DspKernel(1);
!Display the Citect Kernel window
See Also
Display Functions
DspMarkerMove
Moves a trend or chart marker to a specified position.
Syntax
DspMarkerMove(nAN, hMarker, Offset)

nAN:
The AN where the trend or chart is positioned.
hMarker:
The marker handle, as returned from the DspMarkerNew() function. The marker handle identifies
the table where all data on the associated marker is stored.
Offset:
The offset by which to move the marker. Vertical markers have an offset from 0 (zero) to the max-
imum number of samples in the trend. Horizontal markers have a offset of 0 (zero) to 32000.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspMarkerNew, OnEvent
Example
See DspMarkerNew
See Also
Display Functions
DspMarkerNew
407
Creates a new trend marker. A trend marker is used to show cursor values or limits on a
trend. You can use up to 10 markers on a single trend or chart.
If you add markers to a trend or chart that CitectSCADA is animating, you need to
repaint them using the trend paint event (OnEvent(Window,22)). (Otherwise Citect-
SCADA will delete any markers displayed when the trend is updated.)
Syntax
DspMarkerNew(nAN, Mode, Color)

nAN:
Mode:
The mode of the marker:
0 - A vertical marker
1 - A horizontal marker
Color:
The color of the marker (flashing color not supported). Select a color from the list of Predefined
Color Names and Codes or create an RGB color using the function MakeCitectColour.
Return Value
The marker handle, or -1 if the function is unsuccessful. The marker handle identifies the
table where data on the associated marker is stored.
Related Functions
DspMarkerMove, OnEvent
Example
INT offset; ! offset of marker

INT hMarker; ! marker handle
hMarker = DspMarkerNew(40, 0, WHITE);
! create a new marker, vertical WHITE
offset = 100;
DspMarkerMove(40, hMarker, offset);
! Moves marker to offset 100
OnEvent(22, MyTrendPaint);
! set trend paint event, needs to stop event when change pages
! this function is called when CitectSCADA updates the trend
INT
FUNCTION
MyTrendPaint()
DspMarkerMove(40, hMarker, offset);
RETURN 0;
408
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspMCI
Controls a multimedia device. The Media Control Interface (MCI) is a high-level com-
mand interface to multimedia devices and resource files. MCI provides applications
with device-independent capabilities for controlling audio and visual peripherals (for
example, for playing multimedia devices and recording multimedia resource files).
Using this function, you can control multimedia devices by using simple commands like
open, play, and close. MCI commands are a generic interface to multimedia devices. You
can control any supported multimedia device, including audio playback and recording.
For a full overview of MCI, see the Windows Multimedia Programmer's Guide.
Syntax
DspMCI(sCommand)
sCommand:
The MCI command. See the Microsoft Windows Multimedia Programmer's Guide for details.
Return Value
A string message with the status of the MCI command.
Related Functions
DspPlaySound
Example
DspMCI("open cdaudio")
DspMCI("set cdaudio time format tmsf")
DspMCI("play cdaudio from 6 to 7")
DspMCI("close cdaudio")
/*Plays track 6 of an audio CD*/
DspMCI("open c:\mmdata\purplefi.wav type waveaudio alias finch")
DspMCI("set finch time format samples")
DspMCI("play finch from 1 to 10000")
DspMCI("close finch")
/*Plays the first 10,000 samples of a waveform audio file*/
See Also
Display Functions
DspPlaySound
409
Plays a waveform (sound). Wave form sound files *.WAV are provided with Windows
and by third-party developers, or you can record them yourself to play long (and com-
plex) sound sequences.
This function searches the [Sounds] section of the WIN.INI file for an entry with the spec-
ified name, and plays the associated waveform. If the name does not match an entry in
the WIN.INI file, a waveform filename is assumed. The function will then search the fol-
lowing directories for the waveform file (directories are listed in search order):
1. The current directory
2. The Windows directory
3. The Windows system directory
4. The directories listed in the PATH environment variable
5. The list of directories mapped in the network.
If the file is not in one of the aforementioned directories, you need to include the full
path to the sound file. If the file doesn’t exist in one of the above directories or at a loca-
tion specified with a full path, the sound will not be played.
Syntax
DspPlaySound(sSoundname, nMode)
sSoundname:
The waveform to be played. Predefined sounds (in the WIN.INI file) are:
l SystemAsterisk
l SystemExclamation
l SystemQuestion
l SystemDefault
l SystemHand
l SystemExit
l SystemStart
nMode:
Not used. Needs to be 0 (zero).
Return Value
TRUE if successful, otherwise FALSE (if an error is detected).
Related Functions
Beep
Example
410
DspPlaySound("C:\WINNT\MEDIA\Notify.wav",0);
DspPlaySound("SystemStart",0);
See Also
Display Functions
DspPopupConfigMenu
Displays the contents of a menu node as a pop-up (context) menu, and run the com-
mand associated with the selected menu item. You can specify the contents of a menu
using the menu configuration dialog at design time, or using the Menu family of Cicode
functions at runtime.
Syntax
DspPopupConfigMenu(hParent, [, bNonRecursive [, XPos [, YPos]]])

hParent
The parent node of the menu tree returned from any of the following functions:
l MenuGetGenericNode(), MenuGetPageNode() or MenuGetWindowNode() - used to

get the parent node of menu tree for a page.
l MenuGetFirstChild(), MenuGetNextChild(), MenuGetPrevChild(), MenuGetParent() -
used to traverse to other nodes in a menu tree
bNonRecursive
Whether not to recursively transverse child tree nodes and list them as sub-menus in the pop-up
menu. This parameter is optional. If it is left unspecified, its value will be defaulted to 0 (recursive).
When it is set to 1, only the immediate child nodes of the specified menu handle will be listed. In
this mode, tree nodes will be listed as normal menu items (instead of submenus) in the pop-up
menu.
XPos
The x-coordinate (relative to the page) at which the menu will be displayed.This parameter is
optional. If it is left unspecified, the menu will display at the cursor's current position.
YPos
The y-coordinate (relative to the page) at which the menu will be displayed.This parameter is
Return Value
0 if the selected meun command is run or error code if menu command cannot run.
Related Functions
Display Functions
411
DspPopupMenu
Creates a popup menu consisting of a number of menu items. Multiple calls to this func-
tion enable you to add new items and create sub menus, building a system of linked,
Windows-style menus.
Menu items can be displayed as checked and/or disabled. You can also specify a bitmap
to display as a menu icon.
This function is first called to build the menu's items and links, and then called again to
display it on the screen. In this final call, you have the option to specify the coordinates
at which the menu will display, or let it default to the current cursor position.
Syntax
DspPopupMenu(iMenuNumber, sMenuItems [, XPos] [, YPos] )

iMenuNumber:
An integer representing the menu you are adding items to. The first menu created is Menu 0. If left
unspecified, this parameter defaults to -1, causing the menu to be displayed on the screen.
Multiple function calls with the same iMenuNumber allow you to build up entries in a particular
menu. For example, the following four function calls with iMenuNumber = 1 build up 8 entries in
Menu 1:
l DspPopupMenu(1, "Selection A>2, Selection B>3");
l DspPopupMenu(1, "Selection C>2, Selection D");
l DspPopupMenu(1, "Selection E>2, Selection F>3");
l DspPopupMenu(1, "Selection G>2, Selection H");
sMenuItems:
A comma-separated string defining the items in each menu. The default value for this parameter is
an empty string, which will get passed to the function in the call to display the menu.
The (!), (~), and (,) symbols control display options for menu items.
For example, !Item1 disables Item1; ~Item2 checks Item2; and ,Item3 inserts a separator above
Item3. To insert a link from a menu item to a sub menu, use the (>) symbol. For example, : Item4>1
means Item4 links to menu 1.
To insert a bitmap to the left of a menu item as its icon, use the following notation: [Icon]Item5
Inserts the bitmap Icon.BMP to the left of Item5. [Icon] needs to be placed before the Item name,
but after any disable (!) or check (~) symbols you may wish to specify.
Bitmap files used for menu icons need to be saved in the project directory so that they can be found
by CitectSCADA.
XPos:
412
The x-coordinate (relative to the page) at which the menu will be displayed. This parameter is
YPos:
The y-coordinate (relative to the page) at which the menu will be displayed. This parameter is
Return Value
The selected menu item as an integer. This comprises the menu number (return value
div 100), and the position of the item in the menu (return value mod 100). For example,
a return value of 201 indicates that the first item in Menu 2 was selected, and a return
value of 3 indicates that the third item in Menu 0 was selected.
The return value is limited to a maximum of 65535, that is 655 menus and 35 items on
the menu. Above this limit the function returns 0.
Note: Links to sub menus are not counted as menu items. For example, if your menu
consists of 10 links and one unlinked item, the function will return only when the
unlinked item is selected.
Example1
!Example 1 illustrates one menu with three menu items.

FUNCTION BuildPopupMenus()
INT iSelection;
DspPopupMenu(0, "Item 1,!Item 2,~Item 3");
iSelection = DspPopupMenu(-1, "", 150, 300);
! The above builds a menu with three items:
! 'Item 1' will be shown as normal, 'Item 2' will be shown as disabled,
! and 'Item 3' will be shown as checked.
! The menu will be displayed at position (150, 300).
END
Example 2
!Example 2 illustrates the creation of two menus which are linked.

FUNCTION BuildLinkedPopupMenus()
INT iSelection;
DspPopupMenu(0, "Item A,Item B>1,Item C");
DspPopupMenu(1, "Item B1,,[Trend]Item B2,,Item B3");
iSelection = DspPopupMenu();
! The above will build two menus - Menu 0 and Menu 1
! Item B on Menu 0 links to Menu 1.
! 'Item B2' will be shown with Trend.BMP at its left.
! The menu will be displayed at the cursor's position.
! If 'Item A' is selected, iSelection will equal 1
! If 'Item C' is selected, iSelection will equal 2
! If 'Item B1' is selected, iSelection will equal 101
413

END
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichText
Creates a Rich Text object of the given dimensions at the animation point nAN. This
object can then be used to display an RTF file (like an RTF report) called using the
DspRichTextLoad function.
Syntax
DspRichText(nAN, iHeight, iWidth, nMode)

nAN:
The AN at which the rich text object will display when the DspRichText command is run.
iHeight:
The height of the rich text object in pixels. The height is established by measuring down from the
animation point.
iWidth:
The width of the rich text object in pixels. The width is established by measuring across to the right
from the animation point.
nMode:
The display mode for the rich text object. The mode can be any combination of:
0 - Disabled - should be used if the rich text object is to be used for display pur-
poses only.
1 - Enabled - allows you to select and copy the contents of the RTF object (for
instance an RTF report), but you will not be able to make changes.
2 - Read/Write - allows you to edit the contents of the RTF object. Remember,
however, that the object needs to be enabled before it can be edited. If it
has already been enabled, you can just enter Mode 2 as your argument.
If it is not already enabled, you will need to enable it. By combining
Mode 1 and Mode 2 in your argument (3), you can enable the object, and
make it read/write at the same time.
Because the content of the rich text object is just a copy of the original file, changes will not affect
the actual file, until saved using the DspRichTextSave function.
Return Value
414
0 if successful, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
DspRichTextLoad, PageRichTextFile
Example
//This will produce a rich text object at animation point 57,

which is 200 pixels high, and 200 pixels wide. This object will be
for display purposes only (that is read only)//
DspRichText(57,200,200,0);
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextEdit
Enables editing of the contents of the rich text object at nAN if nEdit = TRUE, and dis-
ables editing if nEdit = FALSE.
Syntax
DspRichTextEdit(nAN, bEdit)
nAN:
The reference AN for the rich text object.
bEdit:
The value of this argument determines whether you will be able to edit the contents of the rich text
object at AN. Enter TRUE to enable editing, or enter FALSE to make the contents read-only.
Changes made to the contents of the object will not be saved until the DspRichTextSave function is
used.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageRichTextFile, DspRichTextEnable, DspRichTextSave
Example
// Enables editing of the rich text object at AN 25 - if one

exists. Otherwise an error will be returned to iResult //
iResult = DspRichTextEdit(25,TRUE);
415
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextEnable
Enables the rich text object at nAN if nEnable = TRUE, and disables the object if nEnable =
FALSE. When the object is disabled, its contents cannot be selected or copied etc.
Syntax
DspRichTextEnable(nAN, bEnable)
nAN:
bEnable:
The value of this argument determines whether the rich text object at AN will be enabled or dis-
abled. Enter TRUE to enable the object (that is you can select and copy the contents of the RTF
object, but you can't make changes). Enter FALSE to disable the object (that is make it display only).
Return Value
Related Functions
DspRichTextEdit
Example
// This line disables the rich text object at AN 25 - if one

exists. Otherwise an error will be returned to iResult //
iResult = DspRichTextEnable(25,FALSE);
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextGetInfo
Retrieves size information about the rich text object at animation point nAN.
Syntax
DspRichTextGetInfo(nAN, iType)
nAN:
iType:
416
The following size information (in pixels) can be returned about the specified rich text object:
0 - Height
1 - Width
Return Value
The requested information as a string (units = pixels).
Related Functions
PageRichTextFile
Example
! Gets the height of the rich text object at AN 25 - if one exists.

iHeight = DspRichTextGetInfo(25,0);
! Gets the width of the rich text object at AN 423.
iWidth = DspRichTextGetInfo(423,1);
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextLoad
Loads a copy of the file Filename into the rich text object) at animation point nAN. (The
rich text object may have been created using either the DspRichTextLoad function or the
PageRichTextFile function.)
Syntax
DspRichTextLoad(nAN, sFilename)
nAN:
The animation point at which a copy of the rich text file (for example, an RTF report) will display.
This AN needs to match that of a rich text object (created using either the DspRichText function, or
the PageRichTextFile function), or the copy of the file will not be loaded into anything, and will not
display.
sFilename:
The name of the file to be copied and loaded into the rich text object at the specified animation
point. The filename needs to be entered in quotation marks "".
The maximum file size that can be loaded is 512kb.
417
If you are loading a copy of an RTF report, the report needs to already have been run and saved to
a file. Remember that the filename for the saved report comes from the File Name field in the
Devices form. The location of the saved file needs to also be included as part of the filename. For
example, if the filename in the Devices form listed [Data];RepDev.rtf, then you would need to enter
"[Data]\repdev.rtf" as your argument. Alternatively, you can manually enter the path, for example,
"c:\MyApplication\data\repdev.rtf".
If you are keeping a number of history files for the report, instead of using the extension rtf, you
need to change it to reflect the number of the desired history file, for example, 001.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspRichText, PageRichTextFile
Example
// This will look in the [Data] path (as specified in the

Citect.ini file), and load a copy of the file DayRep.rtf into the
rich text object at animation point 57. //
DspRichTextLoad(57,"[Data]\DayRep.rtf");
// This will look in the [Data] path (as specified in the
Citect.ini file), and load a copy of the history file DayRep.003
into the rich text object at animation point 908. //
DspRichTextLoad(908, "[Data]\DayRep.003");
// This will load a copy of the history file
f:\MyApplication\data\DayRep.006, into the rich text object at animation
point 908. //
DspRichTextLoad(908, "f:\MyApplication\data\DayRep.006");
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextPgScroll
Scrolls the contents of the rich text object displayed at nAN, by one page length in the
direction given in direction.
Syntax
DspRichTextPgScroll(nAN, iDirection)
nAN:
iDirection:
418
The direction in which you want to scroll each time this function is run. You can choose from the
following:
1 - Left
2 - Right
3 - Up
4 - Down
8 - Scroll to top
16 - Scroll to bottom
Return Value
Related Functions
PageRichTextFile, DspRichTextEdit, DspRichTextScroll
Example
// This line scrolls the contents of the rich text object at AN 25

down one page. Otherwise an error will be returned to iResult //
iResult = DspRichTextPgScroll(25,4);
// This line scrolls the contents of the rich text object at AN 423
right one page. Otherwise an error will be returned to iResult //
iResult = DspRichTextPgScroll(423,2);
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextPrint
Prints the contents of the rich text object at animation point nAN, to the port PortName.
Syntax
DspRichTextPrint(nAN, sPortName)
nAN:
sPortName:
The name of the printer port to which the contents of the rich text object will be printed. This name
needs to be enclosed within quotation marks "". For example "LPT1", to print to the local printer, or
"\\Pserver\canon1" using UNC to print to a network printer.
Return Value
419
Related Functions
DspRichText, FileRichTextPrint
Example
! This lines prints

DspRichTextPrint(25,"LPT1:");
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextSave
Saves the contents of the rich text object at animation point nAN, to the file Filename.
Syntax
DspRichTextSave(nAN, sFilename)
nAN:
sFilename:
The name under which the contents of the rich text object will be saved. This name needs to be
enclosed within quotation marks "", and needs to include the destination path. For example "[Data]
\saved.rtf".
Return Value
Related Functions
DspRichText, PageRichTextFile, DspRichTextLoad, DspRichTextEdit
Example
// These lines show two different ways of saving the contents of

the rich text object (at AN 25) to file DayRep.rtf//
DspRichTextSave(25,"[Data]\DayRep.rtf");
DspRichTextSave(25,"c:\MyApplication\data\DayRep.rtf");
See Also
Display Functions
DspRichTextScroll
420
Scrolls the contents of the rich text object displayed at nAN, in the direction given in direc-
tion, by the number of lines/units given in amount. Remember that the height of a line
varies according to the font used, therefore if you need to scroll absolute distances, it
might be advisable to use the DspRichTextPgScroll function.
Syntax
DspRichTextScroll(nAN, iDirection, iAmount)

nAN:
iDirection:
The direction in which you want to scroll each time this function is run. You can choose from the
following:
1 - Left
2 - Right
3 - Up
4 - Down
8 - Scroll to top
16 - Scroll to bottom
iAmount:
The amount by which you would like to scroll each time this function is run. Enter the number of
lines (for a vertical direction) or units (for a horizontal direction) by which you would like to scroll.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageRichTextFile, DspRichTextEdit, DspRichTextPgScroll
Example
DspRichTextScroll(25,4,8);
DspRichTextScroll(423,2,1);
See Also
Display Functions
DspRubEnd
421
Ends the rubber band selection, and returns the coordinates of the rubber band selection.
The meaning of the cx and cy values depend on the nMode you specify in the DspRub-
Start() function.
Syntax
DspRubEnd(x, y, cx, cy)

x,y:
The x and y coordinates of the start position.
cx,cy:
The x and y coordinates of the end position.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspRubStart, DspRubMove, DspRubSetClip
Example
See DspRubStart
See Also
Display Functions
DspRubMove
Moves the rubber band selection to the new position. You need to first have defined a
rubber band selection using the DspRubStart() and DspRubEnd() functions.
This function will erase the existing rubber band and then redraw it in the new position.
You would normally move the rubber band by mouse input, but you can get input from
the keyboard or any other Cicode to control the rubber band.
Syntax
DspRubMove(x, y)
x,y:
The x and y coordinates of the current position.
Return Value
Related Functions
422
DspRubStart, DspRubEnd, DspRubSetClip
Example
See DspRubStart
See Also
Display Functions
DspRubSetClip
Sets the clipping region for the rubber band display. If you enable the clipping region,
the rubber band will not move outside of the clip region. This allows you to restrict the
rubber band to within some constrained region. (For example, to prevent an operator
from dragging the rubber band outside of the trend display when zooming the trend.)
you need to call this function (to enable the clipping region) before you can start the
rubber band selection (with the DspRubStart() function).
Syntax
DspRubSetClip(x1, y1, x2, y2)

x1,y1,x2,y2:
The x and y coordinates of the clipping region.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspRubStart, DspRubEnd, DspRubMove
Example
// Set the clipping region to a rectangle starting at 100, 100 to

200, 300
DspRubSetClip(100, 100, 200, 300);
// Start the rubber band display with clipping mode on
DspRubStart(x, y, 4);
See Also
Display Functions
DspRubStart
423
Starts the rubber band selection. Call this function when the left mouse button is pressed
- the rubber band is displayed at the starting position. Call the DspRubEnd() function to
end the selection, when the mouse button is released. The DspRubMove() function
moves the selection to the new position.
This function is used by the trend templates for the trend zoom function. Use the rubber
band functions whenever you want the operator to select a region on the screen or dis-
play a dynamic rectangle on the screen.
You can only display one rubber band per page. If you display a second rubber band,
the first rubber band is erased. To move a rubber band with the mouse, use the OnEvent
() function to get notification of the mouse movement, and then the DspRubMove() func-
tion. Because these are generic rubber-band display functions, you can get input from the
keyboard, Cicode variables, the I/O device, and the mouse.
Syntax
DspRubStart(x, y, nMode)
x,y:
The x and y coordinates of the current position.
nMode:
The mode of the rubber banding operation:
0 - cx,cy as absolute pixel positions

1 - cx,cy in pixels relative to x,y
2 - (x,y) the distance from top left to (cx,cy)
4 - enable the rubber band selection using the clipping region defined by
DspRubSetClip().
Return Value
Related Functions
DspRubEnd, DspRubMove, DspRubSetClip, OnEvent
Example
See also the ZOOM.CI file in the Include project for details.
INT xRub,yRub,cxRub,cyRub;
/* Call this function on left mouse button down. */
FUNCTION
StartSelection()
INT x,y;
424
DspGetMouse(x,y); ! Get the current mouse position

DspRubStart(x,y,0); ! Start the rubber banding
OnEvent(0,MouseEvent); ! Attach mouse move event
END
/* Call this function on left mouse button up. */
FUNCTION
EndSelection()
! Stop the rubber banding and get sizes into the ..Rub variables
DspRubEnd(xRub,yRub,cxRub,cyRub);
OnEvent(0,0); ! Stop mouse move event
END
INT
FUNCTION
MouseEvent()
INT x,y;
DspGetMouse(x,y); ! Get mouse position
DspRubMove(x,y); ! Move the rubber band
RETURN 0
END
See Also
Display Functions
DspSetSlider
Sets the current position of a slider at the specified AN. You can use this function to
move a slider, and adjust the value of the variable associated with the slider.
Syntax
DspSetSlider(nAN, nPos)
nAN:
nPos:
The position of the slider from 0 to 32000 where 0 is the zero position of the slider and 32000 if full
position of the slider.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspGetSlider
425
Example
// Set the position of the slider at AN 30 to 1/2 scale

DspSetSlider(30, 16000);
See Also
Display Functions
DspSetTip
Sets tool tip text associated with an AN. Any existing text associated with the AN will
be replaced with the new text.
Syntax
DspSetTip(nAN, sText)
nAN:
sText:
The tool tip text to set for the AN.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspGetTip, DspTipMode
Example
!Set a tool tip for AN19

DspSetTip(19, "Start Slurry Pump");
See Also
Display Functions
DspSetTooltipFont
Sets the font for tool tip text.
The parameter [Animator]TooltipFont also specifies the tool tip font. The parameter is
checked at startup, and if it is set, the font is set accordingly. You can then use DspSet-
TooltipFont() to override the parameter until the next time you start CitectSCADA.
Syntax
426
DspSetTooltipFont(sName [, nPointSize] [, sAttribs] )

sName:
The name of the Windows font to be used, enclosed by quotation marks " ". A value for this param-
eter is required, however specifying an empty string "" will set the tooltip font to the default of MS
Sans Serif.
nPointSize:
The size of the font in points. If you do not specify a value, the point size defaults to 12.
sAttribs:
A string specifying the format of the font. Use one or all of the following, enclosed by quotation
marks " ":
l B to specify Bold
l I to specify Italics
l U to specify Underline
If you don't specify a value for this parameter, it will default to an empty string and no formatting
will be applied.
Return Value
No return value.
Related Functions
DspGetTip, DspTipMode
Example
!Set the tool tip font to Bold, Italic, Times New Roman, with a
point size of 12
DspSetTooltipFont("Times New Roman", 12, "BI");
See Also
Display Functions
DspStatus
Determines whether the object at the specified AN will be grayed (hatch pattern) in the
event communication attempts are unsuccessful.
Syntax
DspStatus(nAN, nMode)
nAN:
427
nMode:
0 - Normal display when communication attempts are unsuccessful
1 - Gray the object (with a hatch pattern) when communication attempts are unsuccessful
Return Value
Example
DspStatus(67, 1)
// Disable the animation at AN 67
See Also
Display Functions
DspStr
Displays a string at a specified AN.
Syntax
DspStr(nAN, sFont, sText [, iLength] [, iAlignMode] [, iLengthMode])

AN:
The AN where the text will be displayed.
sFont:
The name of the font that is used to display the text. The Font Name needs to be defined in the
Fonts database. If the font is not found, the default font is used.
sText:
The text to display.
iLength:
Length of the Text to display, either in characters or pixels depending on Mode (default -1, no trun-
cation)
iAlignMode:
The alignment of the text string:

0 - Left Justified (default)
428
1 - Right Justified.
2 - Center Justified.
iLengthMode:
The length mode of the text string:

0 - Length as pixels truncated (default)
1 - Length as pixels truncated with ellipsis
2 - Length interpreted as characters.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspText
Example
DspStr(25,"RedFont","Display this text");

/* Displays "Display this text" using "RedFont" at AN25. "RedFont"
needs to be defined in the Fonts database. */
See Also
Display Functions
DspSym
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations. In later releases
this function is redundant. The same functionality can be achieved using objects.
Displays a symbol at a specified AN. If the symbol number is 0, any existing symbol (at
the AN) is erased.
Syntax
DspSym(nAN, Symbol [, Mode] )

nAN:
The AN where the symbol will be displayed.
Symbol:
The name of the symbol to display in the format <[LibName.]SymName>. If you do not specify the
library name, a symbol from the Global library will display (if it exists).
Mode:
429
Not used. The mode is always set to 1, which means do not erase the existing symbol, just draw
the new symbol.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDel
Example
! Display the centrifuge symbol (from the pumps library) at AN25.

DspSym(25,"Pumps.Centrifuge");
! Display the centrifuge symbol (from the global library) at AN26.
DspSym(26,"Centrifuge");
See Also
Display Functions
DspSymAnm
Animates a series of symbols at an AN. Sym1 displays first, then Sym2, Sym3 . . . Sym8
and then Sym1 displays again, etc. When the next symbol in the sequence is displayed,
the current symbol is not erased, but is overwritten to provide a smoother animation.
The symbols should all be the same size.
The frequency of changing the symbols is determined by the [Page]AnmDelay parameter.
You only need to call this function once to keep the animation going. To stop the
animation call the DspDel() function, or call this function again with different symbols
(to change the animation).
Syntax
DspSymAnm(nAN, Sym1 [, Sym2 ... Sym8] [, iDisplayMode] [, sSym9] )

nAN:
The AN where the animation will occur.
Sym1:
The name of the first symbol to animate in the format <[LibName.]SymName>. If you do not spec-
ify the library name, a symbol from the Global library will display (if it exists). Sym1 needs to be
specified.
430
Sym2..Sym8:
The names of the symbols to animate in frames 2 to 8 in the format <[LibName.]SymName>. If you
do not specify the library name, a symbol from the Global library will display (if it exists).
iDisplayMode:
Not used. Always set to -1, which means Soft animation. The background screen (a rectangular
region beneath the symbol) is restored with the original image. Any objects that are within the rec-
tangular region are destroyed when the background is restored. Use this mode when each
animation symbol is a different size.
Sym9:
Not all symbols have to be specified. If for example, only two symbols are to display, specify
Sym1 and Sym2.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspSym
Example
DspSymAnm(25,"Pumps.Centrifuge","Pumps.Floatation");
! Alternately displays the centrifuge symbol and the flotation symbol
(from the pumps library) at AN25.
See Also
Display Functions
DspSymAnmEx
Animates a series of symbols at an AN. Sym1 displays first, then Sym2, Sym3 . . . Sym9
and then Sym1 displays again, etc. When the next symbol in the sequence is displayed,
the current symbol is not erased, but is overwritten to provide a smoother animation.
The symbols should all be the same size.
The frequency of changing the symbols is determined by the [Page]AnmDelay parameter.
You only need to call this function once to keep the animation going. To stop the
animation call this function again with a different Mode.
Syntax
431
DspSymAnmEx(nAN, Mode, Sym1 [, Sym2 ... Sym9] )

nAN:
The AN where the animation will occur.
Mode:
Not used. Always set to -1, which means Soft animation. The background screen (a rectangular
region beneath the symbol) is restored with the original image. Any objects that are within the rec-
tangular region are destroyed when the background is restored. Use this mode when each
animation symbol is a different size.
Sym1:
The name of the first symbol to animate in the format <[LibName.]SymName>. If you do not spec-
ify the library name, a symbol from the Global library will display (if it exists). Sym1 needs to be
specified.
Sym2..Sym9:
The names of the symbols to animate in frames 2 to 9 in the format <[LibName.]SymName>. If you
do not specify the library name, a symbol from the Global library will display (if it exists).
Not all symbols have to be specified. If for example, only two symbols are to display, specify
Sym1 and Sym2.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspSym
Example
DspSymAnmEx(25,-1,"Pumps.Centrifuge","Pumps.Floatation");
! Alternately displays the centrifuge symbol and the flotation symbol
(from the pumps library) at AN25.
See Also
Display Functions
DspSymAtSize
Displays a symbol at the specified scale and offset from the AN position.
By calling this function continuously, you can move symbols around the screen and
change their size and shape, to simulate trippers, elevators, and so on. You change the
PositionX, PositionY values to change the position of the symbol, the SizeX, SizeY values
to change its size, or the symbol itself to change its shape.
432
You can only use this function at a blank AN, or an AN with a symbol defined without
symbols configured. The AN needs to not be attached to any other animation object.
Syntax
DspSymAtSize(nAN, sSym, PositionX, PositionY, SizeX, SizeY, Mode)

nAN:
The AN where the symbol will be animated.
sSym:
The name of the symbol to display, move, or size. If sSym is 0 (zero), any existing symbol at the
AN is erased.
PositionX:
The horizontal offset position (from the AN) of the symbol (in pixels).
PositionY:
The vertical offset position (from the AN) of the symbol (in pixels).
SizeX, SizeY:
The horizontal and vertical scaling factors for the symbol (0 - 32000). For example, if PositionX and
PositionY are both 32000, the symbol is displayed at its normal size. Please be aware that symbols
can only be reduced in size.
Mode:
The mode of the display:
-1 - Soft animation. The background screen (a rectangular region beneath the

symbol) is restored with the original image. Any objects that are within
the rectangular region are destroyed when the background is restored.
Use this mode when each animation symbol is a different size.
0 - Overlap animation. The background screen (beneath the symbol) is not
erased - the next symbol is displayed on top. Transparent color is sup-
ported in this mode, allowing for symbol overlap. For this mode to dis-
play correctly, each symbol needs to be the same size.
1 - Animate animation. The background screen (beneath the symbol) is not
erased - the next symbol is displayed on top. This mode provides the
fastest animation. For this mode to display correctly, each symbol needs
to be the same size. Transparent color is not supported in this mode.
433
8 - Stops animation at last symbol displayed. Use this mode where you want
to freeze your animation at the end of the sequence.
16 - Stops animation at current symbol displayed. Use this mode where you
want to freeze your animation instantly.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspAnMove, DspAnMoveRel, DspSym
Example
! Display tripper moving in x axis at normal size.

DspSymAtSize(21, "lib.tripper", x, 0, 32000, 32000, 0);
! Display elevator going up and down.
DspSymAtSize(22, "lib.elevator", 0, y, 32000, 32000, 0);
! Display can getting bigger and smaller.
DspSymAtSize(23, "lib.can", 0, 0, size, size, 0);
See Also
Display Functions
DspText
Displays text at a specified AN location. This function does the same operation as
DspStr(), however it uses a font number rather than a font name.
Syntax
DspText(hAN, iFont, sText [, iLength] [, iAlignMode] [, iLengthMode])

hAN:
The AN where the text will be displayed.
iFont:
The font number that is used to display the text. (To use the default font, set to -1.)
sText:
The text to display.
iLength:
434
Length of the Text to display, either in characters or pixels depending on Mode (default -1, no trun-
cation)
iAlignMode:
The alignment of the text string:

0 - Left Justified (default)
1 - Right Justified.
2 - Center Justified.
iLengthMode:

Return Value
Related Functions
DspStr, DspFont, DspFontHnd
Example
/* Displays "Display this text" at AN25 using the font defined as

BigFont. */
hBigFont=DspFontHnd("BigFont");
DspText(25,hBigFont,"Display this text");
See Also
Display Functions
DspTipMode
Switches the display of tool tips on or off. This function overrides the setting in the
[Page]TipHelp parameter.
Syntax
DspTipMode(nMode)
nMode:
The display mode:
0 - Off
1 - On
2 - Toggle the tool tip mode
435
3 - Do not change the mode, just return the current value
Return Value
The old mode.
Related Functions
DspSetTip, DspGetTip
Example
DspTipMode(1); //Switch on tool tips
See Also
Display Functions
DspTrend
Displays a trend at an AN. Values are plotted on the trend pens. You need to specify
Value1, but Value2 to Value8 are optional. If more values (than configured pens) are spec-
ified, the additional values are ignored. If fewer values (than configured pens) are spec-
ified, the pens that have no values are not displayed.
DspTrend() is optimized so that it will not display the trend until a full set of samples
has been collected. For example, if you have defined 100 samples for your trend, the
trend will not display until value 100 is entered.
You should use this function only if you want to control the display of trends directly. If
you use the standard Trends (defined in the Trends database) this function is called auto-
matically.
Note: This function is only used for V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and was superseded in later releases.
Syntax
DspTrend(nAN,Trend,Value1 [,Value2 ... Value8] )

nAN:
The AN where the trend will be displayed.
Trend:
The name of the trend to display in the format <[LibName.]TrnName>. If you do not specify the
library name, a trend from the Global library will display (if it exists).
To display a Version 1.xx trend, specify the trend number (0 to 255). For example, if you specify
trend 1, CitectSCADA displays the trend Global.Trn001.
Value1:
436
The value to display on Pen 1 of the trend.
Value2...8:
The values to display on Pen 2...Pen 8 of the trend (optional).
Return Value
Related Functions
DspDel
Example
/* Using the main_loop trend (from the trends library) at AN25,

display a value of 10 on Pen1, 20 on Pen2, 30 on Pen3 and 40 on
Pen4 of the trend. */
DspTrend(25,"Trends.Main_Loop",10,20,30,40);
/* Using trend definition 5 (CitectSCADA Version 1.xx)
at AN25, display a value of 10 on Pen1, 20 on Pen2, 30 on Pen3 and
40 on Pen4 of the trend. */
DspTrend(25,5,10,20,30,40);
/* Using the loops trend (from the global library) at AN26,
display a value of 100 on Pen1 and 500 on Pen2 of the trend. */
DspTrend(26,"Loops",100,500);
/* Display a trend configured with 100 samples immediately. The
data for the first 100 samples is stored in an array -
MyData[100]. On first display, grab all the data and call
DspTrend().*/
FOR i = 0 to 100 DO
DspTrend(AN, "Loops", MyData[i]);
END
// display new samples every 300ms
WHILE TRUE DO
// Shift MyData down and grab new sample
TableShift(MyData, 100, 1);
MyData[99] = MyFastData;
DspTrend(AN, "Loops", MyData[99]);
SleepMS(300);
END
/* Display a trend configured with 100 samples immediately. Dummy
data is pushed into the first 100 samples to fill the trend. Once
these values are entered, the trend will be updated each time a
new sample value is entered.*/
// fill up the trend.
FOR i = 0 to 100 DO
DspTrend(AN, "Loops", 0);
END
// display new samples every 300ms
WHILE TRUE DO
DspTrend(AN, "Loops", MyFastData);
SleepMS(300);
END
437
See Also
Display Functions
DspTrendInfo
Get information on a trend definition.
Syntax
DspTrendInfo( hTrend, Type, AN)

hTrend:
The name of the trend in the format <[LibName.]TrnName>. If you do not specify the library name,
a trend from the Global library is assumed.
To get information on a Version 1.xx trend, specify the trend number (0 to 255). For example, if you
specify trend 1, CitectSCADA obtains information from the trend Global.Trn001.
nType:
Type of trend info:
0 - Type of trend:
l 0 = line
l 1 = bar
1 - Number of samples in trend

2 - Height of trend (in pixels)
3 - Width of trend sample (in pixels)
4 - Number of trend pens
11 - Color of pen 1. If the pen uses flashing color, the initial color used. (Use
type 19 to determine the secondary flashing color for pen 1.)
438
19 - The secondary color used for pen 1, if flashing color is used.
nAN:
The AN where the trend is displayed.
Return Value
The trend information (as an integer). If Pen Color (Types 11 - 18) is requested from a bar
trend, the return value is -1.
Related Functions
DspTrend
Example
! get the number of samples for the main_loop trend (from the
trends library).
nSamples = DspTrendInfo("Trends.Main_Loop", 1);
! get the number of samples for trend 3 (CitectSCADA
Version 1.xx).
nSamples = DspTrendInfo(3, 1);
See Also
Display Functions
439
440
Chapter 26: DLL Functions
Following are functions relating to DLLs:
DLLCall Calls a DLL function.
DLLCal- Calls a DLL function, and passes the specified arguments to that function.
lEx
DLLClos- Closes a link to a DLL function.

e
DLLOpe- Opens a link to a DLL function.

n
See Also
Functions Reference
DLLCall
Calls a DLL function, and passes a string of arguments to that function. CitectSCADA
converts these arguments (where required) into the type specified in the DLLOpen() call.
If an argument cannot be converted, it is set to zero (0) or an empty string "".
You need to first open the DLL with the DLLOpen() function.
Only one call to the DLLCall() function can be made at a time, which means runtime
will wait for the called function to return before doing anything else. If the called func-
tion takes too long to return, it won't let other tasks execute. Therefore, care needs to be
taken so that one call returns before the next is made.
Good programming practice requires that functions which are not expected to complete
in a short time are run as separate Windows threads and return a value immediately to
CitectSCADA.
Syntax
DLLCall(hFunction, sArgs)
hFunction:
The DLL function handle, returned from DLLOpen().
sArgs:
441
The string of arguments to pass to the DLL function. The argument string contains all the arguments
for the function, separated by commas (,). Enclose string arguments in quote marks "", and use the
string escape character (^) to put a string delimiter within a string. This syntax is the same as the
syntax for the TaskNew() function
Return Value
The result of the function, as a string.
Related Functions
DLLOpen, DLLClose
Example
See DLLOpen
See Also
DLL Functions
DLLCallEx
Calls a DLL function, and passes the specified arguments to that function.
You need to first open the DLL with the DLLOpen function.
Only one call to the DLLCallEx() function can be made at a time, which means runtime
will wait for the called function to return before doing anything else. If the called func-
tion takes too long to return, it won't let other tasks execute. Therefore, care needs to be
taken so that one call returns before the next is made.
Good programming practice requires that functions which are not expected to complete
in a short time are run as separate Windows threads and return a value immediately to
CitectSCADA.
Syntax
DLLCallEx(hFunction,vParameters)
hFunction:
vParameters:
A variable length parameter list of method arguments. The parameters will be passed to the function
in the order that you enter them. Specifying too few or too many parameters will generate an Invalid
Argument hardware error. An Invalid Argument hardware error will also be generated if you spec-
ify a parameter to the DLL function with the wrong type.
Return Value
442
The result of the function. If the DLL function returns a string then your Cicode return
variable should be of type STRING. All other types will be INT.
Related Functions
DLLOpen, DLLClose
Example
/* This function is called when CitectSCADA starts up,

to initialize all the DLLs that are called */
INT hAnsiUpper;
INT hGlobalAlloc;
FUNCTION InitMyDLLs()
! Open DLL to AnsiUpper
hAnsiUpper = DLLOpen("USER.DLL", "AnsiUpper", "CC");
hGlobalAlloc = DLLOpen("Kernel", "GlobalAlloc", "IIJ");
END
/* This is the Cicode entry point into the DLL function call. This
function hides the DLL interface from the rest of CitectSCADA. *
STRING
FUNCTION AnsiUpper(STRING sString)
STRING sResult;
sResult = DLLCallEx(hAnsiUpper, sString);
RETURN sResult;
END
/* Allocate memory and return memory handle */
INT
FUNCTION GlobalAlloc(INT Mode, INT Length)
INT hMem;
hMem = DLLCallEx(hGlobalAlloc, Mode, Length);
RETURN hMem;
END
See Also
DLL Functions
DLLClose
Closes the link to a DLL function, and frees the memory allocated for that function link.
When the link is closed, you cannot call the function. CitectSCADA automatically closes
all function links at shutdown.
Syntax
DLLClose(hFunction)
hFunction:
Return Value
443
Related Functions
DLLOpen, DLLCall
Example
See DLLOpen
See Also
DLL Functions
DLLOpen
Opens a link to a DLL function, by loading the specified DLL library into memory and
attaching it to the named function. After you open the function link, you can call the
function with the DLLCall() function. You pass the function number returned from the
DLLOpen() function as an argument in the DLLCall() function.
CitectSCADA only supports DLL functions that accept arguments via stack-based calling
conventions. For example, in Win32 only cdecl and stdcall are supported.
One accepted method for interfacing with a DLL function is to write a Cicode function
file. This file contains the DLLOpen() function to initialize the functions, and one Cicode
function for each DLL function, as an interface. In this way, you can hide the DLL inter-
face in this file. Any other Cicode function will call the Cicode interface, and the call to
the DLL remains transparent.
Please be aware that DLLs need to be on the path. The file extension is not required.
Note: You need to specify the arguments to the function correctly. CitectSCADA has
no way of checking the number and type of arguments to the function. If you specify
the number of arguments incorrectly, your computer may display unexpected behav-
ior. You should test your interface thoroughly before using it on a live system.
Ensure that you specify the arguments to the DLLOpen() function correctly according to the
following list.
ment damage.
Syntax
DLLOpen(sLib, sName, sArgs)
444
sLib:
The DLL library name.
sName:
The function name. An underscore (_) is required in the function name for a 'C' function, but not for
a Pascal function. When you call a DLL from a Cicode function, sName needs to be the same as the
name defined in the .DEF file used to link the DLL. The file extension is not required.
sArgs:
The string specifying the function arguments. The first character in the string is the return value of
the function.
A - Logical.
B - IEEE 8 byte floating point number.
C - Null terminated string. Maximum string length 255 characters.
D - Byte counted string. First byte contains the length of the string, maximum
string length 255 characters.
H - Unsigned 2 byte integer.
I - Signed 2 byte integer.
J - Signed 4 byte integer.
Return Value
The DLL function handle, or -1 if the library or function could not be found or loaded.
Related Functions
DLLCall, DLLClose
Example
/* This function is called when CitectSCADA starts up,

to initialize the DLLs that are called */
INT hAnsiUpper;
INT hGlobalAlloc;
FUNCTION InitMyDLLs()
! Open DLL to AnsiUpper
hAnsiUpper = DLLOpen("USER.DLL", "AnsiUpper", "CC");
hGlobalAlloc = DLLOpen("Kernel", "GlobalAlloc", "IIJ");
END
/* This is the Cicode entry point into the DLL function call. This
function hides the DLL interface from the rest of CitectSCADA. */
STRING
FUNCTION AnsiUpper(STRING sString)
STRING sResult;
sResult = DLLCall(hAnsiUpper, "^"" + sString + "^"");
RETURN sResult;
END
445
/* Allocate memory and return memory handle */

INT
FUNCTION GlobalAlloc(INT Mode, INT Length)
STRING sResult;
INT hMem;
sResult = DLLCall(hGlobalAlloc, Mode : #### + "," + Length : ####);
hMem = StrToInt(sResult);
RETURN hMem;
END
See Also
DLL Functions
446
Chapter 26: Equipment Database Functions
Following are functions relating to the equipment database.
EquipBrowseClose Closes an equipment database browse session.
EquipBrowseFirst Gets the first equipment database entry in the browse

session.
EquipBrowseGetField Gets the field indicated by the cursor position in the

browse session.
EquipBrowseNext Gets the next equipment database entry in the browse

session.
EquipBrowseNumRecords Returns the number of records in the current browse ses-

sion.
EquipBrowseOpen Opens an equipment database browse session.
EquipBrowsePrev Gets the previous equipment database entry in the

browse session.
EquipCheckUpdate Checks if the equipment database file has been updated,

and provides the facility to reload it.
EquipGetProperty Reads a property of an equipment database record from

the EQUIP.DBF file.
EquipSetProperty Sets the property of an item of equipment.
EquipStateBrowseClose Terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources

used by the session.
EquipStateBrowseFirst Places the data browse cursor at the first record.
EquipStateBrowseGetField Returns the value of the particular field in a record to which

EquipStateBrowseNext Places the data browse cursor at the next available record.
EquipStateBrowseNumRecords Returns the number of records that match the current filter
criteria.
EquipStateBrowseOpen Initiates a new session for browsing the equipment states

configured.
EquipStateBrowsePrev Places the data browse cursor at the previous record.
447
See Also
Functions Reference
EquipBrowseClose
The EquipBrowseClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans up
Syntax
INT EquipBrowseClose(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a EquipBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment database browse session exists, otherwise an error code is
returned.
Related Functions
EquipBrowseFirst, EquipBrowseGetField, EquipBrowseNext, EquipBrowseNumRecords,

EquipBrowseOpen, EquipBrowsePrev, EquipCheckUpdate, EquipGetProperty
See Also
Equipment Database Functions
EquipBrowseFirst
The EquipBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
is complete.
Syntax
INT EquipBrowseFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment database browse session exists, otherwise an error code is
returned.
Related Functions
448
EquipBrowseClose, EquipBrowseGetField, EquipBrowseNext, EquipBrowseNumRecords,

See Also
EquipBrowseGetField
The EquipBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the rec-
Syntax
STRING EquipBrowseGetField(LONG Session, STRING FieldName)

Session:
FieldName:
Name, Cluster, Type, Area, Location, IODevice, Page, Help, Comment,
Composite, Parent, Custom1, Custom2, Custom3, Custom4, Custom5,
Custom6, Custom7, Custom8.
Return Value
Related Functions
EquipBrowseClose, EquipBrowseFirst, EquipBrowseNext, EquipBrowseNumRecords,

Example

INT errorCode = 0;
...
fieldValue = EquipBrowseGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
// Successful case
ELSE
449

END
...
See Also
EquipBrowseNext
The EquipBrowseNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If you
is complete.
Syntax
INT EquipBrowseNext(LONG Session)

Session
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment database browse session exists, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
EquipBrowseClose, EquipBrowseFirst, EquipBrowseGetField, EquipBrowseNumRecords,

See Also
EquipBrowseNumRecords
The EquipBrowseNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the
filter criteria.
Syntax
LONG EquipBrowseNumRecords(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
450
browse session.
Related Functions
EquipBrowseClose, EquipBrowseFirst, EquipBrowseGetField, EquipBrowseNext, Equip-

BrowseOpen, EquipBrowsePrev, EquipCheckUpdate, EquipGetProperty
Example
INT numRecords = 0;
...
numRecords = EquipBrowseNumRecords(iSession);
// Have records
ELSE
// No records
END
...
See Also
EquipBrowseOpen
The EquipBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to
is complete.
Syntax
LONG EquipBrowseOpen(STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters] )

Filter:
equipment name. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "name=AAA".
Fields:
451
Name, Cluster, Type, Area, Location, IODevice, Page, Help, Comment,

Composite, Parent, Custom1, Custom2, Custom3, Custom4, Custom5,
Custom6, Custom7, Custom8.
Clusters:
browse. An empty string indicates that all connected clusters will be browsed.
Return Value
Related Functions

BrowseNumRecords, EquipBrowsePrev, EquipCheckUpdate, EquipGetProperty
Example
INT iSession;
...
iSession = EquipBrowseOpen("NAME=ABC*", "NAME,AREA",
// Successful case
ELSE
END
...
See Also
EquipBrowsePrev
The EquipBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you
Syntax
INT EquipBrowsePrev(LONG Session)

Session:
452
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment database browse session exists, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions

BrowseNumRecords, EquipBrowseOpen, EquipCheckUpdate, EquipGetProperty
See Also
EquipCheckUpdate
The runtime environment will automatically check if the equipment database has been
updated before each page open and before running an equipment browse open function
(EquipBrowseOpen). It does this by checking the version of the database file. You may
also update the database periodically in a background task to reload the database even if
the page is not changed.
The EquipCheckUpdate function checks if the equipment database file has been updated,
and provides the facility to reload it. The reload can only be performed if there are no
open browse sessions.
Syntax
INT EquipCheckUpdate(INT Reload)

Reload:
l 1 (TRUE) if you want to reload the database.
l 0 (FALSE) checks the status of the database without reloading it.
Return Value
0 (FALSE) if the equipment database has not changed, or 1 (TRUE) if it has been
changed, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
EquipBrowseClose, EquipBrowseGetField, EquipBrowseFirst, EquipBrowseNext, Equip-

BrowseNumRecords, EquipBrowseOpen, EquipBrowsePrev, EquipGetProperty
See Also
EquipGetProperty
This function reads a property of an equipment database record from the EQUIP.RDB
database file.
453
Syntax
STRING EquipGetProperty(STRING Name, STRING Field, INT Mode, STRING Cluster)

Name:
The name of the equipment from which to get information. The name of the equipment can be pre-
fixed by the name of the cluster that is "ClusterName.Equipment".
Field:
The field to read. Supported fields are:
Name, Cluster, Type, Area, Location, IODevice, Page, Parent, Composite, Help, Comment, Cus-
tom1, Custom2, Custom3, Custom4, Custom5, Custom6, Custom7, Custom8. Defstate, Scheduled
Name - The name of the equipment (254 characters).

Cluster - The cluster to which the equipment belongs (16 characters).
Type - The equipment-specific type of device (254 characters).
Area - Area number (integer) (16 characters).
Location - Equipment specific field (254 characters).
IODevice - I/O Device name(s) (254 characters).
Page - Page name (254 characters).
Parent - The name of the parent equipment derived from the name of the equip-
ment (maximum 254 characters).
Help - Help context (254 characters).
Comment - User comment (254 characters).
Custom1..8 - User definable fields (254 characters each).
Composite - The equipment specific composite name (maximum 254 char-
acters).
Defstate - The default state.
Scheduled - Specifies if the equipment participates in a schedule.
Runtime fields:
MODE - (the current mode of the equipment) 0 - automatic; 1- Manual Inher-

ited; 2- Manual.
DRMODE - (the current DR mode level for the equipment). The value will be a
positive integer to represent the current DR level or zero if inactive.
STATE - (the current state of the equipment. Although you can only set state for
equipment in Override mode, it is still possible to get state for equipment
in normal and inherited override mode.)
Mode:
0 (Block - value retrieved from the report server)
454
1 (Cache - Value comes from the memory)

2 (Local - value retrieved from the local RDB, an error is returned when trying
to get the scheduler engine field in local mode)
3 (CacheThenLocal)
Cluster - The name of the cluster (optional for a single cluster system)
Return Value
Related Functions

BrowseNumRecords, EquipBrowseOpen, EquipBrowsePrev, EquipCheckUpdate, Equip-
SetProperty
See Also
EquipSetProperty
The EquipSetProperty function sets the property of an item of equipment.
Syntax
INT EquipSetProperty(STRING Name, STRING Field, STRING Value, STRING Cluster)

Name:
The name of the equipment.
field:
Only properties coming from the scheduler engine can be set:
MODE: (the current mode of the equipment)
STATE: (the current state of the equipment. The state only can be set for equipment in “Override”
mode)
DRMODE: (the DR mode of the equipment)
Value:
The value to be set:
MODE: 0, automatic; 2 Manual
455
STATE: Any state configured in the system for this equipment, also the mode set the mode to Man-
ual otherwise an error will be sent.
DRMODE: the current DR mode level for the equipment. The value will be a positive integer to rep-
resent the current DR level or zero if inactive.
cluster:
The name of the cluster (optional)
Return Value
Returns 0 if successful otherwise it returns an error.
Related Functions
EquipGetProperty, EquipBrowseOpen,EquipBrowseClose, EquipBrowseFirst, Equip-

BrowseGetField, EquipBrowseNext, EquipBrowseNumRecords, EquipBrowsePrev
See Also
EquipStateBrowseClose
The EquipStateBrowseClose function terminates a browsing session and cleans up the
resources used by the session. This function uses iSession as the argument which is pre-
viously returned by the EquipStateBrowseOpen function.
Syntax
INT EquipStateBrowseClose(LONG Session )

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a EquipStateBrowseOpen call
Return Value
Returns 0 if the equipment state database browse session has been closed successfully,
otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
EquipStateBrowseOpen, EquipStateBrowseFirst, EquipStateBrowseGetField, Equip-

StateBrowseNext, EquipStateBrowseNumRecords, EquipStateBrowsePrev, Equip-
GetProperty
Example
456
ErrSet(1);
INT error;
fieldValue = EquipStateBrowseClose(iSession);
error = IsError();
IF(error <> 0) THEN

//return error
ELSE
//successful
ErrSet(0)
end
See Also
EquipStateBrowseFirst
The EquipStateBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
is complete.
Syntax
INT EquipBrowseFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a EquipStateBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment state database browse session exists, otherwise an error is
returned.
Related Functions

GetProperty
See Also
EquipStateBrowseGetField
The EquipStateBrowseGetField function returns the value of the particular field in a rec-
ord to which the data browse cursor is currently referencing. This function uses the field
name whose value needs to be returned.
457
Syntax
STRING EquipStateBrowseGetField(LONG Session, STRING Field)

Session:
Field:
The name of the field that references the value to be returned. Available fields are:
Name – the state name

Equipment – equipment name
Delay – entry command delay
Period – repeat command period
Priority – the state priority
Description – state description
DRmode – demand-response mode of this state
Return Value
Related Functions
EquipStateBrowseOpen, EquipStateBrowseFirst, EquipStateBrowseNext, Equip-

StateBrowseNumRecords, EquipStateBrowsePrev, EquipGetProperty
Example
ErrSet(1);
INT error;
fieldValue = EquipStateBrowseGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
error = IsError();
IF(error <> 0) THEN

//return error
ELSE
//successful
ErrSet(0)
end
458
See Also
EquipStateBrowseNext
The EquipStateBrowseNext function places the data browse cursor at the next available
record. This function will return an error if called when the data cursor is at end of the
records.
is complete.
Syntax
INT EquipStateBrowseNext(LONG Session)

Session
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment state database browse session exists, otherwise an error is
returned.
Related Functions

StateBrowseNumRecords, EquipStateBrowsePrev, EquipGetProperty
See Also
EquipStateBrowseNumRecords
The EquipStateBrowseNumRecords function returns the number of records that match
the current filter criteria.
Syntax
LONG EquipStateBrowseNumRecords(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Returns the number of records which matches the current filter criteria. 0 means no rec-
ords were found.
459
Related Functions

StateBrowseNext, EquipStateBrowsePrev
See Also
EquipStateBrowseOpen
The EquipStateBrowseOpen function initiates a new session for brows-
ing the equipment states configured. It returns a handle for the brows-
ing session which can be used for further browsing operations.
Syntax
LONG EquipStateBrowseOpen(STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters] )

Filter:
that every record will be returned. Where a field name is not specified in the filter, it is assumed to
be tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "name=AAA".
Fields:
string indicates that the server will return every available column. Refer to Equip-
StateBroswseGetField function for list of available fields.
Clusters:
browse. An empty string indicates that every connected clustes will be browsed.
Return Value
Related Functions
EquipStateBrowseClose, EquipStateBrowseFirst, EquipStateBrowseGetField, Equip-

GetProperty
See Also
EquipStateBrowsePrev
460
The EquipStateBrowsePrev function places the data browse cursor at the previous rec-
ord. This function will return an error if called when the data cursor is at beginning of
the records.
Syntax
INT EquipStateBrowsePrev(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
0 (zero) if the equipment state browse session exists, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
EquipStateBrowseClose, EquipStateBrowseFirst, EquipStateBrowseGetField, Equip-

StateBrowseNext, EquipStateBrowseNumRecords, EquipStateBrowseOpen, Equip-
GetProperty
See Also
461
462
Chapter 27: Error Functions
Following are functions relating to errors:
ErrCom Gets the communication status for the current Cicode task.
ErrDrv Gets a protocol-specific error message.
ErrGetHw Gets a hardware error code.
ErrHelp Displays help information about a hardware error.
ErrInfo Gets error information.
ErrLog Logs a system error.
ErrMsg Gets the error message associated with a hardware error.
ErrSet Sets the error mode.
ErrSetHw Sets a hardware error.
ErrSetLevel Sets the error level.
ErrTrap Generates an error trap.
IsError Checks for an error.
See Also
Functions Reference
ErrCom
Gets the communication status for the current Cicode task. You can call this function in
reports, Cicode that is associated with an object, and in any Cicode task.
Syntax
ErrCom()
Return Value
463
0 (zero) if all I/O device data associated with the task is valid, otherwise an error is
returned.
Related Functions
CodeSetMode
Example
IF ErrCom()<>0 THEN
Prompt("I/O device data is bad");
END
In a report format:
{CICODE}
IF ErrCom()<>0 THEN
PrintLn("This Report contains bad data");
END
{END}
See Also
Error Functions
ErrDrv
Gets a protocol-specific error message and native error code.
Syntax
ErrDrv(sProtocol, sField, nError)

sProtocol:
The CitectSCADA protocol.
sField:
The field in the PROTERR.DBF database:

l PROTOCOL
l MASK
l ERROR
l MESSAGE
l REFERENCE
l ACTION
l COMMENT
nError:
464
The protocol specific error code. This field needs to be a variable as it also the place where the
returned error code is stored.
Since the first 34 specific error codes are standard for all protocols, CitectSCADA may add 'mask-
ing' to make the error code unique. For example, if an I/O device returns errors 1 to 10 (which are
already used), the driver may add 0x100000 to its error codes. When this function is called, the
mask will be removed before the result is returned to this variable.
Return Value
The error message (as a string), or an empty string ("") if the error is not found. The error
code is returned into the nError variable.
Related Functions
ErrInfo, ErrHelp
Example
// Get the error message and number associated with error 108
nError = 108;
sError = ErrDrv("TIWAY", "MESSAGE", nError);
See Also
Error Functions
ErrGetHw
Gets the current hardware error status for an I/O device.
I/O devices can be grouped into 2 distinct categories: Those that are created by the sys-
tem engineer, and those that are created by CitectSCADA itself.
I/O devices that are created by the system engineer include any I/O device listed in the
CitectSCADA I/O devices database, and any device visible as a record in the I/O Device
form in the Project Editor.
I/O devices that are created by CitectSCADA include Generic, LAN, Cicode, Animation,
Reports Server, Alarms Server, Trends Server, and I/O Server, and are those specifically
not created by the system engineer.
The argument's values you supply in this function are used by CitectSCADA to deter-
mine which type of device hardware alarm you want to work with.
Note: Do not use this function if you have more than 511 I/O devices in your project
and the flag [Code]BackwardCompatibleErrHw is set to 1. You may retrieve the hard-
ware error status for the wrong I/O device.
Syntax
465
ErrGetHw(Device, DeviceType)
Device:
For I/O devices that are created by the system engineer, select the IODevNo as the argument value.
To determine the IODevNo of a physical I/O device in your project, use the I/O device record
number from the I/O Device form in the Citect Project Editor. When using an IODevNo, the Device-
Type argument needs to be set to 2.
For I/O devices that are created by CitectSCADA itself, select one of the following options as the
argument value:
l Generic
l LAN
l Cicode
l Animation
l Reports Server
l Alarms Server
l Trends Server
l I/O Server
DeviceType:
Select a value from the following options to indicate the 'Type of Device' used in the Device argu-
ment:
0 - for I/O devices that are created by CitectSCADA itself (Generic, LAN,
Cicode, Animation, etc).
2 - for I/O devices that are created by the system engineer.
The DeviceType argument was added to this function in V5.40 and later. Earlier versions did not
pass a value for the DeviceType argument (as it did not exist). Versions prior to V5.40 identified an
I/O device by passing the IODevNo (masked with the value of 8192) to the function as the Device
argument, in the structure:
IODevNo + 8192
This was for versions of CitectSCADA permitting a maximum limit of 4095 I/O devices.
Versions prior to V5.20 masked the IODevNo with a value of 512. The backward compatibility flag
for using this mask needs to be set in the Citect.INI file (see code parameter Back-
wardCompatibleErrHw.).
Return Value
The detected error.
Related Functions
ErrHelp, ErrInfo, ErrMsg, ErrSetHw
466
Example
Error=ErrGetHw(3,0);
! Sets Error to the current error status for the animation device.
IF Error=0 THEN
DspText(4,0,"");
ELSE
DspText(4,0,"Hardware error");
END
See Also
Error Functions
ErrHelp
Displays information about a hardware error.
Syntax
ErrHelp(Error)
Error:
The Cicode hardware error string (as returned by ErrMsg()).
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error (274) is returned.
Related Functions
ErrInfo, IsError, ErrMsg
Example
! Invokes the CitectSCADA Help with help on the

hardware alarm.
iResult = ErrHelp(ErrMsg(IsError()));
See Also
Error Functions
ErrInfo
Gets extended error information on the last error that was detected.
Syntax
ErrInfo(nType)
nType:
467
The type of error information. If type is 0 (zero), function returns the animation number where the
error occurred.
Return Value
The error information.
Example
! Get the animation number where the last error occurred

AN = ErrInfo(0);
See Also
Error Functions
ErrLog
Logs a message to the CitectSCADA system log file.
This function is useful for logging errors in user functions, and for debugging user func-
tions. The CitectSCADA system log file 'SYSLOG.DAT' is created in the local Windows
directory of the computer, C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\C-
itect\CitectSCADA 7.30\Logs.
Syntax
ErrLog(Message)
Message:
The message to log. This field can also contain control (such as /n) and formatting characters.
Return Value
Related Functions
DebugMsg, DebugMsgSet, CodeTrace, TraceMsg, Halt
Example
FUNCTION MyFunc(INT Arg)

IF Arg<0 THEN
ErrLog("Invalid arg in Myfunc");
Halt();
END
END
468
See Also
Error Functions
ErrMsg
Gets the error message associated with a detected hardware error.
Syntax
ErrMsg(nError)
nError:
The hardware error number returned from the IsError() function.
Return Value
The error message (as a string). A null value is returned if nError is not in the range of
Cicode errors.
Related Functions
IsError, ErrHelp, ErrInfo, ErrTrap
Example
//Get the message of the last hardware error

sMsg = ErrMsg(IsError());
See Also
Error Functions
ErrSet
Sets the error-checking mode. When Mode is set to 0 and an error occurs that causes a
component to stop executing, CitectSCADA halts the execution of the Cicode task that
caused the error, and generates a hardware error.
You can perform error checking by setting Mode to 1 and using the IsError() function to
trap errors. When the type of error is determined, you can control what happens under
particular error conditions.
The operation of the ErrSet() function is unique to each Cicode task. If you enable user
error checking for one task, it does not enable error checking for any other tasks.
Note: This has changed from previous versions of CitectSCADA where this feature
used to affect all Cicode tasks.
Syntax
469
ErrSet(Mode)
Mode:
Error-checking mode:
0 - default - CitectSCADA will check for errors.

1 - The user needs to check for errors.
Return Value
Related Functions
IsError, ErrSetHw, ErrSetLevel
Example
ErrSet(1);
Test=Var/0;
Error=IsError();
! Sets Error to 273 (divide by zero).
See Also
Error Functions
ErrSetHw
Sets the hardware error status for a hardware device. Call this function to generate a
hardware error.
I/O devices can be grouped into two distinct categories: those created by the system engi-
neer, and those created by CitectSCADA itself.
I/O devices that are created by the system engineer, are any I/O device listed in the Citect-
SCADA I/O devices database, visible as records in the I/O Device form in the Project
Editor.
I/O devices that are created by CitectSCADA, including Generic, LAN, Cicode,
Animation, Reports Server, Alarms Server, Trends Server, and I/O Server (are those spe-
cifically not created by the system engineer).
The arguments values you supply in this function are used by CitectSCADA to deter-
mine the type of device hardware alarm you want to work with.
Note: To use this function, you need to set [Code]BackwardCompatibleErrHw to 1.

You cannot use this function if you have more than 511 I/O devices in your project.
Syntax
470
ErrSetHw(Device, Error, DeviceType)

Device:
For I/O devices that are created by the system engineer, select the IODevNo as the argument value.
To determine the IODevNo of a physical I/O device in your project, use the I/O device record
number from the I/O Device form in the Citect Project Editor. When using an IODevNo, the Device-
Type argument needs to be set to 2.
For I/O devices that are created by CitectSCADA itself, select one of the following options as the
argument value:
0 - Generic
1 - LAN
2 - Cicode
3 - Animation
4 - Reports Server
5 - Alarms Server
6 - Trends Server
7 - I/O Server
Error:
The error code.
DeviceType:
Select a value from the following options to indicate the 'Type of Device' used in the Device argu-
ment:
0 - For I/O devices that are created by CitectSCADA itself (Generic, LAN,
Cicode, Animation, etc).
2 - For I/O devices that are created by the system engineer.
The DeviceType argument was added to this function in V5.40 and later. Earlier versions did not
pass a value for the DeviceType argument (as it did not exist). Versions prior to V5.40 identified an
I/O device by passing the IODevNo (masked with the value of 8192) to the function as the Device
argument, in the structure:
IODevNo + 8192
This was for versions of CitectSCADA that permitted a maximum limit of 4095 I/O devices.
Versions prior to V5.20 masked the IODevNo with a value of 512. The backward compatibility flag
for using this mask needs to be set in the Citect.INI file (see code parameter Back-
wardCompatibleErrHw).
Return Value
471
Related Functions
ErrHelp ErrMsg ErrSet ErrSetHw
Example
ErrSetHw(4,273,0);
! Generates a divide by zero error (273) on the report device.
ErrSetHw(3,0,0)
! Resets any error on the animation device.
See Also
Error Functions
ErrSetLevel
Sets the nesting error level to enable CitectSCADA error checking inside a nested func-
tion (when CitectSCADA error checking has been disabled). This function returns the old
error level and sets a new error level.
The nesting error level is incremented every time the ErrSet(1) function is called.
Syntax
ErrSetLevel(Level)
Level:
The nesting error level.
Return Value
Returns the old error level and sets a new error level.
Related Functions
ErrSet
Example
! ErrorLevel 0 defaults to ErrSet(0) - enables CitectSCADA error-checking.

FUNCTION MainFn()
ErrSet(1);
! ErrorLevel 1 - disables CitectSCADA error checking.
Fn1();
ErrSet(0);
! Enables CitectSCADA error checking.
END
FUNCTION Fn1()
472
ErrSet(1);
! ErrorLevel 2 - disables CitectSCADA error checking.
Test=Var/0;
Error=IsError();
! Sets Error to 273 (divide by zero).
Fn2();
ErrSet(0);
! Enables CitectSCADA error checking.
END
FUNCTION Fn2()
OldErrorLevel=ErrSetLevel(0);
! Sets nesting error level to 0 to enable CitectSCADA error-checking.
Test=Var/0;
! Cicode halts and a hardware alarm is generated.
ErrSetLevel(OldErrorLevel)
! Resets nesting error level to disable CitectSCADA error-checking.
END
See Also
Error Functions
ErrTrap
Generates an error trap. If CitectSCADA error checking is enabled, this function will gen-
erate a hardware error and may halt Cicode execution (see bHalt argument). If user error
checking is enabled, the user function specified in OnEvent(2,Fn) is called.
Syntax
ErrTrap(Error, bHalt)
Error:
The error number to trap.
bHalt:
Determines whether the Cicode execution will be halted.
0 - Cicode execution is not halted

1 - Cicode execution is halted
Return Value

ErrSetHw, ErrSet, ErrSetLevel, OnEvent
Example
IF Tag=0 THEN
ErrTrap(273); ! Traps a divide by zero error.
473
ELSE
Value=10/Tag;
END
See Also
Error Functions
IsError
Gets the current error value. The error value is set when any error is detected, and is
reset after this function is called. You can call this function if user error-checking is ena-
bled or disabled.
You should call this function as soon as possible after the operation to be checked,
because the error code could be changed by the next error.
Syntax
IsError()
Return Value
The current error value. The current error is reset to 0 after this function is called.
Related Functions
ErrSet
Example
! Enable user error-checking.

ErrSet(1);
! Invalid ArcSine.
Ac=ArcSin(20.0);
! Sets ErrorVariable to 274 (invalid argument passed).
ErrorVariable=IsError()
See Also
Error Functions
474
Chapter 28: Event Functions
Following are functions used to trap and process asynchronous events:
CallEvent Calls the event function for an event type.
ChainEvent Calls an event function, by function number.
GetEvent Gets the function number of the current callback event.
OnEvent Sets an event callback function, by event type.
SetEvent Sets an event callback function, by function number.
See Also
Functions Reference
CallEvent
Simulates an event, triggering any OnEvent() function that has the same Type argument
specified.
CitectSCADA starts running the function immediately, without reading any data from
the I/O devices. Any I/O device variable that you use will contain either 0 (zero) or the
last value read.
Syntax
CallEvent(Window, nType)
Window:
The number of the window, returned from the WinNew(), WinNewAt(), or WinNumber() func-
tion.
Type:
The type of event:
0 - The mouse has moved. When the mouse moves the callback function is
called. The return value must be 0.
475
1 - A key has been pressed. When the user presses a key, the callback function
is called after CitectSCADA checks for hot keys. If the return value is 0,
CitectSCADA checks for key sequences. If the return value is not 0, Citect-
SCADA assumes that you will process the key and does not check the
key sequence. It is up to you to remove the key from the key command
line.
If you are using a right mouse button click as an event, you should read about
the ButtonOnlyLeftClick parameter.
2 - Error event. This event is called if an error is detected in Cicode, so you can
write a single error function to check for your errors. If the return value is
0, CitectSCADA continues to process the error and generates a hardware
error - it may then halt the Cicode task. If the return value is not 0, Citect-
SCADA assumes that you will process the error, and continues the
Cicode without generating a hardware error.
3 - Page user communication error. A communication error has been detected
in the data required for this page. If the return value is 0 (zero), Citect-
SCADA still animates the page. If the return value is not zero, it does not
update the page.
4 - Page user open. A new page is being opened. This event allows you to
define a single function that is called when all pages are opened. The
return value must be 0.
5 - Page user close. The current page is being closed. This event allows you to
define a single function that is called when all pages are closed. The
6 - Page user always. The page is active. This event allows you to define a sin-
gle function that is called when all pages are active. The return value
must be 0.
7 - Page communication error. A communication error has been detected in the
data required for this page. Reserved for use by CitectSCADA.
8 - Page open. This event is called each time a page is opened. Reserved for
use by CitectSCADA.
9 - Page close. This event is called each time a page is closed. Reserved for use
by CitectSCADA.
10 - Page always. This event is called while a page is active. Reserved for use
by CitectSCADA.
11..17 - Undefined.
18 - Report start. The report server is about to start a new report. This event is
called on the report server. The return value must be 0.
19 - Device history. A device history has just completed. The return value must
be 0.
476
20 - Login. A user has just logged in.

21 - Logout. A user has just logged out.
22 - Trend needs repainting. This event is called each time CitectSCADA re-
animates a real-time trend or scrolls an historical trend. You should use
this event to add additional animation to a trend, because CitectSCADA
deletes all existing animation when a trend is re-drawn. (For example, if
you want to display extra markers, you must use this event.)
23 - Hardware error has been detected.
24 - Keyboard cursor moved. This event is called each time the keyboard com-
mand cursor moves. The cursor can be moved by the cursor keys, the
mouse, or the Cicode function KeySetCursor(). Note that you can find
where the keyboard command cursor is located by calling the function
KeyGetCursor().
25 - Network shutdown. A Shutdown network command has been issued.
26 - Runtime system shutdown and restart. (Required because of configuration
changes.)
27 - Event. An event has occurred.
28 - Accumulator. An accumulator has logged a value.
29 - Slider. A slider has been selected.
30 - Slider. A slider has moved.
31 - Slider. A slider has been released (that is stopped moving).
While responding to slider events 29, 30, and 31, you can set any variables but
you cannot call functions that cause immediate changes to animations
on the page (for example, DspText() and DspSym()). Types 29, 30, & 31
relate only to V3.xx and V4.xx animations, and will be superseded in
future releases.
32 - Shutdown. CitectSCADA is being shutdown.
33 - Reserved for CitectSCADA internal use.
34 - 41 - CitectSCADA Confirmation Events. Reserved for CitectSCADA inter-
nal use. For the confirmation events, two sets of event type code are
defined. The runtime calls the CitectSCADA event handler first, and con-
ditionally proceed to the user's event handler depending on the return
value of the CitectSCADA event handler.
34 -CitectSCADA Event: Child Window Close Confirmation.
35 - CitectSCADA Event: Main Window Close Confirmation.
36 - CitectSCADA Event: Maximize Window Confirmation.
37 - CitectSCADA Event: Minimize Window Confirmation.
38 - CitectSCADA Event: Restore Window Confirmation.
39 - CitectSCADA Event: Move Window Confirmation.
477
40 - CitectSCADA Event: Size Window Confirmation.

41 - CitectSCADA Event: Shutdown Confirmation Confirmation.
42 to 49 - User Confirmation Events. These functions are called when a specific
event (mainly from Window title bar) occur and before the runtime per-
forms the intended action. This gives a chance for the user to decide
what to do with the event. If the return value is 0, the event will be
passed on to the default handler so the intended action will be per-
formed. If the return value is not 0, the event will be ignored and no fur-
ther action will be taken.
42 - Child Window Close Confirmation, when the close button of the windows'
title bar is clicked or an equivalent Windows' message is received.
43 - Main Window Close Confirmation, when close button of the windows'
title bar is clicked which will cause the process to shutdown.
44 - Maximize Window Confirmation, when the maximize button of the win-
dows' title bar is clicked or an equivalent Windows' message is received.
45- Minimize Window Confirmation, when the minimize button of the win-
dows' title bar is licked or an equivalent Windows' message is received.
46 - Restore Window Confirmation, when the restore button of the windows'
47 - Move Window Confirmation, when the window is being dragged or an
equivalent Windows' message is received.
48 - Size Window Confirmation, when the windows is being resized or an
49 - Shutdown Confirmation, when shutdown() function is called.
50 - 127 - Reserved for future CitectSCADA use.
128 - 256 - User-defined events. These events are for your own use.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is set. To view the error, use the IsError() func-
tion.
Related Functions
OnEvent, GetEvent, WinNew, WinNewAt, WinNumber, IsError
Example
! Call Event Type 1 - key has been pressed in the current window.
Number=WinNumber();
CallEvent(Number,1);
478
See Also
Event Functions
ChainEvent
Calls an event function using the function handle. This creates a chain of event handlers
from a single event. Use the GetEvent() function to get the function number of the current
event handler.
Syntax
ChainEvent(hFn)
hFn:
The function handle, as returned from the GetEvent() function.
Return Value
The return value of the called event function.
Related Functions
OnEvent, GetEvent
Example
See GetEvent
See Also
Event Functions
GetEvent
Gets the function handle of the existing callback event handler. You can use this func-
tion handle in the ChainEvent() function to chain call the existing event function, or in
the SetEvent() function to restore the event handler.
Syntax
GetEvent(nType)
Type:
The type of event:
479
line.
update the page.
must be 0.
use by CitectSCADA.
by CitectSCADA.
by CitectSCADA.
11..17 - Undefined.
be 0.
480

KeyGetCursor().
changes.)
future releases.
481

Return Value
The function handle of the existing callback event handler, or -1 if there are no event han-
dlers.
Related Functions
OnEvent, CallEvent, ChainEvent, SetEvent
Example
! Get existing event handler.

hFn=GetEvent(0);
! Trap mouse movements.
OnEvent(0,MouseFn);
482
..
! Restore old event handler.
SetEvent(0,hFn);
INT
FUNCTION MouseFn()
..
! Chain call old event handler.
RETURN ChainEvent(hFn);
END
See Also
Event Functions
OnEvent
Sets an event callback function for an event type. The callback function is called when
the event occurs.
Using callback functions removes the need for polling or checking for events. Callback
functions have no arguments and needs to return an integer. They also need to be non-
blocking.
CitectSCADA starts running the function immediately, without reading any data from
the I/O devices. Any I/O device variable that you use will contain either 0 (zero) or bad
quality. Only local variables are supported.
The return value of the callback will depend on the type of the event. Set the Fn argu-
ment to 0 (zero) to disable the event.
Notes
l For event type 42..49, a windows system event is received. When the user clicks any
button of the Windows tile bar, or size/move the window, or shutting down a proc-
ess, the callback function is called. If the return value is 0, the event will be processed
by CitectSCADA in default mode which is the original behavior. If the return value is
not 0, CitectSCADA assumes that you will process the event and discard the message
internally.
l If the event handler is non-interactive with instant return value, it can be called
directly.
l Since the event callback function cannot block, any blocking function calls or long
loops should be moved to a separate function.The callback function can start with the
TaskNew() command. For confirmation events, the event callback function should
return a non-zero value to tell CitectSCADA not to continue processing the event. The
new task can call the appropriate function to process the event, such as the Shut-
down() function for a Shutdown Confirmation event.
l The "Shutdown Confirmation" event is raised in the following cases:
483
l Calling shutdown() without setting the callEvent parameter to zero.

l Closing the top level application window - after raising the event "Main Win-
dow Close Confirmation".
l Receiving WM_QUIT message what can come from any source both internal
and external.
l The "Shutdown Confirmation" event is not raised in other cases including, but not
limited to, the following known scenarios:
l The RuntimeManager is doing stop, restart the program, or doing shutdown
all.
l The Windows Task Manager is doing End Task, End Process, or End Process
Tree.
Syntax
OnEvent(Type, Fn)
Type:
The type of event:
line.
update the page.
484
must be 0.
use by CitectSCADA.
by CitectSCADA.
by CitectSCADA.
11..17 - Undefined.
be 0.
KeyGetCursor().
changes.)
485

future releases.
486

Fn:
The function to call when the event occurs. This callback function needs to have no arguments, so
you specify the function with no parentheses (). The callback function needs to return INT as its
return data type. You cannot specify a CitectSCADA built-in function as a callback function.
Set Fn to 0 to disable the event.
Return Value
Related Functions
GetEvent, CallEvent, ChainEvent
Examples
Example 1 - Calls a function called KeyFn to determine if the ESC key has been pressed
on a key press event.
OnEvent(1,KeyFn);
INT
FUNCTION KeyFn()
INT Key;
Key=KeyPeek(0);
IF Key=27 THEN
Prompt("ESC pressed");
RETURN 1;
ELSE
RETURN 0;
END
END
Example 2 - Calls a function called MouseFn to display the position of the mouse when-
ever it is moved.
OnEvent(0,MouseFn);
INT
FUNCTION MouseFn()
INT X,Y;
DspGetMouse(X,Y);
487
RETURN 0;
END
Example 3 - Presents a user with a confirmation dialog box when the main window
close button is pressed.
sFUNCTION XyZStartup()
OnEvent(43, ConfirmShutdown);
END
INT FUNCTION ConfirmShutdown()

TaskNew("_ShutdownDlg", "", 2+8);
RETURN 1;
END
FUNCTION _ShutdownDlg()
STRING sMsg = "Are you sure ?";
INT nRC;
nRC = Message("Close this window and shutdown", sMsg, 1+32);
IF nRC = 0 THEN
Shutdown("","",1,"",0);
END
END
See Also
Event Functions
SetEvent
Sets an event callback function by specifying a function handle. You can use this func-
tion with the GetEvent() function to restore an old event handler.
Syntax
SetEvent(nType, hFn)
Type:
The type of event:
line.
488
update the page.
must be 0.
use by CitectSCADA.
by CitectSCADA.
by CitectSCADA.
11..17 - Undefined.
be 0.
489
KeyGetCursor().
changes.)
future releases.
490

hFn
The function handle, as returned from the GetEvent() function.
Return Value
Related Functions
GetEvent
Example
See GetEvent.
See Also
Event Functions
491
492
Chapter 29: File Functions
Following are functions relating to file operations:
FileClose Closes a file.
FileCopy Copies a file or group of files.
FileDelete Deletes a file.
FileEOF Checks for the end of a file.
FileExist Checks if a file exists.
FileFind Finds a file that matches a specified search criteria.
FileFindClose Closes a find (started with FileFind) that did not run to completion.
FileGetTime Gets the time on a file.
FileMakePath Creates a file path string from individual components.
FileOpen Opens or creates an ASCII file.
FilePrint Prints a file on a device.
FileRead Reads characters from a file.
FileReadBlock Reads a block of characters from a file.
FileReadLn Reads a line from a file.
FileRename Renames a file.
Fil- Prints a rich text file.

eRichTextPrint
FileSeek Seeks a position in a file.
FileSetTime Sets the time on a file.
493
FileSize Gets the size of a file.
FileSplitPath Splits a file path into individual string components.
FileWrite Writes characters to a file.
FileWriteBlock Writes a block of characters to a file.
FileWriteLn Writes a line to a file.
See Also
Functions Reference
FileClose
Closes a file. All data written to the file is flushed to disk when the file is closed, and the
file number becomes invalid.
Syntax
FileClose(File)
File:
The file number.
Return Value
Related Functions
FileOpen
Example
File=FileOpen("C:\Data\Report.Txt","r");
..
! Do file operations.
..
! Close the file.
FileClose(File);
See Also
File Functions
FileCopy
494
Copies a file. You can use the DOS wild card characters (*) and (?) to copy groups of
files. In asynchronous Mode, this function will return immediately and the copy will con-
tinue in the background. Unless you are accessing to the floppy drive, copying files does
not interfere with the operation of other CitectSCADA tasks, because this function is
time-sliced.
Syntax
FileCopy(sSource, sDest, nMode)

sSource:
The name of the source file to copy.
sDest:
The name of destination file to copy to. To copy a file to the printer, specify the name as
"LPT1.DOS".
nMode:
The copy mode:
0 - Normal
1 - Copy only if the file time is different.
2 - Copy in asynchronous mode.
Multiple modes can be selected by adding them together (for example, set Mode to 3 to
copy in asynchronous mode if the file time is different).
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned. However, if you copy in asyn-

chronous mode, the return value does not reflect whether the copy operation was suc-
cessful or not, because the function returns before the actual copy is complete.
Related Functions
FileDelete
Example
! Copy Report.Txt to Report.Bak.

FileCopy ("C:\Data\Report.Txt", "C:\Data\Report.Bak",0);
/* Copy AlarmLog.Txt to AlarmLog.Bak only if the file time is
different. Copy in the background. */
FileCopy ("AlarmLog.Txt", "AlarmLog.Bak",1+2);
See Also
File Functions
495
FileDelete
Deletes a file.
Syntax
FileDelete(sName)
Name:
The name of the file to delete.
Return Value
Related Functions
FileCopy
Example
! Delete old report file.

FileDelete("C:\Data\Report.Txt");
See Also
File Functions
FileEOF
Determines if the end of the file has been reached.
Syntax
FileEOF(File)
File:
The file number.
Return Value
1 if the end of file has been reached, otherwise 0 (zero).
Related Functions
FileSeek
Example
WHILE NOT FileEOF(File) DO
496
Str=FileReadLn(File);
END
See Also
File Functions
FileExist
Checks if a file exists. If the return value is 1, the file exists.
Syntax
FileExist(sName)
Name:
The name of the file to check.
Return Value
TRUE (1) if the file exists, otherwise FALSE (0).
Related Functions
FileOpen
Example
! Check if the file exists

IF FileExist("C:\Data\Report.Txt") THEN
! The file exists
END
See Also
File Functions
FileFind
Finds a file that matches a specified search criteria. To find a list of files, you need to
first call this function with the required path and mode (to find the first file), then call
the function again with an empty path and a mode of 0 (to find the remaining files).
After the last file is found, an empty string is returned.
If the search is for multiple files, FileFindClose needs to be called if the search does not
run to completion (for example, you do not run until an empty string is returned).
Syntax
FileFind(sPath, nMode)
497
sPath:
The name of the file to check. To search for multiple files, the wildcards * and ? can be used to
match multiple entries.
nMode:
The type of file to check:
0 - Normal files (includes files with read-only and archived attributes)

1 - Read-only files only
2 - Hidden files only
4 - System files only
16 - Subdirectories only
32 - Archived files only
128 - Files with no attributes only
These numbers can be added together to search for multiple types of files during one search.
Return Value
The full path and filename. If no files are found, an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileSplitPath, FileMakePath
Example
! Search for all dBase files in the run directory and make a backup
sPath = FileFind("[run]:\*.dbf", 0);
WHILE StrLength(sPath) > 0 DO
FileSplitPath(sPath, sDrive, sDir, sFile, sExt);
sBak = FileMakePath(sDrive, sDir, sFile, "BAK");
FileCopy(sPath, sBak, 0);
! Find the next file
sPath = FileFind("", 0);
END
See Also
File Functions
FileFindClose
Closes a find (started with FileFind) that did not run to completion.
Syntax
FileFindClose()
Return Value
498
0 if no error is detected, or a Cicode error code if an error occurred.
Related Functions
FileFind
Example
//Find the first dbf file starting with fred

sPath = FileFind("[run]:\fred*.dbf", 0);
IF (StrLength(sPath) > 0) THEN
//Do work here
FileFindClose();
END
See Also
File Functions
FileGetTime
Gets the time on a file.
Syntax
FileGetTime(File)
File:
The file number.
Return Value
The file time of the file (in the CitectSCADA time/date variable format).
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileSetTime
Example
File = FileOpen("[data]:report.txt", "r");

! Get the time of the file
iTime = FileGetTime(File);
FileClose(File);
See Also
File Functions
FileMakePath
Creates a file path string from individual components.
499
Syntax
FileMakePath(sDrive, sDir, sFile, sExt)

sDrive:
The disk drive.
sDir:
The directory string.
sFile:
The file name (without the extension).
sExt:
The file extension.
Return Value
The full path as a string.
Related Functions
FileSeek, FileFind, FileSplitPath
Example
See FileFind
See Also
File Functions
FileOpen
Opens a file and returns a file number that can be used by other file functions. The max-
imum file size supported is 1 Megabyte for displaying text files.
You can also use this function to check if a file exists, by opening the file in read-only
mode. A return value of -1 indicates that the file cannot be opened.
ErrSet(1) needs to be in the previous line of your code, else the execution stops and a
hardware error is generated. If ErrSet(1) is used then it doesn't halt, and -1 is returned.
Syntax
FileOpen(sName, nMode)
sName:
The name of the file to open.
nMode:
500
The mode of the opened file:
"a" - Append mode. Allows you to append to the file without removing the end
of file marker. The file cannot be read. If the file does not exist, it will be
created.
"a+" - Append and read modes. Allows you to append to the file and read from
it. The end of file marker will be removed before writing and restored
when writing is complete. If the file does not exist, it will be created.
"r" - Read-only mode. Allows you to (only) read from the file. If the file does not
exist or cannot be found, the function call will return the value -1.
"r+" - Read/write mode. Allows you to read from, and write to, the file. If the
file already exists (before the function is called), its contents will be
deleted. If the file does not exist or cannot be found, the function call will
return the value -1.
"w" - Write mode. Opens an empty file for writing. If the file already exists
(before the function is called), its contents will be deleted. If the file does
not exist or cannot be found, the file will be created.
"w+" - Read/write mode. Opens an empty file for both reading and writing. If
the file already exists (before the function is called), its contents will be
deleted. If the file does not exist or cannot be found, the file will be
created.
Return Value
The file number. If the file cannot be opened, -1 is returned and the code is halted.
Related Functions
FileClose, FileRead, FileReadLn, FileWrite, FileWriteLn
Example
! Open a file in read-only mode.

ErrSet(1);
File=FileOpen("C:\Data\Report.Txt","r");
ErrSet(0);
See Also
File Functions
FilePrint
Prints a file on a device.
Syntax
FilePrint(Devicename, Filename)
501
Devicename:
The name of the target device.
Filename:
The name of the file to print on the device.
Return Value
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileWrite, FileWriteLn
Example
! Print a data file on the system printer.

FilePrint("Printer_Device","Data.txt");
See Also
File Functions
FileRead
Reads a number of characters from a file. The string can contain less characters than
requested if the end of file is reached. A maximum of 255 characters can be read in each
call.
Syntax
FileRead(File, Length)
File:
The file number.
Length:
Return Value
The text from the file (as a string).
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileReadLn
Example
502
WHILE NOT FileEOF(File) DO

Str=FileRead(File,20);
END
See Also
File Functions
FileReadBlock
Reads a number of characters from a file. The buffer can contain less characters than
requested if the end of file is reached. A maximum of 255 characters can be read in each
call. The data should be treated as a binary data and should not be passed to string func-
tions. You may use StrGetChar() function to extract each character from the buffer, or
pass the buffer to another function which will accept binary data.
Syntax
FileReadBlock(File, Buffer, Length)

File:
The file number.
Buffer:
The buffer to return the binary data. This may be a string or a string packed with binary data. The
string terminator is ignored and the length argument specifies the number of characters to write.
Length:
Return Value
The number of characters read from the file. When the end of the file is found 0 will be
returned. If an error occurs -1 will be returned and IsError() will return the error code.
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileRead, FileWriteBlock, StrGetChar
Example
// read binary file and copy to COM port

length = FileReadBlock(File, buf, 128);
WHILE length > 0 DO
ComWrite(hPort, buf, length, 0);
length = FileReadBlock(File, buf, 128);
END
503
See Also
File Functions
FileReadLn
Reads a line from a file. Up to 255 characters can be returned. The carriage return and
newline characters are not returned. If the line is longer than 255 characters, the error
overflow (code 275) is returned - you should call this function again to read the rest of
the line.
Syntax
FileReadLn(File)
File:
The file number.
Return Value
The text, as a string.
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileRead
Example
sLine = FileReadLn(hFile);
! do stuff with the string
WHILE IsError() = 275 DO
! read the rest of the line
sLine = FileReadLn(hFile);
! do stuff with the rest of the line
END
See Also
File Functions
FileRename
Renames a file.
Syntax
FileRename(Oldname, Newname)
Oldname:
The original name of the file.
Newname:
504
The new name of the file.
Return Value
Related Functions
FileCopy, FileDelete
Example
! Rename REPORT.TXT as REPORT.OLD.

FileRename("C:\Data\Report.Txt","C:\Data\Report.Old");
See Also
File Functions
FileRichTextPrint
Prints the rich text file sFilename to the printer given by sPortname.
Syntax
FileRichTextPrint(sFilename, sPortName)
sFilename:
The filename of the rich text format file. The filename needs to be entered in quotation marks "".
Remember that the filename for a saved report comes from the File Name field in the Devices form.
The location of the saved file needs to also be included as part of the filename. For example, if the
filename in the Devices form listed [Data];RepDev.rtf, then you would need to enter "[Data]\re-
pdev.rtf" as your argument. Alternatively, you can manually enter the path, for example, "c:\My-
Application\data\repdev.rtf".
If you are keeping a number of history files for the report, instead of using the extension rtf, you
PortName:
The name of the printer port to which the rich text file will be printed. This name needs to be
enclosed within quotation marks "". For example "LPT1", to print to the local printer, or
"\\Pserver\canon1" using UNC to print to a network printer.
Return Values
Related Functions
PageRichTextFile, DspRichTextPrint
505
Example
// This would print the file [Data]\richtext.rtf to LPT1. Remember

that the [Data] path is specified in the Citect.ini file. The file
richtext.rtf is the name of the output file for the report, as
specified in the Devices form. //
iResult = FileRichTextPrint("[Data]\richtext.rtf","LPT1:");
// This would print the file f:\citect\data\richtext.rtf to LPT1.
The file richtext.rtf is the name of the output file for the
report, as specified in the Devices form. //
iResult =
FileRichTextPrint("f:\citect\data\richtext.rtf","LPT1:");
See Also
File Functions
FileSeek
Moves the file pointer to a specified position in a file.
Syntax
FileSeek(File, Offset)
File:
The file number.
Offset:
The offset in bytes, from 0 to (maximum file size -1). This value needs to be >= 0.
Return Value
The new file position, or -1 if an error is detected.
Related Functions
FileSize
Example
! Seek to the start of the file.

FileSeek(File,0);
See Also
File Functions
FileSetTime
Sets the time on a file.
506
Note: In order for this function to work, the file needs to first be opened in write or
read/write mode.
Syntax
FileSetTime(File, iTime)
File:
The file number.
iTime:
The new file time, in the CitectSCADA time/date variable format.
Return Value
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileGetTime
Example
File = FileOpen("[data]:report.txt", "r+");

! set the file to the current time
FileSetTime(File,TimeCurrent());
FileClose(File);
See Also
File Functions
FileSize
Gets the size of a file.
Syntax
FileSize(File)
File:
The file number.
Return Value
The size of the file, in bytes.
Related Functions
FileSeek
507
Example
! Get the size of the file.

Size=FileSize(File);
See Also
File Functions
FileSplitPath
Splits a file path into individual string components. You enter the full path string as
sPath. The individual components of the path name are returned in the arguments
sDrive, sDir, sFile, and sExt. Arguments must be declared as Cicode variables. If declared
as local variables or tags, an "Incompatible Types" error will be returned.
Syntax
FileSplitPath(sPath, sDrive, sDir, sFile, sExt)

sPath:
The full path string.
sDrive:
The disk drive.
sDir:
The directory string.
sFile:
The file name (without the extension).
sExt:
The file extension.
Return Value
Related Functions
FileSeek, FileFind, FileMakePath
Example
See FileFind
508
See Also
File Functions
FileWrite
Writes a string to a file. The string is written at the current file position.
Syntax
FileWrite(File, String)
File:
The file number.
String:
The string to write.
Return Value
The number of characters written.
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileWriteLn
Example
! Write to the file.

FileWrite(File,"Data");
See Also
File Functions
FileWriteBlock
Writes a string or buffer to a file. The data is written at the current file position. You may
create the binary data by using the StrSetChar function or by reading the data from some
other function. This function is similar to the FileWrite() function however you specify
the length of data to write to the file. The FileWrite() function will send the data to the
file until the sting terminator is found. FileWriteBlock() will ignore any string terminator
and copy the length of bytes to the file. This allows this function to be used for binary
data transfer.
Syntax
FileWriteBlock(File, Buffer, Length)

File:
509
The file number.
Buffer:
The data to write to the file. This may be a string or a string packed with binary data. The string ter-
minator is ignored and the length argument specifies the number of characters to write.
Length:
The number of characters to write. The maximum number of characters you may write in one call is
255. (If you use a string without a terminator in a function that expects a string, or in a Cicode
expression, you could get invalid results.) To use the string to build up a buffer, you do not need
the terminating 0 (zero).
Return Value
The number of characters written to the file. If an error is detected -1 will be returned and
IsError() will return the error code.
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileWrite, FileReadBlock, StrSetChar
Example
STRING buf;
FOR I = 0 TO 20 DO
StrSetChar(buf, I, I); // put binary data into string
END
! Write binary data to the file.
FileWrite(File, buf, 20);
See Also
File Functions
FileWriteLn
Writes a string to a file, followed by a newline character. The string is written at the cur-
rent file position.
Syntax
FileWriteLn(File, String)
File:
The file number.
String:
The string to write.
Return Value
510
The number of characters written (including the carriage return and newline characters).
Related Functions
FileOpen, FileClose, FileWrite
Example
! Write a line to the file.

FileWriteLn(File,"Line of file data");
See Also
File Functions
511
512
Chapter 30: Form Functions
Following are functions relating to forms:
FormActive Checks if a form is currently active.
FormAddList Adds a text string to a list box or combo box.
FormButton Adds a button to a form.
FormCheckBox Adds a check box to the current form.
FormComboBox Adds a combo box to the current form.
FormCurr Gets the current form and field handles.
FormDestroy Removes a form from the screen.
FormEdit Adds edit fields to a form.
FormField Adds general fields to a form.
FormGetCurrInst Gets data associated with a field.
FormGetData Gets the data associated with a form.
FormGetInst Gets data associated with a field on a form.
FormGetText Gets field text on an active form.
FormGoto Go to a specified form.
FormGroupBox Adds a group box to the current form.
FormInput Adds an input field to a form.
FormListAddText Adds a new text entry to a combo box or a list box.
FormListBox Adds a list box to the current form.
513
FormListDeleteText Deletes existing text from combo box or list box.
FormListSelectText Selects (highlights) a text entry in a combo box or a list box.
FormNew Creates a new form.
FormNumPad Provides a keypad form for the operator to add numeric values.
FormOpenFile Displays a File Open dialog box.
FormPassword Adds a password (no echo) input field.
Form- Adds a secure password (no echo) input field.

SecurePassword
FormPosition Sets the position of a form on the screen, before it is displayed.
FormPrompt Adds a prompt to a form.
FormRadioButton Adds a radio button to the current form.
FormRead Displays a form and reads user input.
FormSaveAsFile Displays a File Save As dialog box.
FormSelectPrinter Displays the Select Printer dialog box.
FormSetData Sets data in a form.
FormSetInst Associates data to a field on a form.
FormSetText Sets field text on an active form.
FormWndHnd Gets the window handle for the given form.
See Also
Functions Reference
FormActive
Checks if a form is currently active (displayed on the screen). This function is useful
when forms are being displayed in asynchronous mode and another Cicode task is try-
ing to access the form.
Syntax
514
FormActive(hForm)
hForm:
The form handle, returned from the FormNew() function. The form handle identifies the table
where all data on the associated form is stored.
Return Value
TRUE (1) if the form is active or FALSE (0) if it is not.
Related Functions
FormDestroy, FormNew
Example
See FormDestroy
See Also
Form Functions
FormAddList
Adds a text string to a list box or combo box. You should call this function only after the
FormNew() function, and immediately after either the FormComboBox() or the Form-
ListBox(), and before the FormRead() function otherwise an error is returned. The text is
added at the end of the list box or combo box.
To add text to a form that is already displayed, use the FormListAddText() function, and
use the FormListSelectText() function to highlight text on the list.
Syntax
FormAddList(sText)
sText:
The text string to add to the list box or combo box.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead, FormListBox, FormComboBox, FormListAddText, Form-

ListDeleteText, FormListSelectText
Example
See FormComboBox and FormListBox
515
See Also
Form Functions
FormButton
Adds a button to the current form. You can add buttons that run callback functions (spec-
ified in Fn) to perform any actions you need, as well as the standard buttons - an [OK]
button to save the operator's entries and close the form, and a [Cancel] button to close
the form but discard the changes.
You should call this function only after the FormNew() function and before the Form-
Read() function. The button is added to the form at the specified column and row posi-
tion. The width of the button is automatically sized to suit the text.
Syntax
FormButton(Col, Row, sText, Fn, Mode)

Col:
The number of the column in which the button will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column 1) to
the form width - 1. For example, to place the button in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the button will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the button in row 6, enter 5.
sText:
The text to display on the button.
Fn:
The callback function to call when the button is selected. Set to 0 to call no function. Please be aware
that the Fn parameter needs to be of type INT and the callback function cannot contain a blocking
function.
Mode:
Button mode:
0 - Normal button. When this button is selected the callback function is called.
1 - OK button. When this button is selected, the form is closed, and all oper-
ator-entered data is copied to buffers (specified by the other form func-
tions). FormRead() returns 0 (zero) to indicate a successful read. The
callback function specified in Fn is called. Be aware that this mode
destroys the form.
516
2 - Cancel button. When this button is selected, the form is closed and oper-
ator-entered data is discarded. FormRead() returns with an error 299. The
callback function specified in Fn is called. Be aware that this mode
destroys the form.
Return Value
The field handle if the button is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead
Example
! Create a form, add buttons and then display the form on the
current page
FUNCTION FnMenu()
FormNew("MENU",20,6,1);
FormButton(0 ,4 ," FIND ", FindMenu, 0);
FormButton(10,4 ," TAG ", ShowTag, 0);
FormButton(0 ,5 ," CANCEL ", KillForm, 0);
FormButton(10,5 ," GOTO ", GotoPg, 0);
FormRead(0);
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormCheckBox
Adds a check box to the current form. The check box is a form control that allows the
operator to make individual selections. Each check box can be either checked (true) or
cleared (false).
Read() function. The check box is added to the form at the specified column and row
position. The width of the button is automatically sized to suit the text.
Syntax
FormCheckBox(Col, Row, sText, sBuf)

Col:
The number of the column in which the check box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column
1) to the form width - 1. For example, to place the check box in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
517
The number of the row in which the check box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the check box in row 6, enter 5.
sText:
The text associated with the check box.
sBuf:
The string buffer in which to put the state of the check box. You should initialize this buffer to the
state of the check box. When the form returns, this buffer will contain either '1' or '0' if the box is
checked.
Return Value
The field handle if the check box is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead
Example
! Create a form, add check boxes, and display the form.

! The operator may select none or all of the check boxes.
FUNCTION FnMenu()
STRING sNuts, sCherrys, sChocolate;
sNuts = "1";
sCherrys = "0";
sChocolate = "1";
FormNew("IceCream",20,6,1); ]
FormCheckBox(2 ,2,"Nuts", sNuts);
FormCheckBox(2, 3,"Cherrys", sCherrys);
FormCheckBox(2 ,4,"Chocolate", sChocolate);
FormRead(0);
If sNuts = "1" THEN
! add the nuts
END
IF sCherrys = "1" THEN
! add the cherrys
END
IF sChocolate = "1" THEN
! add the chocolate
END
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormComboBox
Adds a combo box to the current form. A combo box is a form control that allows the
operator to type a selection or make a single selection from a text list.
518
Read() function. The combo box is added to the form at the specified column and row
position with the specified width and height. If more items are placed in the list than the
list can display, a scroll bar displays (to scroll to the hidden items).
Use the FormAddList() function to add items for display in the list box. If the form is
already displayed, you can use the FormListAddText() and FormListSelectText() func-
tions to add (and highlight) text in the list box.
Syntax
FormComboBox(Col, Row, Width, Height, sBuf [, Mode] )

Col:
The number of the column in which the combo box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column
1) to the form width - 1. For example, to place the combo box in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the combo box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to
the form height - 1. For example, to place the combo box in row 6, enter 5.
Width:
The width of the list box, which should be wide enough to display your widest item. Items wider
than the list box are clipped.
Height:
The height of the list box (the number of items that can be seen in the list box without scrolling).
sBuf:
The string buffer in which to store the selected item. The sBuf parameter can also hold the starting
selection for the Combo box. For example if you set the sBuf string to "HELLO" before calling
FormComboBox, HELLO will be displayed in the box upon opening the form.
Mode:
The mode in which to create the combo box:
0 - Sort the combo box elements alphabetically.

1 - Place elements in combo box in the order they were added.
Default mode is 0.
Return Value
The field handle if the combo box is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead, FormAddList, FormListAddText, FormListSelectText, FormListBox
519
Example
! Create a form, add combo box and then display the form
! the operator may type in or select one of the items from the list
FUNCTION FnMenu()
STRING sBuf;
FormNew("Select Item",20,6,1);
FormComboBox(2 ,2, 15, 5, sBuf, 1);
FormAddList("Item One");
FormAddList("Item two");
FormAddList("Item three");
FormRead(0);
! sBuf should contain the selected item or entered text
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormCurr
Gets the form and field handles for the current form and field. You should call this func-
tion only from within a callback function. You can then use the same callback function
for all forms and fields, regardless of how the boxes, buttons, etc. on the forms are used.
You should use this function with the FormGetInst() function.
Syntax
FormCurr(hForm, hField)
hForm:
hField:
The field handle of the field currently selected.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormGetInst
Example
See FormGetInst.
See Also
Form Functions
520
FormDestroy
Destroys a form, that is removes it from the screen. Use this function (from an event) to
close a form.
Syntax
FormDestroy(hForm)
hForm:
Return Value
Related Functions
FormNew
Example
/* Display message to the operator. If after 10 seconds the

operator has not selected OK, then destroy the form. */
hForm=FormNew("Hello",4,20,0);
FormPrompt(1,1,"Something bad has happened");
FormButton(5,2,"OK",0,1);
FormRead(1);
! Wait 10 seconds.
Sleep(10);
IF FormActive(hForm) THEN
! Destroy form.
FormDestroy(hForm);
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormEdit
Adds an edit field to the current form. You should call this function only after the Form-
New() function and before the FormRead() function. A user input/edit box is added to the
form at the specified column and row position. The operator can enter or edit the text in
the edit box. This text is then passed to this function as Text.
Syntax
FormEdit(Col, Row, Text, Width [, maxTextLength] )

Col:
521
The number of the column in which the edit field will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column 1)
to the form width - 1. For example, to place the edit field in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the edit field will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the edit field in row 6, enter 5.
Text:
The text in the edit field. Text initially contains the default text (if any) for the operator to edit.
When the function closes, this argument is passed back with the operator's input.
Width:
The width of the edit field.
maxTextLength:
This optional parameter specifies the maximum length of input text. The default value is 0 meaning
the string can have the maximum length allowed in the system (Cicode allows strings of 255 char-
acters).
Return Value
The field handle if the string is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew
Example
STRING Recipe;
FormNew("Recipe",5,30,0);
! Add edit field, default Recipe to "Jam".
Recipe="Jam";
FormEdit(1,2,Recipe,20);
! Read the form.
FormRead(0);
! Recipe will now contain the operator-entered data.
See Also
Form Functions
FormField
Adds a field control device (such as a button , check box, or edit field) to the current
form. You should call this function only after the FormNew() function and before the
FormRead() function. This function allows you to specify a control device with more
detail than the other field functions.
Syntax
522
FormField(Col, Row, Width, Height, Type, Buffer, Label, Fn [, maxTextLength] )

Col:
The number of the column in which the control will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column 1) to
the form width - 1. For example, to place the control in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the control will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the control in row 6, enter 5.
Width:
The width of the control device.
Height:
The height of the control device.
nType:
The type of control device:
0 - None
1 - Edit
2 - Edit Password
3 - Text
4 - Button
5 - OK button
6 - Cancel button
7 - Group box
8 - Radio button
9 - Check box
Buffer:
The output buffer for the field string. The default value of the control device is initialized to the
value of the buffer. If you specify a Radio button or Check box, you should initialize the buffer to
"0" or "1". The result of the field will also be set to "0" or "1".
Label:
The display label for a button, or the default label for an edit field
Fn:
The callback function to call when the button is selected. Set to 0 to call no function. Please be aware
that the Fn parameter needs to be of type INT, and the callback function cannot contain a blocking
function. For types other than 4,5, and 6, set this argument to 0.
maxTextLength:
523
This optional parameter specifies the maximum length of input text for edit fields (this parameter is
ignored for other controls). The default value is 0 meaning the string can have the maximum length
allowed in the system (Cicode allows strings of 255 characters).
Return Value
The field handle if the field is successfully added, otherwise it will return -1.
Related Functions
FormNew
Example
! Display a form with check boxes to start

!! specific motors.
FUNCTION SelectMotor()
INT hform;
STRING check1 = "0";
hform = FormNew("Selection Menu", 26, 22, 6);
FormField(16, 1, 12, 1, 9, check1, "Primary ", 0);
FormField(16, 2, 12, 1, 9, check2, "Secondary", 0);
FormField(16, 3, 12, 1, 9, check3, "backup ", 0);
FormButton( 9, 20, " &Cancel ", 0, 2);
IF FormRead(0) = 0 THEN
IF check1 = "1" THEN
StartMotor(MOTOR_1);
END
END
END
END
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormGetCurrInst
Extracts data associated with a field (set by the FormSetInst() function). You should call
this function only from within a field callback function. This function is the same as call-
ing the FormCurr() function and then the FormGetInst() function.
Syntax
FormGetCurrInst(iData, sData)
iData:
524
Integer data.
sData:
String data.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormCurr, FormGetInst, FormSetInst
Example
INT
FUNCTION GetNextRec()
INT hDev;
STRING Str;
FormGetCurrInst(hDev,Str);
DevNext(hDev);
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormGetData
Gets all data associated with a form and puts it into the output string buffers. Normally
the field data is copied to the output string buffers only when the user selects the [OK]
button. If you want to use the data while the form is displayed, call this function to get
the data. You should call this function only while the form is displayed otherwise an
error is returned, for example, from a field callback function.
Syntax
FormGetData(hForm)
hForm:
Return Value
Related Functions
FormCurr
525
Example
! Field callback to save data.

FUNCTION Save()
INT hForm,hField;
FormCurr(hForm,hField);
FormGetData(hForm);
! Access all data.
..
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormGetInst
Extracts the data associated with a field (set by the FormSetInst() function). You would
normally use this function in a field callback function. It allows single callback functions
to know that the form and field are associated.
Syntax
FormGetInst(hForm, hField, iData, sData)

hForm:
hField:
iData:
Integer data.
sData:
String data.
Return Value
The data (as a string).
Related Functions
FormSetInst, FormCurr, FormGetCurrInst
Example
526
INT
FUNCTION GetNextRec()
INT hDev,hForm,hField;
STRING Str;
! Get field data, for example, the hDev value.
..
FormGetInst(hForm,hField,hDev,Str);
DevNext(hDev);
! Display new record in form.
..
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormGetText
Gets the current text from a form field. You should call this function only while the form
is displayed; for example,, from a field callback function.
Syntax
FormGetText(hForm, hField)
hForm:
hField:
Return Value
The field text (as a string).
Related Functions
FormSetText
Example
FUNCTION Search()
INT hForm,hField;
STRING Recipe;
Recipe=FormGetText(hForm,hField);
! Go and find recipe.
..
527
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormGoto
Goes to a specified form. The form is displayed on top of all windows and the keyboard
focus is set to this form.
Syntax
FormGoto(hForm)
hForm:
Return Value
Related Functions
FormNew
Example
FormGoto(hForm);
See Also
Form Functions
FormGroupBox
Adds a group box to the current form. A group box is a form control box drawn to the
specified size. If the box contains radio buttons, they are grouped together. You should
call this function only after the FormNew() function and before the FormRead() function.
The group box is added to the form at the specified column and row position with the
specified width and height. Use the FormRadioButton() function to add the radio buttons
to the box, and call this function between each group of radio buttons.
Syntax
FormGroupBox(Col, Row, Width, Height [, Text] )

Col:
528
The number of the column in which the group box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column
1) to the form width - 1. For example, to place the group box in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the group box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the group box in row 6, enter 5.
Width:
The width of the group box, which should be wide enough to display your widest item.
Height:
The height of the group box.
Text:
The text to display as the group box label.
Return Value
The field handle if the group box is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead, FormRadioButton
Example
! Create a form, add to radio buttons groups and then display the
form
! The operator may select one of the radio buttons from each group
FUNCTION FnMenu()
STRING sFast, sSlow, sMedium;
STRING sNorth, sSouth, sEast, sWest;
FormGroupBox(1 ,1, 15, 5, "Speed");
FormRadioButton(2 ,2,"Fast", sFast);
FormRadioButton(2, 3,"Medium", sMedium);
FormRadioButton(2 ,4,"Slow", sSlow);
FormGroupBox(19 ,2, 15, 6, "Direction");
FormRadioButton(20 ,2,"North", sNorth);
FormRadioButton(20, 3,"South", sSouth);
FormRadioButton(20 ,4,"East", sEast);
FormRadioButton(20 ,5,"West", sWest);
FormRead(0);
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormInput
529
Adds a prompt and edit field to the current form. You should call this function only
after the FormNew() function and before the FormRead() function. When FormRead() is
called, the form will display with the prompt and edit box. The operator's input is
passed back as a string (Text).
Syntax
FormInput(Col,Row,Prompt,Text,Width [, maxTextLength] )
Col:
The number of the column in which the prompt will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column 1) to
the form width - 1. For example, to place the prompt in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the prompt will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the prompt in row 6, enter 5.
Prompt:
The prompt string.
Text:
The output text string containing the operator's input.
Note: Only cicode variables can be used in output parameters, variable or local tags
cannot be used and will result in a compiler error if attempted.
Width:
maxTextLength:
This optional parameter specifies the maximum length of input text. The default value is 0 meaning
the string can have the maximum length allowed in the system (Cicode allows strings of 255 char-
acters).
Return Value
The field handle if it is added successfully, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead
Example
FormInput(1,2,"Recipe",Recipe,20);
530
See Also
Form Functions
FormListAddText
Adds a new text entry to a combo box or a list box while the form is displayed. It only
adds the text to the list - it does not select it. Use the FormListSelectText() function to
select (highlight) an entry. Call this function only when the form is displayed, for exam-
ple, from a field callback function.
Syntax
FormListAddText(hForm, hField, Text)

hForm:
hField:
Text:
The output text string containing the operator's input.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormListSelectText, FormListDeleteText, FormSetText
Example
/* create a form with a list */

hForm = FormNew("Ingredients", 40, 10, 1);
hField = FormListBox(2,2,20,5,sBuf);
FormAddList("Flour");
FormAddList("Water");
FormAddList("Salt");
FormAddList("Sugar");
/* Display the form */
FormRead(1);
..
/*Add Milk to list */
FormListAddText(hForm, hField, "Milk");
..
531
See Also
Form Functions
FormListBox
Adds a list box to the current form. The list box is a form control that allows the operator
to select from a list of items. You should call this function only after the FormNew() func-
tion and before the FormRead() function.
The list box is added to the form at the specified column and row position with the spec-
ified width and height. If more items are placed in the list than the list can display, a
scroll bar displays for scrolling to the hidden items.
Use the FormAddList() function to add items for display in the list box. If the form is
already displayed, you can use the FormListAddText() and FormListSelectText() func-
tions to add (and highlight) text in the list box.
Syntax
FormListBox(Col, Row, Width, Height, sBuf [, Mode] )

Col:
The number of the column in which the list box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column 1) to
the form width - 1. For example, to place the list box in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the list box will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the list box in row 6, enter 5.
Width:
The width of the list box, in characters. Width should be wide enough to display your widest item.
Items wider than the list box are clipped.
Height:
The height of the list box, as the number of items that can be seen in the list box without scrolling.
sBuf:
The string buffer in which to store the selected item.
Mode:
The mode in which to create the list box:
0 - Sort the list box elements alphabetically.

1 - Place elements in list box in the order they were added.
Mode 0 is the default.
Return Value
532
The field handle if the list box is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead, FormAddList, FormListAddText, FormListSelectText, Form-

ComboBox
Example
! Create a form, add list box and then display the form.
! The operator may select one of the items from the list.
STRING sBuf;
FUNCTION FnMenu()
FormListBox(2 ,2, 15, 5, sBuf, 1);
FormAddList("Item One");
FormAddList("Item two");
FormAddList("Item three");
FormButton(0,0," OK ",0,1);
FormButton(5,0," CANCEL ",0,2);
FormRead(0);
SELECTION= sBuf;
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormListDeleteText
Deletes an existing text entry from a combo box or a list box while the form is displayed.
It only deletes the text from the list - it does not change the selection. Call this function
only when the form is displayed, for example, from a field callback function.
Syntax
FormListDeleteText(hForm, hField, Text)

hForm:
hField:
Text:
The text to delete.
Return Value
533
Related Functions
FormListSelectText, FormListAddText
Example
/* create a form with a list */

FormRead(1);
..
/*Remove Sugar from the list */
FormListDeleteText(hForm, hField, "Sugar");
..
See Also
Form Functions
FormListSelectText
Selects (highlights) a text entry in a Combo box or a List box while the form is displayed.
The text to be selected needs to exist in the list. (Use the FormListAddText() function to
add a text entry to a list.) Call this function only when the form is displayed, for exam-
ple, from a field callback function.
Syntax
FormListSelectText(hForm, hField, Text)

hForm:
hField:
Text:
The text to be selected. If this text is not present in the list, then no item will be selected (and this
text will not be added).
Return Value
Related Functions
534
FormListAddText, FormSetText
Example
/* Create a form with a list */

FormRead(1);
..
/*Select Flour */
FormListSelectText(hForm, hField, "Flour");
See Also
Form Functions
FormNew
Creates a new data entry form and defines its size and mode. After the form is created,
you can add fields, and then display the form.
Before you can display a form on the screen, you need to call this function to set the size
and mode of the form, and then call the various form field functions, FormInput(), Form-
Button(), FormEdit() etc to add user input fields to the form. To display the form on the
screen (to allow the user to enter data) call the FormRead() function.
Syntax
FormNew(Title, Width, Height, Mode)

Title:
The title of the form.
Width:
The character width of the form (1 to 131).
Height:
The character height of the form (1 to 131).
Mode:
The mode of the form:
0 - Default font and text spacing

1 - Small font
535
2 - Fixed pitch font

4 - Static text compression where the vertical spacing is reduced. This can
cause formatting errors if buttons are too close, because the vertical spac-
ing will be less than the height of a button.
8 - Keep the form on top of the CitectSCADA window.
16 - The current window cannot be changed or closed until the form is finished
or cancelled.
32 - Makes a form with no caption.
128 - The form will not close if the ESC or ENTER key is pressed, unless you
specifically define at least one button on the form which acts as an OK
or Cancel button. For a form with no buttons, the ENTER key normally
closes the form; this mode disables that behavior.
256 – Makes a from with no system-menu (mostly appears as a single close
button X) .
Multiple modes can be selected by adding them (for example, to use Modes 4 and 2, specify Mode
6).
Return Value
The form handle if the form is created successfully, otherwise -1 is returned. The form
handle identifies the table where all data on the associated form is stored.
Related Functions
FormDestroy, FormInput, FormButton, FormEdit, FormRead
Example
FormNew("Recipe",30,5,0);
FormInput(1,1,"Recipe No",Recipe,20);
FormInput(1,2,"Amount",Amount,10);
FormRead(0);
See Also
Form Functions
FormNumPad
Provides a keypad form for the operator to add numeric values. You can customize the
standard form as a mathematical keypad, with the +, -, and / operators and the decimal
point. For a time keypad, use the AM, PM, and : (hour/minute divider) buttons. You can
also include a password edit field.
Syntax
FormNumPad(Title, Input, Mode)
536
Title:
The title to display on the number pad form.
Input:
The existing or default value. This value is returned if the form is cancelled or accepted without
changes.
Mode:
The buttons to include on the keypad form. The Mode can be a combination of the following:
0 - Standard keypad
1 - Password edit field
2 - not used
4 - With +/- button
8 - With / button
16 - With . button
32 - With : button
64 - With AM, PM buttons
128 - with Now button
512 - with 1hr, 2hr and 8hr buttons
Note: Modes 128 and 512 can not be used together on one FormNumPad.
Multiple modes can be selected by adding them. For example, to include +/- buttons and a . button,
specify Mode 20 (16+4).
Return Value
The string value entered by the operator. The IsError() function returns 0 (zero). If the
form was cancelled, the value of Input is returned, and the IsError() function returns error
number 299.
Example
/* Set defaults first, then four keypad forms to adjust recipe. */

Qty_Flour=FormNumPad("Add Flour", Qty_Flour, 17);
Qty_Water=FormNumPad("Add Water", Qty_Water, 17);
Qty_Salt=FormNumPad("Add Salt", Qty_Salt, 17);
Qty_Sugar=FormNumPad("Add Sugar", Qty_Sugar, 17);
See Also
Form Functions
FormOpenFile
537
Displays a File Open dialog box.
Syntax
FormOpenFile(sTitle, sFileName, sFilter)

sFileName:
The name of the default file to display in the "File Name" field.
sTitle:
A title to display at the top of the form.
sFilter:
A file filter list to display in the "List Files of Type" field. The file filter list has the following for-
mat:
<File Type>|<Filter>|
where:
File Type is the text that displays in the drop-down box, for example All Files (*.*). Filter is the
file type, for example *.CI
Return Value
The name and full path of the selected file (as a string) or an empty string ("") if the Can-
cel button is selected.
Related Functions
FormSaveAsFile, FormSelectPrinter
Example
// Display the Open File dialog with the following filter list:
// All Files (*.*)
// Exe Files (*.EXE)
// Cicode Files (*.CI)
sFilename = FormOpenFile("Open", "*.CI", "All Files (*.*)|*.*|Exe
Files (*.EXE)|*.EXE|Cicode Files (*.CI)|*.CI|");
See Also
Form Functions
FormPassword
Adds both a password prompt and edit field to the current form. You should call this
function only after the FormNew() function and before the FormRead() function. When
FormRead() is called, the form will also display the password prompt and edit field.
538
The operator's input is not echoed in the field; a single asterisk (*) is displayed for each
character.
Syntax
FormPassword(Col, Row, Prompt, Password, Width)

Col:
Row:
Prompt:
The prompt string.
Password:
The password entered by the operator.
Width:
Return Value
Related Functions
FormEdit
Example
! Add Password input.

FormPassword(1,2,"Enter Password",Password,10);
See Also
Form Functions
FormPosition
Sets the position of a form on the screen, before it is displayed. You should call this func-
tion only after the FormNew() function and before the FormRead() function.
Syntax
FormPosition(X, Y, Mode)
539
X, Y:
The x and y pixel coordinates of the form.
Mode:
Not used, set it to 0.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead
Example
hForm = FormNew("title", 20, 5, 0);

! display form at x=100, y=50
FormPosition(100, 50, 0);
See Also
Form Functions
FormPrompt
Adds a prompt field to the current form. You should call this function only after the
FormNew() function and before the FormRead() function.
Syntax
FormPrompt(Col, Row, Prompt)

Col:
Row:
Prompt:
The prompt string.
Return Value
Related Functions
540
FormNew, FormRead
Example
FormPrompt(1,2,"Enter Recipe");
See Also
Form Functions
FormRadioButton
Adds a radio button to the current form, allowing the operator to make a selection from
a multiple choice list. You should call this function only after the FormNew() function
and before the FormRead() function.
The radio button is added to the form at the specified column and row position. The
width of the button will be sized to suit the text.
By default, all radio buttons are placed into the one group. If you require separate
groups, use this function in conjunction with the FormGroupBox() function.
Syntax
FormRadioButton(Col, Row, sText, sBuf)

Col:
The number of the column in which the button will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (column 1) to
the form width - 1. For example, to place the button in column 8, enter 7.
Row:
The number of the row in which the button will be placed. Enter a number from 0 (row 1) to the
form height - 1. For example, to place the button in row 6, enter 5.
sText:
The text associated with the radio button.
sBuf:
The string buffer in which to put the state of the radio button. You should initialize this buffer to the
state of the button. When the form returns, this buffer will contain either '1' or '0' if the radio button
is checked.
Return Value
The field handle if the radio button is successfully added, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead, FormGroupBox, FormCheckBox
541
Example
! Create a form, add radio buttons and then display the form.
! The operator may only select one radio button , either Fast,
Medium or Slow
FUNCTION FnMenu()
STRING sFast, sSlow, sMedium;
sFast = "1";
sMedium = "0";
sSlow = "0";
FormNew("Speed",20,6,1);
FormRadioButton(2 ,2,"Fast", sFast);
FormRadioButton(2, 3,"Medium", sMedium);
FormRadioButton(2 ,4,"Slow", sSlow);
FormRead(0);
If sFast = "1" THEN
! do fast stuff
ELSE
IF sMedium = "1" THEN
! do Medium stuff
ELSE
IF sSlow = "1" THEN
! do slow stuff
END
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormRead
Displays the current form (created with the FormNew() function), with all the fields that
were added (with the form field functions).
You can display the form and wait for the user to finish entering data by setting the
Mode to 0. This mode is the most commonly used, with [OK] and [Cancel] buttons to
either save or discard operator entries and to close the form.
To display the form and return before the user has finished, use Mode 1. This mode is
used to animate the data on the form or to perform more complex operations.
ation is complete.
Syntax
FormRead(Mode)
Mode:
Mode of the form:
0 - Wait for the user.
542
1 - Do not wait for the user.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormNew
Example
! Display the form and wait for the user.

FormRead(0);
! Display the form and do not wait for the user.
FormRead(1);
! While the form is displayed, update the time every second.
WHILE FormActive(hForm) DO
FormSetText(hForm,hField,Time());
Sleep(1);
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormSaveAsFile
Displays a File Save As dialog box.
Syntax
FormSaveAsFile(sTitle, sFileName, sFilter [, sDefExt] )

sTitle:
A title to display at the top of the form.
sFileName:
The name of the default file to display in the "File Name" field.
sFilter:
A file filter list to display in the "List Files of Type" field. The file filter list has the following for-
mat:
<File Type>|<Filter>|
where:
File Type is the text that displays in the drop-down box, for example All Files (*.*). Filter is the
file type, for example *.CI
sDefExt:
543
The file extension that will be used as a default when you use the FormSaveAsFile() function. If
you do not specify a default extension, files will be saved without an extension.
Return Value
The name and full path of the selected file (as a string) or an empty string ("") if the Can-
cel button is selected.
Related Functions
FormOpenFile, FormSelectPrinter
Example
// Display the SaveAs dialog with the following filter list:

// All Files (*.*)
// Exe Files (*.EXE)
// Cicode Files (*.CI)
sFilename = FormSaveAsFile("Save As", "Alarms", "All Files
(*.*)|*.*|Exe Files (*.EXE)|*.EXE|Cicode Files (*.CI)|*.CI|",
"ci");
See Also
Form Functions
FormSecurePassword
Adds both a password prompt and edit field to the current form. You should call this
function only after the FormNew() function and before the FormRead() function. When
FormRead() is called, the form will also display the password prompt and edit field.
The operator's input is not echoed in the field; a single asterisk (*) is displayed for each
character. The function does not return the password as a plain text, it returns an
encrypted password string. The user can send this string to the UserLogin or UserVerify
functions.
Syntax
FormSecurePassword(Col, Row, Prompt, Password, Width)

Col:
Row:
Prompt:
544
The prompt string.
Password:
The encrypted password entered by the operator.
Width:
Return Value
Related Functions
FormEdit, UserLogin, UserVerify
Example
! Add Password input.

FormSecurePassword(1,2,"Enter Password",Password,10);
See Also
Form Functions
FormSelectPrinter
Displays the Select Printer dialog box.
Syntax
FormSelectPrinter()
Return Value
The name of the selected printer (as a string) or an empty string ("") if the Cancel button
is selected.
Related Functions
FormOpenFile, FormSaveAsFile
Example
// Display the Select Printer dialog

sPrinter = FormSelectPrinter();
See Also
Form Functions
545
FormSetData
Sets all the edit data from the string buffers into the form. You should call this function
only while the form is active.
Syntax
FormSetData(hForm)
hForm:
Return Value
Related Functions
FormGetData
Example
INT
FUNCTION MyNextRec()
INT hForm,hField;
FormSetData(hForm);
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Form Functions
FormSetInst
Associates an integer and string value with each field on a form. This data could then
be used by a callback function. You can use a single callback function for all fields, and
use the data to perform different operations for each field.
Syntax
FormSetInst(hForm, hField, iData, sData)

hForm:
hField:
546
iData:
Integer data.
sData:
String data.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormGetInst
Example
! Open recipe database.

hDev=DevOpen("Recipe", 0);
hForm=FormNew("Recipe",20,5,0);
hField=FormButton(5,2,"Next",GetNextRec,0);
FormSetInst(hForm,hField,hDev,"");
/* The device handle hDev is put into the next button , so when the
button is selected it can get hDev and get the next record. */
See Also
Form Functions
FormSetText
Sets new field text on a field. This function allows you to change field text while the
form is displayed. Call this function only when the form is displayed, for example, from
a field callback function.
If you are using this function on a Combo box or a List box, it will select the text from
the Combo box or List box list. If no text exists in the Combo box or List box list, the func-
tion will add it.
Syntax
FormSetText(hForm, hField, Text)

hForm:
hField:
547
The field handle of the field currently selected. If the hField is a handle to the secure edit field
created with FormSecurePassword, the text in the secure edit field will not be changed. However,
when an empty string is passed to FormSetText(), the contents of the secure edit field will be
cleared.
Text:
New field text.
Return Value
Related Functions
FormCurr, FormListSelectText, FormListAddText
Example
/* Create a form with a field */

hField = FormPrompt(2,2,"Motor1:");
/* Display the form*/
FormRead(1);
..
/* Change the text in the field */
FormSetText(hForm, hField, "Pump1:");
..
See Also
Form Functions
FormWndHnd
Gets the window handle for the given form. The window handle may be used by 'C' pro-
grams and CitectSCADAWnd... functions. You should call this function only after the
FormRead() function.
The window handle is not the same as the CitectSCADA window number and cannot be
used with functions that expect the CitectSCADA window number (the Win... functions).
Syntax
FormWndHnd(hForm)
hForm:
where data on the associated form is stored.
Return Value
548
The window handle if successful, otherwise a 0 is returned.
Related Functions
FormNew, FormRead, WndFind
Example
/* Create a form with a field */

hField = FormPrompt(2,2,"Motor1:");
/* Display the form*/
FormRead(1);
/* Get the form's window number for future reference */
hWnd = FormWndHnd(hForm);
See Also
Form Functions
549
550
Chapter 31: Format Functions
Following are functions used for formatting data:
FmtClose Closes a format template.
FmtFieldHnd Gets the handle of a field in a format template.
FmtGetField Gets field data from a format template.
FmtGetFieldCount Retrieves the number of fields in a format object.
FmtGetFieldHnd Gets field data from a format template using a field handle.
FmtGetFieldName Retrieves the name of a particular field in a format object.
FmtGetFieldWidth Retrieves the width of a particular field in a format object.
FmtOpen Creates a new format template.
FmtSetField Sets data in a field of a format template.
FmtSetFieldHnd Sets data in a field of a format template using a field handle.
FmtToStr Converts format template data to a string
See Also
Functions Reference
FmtClose
Closes a format template. After it is closed, the template cannot be used. Closing the tem-
plate releases system memory.
Syntax
FmtClose(hFmt)
hFmt:
The format template handle, returned from the FmtOpen() function. The handle identifies the table
where all data on the associated format template is stored.
Return Value
551
Related Functions
FmtOpen
Example
FmtClose(hFmt);
See Also
Format Functions
FmtFieldHnd
Gets the handle of a field in a format template. You can then use the field handle in the
FmtGetFieldHnd() and FmtSetFieldHnd() functions. By using a handle, you only need to
resolve the field name once and then call other functions as required (resulting in
improved performance.)
Syntax
FmtFieldHnd(hFmt, Name)
hFmt:
sName:
The field name.
Return Value
The handle of the format template field, or -1 if the field cannot be found.
Related Functions
FmtGetFieldHnd, FmtSetFieldHnd
Example
!Resolve names at startup.

hName=FmtFieldHnd(hFmt,"Name");
hDesc=FmtFieldHnd(hFmt,"Desc");
!Set field data.
FmtSetFieldHnd(hFmt,hName,"CV101");
552
See Also
Format Functions
FmtGetField
Gets field data from a format template. Use this function to extract data after a call to
StrToFmt().
Syntax
FmtGetField(hFmt, sName)
hFmt:
where data on the associated format template is stored.
sName:
The field name.
Return Value
The data (as a string). If the field does not contain any data, an empty string will be
returned.
Related Functions
StrToFmt, FmtSetField, FmtToStr
Example
StrToFmt(hFmt,"CV101 Raw Coal Conveyor");

Str=FmtGetField(hFmt,"Name");
! Str will contain "CV101".
See Also
Format Functions
FmtGetFieldCount
Retrieves the number of fields in a format object.
Syntax
FmtGetFieldCount(hFmt)
hFmt:
553
Return Value
Number of fields in the specified format.
Related Functions
FmtGetField, FmtOpen
See Also
Format Functions
FmtGetFieldHnd
Gets field data from a format template. Use this function to extract data after a call to
StrToFmt(). This function has the same effect as FmtGetField(), except that you use a field
handle instead of the field name.
Syntax
FmtGetFieldHnd(hFmt, hField)
hFmt:
hField:
The field handle.
Return Value
The data (as a string). If the field does not contain any data, an empty string will be
returned.
Related Functions
StrToFmt, FmtFieldHnd
Example

hField=FmtFieldHnd(hFmt,"Name");
Str=FmtGetField(hFmt,hField);
! Str will contain "CV101".
See Also
Format Functions
FmtGetFieldName
Retrieves the name of a particular field in a format object.
554
Syntax
FmtGetFieldName(hFmt, hField)
hFmt:
hField:
The field handle.
Return Value
Name of requested field
Related Functions
FmtGetField, FmtOpen
See Also
Format Functions
FmtGetFieldWidth
Retrieves the width of a particular field in a format object.
Syntax
FmtGetFieldWidth(hFmt, hField)
hFmt:
The handle to a format object. The handle identifies the table where data on the associated format
template is stored.
hField:
The field handle.
Return Value
Width of the requested field.
Related Functions
FmtGetField, FmtGetFieldName, FmtOpen

See Also
Format Functions
FmtOpen
555
Creates a format template. After you create a template, you can use it for formatting data
into strings or extracting data from a string. To format a template, use the same syntax
as a device format, that is {<name>[,width[,justification]]}. The maximum number of for-
mats that can be created in a project is 512. If you attempt to create formats in excess of
this number, an error code (code 258: CT_ERROR_BUFFER_OVERRUN) will be gen-
erated.
Note: This function should be concluded with the FmtClose function, otherwise the
same error code (code 258: CT_ERROR_BUFFER_OVERRUN) will be generated.
Syntax
INT FmtOpen(STRING Name, STRING Format, INT Mode)

Name:
The name of the format template or Alarm Category.
Format:
The format of the template, as {<name>[,width[,justification]]}. Not used for alarm format.See For-
mat Templates for more information.
Mode:
0 - Open the existing format.

1 - Open a new format.
2 - Open Summary Format from Alarm Category specified by Name.
3 - Open Display Format from Alarm Category specified by Name.
4 – Open SOE format from Alarm Category specified by Name
Return Value
The format template handle, or -1 if the format cannot be created.
Related Functions
FmtClose
Examples
hFmt=FmtOpen("MyFormat","{Name}{Desc,20}",0);
FmtSetField(hFmt,"Name", "CV101");
FmtSetField(hFmt,"Desc","Raw Coal Conveyor");
Str =FmtToStr(hFmt);
! Str will contain "CV101 Raw Coal Conveyor".
FmtOpen("0", "", 2);
556
! Display Format from Alarm Category 0

FmtOpen("0", "", 3);
! Summary Format from Alarm Category 0.
See Also
Format Functions
FmtSetField
Sets data in a field of a format template. After you have set all the fields, you can build
the formatted string with the FmtToStr() function.
Syntax
FmtSetField(hFmt, Name, Data)

hFmt:
sName:
The name of the format template.
Data:
Field data.
Return Value
Related Functions
FmtGetField, FmtToStr
Example
hFmt=FmtOpen("MyFormat","{Name}{Desc, 20}",0);
FmtSetField(hFmt,"Name", "CV101");
FmtSetField(hFmt,"Desc","Raw Coal Conveyor");
Str =FmtToStr(hFmt);
! Str will contain "CV101 Raw Coal Conveyor".
See Also
Format Functions
FmtSetFieldHnd
557
The fields, you can build the formatted string with the FmtToStr() function. This func-
tion has the same effect as FmtSetField() except that you use a field handle instead of the
field name.
Syntax
FmtSetFieldHnd(hFmt, hField, Data)

hFmt:
hField:
The field handle.
Data:
Field data.
Return Value
Related Functions
FmtFieldHnd, FmtToStr, FmtSetField
Example
hField=FmtFieldHnd(hFmt,"Name");
FmtSetFieldHnd(hFmt,hField,"CV101");
See Also
Format Functions
FmtToStr
Builds a formatted string from the current field data (in a format template).
Syntax
FmtToStr(hFmt)
hFmt:
Return Value
The formatted string as defined in the format description.
558
Related Functions
StrToFmt
Example
! Get the formatted string.

Str=FmtToStr(hFmt);
See Also
Format Functions
559
560
Chapter 32: FTP Functions
Following are functions relating to FTP:
FTPClose Closes an FTP session.
FTPFileCopy Copies a file from the FTP server to the Internet Display Client.
FTPFileFind Finds a file on the FTP server that matches a specified search criteria.
FTPFile- Closes a find (started with FTPFileFind) that did not run to completion.
FindClose
FTPOpen Connects to an FTP server
See Also
Functions Reference
FTPClose
Closes an FTP session. This function can only be used on the Internet Display Client.
Syntax
FTPClose(hndFTP)
hndFTP:
The handle of a valid FTP session, as returned by FTPOpen().
Return Value
Related Functions
FTPOpen
Example
INT hFtp;
hFtp = FtpOpen("", "", "");
..
FtpClose(hFtp);
561
See Also
FTP Functions
FTPFileCopy
Copies a file from the FTP server to the Internet Display Client. Before calling this func-
tion, you need to call FtpOpen(). This function can only be used on the Internet Display
Client.
Syntax
FTPFileCopy(hndFTP, sSrcPath, sDestPath)

hndFTP:
sSrcPath:
The file name and path of the file to be copied from the FTP Server to the Internet Display Client.
This can be any FTP server.
sDestPath:
The destination of the copied file (including the name of the file).
Return Values
Note: The [Internet]ZipFiles parameter does not apply to files copied to the Internet
Display Client using this function.
Related Functions
FTPOpen, FTPFileFind
See Also
FTP Functions
FTPFileFind
Finds a file on the FTP server that matches a specified search criteria. Before you can call
this function, you need to call FTPOpen(). This function can only be used on the Internet
Display Client.
To find a list of files, you need to first call this function twice: once to find the first file,
then again with an empty path to find the remaining files. After the last file is found, an
empty string is returned.
562
If the search is for multiple files, FTPFileFindClose needs to be called if the search does
not run to completion (for example, you do not run until an empty string is returned).
Syntax
FTPFileFind(hndFTP, sPath)
hndFTP:
sPath:
The path you want to search for the desired file. Do not use path substitution here. To search for
multiple files, the wildcards * and ? may be used to match multiple entries.
nMode:
The type of file to check:
0 - Normal files (includes files with read-only and archived attributes)

1 - Read-only files only
2 - Hidden files only
4 - System files only
16 - Subdirectories only
32 - Archived files only
128 - Files with no attributes only
These numbers can be added together to search for multiple types of files during one search.
Return Value
The full path and filename. If no files are found, an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
FTPFileCopy, FTPOpen
Example
INT hFtp;
STRING sFindPath;
STRING sPath;
sFindPath = "\User\Example\*.RDB";
hFtp = FtpOpen("", "", "");
sPath = FtpFileFind(hFtp, sFindPath);
WHILE StrLength(sPath) > +0 DO
sPath = FtpFileFind(hFtp, "");
END
FtpClose(hFtp);
563
See Also
FTP Functions
FTPFileFindClose
Closes a find (started with FTPFileFind) that did not run to completion. This function can
only be used on the Internet Display Client.
Syntax
FTPFileFindClose(hndFTP)
hndFTP
Return Value
0 if no error is detected, or a Cicode error code if an error occurred.
Related Functions
FTPFileFind
Example
//Find the first DBF file starting with fred

sPath = FileFind("\User\Example\FRED*.DBF", 0);
IF (StrLength(sPath) > 0) THEN
//Do work here
FileFindClose();
END
See Also
FTP Functions
FTPOpen
Connects to an FTP server. This function can only be used on the Internet Display Client.
Syntax
FTPOpen( [sIPAddress] [, sUsername] [, sPassword] )

sIPAddress:
The TCP/IP address of the FTP server you wish to connect to (for example, 10.5.6.7 or plant.you-
rdoman.com). If you do not specify an IP address, the CitectSCADA FTP server running on the
Internet Server you are connected to will be used.
sUsername:
564
The FTP login username. If you omit both the username and IP address, the CitectSCADA FTP
password will be used. If you omit just the username, an anonymous logon will occur.
sPassword:
The FTP server password. If you wish to log on anonymously or you wish to log on to the Citect-
SCADA FTP server, do not specify a password, here.
Return Value
A handle to the FTP server otherwise -1 if an error occurs (for example, the server cannot
be found).
Related Functions
FTPClose
See Also
FTP Functions
565
566
Chapter 33: FuzzyTech Functions
Following are functions relating to fuzzy logic control:
FuzzyClose Closes specified fuzzy instance.
FuzzyGetCodeValue Gets a specified Code variable from the specified instance.
FuzzyGetShellValue Gets a specified Shell variable from the specified instance.
FuzzyOpen Creates a new fuzzy instance.
FuzzySetCodeValue Sets a specified Code variable in the specified instance.
FuzzySetShellValue Sets a specified Shell variable in the specified instance.
FuzzyTrace Controls the tracing.
See Also
Functions Reference
FuzzyClose
Frees all memory and information for the specified instance. After the fuzzy instance is
closed, the handle given in the hFuzzy parameter is no longer valid.
Syntax
FuzzyClose(hFuzzy)
hFuzzy:
The fuzzy instance handle (and integer greater than 0).
Return Value
Related Functions
FuzzyOpen
Example
See FuzzyOpen.
567
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
FuzzyGetCodeValue
Gets a value for the specified input of the specified instance.
Syntax
FuzzyGetCodeValue(hFuzzy, iIOIndex, NoHitFlag)

hFuzzy:
iIOIndex:
Specifies the variable to receive the value. The I/O-Indices start with 0 and increment by 1 for each
variable. To find the correct index for a specific variable, the variables need to be sorted in alpha-
numerical order, first the inputs and then the outputs.
NoHitFlag:
Variable to receive the new value of the No-hit-flag. The No- hit-flag is TRUE if no rule was active
for the variable specified by iIOIndex, otherwise it is FALSE. This needs to be a Cicode variable of
INT type - it cannot be a constant or PLC variable tag.
Return Value
The code value if the function was successful, otherwise -1. Use IsError() to find the
error number if the function does not succeed.
Related Functions
FuzzyOpen, FuzzySetCodeValue
Example
See FuzzyOpen
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
FuzzyGetShellValue
Gets a value for the specified input of the specified instance. The variables in the
instance needs to have the data type REAL (floating point values).
Syntax
FuzzyGetShellValue(hFuzzy, iIOIndex, NoHitFlag)

hFuzzy:
568
iIOIndex:
NoHitFlag:
Variable to receive the new value of the No-hit-flag. The No- hit-flag is TRUE if no rule was active
for the variable specified by iIOIndex, otherwise it is FALSE. This needs to be a Cicode variable of
INT type - it cannot be a constant or PLC variable tag.
Return Value
The shell value if the function was successful. Use IsError() to find the error number if
the function does not succeed.
Related Functions
FuzzyOpen, FuzzySetShellValue
Example
See FuzzyOpen
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
FuzzyOpen
This function loads a *.FTR file, allocates memory and creates a handle for this fuzzy
instance. To use the FuzzyTech functions you need to be a registered user of one or more
of the following fuzzyTech products: fuzzyTECH Online Edition, fuzzyTECH Precompiler
Edition, or fuzzyTECH for Business PlusC. And you need to only use fuzzyTECH to gen-
erate the *.FTR file for FTRUN.
The application needs to call the FuzzyClose function to delete each fuzzy instance han-
dle returned by the FuzzyOpen function.
Syntax
FuzzyOpen(sFile)
sFile:
Specifies the filename of the .FTR file to load.
Return Value
569
The handle to the fuzzy instance, or -1 if the function cannot complete the operation. Use
IsError() to find the error number.
Related Functions
FuzzyClose, FuzzyGetShellValue, FuzzySetShellValue, FuzzyGetCodeValue, Fuzzy-

SetCodeValue, FuzzyTrace.
Example
INT hFuzzy;
INT NoHitFlag;
INT Status;
REAL MemOutput;
// open the Fuzzy Tech runtime instance
hFuzzy = FuzzyOpen
("C:\Program Files\Citect\CitectSCADA 7.30Schneider Electric\PowerSCADA Expert 7.30
\bin\traffic.ftr");
Status = IsError();
IF hFuzzy <> -1 THEN
MemOutput = PLCOutput;
WHILE Status = 0 DO
FuzzySetShellValue(hFuzzy, 0, 42.0);
FuzzySetShellValue(hFuzzy, 1, 3.14150);
MemOutput = FuzzyGetShellValue(hFuzzy, 2, NoHitFlag);
Status = IsError();
// Only write to PLC if output changes.
// This reduces load on PLC communication.
IF MemOutput <> PLCOutput THEN
PLCOutput = MemOutput;
END
SleepMS(500);
END
FuzzyClose(hFuzzy);
END
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
FuzzySetCodeValue
Sets a value for the specified input of the specified instance.
Syntax
FuzzySetCodeValue(hFuzzy, iIOIndex, iCodeValue)

hFuzzy:
iIOIndex:
570
iCodeValue:
The value to be copied to the variable specified by iIOIndex.
Return Value
Related Functions
FuzzyOpen, FuzzyGetCodeValue
Example
See FuzzyOpen.
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
FuzzySetShellValue
Sets a value for the specified input of the specified instance.
Syntax
FuzzySetShellValue(hFuzzy, iIOIndex, rShellValue)

hFuzzy:
iIOIndex:
rShellValue:
The value to be copied to the variable specified by iIOIndex.
Return Value
Related Functions
FuzzyOpen, FuzzyGetShellValue
Example
571
See FuzzyOpen.
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
FuzzyTrace
Controls the trace process (starting and stopping) of the specified instance.
Syntax
FuzzyTrace(hFuzzy, TraceOn)
hFuzzy:
TraceOn:
Specifies whether to start or to stop a trace process for the Fuzzy instanse specified by hFuzzy. If
this parameter is TRUE (1), the trace process is started. If this parameter is FALSE (0), the trace proc-
ess is stopped.
Return Value
Related Functions
FuzzyOpen
Example
See FuzzyOpen.
See Also
FuzzyTech Functions
572
Chapter 34: Group Functions
Following are functions relating to groups of objects:
GrpClose Closes a group.
GrpDelete Deletes items from a group.
GrpFirst Gets the first item in a group.
GrpIn Tests if an item is in a group.
GrpInsert Inserts items into a group.
GrpMath Performs mathematical operations on groups.
GrpName Gets the name of a group from a group handle.
GrpNext Gets the next item in a group.
GrpOpen Opens a group.
GrpToStr Converts a group into a string
See Also
Functions Reference
GrpClose
Closes a group. The group is destroyed and the group handle becomes invalid. You
should close a group when it is not in use, to release the associated memory. Citect-
SCADA closes all groups on shutdown.
Syntax
GrpClose(hGrp)
hGrp:
The group handle, returned from the GrpOpen() function. The group handle identifies the table
where all data on the associated group is stored.
Return Value
573
Related Functions
GrpOpen
Example
hGrp=GrpOpen("MyGrp",1);
..
GrpClose(hGrp);
See Also
Group Functions
GrpDelete
Deletes a single element or all elements from a group. You can also delete another group
from within the group.
Syntax
GrpDelete(hGrp, Value)
hGrp:
Value:
The element to delete from the group, from 0 to 16375.

l Set Value to -1 to delete all elements from the group.
l Set Value to a group handle to delete another group from this group.
Return Value
Related Functions
GrpInsert, GrpOpen
Example
! Delete 10 and 14 from a group.

GrpDelete(hGrp,10);
GrpDelete(hGrp,14);
574
See Also
Group Functions
GrpFirst
Gets the value of the first element in a group. The first element in the group is the ele-
ment with the lowest value. You can follow this function with a GrpNext() call, to get
the value of all the elements in a group.
Syntax
GrpFirst(hGrp)
hGrp:
Return Value
The value of the first element in a group or -1 if the group is empty.
Related Functions
GrpOpen, GrpNext
Example
Value=GrpFirst(hGrp);
IF Value<>-1 THEN
Prompt("First value is "+Value:###);
END
See Also
Group Functions
GrpIn
Determines if an element is in a group.
Syntax
GrpIn(hGrp, Value)
hGrp:
Value:
The element to locate, from 0 to 16375.
575
l Set Value to a group handle to check if another group exists in the group.
Return Value
1 if the element is in the group, otherwise 0 is returned.
Related Functions
GrpOpen, GrpInsert, GrpDelete
Example
IF GrpIn(hGrp,10) THEN
Prompt("Area 10 in this group");
END
See Also
Group Functions
GrpInsert
Adds an element (or another group) to a group.
Syntax
GrpInsert(hGrp, Value)
hGrp:
Value:
The element to add to the group, from 0 to 16375.

l Set Value to -1 to add all elements (0 to 16375) to the group.
l Set Value to a group handle to insert another group into the group.
Return Value
Related Functions
GrpOpen, GrpDelete, GrpIn
Example
! Add 10 and 14 to a group.

GrpInsert(hGrp,10);
GrpInsert(hGrp,14);
576
See Also
Group Functions
GrpMath
Performs mathematical operations on two groups, and stores the result in another group.
You can add the two groups, subtract one from the other, or perform Boolean AND,
NOT, and XOR operations on the two groups.
Syntax
GrpMath(hResult, hOne, hTwo, Type)

hResult:
The group number where the result is placed.
hOne:
Number of first group used in the mathematical operation.
hTwo:
Number of the second group used in the mathematical operation.
nType:
Type of mathematical operation:
0 - Add groups one and two.

1 - Subtract group two from group one.
2 - AND groups one and two.
3 - NOT groups one and two.
4 - XOR groups one and two.
Return Value
Related Functions
GrpOpen
Example
hOne=GrpOpen("Plantwide",0);
hTwo=GrpOpen("Section1",0);
hResult=GrpOpen("Result",0);
577
! Subtract Section1 from Plantwide and place in Result.

GrpMath(hResult,hOne,hTwo,1);
See Also
Group Functions
GrpName
Gets the name of a group from a group handle.
Syntax
GrpName(hGrp)
hGrp:
Return Value
The name of the group (as a string).
Related Functions
GrpOpen
Example
! Get the current group name.

sName=GrpName(hGrp);
See Also
Group Functions
GrpNext
Gets the value of the next element in a group. You can get the value of all the elements
in a group. Call the GrpFirst() function to get the value of the first element, and then call
this function in a loop.
Syntax
GrpNext(hGrp, Value)
hGrp:
Value:
578
The value returned from GrpFirst() or the latest GrpNext() call.
Return Value
The value of the next element in a group, or -1 if the end of the group has been found.
Related Functions
GrpFirst
Example
! Count all values in a group.

Count=0;
Value=GrpFirst(hGrp);
WHILE Value<>-1 DO
Count=Count+1;
Value=GrpNext(hGrp,Value);
END
Prompt("Number of values in group is "+Count:###);
See Also
Group Functions
GrpOpen
Creates a group and returns a group handle, or gets the group handle of an existing
group. After you open a group, you can use the group number in functions that use
groups, for example, SetArea() and AlarmSetInfo(). You can open a group that is spec-
ified in the Groups database. You can also create groups at runtime.
When you open a group that is defined in the database, a copy of the group is made -
the original group is not used. You can therefore change the values in the group without
affecting other facilities that use this group.
Syntax
GrpOpen(sName, nMode)
sName
The name of the group to open.
Mode
0 - Open an existing group

1 - Create a new group
2 - Attempts to open an existing group. If the group does not exist, it will create
it.
579
Return Value
The group handle , or -1 if the group cannot be created or opened. The group handle
identifies the table where data on the associated group is stored.
Related Functions
GrpClose
Example
! Open Plantwide group defined in the database.

hGrp=GrpOpen("Plantwide",0);
! Set current user area to Plantwide.
SetArea(hGrp);
GrpClose(hGrp);
! Set area to 1...10, 20 and 25 by creating a new group.
StrToGrp(hGrp,"1..10,20,25");
SetArea(hGrp);
GrpClose(hGrp);
See Also
Group Functions
GrpToStr
Converts a group into a string of values separated by " , " and " .. ". You can then dis-
play the group on the screen or in a report.
Syntax
GrpToStr(hGrp)
hGrp:
Return Value
The group (as a string).
Related Functions
GrpOpen, StrToGrp
Example
! Display current areas.

hGrp=GetArea();
580
Str=GrpToStr(hGrp);
DspStr(21,"WhiteFont",Str);
See Also
Group Functions
581
582
Chapter 35: I/O Device Functions
Following are functions relating to I/O Devices:
DriverInfo Provides information about the driver for a particular I/O Device.
IODe- Provides control of individual I/O Devices.

viceControl
IODeviceInfo Gets information on an I/O Device.
IODeviceStats Gets statistical information for I/O Devices.
See Also
Functions Reference
DriverInfo
Provides information about the driver for a specified I/O device. Select the device using
the IODevice argument, and the information to be returned using the Type argument.
This function can only be used if the I/O Server is on the current machine. When the I/O
Server is not in the calling process, this function will become blocking and cannot be
called from a foreground task. In this case, the return value will be undefined and a
Cicode hardware alarm will be raised.
Syntax
DriverInfo(IODevice, nType [, sClusterName] [, ServerName] )

IODevice:
The name of the I/O device.
nType:
The type of information returned about the driver. Specify one of the following:
0 - Driver Name
1 - Driver Title
2 - Block constant
3 - Max Retrys
4 - Transmit Delay
5 - Receive Timeout
583
6 - Polltime
7 - Watchtime (milliseconds
Note: The DISKDRV driver name is returned as "Disk" instead of "DISKDRV". If the
Polltime is set as "Interrupt", the function returns "0".
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the I/O Server resides. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the I/O server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in
quotation marks "".
ServerName:
Specifies the name of the the I/O Server. This parameter is only required if you are running more
than one I/O server process from the same cluster on the same computer and need to instruct the
system which process to redirect to. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
The driver information as a string. In the case of an error the return value is an empty
string.
Example
// Using the IODevice Number

sName = DriverInfo(20, 0); ! Get the name of the driver used with I/O device 20
sName = DriverInfo(2, 1); ! Get the title of the driver used with I/O device 2
// Using the IODevice Name
sName = DriverInfo("IODev",3);
! Get the Max Retrys value of the driver used with IODev
sName = DriverInfo("IODev1",5);
! Get the Receive Timeout value of the driver used with IODev1
See Also
I/O Device Functions
IODeviceControl
Provides control of individual I/O devices. You might need to call this function several
times. If you use incompatible values for the various options of this function, you might
get unpredictable results.
This function can only be used if the I/O Server is on the current machine. When the I/O
Server is not in the calling process, this function will become blocking and cannot be
called from a foreground task. In this case, the return value will be undefined and a
Syntax
584
IODeviceControl(IODevice, nType, Data [, sClusterName] [, ServerName] )

IODevice:
The number or name of the I/O device. If you call this function from an I/O server, you can use the
I/O device name. If you call this function from a client, you may use either the I/O device number or
name. To specify all I/O devices, use "*" (asterisk) or -1.
nType:
The type of control action:
0 - No longer supported.
1 - Enable/Disable the I/O device on the I/O server. If disabled, attempts to read
and write from the I/O device are ignored. (If another I/O device is con-
figured as a standby I/O server, CitectSCADA switches communications
to that I/O device.) The I/O server does not attempt to communicate with
the I/O device until it is re-enabled. When the I/O device is re-enabled,
the I/O server attempts to re-establish communication immediately.
Mode 1 can only be called by the I/O Server which is associated with
this device.
2 - No longer supported. An invalid argument error is returned if this option is
specified.
3 - No longer supported. An invalid argument error is returned if this option is
specified.
4 - The data in the associated I/O device cache is flushed. This allows flushing
of the data from the I/O device without waiting for the aging time. This
is useful when you have long cache time and you want to force a read
from the I/O device.
The Data value is ignored with this mode.
5 - (For scheduled and remote I/O devices). The I/O device is added to the bot-
tom of the list of I/O devices to be contacted. I/O devices already in the
list (already waiting to be contacted) are given priority over this I/O
device.
6 - (For scheduled and remote I/O devices). The I/O device is added to the top
of the list of I/O devices to be contacted; it is given high priority. If there
are already I/O devices at the top of the list with high priority, then this
I/O device will be added to the list after them (that is it will be contacted
after them). For dial-up remote I/O devices, if the modem is already in
use - connected to another I/O device - this I/O device will not be dialled
until that connection has been terminated.
585
7 - (For scheduled and remote I/O devices). The I/O device is added to the top
of the list of I/O devices to be contacted, and it is given top priority. For
dial-up remote I/O devices, if the modem is currently connected to
another I/O device, the connection will be cancelled, and the top priority
I/O device will be dialled. It will also stay connected until manually dis-
connected with another call to IODeviceControl().
Note: This mode will not attempt to disconnect any other persistent con-
nections. Persistent connections can only be disconnected using mode 8.
8 - (For scheduled and remote I/O devices). Disconnect an I/O device. Current
requests will be completed before the I/O device is disconnected.
9 - (For scheduled I/O devices). The communication schedule for the I/O device
is disabled. This is to minimize the likelihood that the I/O device will be
contacted when its scheduled dial-time occurs.
10 - (For scheduled I/O devices). Puts the I/O device into Write On Request
mode. That is, as soon as a write request is made, the I/O device will be
added to the list of I/O devices to be contacted. It is given priority over
existing read requests, but not over existing write requests.
In this situation, there will be a delay while the I/O device is contacted. Do not
mistake this pause for inactivity (for example, do not continually execute
a command during this delay).
11 - Change the I/O device cache timeout. If the I/O Server is restarted, the
cache timeout will return to its original value. (For scheduled I/O
devices, this value can be checked using the Kernel Page Unit command.
For all other I/O devices, this value is configured in the Cache Time field
at the I/O Devices Properties form.)
12 - The time of day at which to add the I/O device to the list of I/O devices to
be contacted. Set the time in Data in seconds from midnight (for exam-
ple, specify 6 p.m. as 18 * 60 * 60). Use Type 12 to specify a one-time-
communication.
13 - The communication period (the time between successive communication
attempts). The value you specify represents different periods, depending
on what type of schedule you are using (that is daily, weekly, monthly,
or yearly. This is set using Type 15.). You can choose to specify the com-
munication period either in seconds from midnight, day of week (0 to 6,
Sunday = 0), month (1 to 12), or year. Enter the value in Data. For exam-
ple, if your schedule is weekly, and you set Data = 3, you are specifying
each Wednesday. If your schedule is monthly, Data = 3 indicates March.
For daily communication, set the period in Data in seconds from mid-
night; for example, set Data to 6 * 60 * 60 to contact the I/O device every
6 hours.
586
14 - The time at which the I/O Server will first attempt to communicate with
the I/O device. Set the time in Data in seconds from midnight, for exam-
ple, to synchronize at 10a.m., set Data to 10 * 60 * 60.
15 - Type of schedule. Set Data to one of the following:
l 1 - Daily
l 2 - Weekly
l 3 - Monthly
l 4 - Yearly
16 - (For remote I/O devices) Read all tags from the I/O device. Data is unused -
set it to 0 (zero).
18 - Set Control Inhibit (Control Mode) for all tags of the I/O device.
Data:
Data for the control operation*:
1:
l Disable the I/O device (Disable Write On Request mode for Type 10)
l Set Control Inhibit to ON (mode for type 18)
0:
l Enable the I/O device (Enable Write On Request mode for Type 10) or the
I/O device name (for Type 2 or 3).
l Set Control Inhibit to OFF (mode for type 18)
* For Type 5-8, Data is ignored; enter 0 (zero).
sClusterName:
quotation marks "".
ServerName:
Return Value
Related Functions
IODeviceInfo, IODeviceStats, TagReadEx, TagWrite
Example
IODeviceControl(4, 1, 1); ! Disable I/O device 4
587
See Also
IODeviceInfo
Gets information about a specified I/O device.
Apart from when Type is set to 3 or 17, this function can only be used if the I/O Server is
on the current machine, otherwise the function will not succeed and will return empty
string. When the I/O Server is not in the calling process, this function will become block-
ing and cannot be called from a foreground task. In this case, the return value will be
undefined and a Cicode hardware alarm will be raised.
If both the primary and standby I/O devices are on the same server and they have the
same I/O device name, you can get information about them individually by specifying
the following:
IODeviceInfo("PLC1,P",1); // for the Primary

IODeviceInfo("PLC1,S",1); // for the Standby
where P represents the primary I/O device and S the standby I/O device.
If you have more than one standby device on the same server, there is currently no way
of using this function for other than the first standby device.
Note: When the I/O server is not in the calling process, this function could become a
blocking function if the information required by this function is on an I/O server
(except types 3 and 17, which are normally non-blocking). If this is the case, this func-
tion cannot be called from a foreground task (such as a graphics page) or an expres-
sion. Otherwise the return value will be undefined and a Cicode hardware alarm
raised.
Syntax
IODeviceInfo(IODevice, Type [, sClusterName] [, ServerName])

IODevice:
The I/O device number, or the I/O device name enclosed in double quotes.
nType:
The type of information:
0 - Name of I/O device

1 - Protocol of I/O device
2 - Protocol address
3 - Client I/O device state
588
l 1 = Running - Client is either talking to an online I/O device or talking to

a scheduled device that is not currently connected but has a valid cache
l 2 = Standby - Client is talking to an online standby I/O device
l 4 = Starting - Client is talking to an I/O device that is attempting to come
online
l 8 = Stopping - Client is talking to an I/O device that is in the process of
stopping
l 16 = Offline - Client is pointing to an I/O device that is currently offline
l 32 = Disabled - Client is pointing to a device that is disabled
l 66 = Standby write - client is talking to an I/O device configured as a
standby write device
4 - Current generic error number (decimal)
5 - Current driver error number (decimal)
6 - Disabled flag
7 - Statistics, minimum read time
8 - Statistics, maximum read time
9 - Statistics, average read time
10 - I/O server I/O device state
l 1 = Running - I/O device for this I/O server is online or a scheduled
device that is not currently connected but has a valid cache

l 2 = Standby - I/O device for this I/O server is online and a standby unit
l 4 = Starting - I/O device for this I/O server is attempting to come online.
Starting may be combined with either Offline or Remote such as: 20 =

Starting(4) + Offline(16) or 132 = Starting(4) + Remote(128).
l 8 = Stopping - I/O device for this I/O server is currently in the process of
stopping
l 16 = Offline (only valid on an I/O server) - I/O device for this I/O server
is currently offline
l 32 = Disabled - I/O device for this I/O server is disabled
l 66 = Standby write - I/O device for this I/O server is configured as a

l 128 = Remote (returned in combination with another value specified
above - see Starting - I/O device for this I/O server is a scheduled device
but not currently connected
11 - Unit number
12 - Configured I/O server name
13 - Configured Port name
14 - Configured startup mode
15 - Configured comment
16 - The primary I/O server name the client uses to communicate to this device
589
17 - The I/O Server the client is using to communicate to this device. Will be
Standby if the Primary is down.
18 - State of the remote unit:
l 0 = Remote unit is disconnected and OK
l 1 = Remote unit is connected and online
l 2 = Remote unit is in the dial queue
l 16 = Remote unit is disconnected and offline
l 32 = Remote unit is disconnected and disabled
This mode causes redirection to the I/O server if running in separate processes.
19 - Number of successful attempts to communicate with the scheduled I/O
device.
20 - Number of unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the scheduled I/O
device.
21 - Write mode: Write On Request, and normal (as per schedule defined in the
Express Communications Wizard).
22 - Number of queued read requests for the scheduled I/O device. (This mode
causes redirection to the I/O server if running in separate processes.)
23 - Number of queued write requests for the scheduled I/O device. (This mode
causes redirection to the I/O server if running in separate processes.)
24 - The cache timeout (in milliseconds).
26 - The name of the line device (for example, modem) you are using to con-
nect to the I/O device. (This mode causes redirection to the I/O server if
running in separate processes.)
27 - The call_status of a currently connected remote I/O device.
DIALCALLSTATE_UNAVAIL 0
DIALCALLSTATE_IDLE 1
DIALCALLSTATE_OFFERING 2
DIALCALLSTATE_ACCEPTED 3
DIALCALLSTATE_DIALTONE 4
DIALCALLSTATE_DIALING 5
DIALCALLSTATE_RINGBACK 6
DIALCALLSTATE_BUSY 7
590
DIALCALLSTATE_SPECIALINFO 8
DIALCALLSTATE_CONNECTED 9
DIALCALLSTATE_PROCEEDING 10
DIALCALLSTATE_ONHOLD 11
DIALCALLSTATE_CONFERENCED 12
DIALCALLSTATE_ONHOLDPENDCONF 13
DIALCALLSTATE_ONHOLDPENDTRANSFER 14
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_NORMAL 16
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_LINELOST 17
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_UNKNOWN 18
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_REJECT 19
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_PICKUP 20
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_FORWARDED 21
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_BUSY 22
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_NOANSWER 23
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_BADADDRESS 24
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_UNREACHABLE 25
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_CONGESTION 26
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_INCOMPATIBLE 27
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_UNAVAIL 28
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_NODIALTONE 29
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_NUMBERCHANGED 30
591
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_OUTOFORDER 31
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_TEMPFAILURE 32
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_QOSUNAVAIL 33
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_BLOCKED 34
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_DONOTDISTURB 35
DIALCALLSTATE_DISCONNECTED_CANCELLED 36
DIALCALLSTATE_UNKNOWN 48
(This mode causes redirection to the I/O server if running in separate proc-
esses.)
28 - The call rate (in bits per second) which may be the DTE or DCE connection
speed depending on the server modem settings. (This mode causes redi-
rection to the I/O server if running in separate processes.)
30 - The last time an I/O device from the remote I/O device redundant group
was connected (primary or any standbys).
31 -The state of the remote I/O device redundant group:
l 0 = not connected (none of the redundant I/O devices connected)
l 1 =connected (one of the redundant I/O devices is connected)
32 - The next time the specified I/O device is scheduled to connect (unless a
higher priority I/O device comes online).
sClusterName:
quotation marks "".
ServerName:
Specifies the name of the I/O Server. This parameter is only required if you are running more than
one I/O server process from the same cluster on the same computer and need to instruct the system
which process to redirect to. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
The type of information (as a string).
Related Functions
IODeviceControl, IODeviceStats, TagReadEx, TagWrite
592
Example
//Using the IODevice Number

sName = IODeviceInfo(20, 0); ! Get the name of I/O device 20
sName = IODeviceInfo(2, 1); ! Get the protocol of I/O device 2
//Using the IODevice Name
sName = IODeviceInfo("IODev",10); ! Get the I/O Server State
sName = IODeviceInfo("IODev1",3); ! Get the State of IODev1
See Also
IODeviceStats
Gets statistical information for all I/O devices, and displays the information in a dialog
box.
Note: In a multi-process environment this function needs to be called from the

IOServer process or redirected there using MsgRPC. If this isn't done, some of the
information on the IODeviceStats form will not be displayed correctly.
Syntax
IODeviceStats()
Return Value
Related Functions
IODeviceInfo
Example
IODeviceStats(); ! display all I/O device information
See Also
593
594
Chapter 36: Keyboard Functions
Following are functions relating to the keyboard:
Key- Allows the command cursor to move to any AN or only to ANs that have
AllowCursor commands defined.
KeyBs Deletes the last character from the key command line.
KeyDown Moves the command cursor down.
KeyGet Gets the raw key code from the key command line.
Key- Gets the AN where the cursor is positioned.

GetCursor
KeyLeft Moves the command cursor left.
KeyMove Moves the command cursor in the requested direction.
KeyPeek Gets a key from the key command line without removing the key.
KeyPut Puts a raw key code into the key command line.
KeyPutStr Puts a string into the key command line.
KeyReplay Replays the last key sequence.
KeyReplayAll Replays and executes the last key sequence.
KeyRight Moves the command cursor right.
Key- Moves the command cursor to a specified AN.

SetCursor
KeySetSeq Adds a keyboard sequence at runtime.
KeyUp Moves the command cursor up.
SendKeys Sends a keystroke (or string of keystrokes) to a window.
595
See Also
Functions Reference
KeyAllowCursor
Allows (or disallows) the command cursor to move to the specified AN or to all ANs.
The command cursor normally moves only to ANs that have commands defined.
Syntax
KeyAllowCursor(nAN, State)
nAN:
The AN where the command cursor can move. If 0, all ANs are implied.
State:
Allow state:
0 - Do not allow the cursor to move to this AN.

1 - Allow the cursor to move to this AN.
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyGetCursor
Example
KeyAllowCursor(20,1);
! Allows the command cursor to move to AN20.
KeyAllowCursor(0,1);
! Allows the command cursor to move to any AN.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyBs
Removes the last key from the key command line. If the key command line is empty, this
function will not perform any action.
You should call this function using a "Hot Key" command (as shown in the example
below), otherwise the backspace character is placed into the key command line and the
command does not execute. A "Hot Key" command is a command that executes as soon
as it is placed into the key command line.
Syntax
596
KeyBs()
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyGet
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence *Bs
Command KeyBs()
Comment Define a backspace Hot Key
(*) represents a HotKey command)
/* If "START A B C" is in the key command line and "START" is

the Key Name for the "F1" key: */
KeyBs();
! Removes ASCII "C".
KeyBs();
! Removes ASCII "B".
KeyBs();
! Removes ASCII "A".
KeyBs();
! Removes Key_F1.
KeyBs();
! Performs no action.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyDown
Moves the command cursor down the page to the closest AN. If an AN-Down cursor
override is specified (in the Page Keyboard database) for the graphics page, the com-
mand cursor moves to that AN instead.
Syntax
KeyDown()
Return Value
597
Related Functions
KeyUp, KeyLeft, KeyRight, KeyMove
Example
See KeyDown.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyGet
Gets the last key code from the key command line. The key is removed from the com-
mand line. Use this function to process the operator key commands directly. You should
call this function from the keyboard event function.
Syntax
KeyGet()
Return Value
The last key code from the key command line. If the key command line is empty, 0 (zero)
is returned.
Related Functions
KeyPeek, KeyPut
Example
/* If "START A B C" is in the key command line and "START" is

the Key Name for the "F1" key: */
Variable=KeyGet();
! Sets Variable to 67 (ASCII "C").
Variable=KeyGet();
! Sets Variable to 66 (ASCII "B").
Variable=KeyGet();
! Sets Variable to 65 (ASCII "A").
Variable=KeyGet();
! Sets Variable to 170 (the ASCII value of the F1 key (Key_F1)).
Variable=KeyGet();
! Sets Variable to 0.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyGetCursor
598
Gets the AN at the position of the command cursor.

If this function is called from within a larger piece of code, the cursor may have moved
away from where it was originally positioned when the larger piece of code was started.
If you are using groups, and there are currently two command cursors, the AN for the
innermost will be returned. For example, if there is a cursor for a group as well as a cur-
sor for one of its objects, the AN for the object will be returned.
Syntax
KeyGetCursor()
Return Value
The AN at the position of the command cursor. If no cursor is visible, -1 is returned.
Related Functions
KeySetCursor
Example
! If the command cursor is on AN25:

AN=KeyGetCursor();
! Sets AN to 25.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyLeft
Moves the command cursor left (across the page) to the closest AN. If an AN-Left cursor
override is specified (in the Page Keyboard database) for the graphics page, the com-
mand cursor moves to that AN instead.
Syntax
KeyLeft()
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyRight, KeyUp, KeyDown, KeyMove
Example
See KeyRight
599
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyMove
Moves the command cursor in a specified direction to the closest AN. If an AN cursor
override is specified, the command cursor moves to that AN directly. This function is
equivalent to the KeyUp(), KeyDown(), KeyLeft(), and KeyRight() functions.
Syntax
KeyMove(Direction)
Direction:
Direction to move the cursor:
0 - Do not move
1 - Left
2 - Right
3 - Up
4 - Down
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyUp, KeyDown, KeyLeft, KeyRight
Example
KeyMove(1);
! Moves the cursor left.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyPeek
Gets the ascii key code from the key command line (at a specified offset), without remov-
ing the key from the key command line. An offset of 0 returns the key code from the last
position in the key command line.
Syntax
KeyPeek(Offset)
Offset:
600
The offset from the end of the key command line
Return Value
The ASCII key code.
Related Functions
KeyGet
Example
! If "A B C" is in the key command line:

Variable=KeyPeek(0);
! Sets Variable to 67 (ASCII "C")
Variable=KeyPeek(2);
! Sets Variable to 65 (ASCII "A")
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyPut
Puts an ASCII key code or Keyboard key code into the last position of the key command
line. If this key completes any command, that command will execute.
Syntax
KeyPut(KeyCode)
KeyCode:
The key code to put into the key command line.
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyGet
Example
KeyPut(Key_F1);
/* Puts "Key_F1" (the Key Code for the "F1" key) into the last
position of the key command line. If "START" is the Key Name for
the "F1" key, this would be equivalent to
KeyPutStr("START"). In either case, "START" will display on the
key command line. */
KeyPut(StrToChar("A"));
601
/* Puts the Key Code for the "A" key into the last position of the
key command line. */
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyPutStr
Puts a string at the end of the key command line. The string can contain either key
names or data characters. If this string completes any command, that command will
execute.
Syntax
KeyPutStr(String)
String:
The string to put into the key command line.
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyPut
Example
KeyPutStr("START ABC");
! Places "START ABC" at the end of the key command line.
KeyPutStr("TURN PUMP 1 ON");
! Places "TURN PUMP 1 ON" at the end of the key command line.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyReplay
Replays the last key sequence (except for the last key, which would execute the com-
mand). This function is useful when a command is to be repeated. To call this function
from the keyboard, use a Hot Key "*" (asterisk) command, otherwise the KeyReplay()
function itself is replayed.
Syntax
KeyReplay(sub)
sub:
602
Number of characters to subtract before replay. Default value is 1.
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyReplayAll
Example
If the previous contents of the key command line were:
"START ABC ENTER"

KeyReplay();
! Replays "START ABC".
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyReplayAll
Replays the last key sequence and executes the command. To call this function from the
keyboard, use a Hot Key " * " (asterisk) command, otherwise the KeyReplayAll() function
itself is replayed.
Syntax
KeyReplayAll()
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyReplay
Example
If the previous contents of the key command line were:
"START ABC ENTER"

KeyReplayAll();
! Replays "START ABC ENTER" and executes the command.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyRight
603
Moves the command cursor right (across the page) to the closest AN. If an AN-Right
cursor override is specified (in the Page Keyboard database) for the graphics page, the
command cursor moves to that AN instead.
Syntax
KeyRight()
Return Value
Related Functions
KeyUp, KeyDown, KeyLeft, KeyMove
Example
See KeyLeft
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeySetCursor
Displays the command cursor at a specified AN. A keyboard command needs to exist,
or you need to first call the KeyAllowCursor() function (at the AN) to allow the cursor to
move to the AN. If the AN does not exist, or if a command does not exist at that AN, or
if KeyAllowCursor() has not been called, the command cursor does not move.
Syntax
KeySetCursor(nAN)
nAN:
The AN where the command cursor will be displayed.
Return Value
If the AN does not exist, or if a command does not exist at that AN, or if Key-
AllowCursor() has not been called, the return value is 1. Otherwise, the function will
return 0.
Related Functions
KeyGetCursor, KeyAllowCursor
Example
604
! Move the command cursor to AN20.

KeySetCursor(20);
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeySetSeq
Adds a keyboard sequence to the current page at runtime. The key sequence is only
added to the current window. When the page is closed, the keyboard sequence is deleted.
Syntax
KeySetSeq(sKeySeq, AN, Fn)

sKeySeq:
The keyboard sequence.
nAN:
The AN where the keyboard sequence will apply. If you set AN to 0 (zero), the keyboard sequence
will apply to all ANs on the page.
Fn:
The function to call when the keyboard sequence matches. This function needs to be a callback func-
tion.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspButton, DspButtonFn
Example
/* Set the key sequence and call the "Callback" function when the
sequence is found. */
KeySetSeq("F2 ### Enter", 0, Callback);
! This function is called when the key sequence is found.
INT
FUNCTION CallBack()
INT Value;
! Get user data.
Value=Arg1;
..
RETURN 0;
END
605
See Also
Keyboard Functions
KeyUp
Moves the command cursor up the page to the closest AN. If an AN-Up cursor override
is specified (in the Page Keyboard database) for the graphics page, the command cursor
moves to that AN.
Syntax
KeyUp()
Return Value

KeyDown, KeyLeft, KeyRight, KeyMove
Example
See KeyUp.
See Also
Keyboard Functions
SendKeys
Sends a keystroke (or string of keystrokes) to a window as if they were typed on the key-
board. The window receives input focus and is brought to the foreground.
Syntax
SendKeys(sTitle, sKeys)
sTitle:
The title (caption) of the destination window.
sKeys:
The key (or keys) to send to sTitle.

l To send a single keyboard character, use the character itself. For example, to
send the letter a, set sKeys to a. To send more than one character, append
each additional character to the string. For example, to send the letters a, b,
and c, set sKeys to abc.
l The plus (+), caret (^), and percent sign (%) have special meanings. To send
one of these special characters, enclose the character with braces. For exam-
ple, to send the plus sign, use {+}. To send a { character or a } character, use
{{} and {}}, respectively.
606
l To specify characters that are not displayed when you press a key (such as
Enter or Tab) and other keys that represent actions rather than characters,
use the codes shown below:
Key Code
Backspace {backspace} or {bs} or{bksp}
Break {break}
Caps Lock {capslock}
Clear {clear}
Del {delete} or {del}
End {end}
Enter {enter} or ~
Esc {escape} or {esc}
Help {help}
Home {home}
Insert {insert}
Num Lock {numlock}
Page Down {pgdn}
Page Up {pgup}
Print Screen {prtsc}
Scroll Lock {scrolllock}
Tab {tab}
Up Arrow {up}
Down Arrow {down}
Right Arrow {right}
607
Left Arrow {left}
F1 {f1}
F2 {f2}
F3 {f3}
F4 {f4}
F5 {f5}
F6 {f6}
F7 {f7}
F8 {f8}
F9 {f9}
F10 {f10}
F11 {f11}
F12 {f12}
l To specify keys combined with any combination of Shift, Ctrl, and Alt, pre-
cede the regular key code with one or more of these codes:
Key Code
Shift +
Ctrl ^
Alt %
To specify that Shift, Ctrl, and/or Alt are held down while several keys are pressed, enclose the
keys in parentheses. For example, to hold down the Shift key while sending E then C, use +(EC).
To hold down Shift while sending E, followed by C without the Shift key, use +EC. To specify
repeating keys, use the form {key number}. For example, {left 42} means send the left arrow key 42
times. Be aware that you need to leave a space between the key and number.
Return Value
Related Functions
608
WndFind
Example
SendKeys("Untitled - Notepad", "abc");

// Send the key sequence "abc" to the Notepad application
See Also
Keyboard Functions
609
610
Chapter 37: Mail Functions
Following are functions relating to sending or receiveing mail:
MailError Gets the last mail error code
MailLogoff Logoff from the mail system
MailLogon Logon to the mail system
MailRead Reads a standard mail message
MailSend Sends a standard mail message
See Also
Functions Reference
MailError
Gets the last mail error code. The error code is extracted from the MAPI mail system,
and explains what caused the MAPI error.
Syntax
MailError()
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned. Refer also to MAPI errors.
Related Functions
MailLogon, MailLogoff, MailSend, MailRead
Example
! Logon to the mail system

IF MailLogon("RodgerG", "password", 0) THEN
error = MailError();
!do what is required
END
See Also
Mail Functions
611
MailLogoff
Logs off from the mail system. You should log off the mail system when all mail oper-
ations are complete. CitectSCADA automatically logs off the mail system on shutdown.
Syntax
MailLogoff()
Return Value
Related Functions
MailLogon, MailSend, MailRead
Example
! Send the report to Rodger

MailLogon("Andrew", "password", 0);
MailSend("Rodger Gaff", "Report", "This is the weekly report",
"[data]:weekly.txt", 0);
MailLogoff();
See Also
Mail Functions
MailLogon
Logs on to the mail system. You need to call this function before any other mail function.
The mail system uses the MAPI standard interface, so you can use any mail system that
supports this standard.
You should log on to the mail system when CitectSCADA starts, and log off only at shut-
down. (The logon procedure can take a few seconds to complete.) You can only log on as
one user at a time for each computer, so you can only read mail for this user name.
Syntax
MailLogon(sName, sPassword, iMode)

sName:
The name of the mail user. This name is the user's mail box name (the unique shorthand name, not
the full user's name).
sPassword:
The password of the mail user.
612
iMode:
The mode of the logon:
0 - Normal logon.
2 - Get unique logon, do not share existing mail client logon.
Return Value
Related Functions
MailLogoff, MailSend, MailRead, MailError
Example
! Send the report to James

MailLogon("RodgerG", "password", 0);
MailSend("James Glover", "Report", "This is the weekly report",
MailLogoff();
See Also
Mail Functions
MailRead
Reads a standard mail message. The mail message can contain text, an attached file, or
both.
Before you can use this function, you need to use the MailLogon() function to log on to
the mail system. You can only read mail sent to the user name specified in the Mail-
Logon() function.
Syntax
MailRead(sName, sSubject, sNote, sFileName, iMode)

sName:
The name of the mail user who sent the message.
sSubject:
The subject text of the mail message.
sNote:
613
The note section of the message. If the message is longer than 255 characters, CitectSCADA will
save the message in a file and return the file name in sNote. Use the file functions to read the mes-
sage. The name of the file will be in the form CTxxxxx where x is a unique number. You need to
delete the file after you have finished with the mail message.
sFileName:
The name of any attached file. If there is no attached file in the message, specify sFileName as an
empty string "".
iMode:
The mode of the read:
0 - Read a message. If no message is available, wait for a message.

1 - Read a message. If no message is available, return with an error code.
Return Value
Related Functions
MailLogon, MailLogoff, MailSend, MailError
Example

MailLogon("RodgerG", "password", 0);
! Read a message. Don't wait if no message
IF MailRead(sName, sSubject, sNote, sFileName, 1) = 0 THEN
! got message now do something with it
END
WHILE TRUE DO
! wait for a mail message
MailRead(sName, sSubject, sNote, sFileName, 0);
END;
MailLogoff();
See Also
Mail Functions
MailSend
Sends a standard mail message. The mail message can contain text, an attached file, or
both.
Before you can use this function, you need to use the MailLogon() function to log on to
the mail system. You can only send mail from the user name specified in the MailLogon
() function. You can send mail to any mail user or to another Citect client.
Syntax
614
MailSend(sName, sSubject, sNote, sFileName, iMode)

sName:
The name of the mail user who will receive the message. This name is the user's full name (not their
mailbox name).
sSubject:
The subject text of the mail message (a short description of what the message is about).
sNote:
The note section of the message (the main section of the message text). You can enter up to 255 char-
acters, or a file name for longer messages. If you enter a file name, set iMode to 1.
sFileName:
The name of any attached file. If there is no attached file in the message, set sFileName to an empty
string "".
iMode:
The mode of the send:
0 - Normal mail message.

1 - The sNote argument is the name of a text file to send as the note.
Return Value
Related Functions
MailLogon, MailLogoff, MailRead, MailError
Example

MailLogon("Wombat", "password", 0);
! send the report to Andrew
MailSend("Andrew Bennet", "Report", "Attached is the weekly report",
! send hello message to JR
MailSend("Jack Russell", "Hello", "You've only got yourself to blame!", "", 0);
! send a big note to Nigel
MailSend("Nigel Colless", "Big Message", "[data]:message.txt", "", 1);
MailLogoff();
See Also
Mail Functions
615
616
Chapter 38: Math/Trigonometry Functions
Following are mathematical or trigonometrical functions:
Abs Gets the absolute value of a number.
ArcCos Gets the arccosine of an angle.
ArcSin Gets the arcsine of an angle.
ArcTan Gets the arctangent of an angle.
Cos Gets the cosine of an angle.
DegToRad Converts an angle from degrees to radians.
Exp Raises e to the power of a number.
Fact Gets the factorial of a number.
HighByte Gets the high-order byte of a two-byte integer.
HighWord Gets the high-order word of a four-byte integer.
Ln Gets the natural logarithm of a number.
Log Gets the base 10 logarithm of a number.
LowByte Gets the low-order byte of a two-byte integer.
LowWord Gets the low-order word of a four-byte integer.
Max Gets the higher of two numbers.
Min Gets the lower of two numbers.
Pi Gets the value of pi.
Pow Raises a number to the power of another number.
617
RadToDeg Converts an angle from radians to degrees.
Rand Gets a random number.
Round Rounds a number.
Sign Gets the sign of a number.
Sin Gets the sine of an angle.
Sqrt Gets the square root of a number.
Tan Gets the tangent of an angle.
See Also
Functions Reference
Abs
Calculates the absolute (positive) value of a number. The absolute value of a number is
the number without its sign.
Syntax
Abs(Number)
Number:
Any number.
Return Value
The absolute (positive) value of Number.
Related Functions
Sign
Example
Variable=Abs(-67);
Variable=Abs(67);
See Also
Math/Trigonometry Functions
618
ArcCos
Calculates the arccosine of an angle.
Syntax
ArcCos(Number)
Number
The cosine of the angle.
Return Value
The arccosine (the angle, in radians) of Number.
Related Functions
Cos
Example
Variable=ArcCos(0.4);
! Sets Variable to 1.1592...
See Also
ArcSin
Calculates the arcsine of an angle.
Syntax
ArcSin(Number)
Number:
The sine of the angle.
Return Value
The arcsine (the angle, in radians) of Number.
Related Functions
Sin
Example
Variable=ArcSin(1);
619
See Also
ArcTan
Calculates the arctangent of an angle.
Syntax
ArcTan(Number)
Number:
The tangent of the angle.
Return Value
The arctangent (the angle, in radians) of Number.
Related Functions
Tan
Example
Variable=ArcTan(0.4);
See Also
Cos
Calculates the trigonometric cosine of an angle.
Syntax
Cos(Angle)
Angle:
Any angle (in radians).
Return Value
The cosine of Angle.
Related Functions
620
ArcCos
Example
Variable=Cos(0.7854);
See Also
DegToRad
Converts an angle from degrees to radians.
Syntax
DegToRad(Angle)
Angle:
Any angle (in degrees).
Return Value
The angle in radians.
Related Functions
RadToDeg
Example
Variable=DegToRad(180);
! Sets Variable to 3.1415... (pi).
See Also
Exp
Calculates the exponential of a number (natural logarithm base e).
Syntax
Exp(Number)
Number:
Any number.
Return Value
621
The exponential of Number (to the base e).
Related Functions
Log
Example
Variable=Exp(1);
See Also
Fact
Calculates the factorial of a number.
Syntax
Fact(Number)
Number:
Any number.
Return Value
The factorial of Number.
Example
Variable=Fact(6);
! Sets Variable to 720 (that is 720=1x2x3x4x5x6).
See Also
HighByte
Gets the high-order byte of a two-byte integer.
Syntax
HighByte(TwoByteInteger)
TwoByteInteger:
A two-byte integer.
Return Value
622
The high-order byte (that is | X | - |)
Related Functions
LowByte, HighWord, LowWord
Example
Variable=HighByte(0x5678);
! Sets Variable to 0x56.
See Also
HighWord
Gets the high-order word of a four-byte integer.
Syntax
HighWord(FourByteInteger)
FourByteInteger:
A four-byte integer.
Return Value
The high-order word (that is | X | X | - | - |)
Related Functions
LowWord, HighByte, LowByte
Example
Variable=HighWord(0x12345678);
See Also
Ln
Calculates the natural (base e) logarithm of a number.
Syntax
Ln(Number)
Number:
623
Any number.
Return Value
The natural (base e) logarithm of Number.
Related Functions
Log
Example
Variable=Ln(2);
See Also
Log
Calculates the base 10 logarithm of a number.
Syntax
Log(Number)
Number:
Any number.
Return Value
The base 10 logarithm of Number.
Related Functions
Ln
Example
Variable=Log(100);
! Sets Variable to 2 (that is 100=10 to the power of 2).
See Also
LowByte
Gets the low-order byte of a two-byte integer.
Syntax
624
LowByte(TwoByteInteger)
TwoByteInteger:
A two-byte integer.
Return Value
The low-order byte (that is | - | X |)
Related Functions
HighByte, LowWord, HighWord
Example
Variable=LowByte(0x5678);
See Also
LowWord
Gets the low-order word of a four-byte integer.
Syntax
LowWord(FourByteInteger)
FourByteInteger:
A four-byte integer.
Return Value
The low-order word (that is | - | - | X | X |)
Related Functions
HighByte, LowByte, HighWord
Example
Variable=LowWord(0x12345678);
! Sets Variable to 0x5678
See Also
Max
625
Gets the higher of two numbers.
Syntax
Max(Number1, Number2)
Number1:
The first number.
Number2:
The second number.
Return Value
The higher of numbers Number1 and Number2.
Related Functions
Min
Example
Variable=Max(24,12);
See Also
Min
Returns the lower of two numbers.
Syntax
Min(Number1, Number2)
Number1:
The first number.
Number2:
The second number.
Return Value
The lower of numbers Number1 and Number2.
Related Functions
Max
626
Example
Variable=Min(24,12);
See Also
Pi
Gets the value of pi (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter).
Syntax
Pi()
Return Value
The value of pi.
Example
Variable=Pi();
See Also
Pow
Calculates x to the power of y.
Syntax
Pow(X, Y)
X:
The base number.
Y:
The exponent.
Return Value
X to the power of Y.
Related Functions
Exp
627
Example
Variable=Pow(5,3);
See Also
RadToDeg
Converts an angle from radians to degrees.
Syntax
RadToDeg(Angle)
Angle:
Return Value
The angle in degrees.
Related Functions
DegToRad
Example
Variable=RadToDeg(Pi());
See Also
Rand
Generates a random number between 0 and a specified maximum number less one.
The Rand function is zero-based, so the resultant number generated will range from zero
to one less than the number provided in the Maximum argument.
Syntax
Rand(Maximum)
Maximum:
The maximum number. This number needs to be between 2 and 32767 (inclusive).
628
Return Value
A random number of integer type.
Example
Variable=Rand(101);
! Sets Variable to a random number from 0 to 100.
// To create a random number between 0 and 1 with 2 decimal places,
divide the above variable by 100, as shown here: //
Variable = Variable/100;
See Also
Round
Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
Syntax
Round(Number, Places)
Number:
The floating-point number to round.
Places:
The number of decimal places.
Return Value
The number rounded to Places decimal places.
Example
Variable=Round(0.7843,2);
! Sets Variable to 0.78 (result is rounded to 2 decimal places).
Variable=Round(123.45,-1);
! Sets Variable to 120.0 (rounded to -1 decimal place).
See Also
Sign
Gets the sign of a number.
Syntax
629
Sign(Number)
Number:
Any number.
Return Value
The sign of Number.
Related Functions
Abs
Example
Variable=Sign(100);
Variable=Sign(-300);
! Sets Variable to -1.
Variable=Sign(0);
See Also
Sin
Calculates the trigonometric sine of an angle.
Syntax
Sin(Angle)
Angle:
Any angle (in radians).
Return Value
The sine of Angle.
Related Functions
ArcSin
Example
Variable=Sin(0.7854);
630
See Also
Sqrt
Gets the square root of a number.
Syntax
Sqrt(Number)
Number:
Any positive number.
Return Value
The square root of Number.
Related Functions
Pow
Example
Variable=Sqrt(4);
See Also
Tan
Calculates the trigonometric tangent of an angle.
Syntax
Tan(Angle)
Angle:
Return Value
The tan of Angle.
Related Functions
ArcTan
Example
631
Variable=Tan(1);
! Sets Variable to 1.5574
See Also
632
Chapter 39: Menu Functions
The following functions allow you to access the contents of the menu configuration data-
base in a tree-like format, and change the contents of the tree. Be reminded that changes
made to the menu tree will not be persisted back to the menu configuration database.
MenuGetChild Returns the handle to the child node with the specified
name.
MenuGetFirstChild Returns the handle to the first child of a menu node.
MenuGetGenericNode Returns the handle to the base node of the menu tree for the
generic pages.
MenuGetNextChild Returns the next node that shares the same parent.
MenuGetPageNode Returns the handle to the base node of the menu tree of a
specified page.
MenuGetParent Returns the parent node of the menu item.
MenuGetPrevChild Returns the previous node that shares the same parent.
MenuGetWindowNode Returns the handle to the root node for a given window.
MenuNodeAddChild Dynamically adds a new item to the menu at runtime.
MenuNodeGetProperty Return the item value of the specified menu node.
MenuNodeHasCommand Checks whether the menu node has a valid cicode command
associated with it.
MenuNodeIsDisabled Checks whether the menu node is disabled by evaluating its

DisabledWhen cicode expression.
MenuNodeIsHidden Checks whether the menu node is hidden by evaluating its

HiddenWhen cicode expression.
MenuNodeRemove Remove the menu node from the menu tree.
MenuNodeRunCommand Run the associated command for a menu node.
633
Menu- Set the DisabledWhen expression for a newly added node.

NodeSetDisabledWhen
Menu- Set the HiddenWhen expression for a newly added node.

NodeSetHiddenWhen
MenuNodeSetProperty Set the item value of the specified menu node.
MenuReload Reload base Menu Configuration from the compiled data-

base.
See Also
Functions Reference
MenuGetChild
Returns the handle to the child node with the specified name.
Syntax
MenuGetChild(hParent, sName)
hParent:
Handle to the parent node in the menu tree.
sName:
The name of the child Menu node requested.
Return Value
The handle of the child node with the requested name, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
MenuGetFirstChild, MenuGetGenericNode, MenuGetNextChild, MenuGetPageNode,

MenuGetParent, MenuGetPrevChild, MenuGetWindowNode, MenuNodeAddChild,
MenuNodeGetProperty, MenuNodeHasCommand, MenuNodeIsDisabled, Menu-
NodeIsHidden, MenuNodeRemove, MenuNodeRunCommand, Menu-
NodeSetDisabledWhen, MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen, MenuNodeSetProperty,
MenuReload
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetFirstChild
Returns the handle to the first child of a menu node.
634
Syntax
MenuGetFirstChild(hNode)
hNode:
The handle to the parent node in the menu tree.
Return Value
The handle to the first child node of a menu node, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
MenuGetChild, MenuGetGenericNode, MenuGetNextChild, MenuGetPageNode, Menu-

GetParent, MenuGetPrevChild, MenuGetWindowNode, MenuNodeAddChild, Menu-
NodeGetProperty, MenuNodeHasCommand, MenuNodeIsDisabled,
MenuNodeIsHidden, MenuNodeRemove, MenuNodeRunCommand, Menu-
NodeSetDisabledWhen, MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen, MenuNodeSetProperty, MenuRe-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetGenericNode
Returns the handle to the base node of the menu tree for the generic pages. Its child
nodes represent the menu items that do not have a page specified in the menu con-
figuration database.
Syntax
MenuGetGenericNode([bCreate])
bCreate:
Determines if the node should be created if it does not exist. Defaults to 0, do not create.
Return Value
The handle to the base node of the menu tree, or -1 if it cannot find the node.
Related Functions
MenuGetChild, MenuGetFirstChild, MenuGetNextChild, MenuGetPageNode, Menu-

load
635
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetNextChild
Returns the next node that shares the same parent.
Syntax
MenuGetNextChild(hChild)
hChild:
Handle to the current node in the menu tree
Return Value
The handle to next node that shares the same parent, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
MenuGetChild, MenuGetFirstChild, MenuGetGenericNode, MenuGetPageNode, Menu-

load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetPageNode
Returns the handle to the base node of the menu tree of a specified page. Its child nodes
represent the menu items that have the particular page specified in the menu con-
figuration database.
Syntax
MenuGetPageNode(sPage [, bCreate])
sPage:
The name of the page to return the base menu tree handle for.
bCreate:
Determines if the node should be created if it does not exist. Defaults to 0, do not create.
Return Value
636
The handle to the base node of the menu tree, or -1 if no handle returned to the base
node of menu.
Related Functions
MenuGetChild, MenuGetFirstChild, MenuGetGenericNode, MenuGetNextChild, Menu-

load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetParent
Returns the parent node of the menu item.
Syntax
MenuGetParent(hNode)
hNode:
Handle to the current node in the menu tree.
Return Value
The handle to parent menu node of the given menu item, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions

GetPageNode, MenuGetPrevChild, MenuGetWindowNode, MenuNodeAddChild, Menu-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetPrevChild
Returns the previous node that shares the same parent.
Syntax
MenuGetPrevChild(hChild)
637
hChild:
Return Value
The handle to previous node that shares the same parent, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions

GetPageNode, MenuGetParent, MenuGetWindowNode, MenuNodeAddChild, Menu-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuGetWindowNode
Returns the handle to the root node for a given window. This menu node is dynamically
created for each page instance. Its child nodes represent the menu items for the generic
pages merged with the ones specific to this page.
Syntax
MenuGetWindowNode(hWin)
hWin:
The window number of the desired window. You can call WinNumber() to get the window
number of the page that calls this Cicode function.
Return Value
The handle to the root node of a given window, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions

GetPageNode, MenuGetParent, MenuGetPrevChild, MenuNodeAddChild, Menu-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
638
MenuNodeAddChild
Dynamically add a new item to the menu at runtime. Be reminded that the changes are
for the current session only and will not be persisted to the _Pagemen.RDB file.
Be reminded that changes made to the menu tree will not be persisted back to the menu
configuration database.
Syntax
MenuNodeAddChild(hParent, sName, sCommandName [, sCommandArgs] [, sSymbol] [, iOr-

der])
hParent:
Handle of the parent node to add the new menu item under.
sName:
The string label of the new menu item.
sCommandName:
Specifies the name of the Cicode function to run.
sCommandArgs:
Specifies the parameters of the Cicode function to run.
sSymbol:
The symbol to be associated with the menu item.
iOrder:
The relative position in the menu for new item.
Return Value
The handle of the new node, or -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions

GetPageNode, MenuGetParent, MenuGetPrevChild, MenuGetWindowNode, Menu-
load
See Also
Menu Functions Introduction
639
Menu Functions
MenuNodeGetProperty
Return the item value of the specified menu node.
Syntax
MenuNodeGetProperty(hNode, iField)
hNode:
iField:
Field for which you want the value:
0 - Name of Menu Item.

1 - Icon symbol to be associated with the menu item
2 - Privilege level required to run the command, otherwise the menu item is
disabled.
3 - Area level required to run the command, otherwise the menu item is dis-
abled.
4 - Disabled Style. Allows different display style for a disabled menu item.
5 - Checked setting. Whether the menu item will display a checkbox next to the
label.
6 - Width. Specifies the menu item width in pixels.
7 - Comment
Return Value
An value for the specified Menu node field.
Related Functions

NodeAddChild, MenuNodeHasCommand, MenuNodeIsDisabled, MenuNodeIsHidden,
MenuNodeRemove, MenuNodeRunCommand, MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen, Menu-
NodeSetHiddenWhen, MenuNodeSetProperty, MenuReload
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeHasCommand
Checks whether the menu node has a valid cicode command associated with it.
Syntax
640
MenuNodeHasCommand(hNode)
hNode:
Handle of node to check.
Return Value
1 if the menu node has a valid cicode command, 0 if the menu node has no cicode com-
mand.
Related Functions

NodeAddChild, MenuNodeGetProperty, MenuNodeIsDisabled, MenuNodeIsHidden,
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeIsDisabled
Checks whether the menu node is disabled by evaluating its DisabledWhen cicode
expression.
Syntax
MenuNodeIsDisabled(hNode)
hNode:
Return Value
1 if menu node DisabledWhen expression evaluates to true, 0 if menu node Dis-

abledWhen expression evaluates to false.
Related Functions

NodeAddChild, MenuNodeGetProperty, MenuNodeHasCommand, MenuNodeIsHidden,
Example
641
INT hNode = MenuNodeFirstChild(hParent);

IF (MenuNodeIsDisabled(hNode)) THEN
! set the menu item graphic state to disabled
END
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeIsHidden
Checks whether the menu node is hidden by evaluating its HiddenWhen cicode expres-
sion.
Syntax
MenuNodeIsHidden(hNode)
hNode:
Return Value
1 if menu node HiddenWhen expression evaluates to true, 0 if menu node HiddenWhen

expression evaluates to false.
Related Functions

NodeAddChild, MenuNodeGetProperty, MenuNodeHasCommand,
MenuNodeIsDisabled, MenuNodeRemove, MenuNodeRunCommand, Menu-
load
Example
INT hNode = MenuNodeFirstChild(hParent);

IF (MenuNodeIsHidden(hNode)) THEN
! set the menu item graphic state to hidden
END
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeRemove
Remove the menu node from the menu tree.
642
Syntax
MenuNodeRemove(hNode)
hNode:
Handle of node to remove.
Return Value
Zero (0) if node successfully removed. -1 if hNode is an invalid menu handle.
Related Functions

MenuNodeIsDisabled, MenuNodeIsHidden, MenuNodeRunCommand, Menu-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeRunCommand
Run the associated command for a menu node.
Syntax
MenuNodeRunCommand(hNode)
hNode:
Handle of node to run command.
Return Value
No error(0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if hNode does not refer to a valid
node.
Related Functions
643

MenuNodeIsDisabled, MenuNodeIsHidden, MenuNodeRemove, Menu-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen
Set the DisabledWhen expression for a newly added node. Be aware this function only
works for menu nodes added with MenuNodeAddChild(). The DisabledWhen expres-
sion may only be set once for a node.
Syntax
MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen(hNode, sDisabledWhenName [, sDisabledWhenArgs] [, iDis-

abledStyle])
hNode:
Handle of node to run command
sDisabledWhenName:
Cicode function for DisabledWhen expression. The function needs to return an INT.
sDisabledWhenArgs:
Cicode parameters for DisabledWhen expression. Only supports static arguments.
iDisabledStyle:
Disabled Style. Allows different display styles for a disabled menu item.
Return Value
No Error(0) on success, Bad handle specified (269) if hNode does not refer to a valid
node, Invalid argument passed (274) if DisabledWhen Cicode has already been set or is
not a valid expression.
Related Functions
644

NodeRunCommand, MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen, MenuNodeSetProperty, MenuReload
Example
INT hNode = MenuNodeAddChild((hParent, "LogIn", "LogIn");

INT Error = MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen(hNode, "UserInfo", "0", 1);
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen
Set the HiddenWhen expression for a newly added node. Be aware this function only
works for menu nodes added with MenuNodeAddChild(). The HiddenWhen expression
may only be set once for a node.
Syntax
MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen(hNode, sHiddenWhenName [, sHiddenWhenArgs])

hNode:
Handle of node to run command.
sHiddenWhenName:
Cicode function for HiddenWhen expression. The function needs to return an INT.
sHiddenWhenArgs:
Cicode parameters for HiddenWhen expression. Only supports static arguments.
Return Value
No Error (0) on success, Bad handle specified (269) if hNode does not refer to a valid
node, or Invalid argument passed (274) if HiddenWhen Cicode has already been set or is
not a valid expression.
Related Functions
645

NodeRunCommand, MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen, MenuNodeSetProperty, MenuReload
Example
INT hNode = MenuNodeAddChild(hParent, "LogIn", "LogIn");

INT Error = MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen(hNode, "UserInfo", "0");
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuNodeSetProperty
Set the item value of the specified menu node.
Syntax
MenuNodeSetProperty(hNode, iField, sValue)

hNode:
iField:
Field for which you want to set the value:
0 - Name of Menu Item.

1 - Icon symbol to be associated with the menu item
2 - Privilege level required to run the command, otherwise the menu item is
disabled.
3 - Area level required to run the command, otherwise the menu item is dis-
abled.
4 - Disabled Style. Allows different display style for a disabled menu item.
5 - Checked setting. Whether the menu item will display a checkbox next to the
label.
6 - Width. Specifies the menu item width in pixels.
7 - Comment
sValue:
646
The item value to set for the Menu node.
Return Value
Zero (0) if successful. -1 if hNode or iField is invalid
Related Functions

NodeRunCommand, MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen, MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen, MenuRe-
load
See Also
Menu Functions
MenuReload
Reload base Menu Configuration from the compiled database.
Be reminded that the menu configuration loaded on the currently displayed page will
not change until the page is refreshed. By default, menu configuration is automatically
reloaded whenever a page is displayed.
Syntax
MenuReload()
Return Value
None.
Related Functions

NodeRunCommand, MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen, MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen, Menu-
NodeSetProperty
See Also
Menu Functions
647
648
Chapter 40: Miscellaneous Functions
Following are miscellaneous functions.
AreaCheck Determines whether the current user has access to a specified

area.
Assert Verifies a particular condition is true, or halts the task.
Beep Beeps the speaker or sound card in the computer.
CitectInfo Gets information about a CitectSCADA variable.
CodeTrace Traces Cicode into the Kernel and the SYSLOG.DAT file.
DebugBreak Causes a breakpoint error to start the Cicode Debugger.
DebugMsg In-line debug messages of user Cicode.
DebugMsgSet Enables/disables the DebugMsg function.
DelayShutdown Causes CitectSCADA to shut down after a specified period
Dis- Starts and displays CitectSCADA Runtime Manager.

playRuntimeManager
DumpKernel Dumps Kernel data to the Kernel.dat file.
EngToGeneric Converts a variable into generic scale format.
Exec Executes an application or PIF file.
GetArea Gets the current viewable areas.
GetEnv Gets an environment variable.
GetLogging Gets the current value for one or more logging parameters.
InfoForm Displays graphics object help information for the AN closest to

the cursor.
InfoFormAn Displays graphics object help information for an AN.
649
Input Gets text input from the operator.
IntToReal Converts an integer variable into a real (floating point) number.
KerCmd Executes a command in a kernel window.
KernelQueueLength Obtains the number of rows in a queue.
KernelTableInfo Provides a consistent method of accessing items within a Kernel

Table.
Ker- Obtains the number of rows in a Kernel Table.

nelTableItemCount
Lan- Translates an ASCII file into the local language.

guageFileTranslate
Message Displays a message box on the screen.
ParameterGet Gets the value of a system parameter.
ParameterPut Updates a system parameter.
ProcessIsClient Determines if the currently executing process contains a Client

component.
ProcessIsServer Determines if the currently executing process contains a par-

ticular server component.
ProcessRestart Restarts the current process in which Cicode is running.
ProductInfo Returns information about the CitectSCADA product.
ProjectInfo Returns information about a particular project, which is iden-

tified by a project enumerated number.
ProjectRestartGet Gets the path to the project to be run the next time CitectSCADA
is restarted.
ProjectRestartSet Sets the path to the project to be run the next time CitectSCADA
is restarted.
ProjectSet Sets the name or path of the current project.
Prompt Displays a message in the prompt line.
650
Pulse Pulses (jogs) a variable tag every two seconds.
ServerDumpKernel Dumps Kernel data to the KERNEL.DAT file either on a local server
or on a remote server.
ServiceGetList Gets information about services running in the component call-

ing this function.
SetArea Sets the current viewable areas.
SetLanguage This function is now obsolete.
SetLogging Adjusts logging parameters while online.
Shutdown Ends CitectSCADA's operation.
ShutdownForm Displays a form that allows an operator to shut down the Citect-
SCADA system.
ShutdownMode Gets the mode of the shutdown/restart.
SwitchConfig Switches focus to the CitectSCADA configuration application.
TestRandomWave Generates a random wave.
TestSawWave Generates a saw wave.
TestSinWave Generates a sine wave.
TestSquareWave Generates a square wave.
TestTriangWave Generates a triangular wave.
Toggle Toggles a digital tag on or off.
TraceMsg Displays a message in the Kernel and Debugger debug win-

dows.
Version Gets the version number of the CitectSCADA software.
See Also
Functions Reference
AreaCheck
Determines whether the current user has access to a specified area.
Syntax
651
AreaCheck(Area)
Area:
The area number (0 - 255)
Return Value
TRUE (1) if the user has access to the Area or FALSE (0) if not.
Related Functions
GetArea, GetPriv
Example
IsArea = AreaCheck(5);
See Also
Assert
Verifies that the specified expression is TRUE. If then expression is FALSE, the current
task will be halted. This is useful to help prevent the execution of code you do not want
to run in the event an error has been detected.
This function can be used in a debug mode, where the FALSE assertion will be logged to
the Kernel and SysLog.DAT, with the time, date, Cicode file name, and line number.
Additionally the operator will be prompted with a dialog. The debug mode can be set by
using the [Code]DebugMessage parameter or DebugMsgSet() function.
Note: If you have the "Citect will start debugger on hardware errors" option set in
the Cicode Editor, the Debugger will start with the position before the Halt() instruc-
tion. You need to 'step over' this command if you want to continue debugging the
function that called the Assert().
Syntax
Assert(bCondition)
bCondition:
The boolean expression. This expression needs to evaluate to TRUE (1) or FALSE (0).
Return Value
None. However, if the assertion tests as FALSE, error 347 is generated.
Related Functions
652
Halt, DebugMsg, DebugMsgSet, CodeTrace, TraceMsg, ErrLog
Example
INT
FUNCTION FileDisplayEx(STRING sFileName);
INT hFile;
Assert(hFile <> -1);
...
FileClose(hFile);
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Beep
Beeps the internal speaker or sound card (installed in the computer). If you use the inter-
nal speaker on your computer, the function does not return until the sound has com-
pleted. If you use a sound card, the function returns immediately and the sound plays in
the background.
Use the Windows Control Panel to set up waveforms.
Syntax
Beep(nSound)
nSound:
The type of sound:
-1 - Standard beep
0 - Default beep waveform
1 - Critical stop waveform
2 - Question waveform
3 - Exclamation waveform
4 - Asterisk waveform
Return Value
Related Functions
DspPlaySound
Example
653
/* Beeps the speaker with the default waveform. */

Beep(0);
See Also
CitectInfo
Gets information about a CitectSCADA variable. This function returns internal statistics
and other information about the CitectSCADAruntime system.
Note: This function is a non-blocking function and can only access data contained
within the calling process; consequently it cannot return data contained in a different
server process. This function is not redirected automatically by CitectSCADA run-
time. If you want to make a call from one process to return data in another, use
MsgRPC() to make a remote procedure call on the other process. Alternatively,
include the server process that has the information that CitectInfo requires in the call-
ing process.
Syntax
CitectInfo(sGroup, sName, sType)

sGroup:
The name of the group to which the variable belongs. Valid group names are: "General", "Port",
"IODevice", "Network", "Stats", "Memory", or "Disk".
sName:
The name of the variable. This name depends on sGroup:

l "General" - the name is ignored.
l "Port" - the name of the I/O port configured in the database (with the Ports
database). The port information is only valid for an I/O server. If the port
name is "total", the total statistics for the I/O server are returned.
l "IODevice" - the name of the I/O device configured in the I/O devices data-
base.
l "Network" - the name is ignored.
l "Stats" - The name of the statistics buffer or Statistical Information Record
(SIR):
"Alarm Proc" - Alarm Processing (includes Digital, Analog, Advanced and
High Resolution alarms).
"Citect n" - The CitectSCADA window where n is the window number
(returned from the WinNumber() function)
654
"Code n" - The user Cicode task (thread) where n is the task handle (returned
from the TaskHnd() function)
"Reset" - Reset the CitectSCADA statistics.
"ElapsedTimeMS" - The elapsed time since statistics have been reset. Returns -1
if more than 20 days has elapsed.
l "Memory" - the measurement used
0 = bytes
KB = kilobytes
MB = megabytes
GB = gigabytes
l "Disk" - The disk drive to access:
0 = The current drive
1 = A:
2 = B:
3 = C: and so on.
snType:
The type of information to get, depending on sGroup:
"General" - General statistics:
0 - CPU usage
1 - CitectSCADA Kernel cycles per second
2 - CitectSCADA Kernel tasks per second
3 - CitectSCADA Kernel boot time
4 - CitectSCADA Kernel running time (in seconds)
5 - CitectSCADA startup time
6 - CitectSCADA running time in seconds
7 - Not supported in v7.10 or later
8 - Total read requests
9 - Total read requests per second
10 - Total write requests
11 - Total write requests per second
12 - Total Physical read requests
13 - Total Physical read requests per second
14 - Total Physical write requests
15 - Total Physical write requests per second
16 - Total Blocked read requests
17 - Total Blocked write requests
655
18 - Total Digital read requests

19 - Total Register read requests
20 - Total Digital read requests per second
21 - Total Register read requests per second
22 - Total Cache reads count
23 - Total Cache reads %
24 - Overall Average response time (ms)
25 - Overall Minimum response time (ms)
26 - Overall Maximum response time (ms)
27 - Request sample for response times
28 - Static point count is no longer supported. Calling the function with param-
eter 28 returns a value of 0 and a hardware alarm is raised.
29 - Dynamic point count currently in use
30 - Number of pending read requests from the device
31 - Number of pending write requests to the device
32 - Determines if CitectSCADA Kernel window is open
33 - Percentage of the CPU used by the current CitectSCADA process
34 - Total CPU time spent by the current CitectSCADA process in milliseconds
35 - Total number of handles opened by the current CitectSCADA process
36 - Total number of threads owned by the current CitectSCADA process
"Port" - Port information for the I/O Server:
0 - Read requests
1 - Write requests
2 - Physical read requests
3 - Physical write requests
4 - Cached read requests
5 - Cached write requests
6 - Blocked read requests
7 - Blocked write requests
8 - Read requests per second
9 - Write requests per second
10 - Error count
11 - Read bytes counter
12 - Channel usage %
13 - Read bytes per second
656

17 - Statistics, time of samples
18 - Statistics, number of sample
100 - 119 - Driver specific counter values. CitectSCADA drivers can maintain
up to 20 unique counters that can be accessed via this function. They are
zero based, indexed from 100 to 119. If a value is not defined or main-
tained by the driver, 0 is returned for the value of the counter.
"IODevice" - I/O device information for the I/O device:
0 - Client side status:
l 1 = Running - Client is either talking to an online IO device or talking to
a scheduled device that is not currently connected but has a valid cache
l 2 = Standby - Client is talking to an online standby IO device
l 4 = Starting - Client is talking to an IO device that is attempting to come
online
l 8 = Stopping - Client is talking to an IO device that is in the process of
stopping
l 16 = Offline - Client is pointing to an IO device that is currently offline
l 32 = Disabled - Client is pointing to a device that is disabled
l 66 = Standby write - Client is talking to an I/O device configured as a

1 - I/O Server status:
l 1 = Running - I/O Server is either talking to an online IO device or talk-
ing to a scheduled device that is not currently connected but has a valid
cache
l 2 = Standby - I/O Server is talking to an online standby IO device
l 4 = Starting - I/O Server is talking to an IO device that is attempting to
come online
l 8 = Stopping - I/O Server is talking to an IO device that is in the process
of stopping
l 16 = Offline - I/O Server is pointing to an IO device that is currently off-
line
l 32 = Disabled - I/O Server is pointing to a device that is disabled
l 66 = Standby write - I/O Server is talking to an I/O device configured as a

2 - If this I/O device is a standby device
3 - Last generic error
4 - Last driver error
5 - Error count
6 - Initialization count
657

10 - Statistics, number of samples
"Network" - Network statistical information:
0 - Read Network Control Blocks (NCBs)
1 - Maximum pending read NCBs
2 - Minimum pending read NCBs
3 - Current pending read NCBs
4 - Number of short read NCBs
5 - Write NCBs
6 - Maximum pending write NCBs
7 - Minimum pending write NCBs
8 - Current pending write NCBs
9 - Number of short write NCBs
10 - Total NCBs
11 - Maximum pending total NCBs
12 - Minimum pending total NCBs
13 - Current pending total NCBs
14 - Number of short total NCBs
15 - Minimum send response time in milliseconds
16 - Maximum send response time in milliseconds
17 - Average send response time in milliseconds
18 - Send packet count
"Stats" - Statistical information:
0 - Minimum time between code executions (cycles)
1 - Maximum time between code executions (cycles)
2 - Average time between code executions (cycles)
3 - Total cycle time in milliseconds
4 - Minimum time to execute the code in milliseconds
5 - Maximum time to execute the code in milliseconds
6 - Average time to execute the code in milliseconds
7 - Total execute time in milliseconds
"Memory" - Memory information:
0 - Free virtual memory
1 - Free windows system resources as %
2 - Free Physical Memory
3 - Memory Paging File Size
658
4 - Total Physical Memory

5 - Total % of Physical Memory Used (Win 2000 or later) and % of the last
1000 pages in memory that are in use (Win NT or earlier).
6 - Total working set size counter for current CitectSCADA process
7 - Private bytes counter of current CitectSCADA process
"Disk" - Disk information:
0 - Free disk space in bytes
1 - Total disk space in bytes
2 - Free disk space in kilobytes
3 - Total disk space in kilobytes
Return Value
The type of information (as an integer).
Related Functions
IODeviceInfo, WinNumber, TaskHnd
Example
! Get free memory

FreeMemory = CitectInfo("Memory", "", 0);
! Get free disk space on C:
FreeDisk = CitectInfo("Disk", 3, 0);
! Get max cycle time for digital alarms
MaxCycleTime = CitectInfo("Stats","Digital Alm","1");
See Also
CodeTrace
Traces Cicode into the Kernel and the SYSLOG.DAT file. Use this function for finding
bugs in your Cicode. It will trace the functions called, the arguments to those functions,
and their return values. It will also trace any errors, writes to the I/O devices, and task
state changes.
Note: Use this function only during system development; it can cause excessive load-
ing on the CPU.
659
Only use the CodeTrace() function during system development and testing. This function is
not intended for use in an operational system.
ment damage.
Syntax
CodeTrace(hTask, nMode)
hTask:
The Cicode task handle as returned from TaskHnd() function or any of the following special
values:
0 - Foreground Cicode.
-2 - The next created task.
-3 - New created tasks.
-4 - All tasks.
nMode:
The mode of the trace:
0 - Tracing off
1 - Trace user Cicode functions calls
2 - Trace built-in function calls
4 - Trace errors
8 - Trace writes to the I/O devices
16 - Trace task state changes
-1 - All modes (except 0)
Return Value
Related Functions
Assert, TaskHnd, DebugMsg, DebugMsgSet, TraceMsg, ErrLog
Example
// Start tracing errors

CodeTrace(TaskHnd(), 4);
660
....
// Stop tracing
CodeTrace(TaskHnd(), 0);
// trace functions in new task
CodeTrace(-2, 1 + 2);
TaskNew("MyFunc", "data", 0);
See Also
DebugBreak
Causes a breakpoint exception error to occur (error number 342). This allows pro-
grammers to trap invalid states in their Cicode. If the Cicode Editor is not running, and
the Citect will start debugger on hardware errors option is set (Debug menu - Options),
the Debugger will be started. When the debugger starts, the correct Cicode file, function,
and line will be displayed.
Syntax
DebugBreak()
Return Value
None.
Related Functions
DspKernel, KerCmd, DumpKernel, TraceMsg
Example
!Check to see that rSpan is greater than zero else cause a break.
If rSpan equals 0 it would cause a Divide by Zero hardware error
anyway.
IF rSpan > 0 THEN
rCalcRate = iAmount/rSpan;
ELSE
DebugBreak();
END
See Also
DebugMsg
Provides in-line debug messages of user Cicode, to the Kernel, Debugger Debug window,
and the SysLog.DAT file. This function can be enabled or disabled with the [Code]Debug-
Message parameter or DebugMsgSet() function at runtime.
661
Syntax
DebugMsg(sMessage)
sMessage:
The debugging message to log. Be sure to enclose this message in double quotes (" ").
Return Value
None.
Related Functions
Assert, DebugMsgSet, CodeTrace, TraceMsg, ErrLog
Example
INT
FUNCTION
FileDisplayEx(STRING sFileName);
INT hFile;
DebugMsg("When opening file " + sFileName + ", the handle was:
" + IntToStr(hFile));
...
FileClose(hFile);
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
DebugMsgSet
Enables/disables the DebugMsg() logging functionality. It also controls whether logging
is enabled for the Assert() function. This function also sets the [Code]DebugMessage
parameter appropriately.
Syntax
DebugMsgSet(nMode)
nMode:
The logging mode:
0 - Disable logging.
1 - Enable logging.
Return Value
662
Related Functions
Assert, DebugMsg
Example
Buttons
Text Debug Enable
Command DebugMsgSet(1)
Comment Enable debug logging
See Also
DelayShutdown
Terminates CitectSCADA's operation after the specified delay period (in milliseconds).
This function is suitable to be called by the CTAPI. The delay period enables the user to
close the connection between the CTAPI and third-party applications before Citect-
SCADA shuts down.
Syntax
DelayShutdown(Delay)
Delay:
The period (in milliseconds) after whichCitectSCADA will shut down.
Return Value
No return value.
Related Functions
CtOpen, CtClose, CtCicode
Example
DelayShutdown(10 000)
!Terminates CitectSCADA's operation after 10 seconds
See Also
663
DisplayRuntimeManager
This function will start the CitectSCADA Runtime Manager if it is not already running ,
otherwise it will just bring the CitectSCADA Runtime Manager to the foreground.
Syntax
DisplayRuntimeManager()
Return Value
DumpKernel
Dumps Kernel data to the KERNEL.DAT file. Instead of creating a new file subsequent
calls to this function will append Kernel data to the KERNEL.DAT file.
Syntax
DumpKernel(iMode, sName)
iMode:
The Kernel data to dump:
Dump general statistics.

0x0-
001
Dump the task.

0x0-
002
Dump the I/O device.

0x0-
004
Dump the driver.

0x0-
008
Dump netstat. (This mode is deprecated and no longer active in version 7.10 or
0x0- later.)
010
Dump the table.

0x0-
020
664
Dump the queue.

0x0-
040
0x0100 Dump list of current SCADA parameter settings
Dump in verbose mode.

0x4-
000
Dump kernel data in non-verbose mode.

0x8- To dump data in verbose mode, set iMode to 0xc000 (0x8000 + 0x4000).
000
You can select any one of the above modes or may add them together to get more than one
type of information. For example, to dump driver and I/O device data in verbose mode, set
iMode to 0x400c (0x0004 + 0x0008 + 0x4000). Using 0x4000 on its own will dump no
data, it needs to be combined with another mode.
sName:
The queue or table name (if "", returns data for all queues or tables). Only valid if iMode is 0x0020
and 0x0040.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspKernel, KerCmd, TraceMsg
Example
DumpKernel(0x8000, "");
!Dump the Kernel data
See Also
EngToGeneric
Gets a variable in the CitectSCADA generic scale format. CitectSCADA uses this scale to
display trends. It calls this function automatically for trends defined in the project. If you
want to display a trend using Cicode you need to call this function.
Syntax
EngToGeneric(Value, EngLow, EngHigh)

Value:
665
The value to convert to the CitectSCADA generic scale format.
EngLow:
The engineering units zero scale.
EngHigh:
The engineering units full scale.
Return Value
The variable (in the range 0 - 32000).
Related Functions
DspBar, DspTrend
Example
/* Using trend definition 5 at AN20, display the value of Tag1 on

Pen1 of the trend. Tag1 has an engineering scale of 0 to 100. */
DspBar(20,5,EngToGeneric(Tag1,0,100));
See Also
Exec
Executes an application or PIF file. The application or command starts up and continues
to run in parallel with CitectSCADA.
This function can return while the application is still starting up, so you should use the
Sleep() function to allow the application enough time to start.
Syntax
Exec(Command [, Mode] )
Command:
The operating system command to execute.
Mode:
The mode of the window:
1 - Normal
3 - Maximized
6 - Minimized
If you do not enter a mode, the default mode is 1.
666
Return Value
Related Functions
Sleep
Example
Exec("c:\winnt\system32\mspaint.exe");
! Starts up the Paint application with a normal window.
Exec("cmd /c mkdir c:\test");
! Uses the DOS shell to create a new directory
you need to quote paths and applications passed to the exec function (using ^" to embed
quotes) so that the function can be executed correctly when long file names are used. For
example:
Exec(PathToStr("^"" + "[BIN]:\Ctcicode")+ "^" ^"" +

PathToStr("[RUN]:\cicode.ci") + "^"")
creates a command line that ends up as:

C:\Program Files\CitectSCADA\CitectSCADA 7.30\Bin\CtCicode C:\Program Files\C-
itectSCADA\CitectSCADA 7.30\Project\Cicode.ciSchneider Electric\PowerSCADA Expert 7.30\Bi-
n\CtCicode C:\Program Files\Schneider Electric\PowerSCADA Expert 7.30\Project\Cicode.ci
See Also
GetArea
Gets the current logged-in areas.
Syntax
GetArea()
Return Value
The login area groups as an integer that represents a group handle. If this group is mod-
ified, the actual login areas do not change.
Related Functions
SetArea
Example
667
! If the current areas are 1, 5 and 20:

hGrp=GetArea();
Str=GrpToStr(hGrp);
! sets Str to "1,5,20".
See Also
GetEnv
Gets a DOS environment variable.
Syntax
GetEnv(sName)
sName:
The name of the environment variable.
Return Value
The DOS environment variable (as a string).
Example
/* Get the current DOS path. */

sPath = GetEnv("Path");
See Also
GetLogging
Gets the current value for logging parameters.
The parameters you can query include the following:
l [Debug]DriverTrace
l [Debug]SysLogSize
l [Debug]Priority
l [Debug]CategoryFilterMode
l [Debug]CategoryFilter
l [Debug]SeverityFilterMode
l [Debug]SeverityFilter
l [Debug]LogShutdown
l [Debug]DebugAllTrans
l [Debug]EnableLogging
668
l [IOServer]RedundancyDebug
l [General]Verbose
l [General]VerboseToSysLog
l [CtAPI]Debug
Syntax
GetLogging(Section, Name)
Section:
The INI section name.
sName:
The system parameter name.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the value is returned as a string. An empty string is returned if
an error occurs. To get extended error information, call IsError().
Related Functions
SetLogging
See Also
InfoForm
Displays graphics object information for the object under the mouse pointer. If there is no
object directly under the mouse pointer, it displays information for the nearest object.
Each tag associated with the object is displayed, along with its raw and engineering
values and a button that displays the details from the Variable Tags form. The function
also displays the Cicode expression, with any result that the expression has generated.
This function only supports the display of simple Cicode expressions.
Syntax
InfoForm(Mode)
Mode:
For security purposes, the Write button on the information form displayed by this function can be
disabled.
0 - The Write button on the displayed information form will be available and
will function normally.
1 - The Write button will not be shown.
If you omit the mode, the default mode is 0.
669
Return Value
Related Functions
InfoFormAn
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AnHelp
Command InfoForm();
Comment Display graphics object help for the AN closest to the cursor
See Also
InfoFormAn
Displays graphics object information for a specified AN. This function displays each tag
associated with the object, along with its raw and engineering values and a button that
displays the details from the Variable Tags form. The function also displays the Cicode
expression, with any result that the expression has generated.
Syntax
InfoFormAn(AN [, Mode] )
nAN:
The AN of the graphics object for which information is displayed.
Mode:
For security purposes, the Write button on the information form displayed by this function can be
disabled.
0 - The Write button on the displayed information form will be available and
will function normally.
1 - The Write button will not be shown.
If you omit the mode, the default mode is 0.
Return Value
670
Related Functions
InfoForm
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ### AnHelp
Command InfoFormAn(Arg1);
Comment Display graphics object help for a specified AN
See Also
Input
Displays a dialog box in which an operator can input a single value. The dialog box has
a title, a prompt, and a single edit field. For multiple inputs, use the Form functions.
ation is complete.
Syntax
Input(Title, Prompt, Default)

Title:
The title of the input box.
Prompt:
The prompt text.
Default:
The default text that the operator can edit or replace.
Return Value
The edit field entry (as a string). If the user presses the Cancel button , an empty string is
returned and the IsError() function returns the error code 299.
Related Functions
Message, FormNew
Example
671
/* Shut down CitectSCADA if the user inputs "Yes". */

STRING sStr;
sStr=Input("Shutdown","Do you wish to shutdown?","Yes");
IF sStr="Yes" THEN
Shutdown();
END
See Also
IntToReal
Converts an integer into a real (floating point) number.
Syntax
IntToReal(Number)
Number:
The integer to convert.
Return Value
The real number.
Related Functions
RealToStr, StrToInt
Example

Variable=IntToReal(45);
! Sets Variable to -45.0
Variable=IntToReal(-45);
See Also
KerCmd
Executes a command in a Kernel window.
Syntax
KerCmd(Window, sCommand)
Window:
The name of the Kernel window.
672
sCommand:
The command to execute in the Kernel window.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspKernel, TraceMsg, DumpKernel

See Also
KernelQueueLength
Obtains the number of records in a queue.
Syntax
KernelQueueLength(sName)
sName:
The name of the queue, which can be enumerated by the page queue kernel command.
Return Value
This function returns the Length value of the page queue command.
Related Functions
None
See Also
KernelTableInfo
Provides a consistent method of accessing items within Kernel Table.
Syntax
KernelTableInfo(sTable, sRecord, sField)

sTable:
The name of the table. The following tables are supported:
673
sTable sRecord sField Notes
Bufferpool The value of the Mode, Size, Total, These names are unique when
'Name' field Free, InUse, Max, each Bufferpool is created
Peak, Short, Gets,
TotErr, Grow,
Shrink
CiCode The value of the Name, HND, State, The CiCode function TaskNew
'Name' field or the CPU_Time, Poll_ exposes the handle. That is why
'HND' field. If the Time, Slice record access by handle is
user specifies a acceptable for this table. The
number as the sRe- name field may or may not be
cord we will assume unique (if you run the same
it is a handle, other- CiCode task twice with different
wise we will look it parameters). Accessing by
up as a string name ‘Name’ will not succeed if there
are duplicates
Task The value of the Mode, Hnd, State, None

'Name' field Prty, Cpu, Min,
Max, Avg, Count
Tran The value of the Name, Node, Type, The counters ReconnectCount,
TRAN 'Name' field Mode, Hnd, Cnt, UpTime and TotalTxRxBytes can
Send, Rec, Wait, be viewed in verbose mode on
Stack, Service, Table Tran page of the Kernel
State, Login, Recon-
nectCount,
UpTime,
TotalTxRxBytes
FlushQueueLength,
The value of the FlushQueuesMax ,
Trendqueues None
'DriverName' field TotalFlushes, FileW-
rites
sRecord:
The key to a column in the table depending on the sTable parameter.
sField:
The key to a column in the table depending on the sTable parameter.
Return Value
Returns the content of a field of the given table in the format of a Cicode STRING.
Related Functions
KernelTableItemCount, DumpKernel
See Also
KernelTableItemCount
674
Obtains the number of rows in a Kernel Table.
Syntax
KernelTableItemCount(sName)
sName:
The name of the table that can be enumerated by the page table kernel command.
Return Value
Returns the number of active records in the table (not the length value displayed by the
page table kernel command).
The following tables row counts are not returned by this command (it returns 0)
l IODevices.Tags
l IODevices.Subs
l IODevices.Blocks
l CSAToPSI.Subs"
KernelTableInfo, DumpKernel
See Also
LanguageFileTranslate
Translates an ASCII file into a local language. Use this function to translate RTF reports
for viewing on client screens.
The local language used by this function is specified by the [Language]LocalLanguage
parameter. You need to set this parameter accordingly.
Syntax
LanguageFileTranslate(sSourceFile, sDestFile)
sSourceFile:
The name of the ASCII file containing multi-language text, which will be copied and translated.
You should specify the full path or use path substitution. The path and name should be contained
within quotation marks.
sDestFile:
The name of the destination file which will be created/ replaced with the local/translated version of
the source file. You should specify the full path or use path substitution. The path and name should
be contained within quotation marks.
Return Value
675
1 if successful, otherwise 0.
Related Functions
StrToLocalText
Example
/* Translates the text in Shift.RTF and saves it in LShift.RTF. */

LanguageFileTranslate("c:\MyApplication\data\Shift.RTF","c:\MyApplication\data\
LShift.RTF");
/* Translates the text in [Data]:Shift.RTF and saves it in
[LocalData]:LShift.RTF. */
LanguageFileTranslate("[Data]:Shift.RTF","[LocalData]:LShift.RTF"
);
See Also
Message
Displays a message box on the screen and waits for the user to select the OK or Cancel
button.
ation is complete.
This function will be blocked if called from a non-client process, as well as from kernel
window of a client process if [Client]DisableDisplay is set to TRUE.
Syntax
Message(Title, Prompt, Mode)

Title:
The title of the message box. The maximum length is 254 chars.
Prompt:
The prompt displayed in the message box.
Mode:
The mode of the message box:
0 - OK button
1 - OK and Cancel button
16 - Stop Icon
32 - Question Icon
48 - Exclamation Icon
676
64 - Information Icon
Select more than one mode by adding the modes. For example, set Mode to 33 to display the OK
and Cancel buttons and the Question icon. You can only display one icon for the message box.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error is returned. If the user presses the Cancel button
the function returns an error code of 299.
Related Functions
Input
Example
/* Display an error message in a message box. */

IF Total<>100 THEN
Message("Error","Total not 100%",48);
END
See Also
ParameterGet
Gets the value of a system parameter. The system parameter can exist in the CITECT.INI
file and/or in the Parameters database.
If the system parameter does not exist in the CITECT.INI file or the database, the default
value is returned. If the system parameter exists in both CITECT.INI and the database,
the value of the system parameter is taken from CITECT.INI.
Syntax
ParameterGet(Section, Name, Default)

Section:
The section name.
sName:
Default:
The default value of the parameter.
Note: If in your Cicode you perform a ParameterGet("alarm", "alarmsave", 1000) for say the [Alarm]SavePe-
riod parameter, and NO entry exists in Citect.ini or the parameters records, the returned value will be 1000
however CitectSCADA will internally be using the default value of 600.
677
Return Value
The parameter (as a string).
Related Functions
ParameterPut, WndGetFileProfile, WndPutFileProfile
Example
Variable=ParameterGet("Page","Windows","4");
See Also
ParameterPut
Updates a system parameter in the CITECT.INI file. If the system parameter does not
exist, it is added to the CITECT.INI file.
Syntax
ParameterPut(Section, Name, Value)

Section:
The section name.
sName:
Value:
The value to put in the system parameter.
Return Value
Related Functions
ParameterGet, WndGetFileProfile, WndPutFileProfile
Example
/* Changes the [Page] Windows system parameter in CITECT.INI to "4". */

ParameterPut("Page","Windows","4");
See Also
678
ProcessIsClient
Determines if the currently executing process contains a Client component.
Syntax
ProcessIsClient()
Return Value
TRUE (1) if the process contains a Client component, otherwise FALSE (0).
Related Functions
ProcessIsServer, ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx, ServiceGetList
Example
To execute local variable simulation code on the client only:
IF (ProcessIsClient()) THEN
SimulateLocalVariables();
END
See Also
ProcessIsServer
Determines if the currently executing process contains a particular server component.
Syntax
ProcessIsServer(sServerType [, sClusterName] [, sServerName])

sServerType:
Case insensitive string specifying the type of server to check for. Supported values are "IOServer",
"Trend", "Alarm" and "Report".
sClusterName:
Optional case insensitive string specifying the cluster name to combine with the server type spec-
ified in the first argument and the server name (if specified).
sServerName:
Optional case insensitive string specifying a server name to combine with the server type specified
in the first argument and the cluster name (if specified).
Return Value
TRUE (1) if the process contains the specified component, otherwise FALSE (0).
679
Related Functions
ProcessIsClient, ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx, ServiceGetList
Example
To execute disk PLC tag simulation code only on the I/O server in Cluster1 with the
name IOServer3:
IF (ProcessIsServer("IOServer", "Cluster1", "IOServer3")) THEN

SimulateDiskTags();
END
See Also
ProcessRestart
Restarts the current process in which Cicode is running.
Syntax
INT error = ProcessRestart()
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise the following error is returned:

256 - General software error
See Also
Cicode and General errors
Related Functions
ServerRestart
Example
ProcessRestart()
See Also
ProductInfo
Returns information about the CitectSCADA product.
Syntax
680
ProductInfo(iType)
iType:
Type of information required:
0 - product name, default

1 - product company
2 - product major version
3 - product minor version
4 - product version string
Return Value
The product information. An empty string will be returned if the type is invalid.
Related Functions
ProjectInfo
See Also
ProjectInfo
Returns information about a particular project, which is identified by a project enu-
merated number.
Syntax
ProjectInfo(iProject, iType)
iProject:
Project number. 0 refers to the main project.
iType:
Type of information to return:
0 - Project name
1 - Project description
2 - Project major version
3 - Project minor version
4 - Project date
5 - Project time
Return Value
681
The specified project information. An empty string will be returned if the project number
or type is invalid
Related Functions
ProductInfo
See Also
ProjectRestartGet
Gets the path to the project to be run the next time CitectSCADA is restarted. (you need
to have a project already set using either ProjectSet or ProjectRestartSet. Use this function
with the Shutdown() function to shut down and then restart the project that is currently
running.
Syntax
ProjectRestartGet()
Return Value
The path to the project to be run the next time CitectSCADA is restarted.
Related Functions
Shutdown, ShutdownMode, ProjectSet, ProjectRestartSet
Example
See Shutdown.
See Also
ProjectRestartSet
Sets the path to the project to be run the next time CitectSCADA is restarted.
Syntax
ProjectRestartSet(sPath)
sPath:
The path to the project. You need to use the full path, for example to specify the path to the project
"Demo", use: "C:\CITECT\USER\DEMO".
Return Value
682
Related Functions
Shutdown, ShutdownMode, ProjectSet, ProjectRestartGet

See Also
ProjectSet
Sets either the name or the path of the project to be run next time CitectSCADA is
restarted. The project path is written to the [CtEdit]Run parameter.
Syntax
ProjectSet(sProject)
sProject:
The name of the project (for example "DEMO"), or the path to the project. If you specify the path to
the project, you need to use the full path. If you do not specify a project, the current project will be
used.
Return Value
Related Functions
Shutdown, ShutdownMode, ProjectRestartGet
Example
/* Set the next project to "Demo". */

ProjectSet("Demo");
/* Set the next project to "MyPath". */
ProjectSet("I:\CITECT\PROJECT1\MYPATH");
See Also
Prompt
Displays a message in the prompt line (AN=2) on the operator's computer.
Syntax
Prompt(String)
String:
The message to be displayed.
683
Return Value
Related Functions
Message, DspError
Example
/* Display "This is a prompt!" at the prompt AN. */

Prompt("This is a prompt!");
See Also
Pulse
Pulses (jogs) a variable tag on, then off. The variable tag is switched ON (1) and two sec-
onds later it is switched OFF (0). The exact period of the pulse is determined by the com-
munication channel to the I/O device. If the communication channel is busy, the pulse
time may be longer than two seconds. The code in the I/O device should not be depend-
ant on a pulse time of exactly 2 seconds. Use the pulse as a trigger only.
Syntax
Pulse(sTag)
sTag:
The digital tag to pulse.
Return Value
Related Functions
Toggle
Example
Buttons
Text Jog 145
Command Pulse(M145)
684
Comment Pulse the variable tag M145 every two seconds
See Also
ServerDumpKernel
Dumps Kernel data to the KERNEL.DAT file (written to the Logs folder) either on a local
server or on a remote server. The server is specified with the server and cluster param-
eters. Instead of creating a new file subsequent calls to this function will append Kernel
data to the KERNEL.DAT file. This is a blocking function.
Syntax
ServerDumpKernel(iMode, sName, sServer [, sCluster])

iMode:
The Kernel data to dump:
Dump general statistics.

0x0-
001
Dump the task.

0x0-
002
Dump the I/O device.

0x0-
004
Dump the driver.

0x0-
008
Dump netstat. (This mode is deprecated and no longer active in version 7.10 or
0x0- later.)
010
Dump the table.

0x0-
020
Dump the queue.

0x0-
040
685
0x0100 Dump list of current SCADA parameter settings
Dump in verbose mode.

0x4-
000
Dump kernel data in non-verbose mode.

0x8- To dump data in verbose mode, set iMode to 0xc000 (0x8000 + 0x4000).
000
You can select any one of the above modes or may add them together to get more than one
type of information. For example, to dump netstat and I/O device data in verbose mode,
set iMode to 0x4014 (0x0004 + 0x0010 + 0x4000). Using 0x4000 on its own will dump no
data, it needs to be combined with another mode.
sName:
The queue or table name (empty for all queues or tables). Only valid if iMode is 0x0020 and 0x0040.
sServer:
Specifies the name of the server, as defined in the project, on which kernel data will be dumped.
sCluster:
Specifies the cluster of the server on which kernel data will be dumped. This parameter is optional
in a single cluster environment.
Return Value
Related Functions
DumpKernel, DspKernel, KerCmd, TraceMsg
Example
ServerDumpKernel(0x8000, "");
!Dump the Kernel data
See Also
ServiceGetList
Determines the service type(s), cluster name(s), and service name(s) of all services cur-
rently running in the component that called this function. It also determines if the client
component is running.
686
If you call this function from a component that is running purely as a Control Client or
View-only Client, the function will return "Client".
If you call this function from a single-process component that includes:
l I/O server called IOServ1 on ClustA
l Trend server called Trend1 on ClustB
l Alarm server called Alarm1 on ClustA
l Report server called Report1 on ClustB
l Client
The function will return a string similar to:
"IOServer.ClustA.IOServ1,Trend.ClustB.Trend1,Alarm.ClustA.Alarm1,Report.ClustB.-
Report1,Client"
The order of components in the string is not fixed so the exact string may vary from the
above. You should parse the returned string or alternatively use ProcessIsClient or Pro-
cessIsServer to find the information you need.
Syntax
ServiceGetList()
Return Value
String in the form:

serviceType1.clusterName1.serviceName1,serviceType2.clusterName2.serviceName2, ... ,Client
Related Functions
ProcessIsClient, ProcessIsServer, ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx

See Also
SetArea
Sets the current viewable areas. You can pass a single area number, or a group of areas
to set multiple areas. You can only set areas that are flagged for the current user.
Syntax
SetArea(Area)
Area:
The area to set (1 to 255).
Return Value
687
Related Functions
GrpOpen
Example
/* Set current viewable area to Area 1. */

SetArea(1);
See Also
SetLogging
Adjusts logging parameters while online. The parameters you can modify include the fol-
lowing:
l [Debug]DriverTrace
l [Debug]SysLogSize
l [Debug]Priority
l [Debug]CategoryFilterMode
l [Debug]CategoryFilter
l [Debug]SeverityFilterMode
l [Debug]SeverityFilter
l [Debug]LogShutdown
l [Debug]DebugAllTrans
l [Debug]EnableLogging
l [IOServer]RedundancyDebug
l [General]Verbose
l [General]VerboseToSysLog
l [CtAPI]Debug
Syntax
SetLogging(Section, Name, Value, Persist)

Section:
The INI section name.
sName:
Value:
The value you would like to set the parameter to.
688
Persist:
Makes the value persistent across restarts by writing the value to the INI file.
Return Value
Related Functions
GetLogging
See Also
Shutdown
Terminates CitectSCADA's operation. Use this function to shut down the CitectSCADA
system, otherwise buffered data could be lost.
Note: With one exception, the Shutdown command will succeed only if there is an
Alarm Server in your system. The exception to this is if you specify an empty string
for the sDest parameter (shutdown this computer only). In this case the shutdown
will succeed even if there is no Alarm Server.
The shutdown can affect only the computer that calls it, or all or part of a CitectSCADA
network. If you are shutting down a network, specify the computers (Control Clients and
servers) to be shut down in sDest, and the extent of the shutdown in Mode.
Note: If [Shutdown]NetworkIgnore parameter is set to 0 (zero) and a client receives a

shutdown request message from a server. Phase 2 clients only receive a shutdown
request when the first phase 1 client has reconnected to the server.
You can allow selected computers to override the shutdown with the [Shutdown]Net-
workIgnore parameter. (You might set this parameter for key servers, for example, I/O
servers.)
Use the ShutdownForm() function to prompt the user for verification before shutting
CitectSCADA down.
Note: If the [Shutdown]NetworkStart parameter is set to 0 (zero), the Shutdown() func-

tion will ignore the sDest argument. This will result in the shutting down and restart-
ing of the machine the function is run on regardless of the machine specified.
Syntax
689
Shutdown( [sDest] [, sProject] [, Mode] [, sClusterName] [, CallEvent])

sDest:
The destination computer(s) to be shut down, as a string:
"" (blank string) - This computer only - Default value

["Computer_Name"] - The specified CitectSCADA client (defined in the com-
puter's CITECT.INI file)
["Server_Name"] - The specified CitectSCADA server
"All Clients" - All CitectSCADA clients on the network
"All Servers" - All CitectSCADA servers on the network
"Everybody" - All CitectSCADA computers on the network
sProject:
The full path of the project to run on restart as a string. The path is written to the configuration files
and is used when the system restarts. The default value is "", which means that no changes are
made to the configuration and the current project is restarted.
Mode:
The type of shutdown:
1 - Shutdown CitectSCADA only - Default value

2 - Shutdown and restart CitectSCADA (without logging off Windows)
3 - Shutdown and restart CitectSCADA and log off Windows (needs to set up
an auto login to the Operating System and CitectSCADA needs to be con-
figured to run on start up or log in)
4 - Shutdown CitectSCADA and re-boot the computer
5 - Shutdown CitectSCADA only
6 - Shutdown and restart CitectSCADA clients, but not this computer
7 - Shutdown CitectSCADA and shutdown the computer. If the computer sup-
ports power off feature the power will be turned off
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster that the machine(s) named in Dest belongs to. This is not required if:
l the function is called with Dest empty (the default); OR
l the client is connected to only one cluster containing an Alarm Server.
CallEvent:
Flag for initiating a user-specified shutdown event prior to shutting down. Refer to OnEvent() type
code for the value of shutdown event.
690
l 0 - no event
l 1 - raise event. The user defined shutdown event handler will be called before the
shutdown occurs - Default value
Note: If the event handler is non-interactive with an instant return value, it can be
called directly.
Note: If the event handler is interactive or with a long delay in processing the event,
it needs to be called indirectly using the NewTask("EventHandler") function, and the
actual handler, EventHandler(), needs to call Shutdown() with the CallEvent flag set
to 0 from the handler if it decides the shutdown is permitted.
Return Value
Related Functions
ProjectRestartGet, ProjectRestartSet, ProjectSet, ShutdownMode, ShutdownForm, OnEvent
Example
/* Shut down CitectSCADA on this computer. */

Shutdown();
/* Shut down and restart CitectSCADA clients, but not this computer. */
Shutdown("All Clients", ProjectRestartGet(), 6, "ClusterXYZ");
See Also
ShutdownForm
Displays a dialog box to verify that the user really wants to shut down the CitectSCADA
system. If the user selects [Yes], CitectSCADA is shut down.
is complete.
Syntax
ShutdownForm()
Return Value
Related Functions
691
Shutdown
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Shutdown
Command ShutdownForm();
Comment Display the shutdown form
Buttons
Text Shutdown
Command ShutdownForm();
Comment Display the shutdown form
See Also
ShutdownMode
Gets the mode of the last Shutdown function call. The mode is useful to identify the type
of Shutdown that was performed.
Syntax
ShutdownMode()
Return Value
The shutdown mode set when shutdown was called.
Related Functions
Shutdown
Example
nMode = ShutdownMode()
If nMode = 4 Then
Prompt ("Citect closed down and computer was rebooted")
END
692
See Also
SwitchConfig
Switches focus to a specific CitectSCADA configuration application. If the specified appli-
cation is not running, it will be started.
Syntax
SwitchConfig(nApp)
nApp:
The configuration application:
1 - Citect Graphics Builder (CTDRAW32.EXE)

2 - Citect Project Editor (CTEDIT32.EXE)
3 - Citect Explorer (CTEXPLOR.EXE)
4 - Citect Cicode Editor (CTCICODE.EXE)
Return Value
Example
! Switch to the Graphics Builder.

SwitchConfig(1);
See Also
TestRandomWave
Generates a random wave. The height of the wave is restricted by minimum and max-
imum values. You can offset the starting point of the wave, for example, to display mul-
tiple waves at the same AN. You can use this function to generate test input.
Syntax
TestRandomWave( [Period] [, Low] [, High] [, Offset] )

Period:
The number of seconds required to generate one cycle of the wave. If no period is entered, the
period has a default of 60.
Low:
The lowest value of the wave. If no low value is entered, this value has a default of 0.
693
High:
The highest value of the wave. If no high value is entered, this value has a default of 100.
Offset:
The offset in seconds, to generate the wave. If no offset is entered, the offset has a default of 0.
Return Value
The value of the random wave.
Related Functions
TestSawWave, TestSinWave, TestSquareWave, TestTriangWave
Example
/* Specify a random wave of 60 seconds duration, with a minimum

value of 0 units and a maximum value of 100 units, with no offset.
*/
TestRandomWave(60,0,100,0);
See Also
TestSawWave
Generates a saw wave. The height of the wave is restricted by minimum and maximum
values. You can offset the starting point of the wave, for example, to display multiple
waves at the same AN. You can use this function to generate test input.
Syntax
TestSawWave( [Period] [, Low] [, High] [, Offset] )

Period:
Low:
High:
Offset:
Return Value
694
The value of the saw wave.
Related Functions
TestRandomWave, TestSinWave, TestSquareWave, TestTriangWave
Example
/* Specifies a saw wave of 60 seconds duration, with a minimum

*/
TestSawWave();
See Also
TestSinWave
Generates a sine wave. The height of the wave is restricted by minimum and maximum
values. You can offset the starting point of the wave, for example, to display multiple
waves at the same AN. You can use this function to generate test input.
Syntax
TestSinWave( [Period] [, Low] [, High] [, Offset] )

Period:
Low:
High:
Offset:
Return Value
The value of the sine wave.
Related Functions
TestRandomWave, TestSawWave, TestSquareWave, TestTriangWave
Example
695
/* Specifies a sine wave of 30 seconds duration, with a minimum

*/
TestSinWave(30);
See Also
TestSquareWave
Generates a square wave. The height of the wave is restricted by minimum and max-
Syntax
TestSquareWave( [Period] [, Low] [, High] [, Offset] )

Period:
Low:
High:
Offset:
Return Value
The value of the square wave.
Related Functions
TestRandomWave, TestSawWave, TestSinWave, TestTriangWave
Example
/* Specifies a square wave of 30 seconds duration, with a minimum

value of -1000 units and a maximum value of 1000 units, with an
offset of 10 seconds. */
TestSquareWave(30,-1000,1000,10);
696
See Also
TestTriangWave
Generates a triangular wave. The height of the wave is restricted by minimum and max-
Syntax
TestTriangWave( [Period] [, Low] [, High] [, Offset] )

Period:
Low:
High:
Offset:
Return Value
The value of the triangular wave.
Related Functions
TestRandomWave, TestSawWave, TestSinWave, TestSquareWave
Example
/* Specifies a triangular wave of 60 seconds duration, with a

minimum value of 0 units and a maximum value of 100 units, with no
offset. */
TestTriangWave();
See Also
Toggle
Toggles a digital tag on or off. If the variable tag is ON (1), this function will turn it OFF.
If the variable tag is OFF (0), this function will turn it ON.
697
Syntax
Toggle(sTag)
sTag:
The digital tag to toggle.
Return Value
Related Functions
Pulse
Example
Buttons
Text Motor 145
Command Toggle(M145)
Comment Toggle the variable tag M145 (Motor 145) on or off
To toggle the Paging Alarm property:
Toggle(MyCluster.Alarm_1.Paging);
See Also
TraceMsg
Displays a message in the Kernel and Debugger debug windows.
Syntax
TraceMsg(String)
String:
The message to display.
Return Value
Related Functions
698
DspKernel, KerCmd, DumpKernel, DebugBreak, Assert, DebugMsg, DebugMsgSet, Code-

Trace, ErrLog
Example
TraceMsg("Error Found");
// Displays "Error Found" in the debug window
See Also
Version
Gets the version number of the CitectSCADA software in use.
Syntax
Version(nType)
nType:
The type of version:
0 - Major version number

1 - Minor version number
2 - Revision number
3 - Version text
Return Value
The version number as a string.
Example
! If the CitectSCADA version number is 1.2:

Version(0);
! Returns 1.
Version(1);
! Returns 2.
Version(3);
! Returns "1.2".
See Also
699
700
Chapter 41: Page Functions
Following are functions relating to graphics pages:
PageAlarm Displays a category of active alarms on the predefined alarms

page.
PageBack Displays the previously displayed page in the Window.
PageDisabled Displays a category of disabled alarms on the predefined alarms

page.
PageDisplay Displays a graphics page.
PageFile Displays a file on the predefined file to screen page.
PageFileInfo Returns the width or height of an unopened page in pixels.
PageForward PageForward() restores the previously displayed page in the

window following a PageBack command.
PageGetInt Gets a local page-based integer.
PageGetStr Gets a local page-based string.
PageGoto Displays a graphics page without pushing the last page onto the
page navigation history.
PageHardware Displays the active hardware alarms on the predefined alarms

page.
PageHistoryDspMenu Displays a pop-up menu which lists the page history of current
window.
PageHistoryEmpty Used to determine if the page history of the current window is

empty.
PageHome Displays the predefined home page in the window.
PageInfo Gets page information.
701
PageLast Displays the last ten graphics pages.
PageListCount Gets number of pages in the page list of the current window.
PageListCurrent Gets index of the current page in the page list of the current win-
dow.
PageListInfo Gets information of a page at the specific index in the page list of
current window.
PageListDisplay Recalls (displays) a page at the specific index in the page list of the
current window, and moves the current index to the page. When a
page is recalled, the original parameters (such as cluster context,
super genie associations, PageTask arguments if applicable) used
to display the page will be restored.
PageListDelete Removes a page at the specific index from the page list of the cur-
rent window.
PageMenu Displays a menu page with page selection buttons.
PageNext Displays the next graphics page.
PagePeekCurrent Return the index in the page navigation history for the current
page..
PagePeekLast Gets information about a Page at an offset in the page navigation

history.
PagePopLast Gets the last page in the page navigation history.
PagePopUp Displays the pop up window at the mouse position.
PagePrev Displays the previous graphics page.
PageProcessAnalyst Displays a Process Analyst page (in the same window) pre-
loaded with the pre-defined Process Analyst View (PAV) file.
Page- Display a page and add the specified pens to the first pane of
ProcessAnalystPens the specified PA object on the page.
PagePushLast Puts a page on the end of the page navigation history.
PageRecall Displays the page at a specified depth in the page navigation

history.
PageRichTextFile Used as a page entry function - creates a rich text object, and
loads a rich text file into that object.
702
PageSelect Displays a dialog box with a list of graphics pages defined in the
project.
PageSetInt Stores a local page-based integer.
PageSetStr Stores a local page-based string.
PageSOE Displays a category of sequence of events (SOE) entries on the

SOE page.
PageSummary Displays a category of alarm summary entries on the predefined

alarm page.
PageTask Used for running preliminary Cicode before displaying a page in

a window.
PageTransformCoords Converts Page coordinates to absolute screen coordinates.
PageTrend Displays a standard trend page in a single cluster system.
PageTrendEx Displays a standard trend page in a multi-cluster system.
See Also
Functions Reference
PageAlarm
Displays a category of active alarms on the alarm page.
To use this function, you need to have a page in your project that was created using the
Alarm template. By default, the name of the page is expected to be "Alarm". However,
you can use an alarm page with a different name by adjusting the setting for the INI
parameter [Page]AlarmPage.
Notes
l The operation of this function has changed. In Version 2.xx this function displayed
the built-in alarm page from the Include project.
l This function is not supported in the server process in a multiprocessor environment.
Calling this function from the server process results in a hardware alarm being
raised.
Syntax
PageAlarm( [Category] )
Category:
The alarm category to display. Set to 0 (the default) to display all alarm categories.
703
Return Value
Related Functions
PageDisabled, PageHardware
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence AlarmPage
Command PageAlarm(0)
Comment Display active alarms on the alarm page
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Alarm ### Enter
Command PageAlarm(Arg1)
Comment Display a specified category of active alarms on the alarm page
See Also
Page Functions
PageBack
Displays the previously displayed page in the Window.
Syntax
PageBack([iCount])
iCount:
Optional parameter to specify the number of pages to move back. Default value is 1.
Return Value
No Error (0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if current window handle does not
correspond to a valid window. Invalid argument passed (274) if count is outside of
allowable bounds.
Related Functions
704
PageForward, PageHistoryDspMenu, PageHistoryEmpty

See Also
Page Functions
PageDisabled
Displays a category of disabled alarms on the disabled alarms page.
Disabled template. By default, the name of the page is expected to be "Disabled". How-
ever, you can use a page with a different name by adjusting the setting for the INI param-
eter [Page]DisabledPage.
Notes
the built-in disabled alarm page from the Include project.
raised.
Syntax
PageDisabled( [Category] )
Category:
The alarm category to display. Set to 0 (the default) to display all alarm categories.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageAlarm
Example
System Keyboard
Key DisabledPage
Sequence
Command PageDisabled(0)
Comment Display disabled alarms on the alarm page
705
System Keyboard
Key Disabled ### Enter

Sequence
Command PageDisabled(Arg1)
Comment Display a specified category of disabled alarms on the alarm page
See Also
Page Functions
PageDisplay
Displays a graphics page in the active window. The page needs to be in one of the oper-
ator's current areas. The page to be displayed is identified by its Page Name or the Page
Number.
When this function is executed, it tests whether or not the identified page is based on a
CSV_Include project template. If it is, the function uses TaskNew to run a CSV version of
the PageDisplay function, "CSV_MM_PageDisplay". This confirms if multi-monitor sup-
port is required. As TaskNew is used to execute this function, no return value becomes
available to PageDisplay. Under these circumstances, PageDisplay will return zero (0).
If this function is called to change the page in a pop-up window of a CSV_Include
project, the page displayed by the base window will change. To change this default
behaviour, set the [Page]NewPageInBase parameter to 0. Then a pop-up window can be
changed with this function in single monitor mode.
You can specify if the page operates within the context of a particular cluster in a mul-
tiple cluster project. When the page launches during runtime, the ClusterName argument
is used to resolve any tags that have a cluster omitted.
CitectSCADA stores the current page (onto a stack) before it displays the required page.
You can call PageLast() to re-display the pages on the stack.
You cannot call this function from the Exit command field (see Page Properties) or a
Cicode Object.
Note: This function is not supported in the server process in a multiprocessor envi-
ronment. Calling this function from the server process results in a hardware alarm
being raised.
Syntax
PageDisplay(Page,[ClusterName])
706
Page:
The name or page number of the page to display (in quotation marks ""). Can be prefixed by the
name of a host cluster, that is "ClusterName.Page". This will take precedence over the use of the
ClusterName parameter if the two differ.
ClusterName:
The name of the cluster that will accommodate the page at runtime (in quotation marks ""). The spec-
ified cluster is used to resolve any tags that have a cluster omitted. If the Page parameter is prefixed
with the name of a cluster, this parameter will not be used.
This parameter is optional, however if you omit a cluster context in the Page properties, then any
tags which omit an explicit Cluster. TagName will be ambiguous and become unresolved if you
have multiple clusters defined in the project. Note that this ambiguity and resulting unresolved state
will only occur if the parameter [General]TagDB is set to "0" which disables variable tag database
loading.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the page is successfully displayed, otherwise an error is returned.

If the page is based on a CSV_Include project template, the function will return 0 (zero)
as a CSV version of the function is executed via TaskNew.
Related Functions
PageGoto, PageLast
Example
Buttons
Text Mimic Page
Command PageDisplay("Mimic")
Comment Display the "Mimic" page
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Page ############## Enter
Command PageDisplay(Arg1)
Comment Display a specified page
PageDisplay("MIMIC1");
707
! Displays page "MIMIC1".

/* Displays page "MIMIC2" and places page "MIMIC1" onto the
page navigation history. */
PageDisplay("10");
/* Displays page "10" and places page "MIMIC2" onto the page navigation history. */
PageLast();
/* Displays the last page on the page navigation history, that is page "MIMIC2" and
removes it from the stack. */
Note: Before CitectSCADA version 5.0, page records could be edited in the Project
Editor. One of the fields available for configuration was "Page Number". The value
entered for a page could then be used in runtime with the Page Cicode functions
such as PageDisplay(), PageGoto(), and PageInfo(1).
For example, PageDisplay("1") can be used to display the page that has "1" (without
the quotes) set in the Page Number field. PageInfo(1) returns the Page Number of the
current page.
From version 5.0 on, this feature is only backwards-supported. The "Alias" field in
the project Pages.DBF file still contains the Page Numbers from upgraded projects;
however, the Pages database records are no longer available for direct editing in
CitectSCADA.
See Also
Page Functions
Cluster Context
Improved Client Side Online Changes
PageFile
Displays a file on the page. After the file is displayed, you can scroll up and down
through the file. To use this function, you need to use the Graphics Builder to create a
page called "File" (using the file template).
Notes
the built-in file page from the Include project.
raised.
Syntax
PageFile(sName)
sName:
708
The name of the file to display.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the file is successfully displayed, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
DspFile
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence File ######## Enter
Command PageFile(Arg1)
Comment Display the specified file on the page
See Also
Page Functions
PageFileInfo
Returns the width or height of an unopened page.
Syntax
PageFileInfo(sPageName, nMode)
sPageName:
The name of the page you would like to retrieve size information for.
nMode:
Retrieves either the width or the height of the specified page in pixels.
0 - returns the page width

1 - returns the page height
Return Value
The height or width of the specified page in pixels, depending on the value set for
nMode.
See Also
Page Functions
709
PageForward
If PageBack() is called, PageForward() will restore the previously displayed page in the
window. PageForward requires PageBack to have been called and no other page display
functions to have been called in between. Calling the display functions PageDisplay or
PageGoto will remove the forward pages from the display stack.
Syntax
PageForward([iCount])
iCount:
Optional parameter to specify the number of pages to move forward. Default value is 1.
Return Value
No Error (0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if current window handle does not
correspond to a valid window. Invalid argument passed (274) if count is outside of
allowable bounds.
Related Functions
PageBack, PageHistoryDspMenu, PageHistoryEmpty

See Also
Page Functions
PageGetInt
Returns the integer value associated with a variable name on a particular page. If two or
more windows are displayed, each window has a unique copy of the variable. You can
use these variables in Cicode to keep track of variables unique to each window.
Notes
l You can find out the current setting for [Page]ScanTime parameter, by calling this
function as follows: PageGetInt(-2).
raised.
Syntax
PageGetInt(sLabel [, iWinNum])
sLabel:
String name of the variable to return
iWinNum:
710
Window number of the page. Default is current window.
Return Value
Integer stored in variable sLabel.
Related Functions
PageSetInt, PageGetStr, PageSetStr

See Also
Page Functions
PageGetStr
Gets the string associated with a variable name on a particular page. Page-based var-
iables are local to each display page. If two or more windows are displayed, each win-
dow has a unique copy of the variable. You can use these variables in Cicode to keep
track of variables unique to each window.
being raised.
Syntax
PageGetStr(sLabel [, iWinNum])
sLabel:
String name of the variable to return
iWinNum:
Return Value
Value stored in variable sLabel.
Related Functions
PageSetInt, PageGetInt, PageSetStr

See Also
Page Functions
PageGoto
711
Displays a graphics page in the active window. The page needs to be in one of the oper-
ator's current areas. You can specify either the Page Name or the Page Number of the
graphics page.
You can also specify if the page operates within the context of a particular cluster in a
multiple cluster project. When the page launches during runtime, the ClusterName argu-
ment is used to resolve any tags that have the cluster name omitted.
This function is similar to PageDisplay(), however PageGoto() does not put the current
page into the page navigation history.
Cicode Object.
being raised.
Syntax
PageGoto(Page,ClusterName)
Page:
sClusterName:
ified cluster is used to resolve any tags that have the cluster name omitted. If the Page parameter is
prefixed with the name of a cluster, this parameter will not be used.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageDisplay
Example
PageGoto("10");
712
/* Displays page "10". Page "MIMIC2" is not placed onto the

current page.
CitectSCADA.
See Also
Page Functions
Improved Client Side Online Changes
PageHardware
Displays the active hardware alarms on the hardware alarms page.
Hardware template. By default, the name of the page is expected to be "Hardware". How-
ever, you can use a page with a different name by adjusting the setting for the INI param-
eter [Page]HardwarePage.
Notes
the built-in hardware alarm page from the Include project.
raised.
Note:When similar hardware alarms are triggered, for example “Tag not found”
alarms, the hardware alarm page and hardware alarm queue show the last invalid
entry. The previous entry of the same description is overwritten.
Syntax
PageHardware()
713
Return Value
Related Functions
PageAlarm
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Hardware
Command PageHardware()
Comment Display active hardware alarms on the hardware alarms page
See Also
Page Functions
PageHistoryDspMenu
Displays a pop-up menu which lists the page history of current window. The user can
select any page in the history to recall the page. When full page history is specified, the
currently displayed page will also be listed and marked in the menu.
Syntax
PageHistoryDspMenu([iType])
iType:
The type of page history to be listed:
0 - full history (default)

1 - back history
2 - forward history
Return Value
Zero (0) if the function is executed successfully. Otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
PageBack, PageForward, PageHistoryEmpty

See Also
Page Functions
PageHistoryEmpty
714
Used to determine if the page history of the current window is empty. The currently dis-
played page is not counted as history.
Syntax
PageHistoryEmpty([iType])
iType:
The type of page history to be checked:
0 - full history (default)

1 - back history
2 - forward history
Return Value
1 if page history of specified type is empty, or 0 if it is not empty.
Related Functions
PageBack, PageForward, PageHistoryDspMenu

See Also
Page Functions
PageHome
Displays the predefined home page in the window.
Syntax
PageHome([sCluster])
sCluster:
Optional parameter to the Cluster to associate the page being opened with. Default value "".
Return Value
No eerror(0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if current window handle does not
correspond to a valid window. Bad handle specified (274) if INI parameter [Page]Home-
Page is not set.
See Also
Page Functions
PageInfo
Gets information about the current page.
715
being raised.
Syntax
PageInfo(nType)
nType:
The type of page information required:
0 - Page Name
1 - Page Number
2 - Page Title
3 - Display filename
4 - Symbol filename
5 - Next Page Name
6 - Previous Page Name
7 - Previous display count, incremented at each page scan. The page scan rate
defaults to the value of the Citect.ini parameter [Page]ScanTime, and can
be overridden per page by changing the scan time setting in the General
tab of the page properties in Graphics Builder.
8 - Parent window number. Returns -1 if there is no parent
9 - First child window number. Returns -1 if there are no children
10 - Next child in child link. Returns -1 for the end of the list
11 - Window mode (set by the WinNewAt() function)
12 - Width of window
13 - Height of window
14 - X position of window
15 - Y position of window
16 - Dynamic window horizontal scale
17 - Dynamic window vertical scale
Types 16 and 17 return a real number between 0 and 1 (as a STRING) and will
be identical, as the dynamic scaling does not allow a change in the
aspect ratio.
18 - Flashing color state. Type 18 returns one of the following:
"0" - the palette does not flash

"1" - the palette is primary now
716
"2" - the palette is secondary now
19 - In animation cycle. Returns a 1 (true) or 0 (false)

20 - In communications cycle. Returns a 1 (true) or 0 (false)
21 - Width of background page
22 - Height of background page
23 - The number of animation points on a page
24 - The value of the highest animation point on the page
25 - Indicates when the page's "On Page Shown" event has been triggered.
Returns 1 if triggered, 0 if it has not.
26 - The cluster that has been specified to host the page. Returns the cluster
name, or an empty string if no cluster has been specified.
27 - Indicates whether the Cicode library used by the page is different from the
currently loaded library. Returns 1 if different, 0 if the versions are the
same.
28 – Return X Coordinate of Client rectangle origin.
29 – Return Y Coordinate of Client rectangle origin.
Return Value
The information (as a string).
Related Functions
PageDisplay, PageTransformCoords
Example
! If currently on page "MIMIC1";

Variable=PageInfo(0);
! Sets Variable to "MIMIC1".
the quotes) set in the PageNumber field. PageInfo(1) returns the Page Number of the
current page.
717
CitectSCADA.
See Also
Page Functions
PageLast
Displays the graphics page that was last displayed. With this function, you can suc-
cessively recall the last ten pages that were displayed.
Graphics pages displayed using this command cannot be subsequently recalled.
Cicode Object.
being raised.
Syntax
PageLast()
Return Value
Related Functions
PagePeekLast, PagePopLast, PagePushLast
Example
Buttons
Text Last Page
Command PageLast()
Comment Display the graphics page that was last displayed
718

PageDisplay("10");
! Displays page "10" and places page "MIMIC2" onto the PageLast
stack.
PageLast();
/* Displays the last page on the stack, that is page "MIMIC2" and
PageLast();
/* Displays the last page on the stack, that is page "MIMIC1" and
PageLast();
/* Returns an "Out of range" error code as there are no more pages
on the stack.*/
See Also
Page Functions
PageListCount
Gets number of pages in the page list of the current window.
Syntax
PageListCount()
Return Value
Number of pages in the list
Related Functions
PageListCurrent, PageListInfo, PageListDisplay, PageListDelete
Example
INT count;
INT index;
INT error;
STRING PageName;
// While 4 entries will be added to page history, only 3 unique pages will be added
to page list
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page2);
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page3);
// iterate the pages in the list
719
count=PageListCount() //count=3
PageName=PageListInfo(0,0); //PageName=Page1
index=PageListCurrent(); //index=2,as Page3 is currently displayed
pageName=PageListInfo(index,0); //PageName=Page3
error-PageListDisplay(1); //recall Page2, error=0
index=PageListCurrent(); //index=1, as current index is moved as part of the recall
PageName=PageInfo(0); //PageName=Page2 as it becomes the current page
error=PageListDelete(index); //remove current page, i.e. Page2, error=0
PageName=PageInfo(0); //PageName=Page3, next page in the list is displayed
index=PageListCurrent(); //index=1, current index is not changed while the list is
reduced
count=PageListCount(); //count=2, only 2 pages left in the list
See Also
Page Functions
PageListCurrent
Gets Index of the current page in the page list of current window
Syntax
PageListCurrent()
Return Value
List index (0 to list size -1), or -1 if unable to get index
Related Functions
PageListCount, PageListInfo, PageListDisplay, PageListDelete
Example
INT count;
INT index;
INT error;
STRING PageName;
to page list
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page2);
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page3);
720
reduced
See Also
Page Functions
PageListInfo
Gets information of a page at the specific index in the page list of the current window.
Syntax
PageListInfo(INT index,[ INT type])

Index
Index to the page list (valid range 0 to list size minus 1)
Type
Information to return:
0- Page name (default)
1- Configured Page Title
2- Active Page Title
Return Value
String value of the requested information, or empty string if no valid information can be
found
Related Functions
PageListCount, PageListCurrent, PageListDelete, PageListDisplay
Example
721
INT count;
INT index;
INT error;
STRING PageName;
to page list
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page2);
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page3);

reduced
See Also
Page Functions
PageListDisplay
Recalls (displays) a page at the specific index in the page list of current window, and
moves the current index to the page. When a page is recalled, the original parameters
(such as cluster context, supergenie associations, PageTask arguments if applicable) used
to display the page will be restored.
Syntax
PageListDisplay(INT index)
Index
Return Value
Related Functions
722
PageListCount, PageListCurrent, PageListInfo, PageListDelete
Example
INT count;
INT index;
INT error;
STRING PageName;
to page list
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page2);
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page3);

reduced
See Also
Page Functions
PageListDelete
Removes a page at the specific index from the page list of the current window. This func-
tion will return an error if only one page is in the list. If the page is currently displayed,
the next page will be displayed. If there is no next page, the previous page will be dis-
played.
Syntax
PageListDelete(INT index)
Index
Return Value
723
0 (zero) if the page is successfully removed, otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
PageListCount, PageListCurrent, PageListInfo, PageListDisplay
Example
INT count;
INT index;
INT error;
STRING PageName;
to page list
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page2);
PageDisplay(Page1);
PageDisplay(Page3);

reduced
See Also
Page Functions
PageMenu
Displays a menu page with page selection buttons. A page goto button is displayed for
each of the first 40 pages defined in the project.
Syntax
PageMenu()
Return Value
724
Related Functions
PageGoto, PageLast, PagePrev, PageSelect
Example
Buttons
Text Menu
Command PageMenu()
Comment Display the menu page
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Menu
Command PageMenu()
Comment Display the menu page
See Also
Page Functions
PageNext
Displays the next page as specified in the project.
Cicode Object.
being raised.
Syntax
PageNext()
Return Value
Related Functions
PagePrev
725
Example
Buttons
Text Page Next
Command PageNext()
Comment Display the next page in the browse sequence
System Keyboard
Key Sequence PageNext
Command PageNext()
Comment Display the next page in the browse sequence
/* If graphics page 1 is currently displayed, and the graphics

page 1 has Next Page Name=10. */
PageNext();
! Displays graphics page 10.
See Also
Page Functions
PagePeekCurrent
Return the index in the page stack for the current page.
Syntax
PagePeekCurrent()
Return Value
Index in the page stack for the current page. -1 indicates that current window handle
does not correspond to a valid window.
Related Functions
PagePeekLast, PagePopLast, PagePopUp, PagePushLast, PageRecall

See Also
Page Functions
PagePeekLast
726
Gets information about a Page at an offset in the page navigation history.
being raised.
Syntax
PagePeekLast(iOffset [, iType] )
iOffset:
Pages are navigated using page navigation history. iOffset is used to indicate the position in that his-
tory. An iOffset value of "0" represents the currently viewed page. Positive increments of iOffset
indicate previous pages visited in the navigation history. Negative values of iOffset are used to indi-
cate pages in the future of the navigation history (negative iOffsets exist only if the user has used
the back button to revisit earlier pages in the history).
For example:
If you navigate pages in the sequence A, B, C, D, E, and then remain on Page E. The iOffset value
indicates the following pages:
iOffset value: 4 3 2 1 0
corresponding page: A B C D E
If you then navigate "Back" twice the iOffset value indicates the following pages:
iOffset value: 2 1 0 -1 -2
corresponding page: A B C D E
If you further navigate to pages F then G the iOffset value indicates the following pages:
iOffset value: 4 3 2 1 0
corresponding page: A B C F G
iType:
An enumeration representing the type of information required. The default value is 0.
0 - Page Name
1 - Configured Page Title
2 - Active Page Title
Return Value
String value of the requested information, or empty string if no valid result for given
arguments.
727
Related Functions
PagePeekCurrent, PagePopLast, PagePopUp, PagePushLast

See Also
Page Functions
PagePopLast
Gets the Page Name of the last item in the page navigation history and removes the
page from the history.
being raised.
Syntax
PagePopLast()
Return Value
The page name or an empty string if there is no last page.
Related Functions
PageLast, PagePeekCurrent, PagePeekLast, PagePopUp, PagePushLast
Example
/* Displays page "MIMIC2" and places page "MIMIC1" onto the page navigation history.
*/
PageDisplay("10");
! Displays page "10" and places page "MIMIC2" onto the page navigation history.
Variable=PagePopLast();
/* Sets Variable to "MIMIC2" and removes "MIMIC2" from the page navigation history.
*/
PageLast();
See Also
Page Functions
PagePopUp
728
Display pop up window at the mouse position. If the mouse position is not known then
the pop up will display in the centre of the screen. The window is displayed with no
resize and will be closed if the page is changed.
Syntax
PagePopUp(sPage, [, sClusterName])
sPage:
The name of the page (drawn with the Graphics Builder).
current page.
CitectSCADA.
sClusterName:
ified cluster is used to resolve any tags that have a cluster omitted. If the Page parameter is prefixed
with the name of a cluster, this parameter will not be used.
This parameter is optional, however if you omit a cluster context in the Page properties, then any
tags which omit an explicit Cluster. TagName will be ambiguous and become unresolved if you
have multiple clusters defined in the project. Note that this ambiguity and resulting unresolved state
will only occur if the parameter [General]TagDB is set to "0" which disables variable tag database
loading.
Related Functions
PageLast, PagePeekCurrent, PagePeekLast, PagePopLast, PagePushLast

See Also
Page Functions
PagePrev
Displays the previous page as specified in the project.
729
Cicode Object.
being raised.
Syntax
PagePrev()
Return Value
Related Functions
PageNext
Example
Buttons
Text Page Previous
Command PagePrev()
Comment Display the previous page in the browse sequence
System Keyboard
Key Sequence PagePrev
Command PagePrev()
Comment Display the previous page in the browse sequence
/* If graphics page 10 is currently displayed, and graphics page

10 has Prev Page Name=1. */
PagePrev();
! Displays graphics page 1.
See Also
Page Functions
PageProcessAnalyst
730
Displays a Process Analyst page (in the same window) preloaded with the pre-defined
Process Analyst View (PAV) file.
Syntax
PageProcessAnalyst(sPage, sPAVFile1 [, iFileLocation1 [, iButtonMask1 [, sObjName1 [,

sPAVFile2 [, iFileLocation2 [, iButtonMask2 [, sObjName2 ]]]]]]])
sPage:
The name of the page that contains Process Analyst object(s). For example, pages based on the Proc-
ess Analyst templates found in the Tab_Style_Include project.
sPAVFile1:
Name of the 1st PAV file
iFileLocation1:
PAV file location code for the 1st PAV file, see PA doc LoadFromFile() for details.
iButtonMask1:
Bit mask for removing command buttons from the 1st PA, bit flags as shown below:
l 1 - Load View
l 2 - Save View
l 4 - Print
l 8 - Copy to Clipboard
l 16 - Copy to File
l 32 - Add Pens
l 64 - Remove Pens
l 128 - Show Properties
l 256 - Help
sObjName1:
Name of the PA object on the given Page where the 1st PAV file will be loaded. If this parameter is
not specified or empty string, it is defaulted to the object name used in the tab style templates, that
is "_templatePA1".
sPAVFile2:
Name of the 2nd PAV file
iFileLocation2:
PAV file location code for the 2nd PAV file
iButtonMask2:
731
Bit mask for removing command buttons from the 2nd PA, refer iButtonMask1 for details
sObjName2:
Name of the PA object on the given Page where the 2nd PAV file will be loaded. If this parameter is
not specified or empty string, it is defaulted to the object name used in the tab style templates, that
is "_templatePA2".
Return Value
Zero (0) if the page is successfully displayed. Otherwise an error is returned.
Related Functions
PageProcessAnalystPens, ProcessAnalystLoadFile, ProcessAnalystPopUp, Pro-

cessAnalystSelect, ProcessAnalystSetPen, ProcessAnalystWin, TrnSetPen, WinNewAt
See Also
Page Functions
PageProcessAnalystPens
Display a page and add the specified pens to the first pane of the specified PA object on
the page. If a PAV file is also specified, it will be loaded first, and the pens in the first
pane will be removed before the specified pens are created on the PA.
Syntax
PageProcessAnalystPens(sPage, sTag1 [, sTag2..sTag8 [, iButtonMask [, sObjName [, iPane [,

sPAVFile [, iFileLocation ]]]]]])
sPage:
The name of the page that displays the PA.
sTag1..sTag8:
Up to 8 Trend tags can be added to the PA.
iButtonMask:
Mask to remove button(s) from the main tool bar of PA. The following values can be combined to
remove multiple buttons:
l 1 - Load View
l 2 - Save View
l 4 - Print
l 16 - Copy to File
l 32 - Add Pens
732
l 64 - Remove Pens
l 256 - Help
sObjName
The name of the PA object. If not specified it is defaulted to "_templatePA1" which is the name used
by the built-in templates.
iPane
The pane in PA where the trend or variable tags are added. If this is not specified or less than 1, it
is defaulted to 1 (the 1st pane). If the specified pane does not exist in the PA object, a new pane will
be created.
sPAVFile:
Optional Process Analyst View file to be loaded, default ="".
iFileLocation:
Optional location of the PAV file. The allowed values are:
l 0 - Analyst Views subfolder in project folder (default)

l 1 - Folders specified in properties primary/standby server path
l 2 - My documents folder
Return Value
Related Functions
PageProcessAnalyst, ProcessAnalystLoadFile, ProcessAnalystPopUp,Pro-

See Also
Page Functions
PagePushLast
Places a page at the end of the page navigation history.
being raised.
Syntax
PagePushLast(Page)
733
Page:
The Page Name or Page Number (of the page) to place at the end of the page navigation history.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageLast, PagePeekCurrent, PagePeekLast, PagePopLast, PagePopUp
Example
/* Displays page "MIMIC2" and places page "MIMIC1" onto the page navigation history.
*/
PageDisplay("10");
! Displays page "10" and places page "MIMIC2" onto the page navigation history.
PagePushLast("TREND1");
! Places page "TREND1" onto the page navigation history.
PageLast();
/* Displays the last page on the stack, that is page "TREND1" and removes it from
the page navigation history. */
PageLast();
/* Displays the last page on the stack, that is page "MIMIC2" and removes it from
the page navigation history. */
See Also
Page Functions
PageRecall
Displays the page at a specified depth in the page navigation history.
Syntax
PageRecall(iIndex)
iIndex:
The index into the page navigation history of the Page to be displayed. To get the index for the cur-
rently displayed page, call PagePeekCurrent(). Then increment it to access pages in the forward his-
tory, or decrement it to access pages in the backward history. Be reminded that you cannot recall
the page that is currently displayed.
Return Value
734
No error(0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if current window handle does not cor-
respond to a valid window. Bad handle specified (274) if index is outside of allowable
bounds.
Related Function
PagePeekCurrent
See Also
Page Functions
PageRichTextFile
This function creates a rich edit object, and loads a copy of the rich text file Filename into
that object. The rich text object will be rectangular in shape, with dimensions determined
by nHeight, and nWidth. If you do not specify nHeight and nWidth, nAN will define the
position of one corner, and (AN + 1) the position of the diagonally opposite corner. This
function would often be used as a page entry function.
Syntax
PageRichTextFile(nAN, Filename, nMode [, nHeight] [, nWidth] )

nAN:
The animation point at which to display the rich text object.
Filename:
The name of the file to be copied and loaded into the rich text object. The filename needs to be
entered in quotation marks "".
If you are loading a copy of an RTF report, the report needs to have already been run and saved to
a file.
Remember that the filename for the saved report comes from the File Name field in the Devices
form. The location of the saved file needs to also be included as part of the filename. For example,
if the filename in the Devices form listed [Data];RepDev.rtf, then you would need to enter "[Data]
\repdev.rtf" as your argument. Alternatively, you can manually enter the path, for example, "c:\My-
Application\data\repdev.rtf".
If you are keeping a number of history files for the report, instead of using the rtf extension, you
nMode:
The display mode for the rich text object. The mode can be any combination of:
0 - Disabled - should be used if the rich text object is to be used for display pur-
poses only.
735
1 - Enabled - allows you to select and copy the contents of the RTF object (for
instance an RTF report), but you will not be able to make changes.
2 - Read/Write - allows you to edit the contents of the RTF object. Remember,
however, that the object needs to be enabled before it can be edited. If it
has already been enabled, you can just enter Mode 2 as your argument.
If it is not already enabled, you will need to enable it. By combining
Mode 1 and Mode 2 in your argument (3), you can enable the object, and
make it read/write at the same time.
Because the content of the rich text object is just a copy of the original file, changes will not affect
the actual file, until saved using the DspRichTextSave function.
nHeight:
The height of the rich text object in pixels. The height is established by measuring down from the
animation point.
If you do not enter a height and width, the size of the object will be determined by the position of
nAN and AN+1.
nWidth:
The width of the rich text object in pixels. The width is established by measuring across to the right
of the animation point.
If you do not enter a height and width, the size of the object will be determined by the position of
nAN and AN+1.
Return Value
None
Related Functions
DspRichText, DspRichTextLoad, DspRichTextEdit, DspRichTextEnable, DspRich-

TextGetInfo, DspRichTextPgScroll, DspRichTextPrint, DspRichTextSave, DspRich-
TextScroll, FileRichTextPrint
Example
PageRichTextFile(108,"f:\citect\data\richtext.rtf",0);
// This function would produce a rich text object at animation
point 108. Into this object a copy of f:\citect\data\richtext.rtf
would then be loaded. Remember, richtext.rtf is the name of the
output file for the report, as specified in the Devices form.
Because 0 was specified as the nMode for this example, the
contents of this object will be display only. //
PageRichTextFile(53,"[Data]\richtext.rtf",1);
//This function would produce a rich text object at animation
point 53. Into this object a copy of [Data]\richtext.rtf would
then be loaded. It will be possible to select and copy the
736
contents of the object, but not make changes. //
See Also
Page Functions
PageSelect
Displays a dialog box with a list of graphics pages defined in the project. AN operator
can select a page name for display.
Syntax
PageSelect()
Return Value
Related Functions
PageGoto, PageLast, PagePrev, PageMenu
Example
Buttons
Text Page Select
Command PageSelect()
Comment Display the page selection dialog box
PageSelect();
! Displays the page selection dialog box.
See Also
Page Functions
PageSetInt
Associates an integer variable with a particular page. Page-based variables are stored in
an array, local to each display page. This function allows you to save integer variables
in temporary storage.
Notes
737
l You can dynamically change the setting for [Page]ScanTime parameter, by calling
this function as follows: PageSetInt(-2, <scantime>).
raised.
Syntax
PageSetInt(sLabel, sVar [, iWinNum])

sLabel:
String name of the variable which will contain sValue.
sVar:
The integer to store.
iWinNum:
Return Value
No error(0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if WinNum handle does not cor-
respond to a valid window. Bad handle specified (274) if Label or Var is not a valid var-
iable.
Related Functions
PageGetInt, PageGetStr, PageSetStr

See Also
Page Functions
PageSetStr
Stores a local page-based string and associates the string with the page. Page-based var-
iables are stored in an array, local to each display page. This function allows you to save
string variables in temporary storage.
being raised.
Syntax
PageSetStr(sLabel, sVar [, iWinNum])

sLabel:
738
String name of the variable which will contain sValue.
sVar:
The string to store. The string length is 128 characters.
iWinNum:
Return Value
No error (0) on success. Bad handle specified (269) if WinNum handle does not cor-
respond to a valid window. Bad handle specified (274) if Label or Var is not a valid var-
iable.
Related Functions
PageGetInt, PageGetStr, PageSetInt

See Also
Page Functions
PageSOE
Displays a category of sequence of events (SOE) entries on the SOE page.
SOE template. By default, the name of the page is expected to be "SOE". However, you
can use an alarm page with different name by adjusting the setting for the INI parameter
[Page]SOEPage.
Syntax
PageSOE(INT Category, INT Fallback)

Category:
The category number for the alarms you want to display their events
Fallback:
Whether to display the Summary page instead if the SOE page does not exist. If
not specified it defaults to FALSE (0).
Return Value
Related Functions
PageAlarm
Example
739
See Also
Page Functions
PageSummary
Displays a category of alarm summary entries on the alarms summary page.
Summary template. By default, the name of the page is expected to be "Summary". How-
ever, you can use an alarm page with a different name by adjusting the setting for the
INI parameter [Page]SummaryPage.
Notes
the built-in summary alarm page from the Include project.
raised.
Syntax
PageSummary(Category)
Category:
The category number for the alarms you want to summarise.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageAlarm
Example
System Keyboard
Key SummaryPage
Sequence
Command PageSummary(0)
Comment Display alarm summary entries on the alarm page
System Keyboard
740
Key Summary ### Enter

Sequence
Command PageSummary(Arg1)
Comment Display a specified category of alarm summary entries on the alarm page
See Also
Page Functions
PageTask
PageTask() is used for running preliminary Cicode before displaying a page in a win-
dow. It makes it possible for the same Cicode to be run if the page is re-entered by navi-
gating forward or back. PageTask() is similar to TaskNew().
PageTask() returns a handle to a code task the first time it is run. The custom Cicode of
the sFunctionName parameter needs to call PageDisplay() in order to display the page.
When the page changes, the function and its parameters will be pushed onto the Page
History stack. The Cicode fnTask will be called again when the page is navigated to
using the PageForward or PageBackward functions.
Syntax
PageTask(iWinNum, sFunctionName, sFunctionArg)

iWinNum:
The Window number of the window in which to display the page.
sFunctionName:
String representing the Cicode function to run each time the page is navigated to using the forward
and backward navigation functions.
sFunctionArg:
String representing the parameters to use with function fnTask.
Return Value
A handle to a code task the first time it is run. BAD_HANDLE (-1) if the function did not
complete.
Related Functions
PageBack, PageForward
Example
741
FUNCTION MyTrendDisplay(INT Area)

ConfigurePens(area)
PageDisplay("MyTrendPage")
END
See Also
Page Functions
PageTransformCoords
Converts Page coordinates to absolute screen coordinates.
Syntax
PageTransformCoords(hPage, iPageX, iPageY , iDisplayX, iDisplayY, iType)

hPage:
Page handle of the relevant Window.
PageX:
X coordinate of page coordinate.
iPageY:
Y coordinate of page coordinate.
iDisplayX:
Output parameter – Transformed X coordinate.
iDisplayY:
Output parameter – Transformed Y coordinate.
iType:
The value of output coordinate:

0 - Absolute screen coordinates
1 - Coordinates relative to Window origin
2 - Coordinates relative to Client rectangle origin
Return Value
0 – Success
269 – ERROR_BAD_HANDLE – hPage is not a valid Page handle
274 – ERROR_INVALID_ARG – either DisplayX, DisplayY or Type is invalid.
Related Functions
PageInfo, DspGetMouse, DspAnGetPos, DspGetAnExtent
742
See Also
Page Functions
PageTrend
Displays a trend page with the specified trend pens. Use this function to display trends
in a single cluster system with a single trend page. You need to create the trend page
with the Graphics Builder and set the pen names to blank. Then display that page by
calling this function and passing the required trend tags. Call this function from a menu
of trend pages.
Note: Because you cannot mix templates in a project, PageTrend will not work if you
have included the CSV_Include project in your project. For example, if your project
includes the CSV_Include project, PageTrend("pagename", "trendtag") only works on
trend pages based on XP-style templates (that is, "Trend"). When using PageTrend to
go to a page based on a standard template (for example, "SingleTrend"), the page dis-
plays, but no trend tag is added. This also applies for the CSV_Trend_Page function.
This function is not supported in the server process in a multiprocessor envi-

being raised. For a multi-cluster system use PageTrendEx.
Syntax
PageTrend(sPage, sTag1 [, sTag2..sTag8] )

sPage:
Name of the trend page (drawn with the Graphics Builder).
sTag1:
The first trend tag to display on the page.
sTag2..sTag8:
Optionally trend tags 2 to 8 to display on the page.
Return Value
743
current page.
CitectSCADA.
Related Functions
TrnNew, TrnSelect, TrendWin, TrendPopUp, PageTrendEx
Example
Buttons
Text Process Trend
Command PageTrend("MyTrend", "PV1", "PV2", "PV3")
Comment Display the trend page with three trend pens
PageTrend("MyTrend", "PV1", "PV2", "PV3")

/* Display three trend tags on a single trend page. */
See Also
Page Functions
PageTrendEx
Displays a trend page of a specified cluster in a multi-cluster system with the specified
trend pens. Use this function to display trends in a mult-cluster system with a single
trend page. You need to create the trend page with the Graphics Builder and set the pen
names to blank. Then display that page by calling this function and passing the required
trend tags. Call this function from a menu of trend pages. This function can also be used
in a single cluster system, the sCluster argument is optional in such a case.
Note: Because you cannot mix templates in a project, PageTrendEx will not work if
you have included the CSV_Include project in your project. For example, if your
project includes the CSV_Include project, PageTrend("pagename", "trendtag") only
works on trend pages based on XP-style templates (that is, "Trend"). When using
PageTrend to go to a page based on a standard template (for example,
744
"SingleTrend"), the page displays, but no trend tag is added. This also applies for the
CSV_Trend_Page function.
This function is not supported in the server process in a multiprocessor envi-

being raised.
Syntax
PageTrendEx(sPage, sCluster, sTag1 [, sTag2..sTag8] )

sPage:
Name of the trend page (drawn with the Graphics Builder).
sCluster:
Name of the cluster in which the trend page is located.
sTag1:
The first trend tag to display on the page.
sTag2..sTag8:
Optionally trend tags 2 to 8 to display on the page.
Return Value
current page.
CitectSCADA.
Related Functions
TrnNew, TrnSelect, TrendWin, TrendPopUp, PageTrend
Example
745
Buttons
Text Process Trend
Com- PageTrendEx("MyTrend", "MyCluster", "PV1", "PV2", "PV3")

mand
Com- Display the trend page on the specified cluster with three trend pens
ment
PageTrendEx("MyTrend", "MyCluster", "PV1", "PV2", "PV3")

/* Display three trend tags on a single trend page on the
specified cluster. */
See Also
Page Functions
746
Chapter 42: Plot Functions
Following are functions relating to plotting data:
PlotClose Displays and/or prints the plot, then closes the plot.
PlotDraw Draws a point, line, box, or circle on a plot.
PlotFile This function is now obsolete.
Plot- Gets the marker number of a symbol that is registered as a marker.

GetMarker
PlotGrid Draws gridlines to be used for plotted lines.
PlotInfo Gets information about a plot.
PlotLine Plots a line through a set of data points.
PlotMarker Draws markers on a plotted line or at a specified point.
PlotOpen Opens a new plot, sets its output device, and returns a plot handle for
use by the other plot functions.
Plot- Draws scale lines (with markers) beside the grid on your plot (if there is
ScaleMarker one).
Plot- Sets (registers) a symbol as a marker.

SetMarker
PlotText Draws text on a plot.
PlotXYLine Draws an XY line through a set of data points.
See Also
Functions Reference
PlotClose
Displays the plot on screen or sends it to the printer (depending on the output device
you specified in the PlotOpen() function), then closes the plot. Once the plot is closed, it
cannot be used.
747
Syntax
PlotClose(hPlot)
hPlot:
The plot handle, returned from the PlotOpen() function. The plot handle identifies the table where
all data on the plot is stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotDraw, PlotGetMarker, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotOpen, Plot-

ScaleMarker, PlotSetMarker, PlotText, PlotXYLine, TrnPlot
Example
See PlotOpen
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotDraw
Constructs drawings on your plot. Use the coordinates (X1,Y1) and (X2,Y2) to define a
point, line, rectangle, square, circle, or ellipse. You can specify the style, color, and width
of the pen, and a fill color for a box or circular shape.
you need to call the PlotOpen() function first, to get the handle for the plot (hPlot) and to
specify the output device.
Syntax
PlotDraw(hPlot, Type, PenStyle, PenCol, PenWidth, nFill, X1, Y1, X2, Y2)
hPlot:
data on the plot is stored.
nType:
The type of drawing:
1 - Rectangle or square
2 - Circle or ellipse
3 - Line
4 - Point
PenStyle:
748
The style of the pen used to draw:
0 - Solid
1 - Dash ( - - - - - )
2 - Dot (...............................)
3 - Dash and dot ( - . - . - . - . - )
4 - Dash, dot, dot ( - . . - . . - . . - )
5 - Hollow
PenCol:
The color of the pen (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of Predefined
Color Names and Codes or create an RGB-based color using the function MakeCitectColour.
PenWidth:
Pen width in pixels. If the width is thicker than one pixel, you need to use a solid pen (PenStyle =
0). Maximum width is 32.
nFill:
The fill color of the rectangle, square, circle, or ellipse (flashing color is not supported). Select a
color from the list of predefined color names and codes or create an RGB-based color using the
function MakeCitectColour. For a point or line, nFill is ignored.
X1, Y1:
X and y coordinates (in pixels) of the upper-left corner of the drawing (the origin).
X2, Y2:
X and y coordinates (in pixels) of the lower-right corner of the drawing.
For a point, (X1,Y1) and (X2,Y2) are assumed to be the same, so (X2,Y2) is ignored. To draw a cir-
cle or ellipse, enter the coordinates for a square or rectangle; the circle or ellipse is automatically
drawn within the box.
If the plot is for display on the screen, coordinates are relative to the AN specified in the PlotOpen()
function. If the output device is a printer, coordinates are relative to the point (0,0).
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotOpen, PlotScaleMarker, PlotText,

PlotXYLine, TrnPlot
Example
See PlotOpen.
749
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotGetMarker
Gets the marker number of a symbol. The symbol needs to be a symbol and registered
with the PlotSetMarker() function.
Syntax
PlotGetMarker(sSymbolName)
sSymbolName:
The library name and symbol name ("Library.Symbol") of the symbol that is registered as a marker.
Return Value
The marker number if successful, otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
PlotMarker, PlotScaleMarker, PlotSetMarker
Example
/*Assume that the symbol was registered by PlotSetMarker function */

PlotSetMarker(20,"Global.Hourglass");
/*Later on, this symbol can be used as shown below*/
hPlot = PlotOpen(36,"Display",1);
..
/* Display red hourglass as marker at point (100,200) on AN36. */
MarkerNo = PlotGetMarker("Global.Hourglass");
PlotMarker(hPlot,MarkerNo,red,1,1,100,200);
..
PlotClose(hPlot);
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotGrid
Defines a frame and draws horizontal and vertical grid lines within this frame. These
grid lines can then be used by the PlotLine(), PlotXYLine(), and PlotScaleMarker() func-
tions. You need to define the frame for a plot before you can plot points with the Plot-
Line() and PlotXYLine() functions. nSamples specifies the maximum number of samples
that can be plotted for a single line. If you set FrameWidth to 0 (zero), the frame will be
defined but not displayed (however, the plot will still be displayed).
750
You can specify the number of grid lines and their color, as well as the background color
which will fill the frame. If nHorGrid and nVerGrid are set to 0 (zero), then the grid lines
will not be drawn.
you need to call the PlotOpen() function, first, to get the handle for the plot (hPlot), and to
specify the output device. Then call this function to set up the frame and grid. You can
then call the PlotScaleMarker() function to draw scale lines beside the frame, and call the
PlotLine() or PlotXYLine() to plot a set of data points.
Syntax
PlotGrid(hPlot, nSamples, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, nHorGrid, HorGridCol, nVerGrid, VerGridCol,
FrameWidth, FrameCol, nFill, nMode)
hPlot:
Plot handle, returned from the PlotOpen() function. The plot handle identifies the table where data
on the plot is stored.
nSamples:
The maximum number of samples that can be plotted for a single line in this grid (valid values
between 2 and 16000 inclusive). For example, if you set nSamples to 10, then plot 2 lines in this grid
(using the PlotLine() function), each line will be plotted with a maximum of 10 samples. For this
example, a line can possess less than 10 samples, but if it has more, it will be shortened to 10 sam-
ples.
X1, Y1:
The x and y coordinates of the upper-left corner of the frame containing the grid lines.
X2, Y2:
The x and y coordinates of the lower-right corner of the frame containing the grid lines.
If the plot is for display on the screen, you should set (X1,Y1) to (0,0). The origin of the frame is
then positioned at the AN specified in the PlotOpen() function.
If the output device is a printer, both (X1,Y1) and (X2,Y2) are relative to the point (0,0).
nHorGrid:
The number of rows (formed by the horizontal grid lines) to draw within the frame. If there is no
need of grid lines, set nHorGrid to 0 (zero) and HorGridCol to 0. nHorGrid cannot exceed the pixel
width of the plot.
HorGridCol:
The color of the horizontal grid lines (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of
Predefined Color Names and Codes or create an RGB-based color using the function Make-
CitectColour.
nVerGrid:
751
The number of columns (formed by the vertical grid lines) to draw within the frame. If there is no
need of grid lines, set nVerGrid to 0 (zero) and VerGridCol to 0. nVerGrid cannot exceed the pixel
height of the plot.
VerGridCol:
The color of the vertical grid lines (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of
CitectColour.
FrameWidth:
The width (also called pen width) of the frame enclosing the grid, in pixels. To define the frame
without drawing its boundaries, set FrameWidth to 0 (zero) and FrameCol to 0. The maximum is
32.
FrameCol:
The color of the frame enclosing the grid (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the
list of Predefined Color Names and Codes or create an RGB-based color using the function Make-
CitectColour.
nFill:
The background color for the frame (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of
CitectColour.
nMode:
The mode of the plot. For future use only - set it to 0 (zero).
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotOpen, PlotScaleMarker, PlotText,

PlotXYLine, TrnPlot
Example
See PlotOpen
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotInfo
752
Gets information about the plot. You can call this function to determine the number of
pixels per page or inch, the resolution of a plot, and the size and spacing of characters
for a specified text font. You can also check whether a printer can print rotated text. (See
PlotText().)
you need to first call the PlotOpen() function to get the handle for the plot (hPlot) and
Syntax
PlotInfo(hPlot, Type [, sInput] )

hPlot:
nType:
The type of plot information to get:
0 - Horizontal pixels on a printout page

1 - Vertical pixels on a printout page
2 - Horizontal pixels per inch
3 - Vertical pixels per inch
4 - Horizontal resolution
5 - Vertical resolution
6 - Height of the font used
7 - External leading of the font used
8 - Character width of the font used
9 - Rotatable text is allowed or not
10 - Indicates whether or not a font is supported
11 - Horizontal size of a page in millimeters
12 - Vertical size of a page in millimeters
sInput:
The font handle (hFont), returned from the DspFont() function. Useful only for Type 6, 7, 8, or 10.
Return Value
The attributes of the plot as a string.
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGrid, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotOpen, PlotScaleMarker, PlotText,

PlotXYLine, TrnPlot
Example
753
hPlot = PlotOpen(36,"Display",1);
:
/* Print text in upward direction but first check if printer
supports text rotation. Set default text orientation to left to
right (just in case). */
Orient = 0;
IF PlotInfo(hPlot,9) THEN
Orient = 1;
END
PlotText(hPlot,hFont,Orient,100,100,"scale");
..
/* Print text "Citect Graph" centred horizontally at top of page.*/
PageWidth = PlotInfo(hPlot,0); ! Get width of page
hFont = DspFont("Courier",14,black,-1);
TextWidth = PlotInfo(hPlot,8,hFont); ! Get width of each character
TextPosn = (PageWidth - TextWidth * 12) / 2 ! Get start of 1st character
PlotText(hPlot,hFont,0,TextPosn,0,"Citect Graph");
..
PlotClose(hPlot);
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotLine
Draws a line (in the CitectSCADA plot system) for a set of data points. You specify the
data points in the table pTable, and plot these points between the LoScale and HiScale
values. The line is drawn inside the frame defined by the PlotGrid() function.
For each line on a plot, you can specify a different pen style, color, and width, and a dif-
ferent marker style and color. You can draw lines either from left to right or from right to
left.
specify the output device. You should then use the PlotGrid() function to set up the
frame and grid, before you call this function to plot the line.
Syntax
PlotLine(hPlot, PenStyle, PenCol, PenWidth, MarkerStyle, MarkerCol, nMarker, Length, pTa-

ble, LoScale, HiScale, Mode)
hPlot:
PenStyle:
0 - Solid
754
1 - Dash ( - - - - - )
2 - Dot (...............................)
3 - Dash and dot ( - . - . - . - . - )
4 - Dash, dot, dot ( - . . - . . - . . - )
5 - Hollow
PenCol:
PenWidth:
The width of the pen, in pixels. If the width is thicker than one pixel, you need to use a solid pen
(PenStyle = 0). The maximum width is 32.
MarkerStyle:
The style of the markers:
0 - No markers
1 - Triangle
2 - Square
3 - Circle
4 - Diamond
5 - Filled triangle
6 - Filled square
7 - Filled circle
8 - Filled diamond
20 - 32000 - User-defined markers. You can register any symbol as a marker
with the PlotSetMarker() function. Call the PlotGetMarker() function if
the number of markers you have previously registered are unknown.
MarkerCol:
The color of the markers (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of predefined
color names and codes or create an RGB-based color using the function MakeCitectColour.
nMarker:
The number of samples between markers.
Length:
The length of the array, that is, the number of points in the table pTable for PlotLine(), or in tables
xTable and yTable for PlotXYLine().
l For every line you draw with the PlotLine() and PlotXYLine() functions
within a plot, you need to add the Length arguments for each call, and pass
755
the total to the PlotGrid() function (in the nSamples argument).

pTable:
The points to be plotted (as an array of floating-point values).
LoScale:
The lowest value that will be displayed on the plot (that is the value assigned to the origin of your
grid). The LoScale and HiScale values determine the scale of your grid. This scale is used to plot
values. for example, If LoScale = 0 (zero) and HiScale = 100, a value of 50 will be plotted half way
up the Y-axis of your grid. LoScale needs to be in the same units as the values in pTable.
HiScale:
The highest value that will be displayed on the plot. The LoScale and HiScale values determine the
scale of your grid. This scale is used to plot values. for example, If LoScale = 0 (zero) and HiScale =
100, a value of 50 will be plotted half way up the Y- axis of your grid. HiScale needs to be in the
same units as the values in pTable.
Mode:
The origin of your grid, and the direction of the plotted line:
1 - Origin is bottom-left, x is left to right, y is upwards

2 - Origin is bottom-right, x is right to left, y is upwards
4 - Origin is top-left, x is left to right, y is downwards
8 - Origin is top-right, x is right to left, y is downwards
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGetMarker, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotMarker, PlotOpen, Plot-

Example
See PlotOpen
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotMarker
Draws markers on a plotted line or at a specified point. You can plot any one of the
standard markers, or use a symbol of your choice. (you need to first register your symbol
as a marker, by using the PlotSetMarker() function.)
756
To draw a single marker at a specified point, set X and Y to the coordinates of the point,
and set Length to 1.
You can draw markers on a plotted line when you draw the line, that is within the Plot-
Line() or PlotXYLine() function. You would use the PlotMarker() function only if you
need to draw a second set of markers on the same line. Call PlotMarker() immediately
after the line is drawn. Set X and Y to -1 and Length to the number of data points (spec-
ified in the Length argument of the PlotLine() or PlotXYLine() function).
Syntax
PlotMarker(hPlot, MarkerStyle, MarkerCol, nMarker, Length, X, Y)

hPlot:
MarkerStyle:
0 - No markers
1 - Triangle
2 - Square
3 - Circle
4 - Diamond
5 - Filled triangle
6 - Filled square
7 - Filled circle
8 - Filled diamond
20 - 32000: User-defined markers. You can register any symbol as a marker
with the PlotSetMarker() function. Call the PlotGetMarker() function if
the number of markers you have previously registered are unknown.
MarkerCol:
The color of the marker (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of Predefined
nMarker:
Length:
757
The length of the array (the number of line points in the table pTable) plotted in the PlotLine() or
PlotXYLine() function. To draw only one marker at a specified point, set Length to 1.
X, Y:
The x and y coordinates, in pixels, of the point where the marker is to be drawn. If the plot is for
display on the screen, the coordinates are relative to the AN specified in the PlotOpen() function. If
the output device is a printer, the coordinates are relative to the point (0,0).
To draw the markers on a plotted line, set both X and Y to -1, and set Length to the same value as
the Length passed in the PlotLine() or PlotXYLine() function.
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGetMarker, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotOpen, Plot-

Example
hPlot=PlotOpen(36,"Display",1);
..
/* Draw a filled red square marker at the point (X=100,Y=200). */
PlotMarker(hPlot,6,red,1,1,100,200);
..
/* Draw 10 black triangles and 5 green cylinders along a plot
line. */
PlotLine(hPlot,0,black,3,5,black,10,100,Buf2[0],0,100,2);
PlotSetMarker(20,"Global.Cylinder");
PlotMarker(hPlot,20,green,5,100,-1,-1)
..
PlotClose(hPlot);
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotOpen
Opens a new plot, sets its output device, and returns its plot handle. You can send the
plot to any one of your system printers, or display it on screen at the specified AN.
you need to call this function before you can call the other plot functions.
Syntax
PlotOpen(nAN, sOutput, Mode)

nAN:
758
The animation point (AN) where the plot will display. Set the AN to 0 (zero) when sOutput is a
printer.
Do not use an animation point number at which a graphic object exists as this will prevent the Plo-
tOpen() function from succeeding.
sOutput:
The output device where the plot is sent, for example:

l "Display" - Display on screen. The plot is recorded in a metafile and dis-
played (at the specified AN) when the plot system is closed.
l "LPT1:" - Send to printer LPT1.
l "LPT2:" - Send to printer LPT2.
l "\\ABC\Printers\Color1" - Send to UNC port (and so on for any output
device)
Mode:
When a plot is removed or updated, the portion of the background screen beneath it is blanked out.
The mode determines how the background screen is restored. The mode of the plot system:
1 - Normal mode
2 - Use for compatibility with the old graph functions
17 - Soft (valid for normal mode). The background screen (a rectangular region
beneath the plot) is restored with the original image. Any objects that are
within the rectangular region are destroyed when the background is
restored.
33 - Hard (valid for normal mode). The background screen (a rectangular
region beneath the plot) is painted with the color at the AN.
65 - Persistent (valid for normal mode). The plot is not erased. As the plot is
updated, it is re-displayed on top. This mode provides fast updates.
Transparent color is supported in this mode.
129 - Opaque animation (valid for normal mode). The plot is not erased. As the
plot is updated, it is re-displayed on top. This mode provides the fastest
updates. Transparent color is not supported in this mode.
257 - Overlapped animation (valid for normal mode). The background screen
(the rectangular region beneath the plot) is completely repainted.
Return Value
The plot handle if the plot is opened successfully, otherwise -1 is returned. The plot han-
dle identifies the table where all data on the associated plot is stored.
Related Functions
759
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotScaleMarker, PlotText,

PlotXYLine, TrnPlot
Example
hPlot=PlotOpen(0,"LPT2:",1);
IF hPlot <> -1 THEN
/* Set up a black frame with red & blue grid lines. */
PlotGrid(hPlot,18,450,800,1850,1600,5,red,10,blue,4,black,white,0);
/* Draw a scale line to the left of the frame. */
PlotScaleMarker(hPlot,400,1600,6,1,black,0);
/* Plot a simple line in green for a table of 10 values. */
PlotLine(hPlot,0,green,3,6,green,2,10,Buf1,0,100,1);
/* Plot a line in yellow (with black markers) for tables of 8 X and Y values. */
PlotXYLine(hPlot,0,yellow,4,3,black,2,8,Buf2,0,150,Buf3,0,100,1);
/* Draw a title box above the plot frame, with the heading "Citect Graph". */
PlotDraw(hPlot,1,0,black,1,grey,900,250,1400,400);
hFont = DspFont("Times",-60,black,grey);
PlotText(hPlot,hFont,0,950,350,"Citect Graph");
PlotClose(hPlot);
END
The above example prints the following (on the printer):
PlotOpen(0,"LPT1:",1) // opens a new plot to be sent to printer
760
PlotOpen(20,"DISPLAY",17) // normal plot with soft animation

PlotOpen(20,"DISPLAY",257) // normal plot with overlap animation
PlotOpen(20,"DISPLAY",1) // normal plot with overlap animation
(for default animation mode is overlap animation)
PlotOpen(20,"DISPLAY",16) // INVALID
(does not specify whether it is normal or Version 2.xx mode).
PlotOpen(20,"DISPLAY",2) // INVALID for Version 2.xx graph system
(does not support display as output).
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotScaleMarker
Draws scale lines beside the grid on your plot (if there is one) and places markers on
them. The height of the scale line is automatically set to the height of the frame set in the
PlotGrid() function.
frame and grid, before you call this function to draw the scale lines.
Syntax
PlotScaleMarker(hPlot, X, Y, nMarker, PenWidth, PenCol, Mode)

hPlot:
X, Y:
The x and y coordinates of the point where the scale line starts. The end coordinates of the scale
line are automatically defined by the size of the frame (set in the PlotGrid() function).
If the plot is for display on the screen, coordinates are relative to the AN specified in the PlotOpen()
function. If the output device is a printer, coordinates are relative to the point (0,0).
nMarker:
The number of markers on the scale line.
PenWidth:
The width of the scale line, in pixels.
PenCol:
Mode:
761
The mode of the markers:
0 - Both sides of the scale line

1 - Left of the scale line
2 - Right of the scale line
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotOpen, PlotText, PlotXY-

Line, TrnPlot
Example
See PlotOpen
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotSetMarker
Registers a symbol as a marker. You can then draw the new marker at points and on
plotted lines, by specifying the MarkerNo of the symbol as the MarkerStyle in the Plot-
Marker() function. Call the PlotGetMarker() function if you do not know the number of a
marker.
Syntax
PlotSetMarker(MarkerNo, sSymbolName)
MarkerNo:
The number of the marker, to be used as the MarkerStyle in the PlotMarker() function. Your marker
numbers need to be greater than or equal to 20 (to a maximum of 32000).
sSymbolName:
The name and path of the symbol to be defined as a marker.
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotMarker, PlotScaleMarker, PlotGetMarker
Example
762
hPlot=PlotOpen(30,"Display",1);
..
/* Display red hourglass as marker at point (100,200). */
PlotSetMarker(20,"Global.Hourglass");
PlotMarker(hPlot,20,red,1,1,100,200);
..
PlotClose(hPlot);
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotText
Prints text on a plot. You can specify the font, position, and orientation of the text. If you
specify an orientation other than 'left-to-right', you need to check that the font (and the
printer) supports the orientation.
specify the output device. You also needs to call the DspFont() function to get a handle
for the font (hFont).
Syntax
PlotText(hPlot, hFont, Orientation, X, Y, sText)

hPlot:
hFont:
The font handle, returned from the DspFont() function. The font handle identifies the table where
details of that font are stored.
Orientation:
The orientation of the text:
0 - Left-to-right
1 - Upwards
2 - Right-to-left
3 - Downwards
You should check that the font supports rotation (where Orientation = 1, 2, or 3). Most true type and
vector fonts support rotation. If the PlotInfo(hPlot, 9) function returns false, you need to specify an
Orientation of 0 (zero).
X, Y:
763
The x and y coordinates (in pixels) of the start of the text. If the plot is for display on the screen,
the coordinates are relative to the AN specified in the PlotOpen() function. If the output device is a
printer, the coordinates are relative to the point (0,0).
sText:
The text string to be plotted.
Return Value
Related Functions
DspFont, PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotScaleMarker,

PlotXYLine, TrnPlot
Example
See PlotOpen.
See Also
Plot Functions
PlotXYLine
Plots values from two different tables. Values from one table are considered X coor-
dinates, and values from the other are considered Y coordinates. Points are plotted
between the low and high scale values specified for x and y. The line is plotted inside
the frame defined by the PlotGrid() function.
For each line, you can specify a different pen style, color, and width, and a different
marker style and color. You can draw lines either from left to right or from right to left.
You need to first call the PlotOpen() function to get the handle for the plot (hPlot) and
frame and grid, before you call this function to plot the line.
Syntax
PlotXYLine(hPlot, PenStyle, PenCol, PenWidth, MarkerStyle, MarkerCol, nMarker, Length,

xTable, LoXScale, HiXScale, YTable, LoYScale, HiYScale, Mode)
hPlot:
PenStyle:
0 - Solid
764
1 - Dash ( - - - - - )
2 - Dot (...............................)
3 - Dash and dot ( - . - . - . - . - )
4 - Dash, dot, dot ( - . . - . . - . . - )
5 - Hollow
PenCol:
PenWidth:
The width of the pen, in pixels. If the width is thicker than one pixel, you need to use a solid pen
(PenStyle = 0). The maximum width is 32.
MarkerStyle:
0 - No markers
1 - Triangle
2 - Square
3 - Circle
4 - Diamond
5 - Filled triangle
6 - Filled square
7 - Filled circle
8 - Filled diamond
20 - 32000 - User-defined markers. You can register any symbol as a marker
with the PlotSetMarker() function. Call the PlotGetMarker() function to
recall the number of a marker you have previously registered.
MarkerCol:
The color of the markers (flashing color is not supported). Select a color from the list of Predefined
nMarker:
Length:
The length of the array, that is the number of points in the table pTable for PlotLine(), or in tables
xTable and yTable for PlotXYLine().
765
For every line you draw with the PlotLine() and PlotXYLine() functions within a plot, you need to
add the Length arguments for each call, and pass the total to the PlotGrid() function (in the nSam-
ples argument).
xTable:
The x coordinates for the points in the line, as an array of floating point values.
LoXScale:
The lowest X-axis value that will be displayed on the plot (that is the X-coordinate of the origin of
your grid). The LoXScale and HiXScale values determine the scale of your grid. This scale is used
to plot values. for example, If LoXScale = 0 (zero) and HiXScale = 100, a value of 50 will be plotted
half way along the X-axis of your grid.
LoXScale needs to be in the same units as the values in xTable.
HiXScale:
The highest X-axis value that will be displayed on the plot. The LoXScale and HiXScale values
determine the scale of your grid. This scale is used to plot values. for example, If LoXScale = 0
(zero) and HiXScale = 100, a value of 50 will be plotted half way along the X-axis of your grid.
HiXScale needs to be in the same units as the values in xTable.
yTable:
The y coordinates for the points in the line, as an array of floating point values.
LoYScale:
The lowest Y-axis value that will be displayed on the plot (that is the Y-coordinate of the origin of
your grid). The LoYScale and HiYScale values determine the scale of your grid. This scale is used
to plot values. for example, If LoYScale = 0 (zero) and HiYScale = 100, a value of 50 will be plotted
half way up the Y-axis of your grid.
LoYScale needs to be in the same units as the values in xTable.
HiYScale:
The highest Y-axis value that will be displayed on the plot. The LoYScale and HiYScale values
determine the scale of your grid. This scale is used to plot values. for example, If LoYScale = 0
(zero) and HiYScale = 100, a value of 50 will be plotted half way up the Y-axis of your grid.
HiYScale needs to be in the same units as the values in xTable.
Mode:
The origin of your grid, and the direction of the plotted line:
1 - Origin is bottom-left, x is left to right, y is upwards

2 - Origin is bottom-right, x is right to left, y is upwards
4 - Origin is top-left, x is left to right, y is downwards
8 - Origin is top-right, x is right to left, y is downwards
766
Return Value
Related Functions
PlotClose, PlotDraw, PlotGrid, PlotInfo, PlotLine, PlotMarker, PlotScaleMarker, PlotText,

TrnPlot
Example
See PlotOpen
See Also
Plot Functions
767
768
Chapter 43: Process Analyst Functions
Following are functions relating to Process Analyst:
ProcessAnalystLoadFile Loads the specified PAV file to a Process Analyst object.
ProcessAnalystPopUp Displays a Process Analyst page (in a new page child window) at the
current mouse position.
ProcessAnalystSelect Allows a set of pens to be selected before displaying the PA page.
ProcessAnalystSetPen Allows a new pen to be added to a PA display.
ProcessAnalystWin Displays a Process Analyst page (in a new window) preloaded

with the pre-defined Process Analyst View (PAV) file.
See Also
Functions Reference
ProcessAnalystLoadFile
Loads the specified PAV file to a Process Analyst object, which is identified by param-
eter ObjName.
Syntax
ProcessAnalystLoadFile(sPAVFile, iFileLocation, iButtonMask, sObjName )

sPAVFile:
Name of the PAV file
iFileLocation:
PAV file location code for the PAV file. Indicates which known location to load the file from.
Member Name Description Value
FileLocation_Local Refers to the project folder 0
FileLocation_Server Refers to the both the primary/standby server paths 1
FileLocation_User Refers to the My Documents folder 2
iButtonMask:
769
Bit mask for removing command buttons from the PA, bit flags as shown below:
l 1 - Load View
l 2 - Save View
l 4 - Print
l 16 - Copy to File
l 32 - Add Pens
l 64 - Remove Pens
l 256 - Help
sObjName:
Name of the PA object on the given Page where the PAV file will be loaded.
Return Value
Zero (0) if the function is successfully run. otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
PageProcessAnalyst, PageProcessAnalystPens, ProcessAnalystPopUp, Pro-

See Also
Process Analyst Functions
ProcessAnalystPopup
Displays a Process Analyst page (in a new page child window) at the current mouse
position preloaded with the pre-defined Process Analyst View (PAV) file.
Syntax
ProcessAnalystPopup(sPage [, sPAVFile [, iFileLocation [, iButtonMask [, sObjName [, iMode

]]]]])
sPage:
sPAVFile:
iFileLocation:
PAV file location code for the PAV file, see PA doc LoadFromFile() for details.
770
iButtonMask:
l 1 - Load View
l 2 - Save View
l 4 - Print
l 16 - Copy to File
l 32 - Add Pens
l 64 - Remove Pens
l 256 - Help
sObjName:
Name of the PA object on the given Page where the PAV file will be loaded. If this parameter is not
specified or empty string, it is defaulted to the object name used in the tab style templates, that is "_
templatePA1".
iMode:
The mode of the window (see WinNewAt() for details).
Return Value
Window number if the window is successfully displayed. Otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions
PageProcessAnalyst, PageProcessAnalystPens, ProcessAnalystLoadFile, Pro-

See Also
ProcessAnalystSelect
Works like the existing Cicode Function TrnSelect(). It allows a set of pens to be selected
before displaying the PA page. When PageProcessAnalystPens() is called after Pro-
cessAnalystSelect(), the pens specified by both functions will be available in the final PA
display. You can also repeat the call sequence of ProcessAnalystSelect() and Pro-
cessAnalystSetPen() multiple times to set up multiple PA objects for the same page
before displaying the page.
Syntax
771
ProcessAnalystSelect((iWindow, sPage [, sObjName [, sClusterName [, iButtonMask [, sPAV-

File [, iFileLocation]]]]]) )
iWindow:
The window number (returned from the WinNumber() function):
-3 - for the current window
-2 - For the next window displayed
sPage:
The name of the page that displays the PA.
sObjName:
The name of the PA object. If this is not specified, it is defaulted to "_TemplatePA1" which is the
name used by the built-in templates.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster that is associated with any trend tag for this PA. This is optional if you have
one cluster or are resolving the trend via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in
quotation marks "".
iButtonMask:
l 1 - Load View
l 2 - Save View
l 4 - Print
l 16 - Copy to File
l 32 - Add Pens
l 64 - Remove Pens
l 256 - Help
sPAVFile:
iFileLocation:
Return Value
772
Related Functions

cessAnalystPopup, ProcessAnalystSetPen, ProcessAnalystWin, TrnSetPen, WinNewAt
See Also
ProcessAnalystSetPen
Works like the existing function TrnSetPen(). Allows a new pen to be added to a PA dis-
play. The pane defaults to the first pane of the PA if it is not specified.
Syntax
ProcessAnalystSetPen((iPen, sTag [, sObjName [, iPane [, iPenType]]]) )

iPen:
Pen number. The allowed values are:
<0 - new pen
0 - the currently selected pen
existing pen number - change existing pen
>existing pen number - new pen
Up to 8 pens can be added to the PA using the Cicode function if ObjName is set to "-2".
Be reminded that unlike trend objects, the pen numbers in Process Analyst are not fixed. They are
dynamically reassigned when pens are added or deleted. When setting pens to the Process Analyst
on the current display, pens are numbered within the scope of the pane they are in. On the other
hand, when setting pens for the next display, pens are numbered in a flat scope regardless of pane
number specified.
sTag:
The trend tag name to be assigned to the pen.
sObjName:
The name of the PA object. If this is set to "-2", the pen is set to the next displayed PA page set up
by ProcessAnalystSelect(). If the specified ObjName is valid, the changes will be applied to the cur-
rently displayed PA. Otherwise, the function will try to set the pen to the specified object on the cur-
rently displayed page. If this parameter is not specified or is an empty string, it will default to the
object name used in the tab style templates, that is "_templatePA1".
iPane:
Optional number of the pane where the trend or variable tags are added. Please see the same param-
eter for function PageProcessAnalystPens() for details. Defaulted to 0, that is, the first pane.
773
iPenType:
Pen type for creation. The allowed values are:
0 - Analog Trend (Default)
1 - Digital Trend
2 - Alarm
Note: This optional parameter is ignored for existing pens. To change pen type,
delete a pen and create a new one.
Return Value
Related Functions

cessAnalystPopup, ProcessAnalystSelect, ProcessAnalystWin, TrnSetPen, WinNewAt
See Also
ProcessAnalystWin
Displays a Process Analyst page (in a new window) preloaded with the pre-defined Proc-
ess Analyst View (PAV) file.
Syntax
ProcessAnalystWin(sPage, iX, iY, iMode [, sPAVFile [, iFileLocation [, iButtonMask [,

sObjName ]]]])
sPage:
iX:
The X pixel coordinate
iY:
The Y pixel coordinate
iMode:
The mode of the window (see WinNewAt() for details).
sPAVFile:
774
iFileLocation:
iButtonMask:
l 1 - Load View
l 2 - Save View
l 4 - Print
l 16 - Copy to File
l 32 - Add Pens
l 64 - Remove Pens
l 256 - Help
sObjName:
Name of the PA object on the given Page where the PAV file will be loaded. If this parameter is not
specified or empty string, it is defaulted to the object name used in the tab style templates, that is "_
templatePA1".
Return Value
Window number if the window is successfully displayed. Otherwise -1 is returned.
Related Functions

cessAnalystPopup,ProcessAnalystSelect, ProcessAnalystSetPen, TrnSetPen, WinNewAt
See Also
775
776
Chapter 44: Quality Functions
The following functions are used to interface with the QUALITY data type.
QualityCreate Creates a quality value based on the quality fields provided.
QualityGetPart Extracts a requested part of the Quality value from the QUALITY var-
iable.
QualityIsBad Returns a value indicating whether the quality is bad.
QualityIsGood Returns a value indicating whether the quality is good.
QualityIsUncertain Returns a value indicating whether the quality is uncertain.
QualitySetPart Sets a Quality part’s value to the QUALITY variable.
QualityIsOverride Returns a value indicating whether the tag is in Override Mode.
QualityIsControlInhibit Returns a value indicating whether the tag is in Control inhibit mode.
QualityToStr Returns a textual representation of the CitectSCADA quality.
VariableQuality Extracts the quality from a given variable.
See Also
Functions Reference
QualityCreate
Creates a quality value based on the quality fields provided. When the value of a par-
ticular quality field is out of range, the value of its corresponding part in the returned
quality remains at 0, and hardware error is generated.
Syntax
QualityCreate(INT generalQuality [, INT qualitySubstatus [, INT qualityLimit [, INT

extendedSubstatus [, INT bOverride [, bControlInhibit [, INT datasourceErrorCode ]]]]]] )
generalQuality:
Specifies the general quality.
qualitySubstatus:
Specifies the quality substatus.
qualityLimit:
TheQuality Limit.
777
extendedSubstatus:
Specifies the extended quality substatus.
bOverride:
Specifies the Tag Status Override Flag.
bControlInhibit:
Specifies the Tag Status Control Inhibit Flag.
datasourceErrorCode:
Specifies the data source error code.
For further information on the quality arguments listed above, refer to the Tag Exten-
sions documentation in the main help.
Return Value
The Quality value of the element.
Related Functions
QualityGetPart, QualityIsBad, QualityIsContolInhibit, QualityIsGood, QualityIsOverride,

QualityIsUncertain, QualitySetPart, QualityToStr,
Example
QUALITY q1;
q1 = QualityCreate(QUAL_BAD, QUAL_BAD_NON_SPECIFIC, QUAL_LIMITED_HIGH, QUAL_EXT_NOT_
REPLICATED);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityGetPart
Extracts a requested part of the Quality value from the QUALITY variable.
Syntax
QualityGetPart(QUALITY quality, INT part)

quality:
Specifies the quality variable.
part:
The part to extract:
778
0 – The General Quality value
1 – Quality Substatus value
2 - The Quality Limit value
3 - The Extended Quality Substatus value
4 – The Tag Status Override flag
5 – The Tag Status Control Inhibit flag
6 - The DataSource error code
7 – The OPC Quality (General + Substatus + Limit)
Return Value
The value of the requested Quality part, or -1 if error.
Related Functions
QualityIsBad, QualityIsContolInhibit, QualityIsGood, QualityIsOverride, Qual-

ityIsUncertain, QualitySetPart, QualityToStr, QualityCreate
Example
LONG qualityGeneral;
qualityGeneral = QualityGetPart(Tag1.Field.Q, 0);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityIsControlInhibit
Returns a value indicating whether the tag is in Control Inhibit Mode.
Syntax
QualityIsControlInhibit(QUALITY quality)
quality:
Specifies the QUALITY variable.
Return Value
0: the tag is not in Control inhibit Mode.

1: the tag is in Control inhibit Mode.
779
Related Functions
QualityGetPart, QualityIsBad, QualityIsGood, QualityIsOverride, QualityIsUncertain,

QualitySetPart, QualityToStr, QualityCreate
Example
INT controlInhibitEnabled;
controlInhibitEnabled = QualityIsControlInhibit(Tag1.Field.Q);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityIsBad
This function will return a value indicating whether the general part of quality is bad.
Syntax
QualityIsBad(QUALITY quality)
quality:
Return Value
0: the quality is not bad.

1: the quality is bad.
Related Functions
QualityGetPart, QualityIsContolInhibit, QualityIsGood, QualityIsOverride, Qual-

Example
INT bad;
bad = QualityIsBad(Tag1.Field.Q);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityIsGood
This function will return a value indicating whether the general part of quality is good.
780
Syntax
QualityIsGood(QUALITY quality)
quality:
Return Value
0: the quality is not good.

1: the quality is good.
Related Functions
QualityGetPart, QualityIsBad, QualityIsContolInhibit, QualityIsOverride, Qual-

Example
INT good;
good = QualityIsGood(Tag1.Field.Q);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityIsOverrride
Returns a value indicating whether the tag is in Override Mode.
Syntax
QualityIsOverrride(QUALITY quality)
quality:
Return Value
0: the tag is not in Override Mode.

1: the tag is in Override Mode.
Related Functions
QualityGetPart, QualityIsBad, QualityIsContolInhibit, QualityIsGood, QualityIsUncertain,

Example
781
INT overrideEnabled;
overrideEnabled = QualityIsOverride(Tag1.Q);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityIsUncertain
This function will return a value indicating whether the general part of quality is uncer-
tain.
Syntax
QualityIsUncertain(QUALITY quality)
quality:
Return Value
0: the quality is not uncertain.

1: the quality is uncertain.
Related Functions

Example
INT uncertain;
uncertain = QualityIsuncertain(Tag1.Field.Q);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualitySetPart
Sets a Quality part’s value to the QUALITY variable.
Syntax
QualitySetPart(QUALITY quality, INT part, LONG value)

quality:
782
Specifies the quality variable.
part:
The part to extract:
0 – The General Quality value
1 – Quality Substatus value
2 - The Quality Limit value
3 - The Extended Quality Substatus value
4 – The Tag Status Override flag
5 – The Tag Status Control Inhibit flag
6 - The DataSource error code
7 – The OPC Quality (General + Substatus + Limit)
value:
The new value for the given part.
Return Value
The modified Quality value, or the original value if the given part is not applicable.
Related Functions

QualityIsUncertain, QualityToStr, QualityCreate
Example
QUALITY quality;
LONG qualityGeneral;
// insert code here
quality = QualitySetPart(quality, 0, qualityGeneral);
See Also
Quality Functions
QualityToStr
Returns a textual representation of the quality.
Syntax
783
QualityToStr(QUALITY quality, INT part, INT localized)

quality:
part:
Specifies the part of quality to obtain the textual representation.
-2: Short representation in the format <General Quality> [– <Quality Substatus>]
-1: Full representation in the format <General Quality> [Override] [Control Inhibit] – <Quality Sub-
status>
0: <General Quality>
1: <Quality Substatus>
2: <Quality Limit>
3: <Extended Quality Substatus>
4: <Quality Override>
5: <Control Inhibit>
localized:
The flag indicating if the returned text should be in native language or in Runtime localized lan-
guage.
Return Value
A textual representation of the quality, or an empty string if the part given is not appli-
cable.
Related Functions

QualityIsUncertain, QualitySetPart, QualityCreate
Example
QUALITY q;;
STRING str;
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_GOOD, 0, QUAL_LIMITED_NOT_LIMITED,
784
QUAL_EXT_NON_SPECIFIC, 1, 1, 0);
str = QualityToStr(q, -1, 0);
// The result is: Good [Override] [Control Inhibit]
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_GOOD, QUAL_GOOD_LOCAL_OVERRIDE,
QUAL_LIMITED_NOT_LIMITED, QUAL_EXT_NON_SPECIFIC);
str = QualityToStr(q, 1, 0);
// The result is: Overriden
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_GOOD, 0, QUAL_LIMITED_QL_LOW_LIMITED,
QUAL_EXT_NON_SPECIFIC);
// The result is: Below Low
SetLanguage(“FRENCH”);
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_GOOD, 0, QUAL_LIMITED_NOT_LIMITED,
QUAL_EXT_NON_SPECIFIC, 1, 1, 0);
785
// The result is: Bon [Supplémenté] [Contrôle Inhibé]
// Entries for ‘Bon’, ‘Supplémenté’ and ‘Contrôle Inhibé’
// needs to have been provided in FRENCH.dbf
SetLanguage(“ENGLISH”);
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_BAD, QUAL_BAD_CONFIGURATION_ERROR,
// The result is: Bad - Configuration Error
SetLanguage(“FRENCH”);
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_BAD, QUAL_BAD_CONFIGURATION_ERROR,
// The result is: Mauvais - Erreur de Configuration
786
SetLanguage(“ENGLISH”);
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_UNCR, QUAL_UNCR_NON_SPECIFIC,
QUAL_LIMITED_NOT_LIMITED, QUAL_EXT_TAG_OUT_OF_RANGE);
// The result is: Uncertain
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_UNCR, QUAL_UNCR_NON_SPECIFIC,
QUAL_LIMITED_NOT_LIMITED, QUAL_EXT_TAG_OUT_OF_RANGE);
// The result is: Tag Address Out Of Range
q = QualityCreate(QUAL_UNCR, QUAL_UNCR_SUBNORMAL,
// The result is: Subnormal
See Also
Quality Functions
787
VariableQuality
Extracts the quality from a given variable.
Note: This function is designed to be used within Cicode; using it on graphical pages may result in displaying
an error message instead of an expected quality message when either its argument has not good quality or an
execution error is set.
Syntax
VariableQuality(Variable)
Variable:
The variable from which the quality will be extracted.
Return Value
The QUALITY of the given variable. If Variable is NULL, it returns quality uncertain
(0x40).
Timestamps of uninitialized stack variables, uninitialized code variables and constants
are equal to 0 - invalid timestamp, while their qualities are GOOD
Related Functions
QualityCreate ,QualityGetPart, QualityIsGood, QualityIsUncertain, QualitySetPart, Qual-

ityIsOverride, QualityIsControInhibit, QualityToStr
Example
INT codeVariable = 1;
INT
FUNCTION
MyFunction(REAL arg1)
STRING str = "My string";
QUALITY q;
q = VariableQuality(codeVariable); //code variable
788
q = VariableQuality(arg1); //function argument
q = VariableQuality(str); //stack variable
q = VariableQuality(Tag1); //any tag/local variable
RETURN 1;
END
See Also
Quality Functions
789
790
Chapter 45: Report Functions
Following are functions relating to Reports:
RepGetCluster Retrieves the name of the cluster the report is running on.
RepGetControl Gets report control information.
Report Runs a report.
RepSetControl Sets report control information.
See Also
Functions Reference
RepGetCluster
This function retrieves the name of the cluster a report is running on. This function
should only be called from a report file.
Syntax
RepGetCluster()
Return Value
The name of the cluster the report in running on.

See Also
Report Functions
RepGetControl
Gets report control information on a report. This function is a blocking function. It will
block the calling Cicode task until the operation is complete.
Syntax
RepGetControl(ReportName, Type [, sClusterName])

ReportName:
The name of the report (can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is Clus-
terName.ReportName).
791
nType:
The type of report control information to get (send back in the return value):
0 - State of the report - returns one of:

l 0 -Idle
l 1 - Waiting for PLC data for trigger
l 2 - Waiting for PLC data
l 3 - Running
1 - Time of day that the report is due to run next.

2 - The report period, in seconds, or week day, month or year, for example, if
the report is weekly, this is the day of the week, 0 (Sunday) to 6 (Sat-
urday).
3 - Synchronisation time of day of the report, for example, 10:00:00 (In seconds
from midnight).
4 - Type of report schedule - returns one of:
l 0 - Event triggered
l 1 - Daily
l 2 - Weekly
l 3 - Monthly
l 4 - Yearly
5 - Report state - returns one of:

l 0 - Enabled
l 1 - Disabled
sClusterName:
Name of the cluster in which the report resides. This is optional if you have one cluster or are
resolving the report server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation
marks "".
Return Value
The control information, as an integer.
Related Functions
RepSetControl, Report
Example
Next=RepGetControl("SHIFT",1,"ClusterXYZ");
! Sets Next to the time that the report is due to run.
! Display a message at the prompt AN (AN2) if
! the report is running.
IF RepGetControl("SHIFT",0,"ClusterXYZ")=3 THEN
Prompt("Shift report is running");
END
792
See Also
Report Functions
Report
Runs a report on the Report Server. This function only schedules the report for execution.
The running of the report is controlled entirely by the Report Server.
This function will start the specified report on the Reports Server to which the Citect-
SCADA computer is communicating. If you are using the Reports Servers in Pri-
mary/Standby mode, the report can run on the Standby Server. If you call this function
on the Standby Server then the report will definitely run on the Standby Server, even if
the Primary Server is active.
ation is complete.
Syntax
Report(ReportName [, sClusterName] )
ReportName:
The name of the report to run (can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is Clus-
sClusterName:
marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
RepSetControl, RepGetControl
Example
Buttons
Text Shift Report
Command Report("Shift", "ClusterXYZ")
793
Comment Runs the Shift Report
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Report ############ Enter
Command Report(Arg1)
Comment Runs a specified Report
Report("SHIFT","ClusterXYZ");
! Runs the report named "SHIFT".
Report("DAY","ClusterXYZ");
! Runs the report named "DAY".
/* The "SHIFT" and "DAY" reports are started. The order in which
the reports are run cannot be determined. If you want the "DAY"
report to run after the "SHIFT" report, call Report("DAY") at the
end of the "SHIFT" report. */
See Also
Report Functions
RepSetControl
Sets report control information to temporarily override the normal settings for a specified
report. You can change the report schedule for a periodic report, and run one-time or
event-triggered reports. These new settings are set on both the primary and standby
report servers, but are not saved to the database. When you restart your system, Citect-
SCADA uses the existing settings, defined in the Reports database.
You might need to call this function several times. For example, to change an event-trig-
gered report to run at 6 hourly intervals, you need to change the schedule (Type 4), syn-
chronization time (Type 3), and period (Type 2). If you use incompatible values for these
options, you can get unpredictable results. To change more than one option, disable the
report, set the options, and then re-enable the report.
ation is complete.
Syntax
RepSetControl(ReportName, Type, Data [, sClusterName] )

ReportName:
The name of the report (can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is Clus-
794
nType:
The type of report control information to set:
1 - The time of day at which to run the next report in Cicode (date/time) var-
iable type. Subsequent reports are run at the times calculated from the
period (Type 2) and synchronisation time (Type 3). Use Type 1 to specify
a one-time report. Set the time in Data in seconds from midnight (for
example, specify 6 p.m. as TimeMidNight() + (18 * 60 * 60) ).
2 - The report period. Set the new period in Data according to the report sched-
ule (Type 4), in seconds from midnight, day of week (0 to 6, Sunday = 0),
month (1 to 12), or year.
For a daily report schedule, set the report frequency in Data in seconds from
midnight; for example, set Data to 6 * 60 * 60 for a 6 hourly shift report.
If the report is weekly, set Data to the day of the week, for example, when
Data = 2, the day is Tuesday.
3 - Synchronisation time of day of the report. Set the time in Data in seconds
from midnight, for example, to synchronize at 10a.m., set Data to
10 * 60 * 60.
4 - Type of report schedule. Set Data to one of the following:
l 0 - Event triggered
l 1 - Daily
l 2 - Weekly
l 3 - Monthly
l 4 - Yearly
5 - Report state. Set Data to either:

l 0 - Enabled
l 1 - Disabled
Data
The new data value, dependent on the Type.
sClusterName:
marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
RepGetControl, Report
Examples
795
Run the "Shift" report in 1 minute.
RepSetControl("Shift",1,TimeCurrent()+60,"ClusterXYZ");
Change weekly report to 8 hour shift starting at 7 am
RepSetControl("Weekly", 5, 1,"ClusterXYZ"); ! disable report

RepSetControl("Weekly", 4, 1,"ClusterXYZ"); ! change mode to daily
RepSetControl("Weekly", 3, 7 * 60 * 60,"ClusterXYZ"); ! sync at 7:00:00 am
RepSetControl("Weekly", 2, 8 * 60 * 60,"ClusterXYZ"); ! run every 8 hours
RepSetControl("Weekly", 5, 0,"ClusterXYZ"); ! enable report
Change yearly report to run on March 10 at 7 am
RepSetControl("Yearly", 5, 1,"ClusterXYZ"); ! disable report

RepSetControl("Yearly", 4, 4,"ClusterXYZ"); ! change mode to yearly
RepSetControl("Yearly", 3, 7 * 60 * 60,"ClusterXYZ"); ! sync at 7:00:00 am
RepSetControl("Yearly", 2, 31 + 28 + 10,"ClusterXYZ"); ! run on March 10th
RepSetControl("Yearly", 5, 0,"ClusterXYZ"); ! enable report
See Also
Report Functions
Scheduler Functions
The following functions relate to Scheduler.
SchdClose Terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources used

by the session.
SchdConfigClose Terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources used

by the session.
SchdConfigFirst Places the data browse cursor at the first record.
SchdConfigGetField Returns the value of the particular field in a record to which the
data browse cursor is currently referencing.
SchdConfigNext Places the data browse cursor at the next available record.
SchdConfigNumRecords Returns the number of records that match the current filter crite-
ria.
SchdConfigOpen Initiates a new session for browsing the schedules configured.
SchdConfigPrev Places the data browse cursor at the previous record.
SchdFirst Places the data browse cursor at the first record.
SchdGetField Returns the value of the particular field in a record to which the
796
SchdNext Places the data browse cursor at the next available record.
SchdNumRecords Returns the number of records that match the current filter crite-
ria.
SchdOpen Initiates a new session for browsing the runtime schedules.
SchdPrev Places the data browse cursor at the previous record.
ScheduleItemAdd Adds a new schedule to the scheduler engine.
ScheduleItemDelete Deletes an existing schedule.
ScheduleItemModify Modifies an existing schedule.
ScheduleItemSetRepeat Adds recurrence information for an existing schedule to the sched-

uler engine.
Special Day Functions
SchdSpecialAdd Adds a new special day group to the scheduler engine.
SchdSpecialClose Terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources

used in the session.
SchdSpecialDelete Deletes an existing special day group.
SchdSpecialFirst Places the data browse cursor at the first record.
SchdSpecialGetField Returns the value of the particular field in a record to which

SchdSpecialItemAdd Adds a new special day to the scheduler engine.
SchdSpecialItemClose Terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources

used in the session.
SchdSpecialItemDelete Deletes an existing Special day.
SchdSpecialItemFirst Places the data browse cursor at the first record.
SchdSpecialItemGetField Returns the value of the particular field in a record to which

SchdSpecialItemModify Modifies an existing special day.
SchdSpecialItemNext Places the data browse cursor at the next available record.
SchdSpecialItemNumRecords Returns the number of records that match the current filter
criteria.
SchdSpecialItemOpen Initiates a new session for browsing the special days.
SchdSpecialItemPrev Places the data browse cursor at the previous record.
SchdSpecialModify Modifies an existing special day group
797
SchdSpecialNext Places the data browse cursor at the next available record.
SchdSpecialNumRecords Returns the number of records that match the current filter
criteria.
SchdSpecialOpen Initiates a new session for browsing the special day groups.
SchdSpecialPrev Places the data browse cursor at the previous record.
SchdClose
The SchdClose function terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources used
by the session.
Syntax
INT SchdClose(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by the SchdOpen call
Return Value
0 (zero) if the browsing session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
SchdConfigOpen,SchdConfigClose, SchdConfigFirst,SchdConfigNext,SchdConfigPrev,
SchdConfigGetField, SchdConfigNumRecords,SchdOpen, SchdFirst,SchdNext, SchdPrev,
SchdGetField, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemSetRepeat, Sched-
uleItemModify, ScheduleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdConfigClose
The SchdConfigClose function terminates a browsing session and cleans up the
resources used by the session.
Syntax
INT SchdConfigClose(LONG Session )

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by the SchdConfigOpen
call.
Return Value
798
Related Functions
SchdConfigOpen, SchdConfigFirst,SchdConfigNext,SchdConfigPrev, SchdConfigGetField,

SchdConfigNumRecords,SchdOpen, SchdClose, SchdFirst,SchdNext, SchdPrev,SchdGet-
Field, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemSetRepeat,
ScheduleItemModify, ScheduleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdConfigFirst
The SchdConfigFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
Syntax
INT SchdConfigFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by the SchdConfigOpen call.
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdConfigOpen,SchdConfigClose, SchdConfigNext,SchdConfigPrev,
SchdConfigGetField, SchdConfigNumRecords,SchdOpen, SchdClose, SchdFirst,
SchdNext, SchdPrev,SchdGetField, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, Sched-
uleItemSetRepeat, ScheduleItemModify, ScheduleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdConfigGetField
The SchdConfigGetField function returns the value of the particular field in a record to
which the data browse cursor is currently referencing.
Syntax
STRING SchdConfigGetField(LONG Session, STRING Field )

Session:
field
A field to retrieve. Refer to ScheduleConfigOpen for detailed list of fields.
799
Return Value
Related Functions
Example
TIMESTAMP tsStart = StrToTimestamp(SchdConfigGetFiel(hSession, "Start"),15,0);
TIMESTAMP tsEnd = StrToTimestamp(SchdConfigGetFiel(hSession, "End"),15,0);
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdConfigNext
The SchdConfigNext function places the data browse cursor at the next available record.
This function will return an error if called when the data cursor is at end of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdConfigNext(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdConfigGetField, SchdConfigNumRecords,SchdOpen, SchdClose, SchdFirst,SchdNext,
SchdPrev,SchdGetField, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemSetRepeat,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
800
SchdConfigNumRecords
The SchdConfigNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the cur-
rent filter criteria. This function uses iSession as an argument which is previously
returned by the SchdConfigOpen function.
Syntax
LONG SchdConfigNumRecords(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by the SchdConfigOpen call
Return Value
Returns number of records. 0 means no records were found.
Related Functions
SchdConfigGetField, SchdOpen, SchdClose, SchdFirst,SchdNext, SchdPrev,SchdGetField,
SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemSetRepeat, ScheduleItemModify,
ScheduleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdConfigOpen
The SchdConfigOpen function initiates a new session for browsing the schedules con-
figured. It returns a handle for the browsing session which can be used for further brows-
ing operations.
Syntax
LONG SchdConfigOpen([TIMESTAMP Start] [, LONG Duration] [, STRING Filter] [,

STRING Fields] [, STRING Clusters] )
start:
The start date of the schedules in UTC time to return during the browse.If not
specified, today at midnight will be taken as start time. The types of this field
is TIMESTAMP. Use StrToTimestamp or TimestampCreate cicode functions to
create a TIMESTAMP type.
Duration:
The duration of the browse in seconds. The default is 86400 seconds(24 hour)
Filter:
801
A filter expression specifying the records to return during the browse. An

empty string indicates that every record will be returned.
Fields:
Specifies via a comma delimited string the columns to be returned during the
browse. An empty string indicates that the server will return every available
column.
Supported fields are:
ID:
The unique ID of the schedule within the schedule engine. ID
value is the same for all recurring schedules.
EQUIPMENT:
The equipment name
STATE:
The state of the schedule
START:
The start time of the schedule.
OCCURRENCESTART:
The start of this occurrence. For non-recurring entries will be the
same as START.
END:
The end time of the schedule.
OCCURRENCEEND:
The end of this occurrence. For non-recurring entries will be the
same as END.
DESC:
The description of the schedule.
MODIFIEDTIME:
The time when the entry was modified last time.
802
Note: Time values (START, OCCURRENCESTART, END, OCCUR-

RENCEEND, MODIFIEDTIME) are TIMESTAMP type. Use Times-
tampToStr() cicode function to convert it to string.
The following fields are used when a schedule is recurrent. The value of
FREQ filed -1 means the schedule is not recurrent:
FREQ:
The type of the recurrence: 4 - daily, 5 - weekly, 6- monthly, 7 -
yearly, 8 - special days. -1 means this schedule is non-recurring.
INTERVAL:
The interval of the recurrence. 1 - every 1 day/week/month etc., 2 -
every second day/week/month etc. and so on.
WEEKDAY:
The first day of the week
WEEKDAYMASK:
The day of week mask. Defines day of week where recurrence
happens.
None = 0,
Sunday = 1,
Monday = 2,
Tuesday = 4,
Wednesday = 8,
Thursday = 16,
Friday = 32,
Saturday = 64,
Everyday = 127,
Weekdays = 62,
Weekenddays = 65
Combination of days can be achieved by addition. For example,

Tuesdays and Wednesdays would be 12 (4 + 8).
MAXREC:
803
The maximum number recurrences (-1 means MAXREC is not

specified. If MAXREC is -1 then the recurrence stops on the date
specified by RECUNTIL field. If RECUNTIL is not specified the
recurrence occurs forever).
RECUNTIL:
The time until recurrence occurs. -1 means never stops (or finishes after
MAXREC occurrences if is specified).
DAYORD: Day ordinal. Applicable for monthly and yearly recurrence pat-
terns. Using the values 1 to 4 you can set the schedule to run on the first,
second, third, or fourth occurrence of the DAY in each month (monthly
recurrences), or the specified MONTH (yearly recurrences). Use the value -1
for the last week of the month
DAY:
The day of month
MONTH:
The month of the year
SPECIALINC:
Defined whether the special day is included in the pattern. 0 -
none, 1 - all, 2 - selected.
GROUPIDS
A list of group’s ID included in the recurring pattern (used only
when SPECIALINC is defined as 2 (“selected”)).
sClusters:
An optional parameter that specifies via a comma delimited
string the subset of the clusters to browse. An empty string indi-
cates that the connected clusters will be browsed.
Return Value
Returns a handle to the browse session otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
SchdConfigClose, SchdConfigFirst,SchdConfigNext,SchdConfigPrev, SchdConfigGetField,

Example
804
tsConfigtimeBrowseStartTime = TimestampCreate(2011, 11, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0);
iConfigtimeSession = SchdConfigOpen(tsConfigtimeBrowseStartTime, 86400, "Id=1",
"", "Cluster1");
IF iConfigtimeSession = -1 THEN
prompt("Could not open a schedule configtime browse session");
END
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdConfigPrev
The SchdConfigPrev function places the data browse cursor at the previous record. This
function will return an error if called when the data cursor is at beginning of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdConfigPrev(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by the SchdConfigOpen call
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdConfigOpen,SchdConfigClose, SchdConfigFirst,SchdConfigNext,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
805
SchdFirst
The SchdFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
Syntax
INT SchdFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by the SchdOpen call.
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdConfigGetField, SchdConfigNumRecords,SchdOpen, SchdClose, SchdNext,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdGetField
The SchdGetField function returns the value of the particular field in a record to which
Syntax
STRING SchdGetField(LONG Session, STRING Field)

Session:
Field:
string indicates that the server will return every available column. See SchdOpen for supported
fields.
Return Value
Related Functions
806
SchdPrev, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemSetRepeat, Sched-
Example
TIMESTAMP tsStart = StrToTimestamp(SchdGetField(hSession, "Start"),15,0);
TIMESTAMP tsEnd = StrToTimestamp(SchdGetField(hSession, "End"),15,0);
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdNext
The SchdNext function places the data browse cursor at the next available record. This
function will return an error if called when the data cursor is at end of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdNext(LONG Session)
Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdConfigGetField, SchdConfigNumRecords,SchdOpen, SchdClose, SchdFirst,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdNumRecords
The SchdNumRecords function returns the number of records that matchthe current
filter criteria.
Syntax
LONG SchdNumRecords(LONG Session)
807
Session:
Return Value
browse session.
Related Functions
SchdPrev,SchdGetField, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemSetRepeat, ScheduleItemModify,
ScheduleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdOpen
The SchdOpen function initiates a new session for browsing the runtime schedules. It
returns a handle for the browsing session which can be used for further browsing oper-
ations.
Syntax
LONG SchdOpen(STRING Equipment[, TIMESTAMP Start] [,LONG Duration] [,STRING

Filter] [,STRING Fields] [, STRING Clusters] )
Equipment:
The name of the equipment to browse.
Start:
The start date of the schedules. If not specified, today at midnight will be taken as the start time.
The types of this field is TIMESTAMP. Use StrToTimestamp or TimestampCreate Cicode functions
to create a TIMESTAMP type.
Duration:
The duration of the browse in seconds. The default is 86400 seconds(24 hour)
Filter:
that every record will be returned.
Fields:
808
string indicates that the server will return every available column. Supported fields are:
EQUIPMENT: The equipment name
STATE: The state to be set by the schedule
START: The start time of the schedule. The time is returned as a Timestamp value. Use StrTo-
Timestamp() to get a TIMESTAMP data value.
END: The end time of the schedule. The time is returned as a Timestamp value. Use StrTo-
Timestamp() to get a TIMESTAMP data value.
INHERITED: Indicates if the schedule entry is inherited from a schedule defined in a parent equip-
ment higher in the hierarchy.
DESC: The description of the schedule.
Clusters:
Return Value

For errors refer to the topic Cicode Errors in the Cicode Reference help
Related Functions
SchdConfigGetField, SchdConfigNumRecords, SchdClose, SchdFirst,SchdNext, SchdPrev,
Example
tsRuntimeBrowseStartTime = TimestampCreate(2011, 11, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0);
iRuntimeSession = SchdOpen("MyEquipment1", tsRuntimeBrowseStartTime, 86400,
"state=ON", "", "Cluster1");
IF iRuntimeSession = -1 THEN
809
prompt("Could not open a schedule runtime browse session");
END
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdPrev
The SchdPrev function places the data browse cursor at the previous record. This func-
tion will return an error if called when the data cursor is at beginning of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdPrev(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialAdd
The SchdSpecialAdd adds a new Special Day Group to the scheduler engine.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialAdd(STRING Cluster, STRING Name)

Cluster:
The name of the cluster
Name:
Name of the special day group
810
Return Value
Returns the Id of the Special Day Group which can be used for modifying and deleting
this Special Day Group. Returns the ID for an existing Special Day group. This function
returns -1 if, unsuccessful. Trap the error to get the error returned by this function.
Related Functions
SchdSpecialDelete, SchdSpecialModify,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialClose
The SchdSpecialClose function terminates a browsing session and cleans up the
resources used by the session. This function uses iSession as the argument which is pre-
viously returned by the SchdSpecialOpen function.
Syntax
INT SchdSpecialClose(LONG Session)

Session:
Current special day group browsing session obtained by SchdSpecialOpen
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialOpen, SchdSpecialFirst, SchdSpecialNext, SchdSpecialPrev, SchdSpe-

cialGetField, SchdSpecialNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialDelete
The SchdSpecialDelete function deletes an existing special day group.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialDelete(STRING Cluster, LONG ID)

Cluster:
Name of the Cluster
ID
811
Special day group ID
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialAdd, SchdSpecialModify,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialFirst
The SchdSpecialFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record. This func-
tion uses iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialOpen
function.
Syntax
INT SchdSpecialFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialOpen, SchdSpecialClose, SchdSpecialNext, SchdSpecialPrev, SchdSpe-

See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialGetField
The SchdSpecialGetField function returns the value of a particular field from the record
currently referenced by the data browse cursor. This function uses iSession as an argu-
ment which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialOpen function and the field name
of the value to be returned.
Syntax
STRING SchdSpecialItemGetField(LONG Session, STRING Field)

Session
812
Field
string indicates that the server will return every available column. Supported fields are:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialOpen, SchdSpecialFirst, SchdSpecialNext, SchdSpecialPrev,

SchdSpecialClose, SchdSpecialNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemAdd
The SchdSpecialItemAdd function adds a new Special Day to the scheduler engine. It
returns the ID of the Special Day which can be used for modifying and deleting the Spe-
cial Day.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialItemAdd(STRING Cluster, LONG GroupID, STRING Name, TIMES-

TAMP Day)
Cluster:
Name of the Cluster
GroupID:
Special day group ID
Name:
Name of special day
Day:
The special day as a TIMESTAMP. Use TimestampCreate or StrToTimestamp() cicode functions to

get a TIMESTAMP data value.
Return Value
813
Returns the ID for an existing special day or -1 if unsuccessful. Trap the error to get the
error returned by this function.
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemModify, SchdSpecialItemDelete
Example
TIMESTAMP tsDate = TimestampCreate(2012,1,2,0,0,0);
// Add the new special day
nCatID = SchdSpecialAdd(STRING Cluster, sCategory);
IF (nCatID > -1) THEN
nSchdID = SchdSpecialItemAdd(STRING Cluster, nCatID, sLabel, tsDate);
IF (nSchdID > -1) THEN
// Use the new schedule special day item
END
END
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemClose
This function terminates a browsing session and cleans up the resources used by the ses-
sion. This function uses iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the
SchdSpecialItemOpen function.
Syntax
814
INT SchdSpecialItemClose(LONG Session)

Session:
Current schedule special item browsing session obtained by SchdSpecialItemOpen
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemOpen, SchdSpecialItemFirst, SchdSpecialItemNext, SchdSpecialItemPrev,

SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemDelete
This function deletes an existing Special Day.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialItemDelete(STRING Cluster, LONG ID)

Cluster:
Name of the cluster
ID:
Special day ID
Return Value
This function returns 0 if successful otherwise it returns an error.
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemAdd, SchdSpecialItemModify,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemFirst
The SchdSpecialItemFirst places the data browse cursor at the first record. This function
uses iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialItemOpen
function.
Syntax
815
INT SchdSpecialItemFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
Current schedule special item browsing session obtained by SchdSpecialItemOpen
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemOpen, SchdSpecialItemClose, SchdSpecialItemNext,

SchdSpecialItemPrev, SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemGetField
This function returns the value of the particular field in a record to which the data
browse cursor is currently referencing. This function uses iSession as an argument
which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialItemOpen function and the field name
of the value to be returned.
Syntax
STRING SchdSpecialItemGetField(LONG Session, STRING Field)

Session
Current special day group browsing session obtained by SchdSpecialItemOpen
Field
column. Supported fields are:
GROUPNAME: The group name of the special day
NAME: The name of the special day
DAY: The special day. The time is returned as a Timestamp value. Use StrTo-
Timestamp() to get a TIMESTAMP data value
ID: The unique ID of the special day. Every special day is assigned a unique
ID.
Return Value
816
Related Functions

SchdSpecialItemPrev, SchdSpecialItemFirst, SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
Example
TIMESTAMP tsDay = StrToTimestamp(SchdSpecialItemGetField(hSession,"Day"),15,0);
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemModify
This function modifies an existing Special Day.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialItemModify(STRING Cluster, LONG ID, STRING Name)

Cluster:
ID
ID of the special day to be modified.
Name
The name of the special day.
Return Value
This function returns 0 if successful otherwise it returns an error code.
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemAdd, SchdSpecialItemDelete,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemNext
817
This function places the data browse cursor at the next available record. This function
uses iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialItemOpen
function. This function will return an EOF error code if called when the data cursor is at
end of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdSpecialItemNext(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemOpen, SchdSpecialItemClose, SchdSpecialItemFirst,

SchdSpecialItemPrev, SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
The SchdSpecialItemNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the
current filter criteria. This function uses iSession as an argument which is previously
returned by the SchdSpecialItemOpen function.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialItemNumRecords(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
browse session.
Related Functions

SchdSpecialItemPrev, SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdSpecialItemFirst
818
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemOpen
This function initiates a new session for browsing the special days. It returns a handle
for the browsing session which can be used for further browsing operations.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialItemOpen(STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters])

Filter:
empty string indicates that all records will be returned.
Fields:
column. See SchdSpecialItemGetField for the fields supported.
Clusters:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemFirst, SchdSpecialItemClose, SchdSpecialItemNext, SchdSpecialItemPrev,

SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialItemPrev
This function places the data browse cursor at the previous record. This function uses
iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialItemOpen func-
tion. This function will return an error(EOF) if called when the data cursor is at begin-
ning of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdSpecialItemPrev(LONG Session)

Session:
819
Return Value
Related Functions

SchdSpecialItemFirst, SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdSpecialItemNumRecords
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialModify
This function modifies an existing special day group.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialModify(STRING Cluster, LONG ID, STRING NewName)

Cluster:
ID:
Existing ID for the current special day group.
NewName:
New name of the current special day group.
Return Value
This function returns 0 if successful otherwise it returns an error.

For error code information codes refer to the topic Cicode Errors in the Cicode Reference
help
Related Functions
SchdSpecialDelete, SchdSpecialAdd,
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialNext
820
This function places the data browse cursor at the next available record. This function
uses iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialOpen
function. This function will return an EOF error code if called when the data cursor is at
end of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdSpecialNext(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialOpen, SchdSpecialFirst, SchdSpecialClose, SchdSpecialPrev, SchdSpe-

See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialNumRecords
The SchdSpecialNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the cur-
rent filter criteria. This function uses iSession as an argument which is previously
returned by the SchdSpecialOpen function.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialNumRecords(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
browse session.
Related Functions
SchdSpecialOpen, SchdSpecialFirst, SchdSpecialNext, SchdSpecialPrev, SchdSpe-

cialGetField, SchdSpecialClose
821
See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialOpen
The SchdSpecialOpen function initiates a new session for browsing the special day
groups. It returns a handle for the browsing session which can be used for further brows-
ing operations.
Syntax
LONG SchdSpecialOpen(STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters])

Filter:
empty string indicates that every record will be returned. Multiple filters can be
specified and separated with ';'. Where a fieldname is not specified in the filter,
it is assumed to be tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to
"name=AAA".
Fields:
column. Supported fields are:
NAME: The name of the special day group.
ID: The unique ID of the special day group. Every special day group is
assigned a unique ID.
Clusters:
An optional parameter that specifies via a comma delimited string the subset
of the clusters to browse. An empty string indicates that the connected clusters
will be browsed.
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialClose, SchdSpecialFirst, SchdSpecialNext, SchdSpecialPrev, SchdSpe-

See Also
Scheduler Functions
SchdSpecialPrev
822
The SchdSpecialPrev places the data browse cursor at the previous record. This function
uses iSession as the argument which is previously returned by the SchdSpecialOpen
function. This function will return an error(EOF) if called when the data cursor is at
beginning of the records.
Syntax
INT SchdSpecialPrev(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdSpecialOpen, SchdSpecialFirst, SchdSpecialNext, SchdSpecialClose, SchdSpe-

See Also
Scheduler Functions
ScheduleItemAdd
The ScheduleItemAdd function adds a new schedule to the scheduler engine. It returns
the Id of the schedule which can be used for modifying, setting recurrence and deleting
this schedule.
Syntax
LONG ScheduleItemAdd(STRING Cluster, STRING Equipment, STRING State, TIMES-

TAMP Start, TIMESTAMP End, STRING Desc)
Cluster:
Equipment:
The name of the equipment to browse.
State:
Start:
The start time of the schedule. The type of this parameter is TIMESTAMP. Use TimestampCreate or
StrToTimestamp to get a TIMESTAMP value.
823
End:
The end time of the schedule. The type of this parameter is TIMESTAMP. Use TimestampCreate or
Desc
Return Value
The id of the schedule which can be used for modifying, setting recurrence and deleting this sched-
ule. This function returns -1 if unsuccessful. Trap the error to get the error returned by this function.
Related Functions
SchdGetField, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemSetRepeat, ScheduleItemModify, Sched-
uleItemDelete
Example
//The following example creates a schedule item using state MyState1 for
MyEquipment1, that starts from 3am and ends at 4am on 20th of Nov 2011.
TIMESTAMP tsStartTime;
TIMESTAMP tsEndTime;
INT iScheduleID;
tsStartTime = TimestampCreate(2011, 11, 20, 3, 0, 0, 0);
tsEndTime = TimestampCreate(2011, 11, 20, 4, 0, 0, 0);
iScheduleID = ScheduleItemAdd("Cluster1",
824
"MyEquipment1","MyState1",tsStartTime,tsEndTime,"MyScheduleItem1");
See Also
Scheduler Functions
ScheduleItemDelete
The ScheduleItemDelete function deletes an existing schedule.
LONG ScheduleItemDelete(STRING Cluster, LONG ID)
Cluster:
Name of cluster.
ID:
The unique ID of the schedule within the schedule engine.
Return Value
Related Functions
uleItemModify
See Also
Scheduler Functions
ScheduleItemModify
The ScheduleItemModify function modifies an existing schedule.
Syntax
LONG ScheduleItemModify(STRING Cluster, LONG ID, STRING State, TIMESTAMP

Start, TIMESTAMP End, STRING Desc)
Cluster:
Name of cluster.
ID:
The unique ID of the schedule within the schedule engine
State:
825
Start:
The start time of the schedule. The type of this parameter is TIMESTAMP. Use TimestampCreate or
End:
The end time of the schedule. The type of this parameter is TIMESTAMP. Use TimestampCreate or
Desc
Return Value
Related Functions
uleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
ScheduleItemSetRepeat
The ScheduleItemSetRepeat function adds recurrence information to an existing schedule
to the scheduler engine. The same function is used if the schedule already has recurrence
information that need to be changed.
Syntax
LONG ScheduleItemSetRepeat(STRING Cluster, LONG ID, LONG Freq, LONG Interval,

LONG Weekday, LONG WeekDayMask, LONG MaxRec, LONG RecUntil,LONG DayOrd,
LONG Day, LONG Month,LONG SpecialInc, STRING GroupIds)
Cluster
Name of cluster
ID
The existing schedule id to apply recurrence.
Freq:
The type of the recurrence: 4 – daily, 5 – weekly, 6- monthly, 7 – yearly, 8 – spe-
cial days.
Interval:
826
The interval of the recurrence. 1 – every 1 day/week/month etc., 2 – every sec-

ond and so on.
WeekDay:
The first day of week – Sunday (0) or Monday (1)
WeekDayMask:
The day of week mask. Defines day of week where recurrence happens.
None = 0,
Sunday = 1,
Monday = 2,
Tuesday = 4,
Wednesday = 8,
Thursday = 16,
Friday = 32,
Saturday = 64,
Everyday = 127,
Weekdays = 62,
Weekenddays = 65
Combination of days can be achieved by addition. For example,
Tuesdays and Wednesdays would be 12 (4 + 8).
MaxRec:
The maximum number recurrences (-1 means does not stop)
RecUntil:
The time specifies the time until recurrence is occurring. The type of this param-
eter is TIMESTAMP. Use TimestampCreate or StrToTimestamp to get a TIMES-
TAMP value. To create a recurring schedule that does not end use
TimestampCreate(1601, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)
DayOrd:
Day ordinal. Applicable for monthly and yearly recurrence patterns. Can be 1-4
or -1 (every 1, second, third, fourth or last week of a month).
Day:
The day of month
Month:
827
The month of the year

SpecialInc:
Defined whether the special day is included in the pattern. 0 – none, 1 – every,
2 – selected.
GroupIds :
A list of group’s ID included in the recurring pattern (used only when Spe-
cialIncl is defined as 2 (“selected”)).
Return Value
Related Functions
SchdGetField, SchdNumRecords, ScheduleItemAdd, ScheduleItemModify, Sched-
uleItemDelete
See Also
Scheduler Functions
828
Chapter 46: Security Functions
Following are functions relating to Security:
FullName Gets the full name of the current operator.
GetPriv Checks the privilege and area of the current operator.
Login Logs an operator into the CitectSCADA system. Not available

when logged in as Windows user.
LoginForm Displays a form that allows an operator to log in to the Citect-

SCADA system.
Logout Logs an operator out of the CitectSCADA system.
LogoutIdle Sets an idle time logout for the current operator.
MultiSignatureForm Displays a form that allows up for 4 users to have their cre-
dentials verified in order to approve an operation.
Mul- Displays a form that allows up for 4 users to have their cre-
tiSignatureTagWrite dentials verified in order to approve a write of
a specific value to a specific tag.
Name Gets the user name of the current operator.
UserCreate Creates a new user record during run time. Not available when
logged in as Windows user.
UserCreateForm Displays a form to create a record for a new user. Not available
UserDelete Deletes a new user record during run time. Not available when
logged in as Windows user.
UserEditForm Displays a form for a selected user to create or delete user rec-
ords during run time.
Not available when logged in as Windows user.
UserInfo Gets information about the operator who is currently logged-in

to the system.
829
UserLogin Logs an operator into the CitectSCADA system using a secure

password string.
UserPassword Changes a user's password during run time. Not available

User- Returns the number of days left before the user's password is
PasswordExpiryDays due to expire.
UserPasswordForm Displays a form for the operator to change their own password
during run time.
UserSetStr Sets the value of the given field for the given user record in the
project configuration (users.dbf ) on the local machine.
UserUpdateRecord Triggers a recompile of the local project configuration, then

notifies the running system that user configuration has been
modified and needs to be reloaded.
UserVerify Uses the authentication functionality in the user login system.
VerifyPrivilegeForm Displays a form that allows a single user to enter their cre-
dentials.
Ver- Displays a form that allows any single user to enter their cre-
ifyPrivilegeTagWrite dentials in order to approve a write of
a specific value to a specific tag.
WhoAmI Displays the name of the operator who is currently logged-in to

the system.
See Also
Functions Reference
FullName
Gets the full name of the user who is currently logged on to the system. The user can be
a Citect or a Windows user. For a Citect user the full name is the one defined in the
users form. For a Windows user the full name is in the format of <Domain-
Name>\<UserName>. When there is no one logged in or the logged in user is a "system
user" this function returns an empty string.
Syntax
FullName()
830
If the user is logged on as a Domain user the name should be the Windows domain
name and user account name in the format of <DomainName\UserName>.
If the user is logged on as a local user the name should be the local machine name and
user account name in the format of <MachineName\UserName>.
Return Value
The user name (as a string).
Related Functions
Name, UserInfo
Example
/* Display the full name of the current user at AN20. */

DspText(20, 0, FullName());
See Also
Security Functions
GetPriv
Checks if the current user has a privilege for a specified area. With this function, you can
write your own Cicode functions to control user access to the system.
Syntax
GetPriv(Priv, Area)
Priv
The privilege level (1..8).
Area
The area of privilege (0..255).
Return Value
Returns 1 if the user has the specified privilege in the area, or 0 (zero) if the user does
not have the privilege.
Related Functions
SetArea
Example
831
/* User needs to have privilege 2, or cannot do operation. */

IF GetPriv(2, 0) THEN
! Do operation here
ELSE
Prompt("No privilege for command");
END
See Also
Security Functions
Login
Logs a user into the CitectSCADA system, using CitectSCADA security and gives users
access to the areas and privileges assigned to them in the Users database, and uses the
locale language defined for that user. Only one user can be logged into a computer at
any one time. If a user is already logged in when a second user logs in, the first user is
automatically logged out.
When using Windows security use UserLogin to limit Windows credentials being
exposed as plain text.
At startup, or when the user logs out, a default user is active, with access to area 0 (zero)
and privilege 0 (zero) only. Use the LoginForm() function to display a form for logging in
to the system.
Syntax
Login(sUserName, sPassword [, bSync][, sLanguage])

sUserName:
The user's name, as defined in the Users database.
sPassword:
The user's password, as defined in the Users database.
bSync:
Optionally specifies whether the function operates in blocking or non-blocking mode. If set to 1
blocks caller until login is complete. If set to 0 (default) does not block caller.
sLanguage:
The specified language needs to be one of the languages defined in System/Languages

(LANG.DBF). If the specified language is undefined, the default language is used by the login
user, and a message “Undefined language” is shown in the prompt line.
An empty string (i.e. “”) can be specified to indicate that the default language is used by the login
user. The default language defined by [Language]LocalLanguage INI parameter.
832
The default value of this parameter is “”.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful.
Related Functions
LoginForm, Logout, LogoutIdle, Message, Input, UserLogin
Example
/*
** Log in a user whose user name is "FRED" and whose password
** is "ABC".
**
** The language of the logged in user session will be set to
** the default language.
*/
Login("FRED", "ABC");
/*
** Log in a user whose user name is "FRED" and whose password
** is "ABC".
**
** The language of the logged in user session will be set to
** English.
*/
Login("FRED", "ABC", 0, "English");
See Also
Security Functions
LoginForm
Displays a form in which a user can log in to the CitectSCADA system by entering their
name and password and local language. If the login is correct, the user is logged into the
CitectSCADA system with the area(s) and privilege(s) assigned to them in the Users data-
base.
From version 7.10 this form can be pre-filled by the caller. Both Citect and Windows
users are supported.
ation is complete.
Syntax
LoginForm([sUserName [, sPassword [, sLanguage]]])
833
sUserName:
Optionally, the user's name, as defined in the Users database.
sPassword:
Optionally, the user's password, as defined in the Users database.
sLanguage:
The specified language must be one of the languages defined in System/Languages (LANG.DBF).
If the specified language is undefined, the default language is used by the login user, and a mes-
sage “Undefined language” is shown in the prompt line.
Return Value
Related Functions
Login, UserLogin
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence Login
LoginForm Display the Login form
Comment Allow user login
Buttons
Text Operator Login
LoginForm Display the Login form
Comment Allow user login
See Also
Security Functions
Logout
834
Logs the current user out of the CitectSCADA system. CitectSCADA continues to run, but
with access to area 0 (zero) and privilege 0 (zero) only. If the current page requires access
for a specified area (as defined by the page's area property), the system returns to the
home page as specified by the parameter[Page]HomePage, and if unsuccessful that
returns to the startup page. When multiple pages are currently displayed, this occurs for
each open window.
Calling this function to logout the logged on user will cause an automatically logged in
user to be logged back on. If there is no user logged in, calling this function will return
an error. When the logged on user is an automatically logged in user, calling this func-
tion will return an error.
Syntax
Logout()
Return Value
Related Functions
Login, LoginForm, LogoutIdle, UserInfo, Message, Input
Example
/* Log the current user out of the system. */

Logout();
See Also
Security Functions
LogoutIdle
Sets an idle time for logging out the current user. If the current user does not execute a
command within the specified idle time, a prompt is displayed. If the prompt is ignored,
then the user is logged out. For every user to have the same idle time, you would call
this function at startup. Otherwise, you can call the function from the Users database to
specify an idle time for each user. This function will not log out an automatically logged
on user.
Until reset LogoutIdle remains active. To reset call LogoutIdle (-1) from the Exit com-
mand of the Users database record.
Syntax
LogoutIdle(Idle)
Idle:
835
The number of minutes the user needs to be idle before logout will occur. Set Idle to -1 to disable
the current logout timeout.
Return Value
No return value.
Related Functions
Logout, Login, LoginForm
Example
Users
User Name Operator1
LoginForm LogoutIdle(5)
Comment Logs the user out after five minutes
See Also
Security Functions
MultiSignatureForm
Displays a form that allows up for 4 users to have their credentials verified in order to approve an oper-
ation. The usernames can be Citect or Windows users.
Syntax
MultiSignatureForm(sOperationDescription, sLogDevice, sUser1, sUser2, sUser3, sUser4)

sOperationDescription:
A description of the operation that requires approval. This string will be displayed on the signature
form and logged to the log device if the operation is approved.
sLogDevice:
The name of a log device if logging is required, otherwise pass an empty string.
sUser1..4:
Each sUser argument needs to be either a Citect user name, a Windows user name (including
domain\ prefix) or a blank string. Even though the sUser arguments are numbered 1 through 4, this
only controls the order in which users are displayed on the multi-signature form. You can pass
empty strings for any of these arguments, but at least one user needs to be specified.
Return Value
836
TRUE (1) if the operation approved (that is all users' credentials were verified and the
operator clicked the "Approve" button, otherwise FALSE (0).
Related Functions
FormSecurePassword
MultiSignatureTagWrite
VerifyPrivilegeForm
VerifyPrivilegeTagWrite
Example
// This example sets the page integer to indicate the approval status, but
// it can be used to perform any logic necessary to trigger the operation
// that was approved.
PageSetInt(1, MultiSignatureForm("Shut down plant", "ApprovalLog",

"shiftsupervisor", "DOMAIN\mike.manager", "", ""));
See Also
Security Functions
Form Functions
Displays a form that allows up for 4 users to have their credentials verified in order to approve a write of a
specific value to a specific tag. If all users are verified successfully, the write to the tag is performed by this
function before it returns. The usernames can be Citect or Windows users.
Syntax
MultiSignatureTagWrite(sTagName, sValueToWrite, sLogDevice, sUser1, sUser2, sUser3,

sUser4)
sTagName:
The name of the tag to which a write needs to be approved.
sValuetoWrite:
The value to write to the tag if approval succeeds.
sLogDevice:
sUser:
837
Each sUser argument needs to be either a Citect user name, a Windows user name (including
domain\ prefix) or an empty string. Even though the sUser arguments are numbered 1 through 4,
this only controls the order in which users are displayed on the multi-signature form. You can pass
empty strings for any of these arguments, but at least one user needs to be specified.
Return Value
TRUE (1) if the operation was approved (that is all users' credentials were verified and
the operator clicked the "Approve" button, otherwise FALSE (0).
Related Functions
FormSecurePassword
MultiSignatureForm
VerifyPrivilegeForm
Example
// This example generates a form to request two users to approve the tag write
operation.
// When approved, the PLC_VAR1 tag is written with the value 123 and a page string
// is set to indicate the approval status.
IF
(MultiSignatureTagWrite("PLC_VAR1", "123", "", "John Smith", "Angela Huth", "", ""))
THEN
PageSetStr(1, "TagWrite Successful");
ELSE
PageSetStr(1, "TagWrite Not Successful");
END
See Also
Security Functions
Form Functions
Name
Gets the name of the operator who is currently logged on to the display system. The user
can be a Citect or a windows user.If this function is called on a server, it returns the
name of the local operator. If there is no one logged on, or the logged on user is a "sys-
tem user" this function returns an empty string.
Syntax
Name()
Return Value
838
The name of the user as a string. If the user is logged on as a Windows user the name
will be the Windows user account name.
Related Functions
FullName, Login, LoginForm
Example
/* Display the user name of the current user at AN20. */

DspText(20,0,Name());
See Also
Security Functions
UserCreate
Not available for a Windows user.
Creates a record for a new user. A new user of the specified type is created. The name of
the user needs to be unique.
An alarm server needs to be configured and running in the project, so that all clients are
notified that an online change to the users configuration has been completed.
In order to perform user configuration changes online in a system with multiple com-
puters running SCADA nodes using these functions, you will need to use the RUN and
COPY parameters to check the updates are distributed throughout the system, and that
the functions are called from the computer which uses the COPY path as it's RUN path.
Note: This function is not supported on the Internet Display Client. If this function is
called on the Internet Display Client then it will return an error.
Syntax
UserCreate(sName, sFullName, sPassword, sType [, sAccess] [, sPrivGlobal] [, sPriv1..sPriv8] )

sName:
The name of the user.
sFullName:
The full name of the user.
sPassword:
The password of the user.
839
The sPassword argument is optional. If not passed, this argument defaults to an empty string which
is subsequently ignored. It is included for the purposes of handling duplicate user names and sep-
arate password identification compatibility.
sType:
The generic type of user. The type needs to be defined in the Users database (with the Users form).
sAccess:
User's viewable areas.
sPrivGlobal:
User's global privilege.
sPriv1-8:
User's privilege for areas 1 - 8.
Return Value
Related Functions
UserDelete, UserEditForm, UserPassword, UserPasswordForm, UserCreateForm
Example
/* Create a new user */

UserCreate("Fred", "Fred Jones", "secret", "Operator");
See Also
Security Functions
UserCreateForm
Displays a form to create a record for a new user. A new user of the specified type is
created. The name of the user needs to be unique.
Syntax
840
UserCreateForm()
Return Value
Related Functions
UserDelete, UserEditForm, UserPassword, UserPasswordForm, UserCreate
Example
UserCreateForm()
See Also
Security Functions
UserDelete
Deletes the record for a user. Changes are written to both the Users database and the run-
time database in memory.
Syntax
UserDelete(sName)
sName:
Return Value
Related Functions
UserCreate, UserEditForm
Example
841
/* Delete Fred from the database */

UserDelete("Fred");
See Also
Security Functions
UserEditForm
Displays a form to allow the user to create or delete any user record in the database. This
function should have restricted access. Changes are written to both the Users database
and the runtime database in memory.
Syntax
UserEditForm()
Return Value
Related Functions
UserCreate, UserDelete
Example
/* Display a form for the user to create or delete user records. */

UserEditForm();
See Also
Security Functions
UserInfo
Gets information about the operator who is currently logged-in to the system.
Syntax
UserInfo(nType)
842
nType:
The type of user information:
0 - Flag to indicate whether any user other than a view-only user is logged in
1 - The login name of the user
2 - The full name of the user
3 - The time the user logged in
4 - The time the user entered the last command
5 - The number of commands entered by the user
6 - The type of login:
l "0" indicates that the current user is a view-only user.
l "1"indicates there is CitectSCADA or Windows non-default user explic-
itly logged in.

l "2" indicates the logged on user is a CitectSCADA default user (control
client auto login CitectSCADA user).

l "3" indicates the logged on user is a Windows default user (control client
auto login windows user).
Return Value
The information (as a string). If an error is detected, an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
Login
Example
/* Check if a user has logged on. If so, get the user's full name
and the number of commands they have performed. */
String sName;
String sCount;
IF UserInfo(0) = "1" THEN
sName = UserInfo(2);
sCount = UserInfo(5);
END
See Also
Security Functions
UserLogin
843
Logs a user into the CitectSCADA system, using either Windows integrated security or
CitectSCADA security and gives users access to the areas and privileges assigned to
them in the Users database, and uses the locale language defined for that user. Only one
user can be logged into a computer at any one time. If a user is already logged in when a
second user logs in, the first user is replaced by the newly logged on user. When a newly
logged in user does not have access to view the current page (as defined by the page's
area), the system returns to the home page as specified by the parameter[Page]Home-
Page, and if unsuccessful that returns to the startup page. When multiple pages are cur-
rently displayed, this occurs for each open window.
To call this function at user login, the password argument passed needs to be in secure
string format.
At startup, or when the user logs out, a default user is active, with access to area 0 (zero)
and privilege 0 (zero) only. Use the LoginForm() function to display a form for logging in
to the system.
Syntax
UserLogin(sUserName, sPassword, [sLanguage])

sUserName:
The user's name as defined in the Users database, or the Windows User account name, in plain text.
sPassword:
The user's password, as defined in the Users database or Windows account formatted as a secure
string.
To improve the user credentials protection provides a system built-in user login function that takes
the user name and secure password as the arguments. This reduces the chance that the user's pass-
word can be exposed in plaint text from the runtime system
sLanguage:
The specified language needs to tagbe one of the languages defined in System/Languages
(LANG.DBF). If the specified language is undefined, the default language is used by the login
user, and a message “Undefined language” is shown in the prompt line.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful.
Related Functions
LoginForm, Logout, LogoutIdle, Message, Input
844
Example
/*
** FUNCTION NAME:LoginForm
**
** This function displays the login form, get the user name, password and
** the language of the user session and then trys to log the user in.
** If the login does not succeed it will retry until login is ok or user
** presses the cancel button.
**
*/
INT
FUNCTION
LoginForm(STRING sName="", STRING sPassword="", STRING sLanguage="English")
INT bDone;
INT nStatus;
INT hForm;
bDone = FALSE;
WHILE bDone = FALSE DO
FormNew("@(Login Form)", 35, 5, 5);
FormPrompt(1, 0, "@(Name)");
FormInput(16, 0, "", sName, 16);
FormPrompt(1, 2, "@(Password)");
FormSecurePassword(18, 2, "", sPassword, 16);
FormPrompt(1, 4, "@(Language)");
FormInput(16, 4, sLanguage, 16);
FormButton(6, 6, " " + "@(OK)" + " ", 0, 1);
FormButton(20, 6, "@(Cancel)", 0, 2);
hForm = FormNew("@(User Login)", 36, 1, 8 + 16 + 128 + 256);
FormPrompt(1, 0, "@(Authentication in progress ...)");
FormRead(1);
SleepMs(200);
IF UserLogin(sName, sPassword, sLanguage) = 0 THEN

bDone = TRUE
nStatus = 0;
ELSE
sPassword = "";
END
IF FormActive(hForm) THEN
FormDestroy(hForm);
END
ELSE
bDone = TRUE;
nStatus = 298;
END
END
845
RETURN nStatus;
END
See Also
Security Functions
UserPassword
Changes the password for the user. Changes are written to both the Users database and
the runtime database in memory.
Syntax
UserPassword(sName [, sPassword] [, sOldPassword] )

sName:
sPassword:
sOldPassword:
The password assigned to the user before the UserPassword() function is run.
The sOldPassword argument is optional. If passed, CitectSCADA will only permit the password
change (and consequent re-setting of the expiry period) when the old password is correctly
entered. If the sOldPassword parameter is not passed, the password change will proceed without
restriction.
Return Value
Related Functions
846
UserPasswordForm, UserCreate, UserEditForm
Example
/* Change Fred's password */

UserPassword("Fred", "secret");
See Also
Security Functions
UserPasswordExpiryDays
Returns the number of days left before the user's password is due to expire.
To use this function, you can build a form page by using cicode that takes the user name
and password as inputs and output the number of days that return by User-
PasswordExpiryDays().
Syntax
UserPasswordExpiryDays(sUserName [, sPassword] )
sUserName:
sPassword:
Return Value
The return value contains either the number of days before password expiry, or one of
two exception conditions:
l 0 to 365 - number of days
l -1 - no expiry
l -2 - user not found or password wrong
Related Functions
UserPassword
See Also
Security Functions
847
UserPasswordForm
Display a form to allow users to change their own passwords. Changes are written to
both the Users database and the runtime database in memory.
Syntax
UserPasswordForm()
Return Value
Related Functions
UserPassword, UserCreate, UserEditForm
Example
/* Allow users to change their own passwords */

UserPasswordForm();
See Also
Security Functions
UserSetStr
Sets the value of the given field for the given user record in the project configuration
(users.dbf ) on the local machine.
After this function has been called, use the function UserUpdateRecord to update the
user record on the running system.
848
Syntax
UserSetStr(sName, sField, sData)

sName:
The name of the user who's configuration record we wish to modify.
sField:
The name of the field in users.dbf to modify.
sData:
The new value of the field.
Return Value
Related Functions
Example
UserSetStr("Fred", "Comment", "Fred is an engineer");

UserUpdateRecord();
See Also
Security Functions
UserUpdateRecord
Triggers a recompile of the local project configuration, then notifies the running system
that user configuration has been modified and needs to be reloaded.
Use this function in conjunction with UserSetStr to modify user configuration online.
Syntax
UserUpdateRecord()
Return Value
849
Related Functions
Example
UserSetStr("Fred", "Comment", "Fred is an engineer");

UserUpdateRecord();
See Also
Security Functions
UserVerify
Verifies a given user by authenticating the user's credential, verifies the user privileges
and areas against those specified in the functions parameters. Successful verification
however does not log the user into the CitectSCADA runtime system.
Syntax
UserVerify(sName, sPassword [, sAccess] [, sPrivGlobal] [, sPriv1..sPriv8] )

sName:
sPassword:
The password of the user. The sPassword argument needs to be passed as a secure string.
sAccess:
Specifies the required user's viewable areas.
sPrivGlobal:
Specifies the required user's global privilege.
sPriv1-8:
Specifies the required areas for privileges 1 - 8. That is, sPriv1 contains the areas (1,2,3,4,...,255)
where the user has Privilege 1.
Return Value

The successful verification has to meet the following conditions:
l The selected user credentials can be authenticated
l The required user privileges are included in the authenticated user's total privileges.
850
Related Functions
Example
INT FUNCTION UserVerifyTest()

STRING sName;
STRING sPassword;
INT bDone;
INT nStatus;
bDone = FALSE;
WHILE bDone = FALSE DO
FormNew("@(Login Form)", 30, 5, 5);
FormInput(1, 0, "@(Name)" + " ", sName, 16);
FormSecurePassword(1, 2, "@(Password)" + " ", sPassword, 16);
FormButton( 1, 4, " " + "@(OK)" + " ", 0, 1);
FormButton(17, 4, "@(Cancel)", 0, 2);
IF UserVerify(sName, sSecurePassword) = 0 THEN
bDone = TRUE;
nStatus = 0;
Message("Info", "Verification successful", 0)
ELSE
sPassword = "";
Message("Info", "Verification not successful", 0)
END
ELSE
bDone = TRUE;
nStatus = 298;
END
END
RETURN nStatus;
END
See Also
Security Functions
VerifyPrivilegeForm
Displays a form that allows a single user to enter their credentials. These credentials are
checked against a specified set to ensure the user has the required privileges before allow-
ing the operation to proceed.
The user can be a Citect or Windows user.
Syntax
VerifyPrivilegeForm(sOperationDescription,sLogDevice, sAccess, sGlobalPriv, sPriv1, sPriv2,

sPriv3, sPriv4, sPriv5, sPriv6, sPriv7, sPriv8)
sOperationDescription:
851
A description of the operation that requires approval.
sLogDevice:
sAccess:
The required user viewable areas, or pass an empty string for none.
sGlobalPriv:
The required global privilege, otherwise pass an empty string.
sPriv1..8:
where the user has Privilege 1. Each argument needs to be either specified or an empty string for
none.
Return Value
The name of the user that met the required privileges, otherwise ""
Related Functions
FormSecurePassword
MultiSignatureForm
Example
// This example generates a form to request a user to approve an operation.

// This user needs the global privilege level of 8.
// When approved, the operation is completed and a page string
IF (VerifyPrivilegeForm("Shut Down Plant", "ApprovalLog",
"PlantWide", "8", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "")<>"") THEN
// Do operation
PageSetStr(1, "Operation approved");
ELSE
PageSetStr(1, "Operation not approved");
END
See Also
Security Functions
Form Functions
852
Displays a form that allows any single user to enter their credentials in order to approve
a write of a specific value to a specific tag. These credentials are checked against a spec-
ified set to ensure the user has the required privileges before allowing the operation to
proceed.
The usernames can be Citect or Windows users.
Syntax
VerifyPrivilegeTagWrite(sTagName, sValueToWrite, sLogDevice, sAccess, sGlobalPriv,

sPriv1, sPriv2, sPriv3, sPriv4, sPriv5, sPriv6, sPriv7, sPriv8)
sTagName:
The name of the tag to which a write needs to be approved.
sValuetoWrite:
The value to write to the tag if approval succeeds.
sLogDevice:
sAccess:
The required user viewable areas, or pass an empty string for none.
sGlobalPriv:
The required global privilege, otherwise pass an empty string.
sPriv1..8:
where the user has Privilege 1. Each argument needs to be either specified or an empty string for
none.
Return Value
Name of user that met the required privileges (and therefore the value was written to the
specified tag), otherwise ""
Related Functions
FormSecurePassword
MultiSignatureForm
VerifyPrivilegeForm
Example
853
// This example generates a form to request a user to approve the tag write oper-
ation.
// This user needs privilege levels of 6 and 3.
// When approved, the PLC_VAR1 tag is written with the value 123 and a page string
IF (VerifyPrivilegeTagWrite("PLC_VAR1", "123", "ApprovalLog",
"PlantWide", "", "6", "3", "", "", "", "", "", "")<>"") THEN
PageSetStr(1, "TagWrite Successful");
ELSE
PageSetStr(1, "TagWrite Not Successful");
END
See Also
Security Functions
Form Functions
WhoAmI
Displays the user name and full name of the user currently logged-in to the system.
When the current logged on user is Windows user this function returns the user’s full
name in the format of <DomainName>\<UserName>. The names are displayed at the
prompt AN.
Syntax
WhoAmI()
Return Value
Related Functions
Name, FullName, UserInfo
Example
/* Display the user's full name and user name at the prompt AN. */
WhoAmI();
See Also
Security Functions
854
Chapter 46: Sequence of Events

Following are functions relating to sequence of events:
SOEEventAdd Inserts a new event into the event journal
SOEArchive Archives event journals
SOEMount Mounts archive volume
SOEDismount Dismount archive volume
See Also
Functions Reference
SOEArchive
Use this function to archive event journals.
Syntax
INT SOEArchive()
Return Value

See Also
SOE Functions
SOEDismount
Use this function to dismount archive volume.
Syntax
INT SOEDisMount()
Return Value

See Also
SOE Functions
SOEEventAdd
Use this function to insert an event into the Event Journal:
Syntax
855
INTSOEEventAdd(TIMESTAMP TimeStamp, STRING Message[,STRING Cluster,

STRING Tag,])
TimeStamp:
The time of the inserted event.
Message:
The message for the event.
Tag:
Alarm tag associated with the event. This can be Cluster.Tag or Tag if running on a single cluster
system. If not specified the event is classed as a ‘User’ event.
Cluster:
Specify if running on a multi-cluster system and Tag has been specified. If Tag has not been spec-
ified and the Cluster is blank, the User event will be broadcast to all clusters the client is currently
connected to.
Return Value

See Also
SOE Functions
SOEMount
Use this function to mount an archive volume. Archived data from the volume is dis-
played on the Sequence of events page.
Syntax
INT SOEMount(STRING sPath)
Return Value

See Also
SOE Functions
856
Chapter 47: Server Functions
Following are functions relating to servers.
ServerBrowseClose The ServerBrowseClose function terminates an active data

browse session and cleans up resources associated with the
session.
ServerBrowseFirst The ServerBrowseFirst function places the data browse cur-

sor at the first record.
ServerBrowseGetField The ServerBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the

specified field from the record the data browse cursor is cur-
rently referencing.
ServerBrowseNext The ServerBrowseNext function moves the data browse cur-

sor forward one record.
Server- The ServerBrowseNumRecords function returns the number

BrowseNumRecords of records that match the filter criteria.
ServerBrowseOpen The ServerBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse ses-

sion and returns a handle to the new session that can be used
in subsequent data browse function calls.
ServerBrowsePrev The ServerBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cur-

sor back one record.
ServerGetProperty Returns information about a specified server and can be

called from any client.
ServerInfo Gets client and server information.
ServerInfoEx Gets client and server information from a specified process in

a multiprocessor environment.
ServerIsOnline The ServerIsOnline function checks if the given server can be

contacted by the client for giving the online/offline status of
the server.
ServerReload Reloads the server specified by cluster and server name.
ServerRestart Restart any specific alarm, report, trend or I/O server from
857
any Cicode node in system,

without affecting other server processes running on the same
machine.
ServerRPC Calls a remote procedure on the Citect server specified by the

ServerName argument.
See Also
Functions Reference
ServerBrowseClose
The ServerBrowseClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans up
Syntax
ServerBrowseClose(iSession)
iSession:
Handle to a browse session previously opened by a ServerBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the server browse session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
ServerBrowseFirst, ServerBrowseGetField, ServerBrowseNext, ServerBrowseNumRecords,

ServerBrowseOpen, ServerBrowsePrev
See Also
Server Functions
ServerBrowseOpen
The ServerBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to
Syntax
ServerBrowseOpen(STRING Filter , STRING Fields , STRING Clusters)

Filter:
A semicolon delimited list of field name=field value pairs, specifying the records to
return during the browse. An empty string indicates that all records will be returned.
858
All string fields can be filtered based on regular expressions. Using operators other than
= and <> will cause strings to not match the filter criteria. The following regular expres-
sions are supported *expr, expr*, and *expr*.
Fields:
Specifies via a comma-delimited string the columns to be returned during the browse. An empty
string indicates that the server will return available columns. Supported fields are:
NAME, TYPE, COMMENT, CLUSTER, MODE, NETADDR, PORT,
LEGACYPORT.
Clusters:
An optional parameter that specifies via a comma delimited string the subset of clusters to browse.
An empty string indicates that connected clusters will be browsed.
Return Value
An integer handle to the browse session. Returns -1 on error.

Related Functions
ServerBrowseClose, ServerBrowseFirst, ServerBrowseGetField, ServerBrowseNext, Server-

BrowseNumRecords, ServerBrowsePrev
Example
INT hServers = ServerBrowseOpen("Type=alarm;Mode=1, "Name", "");
See Also
Server Functions
ServerBrowseFirst
The ServerBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
Syntax
ServerBrowseFirst(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
859
Related Functions
ServerBrowseClose, ServerBrowseGetField, ServerBrowseNext,

ServerBrowseNumRecords, ServerBrowseOpen, ServerBrowsePrev
See Also
Server Functions
ServerBrowseNext
The ServerBrowseNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If you
Syntax
ServerBrowseNext(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
Related Functions
ServerBrowseClose, ServerBrowseFirst, ServerBrowseGetField,

ServerBrowseNumRecords, ServerBrowseOpen, ServerBrowsePrev
See Also
Server Functions
ServerBrowsePrev
The ServerBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you
Syntax
ServerBrowsePrev(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
860
Related Functions

BrowseNumRecords, ServerBrowseOpen
See Also
Server Functions
ServerBrowseGetField
The ServerBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the rec-
Syntax
ServerBrowseGetField(iSession, sFieldName)
iSession:
sFieldName:
NAME, TYPE, COMMENT, CLUSTER, MODE, NETADDR, PORT,
LEGACYPORT.
Return Value
Related Functions
ServerBrowseClose, ServerBrowseFirst, ServerBrowseNext, ServerBrowseNumRecords,

ServerBrowseOpen, ServerBrowsePrev
See Also
Server Functions
ServerBrowseNumRecords
The ServerBrowseNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the
filter criteria.
861
Syntax
ServerBrowseNumRecords(iSession)
iSession:
Return Value
The number of records that matched the filter criteria. A value of 0 denotes that no rec-
ords matched. A value of -1 denotes that the browse session is unable to provide a fixed
number. This could be the case if the data being browsed changed during the browse ses-
sion.
Related Functions

BrowseOpen, ServerBrowsePrev
See Also
Server Functions
ServerGetProperty
This function returns information about a specified server and can be called from any
client.
Note: This function can only be called for Alarm, Report and Trend Servers
Syntax
STRING ServerGetProperty(STRING Server, STRING Property [, STRINGCluster]).

sServer:
The name of the server to be queried in quotations marks "". Can be prefixed by the name of the
host cluster, that is "ClusterName.ServerName".
sProperty:
The name of the requested property. Can be one of the following:
"RDBMemTime" - Returns the date and time of currently loaded RDB (in-mem-
ory)
"RDBDiskTime" - Returns the date and time of RDB on disk (compiled)
"LibRDBMemTime" - Date and time of currently loaded cicode library (_libra-
ry.RDB)
"LibRDBDiskTime" - Date and time of cicode library on disk (_library.RDB)
862
"LastReloadError" - Error Code from the latest reload

"ReloadStatus" - Returns 1 if the server is reloading, 0 if not
"ReloadProgress" - Reload Progress (in percent) Range: 0 – 100
"SyncStatus" - Returns the startup synchronization status:
l 0 – the server has been synchronized
with its redundant peer.

l 1 – the server is not connected to peer
server.
l 2 – the server is synchronizing with
its redundant peer.

"SyncProgress" - The percentage of the server synchronization progress: Range:
0-100
Note: The "SyncStatus" and "SyncProgress" properties are only supported for Trend
and Alarm servers.
sCluster:
The cluster of the server to be queried in quotation marks "". This parameter is optional. However,
if the Server Name is not local or not specified in ClusterName.ServerName format an error code is
returned.
Return Value
The value of the server property requested.
Related Functions
ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx, ServerIsOnline, ServerReload, ServerRestart
Example
ServerGetProperty("AlarmServer1", "ReloadStatus", "Cluster12");
See Also
Server Functions
ServerInfo
Gets status information on clients and servers.
Note: This function is a non-blocking function and can only access data contained
within the calling process; consequently it cannot return data contained in a different
863
server process. This function is not redirected automatically by CitectSCADA run-

time. If you want to make a call from one process to return data in another, use
MsgRPC() to make a remote procedure call on the other process. Alternatively, use
the ServerInfoEx function that allows you to specify the name of the component from
which you want to retrieve data.
Syntax
STRING ServerInfo(STRING Name, INT Type [, STRING ClusterName] )

Name:
The name of the client or server, either "Client", "Server", "Alarm", "Trend", or "Report".
l You can also pass a number instead of the name (but it still needs to be
enclosed in quotes). The number represents the target client. For example, if
there are 12 clients, passing "3" will get information on the 3rd client.
l If this server is an Alarm, Trend, Report, and I/O server then each client will
be attached 4 times. So 12 clients would mean there are 3 CitectSCADA com-
puters using this server - one of which is itself.
Type:
The type of information required (depends on the Name you specify):
"Alarm", "Trend", or "Report" name:
0 - Active flag (returns 1 if this is the active server, 0 if an inactive server).

1 - Number of clients attached to this server.
2 - If this client is attached to the primary or standby server for the specified
server name. If Name is "Alarm" and if this client is attached to the pri-
mary alarm server, the return value is 0. If this client is attached to the
standby, the return value is 1.
3 - The status of the client connection to the specified server name. If Name is
"Report" and the client is talking to a report server (either primary or
standby), the return value is 1. If not, the return value is 0.
"Client" name:
0 - The computer name, as specified by [LAN]Node.

1 - Not supported.
2 - Not supported.
3 - Not supported.
For modes 1,2 and 3, use ServerInfoEx instead.
"Server" name:
864
0 - Not supported.
1 - The number of clients attached to this server. This is the total number of
Alarm, Trend Report, and I/O server clients.
"<number>":
0 - The name of the server this client is talking to. For example, "Alarm",
"Trend", "Report", or "IOServer".
1 - The login name of the client. This may be an empty string if the client has
not logged in.
2 - The CitectSCADA computer name of the client computer.
3 - The time the client logged in.
4 - The number of messages received from this client.
5 - The number of messages sent to this client.
6 - If this client has a licence (1) from this server or not (0).
7 - The type of the licence; full licence (0), View-only Client (1), or Control
Client (2).
8 - If the client is remote (1) or local (0).
ClusterName:
The name of the cluster that the server belongs to. This is only relevant if:
l The Name is "alarm", "report", or "trend"; AND
l The type of information required, nType, is 2 or 3.
Return Value
Status information specified by nnType.
Related Functions
ServerGetProperty, ServerInfoEx, ServerIsOnline, ServerReload, ServerRestart
Example
sSrvInfo=ServerInfo("Report",0);
IF sSrvInfo THEN
! This is a primary report server.
ELSE
! This is a stand-by report server.
END
/* Get and store the names of clients attached to this server */
iCount = 0;
iClients = ServerInfo("Server", 1);
WHILE iCount < iClients DO
sName[iCount] = ServerInfo(IntToStr(iCount), 2);
iCount = iCount + 1;
END
865
See Also
Server Functions
ServerInfoEx
Gets status information on clients and servers from a specified component in a mul-
tiprocess runtime environment.
When this function is called, the system redirects the call to the process that contains the
specified component. If the specified component is in the calling process, the call is not
redirected. If the specified component is not one of the servers listed in the sComponent
argument description (see below), of if the system cannot find the component from the
connected local processes, a hardware alarm is raised.
Syntax
STRING ServerInfoEx(STRING Name, INT Type, STRING Component [, STRING Clus-

terName] [, STRING ServerName] )
Name:
The name of the client or server, either "Client", "Server", "Alarm", "Trend", or "Report".
l You can also pass a number instead of the name (but it still needs to be
enclosed in quotes). The number represents the target client. For example, if
there are 12 clients, passing "3" will get information on the 4th client.
l If this server is an Alarm, Trend, Report, and I/O server then each client will
be attached 4 times. So 12 clients would mean there are 3 CitectSCADA com-
puters using this server - one of which is itself.
Type:
The type of information required (depends on the Name you specify): "Alarm", "Trend", or
"Report" name:
0 - Active flag (returns 1 if this is the active server, 0 if an inactive server).

1 - Number of clients attached to this server.
2 - If this client is attached to the primary or standby server for the specified
server name. If Name is "Alarm" and if this client is attached to the pri-
mary alarm server, the return value is 0. If this client is attached to the
standby, the return value is 1.
3 - The status of the client connection to the specified server name. If Name is
"Report" and the client is talking to a report server (either primary or
standby), the return value is 1. If not, the return value is 0.
866
Note: If the sComponent is "IOServer" and the sName is "Client", Types 1 and 2
return an empty string, as the concept of primary and standby servers does not
apply to IOServers.
"Client" name:
0 - The computer name, as specified by [LAN]Node.
1 - The primary server name, as specified in the server configuration forms in
Project Editor.
2 - The secondary server name, as specified , as specified in the server con-
figuration forms in Project Editor.
3 - The name of the INI file being used, for example, Citect.INI.
"Server" name:
0 - The server name, as specified in the server configuration forms in Project
Editor.
1 - The number of clients attached to this server. This is the total number of
Alarm, Trend Report, and I/O server clients.
"<number>":
0 - The name of the server this client is talking to. For example, "Alarm",
"Trend", "Report", or "IOServer".
1 - The login name of the client. This may be an empty string if the client has
not logged in.
2 - The CitectSCADA computer name of the client computer.
3 - The time the client logged in.
4 - The number of messages received from this client.
5 - The number of messages sent to this client.
6 - If this client has a licence (1) from this server or not (0).
7 - The type of the licence; full licence (0), View-only Client (1), or Control
Client (2).
8 - If the client is remote (1) or local (0).
sComponent:
Specifies the component name from which to retrieve the status information:
" "- An empty string causes the function to run on the calling process.
"Alarm" - Redirects the function to the alarm server process.
"Trend" - Redirects the function to the trend server process.
"Report" - Redirects the function to the report server process.
"IOServer" - Redirects the function to the I/O server process.
867
Note: If sName is "Client", the function will NOT be redirected to the component spec-
ified by sComponent. Instead, the function gets information of type nType from the cur-
rent client connection to the component specified by sComponent.
ClusterName:
The name of the cluster that the server belongs to. This is only relevant if:
l The Name is "alarm", "report", or "trend"; AND
l The type of information required, nType, is 2 or 3.
ServerName:
Return Value
Status information specified by nType.
Related Functions
ServerGetProperty, ServerInfo, ServerIsOnline, ServerReload, ServerRestart
Example
This example gets the server information from the report process.
sSrvInfo=ServerInfoEx("Report",0, "Report");
IF sSrvInfo THEN
! This is a primary report server.
ELSE
! This is a stand-by report server.
END
/* Get and store the names of clients attached to the report server */
iCount = 1;
iClients = ServerInfoEx("Server", 1, "Report");
WHILE iCount <= iClients DO
sName[iCount] = ServerInfoEx(IntToStr(iCount), 2, "Report");
iCount = iCount + 1;
END
See Also
Server Functions
ServerIsOnline
The ServerIsOnline function checks if the given server can be contacted by the client for
giving the online/offline status of the server.
Syntax
868
INT ServerIsOnline(STRING ServerName[, STRING Clusters])

ServerName:
The name of the server to be queried in quotations marks "".
Cluster:
The cluster of the server to be queried in quotation marks "". An empty string indicates that the
default cluster will be used.
Return Value
An integer value of online/offline status. Returns 1 for online, 0 for offline.
Related Functions
ServerGetProperty, ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx, ServerReload, ServerRestart
Example
ServerIsOnline("AlarmServer1", "Cluster12");
See Also
Server Functions
ServerReload
This function can only be called for Alarm, Report and Trend Servers and reloads the
server specified by cluster and server name. If the server is not found an error code is
returned. ServerReload can be used in blocking or non-blocking modes using the bSync
parameter. When used in non-blocking mode, the server status can be returned using the
ServerGetProperty function.
To call this function successfully a valid user needs to be logged in as the client and you
need to set the [LAN]AllowRemoteReload parameter in the Citect.ini file to "1" on the
computer where the receiving server is running.
It is recommended that the ServerGetProperty cicode function be used with the
LibRDBMemTime and LibRDBDiskTime properties to check if there is a change to the
Cicode library before attempting a reload. Following a reload please check the cor-
responding server's syslog.dat file for any reload messages. The cicode changes will not
be reloaded, therefore a restart may be more appropriate.
869
Restart the server process if a "Cicode library timestamp differs" error is detected. A library
mismatch is indicated on the server in either the hardware alarm or the server's syslog.dat
file.
ment damage.
Note: A message in the Syslog.dat file and hardware alarm of "Cicode library times-
tamp differs" (error code 454) will be raised if the Cicode library used by one or more
server runtime databases is different from the one in memory. The timestamps will
be different if the project has been fully recompiled (with or without Cicode mod-
ification), or if the project has been incrementally recompiled after any Cicode has
been modified.
Syntax
INT ServerReload(STIRNG Server [, STRING Cluster] [, INT Sync] )

sServer:
The name of the server to be reloaded in quotations marks "". Can be prefixed by the name of the
host cluster, that is "ClusterName.ServerName".
sCluster:
The cluster of the server to be reloaded in quotation marks "". This parameter is optional. However,
if the server name is not local or not specified in ClusterName.ServerName format, an error code is
returned.
bSync:
Specifies whether the function operates in blocking or non-blocking mode. If bSync is set to 1, the
function will not return until the server reload is complete. The reload is complete when all the rec-
ords of all rdb files have been processed and updated. Blocking mode cannot be used from a fore-
ground task (for example on graphic pages). When bSync is set to 0, the function operates in non-
blocking mode. You can get the latest status of the reload using the ServerGetProperty function.
Default value is 0.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the function was successful. Returns an error if unsuccessful.Outline of errors:

418 - Server is not found or if the client is not allowed to visit the cluster described in
“sCluster”.
870
281 - Server is sitting on a remote machine to the client and the connection towards the
server is not available.
519 - Server connection was available but interrupted.
451 - Server is busy with previous load request.
Related Functions
ServerGetProperty, ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx, ServerIsOnline, ServerRestart
Example
ServerReload("AlarmServer1", "Cluster1", 0);
See Also
Server Functions, Server Side Online Changes
ServerRestart
Restart any specific alarm, report, trend or I/O server from any Cicode node in system,
without affecting other server processes running on the same machine. To call this func-
tion a valid user needs to be logged in as the client.
For this function to be successful you need to set the [Shutdown]NetworkStart parameter
in the Citect.ini file to "1" on the computer where the issuing client is running.
Syntax
INT error = ServerRestart (STRING sServerName, STRING sCluster = "")

sServerName:
The name of the server to restart
sCluster:
The cluster the server belongs to. This parameter is optional. If sCluster is not specified the current
system cluster is used.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise one of the following error codes is returned:

256 - General software error
292 - Invalid function
403 - Cluster not found
418 - No server of type on cluster
512 - Time out error
871
513 - Access denied error

See Also
Cicode and General errors.
Related Functions
ServerGetProperty, ServerInfo, ServerInfoEx, ServerIsOnline, ServerReload
Example
ServerRestart("AlarmServer1", "Cluster1");
See Also
Server Functions
872
Chapter 48: SQL Functions
Following are functions related to SQL operations.
Miscellaneous functions
Execut- Loads and executes a Data Transformation Services package which ini-
eDTSPkg tiates data transfer between OLE DB data sources.
Connection functions
SQLClose Closes a SQL connection between the DB connection object and a data-
base.
SQLConnect Makes a connection to a database system for execution of SQL state-

ments.
SQLCreate Creates an internal DB connection object.
SQLDis- Closes a database connection.

connect
SQLDispose Disposes the DB connection object.
SQLInfo Gets information about a database connection.
SQLOpen Opens an SQL connection between the DB connection object and the data-
base.
Transaction functions
SQLBeginTran Starts a database transaction.
SQLCommit Commits a transaction to the database.
SQLRollBack Rolls back (or cancels) the last database transaction.
Statement functions
SQLAppend Appends a text string to the SQL buffer.
873
SQLCall Executes an SQL query on a database.
SQLEnd Terminates an SQL query.
SQLExec Executes an SQL query on a database.
SQLGetRecordset Executes an SQL query on a database.
SQLGetScalar Executes an SQL query on a database.
SQLSet Sets a statement string in the SQL buffer.
Multiple queries functions
SQLQueryCreate Creates a new query and returns its handle.
SQLQueryDispose Disposes a query.
Recordset functions
SQLCancel Cancels both the current operation on the given connection and all other
pending operations on the given connection.
SQLFieldInfo Gets information about the fields or columns selected in an SQL query.
SQLGetField Gets field or column data from a database record.
SQLIs- Checks presence of null value in field from a recordset.

NullField
SQLNext Gets the next database record from a SQL query.
SQLNoFields Gets the number of fields or columns that were returned by the last SQL
statement.
SQLNum- Gets the number of records that were modified in the last insert,
Change update, or delete SQL statement.
SQLNum- Gets the number of fields or columns that were returned by the last SQL
Fields statement.
SQLPrev Gets the previous database record from an SQL query.
SQLRow- Gets the number of rows in the recordset.

Count
874
Error and tracing functions
SQLErrMsg Returns an error message from the SQL system.
SQLTraceOff Turns off the debug trace.
SQLTraceOn Turns on the debug trace.
Parametized queries functions
SQLParamsClearAll Remove all parameters associated with a particular connection

object.
SQLParamsSetAsInt Adds or replaces a parameterized query's parameter and its

value in the specified connection. The value of the parameter is
given as an int.
SQLPar- Adds or replaces a parameterized query's parameter and its

amsSetAsReal value in the specified connection. The value of the parameter is
given as a real.
SQLPar- Adds or replaces a parameterized query's parameter and its

amsSetAsString value in the specified connection.T he value of the parameter is
given as a string.
See Also
Functions Reference
ExecuteDTSPkg
Loads and executes a DTS (Data Transformation Services) package which initiates data
transfer and transformations between OLE DB data sources.
A DTS package is created using the DTS utility provided in Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. It
can be saved in a COM structured file, a Microsoft Repository, or in an SQL Server Data-
base.
All except the first of this function's parameters are optional, and their use will depend
on your needs.
Syntax
ExecuteDTSPkg(sFileOrSQLSvrName [, sPkgName] [, sParam1, ... , sParam5] [, sPkgPwd] [,

sPkgVer] [, sLogFile] [, sSQLSvrUsr] [, sSQLSvrPwd])
sFileOrSQLSvrName:
875
The path and name of the file containing the package (for file-based packages), or the SQL Server
name (for SQL Server stored packages).
sPkgName:
The package name.

l For file-based packages where only one package is stored in a file, you can
ignore this parameter, as the package name defaults to the name of the file.
l If the package has been named differently to the file, or a file contains more
than one package, you need to specify the package name. You need to also
specify the package name for SQL Server stored packages.
sParam1, ,sParam5:
Five optional variables which may be used as global variables within the DTS package. The var-
iables need to be named Param1, Param2, Param3, Param4, and Param5.
sPkgPwd:
The package password.
The creator of the DTS package may have implemented a password so that unauthorized users can-
not access it. In this case, you need to specify the package password. If no password has been
implemented, you can omit this parameter.
sPkgVer:
The package version. If you don't specify a version, the most recent version is used.
sLogFile:
AN optional path and name for a log file. The log file can track activity such as:
l File DTS package detected
l SQL DTS package detected
l Package initialized successfully
l Package executed sucessfully
l Package execution was not successful
sSQLSvrUsr:
The user name providing access to the SQL Server where the DTS package is stored. A user's
account on the SQL Server consists of this user name and, in most cases, a password.
This parameter also determines which method is used to load the package.
If sSQLSvrUsr is specified, the package is assumed to be an SQL Server stored package. In this
case, the package is loaded using the LoadFromSQLServer() method. Otherwise, the package is
file-based and LoadFromStorageFile() is called.
sSQLSvrPwd:
876
The password providing access to the SQL Server, if the user's account on the server requires a
password.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the package was executed successfully, otherwise a DTS error number is
returned.
Example
/* File-based package with one package per file, where the package
name is the same as the file name.*/
iResult = ExecuteDTSPkg("c:\dtspackages\package.dts");
/*SQL Server stored package with additional parameters */
iResult = ExecuteDTSPkg("Server1", "TestPackage", "Param1", "Param2", "Param3",
"Param4", "Param5", "Fred", "1", "c:\packages\PkgLog.txt", "jsmith", "secret");
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLAppend
Appends a query string to the SQL buffer. Cicode cannot send an SQL query that is
longer than 255 characters. If you have an SQL query that is longer than the 255 char-
acter limit, you can split the query into smaller strings, and use this function to append
the query in the SQL buffer.
This function can be called in the foreground or background.
Queries which are built on the basis of user data, for example inputed by users via
graphics pages or forms, may be prone to SQL Injection attacks. In such case, try to limit
the risk by using CiCode functions from parameterized queries group and refer to a pro-
fessional advice in this matter.
NOTICE
SECURITY BREACH VIA SQL INJECTION
- Validate all textbox entries using validation controls, regular expressions and code
- Use parameterized SQL or stored procedures
- Use a limited access account to connect to the database
Failure to follow these instructions can result in equipment damage.
Building queries from pieces (SQLSet, SQLAppend) or adding parameters to either que-
ries or connections (SQLParam functions) requires a few calls to respective CiCode func-
tions. If a few functions try to manipulate the same connection in the same time some
conflicts and unintended operations may occur. It is a typical multithreading problem.
877
To avoid this, instead of manipulating connections, consider using locally created and
locally disposed queries. For example:
int function SAFE_SQL_CICODE_MULTITHREAD_USE()

//locally created query
int hStmt = SQLQueryCreate(hConnection);
//Set the query

SQLSet(hStmt, "select * from TAB where NAME=@Name");
//Add parameters to the query

SQLParameterSetAsString(hStmt, "Name", "Aaa");
//Execute the query

SQLGetRecordset(hStmt, "");
//the locally created query is disposed

SQLQueryDispose(hStmt);
End
Syntax
SQLAppend(hGeneral, String)
hGeneral:
The handle either to the DB connection object (returned from either SQLCreate() or SQLConnect()
function) or to the query handle (returned from SQLQueryCreate()). When it is the connection han-
dle, the operation is performed on the default query in that DB connection object. When it is the
query handle, the operation is performed on that query through the DB object which is associated to
it.
String:
The query string to append to the SQL buffer.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned. (For details of the 307 error
code, call the SQLErrMsg function).
Related Functions
SQLSet, SQLBeginTran, SQLCommit, SQLConnect, SQLDisconnect, SQLEnd, SQLErrMsg
Example
See SQLSet
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLBeginTran
878
Starts a database transaction. When you make a transaction, your changes are not
written to the database until you call the SQLCommit() function. Alternatively, you can
use the SQLRollBack() function to discard all changes made during the transaction.
After you begin a transaction, you need to call either SQLCommit() to save the changes
or SQLRollBack() to discard the changes. You need to use one of these functions to com-
plete the transaction and release all database locks.
A single database connection can only handle one transaction at a time. After you call
SQLBeginTran(), you need to complete that transaction before you can call SQLBe-
ginTran() again.
If you disconnect from a database while a transaction is active (not completed), the trans-
action is automatically "rolled back" any changes you made to the database in that trans-
action are discarded.
You do not need to begin a transaction to modify a database. Any changes you make to
a database before you call the SQLBeginTran() are automatically committed, and no data-
base locks are held.
The SQLBeginTran() function is not supported by all databases. If the function is not per-
forming as you expect, check that both your database and/or DB provider support trans-
actions. Refer to the documentation for your database for more information on
transactions.
This function is a blocking function and should not be called from a foreground task.
Syntax
SQLBeginTran(hSQL)
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object, returned from either SQLCreate() or SQLConnect() func-
tion. The handle identifies the DB connection object where details of the associated SQL connection
are stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
SQLCommit, SQLConnect, SQLDisconnect, SQLEnd, SQLErrMsg, SQLExec, SQLFieldInfo,

SQLGetField, SQLInfo, SQLNext, SQLNoFields, SQLNumChange, SQLRollBack,
SQLTraceOff, SQLTraceOn
Example
879
/* Increase each employee's salary and superannuation by a

specified amount. If any errors occur, the changes are aborted */
INT
FUNCTION
PayIncrease(STRING sIncrease)
INT hSQL;
INT Count1;
INT Count2;
hSQL = SQLConnect("DRV=QEDBF");
SQLBeginTran(hSQL);
SQLExec(hSQL, "UPDATE C:\DATA\EMPLOYEE SET Salary = Salary + " +sIncrease);
Count1 = SQLNumChange(hSQL);
SQLExec(hSQL, "UPDATE C:\DATA\EMPLOYEE SET Super = Super + " +sIncrease);
Count2 = SQLNumChange(hSQL);
IF Count1 = Count2 THEN
SQLCommit(hSQL);
ELSE
SQLRollBack(hSQL);
END
SQLEnd(hSQL);
SQLDisconnect(hSQL);
END
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLCall
Executes an SQL query on a database. The function returns the number of rows affected
by the executed query. With this function, you can execute any SQL query or command
supported by the SQL database. If it returns some data (as for SELECT query), the data is
ignored.
NOTICE
Syntax
880
SQLCall(hGeneral, sSelect)
hGeneral:
dle and sSelect is an empty string, the operation is performed on the first query in that DB con-
nection object. When it is the query handle, the operation is performed on that query through the DB
object which is associated to it.
sSelect:
The SQL query to be sent to the SQL database.
Return Value
The number of affected records or -1 if an error is detected. (For details call the
SQLErrMsg() function). The presence of error code can be tested by calling the IsError()
CiCode function.
Related Functions
SQLCreate, SQLOpen, SQLClose, SQLDispose, SQLConnect, SQLDisconnect, SQLInfo,

SQLSet, SQLAppend, SQLExec, SQLGetRecordset, SQLCall, SQLGetScalar, SQLEnd
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLCancel
This function cancels both the current operation on the given connection and all other
pending operations on the given connection. The cancellation means that the current
operation on the SCADA side is immediately finished. The cancelled operation returns
error code 299 and its state on the database side should be considered as undefined, that
is, it is not known that it either succeeded, partially succeeded, or was unsuccessful.
Syntax
SQLCancel(hConnection)
hConnection:
The handle to the connection.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error code is returned. (For details of the 307 error
code, call the SQLErrMsg() function).
Related Functions
881
SQLCreate, SQLOpen, SQLClose, SQLDispose, SQLConnect, SQLDisconnect, SQLInfo

See Also
SQL Functions
SQLClose
Closes a SQL connection between the DB connection object specified by the function's
parameter and a database. The DB connection object is not deleted from the memory
until calling SQLDispose function.
Syntax
SQLClose(hSQL)
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object, returned from the SQLCreate() function. The handle iden-
tifies the DB connection object where details of the associated SQL connection are stored.
Return Value
0 if success, otherwise an error code (For details call the SQLErrMsg() function).
Related Functions
Example
See SQLCreate.
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLCommit
Commits (to the database) all changes made within a transaction. If you call the SQLBe-
ginTrans() function to begin a transaction, you need to call the SQLCommit() function to
save the changes you make to the database during that transaction (with the Insert,
Delete, and Update SQL commands).
The SQLCommit() and SQLRollBack() functions both complete a transaction and release
all database locks. But while the SQLCommit() function saves all changes made during
the transaction, the SQLRollBack() function discards these changes. Unless you call the
SQLCommit() function before you disconnect the database, the transaction is auto-
matically rolled back any changes you made to the database in that transaction are dis-
carded.
882
The SQLCommit() function could affect different databases in different ways. If the func-
tion is not performing as you expect, check that your database is able to service trans-
actions. Refer to the documentation for your database for information on committing
transactions.
Syntax
SQLCommit(hSQL)
hSQL:
are stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
SQLBeginTran, SQLConnect, SQLDisconnect, SQLEnd, SQLErrMsg, SQLExec, SQLFiel-

dInfo, SQLGetField, SQLInfo, SQLNext, SQLNoFields, SQLNumChange, SQLRollBack,
SQLTraceOff, SQLTraceOn
Example
See SQLBeginTran
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLConnect
Creates an internal database connection object and tries to connect it to a database spec-
ified by the connection string. Returns a handle to the database connection object for use
by the other database functions.
You only require one database connection object for each database system to be accessed
(for example, Oracle, dBASE, Excel, etc.).
It is recommended not to use an SQL database for storage of real-time data (such as
alarms), because SQL databases do not provide real-time performance when accessing
database data. Only use an SQL database where data transfer is not a priority (for exam-
ple, recipes or reports). If you try to use SQL to store real time data, CitectSCADA's per-
formance could be greatly decreased.
883
Each database connection object created by SQLConnect should be released by calling

SQLDisconnect with handle to the object. The releasing operation should be performed
even when the SQL connection to database is no longer active; for example auto-
matically dropped by a remote database or manually closed by SQLClose. Memory leaks
can occur if the handles are not properly released.
Note: Currently there are certain configurations of providers, connection strings and
database systems which can automatically close connections in order to save the
database systems’ resources; for example MS SQL Server dedicated provider with
activated pooling closes the connection to MS SQL Server when there is no data
exchange between the client and the database server for some predefined time. If
such behaviour is observed and is not desired from the system design point of view,
it can be either:
- switched off by finding and using respective attributes in the connection string (if
existing and supported by database) or
- by actively checking error codes returned from SQL CiCode functions and recon-
necting by using SQLOpen if the connection is dropped.
The actual state of connections can be checked by SQLInfo with type 5.
Syntax
SQLConnect(sConnect)
sConnect:
The connection string, in the format:
<attribute>=<value>[;<attribute>=<value>. . .]
Acceptable attributes and their values vary accordingly to the provider and/or the database system,
so please refer to your database documentation. For example, connecting to a SQL Server via ODBC
usually requires giving the computer name and the database name which can be done by defining
“Server” and “Database” attributes. The same connection via OleDB requires defining the computer
as “Data Source” and the database as “Initial Catalog”.
Providing username and password as a plain text in the connection string may lead to a
security breach on the database side. Please consider using other forms of authentication
instead of username/password login, for example Windows Authentication. If this is not
possible, try to limit the database account rights and not use the same username and
password for other vital parts of the system such as for SCADA.
884
NOTICE
Some simple examples are shown below:
ODBC provider
"Driver={SQL Server};Server=(local);Trusted_Connection=Yes; Database=MyDatabase;"

"Driver={Microsoft ODBC for Oracle};Server=ORACLE8i7;Persist Security Info=False;Tru-
sted_Connection=Yes"
"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=c:\doc\MyDatabase.mdb"
"Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};DBQ=c:\doc\MySheet.xls"
"SCADA Data Provider=Odbc;Driver={Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt; *.csv)};DBQ=c:\doc"
"DSN=MyDSNname"
OleDB provider
"SCADA Data Provider=OleDb;Provider=MSDAORA; Data Source=ORACLE8i7;Persist Security

Info=False;Integrated Security=Yes"
"SCADA Data Provider=OleDb;Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=c:\bi-
n\LocalAccess40.mdb"
"SCADA Data Provider=OleDb;Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=(local);Integrated Secu-
rity=SSPI"
SQLClient Provider
"SCADA Data Provider=SQLClient;Persist Security Info=False;Integrated Secu-

rity=true;Initial Catalog=MyCatalog;server=(local)"
SCADA The provider to be used to communicate to a data-

Data Pro- base. Allowed values are as follows:
vider ODBC – ODBC provider, default one if no provider
specified,
OLEDB – OLEDB provider,
SQLClient – MS SQL Server dedicated provider
SCADA The timeout in seconds for establishing con-

Con- nections.
885
nection
Timeout
SCADA The timeout in seconds for executing queries. This

Query attribute overwrites [SQL]QueryTimeout INI param-
Timeout eter.
Return Value
The handle to the database connection object if the connection is

successful, otherwise -1 is returned. (For details call the
SQLErrMsg() function). The handle identifies the database con-
nection object where details of the associated SQL connection to a
DB are stored.
Related Functions
SQLCreate, SQLOpen, SQLClose, SQLDispose, SQLConnect,

SQLDisconnect, SQLInfo
Example
/* Make a connection to an SQL server and select the name

fieldfrom each record in the employee database. */
FUNCTION
ListNames()
INT hSQL;
STRING sName;
INT Status;
hSQL = SQLConnect("DSN=MyDatabase;UID=billw;SRVR=CI1");
IF hSQL <> -1 THEN
Status = SQLExec(hSQL, "SELECT NAME FROM EMPLOYEE");
IF Status = 0 THEN
WHILE SQLNext(hSQL) = 0 DO
sName = SQLGetField(hSQL, "NAME");
..
END
SQLEnd(hSQL);
ELSE
Message("Information", SQLErrMsg(), 48);
END
ELSE
END
END
See Also
SQL Functions
886
SQLCreate
Creates an internal DB connection object and returns a handle to the object for use by the
other DB functions. The object is in disconnected state and can be connected to a data-
base by executing the SQLOpen function.
You only require one DB connection object for each database system to be accessed (for
example, Oracle, dBASE, Excel, etc.).
Each DB connection object created by SQLCreate should be released by calling SQLDi-
spose with the handle to the object. The releasing operation should be performed even
when the SQL connection to DB is no longer active; for example, automatically dropped
by a remote DB. Memory leaks can occur if the handles are not properly released.
Syntax
SQLCreate(sConnect)
sConnect:
The connection string, in the format:
<attribute>=<value>[;<attribute>=<value>. . .]
Acceptable attributes and their values vary accordingly to the provider and/or the database system,
so please refer to your database documentation. For example, connecting to a SQL Server via ODBC
usually requires giving the computer name and the database name which can be done by defining
“Server” and “Database” attributes. The same connection via OleDB requires defining the computer
as “Data Source” and the database as “Initial Catalog”.
Providing username and password as a plain text in the connection string may lead to a
security breach on the database side. Please consider use of other forms of authentication
instead of username/password login as for example Windows Authentication. If not pos-
sible, try to limit the database account rights and not use the same username and pass-
word as for other vital part of the system as for example for SCADA.
NOTICE
Some simple examples are shown below:
887
ODBC provider
"Driver={SQL Server};Server=(local);Trusted_Connection=Yes; Database=MyDatabase;"

"Driver={Microsoft ODBC for Oracle};Server=ORACLE8i7;Persist Security Info=False;Tru-
sted_Connection=Yes"
"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=c:\doc\MyDatabase.mdb"
"Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};DBQ=c:\doc\MySheet.xls"
"SCADA Data Provider=Odbc;Driver={Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt; *.csv)};DBQ=c:\doc"
"DSN=MyDSNname"
OleDB provider
"SCADA Data Provider=OleDb;Provider=MSDAORA; Data Source=ORACLE8i7;Persist Security

Info=False;Integrated Security=Yes"
"SCADA Data Provider=OleDb;Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=c:\bi-
n\LocalAccess40.mdb"
"SCADA Data Provider=OleDb;Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=(local);Integrated Secu-
rity=SSPI"
SQLClient Provider
"SCADA Data Provider=SQLClient;Persist Security Info=False;Integrated Secu-

rity=true;Initial Catalog=MyCatalog;server=(local)"
SCADA Data Pro- The provider to be used to communicate to a DB. Allowed values are
vider as follows:
ODBC - ODBC provider, default one if no provider specified,
OLEDB - OLEDB provider,
SQLClient - MS SQL Server dedicated provider
SCADA Con- The timeout for establishing connections.

nection Timeout
SCADA Query The timeout for executing queries. This attribute overwrites [SQL]
Timeout QueryTimeout INI parameter.
Return Value
The handle to the DB connection object if the connection is successful, otherwise -1 is

returned. (For details call the SQLErrMsg() function). The handle identifies the DB con-
nection object where details of the associated SQL connection to a DB are stored.
Related Functions
Example
888
//* Make a connection to an SQL server and select the name field
from each record in the employee database. */
FUNCTION
ListNames()
INT hSQL;
STRING sName;
INT Status;
INT hRec;
INT nColumns;
INT nRows;
INT i;
hSQL = SQLCreate("DSN=MyDatabase;UID=billw;SRVR=CI1");
IF hSQL <> -1 THEN
Status = SQLOpen(hSQL);
IF Status = 0 THEN
hRec = SQLGetRecordset(hSQL, "SELECT NAME FROM EMPLOYEE");
IF hRec <> -1 THEN
nRows = SQLRowCount(hRec);
FOR i=0 TO nRows - 1 DO
sName = SQLGetField(hRec, "NAME", i);
..
END
SQLEnd(hRec);
ELSE
END
SQLClose(hSQL);
ELSE
END
SQLDispose(hSQL);
END
END
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLDisconnect
Closes the SQL connection to a database and disposes the DB connection object specified
by the function parameter.
Syntax
SQLDisconnect(hSQL)
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object, returned from the SQLConnect() function. The handle iden-
tifies the DB connection object where details of the associated SQL connection are stored.
Return Value
889
0 if success, otherwise an error code (For details call the SQLErrMsg() function).
Related Functions
Example
See SQLConnect
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLDispose
Disposes the DB connection object specified by its parameter. If there is an active SQL
connection to a database, the SQL connection has to be closed before disposal.
Syntax
SQLDispose(hSQL)
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object, returned from either the SQLCreate() or SQLConnect()
function. The handle identifies the DB connection object where details of the associated SQL con-
nection are stored.
Return Value
0 – if success, otherwise an error code (For details call the SQLErrMsg() function).
Related Functions
Example
See SQLCreate.
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLEnd
890
The function can be called with:

l The connection handle, in which case the function releases
resources allocated for the default recordset for this connection.
Generally, SCADA does the operation automatically each time
when a new query is executed through SQLExec on the con-
nection, but the operation can be also triggered manually. How-
ever, using the SQLEnd() function aids efficiency and creates good
programming standards. SQLEnd() releases the memory that was
allocated when the last query was executed via SQLExec.
l The recordset handle, in which case the function then removes the
disconnected recordset associated with the handle from the sys-
tem. This operation has to be done each time when the recordset is
no longer necessary. Not removing recordsets from the system can
result in consuming all available memory and halting SCADA
and other applications on a computer.
Syntax
SQLEnd(hGeneral)
hGeneral:
The handle either to:
l the DB connection object, returned from either SQLCreate() or SQLConnect() function.

The handle identifies the DB connection object where details of the associated SQL
connection are stored
l or the recordset
Return Value
Related Functions

Example
See SQLConnect
See Also
SQL Functions
891
SQLErrMsg
Returns an error message from either a particular data object or entire data system. If a
307 error code occurs when one of the SQL functions is called, an SQL error message is
generated. Call this function to get that error message.
Syntax
SQLErrMsg(hGeneral)
hGeneral:
The handle to any data object either to the database connection object, recordset or query. The
default value is -1 and then the function returns the error message for entire SQL system.
Return Value
The error message (as a string).
Related Functions
SQLErrMsg, SQLTraceOff, SQLTraceOn
Example
See SQLConnect
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLExec
Executes an SQL query on a database. With this function, you can execute any SQL
query or command supported by the SQL database.
Note: All types of fields can be requested in statements, but SCADA has to convert
values of the fields to MBCS 8-bit strings which is not always possible. For example
either single byte database strings or numbers can be converted to MBCS 8-bit
strings, multi-byte strings can be converted to MBCS (their proper presentation
depends on correct setup of SCADA and OS), while blobs cannot be encoded at all.
Data obtained by this function is stored in the default recordset. The default recordset is
always a connected recordset. Connected recordsets fetch only small portion of data
when the query is executed, but later they have to fetch further portions when recordset
functions are used. This kind of recordset needs open connections to DB, but they need
little memory.
892
The SQLNext() function needs to be called after the SQLExec() function before you can
access data in the first record.
Only one query can be active at a time, so there is no need to end one query before you
execute another query; each time you call SQLExec(), the previous query (through a pre-
vious SQLExec() call) is automatically ended. It means that each query executed from
SQLExec cleans the default recordset.
Queries are queued for execution and a result from one query overwrites the result from
preceding one. Similarly, CitectSCADA automatically ends the latest query when it dis-
connects the database, even if you have not called SQLEnd(). However, the SQLEnd()
function aids efficiency; SQLEnd() releases the memory that was allocated when the
latest query was executed.
Note: SECURITY BREACH VIA SQL INJECTION

- Validate all textbox entries using validation controls, regular expressions, code
Syntax
SQLExec(hGeneral, sSelect)
hGeneral:
sSelect:
Return Value
Related Functions
893

Example
These examples assume that the following tables are setup in a SQL server (with the
name configured in Windows Control Panel) and opened with the SQLConnect() func-
tion:
PEOPLE
SURNAME FIRSTNAME OCCUPATION DEPARTMENT
MARTIAN MARVIN ENGINEER MANAGEMENT
CASE CARRIE SUPPORT SCADA
LIGHT LARRY PROGRAMMER SCADA
BOLT BETTY ENGINEER SYSTEMS
PHONE
SURNAME NUMBER
MARTIAN 5551000
CASE 5551010
BOLT 5551020
LIGHT 5551030
Each SQL string (sSQL) should be encased within the SQLExec function, for example:
SQLExec(hSQL, sSQL);
To add a record to a table:
sSQL = "INSERT INTO PEOPLE (SURNAME, FIRSTNAME, OCCUPATION, DEPARTMENT)
VALUES('ALLEN','MATTHEW','PROGRAMMER','SCADA')";
This SQL command changes the PEOPLE table to:

PEOPLE
894
ALLEN MATTHEW PROGRAMMER SCADA
To remove records from a table:
sSQL = "DELETE FROM (PEOPLE, PHONE) WHERE SURNAME='MARTIAN'";

SQLBeginTran(hSQL);
SQLExec(hSQL,sSQL);
IF (Message("Alert", "Do you really want to DELETE MARTIAN", 33) = 0) THEN
SQLCommit(hSQL);
ELSE
SQLRollback(hSQL);
END
Assuming that OK was clicked on the Message Box, the tables change to:
PEOPLE
PHONE
SURNAME NUMBER
CASE 5551010
BOLT 5551020
LIGHT 5551030
To change a record:
895
sSQL = "UPDATE PEOPLE SET OCCUPATION='SUPPORT' WHERE FIRSTNAME='LARRY'";
This SQL command changes the PEOPLE table to:

PEOPLE
LIGHT LARRY SUPPORT SCADA
To select a group of records from a table:
sSQL = "SELECT SURNAME FROM PEOPLE WHERE OCCUPATION='ENGINEER'";
This SQL command will return the following table back to CitectSCADA. The table can
then be accessed by the SQLNext() function and the SQLGetField() functions.
CITECT TABLE for hSQL
SURNAME
MARTIAN
BOLT
You can also select data using a much more complete SQL string, for example:
sSQL = "SELECT (SURNAME, OCCUPATION, NUMBER) FROM (PEOPLE, PHONE)

WHERE DEPARTMENT='SCADA' AND PEOPLE.SURNAME = PHONE.SURNAME";
This SQL command retrieves the following table:
SURNAME OCCUPATION NUMBER
CASE SUPPORT 5551010
LIGHT PROGRAMMER 5551030
To extract information from a table:
896
STRING sInfo[3][10]
int i = 0;
WHILE ((SQLNext(hSQL) = 0) and (i < 10)) DO
sInfo[0][i] = SQLGetField(hSQL, "SURNAME");
sInfo[1][i] = SQLGetField(hSQL, "OCCUPATION");
sInfo[2][i] = SQLGetField(hSQL, "NUMBER");
END
This code example leaves the information in the sInfo two dimensional array as follows:
sInfo
0 1 2
0 CASE SUPPORT 5551010
1 LIGHT PROGRAMMER 5551030
...
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLFieldInfo
Gets information about the fields or columns selected by a SQL query. The function
returns the name and width of the specified field. If you call the function within a loop,
you can return the names and sizes of all the fields in the database.
When the hGeneral is the connection handle, the function returns information about the
default recordset. When the hGeneral is the recordset handle, the function returns infor-
mation about the recordset itself.
Keywords such as "DATE", "TIME", and "DESC" cannot be used as field names by some
database systems. To use fields with these names, you need to append underscores to
the names (for example, "TIME_", "DATE_", "DESC_").
897
Some combinations of database drivers and databases can return no name for certain
classes of fields/columns, for example for aggregation queries such as "select SUM". In
those cases such fields can be either explicitly named in the query itself, or accessed via
a unified name in the format of "Field{ColumnNumber}" where {ColumnNumber} is the
number of the requested field/column in the recordset.
Syntax
SQLFieldInfo(hGeneral, hField, sName, Width)

hGeneral:

l the recordset
hField:
The field (or column) handle, indicating the position of the field in the database.
sName:
Out: A string variable in which the function stores the field name. The argument is returned by the
function.
Width:
Out: An integer variable in which the function stores the maximum number of characters in the
field. The argument is returned by the function.
Return Value
Related Functions
SQLSet, SQLAppend, SQLExec, SQLGetRecordset, SQLCall, SQLGetScalar, SQLEnd,

SQLNumChange, SQLNoFields, SQLNumFields, SQLFieldInfo, SQLGetField, SQLIs-
NullField, SQLRowCount, SQLNext, SQLPrev
Example
! Lists all fields in the Employee database

FUNCTION
ListFields()
INT hSQL;
STRING sField;
898
INT Count;
INT Width;
INT Index;
SQLTraceOn("C:\DATA\TRACE.LOG");
hSQL = SQLConnect("DRV=QEDBF");
SQLExec(hSQL, "SELECT * FROM C:\DATA\EMPLOYEE");
Count = SQLNoFields(hSQL);
Index = 0;
WHILE Index < Count DO
SQLFieldInfo(hSQL,Index,sField,Width);
..
END
SQLEnd(hSQL);
SQLTraceOff();
END
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLGetField
Gets field or column data from a database field. To get to a specific record in the rec-
ordset, use either the SQLNext() or SQLPrev() functions or, in case of disconnected record-
sets, the nRowIndex argument.
When the hGeneral is the connection handle, the function returns information from the
mation from the recordset itself.
Keywords such as "DATE", "TIME", and "DESC" cannot be used as field names by some
database systems. To use fields with these names, you need to append underscores to
the names (for example, "TIME_", "DATE_", "DESC_").
Some combinations of database drivers and databases can return no name for certain
classes of fields/columns, for example for aggregation queries such as "select SUM". In
those cases such fields can be either explicitly named in the query itself, or accessed via
a unified name in the format of "Field{ColumnNumber}" where {ColumnNumber} is the
number of the requested field/column in the recordset.
Syntax
899
SQLGetField(hGeneral, sField, nRowIndex)

hGeneral:

l the recordset
sField:
The name of the field or column.
nRowIndex:
If hGeneral is a connection handle and nRowindex is not equal -1, then the function returns an
empty string.
Return Value
The field or column data (as a string).

The maximum length of the return data is 255 characters. If the returned data is longer
than this, the function will return error 306 (can be checked by IsError() cicode function) .
Related Functions

Example
See SQLConnect
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLGetRecordset
Executes an SQL query on a database and returns a handle to any resulting dis-
connected recordset. All recordsets created in this way should be closed by the SQLEnd()
function. If unsuccessful, the function returns an invalid handle and an error code is
returned (can be tested by IsError()). In case of no data returned, the function returns an
invalid handle and no error. With this function, you can execute any SQL query or com-
mand supported by the SQL database, but it is designed mainly to work with queries
returning data like for example SELECT. Queries which don't return database data, like
INSERT or UPDATE, should be executed via SQLCall.
900
Recordsets produced by this function are disconnected. The disconnected recordsets fetch
the data from the DB when the query is executed and thus they don't need an open con-
nection when recordset functions are used. This kind of recordset improves speed of
access to data after executing the query, but may consume significant amounts of mem-
ory.
Creating disconnected recordsets without releasing them may lead to utilizing all avail-
able memory, which can result in degraded performance.
NOTICE
EXCESSIVE MEMORY USAGE
Limit the number of disconnected recordsets using the [SQL]MaxConnections parameter.

Release unused disconnected recordsets. Test projects using disconnected recordsets
prior to deployment in production.
NOTICE
Syntax
SQLGetRecordset(hGeneral, sSelect)
hGeneral:
901
sSelect:
Return Value
The handle to a recordset holding the result of the query. If unsuccessful an invalid han-
dle and an error code are returned (for details call the SQLErrMsg() function). If no data
is returned, an invalid handle and no error message are returned. The presence of an
error can be tested by calling the IsError() CiCode function
Related Functions

Example
See SQLCreate.
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLGetScalar
Executes an SQL query on a database. The value from the first column of the first row is
returned. With this function, you can execute any SQL query or command supported by
the SQL database. If it doesn’t return any data (like INSERT or UPDATE), a respective
error code is set which can be tested by calling IsError()).
902
NOTICE
Syntax
SQLGetScalar(hGeneral, sSelect, isNull)

hGeneral:
sSelect:
isNull:
Out: Indicated whether the returned variable is NULL. The argument is returned by the function.
Return Value
String representing a value from the first column and the first row of the result of execut-
ing the SQL query. If the value is NULL, the string is empty and isNull parameter is set
to TRUE. If there are no records in the result, the string is empty and the error code is set
to 294. For details of the 307 error code, call the SQLErrMsg() function. The presence of
error code can be tested by calling the IsError() CiCode function.
Related Functions

See Also
SQL Functions
SQLInfo
Gets information about a database connection, recordset or query properties.
903
Syntax
SQLInfo(hGeneral, Type)
hGeneral:

l the recordset
l the query.
nType:
The type of information to get:
0 - The connection string

1 - The current SQL query for connection handles and query handles or the
source SQL query for recordset handles
2 - The current database filename (only works with SQL device)
3 - No longer supported.
4 - No longer supported. Now returns an empty string and sets the SQL error
to 'Invalid Type'.
5 - The DB connection object's state: Closed (The connection is closed), Open
(The connection is open), Connecting (The connection object is con-
necting to the data source. For future release), Executing (The connection
object is executing a command. For future release), Fetching (The con-
nection object is retrieving data. For future release), Broken (The con-
nection to the data source is broken. This can occur only after the
connection has been opened. A connection in this state may be closed
and then re-opened. For future release). An empty string means either
error occurred or the handle is invalid
6 - The handle to the connection if used on either recordset or query handle.
Note: There is no guarantee that the objects behind the connection han-
dles still exist in the system.
7 - Checks whether a new transaction can be opened. The function perform a
check how many transaction levels have been already opened and
returns TRUE if a new one can be opened, otherwise FALSE. The func-
tion doesn't check ability of the external DB to open transactions. The
functions returns FALSE for recordset handles.
Return Value
The information (as a string).
904
Related Functions
Example
SQLInfo(1,2);
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLIsNullField
Checks presence of null value in field from a recordset. To get to a specific record in the
recordset, use either the SQLNext()/SQLPrev() functions or the nRowIndex argument.
When the hGeneral is the connection handle, the function returns information from the
mation from the recordset itself.
Syntax
SQLIsNullField(hGeneral, sField, nRowIndex=-1)

hGeneral:

l the recordset
sField:
The name of the field or column.
nRowIndex:
The number of the row which data is requested. The first row has index 0. -1 means that an internal
pointer is used instead. The pointer can be moved forward and backward by executing SQLNext()
or SQLPrev() functions.
Return Value
TRUE if the value is NULL, FALSE otherwise.
Related Functions
905

SQL Functions
SQLNext
Gets the next database record from an SQL query. Use the SQLExec()/SQLGetRecordset()
function to select a number of records or rows from the SQL database, and then use the
SQLNext() function to step through each record separately.
When the hGeneral is the connection handle, the function moves in the default recordset.
When the hGeneral is the recordset handle, the function moves in the recordset itself.
Syntax
SQLNext(hGeneral)
hGeneral:

l the recordset
Return Value
Related Functions

Example
See SQLConnect
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLNoFields
906
When the hGeneral is the connection handle, the function returns the number of fields or
columns that were returned by the last SQL statement. When the hGeneral is the rec-
ordset handle, the function returns the number of fields or columns in the recordset
itself.
Note: This function is deprecated and may be removed in future releases.
Syntax
SQLNoFields(hGeneral)
hGeneral:

l the recordset
Return Value
The number of fields. A value of 0 is returned if no fields were returned or if an error has
been detected. (For details of an error code, call the SQLErrMsg function).
Related Functions

Example
See SQLFieldInfo
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLNumChange
Gets the number of records that were modified in the last SQL Insert, Update, or Delete
statement.
Syntax
SQLNumChange(hSQL)
907
hSQL:
are stored.
Return Value
The number of records that were modified. A value of 0 is returned if no fields were
returned or if an error has occurred. (For details of an error code, call the SQLErrMsg
function).
Related Functions

Example
See SQLBeginTran
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLNumFields
When hGeneral is the connection handle, the function returns the number of fields or col-
umns that were returned by the last SQL statement. When hGeneral is the recordset han-
dle, the function returns the number of fields or columns in the recordset itself.
Syntax
SQLNumFields(hGeneral)
hGeneral:

l the recordset
Return Value
The number of fields. A value of 0 is returned if no fields were returned or if an error has
been detected. (For details of an error code, call the SQLErrMsg function).
Related Functions
908

Example
See SQLFieldInfo
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLOpen
Opens an SQL connection between the DB connection object specified by the function's
parameter and the database defined by the connection string given before as the param-
eter to either SQLCreate or SQLConnect function.
Note: Currently there are certain configurations of providers, connection strings and
database systems which can automatically close connections for the sake of saving
the database systems' resources; for example MS SQL Server dedicated provider with
activated pooling closes the connection to MS SQL Server when there is no data
exchange between the client and the DB server for some predefined time. If such
behaviour is observed and is not desired from the system design point of view, it
can be either:
- switched off by finding and using respective attributes in the connection string (if
existing and supported by DB) or
- by actively checking error codes returned from SQL CiCode functions and recon-
necting by using SQLOpen if the connection is dropped.
The actual state of connections can be checked by SQLInfo with type 5.
Syntax
SQLOpen(hSQL)
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object, returned from either the SQLCreate() or SQLConnect()
function. The handle identifies the DB connection object where details of the associated SQL con-
nection are stored.
Return Value
0 if success, otherwise an error code (For details call the SQLErrMsg() function)
Related Functions
909
Example
See SQLCreate.
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLParamsClearAll
Remove all parameters associated with a particular connection object.
Each database provider (Odbc, OleDb, SQL Server) uses parameterized queries in a dif-
ferent way. It is recommended that you look at documentation and examples included
with your database.

//Set the query


//Execute the query


End
Syntax
SQLParamsClearAll(hSQL)
hSQL:
910
are stored.
Return Value
Related Functions

SQLParamsSetAsInt, SQLParamsSetAsReal, SQLParamsSetAsString, SQLParamsClearAll
Example
See SQLParamsSetAsInt
SQL Functions
SQLParamsSetAsInt
Adds or replace a parameterized query parameter and its value in the specified con-
nection. The value of the parameter is given as integer.
with your database.

//Set the query


//Execute the query


911
End
Syntax
SQLParamsSetAsInt(hSQL, ParamName, ParamValue)

hSQL:
are stored.
ParamName:
The name of the parameter to add or change.
ParamValue:
The value of the parameter as an integer.
Return Value
Related Functions

Examples
The following examples assume that the following table is setup and opened for the
three data providers, ODBC, OleDb and SQLClient, respectively:
PEOPLE
SURNAME FIRSTNAME AGE HEIGHT
MARTIAN MARVIN 27 1.78
CASE CARRIE 18 1.73
ODBC
A parameter is identified by a character "?" in the SQL query. Since the protocol uses a
sequential approach for statement parameterization, the parameters order matters. In
that case, to confirm that the correct parameters are picked up by the query, it is sug-
gested to clear all the parameters after a query is executed and configure new ones in a
correct order for another query unless the parameters are exactly the same in terms of
value and position in the sequence between the two queries:
912
INT nError = 0;
STRING sValue0 = "";
INT nIsNull = 0;
INT hQueryDelete = SQLQueryCreate(hSQL);
SQLSet(hQueryDelete, "delete from PEOPLE where SURNAME=? and FIRSTNAME=?");
SQLParamsClearAll(hSQL);
//the name of the parameter does not matter
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, "sName", "CASE");
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, "fName", "CARRIE");
SQLCall(hQueryDelete, "");
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, "sName", "JACKSON");
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, "fName", "DAVID");
SQLParamsSetAsInt(hSQL, "nAge", 28);
SQLParamsSetAsReal(hSQL, "nHeight", 1.85);
SQLCall(hSQL, "insert into PEOPLE (SURNAME, FIRSTNAME, AGE, HEIGHT) values (?,?,?,?)
");
sValue0 = SQLGetScalar(hSQL, "select AGE from PEOPLE where FIRSTNAME=? and SUR-
NAME=?", nIsNull);
sValue1 = SQLGetScalar(hSQL, "select HEIGHT from PEOPLE where FIRSTNAME=? And SUR-
NAME=?", nIsNull);
OleDb
Same to ODBC, the association and later substitution is based on order of the parameters
in a query statement and "?" is used as the mark. Thus the last example for ODBC also
works for general cases of OleDb. Additionally, for some databases, i.e. Microsoft Acess,
user may have another option: parameter name with "@" prefix. Following examples are
specific for communicating with Microsoft Acess through OleDb data protocol.
INT nError = 0;
INT nIsNull = 0;
SQLSet(hQueryDelete, "delete from PEOPLE where SURNAME=@sName and FIRST-

NAME=@fName");
913
SQLCall(hSQL, "insert into PEOPLE (SURNAME, FIRSTNAME, AGE, HEIGHT) values (@sName,
@fName, @nAge, @nHeight)");
sValue0 = SQLGetScalar(hSQL, "select AGE from PEOPLE where FIRSTNAME=@fName and SUR-
NAME=@sName", nIsNull);
sValue1 = SQLGetScalar(hSQL, "select HEIGHT from PEOPLE where FIRSTNAME=@fName And

SURNAME=@sName", nIsNull);
Note: If you want to use a parameter more than once in the same query, there is no
need to define it multiple times. However, the parameters have to be prepared in
proper order based on their occurrence order in the query statement.
Example
INT nError = 0;
INT nIsNull = 0;
INT hQueryInsert = SQLQueryCreate(hSQL);
SQLSet(hQueryInsert, "insert into TABLE (COLUMN0, COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3, COL-

UMN4) values (@param0, @param0, @param1, @param1, @param0");
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, "param0", "Value0");
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, "param1", "Value1");
SQLCall(hQueryInsert, "");
The result will be:
TABLE
914
COLUMN0 COLUMN1 COLUMN2 COLUMN3 COLUMN4

Value0 Value0 Value1 Value1 Value0
SQLClient
SQL server uses a named parameter approach for parameterization. Parameters in que-
ries are preceded by the '@' character. The order of the parameters does not matter.
INT nError = 0;
INT nIsNull = 0;
SQLSet(hQueryDelete, "delete from PEOPLE where SURNAME=@sName and FIRST-

NAME=@fName");

//Order does not matter

//If a parameter has been defined already, setting the value again //will replace
the old value.
SQLCall(hSQL, "insert into PEOPLE (SURNAME, FIRSTNAME, AGE, HEIGHT) values (@sName,
@fName, @nAge, @nHeight)");
sValue0 = SQLGetScalar(hSQL, "select AGE from PEOPLE where FIRSTNAME=@fName and SUR-
NAME=@sName", nIsNull);
sValue1 = SQLGetScalar(hSQL, "select HEIGHT from PEOPLE where FIRSTNAME=@fName And

SURNAME=@sName", nIsNull);
By the given CiCode examples, the table will be updated to:
PEOPLE
SURNAME FIRSTNAME AGE HEIGHT
MARTIAN MARVIN 27 1.78
JACKSON DAVID 28 1.85
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLParamsSetAsReal
915
Adds or replaces a parameterized query's parameter and its value in the specified con-
nection. The value of the parameter is given as a real.
with your database.

//Set the query


//Execute the query


End
Syntax
SQLParamsSetAsReal(hSQL, ParamName, ParamValue)

hSQL:
are stored.
ParamName:
ParamValue:
The value of the parameter as a real.
Return Value
916
Related Functions

Example
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLParamsSetAsString
Adds or replaces a parameterized query's parameter and its value in the specified con-
nection. The value of the parameter is given as a string.
with your database.

//Set the query


//Execute the query


End
Syntax
917
SQLParamsSetAsString(hSQL, ParamName, ParamValue, nStrType)

hSQL:
are stored.
ParamName:
ParamValue:
The value of the parameter as a string.
nStrType:
The index specifying the type of the string:
0 - Allowing ADO engine to use the default string type of the protocol. For
SQLClient, OleDB and ODBC, the default string type is NVarChar (A var-
iable-length stream of Unicode characters ranging between 1 and 4,000
characters);
1 - Forcing the string type to be NVarChar;
2 - Forcing the string type to be NChar (A fixed-length stream of Unicode char-
acters ranging between 1 and 4,000 characters);
3 - Forcing the string type to be VarChar (A variable-length stream of non-Uni-
code characters ranging between 1 and 8,000 characters. VarChar is used
when the database column is varchar(max));
4 - Forcing the string type to be Char (A fixed-length stream of non-Unicode
characters ranging between 1 and 8,000 characters).
The default value of nStrType is 0.
Return Value
Related Functions

Example
SQL Functions
SQLPrev
918
Gets the previous database record from an SQL query. The function works only with dis-
connected recordsets. Use the SQLGetRecordset() function to select a number of records
or rows from the SQL database, and then use the SQLNext()/SQLPrev() function to step
through each record separately.
This function can be called in the foreground (only for disconnected recordsets) or back-
ground.
Syntax
SQLPrev(hGeneral)
hGeneral:
The handle to the disconnected recordset.
Return Value
Related Functions

Example
See SQLConnect
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLQueryCreate
The function creates a new query and returns its handle. The query is empty and has to
be set by using SQLSet() and/or SQLAppend() functions. The query handle can be used
with the statement functions as SQLExec() or SQLGetRecordset().
Queries allocated by SQLQueryCreate should be disposed by SQLQueryDispose when no
longer necessary. Each DB connection object has one default query which is created and
disposed automatically. The default query need not be disposed by the function SQLQue-
ryDispose.
Syntax
SQLQueryCreate(hSQL)
hSQL:
919
are stored.
Return Value
The handle to the query if successful, otherwise the invalid handle.
Related Functions

SQLQueryCreate, SQLQueryDispose, SQLNumChange, SQLNoFields, SQLNumFields,
SQLFieldInfo, SQLGetField, SQLIsNullField, SQLRowCount, SQLNext, SQLPrev
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLQueryDispose
The function disposes the query which handle is given as the argument.
Queries allocated by SQLQueryCreate should be disposed by SQLQueryDispose when no
longer necessary. Each DB connection object has one default query which is created and
disposed automatically. The default query need not be disposed by the function SQLQue-
ryDispose.
Syntax
SQLQueryDispose(hQuery)
hQuery:
The handle to the query, returned from SQLQueryCreate() function.
Return Value
Related Functions

SQLQueryCreate, SQLQueryDispose, SQLNumChange, SQLNoFields, SQLNumFields,
SQLFieldInfo, SQLGetField, SQLIsNullField, SQLRowCount, SQLNext, SQLPrev
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLRollBack
920
Rolls back (discards) all changes made to the database within the current transaction. If
you call the SQLBeginTrans() function to begin a transaction, you are not committed to
changes to the database made by the Insert, Delete, and Update commands until you call
the SQLCommit() function. You can discard these changes by calling the SQLRollBack()
function.
You can only call the SQLRollBack() function if you have called SQLBeginTran() to begin
a transaction. You do not need to begin a transaction to modify a database, but any
changes you make to a database outside of a transaction are automatically committed.
The SQLRollBack() function could affect different databases in different ways. If the func-
tion is not performing as you expect, check that your database is able to service trans-
actions. Refer to the documentation for your database for more information on rolling
back transactions.
Syntax
SQLRollBack(hSQL)
hSQL:
are stored.
Return Value
Related Functions

SQLBeginTran, SQLCommit, SQLRollBack
Example
See SQLBeginTran
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLRowCount
Gets the number of rows in the recordset.
Syntax
921
SQLRowCount(hGeneral)
hGeneral:

l the recordset
Return Value
The number of rows in the given recordset for disconnected recordsets. For the connected
recordset, the function returns always -1.
Related Functions

Example
See SQLCreate.
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLSet
Sets a query string in the SQL buffer. Cicode cannot send an SQL query that is longer
than 255 characters. If you have an SQL query that is longer than the 255 character limit,
you can split the query into smaller strings, and use this function and the SQLAppend()
function to append the query in the SQL buffer.
922
NOTICE

//Set the query


//Execute the query


End
Syntax
SQLSet(hGeneral, sString)
hGeneral:
dle, the operation is performed on the first query in that DB connection object. When it is the query
handle, the operation is performed on that query through the DB object which is associated to it.
sString:
The query string to set in the SQL buffer. The string needs to contain the first part of an SQL query.
Return Value
923
Related Functions

Example
hSQL = SQLConnect("DSN=QEDBF");
nError = SQLBeginTran(hSQL);
nError = SQLSet(hSQL, "SELECT *");
nError = SQLAppend(hSQL, " FROM EMP");
nError = SQLAppend(hSQL, " ORDER BY last_name");
hRec = SQLGetRecordset(hSQL, "");
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLTraceOff
Turns off the debug trace. Use this function to stop tracing function calls that are made
to the database. The trace can be turned off globally for all connections or for a specific
one.
Syntax
SQLTraceOff(hSQL)
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object: INVALID HANDLE - The trace is deactivated for all DB
connections (default), otherwise - The trace is deactivated for this specific DB connection object.
Return Value
Related Functions
Example
See SQLFieldInfo
924
See Also
SQL Functions
SQLTraceOn
Turns on a debug trace. Use this function to begin tracing function calls that are made to
the database. The information is written to TraceLog.dat file (the strFileName argument
is currently ignored). The trace can be turned on globally for all connections or for a spe-
cific connection.
Note: Currently the SQL tracing functionality uses the standard SCADA logging
mechanism. All SQL traces are Information logs and can be written to TraceLog.dat
file only if appriopriate logging ini parameters are set respectively, for example
[Debug] SeverityFilterMode.
Syntax
SQLTraceOn(sFileName, hSQL, nTraceLevel)

sFileName:
The output file name for the debug trace. Currently ignored.
hSQL:
The handle to the DB connection object: INVALID HANDLE - The trace is activated for all DB con-
nections (default), otherwise - The trace is activated for this specific DB connection object.
nTraceLevel:
Defines the level of details written to the trace file. The following values are allowed:
l 0 - as per 1, but without values (default).

l 1 - the highest level of details including values of read cells
Return Value
Related Functions
Example
See SQLFieldInfo
925
See Also
SQL Functions
926
Chapter 49: SPC Functions
Following are functions relating to Statistical Process Control:
SPCAlarms Returns the status of the specified SPC alarm.
SPCClientInfo Returns SPC data for the given SPC tag.
SPCGe- Returns an array containing the frequency of particular ranges

tHistogramTable for the given SPC tag.
SPCGet- Returns an array containing the specified subgroup's elements

SubgroupTable with the mean, range and standard deviation.
SPCPlot Generates a single page print showing three separate trends of

the SPC Mean, Range, and Standard Deviation.
SPCProcessXRSGet Gets the process mean, range and standard deviation overrides.
SPCProcessXRSSet Sets the process mean, range and standard deviation overrides.
SPCSetLimit Sets the upper or lower control limits of X-bar, range, or stand-
ard deviation charts.
SPCSpecLimitGet Gets the upper and lower specification limits for the specified
tag.
SPCSpecLimitSet Sets the upper and lower specification limits for the specified tag.
SPCSub- Gets the size of a subgroup for the specified SPC tag.
groupSizeGet
SPCSub- Sets the subgroup size for the specified SPC tag.
groupSizeSet
See Also
Functions Reference
SPCAlarms
Returns the status of the specified SPC alarm. This function is used to configure SPC
alarms, by defining alarms with this trigger in Advanced Alarms.
927
This function can only be used if the Alarm Server is on the current machine. When the
Alarm Server is not in the calling process, this function will become blocking and cannot
be called from a foreground task. In this case, the return value will be undefined and a
Syntax
SPCAlarms(sSPCTag, AlarmType)
sSPCTag:
The SPC Tag name as defined in SPC Tags.
AlarmType:
The description of the alarm type. The following types are valid:
XFreak XGradualUp XStratification

XOutsideCL XGradualDown XMixture
XAboveUCL XUpTrend ROutsideCL
XBelowLCL XDownTrend RAboveUCL
XOutsideWL XErratic RBelowLCL
Return Value
Alarm status, ON (1) or OFF (0).
Related Functions
AlarmAck
Example
Advanced Alarms
Alarm Tag Feed_SPC_XBLCL
Alarm Desc Process mean below LCL
Expression SPCAlarms("Feed_SPC", XBelowLCL)
Comment Trigger an alarm when XBelowLCL condition becomes true.
Advanced Alarms
Alarm Tag Temp_SPC_GRADUP
928
Alarm Desc Mean is drifting up
Expression SPCAlarms("Temp_SPC", XGradualUp)
Comment Trigger an alarm if mean drifts up.
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCClientInfo
Returns SPC data for the given SPC tag. The information retrieved through this function
is from the cache maintained by the client. This function will give a faster response than
the related functions which access the SPC (trend) server.
This function can only be called while the SPC tag is being displayed on an SPC page.
Syntax
SPCClientInfo(sSPCTag, iType)
sSPCTag:
iType:
The information to be returned:
1 - Subgroup Size
2 - No. of Subgroups
3 - Process Mean (x double bar)
4 - Process Range
5 - Process Standard Deviation
6 - Lower Specification Limit (LSL)
7 - Upper Specification Limit (USL)
8 - Cp - Process Capability Actual
9 - Cpk - Process Capability Potential
10 - Process Skewness
11 - Process kurtosis
Return Value
The requested data specified by iType. It is of type REAL.
Related Functions
929
SPCSpecLimitGet, SPCProcessXRSGet, SPCSubgroupSizeGet
Example
/* This function will check the capability of a particular SPC tag.*/

REAL
FUNCTION
CheckCapability(STRING sTAG)
REAL rReturn;
rReturn = SPCClientInfo(sTag, 8);
!rReturn holds the inherent capability value
IF rReturn > 1.0 THEN
Message(sTag + "Assessment","The process is Capable.",64);
ELSE
Message(sTag + "Assessment","The process is not Capable.",64);
END
Return rReturn;
END
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCGetHistogramTable
Returns an array containing the frequencies of particular ranges for the given SPC tag.
The histogram structure is implied in the order of the table as follows - the first array ele-
ment is the data less than -3 sigma. The second value is the data between -3 sigma and -
3 sigma plus the bar width etc. The last value is the data greater than +3 sigma.
Syntax
SPCGetHistogramTable(sSPCTag, iNoBars, TableVariable)

sSPCTag:
iNoBars:
The number of bars in the table. The valid range is restricted to values from 7 to 100. This also indi-
cates the size of the array to be returned.
TableVariable:
The Cicode array that will store the histogram data. This variable needs to be defined as a global
array of type REAL. The number of elements in the array needs to be equal to (or greater than) iNo-
Bars.
Return Value
930
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned. The histogram table is

written to TableVariable.
Related Functions
TableMath
Example
/* This function will get the maximum frequency present in the

histogram of a particular SPC tag.*/
REAL iFrequency[7];
! This variable needs to be global to the file so is declared outside
of the function
INT
FUNCTION
GetMaxFreq(STRING sTAG)
INT iError;
INT iMax = -1;
iError = SPCGetHistogramTable(sTag, 7, iFrequency);
!The elements of iFrequency now hold the histogram table frequencies.
IF iError = 0 THEN
! Get maximum
iMax = TableMath(iFrequency,7,1,0);
END
Return iMax;
END
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCGetSubgroupTable
Returns an array containing the specified subgroup's elements with the mean, range and
standard deviation. The data will be in the following order:
Element0, Element1, ... , Element(n-1), Mean, Range, StdDev
where n is the subgroup size.

Syntax
SPCGetSubgroupTable(sSPCTag, iSubgroup, TableVariable)

sSPCTag:
iSubgroup:
The number of the subgroup being displayed whose data is to be retrieved. Zero ('0') represents the
latest subgroup.
931
TableVariable:
The first element of the Cicode array that will store the sample data. This variable needs to be
defined as a global array of type REAL. The number of elements in the array needs to be equal to
(or greater than) the subgroup size + 3.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned. The subgroup's data is

written to TableVariable.
Related Functions
TableMath
Example
/* This function will get the minimum value present in the sample
data of a particular SPC tag.*/
REAL rSubgroup[8]; ! 5 samples + mean + range + stddev.
! This variable needs to be global to the file, so is declared outside
of the function
REAL
FUNCTION
GetMinSample(STRING sTAG)
INT iError;
REAL iMin = 0;
iError = SPCGetSubgroupTable(sTag, 7, rSubgroup);
!The elements of rSubgroup now hold the group samples, mean, range and stddev.
IF iError = 0 THEN
! Get minimum. Be aware that the range of data is 5
iMin = TableMath(rSubgroup,5,0,0);
END
Return iMin;
END
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCPlot
This function is designed to work only on an SPCXRSChart page. It prints a single page
showing three separate trends of the SPC Mean, Range, and Standard Deviation. The
Mean needs to be at nAN, the Range at AN + 1, and the Standard Deviation at AN + 2.
You can specify a title and a comment for the plot, and whether it is printed in color or
in black and white.
Syntax
SPCPlot(sPort, nAN [, sTitle] [, sComment] [, nMode] )

sPort:
932
The name of the printer port to which the plot will be printed. This name needs to be enclosed
within quotation marks. For example LPT1:, to print to the local printer, or \\Pserver\canon1 using
UNC to print to a network printer.
nAN:
The animation point at which the Mean chart is currently situated. The Range and Standard Devi-
ation charts need to be on the next two consecutive animation numbers. For example, if the Mean
chart is at animation point 40, the Range chart needs to be at animation point 41, and the Standard
Deviation chart needs to be at animation point 42.
sTitle:
The title of the trend plot.
sComment:
The comment that is to display beneath the title of the trend plot. You do not have to enter a com-
ment.
nMode:
The color mode of the printer.
0 - Black and White (default)

1 - Color
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnPlot, TrnComparePlot, TrnPrint, PlotOpen
Example
/* This function will print the Mean trend (currently displayed at

animation point 40), the Range trend (currently at animation point
41), and the Standard Deviation trend (currently at animation
point 42). The result is a one page, black and white combination
of all three trends, printed to LPT1. */
SPCPlot("LPT1:",40, "CitectSCADA SPC Chart","Gradually
increasing trend",0);
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCProcessXRSGet
933
Gets the process mean, range, and standard deviation overrides for the specified SPC
tag. The values that are returned are the values that are currently being used by the SPC
(trend) server, not necessarily the values specified in the SPC Tag definition.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SPCProcessXRSGet(sSPCTag, XVariable, RVariable, SVariable [, sClusterName] )

sSPCTag:
XVariable:
The Cicode variable that stores the process mean (X double bar). This variable needs to be defined
as a global of type REAL. A constant is not allowed.
RVariable:
The Cicode variable that stores the range (R). This variable needs to be defined as a global of type
REAL. A constant is not allowed.
SVariable:
The Cicode variable that stores the standard deviation (S). This variable needs to be defined as a
global of type REAL. A constant is not allowed.
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster of the SPC tag.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned. The process mean is written
to XVariable, the process range to RVariable, and the standard deviation to SVariable.
Related Functions
SPCClientInfo, SPCProcessXRSSet
Example
/* This function will set a new override value for Mean, without
overwriting the values already in place for Standard Deviation and
Range */
REAL rOldMean;
REAL rRange;
REAL rStdDev;
934
! These variables need to be global to the file, so are declared

outside of the function
INT
FUNCTION
Tank1SPCNewMean(REAL rNewMean)
INT iError;
iError = SPCProcessXRSGet("TANK_1_TEMP", rOldMean, rRange, rStdDev);
! If no error, rOldMean, rRange and rStdDev now hold the current values of XRS.
IF iError = 0 THEN
iError = SPCProcessXRSSet("TANK_1_TEMP", rNewMean, rRange, rStdDev);
END
Return iError;
END
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCProcessXRSSet
Sets the process mean, range and standard deviation overrides for the specified SPC tag.
The values entered here will override CitectSCADA's automatic calculations, and the
overrides specified in the SPC Tags definition.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SPCProcessXRSSet(sSPCTag, rMean, rRange, rStdDev [, sClusterName] )

sSPCTag:
rMean:
The new value of process mean (x double bar) to set.
rRange:
The new value of process range to set.
rStdDev:
The new value of process standard deviation to set.
sClusterName:
Return Value
935
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned.
Related Functions
SPCProcessXRSGet
Example
See SPCProcessXRSGet
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCSetLimit
Sets the upper or lower control limits of X-bar, range, or standard deviation charts.
Using this function will only set the controller limits on the Client display which will
not affect the SPC Alarms. To set the server control limits, use the SPCProcessXRSSet
function.
Syntax
SPCSetLimit(nAN, Type, Value, Setting)

nAN:
The AN where the SPC chart is located.
nType:
The SPC type:
1 - X-bar upper control limit

2 - X-bar lower control limit
3 - Range upper control limit
4 - Range lower control limit
5 - Standard deviation upper control limit
6 - Standard deviation lower control limit
7 - X-bar centre line
8 - Range centre line
9 - Standard deviation centre line
Value:
The value for the control limit.
Setting:
Automatic calculation or manual setting of control limits:
0 - Automatic
936
1 - Manual
Return Value
Example
SPCSetLimit(40,1,250,1);
! Sets X-bar upper control limit to 250 at AN40.
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCSpecLimitGet
Gets the process Upper and Lower Specification Limits (USL and LSL) for the specified
SPC tag. The values that are returned are the values that are currently being used by the
SPC (trend) server, not necessarily the values specified in the SPC Tag definition.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SPCSpecLimitGet(sSPCTag, LSLVariable, USLVariable [, sClusterName] )

sSPCTag:
LSLVariable:
The Cicode variable that stores the Lower Specification Limit (LSL). This variable needs to be
defined as a global of type REAL. Do not specify a constant in this field.
USLVariable:
The Cicode variable that stores the Upper Specification Limit (USL). This variable needs to be
defined as a global of type REAL. Do not specify a constant in this field.
sClusterName:
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned. The LSL is written to

LSLVariable, while the USL is written to USLVariable.
Related Functions
SPCClientInfo, SPCSpecLimitSet
937
Example
/* This function will increase the current USL and LSL of the
specified Tag by 10 percent.*/
REAL rLSL;
REAL rUSL;
! These variables need to be global to the file, so are declared
outside of the function
INT
FUNCTION
ExpSLbyPercent(STRING sTAG)
REAL rIncPercent = 1.1;
REAL rDecPercent = 0.9;
INT iError;
iError = SPCSpecLimitGet(sTag, rLSL, rUSL);
! If no error, rLSL and rUSL now hold the current values of
LSL and USL for sTAG
rLSL = rLSL * rDecPercent;
rUSL = rUSL * rIncPercent;
IF iError = 0 THEN
iError = SPCSpecLimitSet(sTAG, rLSL, rUSL);
END
Return iError;
END
! The function would be called as follows;
Page Button
Button Text Expand Temperature Limits
Expression ExpSLby10Percent("TANK_1_TEMP");
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCSpecLimitSet
Sets the process Upper and Lower Specification Limits (USL and LSL) for the specified
SPC tag. The values entered here will override those specified in the SPC Tags definition.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SPCSpecLimitSet(sSPCTag, rLSL, rUSL [, sClusterName] )

sSPCTag:
938
rLSL:
The new value of Lower Specification Limit (LSL) to set.
rUSL:
The new value of Upper Specification Limit (USL) to set.
sClusterName:
Return Value
Related Functions
SPCSpecLimitGet
Example
See SPCSpecLimitGet
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCSubgroupSizeGet
Gets the subgroup size for the specified SPC tag. The value that is returned is the value
that is currently being used by the SPC (trend) server, not necessarily the value specified
in the SPC Tag definition.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SPCSubgroupSizeGet(sSPCTag, SizeVariable [, sClusterName] )

sSPCTag:
SizeVariable:
The Cicode variable that stores the subgroup size. This variable needs to be defined as a global of
type INT. A constant is not allowed.
sClusterName:
939
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error number is returned. The subgroup size is

written to SizeVariable.
Related Functions
SPCClientInfo, SPCSubgroupSizeSet
Example
See SPCSubgroupSizeSet.
See Also
SPC Functions
SPCSubgroupSizeSet
Sets a new subgroup size for the specified SPC tag. The new subgroup size becomes the
new size as long as the SPC (trend) server is running. The subgroup size is updated first
in the SPC server, which then informs the clients to update. This will force re-calculation
of SPC values (UCL and LCL) across the span of any displayed charts.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SPCSubgroupSizeSet(sSPCTag, iSize [, sClusterName] )

sSPCTag:
iSize:
The new size of the subgroup to set.
sClusterName:
Return Value
Related Functions
SPCSubgroupSizeGet
Example
940
/* This function increments the subgroup size for FEED_RATE_1 by

the specified amount. */
INT iSize;
! This variable needs to be global to the file, so is declared outside
of the function
INT
FUNCTION
IncSubgroupSize(INT iIncrement)
INT iError;
iError = SPCSubgroupSizeGet("FEED_RATE_1", iSize);
! If no error, iSize now contains the current subgroup size of FEED_RATE_1
iSize = iSize + iIncrement;
IF iError = 0 and (isize > 1) THEN
iError = SPCSubgroupSizeSet("FEED_RATE_1", iSize );
END
Return iError;
END
See Also
SPC Functions
941
942
Chapter 50: String Functions
String functions allow you to manipulate strings in various ways. You can extract char-
acters or substrings from a string, convert strings into other data types, format strings,
search for strings, and perform other operations.
Following are functions relating to Strings:
CharToStr Converts an ASCII code into a string.
HexToStr Converts a number into a hexadecimal string.
IntToStr Converts an integer variable into a string.
PathToStr Converts a CitectSCADA path into a string.
RealToStr Converts a floating-point variable into a string.
StrCalcWidth Retrieves the pixel width of a string using a particular font.
StrClean Removes control characters from a string.
StrFill Fills a string with characters.
StrFormat Formats a variable into a string.
StrGetChar Gets a single character from a string or buffer.
StrLeft Gets the left-hand characters from a string.
StrLength Gets the length of a string.
StrLower Converts a string to lower-case.
StrMid Gets characters from the middle of a string.
StrPad Pads a string to the required length.
StrRight Gets the right-hand characters from a string.
943
StrSearch Searches for a string within a string.
StrSetChar Sets a single character into string or buffer.
StrToChar Converts a string to an ASCII code.
StrToDate Converts a string into a date variable.
StrToFmt Converts a string into format fields.
StrToGrp Converts a string into a group.
StrToHex Converts a hexadecimal string into an integer.
StrToInt Converts a string into an integer variable.
StrToLines Converts a string into lines of limited length.
StrTo- Converts a string from Native language to Local language.

LocalText
StrToPeriod Converts a string into a (time) period.
StrToReal Converts a string into a floating-point variable.
StrToTime Converts a string into a time variable.
StrToValue Converts a string into a floating-point variable.
StrTrim Trims spaces from a string.
StrTruncFont Returns the truncated string using a particular font (specified by

name) or the specified number of characters.
StrTrunc- Returns the truncated string using a particular font (specified by font
FontHnd number) or the specified number of characters.
StrUpper Converts a string to upper-case.
StrWord Gets a word from a string.
See Also
Functions Reference
CharToStr
944
Converts an ASCII code into a string.
Syntax
CharToStr(ASCIICode)
ASCIICode:
The ASCII code to convert.
Return Value
A string containing the converted ASCII code.
Related Functions
StrSetChar
Example
str = CharToStr(65);
! Sets str to "A".
See Also
String Functions
HexToStr
Converts a number into a hexadecimal string. The string is the width specified (padded
with zeros).
Syntax
HexToStr(Number, Width)
Number:
The number to convert.
Width:
The width of the string.
Return Value
A string containing the converted number.
Related Functions
StrToHex, IntToStr
Example
945
Variable=HexToStr(123, 4);
! Sets Variable to "007b".
Variable = HexToStr(0x12ABFE, 8);
! Sets Variable to "0012abfe"
See Also
String Functions
IntToStr
Converts a number into a string.
Syntax
IntToStr(Number)
Number:
The number to convert.
Return Value
A string containing the converted number.
Related Functions
StrFormat
Example
Variable=IntToStr(5);
! Sets Variable to "5".
See Also
String Functions
PathToStr
Converts a CitectSCADA path into a string. The path string can contain one of the stand-
ard CitectSCADA path operators, BIN, DATA, RUN, USER or a user-configured path. If
the string does not contain a CitectSCADA path, it is unchanged.
Syntax
PathToStr(sPath)
sPath:
The CitectSCADA path to convert.
Return Value
946
A string containing the converted path.
Example
Variable=PathToStr("[data]:test.txt");
! Sets Variable to "c:\MyApplication\data\test.txt".
! assuming that DATA=C:\MyApplication\DATA
See Also
String Functions
RealToStr
Converts a floating-point number into a string.
Syntax
RealToStr(Number, Width, Places[, Separator])

Number:
The floating-point number to convert.
Width:
The width of the string.
Places:
The number of decimal places contained in the string.
Separator:
Optionally, the decimal separator contained in the string. Defaults to empty string.
"." - period
"," - comma
"" - empty string
If an empty string or an invalid separator is passed as a parameter, the string will contain the dec-
imal separator used in the current locale.
Return Value
The floating-point number (as a string).
Related Functions
StrToReal
Example
947
Variable=RealToStr(12.345,10,1);
! Sets Variable to " 12.3" (10 characters long).
See Also
String Functions
StrCalcWidth
Retrieves the pixel width of a string using a particular font.
Syntax
StrCalcWidth(sText, iFont)
sText:
The text to determine the pixel width of
iFont:
The font number used to calculate the pixel width of the text. (To use the default font, set to -1).
Return Value
The pixel width of a string using the particular font.
Related Functions
StrTruncFont, StrTruncFontHnd, DspFont, DspFontHnd

See Also
String Functions, Using the Caret Escape Sequence Character
StrClean
Removes control characters from a string. Any character that is not a displayable ASCII
character is removed from the string.
Syntax
StrClean(String)
String:
The source string.
Return Value
The string with all control characters removed.
Related Functions
StrTrim
948
Example
Variable=StrClean("*****Text*****");
/* Sets Variable to "Text" (the "*" character in this example
represents an unprintable character). */
See Also
StrFill
Fills a string with a number of occurrences of another string.
Syntax
StrFill(String, Length)
String:
The string to be repeated.
Length:
The length of the string.
Return Value
The filled string.
Related Functions
StrPad
Example
Variable=StrFill("abc",10);
! Sets Variable to "abcabcabca".
Variable=StrFill("x",10);
! Sets Variable to "xxxxxxxxxx".
See Also
StrFormat
Converts a variable into a formatted string. This function is the equivalent of the Cicode
" :#### " operator.
Syntax
StrFormat(Variable, Width, DecPlaces, EngUnits)
949
Variable:
The variable to format into a string.
Width:
The width of the variable after it has been converted to string format.
DecPlaces:
The number of decimal places in the converted string.
EngUnits:
The engineering units of the variable.
Return Value
The variable (as a formatted string).
Related Functions
StrToReal, StrToInt, RealToStr, IntToStr
Example
Variable=StrFormat(10.345,5,2,"%");
! Sets Variable to "10.35%".
See Also
StrGetChar
Gets a single character from a string or buffer. Use this function to read a string, char-
acter by character.
Syntax
StrGetChar(String, iOffset)
String:
The source string.
iOffset:
The offset in the string, commencing at 0.
Return Value
The character at the offset in the string.
Related Functions
950
StrSetChar
Example
FOR i = 0 To length DO
char = StrGetChar(str, i);
! Get char from string
END
See Also
StrLeft
Gets the left-most characters from a string.
Syntax
StrLeft(String, N)
String:
The source string.
N:
The number of characters to get from the source string.
Return Value
A string containing the left-most N characters of String.
Related Functions
StrRight, StrMid, StrLength
Example
Variable=StrLeft("ABCDEF",2);
! Sets Variable to "AB".
See Also
StrLength
Gets the length of a string.
Syntax
StrLength(String)
951
String:
The source string.
Return Value
The length of the string (as an integer).
Related Functions
StrRight, StrMid, StrLeft
Example
Variable=StrLength("ABCDEF");
See Also
String Functions , Using the Caret Escape Sequence Character
StrLower
Converts a string to lowercase.
Syntax
StrLower(String)
String:
The source string.
Return Value
The string (as lowercase).
Related Functions
StrUpper
Example
Variable=StrLower("ABCDEF");
! Sets Variable to "abcdef".
Variable=StrLower("AbCdEf");
! Sets Variable to "abcdef".
See Also
StrMid
952
Gets characters from the middle of a string.
Syntax
StrMid(String, Offset, Characters)

String:
The source string.
Offset:
Characters:
The number of characters to get, commencing at the offset.
Return Value
A string containing the number of characters from the offset.
Related Functions
StrLeft, StrLength, StrRight
Example
Variable=StrMid("ABCDEF",1,3);
! Sets Variable to "BCD".
Variable=StrMid("ABCDEF",4,1);
! Sets Variable to "E".
See Also
StrPad
Pads a string with a number of occurrences of another string. Padding can be added to
the left or to the right of a string. If the string is already longer than the required string
length, the string is truncated.
Syntax
StrPad(String, PadString, Length)

String:
The source string.
PadString:
The padding string.
953
Length:
The length of the string. If a positive length is specified, padding will be added to the right of the
string. If a negative length is specified, padding will be added to the left of the string.
Return Value
A padded string.
Related Functions
StrFill
Example
Variable=StrPad("Test"," ",10);
! Sets Variable to "Test ".
Variable=StrPad("Test","abc",-14);
! Sets Variable to "abcabcabcaTest".
See Also
StrRight
Gets the rightmost characters from a string.
Syntax
StrRight(String, N)
String:
The source string.
N:
The number of characters to get from the source string.
Return Value
A string containing the rightmost N characters of String.
Related Functions
StrLeft, StrMid, StrLength
Example
Variable=StrRight("ABCDEF",2);
! Sets Variable to "EF".
954
See Also
String Functions , Using the Caret Escape Sequence Character
StrSearch
Searches for a string within a string, commencing at a specified offset. The result of the
search is the index in the source string, where the first character of the sub-string is
found. Index 0 is the first character in the string, index 1 is the second, and so on.
Syntax
StrSearch(Offset, String, Substring)

Offset:
String:
The source string.
Substring:
The substring to search for.
Return Value
The index in the search string, or -1 if the sub-string does not exist in the string.
Related Functions
StrLength
Example
Variable=StrSearch(1,"ABCDEF","CD");
Variable=StrSearch(4,"ABCDEF","CD");
Variable=StrSearch(5,"ABCDEF","F");
See Also
StrSetChar
955
Sets a single character into a string or buffer. Use this function to build up a string, char-
acter by character, and terminate the string with the end-of-string character 0 (zero). (If
you use a string without a terminator in a function that expects a string, or in a Cicode
expression, you could get invalid results.) To use the string to build up a buffer, you do
not need the terminating 0 (zero).
Syntax
StrSetChar(sText, iOffset, Char)

sText:
The destination string.
iOffset:
Char:
The ASCII character to set into the string.
Return Value
Related Functions
StrGetChar
Example
! Set chars in buffer, Buf is NOT a valid string

! and cannot be used where a normal string would be used.
FOR i = 0 To length DO
StrSetChar(Buf, i, 30 + i);
END
StrSetChar(sStr, 0, 13); ! put CR into string
StrSetChar(sStr, 1, 0); ! terminate so may be used as a normal string
See Also
StrToChar
Gets the ASCII code of the first character in a string.
Syntax
StrToChar(String)
String:
956
The source string.
Return Value
The ASCII code of the first character in String.
Related Functions
StrGetChar
Example
Variable=StrToChar("ABC");
! Sets Variable to 65 (ASCII "A").
See Also
StrToDate
Converts a "date" string into a time/date variable. This variable is the same as returned
from the TimeCurrent() function. To set the order of the day, month, and year, and the
delimiter, use the Windows Control panel.
Time/date functions can only be used with dates from 1980 to 2035. You should check
that the date you are using is valid with the following Cicode:
IF StrToDat(Arg1)>0 THEN
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
StrToDate(String)
String:
The source string.
Return Value
A time/date variable, or 274 if the time/date is out of range.
Related Functions
StrToPeriod, StrToTime
Example
957
! Australian format (dd/mm/yy) is set in the Windows Control panel.

DateVariable=DateAdd(StrToDate("3/11/95"),86400);
NewDate= TimeToStr(DateVariable, 2);
! Adds 24 hours to 3/11/95 and sets NewDate to "4/11/95".
See Also
StrToFmt
Converts a string into field data for a format template. This function is useful for split-
ting a string into separate strings. After the string is converted, you can call the FmtGet-
Field() function to extract the individual data from the template fields.
Syntax
StrToFmt(hFmt, String)
hFmt:
String:
The source string.
Return Value
The string (formatted as template field data).
Related Functions
FmtOpen, FmtGetField
Example

Name=FmtGetField(hFmt,"Name");
! Sets Name to "CV101".
See Also
StrToGrp
958
Converts a string into a group and places it into a group number. Any existing values
in the group are cleared before the new values are inserted. The group string is a series
of numbers separated by " , " to list individual values or " .. " to specify a range of
values.
Syntax
StrToGrp(hGrp, Str)
hGrp:
Str:
The string to convert.
Return Value
Related Functions
GrpOpen
Example
! Set group to 1 ... 10 and 20, 30 and 40.
StrToGrp(hGrp,"1..10,20,30,40");
See Also
StrToHex
Converts a hexadecimal string into an integer. This function will search the string for
the first non-blank character, and then start converting until it finds the end of the string
or a non-hexadecimal numeric character. If the first non-blank character is not one of the
following hexadecimal characters, the return value is 0 (zero):
l (0-9, a-f, A-F);
l A space;
l A"+" (plus) or a "-" (minus) sign.
Syntax
StrToHex(String)
String:
959
Return Value
An integer (converted from String).
Related Functions
StrToReal, StrToValue, HexToStr
Example
Variable=StrToHex("123");
! Sets Variable to hex 123, decimal 291
Variable=StrToHex("F2");
! Sets Variable to hex F2, decimal 242
Variable=StrToHex("G45");
Variable=StrToHex("-FG");
! Sets Variable to hex, -F decimal -15.
See Also
StrToInt
Converts a string into an integer. This function will search the string for the first non-
blank character, and then start converting until it finds the end of the string or a non-
numeric character. If the first non-blank character is not a numeric character (0-9), a
space, a " + " or a " - " sign, the return value is 0 (zero).
Syntax
StrToInt(String)
String:
Return Value
An integer (converted from String).
Related Functions
StrToReal, StrToValue
Example
Variable=StrToInt("45");
960

Variable=StrToInt("45.23");
Variable=StrToInt("A45");
See Also
StrToLines
Converts a string into separate lines that contain no more than the number of characters
specified in the MaxChars argument.
The function splits the string by inserting newline characters into the text string, thus
dividing it into separate lines. The string will be split at a whitespace character if pos-
sible, and that whitespace will be replaced by the newline character. If no whitespace
characters are available then the insertion will be made at the maximum number of char-
acters from the previous line break.
Syntax
StrToLines(String,MaxChars, nLines)
String:
MaxChars:
The maximum number of characters permitted in each new line produced by the StrToLines() func-
tion.
nLines:
The number of lines produced by the StrToLines() function from the input string.
Return Value
An integer (nLines) containing the number of lines produced by the StrToLines() function
from the input string.
Example
BrokenString=StrToLines("Was that a real Stegosaur?", 5, nLines);

!The function returns the value 6 in nLines, and Broken String now contains:
Was
that
a
real
Stego
961
saur?
BrokenString=StrToLines("It breaks the string by inserting newline characters into
the text.", 16, nLines);
!The function returns the value 6 in nLines, and Broken String now contains:
It breaks the
string by
inserting
newline
characters into
the text.
See Also
StrToLocalText
Converts a native string into the local version of that string. (The string needs to be con-
tained within quotation marks, as shown in the example below.) The local version is
taken from the current language database(as specified using the [Language]LocalLanguage
parameter).
StrToLocalText(sText)
sText:
The string for which you would like the local translation returned. This string needs to be enclosed
in quotation marks. For example:
"@(Motor Overload)"
Return Value
The local version of the text if it was found, otherwise the native text or "#MESS" is
returned, depending on the setting of the [Language]DisplayError parameter.
Related Functions
LanguageFileTranslate
Example
StrToLocalText("@(Motor Overload)");
! Returns the Local translation of Motor Overload.
See Also
StrToPeriod
962
Converts a string into a time period. You would normally use this function to convert
operator input, for example, to set a trend period.
A valid period string is in the format HH:MM:SS, MM:SS or SS, where HH is the hours,
MM is the minutes and SS is the seconds. The colon character (':') represents the time
delimiter for these fields, which will be the current system time delimiter as set in the
Windows Control Panel.
If minutes are specified, seconds need to be in the range 0-59. If hours are specified, min-
utes need to be in the range 0-59.
Syntax
StrToPeriod(String)
String:
Return Value
A period (converted from String), or -1 if no conversion can be performed.
Related Functions
StrToTime, StrToDate
Example
Variable=StrToPeriod("200");
! Sets Variable to 200 (seconds).
Variable=StrToPeriod("200:40");
! Sets Variable to 12040 (12000 + 40 seconds).
Variable=StrToPeriod("48:00:40");
! Sets Variable to 172840 (172800 + 40 seconds).
See Also
StrToReal
Converts a string into a floating-point number. This function will search the string for
the first non-blank character, and then start converting until it finds the end of the string
or a non-numeric character. If the first non-blank character is not a numeric character (0-
9), a space, a decimal point, a " + " or a " - " sign, the return value is 0 (zero).
Syntax
StrToReal(String)
String:
963
Return Value
A floating-point number (converted from String).
Related Functions
StrToInt, StrToValue
Example
Variable=StrToReal("45");
Variable=StrToReal("45.23");
Variable=StrToReal("A45");
See Also
StrToTime
Converts a "time" string into a time/date variable. The value returned is the number of
seconds from midnight. You can add this value to the date to get the current time value.
To set the time delimiter, use the Windows Control Panel.
A valid time string is in the format HH:MM:SS or HH:MM:SS tt, where HH is the hour
in the range 0-23, MM is the minute in the range 0-59, SS is the second in the range 0-59
and tt is the time extension; for example,, am or pm. The colon character ':' represents
the time delimiter for these fields, which will be the current system time delimiter as set
in the Windows control panel.
Times may also be passed in the for HH or HH:MM. In other words, you may omit the
right-hand fields if they are 0.
Syntax
StrToTime(String)
String:
Return Value
A time/date variable, or -1 if no conversion can be performed.
Related Functions
964
Time, Date
Example
Variable=StrToTime("11:43:00");
! Sets Variable to (11*3600+43*60+0) seconds.
Variable=StrToTime("9:02");
! Sets Variable to (9*3600+2*60) seconds.
Variable=StrToTime("2");
! Sets Variable to (2*3600) seconds.
See Also
StrToValue
Converts a string into a floating-point number. This function is similar to the StrToReal()
function except that the function halts if it is passed an invalid string. The function will
search the string for the first non-blank character, and then start converting until it finds
the end of the string or a non-numeric character. If the first non-blank character is not a
numeric character (0-9), a space, a decimal point, a " +" or a " - " sign, the function will
halt.
Use this function to check keyboard input from the operator by setting control points (for
example, it minimizes the likelihood of a setpoint being set to 0 if the operator presses
ENTER or enters invalid data by mistake).
Syntax
StrToValue(String)
String:
Return Value
A floating-point number (converted from String).
Related Functions
StrToReal, StrToInt
Example
System Keyboard
965
Key Sequence F3 ######## Enter
Command SP123 = StrToValue(Arg1);
Comment Set setpoint 123 to value unless value is invalid
Note: If value is invalid the Cicode is halted. Any other Cicode after the StrToValue()
function will not execute.
See Also
StrTrim
Removes leading and trailing spaces from a string. Internal spaces are not removed
from the string.
Syntax
StrTrim(String)
String:
The source string.
Return Value
String with leading and trailing spaces removed.
Related Functions
StrPad, StrFill
Example
Variable=StrTrim(" Test String ");

! Sets Variable to "Test String".
See Also
StrTruncFont
Returns the truncated string using a particular font (specified by name) or the specified
number of characters.
Syntax
966
StrTruncFont(sText, sFont [, iLength] [, iLengthMode])

sText:
The text to truncate
sFont:
The name of the font that is used to display the text. The Font Name needs to be defined in the
Fonts database. If the font is not found, the default font is used.
iLength:
Length of the Text to display, either in characters or pixels depending on iLengthMode (default -1,
no truncation)
iLengthMode:

Return Value
A truncated string or the original one.
Related Functions
StrCalcWidth, StrTruncFontHnd
See Also
StrTruncFontHnd
Returns the truncated string using a particular font (specified by font number) or the
specified number of characters.
Syntax
StrTruncFontHnd(sText, hFont [, iLength] [, iLengthMode])

sText:
The text to truncate
hFont:
The font handle used to calculate the pixel width of the text. (To use the default font, set to -1).
iLength:
967
Length of the Text to display, either in characters or pixels depending on iLengthMode (default -1,
no truncation)
iLengthMode:

Return Value
A truncated string or the original one.
Related Functions
StrCalcWidth, StrTruncFont, DspFont, DspFontHnd

See Also
StrUpper
Converts a string to uppercase.
Syntax
StrUpper(String)
String:
The source string.
Return Value
The string (as uppercase).
Related Functions
StrLower
Example
Variable=StrUpper("abcdef");
! Sets Variable to "ABCDEF".
Variable=StrUpper("AbCdEf");
! Sets Variable to "ABCDEF".
See Also
StrWord
968
Gets the first word from a string. The word is removed from the string to allow the func-
tion to be repeated. Word separators can be a space, newline, carriage return, or tab char-
acter.
Syntax
StrWord(String)
String:
The source string.
Return Value
The first word from String (as a string).
Related Functions
StrSearch
Example
Str="THIS IS A STRING";
Variable=StrWord(Str);
! Sets Variable to "THIS".
! Sets Variable to "IS".
! Sets Variable to "A".
! Sets Variable to "STRING".
See Also
969
970
Chapter 51: Super Genie Functions
The Super Genie functions allow you to use SuperGenies in your runtime system.
Following are functions relating to Super Genies:
Ass Associates a variable tag with a Super Genie.
AssChain Chains the associations from the current Super Genie to a new
Super Genie.
AssMetadata Performs Super Genie associations using the "Name" and "Value"
fields.
AssMetadataPage Uses the metadata information from the current animation point for
the page associations for a new Super Genie page, and displays the
new Super Genie in the current page.
AssMetadataPopup Uses the metadata information from the current animation point for
the associations for a new Super Genie page, and displays the new
Super Genie in a new pop up window.
AssMetadataWin Uses the metadata information from the current animation point for
the associations for a new Super Genie page, and displays the new
Super Genie in a new window.
AssChainPage Chains the associations from the current Super Genie to a new
Super Genie, and displays the new Super Genie (in the current
window).
AssChainPopUp Chains the associations from the current Super Genie to a new
Super Genie, and displays the new Super Genie in a new popup
window.
AssChainWin Chains the associations from the current Super Genie to a new
Super Genie, and displays the new Super Genie in a new win-
dow. The new window will be of the same type as the current
window.
AssChainWinFree Stores the tag associations on an existing Super Genie, closes it,
then assigns the tags to a new window.
AssGetProperty Gets association information about the current Super Genie from
the datasource
AssGetScale Gets scale information about the associations of the current

Super Genie from the datasource
971
AssInfo Gets association information about the current Super Genie (that
is information about a variable tag that has been substituted into
the Super Genie).
AssInfoEx Gets association information about the current Super Genie (that
is information about a variable tag that has been substituted into
the Super Genie). Replacement for AssInfo supporting online
changes.
AssPage Associates up to eight variable tags with a Super Genie and dis-
plays the Super Genie in the current window.
AssPopUp Associates up to eight variable tags with a Super Genie and dis-
plays the Super Genie in a popup window.
AssScaleStr Gets scale information about the associations of the current

Super Genie (that is scale information about a variable tag that
has been substituted into the Super Genie).
AssTag Associates a variable tag with the current Super Genie. The asso-
ciation will be created for the current Super Genie only, and will
only come into effect after you re-display the Super Genie.
AssTitle Sets the runtime window title to the tag name of the first variable
substituted into the Super Genie.
AssVarTags Associates up to eight variable tags with a Super Genie. This

association is only made for the next Super Genie you display
(either in the current window or in a new window). You can use
this function repeatedly to associate more than 8 variable tags to
a Super Genie.
AssWin Associates up to eight variable tags with a Super Genie, and dis-
plays the Super Genie in a new window.
See Also
Functions Reference
Ass
Associates a variable tag with a Super Genie. This association is only made for the next
Super Genie you display (either in the current window or in a new window). You cannot
create an association for a Super Genie that is already displayed. You needs to call this
function once for every Super Genie substitution string in the Super Genie, otherwise the
variable (substitution string) will remain uninitialized and it will be displayed as #ASS.
This function provides the lowest level of support for associating Super Genie variables
with physical tags. The higher level functions (listed below) are simpler to use.
972
Syntax
Ass(hWin, nArg, sTag, nMode [, sClusterName] )

hWin:
The association will be created for the next Super Genie to display in the window specified here;
enter the window number or:
l -3 - for the current window when the page is changed. The page can be
changed by using the Page Cicode functions like PageDisplay, PageGoto,
etc.
l -2 - for the next new window or page displayed.
nArg:
The argument number or name (substitution string number or name) of the Super Genie string to be
replaced by sTag. For example, to replace ?INT 3? with sTag, set nArg to 3 ,or ?Level? set nArg to
Level.
sTag:
The variable tag name , or the equipment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item
notation) that will replace the Super Genie substitution string. The tag needs to be the same data
type as that specified by the Super Genie substitution string. For example, only a digital tag could
replace the substitution string ?DIGITAL 4?. Any other type of tag may raise a hardware alarm or
display #err. If the substitution string does not specify a type (for example, ?5?), you can use any
type except STRING.
The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster for example, "ClusterName.Tag" or
"ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
Note: If the tag name exceeds the length limit of 254 characters the hardware alarm
"Tag name exceed length limit" will be raised.
nMode:
The mode of the association. Set to 0.
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Variable Tag resides. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the tag via the page's current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in
quotation marks "".
Resolution of the tag's cluster context occurs when the page is displayed. It is resolved to the page's
cluster context, not the context in force when this function is called.
Return Value
Related Functions
973
AssChain, AssMetadata, AssMetadataPage, AssMetadataPopup, AssMetadataWin,

AssChainPage, AssChainPopUp, AssChainWin, AssChainWinFree, AssGetProperty, Ass-
GetScale, AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, Ass-
VarTags, AssWin
Example
//Using a string identifier for the substitution parameter

Ass(-2,"Level", "MIlK_LEVEL",0);
// Associate variable tag PV123 with the next Genie to display in the current window
Ass(-3, 5, "PV123", 0);
See Also
Super Genie Functions
AssChain
Chains the associations from the current Super Genie to a new Super Genie. Use this
function to display a new Super Genie when you already have one displayed. The new
Super Genie will inherit the associations of the first Super Genie.
This function provides the lowest level of support for chaining associations from one
Super Genie to another. You should call the higher level functions AssChainPage(),
AssChainWin(), and AssChainPopUp() - these functions are simpler to use.
Syntax
AssChain(hDest, hSource, nMode)

hDest:
The next Super Genie to display in the window specified here will inherit the associations of the cur-
rent Super Genie - enter the window number, or:
l -3: for the current window when the page is changed. The page can be
etc.
l -2: for the next new window or page displayed.
hSource:
The number of the window containing the source Super Genie (that is the Super Genie from which
the associations will be inherited).
nMode:
The mode of the association. Set to 0.
Return Value
974
Related Functions
Ass, AssMetadata, AssMetadataPage, AssMetadataPopup, AssMetadataWin, AssChain-

Page, AssChainPopUp, AssChainWin, AssChainWinFree, AssGetProperty, AssGetScale,
AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, Ass-
Win
Example
// Copy associations from the current Super Genie to !NewGenie

AssChain(WinNumber(), WinNumber(), 0);
PageDisplay("!NewGenie");
See Also
AssMetadata
This non-blocking function performs Super Genie associations using the "Name" and
"Value" fields defined on the Object Properties - Metadata tab, and matches it to the
'Name' field in the page associations table. While performing associations any addi-
tional metadata entries are ignored.
Syntax
AssMetadata(hWin [, nAn])
hWin:
The associations will be created for the next Super Genie to display in the window specified. Enter
the window number or
l -3: for the current window when the page is changed. The page can be
etc.
l -2: for the next new window or page displayed.
nAN:
initions that will be used to perform the association operations.This parameter is optional with -2
being the default value.When -2 is specified, it is equivalent to DspGetAnCur() which returns the
animation number of the current active command cursor, please refer DspGetAnCur() for usage and
limitations.
975
If called after other cicode functions in a command expression field, retrieve the animation
number first, then pass it through the nAN parameter.
ment damage.
Return Value
Example
/* Example of calling AssMetadata after other cicode functions */

An = DspGetAnCur();
SomeVal = TagRead(“SomeTag”); // do additional work
AssMetadata(-2, An);
PageOpen(“!TestSG”);
Related Functions
Ass, AssChain, AssMetadataPage, AssMetadataPopup, AssMetadataWin,

VarTags, AssWin
See Also
AssMetadataPage
Uses the metadata information from the current object for the page associations for a
new Super Genie page, and displays the new Super Genie (in the current page).
Syntax
AssMetadataPage(sPage [,nAN])
sPage:
The name of the Super Genie page to open.
nAN:
976
being the default value. When -2 is specified, it is equivalent to DspGetAnCur() which returns the
limitations.
ment damage.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, error code if unsuccessful.
Example
/* Example of calling AssMetadataPage after other cicode functions */
An = KeyGetCursor();
AssMetadataPage(“!TestSG”, An);
Related Functions
Ass, AssChain, AssMetadata, AssMetadataPopup, AssMetadataWin, AssChainPage,

AssChainPopUp, AssChainWin, AssChainWinFree, AssGetProperty, AssGetScale,
Win
See Also
AssMetadataPopUp
Uses the metadata information from the current animation point for the associations for
a new Super Genie page, and displays the new Super Genie in a pop up window.
Syntax
AssMetadataPopUp(sPage [,nAN])
sPage
nAN:
977
being the default value. When -2 is specified, it is equivalent to DspGetAnCur() which returns the
limitations.
ment damage.
Return Value
Example
/* Example of calling AssMetadataPopup after other cicode functions */
An = DspGetAnCur();
AssMetadataPopup(“!TestSG”, An);
Related Functions
Ass, AssChain, AssMetadata, AssMetadataPage, AssMetadataWin, AssChainPage,

Win
See Also
AssMetadataWin
Uses the metadata information from the current animation-point for the associations for
a new Super Genie page, and displays the new Super Genie in a new window.
Syntax
AssMetadataWin(sPage, INT x, INT y, INT mode [,nAN])

sPage:
X:
The x pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window. Default value is 0.
978
Y:
The y pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window. Default value is 0.
Mode:
0 - Normal page (default value).

1 - Page child window. The window is closed when a new page is displayed,
for example, when the PageDisplay() or PageGoto() function is called.
The parent is the current active window.
2 - Window child window. The window is closed automatically when the par-
ent window is freed with the WinFree() function. The parent is the cur-
rent active window.
4 - No re-size. The window is displayed with thin borders and no max-
imize/minimize icons. The window cannot be re-sized.
8 - No icons. The window is displayed with thin borders and no max-
imize/minimize or system menu icons. The window cannot be re-sized.
16 - No caption. The window is displayed with thin borders, no caption, and
no maximize/minimize or system menu icons. The window cannot be
re-sized.
32 - Echo enabled. When enabled, keyboard echo, prompts, and error messages
are displayed on the parent window. This mode should only be used
with child windows (for example, Mode 1 and 2).
64 - Always on top.
128 - Open a unique window. This mode stops this window from being
opened more then once.
256 - Display the entire window. This mode commands that no parts of the
window will appear off the screen
512 - Open a unique Super Genie. This mode stops a Super Genie from being
opened more than once (at the same time). However, the same Super
Genie with different associations can be opened.
1024 - Disables dynamic resizing of the new window, overriding the setting of
the [Page]DynamicSizing parameter.
4096 - Allows the window to be resized without maintaining the current aspect
ratio. The aspect ratio defines the relationship between the width and the
height of the window, which means this setting allows you to stretch or
compress the window to any proportions. This option overrides the set-
ting of the [Page]MaintainAspectRatio parameter.
979
8192 - Text on a page will be resized in proportion with the maximum scale
change for a resized window. For example, consider a page that is
resized to three times the original width, and half the original height. If
this mode is set, the font size of the text on the page will be tripled (in
proportion with the maximum scale). This option overrides the setting of
the [Page] ScaleTextToMax parameter.
16384 - Hide the horizontal scroll bar.
32768 - Hide the vertical scroll bar.
65536 - Disable horizontal scrolling.
131072 - Disable vertical scrolling.
You can select multiple modes by adding modes together (for example, set Mode to 9 to open a
page child window without maximize, minimize, or system menu icons).
nAN:
being the default value.When -2 is specified, it is equivalent to DspGetAnCur() which returns the
limitations.
ment damage.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, error code if unsuccessful.
Example
/* Example of calling AssMetadataWin after other cicode functions */
An = DspGetAnCur();
AssMetadataWin(“!TestSG”, 50, 50, 1, An);
Related Functions
980
Ass, AssChain, AssMetadata, AssMetadataPage, AssMetadataPopup, AssChainPage,

Win
See Also
AssChainPage
Chains the associations from the current Super Genie to a new Super Genie, and dis-
plays the new Super Genie (in the current window). Use this function to display a new
Super Genie when you already have one displayed. The new Super Genie will inherit
the associations of the first Super Genie.
Syntax
AssChainPage(sPage)
sPage:
The page name of the Super Genie. If you prefixed your Super Genie page name with an excla-
mation mark (!), remember to include it here.
Return Value
Related Functions
Ass, AssChain, AssMetadata, AssMetadataPage, AssMetadataPopup, AssMetadataWin,

Win
Example
// Display new Super Genie in current window, using current associations

AssChainPage("!NewGenie");
See Also
AssChainPopUp
981
plays the new Super Genie in a new popup window. Use this function to display a new
Super Genie in a new popup window when a Super Genie is already displayed. The
new Super Genie will inherit the associations of the first.
Note: This function helps to prevent the Super Genie from being opened more than
once (at the same time). However, the same Super Genie with different associations
can be opened.
Syntax
AssChainPopUp(sPage)
sPage
Return Value
Related Functions

AssChainPage, AssChainWin, AssChainWinFree, AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo,
AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, AssWin
Example
// Display new Super Genie in new popup using current associations

AssChainPopUp("!NewGenie");
See Also
AssChainWin
plays the new Super Genie in a new window. The new window will be of the same type
as the current window. Use this function to display a new Super Genie in a new win-
dow when a Super Genie is already displayed. The new Super Genie will inherit the
associations of the first.
Syntax
AssChainWin(sPage, X, Y, Mode)
982
sPage:
l X - The x pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
l Y - The y pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
Mode:
0 - Normal page.
rent active window.
re-sized.
64 - Always on top.
128 - Open a unique window. This mode helps to prevent this window from
being opened more then once.
256 - Display the entire window. This mode helps to ensure that no parts of
the window will appear off the screen
512 - Open a unique Super Genie. This mode helps to prevent a Super Genie
from being opened more than once (at the same time). However, the
same Super Genie with different associations can be opened.
You can select multiple modes by adding modes together (for example, set Mode to 9 to open a page
child window without maximize, minimize, or system menu icons).
Return Value
983
Related Functions

AssChainPage, AssChainPopUp, AssChainWinFree, AssGetProperty, AssGetScale,
Win
Example
// Displays a new super genie in a new window using the current associations
AssChainWin("!NewGenie", 100, 200, 1 + 8);
See Also
AssChainWinFree
Stores the tag associations on an existing Super Genie, closes it, then assigns the tags to
a new window. This allows a Super Genie popup window to call another popup win-
dow, and close the parent popup.
This function is effectively the same as the AssChainWin() function, but frees the current
Super Genie.
Syntax
AssChainWinFree(sPage, X, Y, Mode)
sPage:
X - the x pixel coordinate of the top-left corner of the window.

Y - the y pixel coordinate of the top-left corner of the window.
Mode:
0 - Normal page.
rent active window.
984

re-sized.
64 - Always on top.
256 - Display the entire window. This mode helps to ensure that no parts of
the window will appear off the screen
You can select multiple modes by adding modes together (for example, set Mode to 9 to open a page
child window without maximize, minimize, or system menu icons).
Return Value
Related Functions

AssChainPage, AssChainPopUp, AssChainWin, AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo,
AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, AssWin
Example
// Close the current genie window and display a new genie using the current asso-
ciations
AssChainWinFree("!GeniePopup", 200, 300, 1 + 8);
See Also
AssGetProperty
985
This function gets association information about the current Super Genie from the data-
source (that is information about a variable tag that has been substituted into the Super
Genie). You can only call this function on a Super Genie after the associations are com-
pleted.
Use this function to display association information as part of the Super Genie. For exam-
ple, if you have a Super Genie that is a loop controller, you could display the name of
the loop at the top of the loop controller box. Each time the Super Genie is used with dif-
ferent associations (specifically a different tag name association) the correct loop name
will be displayed.
If a constant value is associated, then only the constant value can be retrieved through
the TagName property. The remaining properties are not valid.
This function replace AssInfo.
Syntax
AssGetProperty(Arg, sProperty [, iCachedMode] )

Arg:
The argument number or name (integer or string)of the association from which to get information.
sProperty:
The property to read. Property names are case sensitive. Supported properties are:
Address - The configured address of the associated tag (as specified in the var-
iable tags form)
ArraySize - Array size of the associated tag. Returns 1 for non-array types
AssFullName - Full name of the association tag in the form cluster.tagname even
if the tag is not resolved
ClusterName - Name of the cluster the associated tag resides on.
DataBitWidth - Number of bits used to store the value
Description - Description of the associated tag
EngUnitsHigh - Maximum scaled value
EngUnitsLow - Minimum scaled value
Equipment - Name of the equipment
Format - Format bit string. The format information is stored in the integer as fol-
lows:
l Bits 0-7 - format width
l Bits 8-15 - number of decimal places
l Bits 16 - zero-padded
l Bit 17 - left-justified
l Bit 18 - display engineering units
l Bit 20 - exponential (scientific) notation
986
ErrorValUsed - Returns 1 if the defined error value was used for the SuperGenie
association. This means that tag name is invalid/unresolved or the sub-
stitutions are not complete. This is only relevant for named SuperGenies.
0 is returned if the association string provided a value, or a default
value was not defined.
FormatDecPlaces - Number of decimal places for default format
FormatWidth - Number of characters used in default format
FullName - Full name of the association tag in the form cluster.tagname If the
association tag is not resolved, returns an empty string.
Item - Name of the equipment item associated with the Tag. If the tag is not
resolved, returns an empty string.
Literal - Returns 1 if the substitution is a literal value, returns 0 if the sub-
stitution is a tag name.
RangeHigh - Maximum unscaled value
RangeLow - Minimum unscaled value
TagName - Name of the tag for the specified association. Will retrieve the tag
name regardless if you used equipment.item to reference the tag.
nType - General type of associated tag. Allowed values are:
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Byte
l 2 - Integer16
l 3 - UInteger16
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Real
l 6 - String
l 7 - ULong
l 8 - Undefined
Units - Engineering Units for example, %, mm, Volts

iCachedMode:
Optional parameter that specifies from where to retrieve the value for the property.
Note: When retrieving bit width ("DataBitWidth" property) or array size ("ArraySize"
property) from the local configuration (iCachedMode 2), the value is related to the
data structure in the device. For example, MODNET, is a 16 bit device and does not
have native LONG and REAL numbers. So when you have a LONG variable, an
array of 2 INTEGERS are needed to store it. In the example, the property "Dat-
987
aBitWidth" against the variable will return 16 and property "ArraySize" will return 2.
The combination of these two return values will add up to the correct bits.
-1 - The mode is determined by the INI parameter [Client]

TagReadCachedMode.
0 - The property value is retrieved direct from the server in blocking mode and
an error code is returned if it is not on the server (or the server is unavail-
able).
1 - The property value is retrieved from the cache and an error code is returned
if the cache is not loaded yet.
2 - The property value is retrieved from the local configuration and an error
code is returned if it is not available (this is the traditional behaviour).
3 - The property value is retrieved from the cache, if the cache is loaded, and
from the local configuration, if the cache is not loaded yet.
Default value is -1.
Return Value
String representation of the property of the association. On detection of an error, an

empty string and an error are set.
Related Functions

AssChainPage, AssChainPopUp, AssChainWin, AssChainWinFree, AssGetScale,
Win, TagGetProperty, TagGetScale, TagScaleStr, TagInfo
Example

AssGetProperty("MILK_LEVEL", "TagName", 0);
// Get the engineering full scale value for the 2nd

// argument of the association of the current Super Genie
EngFullScale = AssGetProperty(2, "EngUnitsHigh", 0);
// Get the cached engineering units for the 3rd argument
// of the association of the current Super Genie
MeasureUnits = AssGetProperty(3, "Units", 1);
See Also
988
AssGetScale
Gets scale information about the associations of the current Super Genie from the data-
source (that is scale information about a variable tag that has been substituted into the
Super Genie). You can only call this function on a Super Genie after the associations are
completed.
Use this function to display association scale information as part of the Super Genie. For
example, if you have a bar graph illustrating output, you could indicate zero, 50%, and
full scale output on the vertical axis of the graph. Each time the Super Genie is used
with different associations the correct scale values will be displayed.
The value is returned as a formatted string using the association format specification
and (optionally) the engineering units.
This function replaces AssScaleStr.
Syntax
AssGetScale(iArg, iPercent, iEngUnits [, iCached] )

iArg:
The argument number or name of the association from which to get information.
iPercent:
The percentage of full scale of the returned value.
iEngUnits:
Flag to determine if the value is returned with engineering units:
0 - Return the value without engineering units

1 - Return the value with engineering units
iCached:
Optional flag to attempt to retrieve the cached value for the property rather than the current value.
This makes the function non-blocking. If the property has not yet been cached, an error is set.
0 - Do not force cached read. Cicode is blocking

1 - Force cached read. Cicode is non-blocking
Default value is 1 (true).
Return Value
The scale of the association (as a string).
Related Functions
989

AssChainPage, AssChainPopUp, AssChainWin, AssChainWinFree, AssGetProperty,
Example
AssGetScale("MILK_LEVEL", 50, 1, 0);
// Display the zero, 50% and full scale of the 2nd argument
// of the association of the current Super Genie
DspText(31,0,AssGetScale(2, 0, 1));
See Also
AssInfo
Gets association information about the current Super Genie (that is information about a
variable tag that has been substituted into the Super Genie). You can only call this func-
tion on a Super Genie after the associations are completed.
ferent associations (specifically a different tag name or equipment.item association) the
correct loop name will be displayed.
Note: In some cases it may be beneficial to replace AssInfo with either the Ass-
GetProperty or the AssInfoEx function. If the Tag properties are updated, AssInfo
does not get the updated values whereas AssGetProperty does. In addition, the func-
tion AssInfoEx has been introduced to make it easier to make legacy Cicode com-
patible with online changes. In a large number of cases AssInfo can be replaced with
AssInfoEx using Find and Replace (see Using Find and Replace in a project). Please
be aware that if you are replacing an instance of AssInfo with AssInfoEx in a loop,
you may want to make AssInfoEx blocking using the iCached argument to verify you
are using the correct value for the Tag in your logic.
Syntax
AssInfo(sArg, nType [, iCachedMode])
990
sArg:
When you associate variable tags (can use equipment.item to reference the variable tag) with Super
Genies, the Super Genie substitution strings are replaced by variable tags. The sArg argument
allows you to get information about one of those variable tags. What you need to know is which
substitution string it replaced when the association was performed.
Enter the argument number or name (substitution string number or name) of the relevant sub-
stitution string. For example, if you want information about the variable that replaced substitution
string
?INT 3?
set sArg to 3.
Or
?Level?
set sArg to Level
nType:
0 - The Tag name of the association. If the association tag is not resolved,
returns an empty string.
1 - Engineering units
2 - Raw zero scale
3 - Raw full scale
4 - Engineering zero scale
5 - Engineering full scale
6 - Width of the format
7 - Number of decimal places of format
8 - The Tag format as a long integer. The format information is stored in the
integer as follows:
l Bit 17- left-justified
9 - Logical Unit Number - I/O device number (for internal use)

10 - Raw Type - Protocol's raw data type number for this tag. Type numbers
are:
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Integer
991
l 2 - Real
l 3 - BCD
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Long BCD
l 6 - Long Real
l 7 - String
l 8 - Byte
l 9 - Void
l 10 - Unsigned integer
11 - Bit Width - Tag's size in bits. For example, an INT is 16 bits
12 - Unit Type - Protocol's unit type number for this tag
13 - Unit Address - Tag's address after the protocol DBF's template is applied.
14 - Unit Count - Array size. For example, if the tag's address is I1[50], the unit
count is 50.
15 - Record Number - Tag's record number in variable.DBF - 1. That is, the first
tag has a record number of 0.
16 - Comment - As defined in the variable tags list.
17 - ClusterName of the tag. If the association tag is not resolved, returns an
empty string.
18 - Full name (cluster.tagname) of the associated tag. If the association tag is not
19 - Full name (cluster.tagname) of the associated tag even if the association tag
is not resolved.
20 - Configured Address of the tag. If the tag is not resolved, returns an empty
string.
21 - Network Number - I/O device number (as defined by the Number field of
the I/O Devices dialog).
22 - Name of the equipment associated with the Tag. If the association tag is
not resolved, returns an empty string.
23 - General Type.
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Byte
l 2 - Integer16
l 3 - UInteger 16
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Real
l 6 - String
l 7 - ULong
l 8 - Undefined
24 - Reserved for internal use.
992
25 - Name of the equipment item associated with the Tag. If the tag is not
If the tag is a local variable, mode 9 error code 348 is retrieved when cache mode is 0,1,2,3. Modes
12, 13, 14 and 15 will return an empty string (error 274 is trapped).
Type 8 - 16 are only supported when iCachedMode equals to 2 or 3.
iCachedMode:
Note: When retrieving bit width (Type 11) or unit count (Type 14) from the local con-
figuration (iCachedMode 2), the value is related to the data structure in the device.
For example, MODNET, is a 16 bit device and does not have native LONG and
REAL numbers. So if you have a LONG variable, 2 INTEGERS are needed to store it.
In this case, Type 11 against the variable will return 16 and Type 14 will return 2.

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
Note: When retrieving bit width (Type 11) or unit count (Type 14) from local con-
For example, MODNET, This is a 16 bit device does not have native LONG and
REAL numbers. So when you have a LONG variable, then 2 INTEGERS are needed
to store it. In the case, Type 11 against the variable will return 16 and Type 14 will
return 2. The combination of these two return values will add up to the correct bits.
Return Value
The value of the information as a string.
Related Functions
993

GetScale, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags,
AssWin, TagGetProperty, TagGetScale, TagScaleStr, TagInfo, TagInfoEx
Example
AssInfo("MILK_LEVEL", 1); (to get Engineering Units of the association )
sTag = AssInfo(1, 0); // Get the name of association 1

sEngLow = AssInfo(1, 4); // get the low engineering scale of association 1
See Also
AssInfoEx
Gets association information about the current Super Genie (that is information about a
variable tag that has been substituted into the Super Genie). You can only call this func-
tion on a Super Genie after the associations are completed.
ferent associations (specifically a different tag name association) the correct loop name
will be displayed.
Note: When replacing an instance of AssInfo with AssInfoEx in a loop, you may
want to make AssInfoEx blocking using the iCached argument to verify you are
using the correct value for the Tag in your logic.
Syntax
AssInfoEx(sArg, nType [, iCachedMode] )

sArg:
When you associate variable tags with super Genies, the Super Genie substitution strings are
replaced by variable tags. The sArg argument allows you to get information about one of those var-
iable tags. What you need to know is which substitution string it replaced when the association was
performed.
Enter the argument number (substitution string number) of the relevant substitution string. For exam-
ple, if you want information about the variable that replaced substitution string
?INT 3?
set sArg to 3.
994
nType:
0 - The Tag name from the variables table. This is the same as sName argu-
ment. (Returned to be compatible with the AssInfo() function).
2 - Raw zero scale
3 - Raw full scale
integer as follows:


are:
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Integer
l 2 - Real
l 3 - BCD
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Long BCD
l 6 - Long Real
l 7 - String
l 8 - Byte
l 9 - Void

count is 50.
995
17 - ClusterName of the tag.
18 - Full name (cluster.tagname) of the tag.
19 - Full name (cluster.tagname) of the associated tag even if the association tag
is not resolved.
string.
22 - Name of the equipment associated with the Tag. If the association tag is
not resolved, returns an empty string.
23 - General Type.
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Byte
l 2 - Integer16
l 3 - UInteger 16
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Real
l 6 - String
l 7 - ULong
l 8 - Undefined
iCachedMode:
996

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
Return Value
The value of the information as a string. If an error is detected an empty string is

returned. The error code can be obtained by calling the IsError Cicode function.
Related Functions

GetScale, AssInfo, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, Ass-
Win, TagGetProperty, TagGetScale, TagScaleStr, TagInfo, TagInfoEx
Example
AssInfoEx("MILK_LEVEL", 1, 0); (to get Engineering units, no cache read)
997
sTag = AssInfoEx(1, 0); // Get the name of association 1 in non-blocking mode

sEngLow = AssInfoEx(1, 4, 0); // get the low engineering scale of association 1,
block until data is available
See Also
AssPage
Associates up to eight variable tags or equipment.item tag references with a Super Genie
and displays the Super Genie in the current window. The first variable tag (sTag1)
replaces Super Genie substitution string 1. The second variable tag (sTag2) replaces sub-
stitution string 2, and so on.
This function has the same effect as calling Ass() or AssTag() eight times, and then call-
ing the PageDisplay() function. The AssPage() function provides a quick way of asso-
ciating eight Super Genie variables and displaying the Super Genie - at the same time.
If you want to associate more than eight tags with the Super Genie, it is strongly rec-
ommended you call the AssVarTags(), AssTag(), or Ass() function to create the asso-
ciations before you call this function.
Syntax
AssPage(sPage, sTag1, [sTag2..8] )

sPage:
sTag1..sTag8:
The first eight physical tags to be associated with the Super Genie. For any given Super Genie, the
variable tags will replace the Super Genie substitution strings as follows:
Variable tag... replaces substitution string...
sTag1 1
sTag2 2
sTag3 3
sTag4 4
sTag5 5
998
sTag6 6
sTag7 7
sTag8 8
Because there is a strict correlation between the variable tag numbers and the substitution string
numbers, you need to know how your Super Genie substitutions are numbered. For example, if
your Super Genie has three unique substitution strings, numbered 1, 3, & 4, you need to enter a
blank ("") for sTag2.
The variable tags that you specify here need to be the same data type as that specified by the rel-
evant Super Genie substitution strings. For example, only a digital tag could replace the substitution
string ?DIGITAL 4?. If the substitution string does not specify a type (for example, ?5?), you can
use any type except STRING.
The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster for example, "ClusterName.Tag".
Return Value
Related Functions

GetScale, AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, Ass-
Win
Example
// Associate 3 tags with the Super Genie then display the Super Genie
AssPage("!MyGenie", "PV123", "OP123", "SP123");
See Also
AssPopUp
Associates up to eight variable tags or equipment.item tag references with a Super Genie
and displays the Super Genie in a popup window. The first variable tag (sTag1) replaces
Super Genie substitution string 1. The second variable tag (sTag2) replaces substitution
string 2, and so on.
999
This function has the same effect as calling the Ass() function or the AssTag() function
eight times, and then calling the WinNewAt() function to create a window at the posi-
tion of the mouse. The AssPopUp() function is a quick way of associating eight Super
Genie variables and displaying the Super Genie in a new window at the same time.
If you want to associate more than eight tags with the Super Genie, you need to call the
AssVarTags(), AssTag(), or Ass() function to create the associations before you call this
function.
Note: This function helps to prevent the Super Genie from being opened more than
once (at the same time). However, the same Super Genie with different associations
can be opened.
Syntax
AssPopUp(sPage, sTag1, [sTag2..8] )

sPage:
sTag1..sTag8:
The first 8 physical tags to be associated with the Super Genie. For any given Super Genie, the var-
iable tags will replace the Super Genie substitution strings as follows:
sTag1 1
sTag2 2
sTag3 3
sTag4 4
sTag5 5
sTag6 6
sTag7 7
sTag8 8
1000
your Super Genie has three unique substitution strings, numbered 1, 3, & 4, you have to enter a
The variable tags that you specify here needs to be the same data type as that specified by the rel-
Return Value
Related Functions

GetScale, AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, Ass-
Win
Example
// Associate 3 tags with the Super Genie then display it

AssPopUp("!MyGenie", "PV123", "OP123", "SP123");
See Also
AssScaleStr
Gets scale information about the associations of the current Super Genie (that is scale
information about a variable tag that has been substituted into the Super Genie). You
can only call this function on a Super Genie after the associations are completed.
Use this function to display association scale information as part of the Super Genie. For
example, if you have a bar graph illustrating output, you could indicate zero, 50%, and
full scale output on the vertical axis of the graph. Each time the Super Genie is used
with different associations the correct scale values will be displayed.
The value is returned as a formatted string using the association format specification
and (optionally) the engineering units.
Note: This function is being deprecated and is replaced by the AssGetScale function.
If the Tag properties are updated AssScaleStr does not get the updated values
1001
whereas AssGetScale does.
Syntax
STRING AssScaleStr(STRING Arg, INT Percent, INT EngUnits[,INT CachedMode])

Arg:
When you associate variable tags with super Genies, the Super Genie substitution strings are
replaced by variable tags. The nArg argument allows you to get scale information about a particular
variable tag. You need to know which substitution string the tag replaced when the association was
performed.
Enter the argument number or name(substitution string number or name) of the relevant substitution
string. For example, if you want scale information about the variable that replaced substitution
string:
?INT 3?
set nArg to 3.
or
?Level?
set nArg to Level
Percent:
EngUnits:
Determines if the value is returned with engineering units:
0 - Do not return the value with engineering units

CachedMode:

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
1002
Return Value
The scale of the association (as a string).
Related Functions

GetScale, AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssTag, AssTitle, AssVarTags, Ass-
Example
AssScaleStr("MILK_LEVEL", 50, 1);
// Display the zero, 50% and full scale of the variable that was substituted for
Super Genie arg no. 3
DspText(31,0,AssScaleStr(3, 0, 1));
See Also
AssTag
Associates a variable tag or equipment.item tag reference with a Super Genie. The asso-
ciation will only be created for the next Super Genie you display in the current window,
and will only come into effect after you re-display the Super Genie. You need to call this
function once for every substitution string in the current Super Genie, or the super-genie
variable (substitution string) will remain uninitialized and it will display as #ASS. You
cannot use this function to create associations for variables that will display in new win-
dows.
Syntax
1003
AssTag(nArg, sTag [, sClusterName] )

nArg:
The argument number (substitution string number) of the Super Genie string to be replaced by
sTag. For example, to replace ?INT 3? with sTag, set nArg to 3.
sTag:
The variable tag or equipment.item tag reference that will replace the Super Genie substitution string.
The tag needs to be the same data type as that specified by the Super Genie substitution string. For
example, only a digital tag could replace the substitution string ?DIGITAL 4?. If the substitution
string does not specify a type (for example, ?5?), you can use any type except STRING.
The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster for example, "ClusterName.Tag" or
"ClusterName.equipment.item".
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Variable Tag resides. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the tag via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation
marks "".
Resolution of the tag's cluster context occurs when the page is displayed. It is resolved to the page's
cluster context, not the context in force when this function is called.
Return Value
Related Functions

GetScale, AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTitle, AssVarTags,
AssWin
Example
// Associate variable tag PV123 and PV124 with !MyGenie

AssTag(1, "PV123");
AssTag(2, "PV124");
// Re-display the current Super Genie
PageDisplay("!MyGenie");
See Also
AssTitle
1004
Sets the runtime window title to the tag name of the first variable substituted into the
Super Genie.
Note:This function does not support named associations.
See Page Properties - General for information regarding using named associations in the
Window Title field.
Syntax
AssTitle( [Mask] [, Prefix] [, Suffix])

Mask:
The number of characters to mask (hide) from the right of the title string (optional).
Prefix:
A string to add to the beginning of the title string (optional).
Suffix:
A string to add to the end of the title string (optional).
Return Value
Related Functions

GetScale, AssInfo, AssInfoEx, AssPage, AssPopUp, AssScaleStr, AssTag, AssVarTags,
AssWin
See Also
AssVarTags
Associates up to eight variable tags with a Super Genie. This association is only made
for the next Super Genie you display (either in the current window or in a new window).
This function has an offset that allows you to specify which substitution string the first
variable tag will replace. This means that if you have a Super Genie with more than 8
substitution strings, you can use this function repeatedly (while increasing the offset),
until you have associated the necessary variable tags.
This function has the same effect as calling the Ass() function or the AssTag() function
eight times. The AssVarTags() function is a quick way of associating up to eight Super
Genie variables at the same time.
1005
Note:This function does not support named associations. To use named associations refer to AssMetadata.
Syntax
AssVarTags(hWin, nOffset, sTag1, [sTag2..8] )

hWin:
The association will be created for the next Super Genie to display in the window specified here -
enter the window number or:
-3 - for the current window when the page is changed. The page can be
etc.
-2 - for the next new window or page displayed.
nOffset:
By default, the first variable tag (sTag1) will replace substitution string 1, and sTag2 will replace
substitution string 2, and so on. Enter an offset to change this so that sTag1 replaces a substitution
string other than the first. For example, an offset of 8 means that sTag1 replaces string 9 instead of
the default string 1 (8+1=9), and sTag2 replaces string 10 instead of string 2 (8+2=10) etc. This means
that you can use this function repeatedly to associate more than eight variables.
sTag1..8:
The physical variable tags (up to eight) to be associated with the Super Genie. For any given Super
Genie, the variable tags will replace the Super Genie substitution strings as follows:
If nOffset is 0... sTag1 will replace the substitution string 1,
sTag2 will replace the substitution string 2, etc.
If nOffset is 8... sTag1 will replace the substitution string 9,
sTag2 will replace the substitution string 10, etc.
Return Value
No value is returned.
Related Functions
1006

Win
Example
// Associate 12 variables to the Super Genie

AssVarTags(WinNumber(), 0, "PV123", "SP123", "OP123", "PV124", "SP124", "OP124",
"PV125", "SP125");
AssVarTags(WinNumber(), 8, "OP125", "PV126", "SP126", "OP126");
PageDisplay("!MyGenie"); // Display the Super Genie
See Also
AssWin
Associates up to eight variable tags or equipment.item tag references with a Super Genie,
and displays the Super Genie in a new window. This function has the same effect as call-
ing the Ass() or AssTag() function eight times, and then calling the WinNewAt() func-
tion. The AssWin() function is a quick way of associating eight Super Genie variables
and creating a new window - at the same time.
If you want to associate more than eight tags with the Super Genie you need to call the
AssVarTags(), AssTag(), or Ass() function to create the associations before you call this
function.
Syntax
AssWin(sPage, X, Y, Mode, sTag1, [sTag2..8] )

sPage:
X - The x pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.

Y - The y pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
Mode:
0 - Normal page.
1007
rent active window.
re-sized.
64 - Always on top.
128 - Open a unique window. This mode stops this window from being
opened more then once.
512 - Open a unique Super Genie. This mode stops a Super Genie from being
opened more than once (at the same time). However, the same Super
Genie with different associations can be opened.
sTag1..8:
The first eight physical tags to be associated with the Super Genie. For any given Super Genie, the
variable tags will replace the Super Genie substitution strings as follows:
sTag1 1
sTag2 2
sTag3 3
sTag4 4
1008
sTag5 5
sTag6 6
sTag7 7
sTag8 8
The variable tags that you specify here need to be the same data type as that specified by the rel-
Return Value
Related Functions

VarTags
Example
// Associate 3 tags with the Super Genie

// then display the new window at (100,200) in mode 9
AssWin("!MyGenie", 100, 200, 1 + 8, "PV123", "OP123", "SP123");
See Also
1009
1010
Chapter 52: Table (Array) Functions
Table functions perform mathematical functions on entire tables (or arrays), such as the
calculation of minimum, maximum, average, and standard deviation values.
Note: This function only supports arrays declared in Cicode and not variable tag arrays.
Following are functions relating to Tables:
Table- Gets a value from a table.

Lookup
Table- Performs mathematical operations on a table, for example, average, max-

Math imum, minimum, etc.
Table- Shifts a table, left or right.

Shift
Note: This function only supports arrays declared in Cicode and not variable tag
arrays.
See Also
Functions Reference
TableLookup
Searches for a value in a table, and returns the position (offset) of the value in the table.
Be aware that the first item in a table is offset 0 (zero), the next item is offset 1, etc.
arrays.
Syntax
TableLookup(Table, Size, Value)

Table:
The table to search. The table needs to be an array of real numbers.
Size:
The maximum number of items in the table.
1011
Value:
The value to locate.
Return Value
The offset to the table value, or -1 if the value does not exist.
Related Functions
TableMath
Example
REAL Levels[5]=10,15,50,100,200;
Variable=TableLookup(Levels,5,50);
Variable=TableLookup(Levels,5,45);
See Also
TableMath
Performs mathematical operations on a table of real (floating-point) numbers. This func-
tion supports minimum, maximum, average, standard deviation, and total operations
on a table of values. Use this function for operating on tables returned from the trend sys-
tem with the TrnGetTable() function. You can set the Mode to either accept or ignore
invalid or gated data returned from TrnGetTable().
Notes:
This function cannot check the length of any arrays passed to it. If the array is
shorter than the size argument, unpredictable results can occur, such as data in mem-
ory being overwritten, or a general protection fault.
This function only supports arrays declared in Cicode and not variable tag arrays.
Always confirm that arrays are of appropriate length before passing them to the TableMath
function.
ment damage.
1012
Syntax
TableMath(Table, Size, Command [, Mode] )

Table:
Any table of floating-point numbers.
Size:
Command:
The mathematical operation to perform on the table:
0 - Minimum
1 - Maximum
2 - Average
3 - Standard deviation
4 - Total
Mode:
The mode of the operation:
0 - Operate on all data - default

1 - Ignore invalid or gated data returned from the TrnGetTable() function
Return Value
Returns the value related to the requested mathematical operation performed on the
table (Minimum, Maximum, Average, Standard deviation or Total).\
Related Functions
TableLookup TrnGetTable
Example
REAL Array[5]=10,15,50,100,200;
REAL Min,Avg;
! Get the minimum value.
Min=TableMath(Array, 5, 0, 0); ! Sets Min to 10.
! Get the average value.
Avg=TableMath(Array, 5, 2, 0); ! Sets Avg to 75.
See Also
TableShift
1013
Shifts table items in a table by a number of positions. You can shift the table left or right.
Items shifted off the end of the table are lost. Items within a table that are not replaced by
other items (that have moved) are set to 0.
arrays.
Syntax
TableShift(Table, Size, Count)

Table:
The table to shift, an array of real numbers.
Size:
Count:
The number of positions to shift the table items. A negative Count moves items to the right and a
positive Count moves items to the left.
Return Value
Related Functions
TableMath, TableLookup
Example
REAL Levels[5]=10,15,50,100,200;
TableShift(Levels,5,2);
/* Shifts the table items by 2 positions to the left, that is
Levels[0]=50
Levels[1]=100
Levels[2]=200
Levels[3]=0
Levels[4]=0 */
See Also
1014
Chapter 53: Tag Functions
The Tag functions allow you to read the values of variables in I/O devices such as PLCs,
and to write data into these I/O device variables. These functions also allow you to con-
trol I/O devices and to display information about I/O devices.
Following are functions relating to Tags:
SubscriptionAddCallback Adds a callback function to a tag subscription.
SubscriptionGetAttribute Reads an attribute value of a tag subscription.
SubscriptionGetInfo Reads the specified text information about a subscribed tag.
SubscriptionGetQuality Reads quality of a subscribed tag.
SubscriptionGetTag Reads a value, quality and timestamps of a subscribed tag.
SubscriptionGetTimestamp Reads the specified timestamp of a subscribed tag.
SubscriptionGetValue Reads a value of a subscribed tag.
Sub- Removes a callback function from a tag subscription.

scriptionRemoveCallback
TagBrowseClose Terminates an active data browse session and cleans up all

TagBrowseFirst Places the data browse cursor at the first record.
TagBrowseGetField Retrieves the value of the specified field from the record the
TagBrowseNext Moves the data browse cursor forward one record.
TagBrowseNumRecords Gets the number of records for a given browsing session.
TagBrowseOpen Initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to the

new session that can be used in subsequent data browse func-
tion calls.
TagBrowsePrev Moves the data browse cursor back one record.
TagDebug Displays a dialog which allows you to select any configured tag
to read or change (write) its value.
TagDebugForm Displays a dialog that allows you to select a variable tag and
perform some basic read/write operations.
TagEventFormat Returns a handle to the format of the data used by the TagE-
ventQueue().
1015
TagEventQueue Opens the tag update event queue.
TagGetProperty Gets a property for a variable tag from the datasource.
TagGetScale Gets the value of a tag at a specified scale from the data-
source.
TagInfo Gets information about a variable tag.
TagInfoEx Gets information about a variable tag.
TagRamp Increments a tag by a percentage amount.
TagRDBReload Reloads the variable tag database so when TagInfo is called it

picks up online changes to the tag database.
TagRead Reads a variable from an I/O Device.
TagReadEx Reads the value, quality and timestamp of a particular tag ele-
ment.
TagResolve Increments a reference count on a tag to keep it resolved.
TagScaleStr Gets the value of a tag at a specified scale.
TagSetOverrideBad Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag to Bad Non
Specific.
TagSetOverrideGood Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag to Good Non
Specific.
TagSetOverrideUncertain Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag to Uncertain

Non Specific.
TagSetOverrideQuality Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag.
TagSubscribe Subscribes a tag for periodic monitoring and event handling.
TagUnsubscribe Unsubscribes a tag for periodic monitoring and event han-

dling.
TagUnresolve Unresolves a reference count implemented on a tag by TagRe-

solve().
TagWrite Writes to an I/O Device variable.
TagWriteEventQue Opens the tag write event queue.
See Also
Functions Reference
SubscriptionAddCallback
Adds a function callback to a tag subscription. When the value change for a subscribed
tag is detected, a callback function can be called. This implements change based Cicode
and avoids continuously polling a tag value to monitor changes.
Multiple callbacks are possible to the same subscription.
1016
To remove a callback from a subscription use the SubscriptionRemoveCallback function.
Syntax
SubscriptionAddCallback(iHandle, sCallback)
iHandle
Integer handle of the subscription to add a callback to.
sCallback
String stating the name of a function to call when the value is updated. The function should have
the structure:
FUNCTION evtHandler(INT subsHandle)

..
End
Where subsHandle is the subscription that raised the event.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagSubscribe, TagUnsubscribe, SubscriptionGetAttribute, SubscriptionRemoveCallback

See Also
Tag Functions
SubscriptionGetAttribute
Reads the specified attribute value of a subscribed tag. Similar to TagRead.
Note: This function has been superseded and may be deprecated in a future release.
Please use the following functions: SubscriptionGetInfo, SubscriptionGetTimestamp,
SubscriptionGetQuality, SubscriptionGetValue or SubscriptionGetTag as sub-
stitutions in new projects.
Syntax
SubscriptionGetAttribute(iHandle, sAttribute [, iOffset] )

iHandle
Integer handle of the subscription to read from.
sAttribute
Attribute of the tag to read. Supported Attributes are:
1017
l ClusterName - Returns the resultant cluster context of the subscription. For

example, for the tag subscribed as "cluster1.tagname", the return value is
"cluster1".
There are several possible outcomes where no

cluster is specified in the subscription:
l If the tag is a local tag, an empty string will be
returned.
l If the tag is a variable tag and the system only
contains one cluster, this cluster will be returned.
l If the tag is a variable tag and there is a default
cluster being run in the Cicode, the default
cluster will be returned.
l If none of these options are true, an empty
string will be returned.
l FullName - Return the full subscription name. For example, for the tag sub-
scribed as "cluster1.tagname", return value is "cluster1.tagname". If the tag
was subscribed without a cluster the return value will be the tagname.
l TagName - Return the tagname for the subscription. For example, for the
tag subscribed as "cluster1.tagname", return value is "tagname".
l Value - The current value of the tag.
l ValueQuality - An indication of the current quality of the tag as an integer
number.
Note: The return value is not compatible with the

QUALITY data type or the quality Cicode functions.
Use SubscriptionGetQuality.
l ValueTimestamp - The time when the tag last changed. It is returned as an

integer value compatible with a time/data variable.
Note: The return value is not compatible with the

TIMESTAMP data type. Use Sub-
scriptionGetTimestamp.
l ValueTimestampMS - The millisecond part of the time when the tag last
changed.
iOffset
Optional integer expressing the zero based index of an array attribute. This is only valid for the
Value attribute. Default value is 0.
1018
Return Value
String representation of the cached value for a subscribed tag. On error, an empty string
and an error is set.
Related Functions
SubscriptionGetInfo, SubscriptionGetTimestamp, SubscriptionGetQuality, Sub-

scriptionGetValue, SubscriptionGetTag
See Also
SubscriptionGetInfo
Reads the specified text information about a subscribed tag.
Syntax
SubscriptionGetInfo(iHandle, sAttribute )
iHandle
sAttribute

l ClusterName - Return the cluster context of the subscription. For example,
for the tag subscribed as "cluster1.tagname", return value is "cluster1". If the
tag was subscribed without a cluster the return value will be an empty
string.
l FullName - Return the full subscription name. For example, for the tag sub-
scribed as "cluster1.tagname.field", return value is "cluster1.tagname.field".
If the tag was subscribed without a cluster, the return value will be the tag
name and/or element name. If the tag was subscribed without an element,
the return value will be the tag name and/or cluster name.
l TagName - Return the tagname for the subscription. For example, for the
tag subscribed as "cluster1.tagname", return value is "tagname".
l ElementName - Retrieve the element name of the subscription.
Return Value
String representation of the requested information for a subscribed tag. On error, returns
an empty string and an error is set.
Related Functions
1019
SubscriptionGetTimestamp, SubscriptionGetQuality, SubscriptionGetValue, Sub-

scriptionGetTag
Example
STRING TagName = SubscriptionGetInfo(hSub, "TagName");
See Also
Tag Functions
SubscriptionGetQuality
Reads quality of a subscribed tag.
Syntax
SubscriptionGetQuality(iHandle )
iHandle
Return Value
The quality for a subscribed tag. On error, QUAL_BAD.
Related Functions
SubscriptionGetInfo, SubscriptionGetTimestamp, SubscriptionGetValue, Sub-

scriptionGetTag
Example
QUALITY theQuality = SubscriptionGetQuality(hSub);
See Also
Tag Functions
SubscriptionGetTag
Reads a value, quality and timestamps of a subscribed tag.
Syntax
SubscriptionGetTag(iHandle, sOffset )
iHandle
sOffset
1020
Optional integer expressing the zero based index of an array attribute. This is only valid for the
Value attribute. Default value is 0.
Return Value
Returns a value, quality and timestamps of a subscribed tag. The type of the returned
value depends on a type of the subscribed tag. The quality and timestamps of the sub-
scribed tag are read and passed with the returned value.
Using SubscriptionGetValue gives similar results as using direct reference to a tag with-
out item ex. tag1, tag1.Field.
On error, returns either 0 for numerical data types or an empty string for strings.
Related Functions
SubscriptionGetTimestamp, SubscriptionGetQuality, SubscriptionGetInfo, Sub-

scriptionGetValue
Example
INT Value = SubscriptionGetTag(hSub);
See Also
Tag Functions
SubscriptionGetTimestamp
Reads the specified timestamp of a subscribed tag.
Syntax
SubscriptionGetTimestamp(iHandle, sAttribute )
iHandle
sAttribute

l Timestamp - The timestamp when the tag last changed. It is default value
used when this argument is not specified.
l QualityTimestamp - The timestamp when quality of the tag last changed.
l ValueTimestamp - The timestamp when value of the tag last changed.
Return Value
The requested timestamp for a subscribed tag. On error, 0 (INVALID TIMESTAMP).
Related Functions
1021
SubscriptionGetInfo, SubscriptionGetQuality, SubscriptionGetValue, SubscriptionGetTag
Example
TIMESTAMP theTime = SubscriptionGetTimestamp(hSub, "ValueTimestamp");
TIMESTAMP theTime = SubscriptionGetTimestamp(hSub);
See Also
Tag Functions
SubscriptionGetValue
Reads a value of a subscribed tag.
Syntax
SubscriptionGetValue(iHandle, sOffset )
iHandle
sOffset
Optional integer expressing the zero based index of an array attribute. Default value is 0.
Return Value
Returns a value of a subscribed tag. The type of the returned variable depends on a type
of the subscribed tag. The quality and timestamps of the subscribed tag are not read i.e.
quality of the returned value can be consider as GOOD and its timestamps as 0
(INVALID TIMESTAMP).
Using SubscriptionGetValue gives similar results as using direct reference to tag’s v item
ex. tag1.v, tag1.Field.v.
On error, returns either 0 for numerical data types or an empty string for strings.
Related Functions
SubscriptionGetTimestamp, SubscriptionGetQuality, SubscriptionGetInfo, Sub-

scriptionGetTag
Example
INT Value = SubscriptionGetValue(hSub);
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See Also
Tag Functions
SubscriptionRemoveCallback
Removes a function callback from a tag subscription. The subscription handle and call-
back function needs to match those used when adding the callback.
Syntax
SubscriptionRemoveCallback(iHandle, sCallback)
iHandle
Integer handle of the subscription of the callback.
sCallback
String stating the name of the callback function.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagSubscribe, TagUnsubscribe, SubscriptionAddCallback, SubscriptionGetAttribute

See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowseClose
The TagBrowseClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans up
Syntax
INT TagBrowseClose(LONG Session)

Session:
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a TagBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
0 if successful -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseFirst, TagBrowsePrev, TagBrowseNumRecords, Tag-

BrowseOpen, TagBrowseNext,TegBrowseGetField
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Example
// close
TBResult = TagBrowseClose(TBHandle);
End
See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowseFirst
The TagBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
Syntax
INT TagBrowseFirst(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseClose, TagBrowsePrev, TagBrowseNumRecords, Tag-

Example
// first
count = 1;
TBResult = TagBrowseFirst(TBHandle);
ErrLog("First: " + IntToStr(TBResult) + ", Error = " + IntToStr(IsError()));
WHILE (TBResult <> -1) DO

ErrLog("Entry " + IntToStr(count) + ": " +
"Tag: " + TagBrowseGetField(TBHandle , "TAG") + ", " +
"Type: " + TagBrowseGetField(TBHandle , "TYPE") + ", " +
"Addr: " + TagBrowseGetField(TBHandle , "ADDR") + ", " +
"Error = " + IntToStr(IsError()));
TBResult = TagBrowseNext(TBHandle);
ErrLog("Next: " + IntToStr(TBResult) +
1024
", Error = " + IntToStr(IsError()));

count = count + 1;
END
See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowseGetField
The TagBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the record
Syntax
STRING TagBrowseGetField(LONG Session, STRING FieldName)

Session:
Fieldname:
ADDR, ARR_SIZE, CLUSTER, COMMENT, DEADBAND, ENG_FULL, ENG_UNITS, ENG_

ZERO, EQUIPMENT, FORMAT, IODEV, PSI_TYPE, RAW_FULL, RAW_ZERO, SCALED_TYPE,
TAG, ITEM, TYPE
For details on these fields refer to the Browse Function Field Reference.
Return Value
The value of the specified field as a string if successful. An empty string may or may not
be an indication that an error has been detected. The last error should be checked in this
instance to determine if an error has actually occurred. -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseClose, TagBrowseFirst, TagBrowseNumRecords, Tag-

BrowseOpen, TagBrowseNext,
Example
// GetField
ErrLog("CLUSTER: " + TagBrowseGetField(TBHandle , "CLUSTER") +
ErrLog("IODEV: " + TagBrowseGetField(TBHandle , "IODEV") +
ErrLog("TAG: " + TagBrowseGetField(TBHandle , "TAG") +
1025

END
See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowseNext
The TagBrowseNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record.
Syntax
INT TagBrowseNext(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseClose, TagBrowseFirst, TagBrowsePrev, Tag-

BrowseNumRecords, TagBrowseOpen, TegBrowseGetField
Example
// next without first

TBResult = TagBrowseNext(TBHandle);
ErrLog("Next: " + IntToStr(TBResult) + ", Error = " + IntToStr(IsError()));
END
See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowseNumRecords
The TagBrowseNumRecords function gets the number of records for a given browsing
session. This function may not be accurate if the following occurs:
l Project misconfiguration on two separate machines

l Online changes happening on two separate machines.
1026
The count will be a consolidated sum of all browse records per I/O Device as returned by
each I/O Server in response to opening a browse session. The count reconciliation is per-
formed on the basis of the “best device status”, that is records with the “best status” are
picked and the others are discarded. “Best device status” is calculated as follows:
l Data Source online state (ONLINE is picked over OFFLINE), then

l Data Source active state (ACTIVE is picked over INACTIVE), then
l Data Source priority (higher priority is picked over a lower one, with
highest being 1 – for primary I/O device).
Syntax
INT TagBrowseNumRecords(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Number of records (INT) if successful -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseClose, TagBrowseFirst, TagBrowsePrev, TagBrowseOpen,

TagBrowseNext,TegBrowseGetField
Example
// number of records
TBResult = TagBrowseNumRecords(TBHandle);
ErrLog("Num Records: " + IntToStr(TBResult));
END
See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowseOpen
The TagBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to the
new session that can be used in subsequent data browse function calls. Tag records are
sorted on the server and, arrive at the client in the order specified by the sorting fields
parameter, or default sorting order as described below under the Sort parameter.
1027
NOTE: In order to conserve memory the following recommendations should be

observed, as multiple open tag browsing sessions will use a large amount of mem-
ory:
1. Close an opened session at the completion of the browsing session using Tag-
BrowseClose.
2. List only the fields that you wish to browse, not all fields.
Syntax
LONG TagBrowseOpen(STRING Filter, STRING Fields, STRING Sort[, STRING Clusters])

Filter:
Semicolon delimited list of predefined field name filters specifying the records to return during the
browsing session. If you do not specify a filter string then all tag records will be displayed.
If any of the filter names are invalid, opening a browsing session will not succeed and will return
an invalid handle.
Field:
Comma separated list of record fields to be returned during the browsing session. An empty field
string will return all possible fields.
Supported fields are:
Configuration Fields
ADDR, ARR_SIZE, CLUSTER, COMMENT, DEADBAND, ENG_FULL, ENG_UNITS, ENG_

ZERO, EQUIPMENT, FORMAT, IODEV, PSI_TYPE, RAW_FULL, RAW_ZERO, SCALED_TYPE,
TAG, TAG ITEM, TYPE
For full details on these fields refer to the Browse Function Field Reference.
The fields LOG_UNIT and NET_UNIT available when using the Cicode functions
TagInfo and TagInfoEx are also supported.
Runtime Fields
Field Description (predefined

Possible values
Value values)
OVR_ Override Mode integer (as per override mode element

MODE specification)
CTRL_ Control Mode (0-1) integer (as per control mode element spec-
MODE ification)
1028
Field Description (predefined

Possible values
Value values)
NUM_ Number of current subscriptions to integer

SUBS the tag
VALUE Default value as per value type
FIELD Field value as per value type
OVERRIDE Override value as per value type
VALID Last Valid value as per value type
STATUS Last Status value integer (as per status element spec-
ification)
Sort:
Comma delimited list of record fields to be returned in order of sorting preferences (each with an
indication of whether the sort is A - ascending or D - descending). For example "TYPE:D". By
default tag browsing records are sorted by the tag primary key Cluster.TagName. which is implic-
itly appended to the list of sorting fields, since all the other fields may end up not being unique.
Clusters:
browse. An empty string indicates that the all clusters will be browsed.
Return Value
Session handle (LONG) if successful, -1 if unsuccessful.
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseClose, TagBrowseFirst, TagBrowsePrev, Tag-

BrowseNumRecords, TagBrowseNext,TegBrowseGetField
Example
// open
TBResult = TagBrowseOpen("ADDR=*2; TYPE<=2", "TAG,TYPE,ADDR", "ADDR:D", "");
ErrLog("Open Session ID: " + IntToStr(TBResult) +
TBHandle = TBResult;
END
See Also
Tag Functions
TagBrowsePrev
1029
The TagBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you call
this function after you have reached the beginning of a browse, error code 412 is
Syntax
INT TagBrowsePrev(LONG Session)

Session:
Return Value
Related Functions
TagInfoEx, TagInfo, TagBrowseClose, TagBrowseFirst, TagBrowseNumRecords, Tag-

Example
// previous without first

TBResult = TagBrowsePrev(TBHandle);
ErrLog("Prev: " + IntToStr(TBResult) + ", Error = " + IntToStr(IsError()));
END
See Also
Tag Functions
TagDebug
Displays a dialog which allows you to select from a list of the configured variable tags
in your system. Once you have selected a tag, you can either press the Read button to
get the tag's current value; or change the value by entering a new one, and pressing the
Write button. This function should only be used for debugging or commissioning.
Note: An expanded version of the TagDebug dialog is available via the Cicode func-
tion TagDebugForm.
To read or change (write) the value of an element in an array variable, type it into the
dialog's variable tag field as follows:
1030
Syntax
TagDebug()
Return Value
The name of the tag entered in the dialog.
Related Functions
TagDebugForm, TagInfo, TagRead, TagWrite
Example
TagDebug(); /* Display debug form to allow user to debug */
See Also
Tag Functions
TagDebugForm
The TagDebugForm Cicode function displays a dialog that allows you to select a var-
iable tag and perform some basic read/write operations on it. This function is useful for
debugging or commissioning a project.
When the TagDebug form appears, you can perform the following tasks:
l Select a tag
You can manually enter the name of the tag you would like to debug, or you can
select it from the list included in the drop-down menu to the right of the Tag field.
Be aware that the drop-down list is limited to 500 tags.
You can use the Filter button to help locate specific items from the tags database.
A filter allows you to reduce the list of tags included in the tag drop-down menu
to only those that match the characters specified in the Tag Filter dialog. To apply
a filter, click on the Filter button and enter part of the name of the tag you would
like to locate. The text entered can be a common suffix, it does not need to be the
start of a tag name.
1031
Click OK to apply the filter, or Clear to remove it.

If a filter is currently implemented, an "F" will appear next to the Filter button. An
asterix (*) indicates no filter is currently being used.
Once you have a tag selected, you can specify additional properties in the field to
the right of the Tag field. The drop-down menu includes a list of available exten-
sions (for example, ".Field", ".Valid", ".Override", etc.). To automatically display
these additional properties when a read occurs, you should use the drop-down
menu in this field instead of manually adding an extension to a tag name.
l Read a tag
The Read button will retrieve the value for the tag you have specified, or an error
code will be displayed (for example, <Error 424: Tag not found>). Click on the
ErrHelp button for more information about Cicode error codes.
If successful, a read will display the following information about the selected tag:
l Last user request: the time the most recent read occurred.
l Tag Type: the data type.
l Base tag: confirmation of the tag name, including the selected extension.
l .Q (quality), .QT (quality timestamp), .VT (value timestamp), and .T (the object
timestamp, which is the most recent of the two timestamps). Click on the Tag-
ExtHelp button for more information.
l Eng Scale: RZ = raw zero; RF = Raw Full Scale; EZ = engineering zero; EF =
engineering full scale.
l Eng Units.
l Read from a tag array
You view information for a particular item within a tag array using the Array
Index field. This field allows you to specify the index number of the required item
within the selected tag array.
l Write to a tag
To write a value to the selected tag, key in the required value and click on the
Write button.
When a write has occurred, a log entry similar to the following will be added to
the syslog.dat file:
<timestamp> TagDebug() Write: User 'Engineer' set tag 'Entry_ScrapWeight' to
value ' 23.00' - NO ERROR
l Check the device status
1032
The Tag's Device Status button allows you to confirm if the host device for the
selected tag is currently online. In most cases, this will be useful in determining
the cause of an error code, for example, <Error 424: Tag not found>. Clicking the
button will update the current status of the device.
l Use the auto-read feature
The form allows for reads to be automatically repeated at a specified interval,
allowing you observe how a tag value is changing over time.
Clicking the Auto Read button will start the read cycle; the Stop Read button will
stop it. To adjust the read period, enter a value (milliseconds) in the field next to
the Auto Read button.
Syntax
TagDebugForm()
Return Value
The name of the tag entered in the dialog.
Related Functions
TagDebug, TagInfo, TagRead, TagWrite
Example
TagDebug(); /* Display debug form to allow user to debug */
See Also
Tag Functions
TagEventFormat
Returns a handle to the format of the data used by the TagEventQueue().
Syntax
TagEventFormat()
Parameters - None
Return Value
The format handle.
Related Functions
QuePeek, QueRead, TagEventQueue
Example
1033
Not applicable.
See Also
Tag Functions
TagEventQueue
Opens the tag update event queue. The I/O server writes events into this queue as they
are processed. These events include tag updates from drivers that support time-stamped
data.
To read events from this queue, use the QueRead() or QuePeek() functions. The data put
into the queue contains the following fields:
l Driver (the driver used to communicate with the I/O device)
l Port (the name of the port to which the I/O device is connected)
l Unit (the name of the I/O device)
l Tag (the variable tag name)
l Seconds (a UTC timestamp representing the number of seconds since 1970)
l Milliseconds (number of milliseconds since the last second)
l Value (the tag value)
l Quality (OPC component only equivalent to QualityGetPart, mode 7)
To use this function, you need to enable the tag update event queue with the [IOServer]
EnableEventQueue parameter. This parameter will tell the I/O Server to start placing
events into the queue. The function TagEventFormat() returns a handle to the format of
the data placed into the string field.
Enabling this formatting feature can increase CPU loading and reduce performance of
the I/O Server as every tag update event is formatted and placed in the queue. You
should reconsider using this feature if a decrease in performance is noticeable.
The maximum length of each queue is controlled by the [Code]Queue parameter. You
may need to adjust this parameter so as not to miss alarm events. When the queue is
full, the I/O Server will discard events.
Syntax
TagEventQueue()
Parameters - None
Return Value
The queue handle of the Tag Update Event queue.
Related Functions
1034
QuePeek, QueRead, TagEventFormat
Example
FUNCTION
ReadEvents()
INT status;
INT queue;
INT format;
INT eventId;
STRING event;
INT sec;
INT ms;
TIMESTAMP time;
queue = TagEventQueue();
format = TagEventFormat();
IF (queue <> -1 AND format <> -1) THEN
WHILE (true) DO
1035
status = QueRead(queue, eventId, event, 1);
IF status = 0 THEN
ErrLog("eventId: " + IntToStr(eventId));
StrToFmt(format, event);
ErrLog(" driver: " + FmtGetField(format, "Driver"));
ErrLog(" port: " + FmtGetField(format, "Port"));
ErrLog(" unit: " + FmtGetField(format, "Unit"));
ErrLog(" tag: " + FmtGetField(format, "Tag"));
sec = FmtGetField(format, "Seconds");
ms = FmtGetField(format, "Milliseconds");
time = TimeIntToTimestamp(sec, ms, 1);
ErrLog(" time: " + TimestampToStr(time,14));
ErrLog(" value: " + FmtGetField(format, "Value"));
ErrLog(" quality: " + FmtGetField(format, "Quality"));
END
END
END
END
1036
See Also
Tag Functions
TagGetProperty
This function reads a property of a variable tag from the datasource. This function
replaces TagInfo.
Syntax
STRING TagGetProperty(STRING Name, STRING Property [, INT CachedMode] [, STRING

ClusterName] )
Name:
The name of the tag or the equipment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item nota-
tion) from which to get information. The tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is "Clus-
terName.Tag" or "ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
Property:
The property to read. Property names are case sensitive. Supported properties are:
Address - Returns the configured address of the tag (as specified in the variable
tags form).
ArraySize - Array size of the associated tag. Returns 1 for non-array types.
ClusterName - Name of the cluster the tag resides on.
DataBitWidth - Number of bits used to store the value
Description - Tag description
EngUnitsHigh - Maximum scaled value
EngUnitsLow - Minimum scaled value
Equipment - Name of the equipment associated with the Tag.
Format - Format bit string. The format information is stored in the integer as fol-
lows:

1037
FormatDecPlaces - Number of decimal places for default format

FormatWidth - Number of characters used in default format
FullName - Full name of the tag in the form cluster.tagname.
Item - Name of the equipment item associated with the Tag. If the tag is not
RangeHigh - Maximum unscaled value
RangeLow - Minimum unscaled value
TagName - Name of the tag specified.
nType - General type of tag. Allowed values are:
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Byte
l 2 - Integer16
l 3 - UInteger16
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Real
l 6 - String
l 7 - ULong
l 8 - Undefined
Units - Engineering Units for example, %, mm, Volts.

CachedMode:
Note: When retrieving bit width ("DataBitWidth" property) or array size ("ArraySize"
property) from the local configuration (iCachedMode 2), the value is related to the
data structure in the device. For example, MODNET, is a 16 bit device and does not
have native LONG and REAL numbers. So when you have a LONG variable, an
array of 2 INTEGERS are needed to store it. In the example, the property "Dat-
aBitWidth" against the variable will return 16 and property "ArraySize" will return 2.

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
1038
ClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Tag resides. The argument is enclosed in quotation
marks.
Return Value
String representation of the property of the tag. If unsuccessful, an empty string and an
error code is set.
Related Functions
AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo, AssScaleStr, TagGetScale, TagScaleStr, TagInfo
Example
// Get the engineering full scale value for the variable "PV131"
EngFullScale = TagGetProperty("PV131", "EngUnitsHigh", 0);
// Get the cached array size for the array variable "PLC_Array"
ArrayLength = TagGetProperty("PLC_Array", "ArraySize", 1);
See Also
Tag Functions
TagGetScale
Gets the value of a tag at a specified scale from the datasource. The value is returned as
a formatted string using the tags format specification and (optionally) the engineering
units. Use this function to write generic Cicode that will work with any type of tag. This
function replaces TagScaleStr.
Syntax
TagGetScale(STRING Name, INT Percent, INT EngUnits [, INT CachedMode] [, STRING Clus-
terName] )
Name:
The name of the tag, or the equipment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item nota-
tion). The tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is "ClusterName.Tag".
1039
Percent:
EngUnits:
Flag to determine if the value is returned with engineering units:
0 - Do not return the value with engineering units

CachedMode:

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
ClusterName:
marks.
Return Value
The scale of the tag (as a string).
Related Functions
AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo, AssScaleStr, TagGetProperty, TagScaleStr, TagInfo
Example
// Display the zero, 50% and full scale of the tag CV_123_PV
DspText(31,0,TagGetScale("CV_123_PV", 0, 1));
1040

See Also
Tag Functions
TagInfo
Gets information about a variable tag. This function allows you to develop generic
Cicode and Super Genies.
Syntax
STRING TagInfo(STRING Name, INT Type [, STRING ClusterName] [, INT CachedMode] )

Name:
The name of the tag or the equipment and item reference of a variable tag (using equipment.item
notation) from which to get information. The tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is
"ClusterName.Tag" or "ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
To get information on a particular element in an array, enter the array name here, followed by the
number of the element as follows:
"PLC_Array[9]"
The above example tells the function to get information on the tenth element in PLC_Array
(remember, the address of the first element in an array is 0 (zero)).
Type:
0 - The Tag name from the variables table. This is the same as sName argu-
2 - Raw zero scale
3 - Raw full scale
integer as follows:
1041

are:
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Integer
l 2 - Real
l 3 - BCD
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Long BCD
l 6 - Long Real
l 7 - String
l 8 - Byte
count is 50.
17 - ClusterName of the tag. If the tag is not resolved, returns an empty string.
18 - Full name (cluster.tagname) of the tag. If the tag is not resolved, returns an
empty string.
19 - Reserved for internal operation.
string.
22 - Name of the equipment associated with the Tag. If the tag is not resolved,
1042
23 - General Type.
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Byte
l 2 - Integer16
l 3 - UInteger 16
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Real
l 6 - String
l 7 - ULong
l 8 - Undefined
ClusterName
marks.
CachedMode:

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
1043
Return Value
The value of the information as a string.
Related Functions
AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo, AssScaleStr, TagGetProperty, TagGetScale, TagIn-

foEx, TagScaleStr
Example
/* Get the engineering full scale value for the variable "PV131" */
EngFullScale = TagInfo("PV131", 5);
/* Get the engineering zero scale value for the array variable "PLC_Array" */
EngZeroScale = TagInfo("PLC_Array", 4);
See Also
Tag Functions
TagInfoEx
This function replaces TagInfo and is identical in operation. It supports online changes.
It is recommended therefore that instances of TagInfo in legacy code are migrated to
either TagInfoEx or TagGetProperty. New Cicode should use TagGetProperty.
Gets information about a variable tag. This function allows you to develop generic
Cicode and Super Genies. Execution can be blocking or non-blocking depending on the
iCached argument.
Note: When replacing an instance of TagInfo with TagInfoEx in a loop, you may
want to make TagInfoEx blocking using the iCached argument so that you are using
the correct value for the Tag in your logic. You should also be aware that TagInfo
has different return values if you are using mode 10 for nType.
Syntax
1044
STRING TagInfoEx(STRING Name, INT Type [, STRING ClusterName] [, INT CachedMode] )

Name:
The name of the tag or the equipment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item nota-
tion) from which to get information. The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster
that is "ClusterName.Tag" or "ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
To get information on a particular element in an array, enter the array name here, followed by the
number of the element as follows:
"PLC_Array[9]"
The above example tells the function to get information on the tenth element in PLC_Array
Type:
0 - The Tag name from the variables table. This is the same as the Name argu-
2 - Raw zero scale
3 - Raw full scale
integer as follows:


10 - General Type - Protocol's general data type number for this tag. Type
numbers are:
1045
l 0 - Digital
l 1 - Byte
l 2 - Integer16
l 3 - UInteger16
l 4 - Long
l 5 - Real
l 6 - String
l 7 - ULong
l 8 - Undefined

count is 50.
Types 12 to 15 are only supported when iCachedMode equals to 2 or 3.
17 - ClusterName of the tag.
18 - Full name (cluster.tagname) of the tag.
19 - Reserved for internal operation.
string.
22 - Name of the equipment associated with the Tag. If the tag is not resolved,

ClusterName
marks.
CachedMode:
1046

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
Return Value
The value of the information as a string. If unsuccessful, an empty string is returned.

The error code can be obtained by calling the IsError Cicode function.
Related Functions
AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo, AssScaleStr, TagGetProperty, TagGetScale,

TagInfo, TagScaleStr
Example
/* Get the engineering full scale value for the variable "PV131".
Obtain the value from Cluster1 in blocking mode */
EngFullScale = TagInfoEx("PV131", 5, "Cluster1", 0);
/* Get the engineering zero scale value for the array variable
"PLC_Array" in non-blocking mode*/
EngZeroScale = TagInfoEx("PLC_Array", 4);
See Also
Tag Functions
TagRamp
1047
This function will increment a Tag by the amount defined by iPercentInc. It is often used
for incrementing a tag while a button is held down.
Syntax
TagRamp(STRING Tag, INT PercentInc)

Tag:
The variable tag name (or alarm property name), as a string. The name of the tag can be prefixed by
the name of the cluster that is "ClusterName.Tag".
To read a particular element in an array, you can enter the array name here, followed by an index to
the element as follows:
"PLC_Array[9] "
The above example tells the function to read the 10th element in the array variable PLC_Array
If you enter an array offset using the nOffset argument, it will be added to the index value specified
here. For example, TagRead("PLC_Array[9]", 4) will read the 14th element in PLC_Array (because
[9] means the 10th element, and an offset of 4 means 4 elements after the 10th = element 14).
PercentInc:
The percentage by which you want to increase the value of the variable. A negative number will
decrease the variable. The increment is calculated as a percentage of the full range.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagInfo, TagRead, TagWrite
Example
Buttons
Text Ramp Up
Repeat Command TagRamp("PLC_VAR_1",2);
Comment Continual increment by 2%
See Also
Tag Functions
TagRDBReload
1048
Works in conjunction with the TagInfo function. Reloads the variable tag database so
when TagInfo is called it picks up all online changes to the tag database.
Syntax
TagRDBReload()
Return Value
Returns 1 if the tag database was successfully reloaded, and 0 if the tag database fails to
load.
Note: This function will fail and return 0 if the parameter [General]TagDB as been set to 0.
Related Functions
TagInfo
See Also
Tag Functions
TagRead
Reads a variable from the I/O device. The variable tag needs to be defined in the Var-
iable Tags database. Because the variable tag is specified as a string (not as a tag), you
can ignore the data type of the variable.
is complete.
TagRead should only be used when the variable tag name is a calculation such as sAl-
armExt+".Paging". For simple assignment of variables use the assignment operator. For
example, MyString = MyCluster.MyAlarm.MyProperty.
Note: If the Tag property has not been initialized the timestamp value displayed for
that tag will be equal to the Unix Epoch, January 1st 1970.
If you try to read many variables at the same time, the TagRead() function may be slow.
The offset index for array variables is checked against the size of the array.
Note:TagRead can only return the values of elements for those tags having "Good"
quality. If the quality of a tag is not "Good", TagRead returns an empty string. In
order to obtain values of tags having not "Good" quality one can use their 'v' item.
For example, TagRead("MyBadQualityTag.v"). However, the value returned by a
TagRead call on a tag with not “Good” quality may be obsolete (due to TagRead
1049
asynchronous nature). Use the IsError Cicode function to control the returned error
code when using this function.
Syntax
TagRead(STRING Tag [, INT nOffset [, STRING ClusterName]])

Tag:
The string can refer to either the alarm name, the alarm property name, the tag name, or the equip-
ment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item notation) with optional elements and
items as it is defined by Tag Extensions [Cluster.]Tag[.Element][.Item][[N]…] (refer to Tag Exten-
sions for more information). Currently only v item is supported by TagRead, references to other
items will generate an error message, for eg. TagRead(“PLC_Tag.q”). If the element name is not
specified, it will be resolved at runtime as an unqualified tag reference. The name of the tag can be
prefixed by the name of the cluster that is "ClusterName.Tag" or "ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
In the example below, assuming the following variable tag, equipment and item are defined in your
project :
Tag: PLC_Array
Equipment: PLC
Item: Array
Address: 30000[10]
You can refer to the variable tag using the following syntax:
"PLC_Array"
"PLC.Array"
"PLC_Array[9]"
"PLC.Array[9]"
[9] means the 10th element, and an offset of 4 means 4 elements after the 10th = element 14). If you
want to read the value of <Valid> element in the above example,
TagRead("PLC_Array.Valid.V[9]", 4)
Offset:
1050
The offset for an array variable. This argument is optional - if not specified, it has a default value of
0.
If you enter an array index as part of the sTag argument, it will be added to this offset value. For
example, TagRead("PLC_Array[9]", 4) will read the 14th element in PLC_Array (because [9] means
the 10th element, and an offset of 4 means 4 elements after the 10th = element 14).
ClusterName:
marks.
Return Value
The function can return:

l The tag element value (depending on the sTag parameter, of the I/O device variable)
when the tag has “Good” quality.
and the error 257 (can be checked by IsError() built-in function) when the value of the
tag is out of the predefined range.
l An empty string and an error code when the tag has not “Good” quality”.
Related Functions
TagReadEx, TagWrite, IODeviceControl, IODeviceInfo
Example
STRING sStringTagValue;
STRING sStringTagValueField;
INT nIntTagValue;
REAL fRealTagValue;
// Tag1 has a STRING data type.
sStringTagValue = TagRead(“Tag1”);
1051
sStringTagValueField = TagRead(“Tag1.Field”);
// Tag2 has an INTEGER data type.
nIntTagValue = TagRead(“Tag2”);
// Tag3 has a REAL data type.
fRealTagValue = TagRead(“Tag3”);
See Also
Tag Reference and TagReadEx() behavior in Cicode Expressions
Tag Functions
TagReadEx
Reads the value, quality or timestamp of a particular tag from the I/O device. The var-
iable tag needs to be defined in the Variable Tags database. Because the variable tag is
specified as a string (not as a tag), you can ignore the data type of the variable.
is complete.
TagReadEx should only be used when the variable tag name is a calculation such as sAl-
armExt+".Paging". For simple assignment of variables use the assignment operator. For
example, MyString = MyCluster.MyAlarm.MyProperty.
If you try to read many variables at the same time, the TagReadEx() function may be
slow. The offset index for array variables is checked against the size of the array.
Note: TagReadEx can only return the values of elements for those tags having
"Good" quality. If the quality of a tag is not “Good”, TagReadEx may return an obso-
lete value (due to TagRead asynchronous nature).
Syntax
TagReadEx(STRING Tag [, INT Offset [, STRING ClusterName]])

Tag:
1052
The string can refer to either the alarm name, the alarm property name, the tag name, or the equip-
ment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item notation) with optional elements and
items as it is defined by Tag Extensions [Cluster.]Tag[.Element][.Item][[N]…] (refer to Tag Exten-
sions for more information). If the element name is not specified, it will be resolved at runtime as
an unqualified tag reference. The tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is "Clus-
In the example below, assuming the following variable tag, equipment and item are defined in your
project :
Tag: PLC_Array
Equipment: PLC
Item: Array
Address: 30000[10]
You can refer to the variable tag using the following syntax:
"PLC_Array"
"PLC.Array"
"PLC_Array[9]"
"PLC.Array[9]"
[9] means the 10th element, and an offset of 4 means 4 elements after the 10th = element 14). If you
want to read the value of <Valid> element in the above example,
TagReadEx("PLC_Array.Valid.V[9]", 4)
Offset:
The offset for an array variable. This argument is optional - if not specified, it has a default value of
0.
here. For example, TagReadEx("PLC_Array[9]", 4) will read the 14th element in PLC_Array
(because [9] means the 10th element, and an offset of 4 means 4 elements after the 10th = element
14).
ClusterName:
1053
marks.
Return Value
The function can return:

when the tag has “Good” quality.
and the error 257 (can be checked by IsError() built-in function) when the value of the
tag is out of the predefined range.
l A value and an error code when the tag does not have “Good” quality.
Related Functions
TagRead, TagWrite, IODeviceControl, IODeviceInfo
Example
STRING sStringTagValue;
STRING sStringTagValueField;
INT nIntTagValue;
REAL fRealTagValue;
// Tag1 has a STRING data type.
sStringTagValue = TagReadEx(“Tag1”);
sStringTagValueField = TagReadEx(“Tag1.Field”);
// Tag2 has an INTEGER data type.
nIntTagValue = TagReadEx(“Tag2”);
1054
// Tag3 has a REAL data type.
fRealTagValue = TagReadEx(“Tag3”);
TIMESTAMP t1 = TagReadEx(”Tag1.T”);
TIMESTAMP t2 = TagReadEx(”Tag1.VT”);
TIMESTAMP t3 = TagReadEx(”Tag1.Qt”);
QUALITY q1 = TagReadEx(”Tag1.Q”);
See Also
Tag Reference /TagReadEx() behavior in Cicode Expressions
Tag Functions
TagResolve
This function can be used to increment a reference count on a tag to keep it resolved,
making it readily available to a client.
If a tag is held in a resolved state, it will not be evicted from the client even if it is not
being used. This means a client does not need to locate the tag's associated I/O server
when a read or write is required.
While this allows faster access to a tag, it should be only utilised for priority tags, as a
large number of resolved tags will increase the amount of memory used.
You can use the function TagUnresolve to decrement the reference count.
Syntax
TagResolve(STRING TagName)
TagName:
The name of the tag or the equipment and item name (using equipment.item notation) associated
with that tag to resolve (in the format "clusterName.tagName" or "clusterName.equipment.item" if you
need to specify a cluster).
Return Value
1055
The returned integer is a handle to the tag that has been resolved, or -1 if an error
occurred.
The specific error code is accessible by calling IsError().
Related Functions
TagUnresolve
See Also
Tag Functions
TagScaleStr
Gets the value of a tag at a specified scale. The value is returned as a formatted string
using the tags format specification and (optionally) the engineering units. Use this func-
tion to write generic Cicode that will work with any type of tag.
Note: This function is being deprecated and is replaced by the TagGetScale function.
If the Tag properties are updated TagScaleStr does not get the updated values
whereas TagGetScale does.
Syntax
STRING TagScaleStr(STRING Tag, INT Percent , INT EngUnits [,STRING ClusterName] [,

INT CachedMode] )
Tag:
The name of the tag, or the equipment and item name of a variable tag (using equipment.item nota-
tion).
Percent:
EngUnits:
Determines if the value is returned with engineering units:
0 - Return the value without engineering units

ClusterName:
Name of the cluster
CachedMode:
1056

TagReadCachedMode.
able).
Return Value
The scale of the tag (as a string).
Related Functions
AssGetProperty, AssGetScale, AssInfo, AssScaleStr, TagGetProperty, TagGetScale, TagInfo
Example
// Display the zero, 50% and full scale of the tag CV_123_PV
DspText(31,0,TagScaleStr("CV_123_PV", 0, 1));
See Also
Tag Functions
TagSetOverrideBad
Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag to Bad Non Specific.
Syntax
TagSetOverrideBad(STRING Tag [,INT Synch [, STRING ClusterName]])

Tag:
The variable tag name or the equipment and item name (using equipment.item notation) associated
with that tag as a string. The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is "Clus-
1057
Synch:
asynchronous (non- blocking). If it is specified as synchronous (blocking) the function will wait
until the write has completed and returned from the server before further code execution. This
parameter is "False", or asynchronous, by default. If you specify this parameter the other parameters
need to be explicitly specified.
ClusterName:
marks.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagSetOverrideQuality, TagSetOverrideGood, TagSetOverrideUncertain, Qual-

ityIsOverride
Example
TagSetOverrideBad(“Tag1”);
Setting the value of the OverrideMode element to anything other than 3 will overwrite
the quality that has been applied to the Override element using this function. See the
example below and OverrideMode for more details.
//The OverrideMode is switched off
Tag1.OverrideMode = 0;
//The quality of Override element is set to Bad
TagSetOverrideUncertain(“Tag1”);
1058
//The OverrideMode is set to 1 and
//the Field element is copied to the Override element.
//The quality of the Override element is overwritten.
//The quality is set again to Bad
TagSetOverrideBad(“Tag1”);
See Also
Tag Functions
TagSetOverrideGood
Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag to Good Non Specific.
Syntax
TagSetOverrideGood (STRING Tag [,INT Synch [, STRING ClusterName]])

Tag:
The variable tag name or the equipment and item name (using <equipment>.<item> notation) asso-
ciated with that tag as a string. The name of the tag can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is
"ClusterName.Tag" or "ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
Synch:
ClusterName:
marks.
Return Value
1059
Related Functions
TagSetOverrideQuality, TagSetOverrideBad, TagSetOverrideUncertain, Tag-

SetOverrideBad, QualityIsOverride
Example
TagSetOverrideGood(“Tag1”);
//The quality of Override element is set to Good
//The quality is set again to Good
See Also
Tag Functions
1060
TagSetOverrideQuality
Sets a quality of Override element for a specified tag.
Syntax
TagSetOverrideQuality(STRING Tag, QUALITY qualityNew [,INT Synch [, STRING Clus-

terName]])
Tag
qualityNew
The new quality for the tag’s Override element.
Synch
ClusterName
marks.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagSetOverrideGood, TagSetOverrideUncertain, TagSetOverrideBad, QualityIsOverride
Example
QUALITY q1 = QualityCreate(QUAL_UNCR);
TagSetOverrideQuality(“Tag1”, q1);
1061
//The quality of Override element is set to Uncertain
//The quality is set again to Uncertain
See Also
Tag Functions
TagSetOverrideUncertain
Sets a quality Override element for a specified tag to Uncertain Non Specific.
Syntax
1062
TagSetOverrideUncertain(STRING Tag [,INT Synch [, STRING ClusterName]])

Tag:
Synch:
ClusterName:
marks.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagSetOverrideQuality, TagSetOverrideGood, TagSetOverrideBad, QualityIsOverride
Example
1063
//The quality of Override element is set to Uncertain
//The quality is set again to Uncertain
See Also
Tag Functions
TagSubscribe
Subscribes a tag so that Cicode functions can be called when a tag's value changes. The
subscription checks each poll period whether the tag has changed value and if it has,
the specified callback function is called. This avoids continuously polling a tag value to
monitor changes. To add a function callback to the subscription, use the optional param-
eter in this command or the SubscriptionAddCallback function.
Multiple subscriptions are possible to the same tag. Each new subscription returns a
new subscription handle. Multiple callbacks are possible to the same subscription.
To unsubscribe a tag use the TagUnsubscribe function.
Syntax
TagSubscribe(STRING TagName [, INT PollTime] [, STRING ScaleMode] [, REAL Deadband]

[, STRING Callback] [, INT Lightweight])
TagName
String representing the tag or tag element or the equipment and item name (using equipment.item
notation) associated with that tag, to subscribe to in the form of "cluster_name.tag_name.element
name" or "cluster_name.equipment. item.element name". If the element name is not specified, it will
be resolved at runtime as an unqualified tag reference.
1064
PollTime
Optional integer representing the Datasource Poll time in milliseconds (default 250).
ScaleMode
Optional string stating the mode to subscribe. Supported modes are: Raw, Eng, Percent. Default is
"Eng".
Deadband
Optional real value specifying the percentage of the variable tag's engineering range that a tag needs
to change by for an update to be sent through the system. Default value is -1.0, indicating the dead-
band specified by the tag definition is to be used.
Callback
Optional string stating the name of a function to call when the value is updated. If an empty string is
specified, no handler is registered. Default value is "" (empty string).
The function should have the structure:

FUNCTION evtHandler(INT subsHandle)
...
END
Where subsHandle is the subscription that raised the event.
Lightweight
This optional boolean argument indicates whether or not subscription updates use a "lightweight"
version of the tag value that does not include a quality timestamp or a value timestamp.
If not used, this option is set to 1 which means lightweight tag values will be used by default. For a
client to retrieve quality and value timestamps for a tag, you should explicitly specify that a full tag
value is required by setting this option to 0.
Return Value
Integer representing the subscription handle that can be used to read values, hook to
events or unsubscribe. If unsuccessful, -1 is returned and an error is set. Even though a
subscription handle is returned immediately, it can't be used to get attributes until the
subscription has been confirmed as this is an asynchronous Cicode function call. The
typical Cicode error is 423 when a subscription handled is used too soon. We rec-
ommend the use of a callback function or the direct use of the tag extension, e.g <tag>.VT
Related Functions
1065
TagUnsubscribe, SubscriptionAddCallback, SubscriptionGetAttribute, Sub-

Example
The following example subscribes the tag "Conveyor1" in order to manually poll for
attributes of the tag.
...
// Get the last changed value, quality and timestamp for the tag every 1s
...
// LOOP START
SleepMs(1000);
ErrSet(1);
convValue = SubscriptionGetAttribute(subsHandle, "Value");
IF IsError() = 0
convQual = SubscriptionGetAttribute(subsHandle, "ValueQuality");
convTime = SubscriptionGetAttribute(subsHandle, "ValueTimestamp");
// Format and use data here
END
// LOOP END
...
// Unsubscribe the tag TagUnsubscribe(subsHandle);
The following example subscribes the "conveyor1" tag as a percentage and polls it every
100ms to check for changes. When the value changes the functions OnValueChanged
and ValChanged2 are called. This is the recommended way to do polling of special var-
iables:
...
INT subsHandle = TagSubscribe("Conveyor1", 100, "Percent",
"OnValueChanged");
...
// Later on if no callback was registered initially, a new one can be added..
SubscriptionAddCallBack(subsHandle, "ValChanged2");
...
Function OnValueChanged(INT handle)
STRING sTag;
sTag = SubscriptionGetAttribute(handle, "FullName"); // If the name is needed

subsVal = SubscriptionGetAttribute(handle, "Value");
subsQual = SubscriptionGetAttribute(handle, "ValueQuality");
1066
...
END
...
Function ValChanged2(INT handle)
STRING sTag;
sTag = SubscriptionGetAttribute(handle, "FullName"); // If the name is needed

subsVal = SubscriptionGetAttribute(handle, "Value");
subsTime = SubscriptionGetAttribute(handle, "ValueTimestamp");
...
END
...
// Remove all callbacks and unsubscribe
TagUnsubscribe(subsHandle);
See Also
Tag Functions
TagUnresolve
This function is used to decrement a reference count implemented on a tag by TagRe-
solve. This will allow the tag to be evicted if the decrement causes its reference count to
reach zero (0).
Syntax
TagUnresolve(INT iHandle)
Handle:
The tag handle returned from a TagResolve() function call.
Return Value
The returned integer represents any error that occurs when the unresolve is attempted (0
for no error).
Related Functions
TagResolve
See Also
Tag Functions
TagUnsubscribe
Unsubscribes the tag subscription specified by the integer subscription handle that was
returned from the TagSubscribe function. This function also removes any callbacks that
are associated with the subscription.
Syntax
1067
TagUnsubscribe(INT Handle)
Handle
Integer handle of the subscription to unsubscribe.
Return Value
Related Functions
TagSubscribe, SubscriptionAddCallback, SubscriptionGetAttribute, Sub-

See Also
Tag Functions
TagWrite
Writes to an I/O device variable by specifying the variable tag name or the variable tag
name and the name of the requested element having read/write access. The variable tag
needs to be defined in the Variable Tags database.
Note:For this function to be successful a user needs to be logged in.
This function completes asynchronously to the caller. It will be unsuccessful if the tag
does not exist or if a write request could not be sent. This function does not test whether
the write succeeded. In cases where the write does not succeed, TagWrite does not return
a driver error code. You can use the TagReadEx function to confirm the write operation
took place.
TagWrite should only be used when the variable tag name is a calculation such as sAl-
armExt+".Paging". For assignment of variables use the assignment operator. For example,
MyCluster.MyAlarm.MyProperty = MyString.
Note: When using this function and parameter [Code]ScaleCheck is set to 1, the
attempt to write an out-of-range value to a device will not occur. No hardware alarm
will be generated. This function checks a value before writing it to a PLC.
Syntax
TagWrite(STRING Tag, STRING sValue [, INT Offset] [, INT Synch] [, STRING ClusterName])
Tag:
1068
The string can refer to either: the variable tag name, the equipment and item name (using equip-
ment.item notation) associated with that tag, the alarm name and the alarm property name, the tag
name and the tag element name (Refer to Tag Extensions for more information). If the element name
is not specified, the writing will be performed to the Field VQT element. The name of the tag can be
prefixed by the name of the cluster that is "ClusterName.Tag" or "ClusterName.Equipment.Item".
Value:
The value to be written to the I/O device variable. The value is specified as a string, however if an
integer or real is used the compiler will convert it to a string. The function converts the string into
the correct format, and then writes it to the variable.
To write to a particular element in an array, you can enter the array name here, followed by an index
to the element as follows:
"PLC_Array[9] "
The above example tells the function to write to the 10th element in the array variable PLC_Array
If you enter an array offset using the nOffset argument, it will be added to the index value. See
example below.
Offset:
Optional offset for an array variable. Default is 0.
Note: If you enter an array index as part of the sValue argument, it will be added to
this offset value. For example, TagWrite("PLC_Array[9]", 24, 4) will set the 14th ele-
ment in PLC_Array to 24 (because [9] means the 10th element, and an offset of 4
means 4 elements after the 10th = element 14).
Synch:
parameter is "False", or asynchronous, by default. If you specify this parameter the rest of the param-
eters need to be explicitly specified, including nOffset which should be set as 0 if the tag is not an
array tag.
ClusterName:
marks.
Return Value
1069
Related Functions
TagRead, TagReadEx, IODeviceControl, IODeviceInfo
Example
TagWrite("PLC_VAR1", 123);
TagWrite("PLC_VAR1", 123, 0, TRUE); ! Write to PLC variable
! and block until write is successful.
TagWrite("PLC_VAR_STR", "string data to write");
TagWrite("PLC_ARRAY", 42, 3); ! Write to element 4 in array
TagWrite("PLC_Array[9]", 2); ! Write to element 12 in array
TagWrite ("Tag1", "123");
TagWrite("Tag1.Field", "123");
See Also
Tag Functions
TagWriteEventQue
Opens the tag write event queue. The TagWriteEventQue is a queue of data containing
details of tag value changes initiated by the process. To read events from the queue, use
the QueRead() or QuePeek() functions. The queue contains timestamp, tagname and
value data for each change event.
This queue is enabled by the corresponding INI parameter [General]TagWriteEventQue.
Writes are logged to the queue for all tags whose IODevices have their Log Write param-
eter enabled.
Syntax
TagWriteEventQue()
Return Value
The handle of the tag write event queue, or -1 if the queue cannot be opened.
Related Functions
AlarmEventQue, QueRead, QuePeek
Example
To enable tag logging:

1. On the client, set the INI param [General]TagWriteEventQue = 1.
2. Enable the IODevices that you want to be logged by setting their Log Write param-
eters to TRUE. See I/O Devices Properties.
1070
To read the queue you need to create a Cicode function. For example:
FUNCTION
checkWrite()
STRING sTagAndValue = "";
INT nDateTime = 0;
INT hQue = TagWriteEventQue();
IF hQue = -1 THEN
RETURN;
END
WHILE 1 DO
QueRead(hQue, nDateTime, sTagAndValue, 1);
Message("Value written", sTagAndValue, 64);
END
END
Where:
l nDateTime is the timestamp of the tag write.
l sTagAndValue is the tagname and value written to the queue.
When the function is run, successful writes to tags on the IODevice will show as a mes-
sage "Value written <tagname> <value>".
Note: The TagWriteEventQue is enabled on each process and will only log the data
changes initiated by this process. By combining this data with the current user and
machine name CitectSCADA can generate a user activity log with respect to setting
data within the control system. This functionality can also be combined with Citect-
SCADA Reports to augment the detail of the historian data.
See Also
Tag Functions
1071
1072
Chapter 54: Task Functions
Task functions support advanced multi-tasking operations in Cicode, handling queues,
semaphores, messages, and other process functions. The task functions control the trans-
fer of data between different Cicode tasks and across the network to different computers
(by remote procedure calls).
Following are functions relating to Tasks:
CodeSetMode Sets the execution mode of a Cicode task.
Enter- Requests permission for the current thread to have access to a crit-
CriticalSection ical shared resource (critical section). If the critical section is
already being accessed, the thread will be granted access when it is
free.
Halt Halts the current Cicode task.
Leave- Relinquishes the current thread's ownership of a critical shared

CriticalSection resource (critical section).
MsgBrdcst Broadcasts a message.
MsgClose Closes a message.
MsgGetCurr Gets the handle of the message that called the current report or
remote procedure.
MsgOpen Opens a message session with a CitectSCADA server or client.
MsgRead Reads a message from a session.
MsgRPC Calls a remote procedure on another CitectSCADA computer.
MsgState Verifies the status of a message session.
MsgWrite Writes a message to a session.
QueClose Closes a queue.
QueLength Gets the current length of a queue.
1073
QueOpen Creates or opens a queue.
QuePeek Searches a queue for a queue element.
QueRead Reads elements from a queue.
QueWrite Writes elements to a queue.
ReRead ReRead is deprecated in this version.
SemClose Closes a semaphore.
SemOpen Creates or opens a semaphore.
SemSignal Signals a semaphore.
SemWait Waits on a semaphore.
ServerRPC Calls a remote procedure on a Citect server.
Sleep Suspends the current Cicode task for a specified time.
SleepMS Suspends the current Cicode task for a specified time (in mil-
liseconds).
TaskCall Calls a Cicode function by specifying the function name and providing
an arguments string.
TaskCluster Gets the name of the cluster context in which the current task is
executing.
TaskGetSignal Retrieves a value that indicates the stop signal for a specific task.
TaskHnd Gets the handle of a particular task.
TaskKill Kills a running task.
TaskNew Creates a new task.
TaskNewEx Creates a new task with a subscription rate.
TaskResume Resumes a task.
TaskSetSignal Ends a task by manually triggering its stop signal.
TaskSuspend Suspends a task.
1074
See Also
Functions Reference
CodeSetMode
Sets various execution modes for Cicode tasks in the current thread. Using this function,
you can specify whether to:
l Write to a local image of an I/O device.
l Check if a variable is within range before writing it to the I/O device.
l Echo error messages to the operator.
l Check the case of string data in Cicode.
Syntax
CodeSetMode(nType, Value)
nType:
Type of mode:
0 - Write to a local image of an I/O device. If you set Value to 1, this mode is
enabled, and Cicode writes its local memory image of the I/O device
whenever you write to the I/O device. (Cicode assumes that most writes
to the I/O device will be done immediately).
This local image might produce problems, or you might want to verify that the
data was actually written to the I/O device. If you set Value to 0 (zero),
this check is disabled, and Cicode does not write to the local memory
image.
1 - Check if a variable is within range before writing it to the I/O device. If you
set Value to 1, this mode is enabled. When a variable tag is modified,
Cicode checks the new value of the variable against the Scales specified
in the Variable Tags database. If the value of the variable is out of scale,
Cicode generates a hardware error, and does not write to the I/O device.
If you set Value to 0 (zero), this check is disabled. Cicode writes the variable to
the I/O device without checking if its value is within range.
2 - Echo error messages to the operator. If you set Value to 1, this mode is ena-
bled. When a simple user error occurs (for example, if the PageDisplay()
function is passed a bad page name), Cicode displays an error message
at the Error AN, and returns an error code from the function.
If you set Value to 0 (zero), the echo is disabled. Cicode does not display the
error message, and the output of the DspError() function is stopped.
1075
3 - Ignore the case of string data in the current thread of Cicode. If you set
Value to 1, this mode is enabled, and CitectSCADA will ignore case in
string data. For example, CitectSCADA will equate "Hello" to "HELLO".
If you set Value to 0 (zero), CitectSCADA will be case sensitive to string data.
Case sensitivity is used when a string comparison operation is per-
formed. For example:
IF sStr1 = sStr2 THEN
(You can also make CitectSCADA case sensitive to strings in all of your
Cicode, using the [Code]IgnoreCase parameter.)
Value:
The value of the mode:
0 - Disable
1 - Enable
Return Value
-1 if there is an error, otherwise the last value of the mode.
Example
! disable local image write

CodeSetMode(0, 0);
See Also
Task Functions
EnterCriticalSection
Requests permission for the current thread to have access to a critical section (shared crit-
ical resource). If the critical section is already being accessed by another thread (using
the EnterCriticalSection() function), the current thread will be granted access when the
other thread relinquishes ownership using the LeaveCriticalSection() function.
Once a thread has ownership of a critical section, it can access the same section repeat-
edly (using the EnterCriticalSection() function each time). Remember, however, that
LeaveCriticalSection() needs to be called once for each EnterCriticalSection() used.
Note: This function is process-based, not computer-based, and so is only effective for
threads within the same process. Any threads attempting to gain access to this crit-
ical section will be blocked until the thread relinquishes ownership. This function
will have no effect on threads running within other processes.
1076
Do not attempt to access a critical section that is already in use by another thread. This will
cause the thread to be blocked until the critical section is relinquished.
ment damage.
Syntax
EnterCriticalSection(sName)
sName:
The name of the critical section. The name needs to be entered in quotation marks.
Return Value
This function does not return a value.
Related Functions
LeaveCriticalSection
Example
/* Request access to critical section, execute code and relinquish

ownership of critical section. */
FUNCTION
MyCriticalFunction()
EnterCriticalSection("MyCritical");
// critical code is placed here
LeaveCriticalSection("MyCritical");
END
See Also
Task Functions
Halt
Stops the execution of the current Cicode task and returns to CitectSCADA. This function
does not affect any other Cicode tasks that are running.
Use this function to stop execution in nested function calls. When Halt() is called, Cicode
returns to CitectSCADA and does not execute any return function calls.
Syntax
Halt()
1077
Return Value
Related Functions
Assert, TaskKill
Example
INT
FUNCTION
MyFunc(INT Arg)
IF Arg<0 THEN
Prompt("Invalid Arg");
Halt();
END
...
END
See Also
Task Functions
LeaveCriticalSection
Relinquishes the current thread's ownership of a critical section (shared critical
resource). Once ownership is relinquished, access to the critical section is available to the
next thread that requests it (using the EnterCriticalSection() function). If a thread has
been waiting for access, it will be granted at this point.
LeaveCriticalSection() needs to be called once for each EnterCriticalSection() used.
Note: This function is process-based, not computer-based, and so will only prevent
access to a critical section within a single process. This function only works between
Cicode tasks within the same process.
Syntax
LeaveCriticalSection(sName)
sName:
The name of the critical section. The name needs to be entered in quotation marks.
Return Value
This function does not return a value.
Related Functions
1078
EnterCriticalSection
Example
/* Request access to critical section, execute code and relinquish

ownership of critical section. */
FUNCTION
MyCriticalFunction()
EnterCriticalSection("MyCritical");
// critical code is placed here
LeaveCriticalSection("MyCritical");
END
See Also
Task Functions
MsgBrdcst
Broadcasts a message to all the clients of a server. You should call this function only on
a CitectSCADA server. The message is only received by clients that have a current mes-
sage session (opened with the MsgOpen() function).
Syntax
MsgBrdcst(Name, Type, Str)

sName:
The name of the CitectSCADA server.
nType:
The message number.
Str:
The message text.
Return Value
Related Functions
MsgOpen, MsgClose, MsgRead, MsgWrite, MsgRPC
Example
! Send a message to all alarm clients.

MsgBrdcst("Alarm",0,"Alarm Occurred");
1079
See Also
Task Functions
MsgClose
Closes a message. After the message is closed, the message post function (the callback
function specified in the MsgOpen() function) is not called if a message is received.
When the server side is closed, all clients are closed. When the client side is closed, only
the specified client is closed.
Syntax
MsgClose(Name, hMsg)
sName:
The name of the CitectSCADA server.
hMsg:
The message handle, returned from the MsgOpen() function. The message handle identifies the
table where all data on the associated message is stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
MsgOpen, MsgRead, MsgWrite, MsgRPC
Example
MsgClose("Alarm",hMsg);
See Also
Task Functions
MsgGetCurr
Gets the handle of the client message that called the report or remote procedure that is
currently running. You can call this function only in a report or a remote procedure call.
If the report was called by a client, this function returns that client message handle. The
report can then send a message back to the client. If a function was called remotely by
MsgRPC(), this function returns the message handle for the remote client.
Syntax
MsgGetCurr()
1080
Return Value
The handle for the client message. The message handle identifies the table where all data
on the associated message is stored. The function returns -1 if no client called the report
or function.
Related Functions
MsgOpen, MsgRPC
Example
! Send message back to the client.

hMsg=MsgGetCurr();
IF hMsg<>-1 THEN
MsgRPC(hMsg,"Prompt","^"Hello Client from Report Server^"",1);
END
See Also
Task Functions
MsgOpen
Opens a message session with a CitectSCADA server. You can specify a message post
function - a callback function that is automatically called when a message arrives. In
this function you can call MsgRead() to get the message, and perform other tasks com-
mon to your message sessions. You can then call MsgWrite() to send a message back to
the caller, MsgRPC() to call a procedure on the caller, and so on.
Note: For this function to be successful a full control client should be used.
Syntax
MsgOpen(Name, Mode, Fn [, sClusterName] )

You should use MsgState() to check the return value of MsgOpen(). The message post
function is set effectively only if MsgState() returns 1, which means the message session
is online.
You can open a client-server message session or a session between redundant servers.
This function does not create extra network sessions; it uses CitectSCADA's existing ses-
sions, so you create sessions to the Alarm Server, Report Server, Trend Server, or a
named I/O Server.
sName:
The name of the server to open, either:
1081
l For Mode 0, 1, or 3: "Alarm", "Report", "Trend", or the name of an I/O Server.

l For Mode 2: The default computer name, as set in the [Lan]Node parameter.
Mode:
The mode of the message session to open:
0 - Open the client side.

1 - Open the server side.
2 - Open a session from a server to the default computer name. Set Name to
the computer name of the computer, as defined by the [LAN]Node param-
eter.
3 - Open a message session between redundant servers. (Clients cannot tell
which server they are connected to or if something has changed on the
server. Changes should be performed on the redundant server as well.)
4 - Open a message session from the calling process to the client process. The
Name and Fn are ignored in this mode. The message session opened in
this mode does not need to call MsgClose.
Fn:
The message post function, that is a callback function for the message event. Set Fn to 0 if no event
callback function is required.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster the server being communicated with belongs to, this is used when mode is
0, 1 or 3. This is not required if the client is connected to only one cluster containing a server of the
type set in the name parameter.
Return Value
The message handle, or -1 if the session cannot be opened. The message handle iden-
tifies the table where data on the associated message is stored.
Related Functions
MsgClose, MsgRead, MsgWrite, MsgRPC
Example
INT hClient = -1;

// Open message session on the client, connecting using the
//existing message session to the current Alarm server
FUNCTION
MsgClientOpen()
INT nState;
hClient = MsgOpen("Alarm", 0, MsgPostClient);
IF hClient <> -1 THEN
nState = MsgState(hClient);
1082
SELECT CASE nState

CASE 1
Prompt("Message session is online!");
//Send a message to the server
MsgWrite(hClient, 1, "MyMessage");
CASE -1
Prompt("Message session handle is invalid!");
CASE 0
Prompt("Message session is offline!");
CASE 2
Prompt("Message session is connecting!");
CASE 3
Prompt("Message session is disconnecting!");
CASE ELSE
Prompt("Message session has unknown status!");
END SELECT
ELSE
Prompt("Message session could not be opened!");
END
END
// This function is called when the client receives a message from
//the server
INT
FUNCTION
MsgPostClient()
INT Type;
STRING Str;
MsgRead(Type,Str);
Prompt("Client recieved message: Type = "+Type:###+" Str = "+Str);
RETURN 0;
END
See Also
Task Functions
MsgRead
Reads a message from a message session. You can call this function only in a message
post function (the callback function specified in the MsgOpen() function), to read the cur-
rent message.
The nType and Str variables of this function return the message number and the text of
the message. The return value of this function is the message handle (allowing a
response to be sent back if required).
you need to open the message session using the MsgOpen() function, to enable the call-
back function.
Syntax
MsgRead(Type, Str)
nType:
1083
The message number.
Str:
The message text.
Return Value
The message handle of the message being read.
Related Functions
MsgOpen, MsgClose, MsgWrite, MsgRPC
Example
/* This function will read a message from the session and if

Type=1, will display the string as a prompt. If Type=2 then the
speaker beeps and an acknowledgment is sent back to the caller. */
INT
FUNCTION
MsgPostClient()
INT Type;
STRING Str;
INT hMsg;
hMsg=MsgRead(Type,Str);
IF Type=1 THEN
Prompt("Message"+Str);
ELSE
IF Type=2 THEN
Beep();
MsgWrite(hMsg,2,"DONE");
END
END
END
See Also
Task Functions
MsgRPC
Calls a remote procedure on another CitectSCADA computer. You can call any of the
built-in Cicode functions remotely, or your own functions. You pass the sName of the
function as a string, not as the function tag, and pass all the arguments for that function
in Arg.
You can call the function in synchronous or asynchronous Mode. In synchronous mode,
MsgRPC() does not return until the remote function is called and the result is returned.
In asynchronous mode, MsgRPC() returns before the function is called, and the result
cannot be returned.
Syntax
1084
MsgRPC(hMsg, sName, Arg, Mode)

hMsg:
sName:
The name of the function to call remotely, as a string.
If this function returns an error, you should confirm that the name you have used is not a label
instead of the actual function name. Some functions are aliased using a label, for example, the func-
tion _AlarmGetFieldRec is defined in the labels database as "AlarmGetFieldRec". In this case, only
"_AlarmGetFieldRec" should be passed to MsgRPC.
Arg:
The arguments to pass to the function, separated by commas (,). Enclose string arguments in quotes
"" and use the string escape character (^) around strings enclosed within a string. If you do not
enclose the string in quotes, then the string is only the first tag found.
Mode:
The mode of the call:
0 - Blocking mode - synchronous.

1 - Non-blocking mode - asynchronous.
Return Value
The result of the remote function call (as a string). If the function is called in asyn-
chronous mode the result of the remote function cannot be returned, so an empty string
is returned.
Related Functions
MsgOpen, MsgClose, MsgRead, MsgWrite
Example
! Call remote procedure, call MyRPC() on server. Wait for result

Str=MsgRPC(hMsg,"MyRPC","Data",0);
! Call remote procedure, pass two strings. Don't wait for call to complete.
! be careful of your string delimiters as shown.
MsgRPC(hMsg,"MyStrFn","^"First string^",^"Second string^"",1);
! Call remote procedure, pass Cicode string. Don't wait for call to complete.
STRING sMessage = "this is a message";
MsgRPC(hMsg,"MyStrFn","^"" + sMessage + "^"",1);
! These functions could be used to acknowledge an alarm by record
from any CitectSCADA Client on the network.
! The AlmAck() function is initialized by the Control Client
1085
(Don't forget that servers are also Control Clients.)

! The Alarm tag is passed into the function as a string and a
message is sent to the Alarms Server to initialize
! the AlmAckMsg() function.
FUNCTION
AlmAck(String AlmTag)
INT hAlarm1;
hAlarm1 = MsgOpen("Alarm", 0, 0);
MsgRPC(hAlarm1,"AlmAckMsg",AlmTag,1);
MsgClose("Alarm", hAlarm1);
END
! The AlmAckMsg() function is executed on the Alarms Server that
the client is connected to. This could be
! either the primary or standby Alarms Server. The function
performs the alarm acknowledge.
FUNCTION
AlmAckMsg(String AlmTag)
AlarmAckRec(AlarmFirstTagRec(AlmTag,"",""));
END
See Also
Task Functions
MsgState
Verifies the status of a message session. Use MsgState() to check the return value of
MsgOpen(). A message post function is set effectively only if MsgState() returns 1, which
means the message session is online.
Syntax
MsgState(hMsg)
hMsg:
Return Value
This function has the following possible return values:

l -1 if the message session handle is invalid
l 0 if the message session is offline
l 1 if the message session is online
l 2 if the message session is connecting
l 3 if the message session is disconnecting.
Related Functions
MsgOpen
1086
Example
INT hClient = -1;
// Open message session on the client, connecting using the

existing
// message session to the current Alarm server
FUNCTION
MsgClientOpen()
INT nState;
hClient = MsgOpen("Alarm", 0, MsgPostClient);
IF hClient <> -1 THEN
nState = MsgState(hClient);
SELECT CASE nState
CASE 1
Prompt("Message session is online!");
//Send a message to the server
MsgWrite(hClient, 1, "MyMessage");
CASE -1
Prompt("Message session handle is invalid!");
CASE 0
Prompt("Message session is offline!");
CASE 2
Prompt("Message session is connecting!");
CASE 3
Prompt("Message session is disconnecting!");
CASE ELSE
Prompt("Message session has unknown status!");
END SELECT
ELSE
Prompt("Message session could not be opened!");
END
END
See Also
Task Functions
MsgWrite
Writes a message to a message session. The message is sent to the remote computer's
callback function and can be read by calling MsgRead(). If the remote computer has not
opened the session, this message is disregarded.
This function returns immediately after passing the message to CitectSCADA. Citect-
SCADA sends the message over the LAN in the background.
you need to first open the message session using the MsgOpen() function, to obtain the
message handle.
Syntax
MsgWrite(hMsg, Type, Str)
1087
hMsg:
nType:
The integer message data, that is the message number.
Str:
The message text.
Return Value
Related Functions
MsgRead, MsgOpen
Example
MsgWrite(hMsg,10,"MyMsg");
See Also
Task Functions
QueClose
Closes a queue opened with the QueOpen() function. All data is flushed from the queue.
If a Cicode task is waiting on the QueRead() function, it returns with a "queue empty"
status. You should close all queues when they are no longer required, because they con-
sume memory. At shutdown, CitectSCADA closes all open queues.
Syntax
QueClose(hQue)
hQue:
The queue handle, returned from the QueOpen() function. The queue handle identifies the table
where all data on the associated queue is stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
QueLength, QueOpen, QueRead, QueWrite, QuePeek
1088
Example
hQue=QueOpen("MyQue",1);
...
QueClose(hQue);
See Also
Task Functions
QueLength
Gets the current length of the queue.
Syntax
QueLength(hQue)
hQue:
Return Value
The current length of the queue. If the queue is closed then 0 is returned.
Related Functions
QueClose, QueOpen, QueRead, QueWrite, QuePeek
Example
Length=QueLength(hQue);
See Also
Task Functions
QueOpen
Open a queue for reading and writing data elements. Use this function to create a new
queue or open an existing queue. Use queues for sending data from one task to another
or for other buffering operations.
Syntax
QueOpen(Name, Mode)
sName:
The name of the queue.
1089
Mode:
The mode of the queue open:
0 - Open existing queue.

1 - Create new queue.
2 - Attempts to open an existing queue. If the queue does not exist, it will create
it.
Return Value
The queue handle, or -1 if the queue cannot be opened. The queue handle identifies the
table where all data on the associated queue is stored.
Related Functions
QueClose, QueLength, QueRead, QueWrite, QuePeek
Example
! Create a queue.
hQue=QueOpen("MyQue",1);
! Write data into the queue.
QueWrite(hQue,1,"Quetext");
QueWrite(hQue,1,"Moretext");
! Read back data from the queue.
QueRead(hQue,Type,Str,0);
See Also
Task Functions
QuePeek
Searches a queue for a queue element. You can search for the element by specifying a
string, an integer, or both. You can remove the element from the queue by adding 8 to
the Mode.
Note: This function may modify the arguments Type and Str depending on the
Mode. Therefore, these arguments need to be variables. You should consider that
they may be impacted by the setting for Mode when calling the function.
Syntax
QuePeek(hQue, Type, Str, Mode)

hQue:
1090
nType:
The number to search for (if using the search mode for a matching number). If you are using a
matching string mode, the number found is returned in Type.
Str:
The string to search for (if using the search mode for a matching string). If you are using a match-
ing number mode, the string found is returned in Str.
Mode:
The mode of the search:
1 - Search for a matching string.

2 - Search for a matching number.
4 - Search for a matching string and use a case-sensitive search.
8 - If the element is found, remove it from the queue.
16 Search the queue, in order, for the element at the offset specified by Type.
Use mode 16 when you know the location of the element you want. For example if you set Type = 0,
QuePeek will return the first element in the queue, type = 2, will return the 3rd element in the queue,
etc. If you specify an offset which is greater than the length of the queue, the "queue empty" error
(296) is returned.
You can extend the search by adding modes. For example, set Mode to 3 to search for a matching
string and matching number, or set Mode to 11 to also remove the string and number from the
queue.
Return Value
Related Functions
QueClose, QueLength, QueOpen, QueRead, QueWrite
Example
STRING Str;
INT Type;
! search for 'mystring' in queue, don't remove if found
Str = "mystring";
status=QuePeek(hQue,Type,Str,1);
IF Status = 0 THEN
! Now use found Type
...
END
See Also
Task Functions
1091
QueRead
Reads data from a queue, starting from the head of the queue. Data is returned in the
same order as it was written onto the queue and is removed from the queue when read.
If the Mode is 0 (non-blocking) and the queue is empty, the function returns with an
error. If the Mode is 1 (blocking) the function does not return until another Cicode task
writes data onto the queue.
ation is complete.
Syntax
QueRead(hQue, Type, Str, Mode)

hQue:
nType:
The integer variable to read from the queue (written to the queue as Type by the QueWrite() func-
tion).
Str:
The string variable to read from the queue (written to the queue as Str by the QueWrite() function).
Mode:
0 - Non-blocking.
1 - Wait for element.
Return Value
Related Functions
QueClose, QueLength, QueOpen, QueWrite, QuePeek
Example
Status=QueRead(hQue,Type,Str,0);
IF Status = 0 THEN
! Now use Type and Str.
...
END
1092
See Also
Task Functions
QueWrite
Writes an integer and string onto the end of a queue. The integer and string have no
meaning to the queue system, they are just passed from QueWrite() to QueRead(). Queue
data is written to the end of the queue. When the data is later read from the queue, it is
returned on a first-in-first-out basis.
ation is complete.
Syntax
QueWrite(hQue, Type, Str)

hQue:
nType:
The integer to put into the queue.
Str:
The string to put into the queue.
Return Value
Related Functions
QueClose, QueLength, QueOpen, QueRead, QuePeek
Example
QueWrite(hQue,2,"Hello there");
QueWrite(hQue,4,"Help");
See Also
Task Functions
ReRead
ReRead is deprecated in this version of CitectSCADA.
1093
Tags are now subscribed at the start of a function and updated tag values are sent to the
subscribing function. Tag subscriptions are made at the update rate of:
l the graphics page if called from a page
l the default subscription rate as determined by [Code]TimeData if called from Cicode
(default 250ms)
l the update rate requested of a task created using TaskNewEx
l the update rate requested of a subscription created using TagSubscribe
You will want to verify that the subscription update rate matches the requirements of
your system.
After removing ReRead from looping code you may need to extend the period of the
Sleep function. This is to replace the pause ReRead created while it read all the tag
values.
Syntax
ReRead(Mode)
Mode:
0 - Read only if data is stale.

1 - Read anyway.
Return Value
No value (void).
See Also
Task Functions
SemClose
Closes a semaphore opened with SemOpen(). You should close all semaphores when
they are no longer required, because they consume memory. If any Cicode tasks are wait-
ing on this semaphore, the tasks are released with an error.
access to an importantsection within a single process. This function only works
between Cicode tasks within the same process.
Syntax
SemClose(hSem)
hSem:
1094
The semaphore handle, returned from the SemOpen() function. The semaphore handle identifies the
table where all data on the associated semaphore is stored.
Return Value
Related Functions
SemOpen, SemSignal, SemWait
Example
SemClose(hSem);
See Also
Task Functions
SemOpen
Opens a semaphore for access control. When the semaphore is opened, it is initially sig-
nalled. Use a semaphore for controlling access to a restricted device, for example, to stop
another Cicode task accessing a device while it is in use. You might require semaphores
for some Cicode operations, because they can access a device that is critical. (Cicode is a
multi-tasking system.)
Syntax
SemOpen(Name, Mode)
sName:
The name of the semaphore.
Mode:
0 - Open existing semaphore.

1 - Create new semaphore.
2 - Attempts to open an existing semaphore. If the semaphore does not exist, it
will create it.
Return Value
1095
The semaphore handle, or -1 if the semaphore was not opened successfully. The sem-
aphore handle identifies the table where all data on the associated semaphore is stored.
Related Functions
SemClose, SemSignal, SemWait
Example
hSem=SemOpen("MySem",1);
See Also
Task Functions
SemSignal
Signals a semaphore. If several Cicode tasks are waiting on this semaphore, the first
task is released. This function is a blocking function. It will block the calling Cicode task
until the operation is complete.
Syntax
SemSignal(hSem)
hSem:
Return Value
Related Functions
SemClose, SemOpen, SemWait
Example
SemSignal(hSem);
See Also
Task Functions
1096
SemWait
Waits on a semaphore to be signalled. This function is a blocking function. It will block
the calling Cicode task until the operation is complete.
Syntax
SemWait(hSem, Timeout)
hSem:
Timeout:
Semaphore time-out time:
-1 - Wait until semaphore is clear (regardless of how long).

0 - Do not wait - return immediately. (This timeout can be used to check the
state.)
> 0 - The number of seconds to wait if semaphore is not signalling, then return.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the semaphore has been gained, otherwise an error code is returned.
Related Functions
SemClose, SemOpen, SemSignal
Example
Status=SemWait(hSem,10);
IF Status=0 THEN
...
ELSE
Prompt("Could not get semaphore");
END
See Also
Task Functions
ServerRPC
1097
Calls a remote procedure on the Citect server specified by the ServerName argument. You
can call any of the built-in Cicode functions remotely, or your own functions. You pass
the Name of the function as a string and pass the arguments for that function in Arg.
You can call the function in synchronous or asynchronous Mode. In synchronous mode,
ServerRPC() does not return until the function call has completed on the server and the
result is returned. In asynchronous mode, ServerRPC() returns before the function is
called, an empty string is returned as the result cannot be returned.
Syntax
ServerRPC(sServerName, sName, sArg, iMode [, sClusterName])

sServerName:
Citect server name where the Cicode function needs to be executed. You can optionally specify this
name in <ClusterName>.<ServerName> syntax.
sName:
The name of the Cicode function to call remotely as string.
sArg:
The arguments to pass to the function, separated by commas (,).Enclose string arguments in quotes
"" and use the string escape character (^) around strings enclosed within a string. If you forget to
enclose the string in quotes, then the string is only the first tag found.
iMode:
The mode of the call:
0 - Blocking mode - synchronous

1 - Non-blocking mode - asynchronous
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster that the server resides in. This argument is optional, as in several situations
it may not be required. In single cluster systems, it is not required, or if the current Cicode task
already has the correct cluster context for the server you may omit this argument.
Return Value
The result of the remote function call (as a string). If the function is called in asynchronous mode
the result of the remote function cannot be returned, so an empty string is returned. If the function
cannot work due to an error, empty string is also returned and the error can be obtained by calling
the IsError function.
Related Functions
TaskNew, TaskNewEx
1098
See Also
Task Functions
Sleep
Suspends the current Cicode task for a specified number of seconds. After the time delay,
the Cicode task wakes and continues execution. If the sleep time is 0, the Cicode task is
pre-empted for 1 time slice only.
This function does not affect any other Cicode tasks - only the task calling Sleep() is sus-
pended. If you have Cicode that runs continuously in a loop, you should call the Sleep()
function somewhere within the loop, to pause the loop and allow other tasks to run.
ation is complete.
Syntax
Sleep(Seconds)
Seconds:
The number of seconds. Set to 0 to pre-empt the task for one time-slice.
Return Value
Related Functions
TaskNew, ReRead, SleepMS
Example
Buttons
Text Step
Command PLCBit=1;Sleep(2);PLCBit=0;
Comment Switch Bit ON and then OFF 2 seconds later
! Display "Hello" 10 times at 60 second intervals.

WHILE I < 10 DO
Sleep(60);
Prompt("Hello");
I = I + 1;
END
1099
! Sleep a while in polling loops

WHILE < waiting for event or time> DO
! do what ever here
...
Sleep(10); ! sleep a while to give other tasks a go.
! the longer the sleep the better for other tasks.
END
See Also
Task Functions
SleepMS
Suspends the current Cicode task for a specified number of milliseconds. After the time
delay, the Cicode task wakes and continues execution. This function is similar to the
Sleep function but with greater resolution.
Although a value of 0 milliseconds is accepted, it is not recommended. Try to use at
least a value of 1.
This function does not affect any other Cicode tasks; only the task calling SleepMS() is
suspended. If you have Cicode that runs continuously in a loop, you should call the
SleepMS() or Sleep() function somewhere within the loop, to pause the loop and allow
other tasks to run.
ation is complete.
Syntax
SleepMS(Milliseconds)
Milliseconds:
The number of milliseconds (1000 milliseconds per second). Set to 0 to pre-empt the task for one
time-slice. Be careful not to use a value that is too small. Setting the value to 0 would generally have
no desirable effect.
Return Value
Related Functions
TaskNew, ReRead, Sleep
Example
1100
Buttons
Text Step
Command PLCBit=1;SleepMS(500);PLCBit=0;
Comment Switch Bit ON and then OFF 500 milliseconds later.
! Increment a memory variable by ten, 120 times over one minute

(twice a second).
I = 0;
WHILE I < 180 DO
SleepMS(500);
iRamp = iRamp + 10;
I = I + 1;
END
! sleep a while in polling loops
WHILE < waiting for event or time> DO
! do what ever here
...
SleepMS(200); ! sleep a while to give other tasks a go.
! the longer the sleep the better for other tasks.
END
See Also
Task Functions
TaskCall
Calls a Cicode function by specifying the function name and providing an arguments
string.
The function will be executed in a new Cicode task with the same cluster context as the
current task. The current task will be blocked until the new task completes and a value
can be returned.
This function cannot be called from page foreground animation code. If this is
attempted, a hardware alarm will be raised and IsError() will return 282 (Foreground
Cicode cannot block).
TaskCall allows the function to be called and the arguments to be provided to be spec-
ified dynamically by the cicode logic. This may be useful in some cases where the func-
tion needed is not known until runtime.
CitectSCADA requests the required I/O device data and waits for the data to be returned
before starting the function.
Syntax
1101
TaskCall(sName, sArgs)
sName:
The name of the function to call, as a string.
sArgs;
The arguments to pass to the function, separated by commas (,). Enclose string arguments in quotes
"" and use the string escape character (^) around strings enclosed within a string.
Return Value
The result of the function call (as a string). If a void function is called, an empty string is returned.
To see if an error occurred (such as an invalid function name or invalid arguments) call IsError()..
Related Functions
TaskNew, TaskNewEx
Example
STRING result;
result = TaskCall(“StrFill”, “^"abc^",10”);
// result will be set to "abcabcabca"
See Also
Task Functions
TaskCluster
Gets the name of the cluster context in which the current task is executing.
Syntax
TaskCluster()
Return Value
The cluster name of the current context or an empty string if the task is executing with-
out a cluster context.
Related Functions

terNext, ClusterServerTypes, ClusterSetName, ClusterStatus, ClusterSwapActive, Task-
New, TaskNewEx
Example
1102
! Get the cluster context of the current task

sCluster = TaskCluster();
See Also
Task Functions
Cluster Functions
About cluster context
TaskGetSignal
Retrieves a value that indicates the signal that is currently set for a specific task. This
function can be used to check the value of the current signal before using TaskSetSignal
to apply a new signal.
Syntax
TaskGetSignal(Hnd)
Hnd:
The task's handle. To retreive this use the function TaskHnd().
Return Value
The value of the current signal. (0 (zero) represents normal operation, 1 indicates the
task is stopped).
Related Functions
TaskSetSignal, TaskHnd, TaskKill, TaskNew, TaskResume

See Also
Task Functions
TaskHnd
Gets the task handle of a specific task. You can then use the task handle with other task
functions to control the task. If you do not specify a thread name, it will default to that of
the current task.
Syntax
TaskHnd( [sName] )
sName:
The thread name of the task. The thread name is the name of the function that was passed to the
TaskNew() function. For example, if. . .
TaskNew("MyTask","",0);
1103
then:
hTask=TaskHnd("MyTask");
will return the handle of this task.
If you do not specify a thread name, it will default to that of the current task.
Return Value
The task handle, identifying the table where all data on the task is stored.
Related Functions
TaskKill, TaskNew, TaskResume, TaskSuspend
Example
! Get the task handle of the current task and then kill it.
hTask=TaskHnd();
TaskKill(hTask);
! Get the task handle of MyTask and then kill it.
hTask=TaskHnd("MyTask");
TaskKill(hTask);
See Also
Task Functions
TaskKill
Kills a task. The Cicode task will be stopped and will not run again.
Syntax
TaskKill(hTask)
hTask:
The task handle, returned from the TaskNew() or TaskHnd() function. The task handle identifies
the table where all data on the associated task is stored.
Return Value
Note: TaskKill is an abrupt way to stop a Cicode task. It can cause system errors and
may have unintended consequences. Whenever possible, use TaskGetSignal and
TaskSetSignal to stop Cicode tasks. Use TaskKill as a last resort and after observing
the following:
1104

l Do not use TaskKill to stop Cicode tasks until you have attempted the alternative meth-
ods stated above.
l Place the processes and devices controlled by CitectSCADA into a state preventing
unintended operation before using TaskKill to stop a Cicode task.
ment damage.
Related Functions
TaskGetSignal, TaskSetSignal, TaskHnd, TaskNew, TaskResume, TaskSuspend
Example
! Create a task, run it for 10 seconds and then kill it.

hTask=TaskNew("MyFunc","",0);
Sleep(10);
TaskKill(hTask);
FUNCTION
MyFunc()
INT Count;
WHILE 1 DO
Prompt("Hello "+Count:###);
Count=Count+1;
END
END
See Also
Task Functions
TaskNew
Creates a new Cicode task and returns the task handle. You pass the sName of the func-
tion (that creates the task) as a string, not as the function tag, and pass the arguments for
that function in Arg. After the task is created, it runs in parallel to the calling task. The
new task will run forever unless it returns from the function or is killed by another task.
By default, CitectSCADA requests necessary I/O device data and waits for the data to be
returned before starting the task - the task is provided with the correct data, but there
will be a delay in starting the task. If you add 16 to the Mode, CitectSCADA starts the
task immediately, without waiting for any data from the I/O devices - any I/O device var-
iable that you use will either contain 0 (zero) or the last value read.
1105
When mode 16 is used, ensure either appropriate delays are applied before processing ref-
erences to tags or check qualities of tags. Otherwise, the execution system may process
invalid data and returns incorrect results.
ment damage.
You can specify that if the task is already running, the function will exit without launch-
ing a new task and an error will display. This is useful when you want only a single
instance of the function running at any point in time.
It is also possible to run the task within the context of a particular cluster in a multi
cluster system by setting the ClusterName parameter. If a cluster is not specified, the task
will use the cluster context of the caller, be it a page or Cicode task. Please be aware that
the cluster context cannot be changed once the code is running.
Any animation output for the new task is displayed in the window where it was created.
If you want to send output to other windows, use the WinSelect() function.
Syntax
TaskNew(sName, sArg, Mode [, sClusterName] )

sName:
The name of the function to create the task, as a string.
sArg:
The set of arguments to be passed to the function. Individual arguments need to be separated by
commas (,). Enclose string arguments in quotes "" and use the string escape character (^) around
strings enclosed within a string. If the string in quotes is not enclosed, then the string is only the
first tag found. The entire set of arguments need to be enclosed in quotes ("").
Mode:
The mode of the task:
0 - Task runs forever.

1 - Task runs until the current page is changed.
2 - Task runs until the current window is freed.
4 - This mode is deprecated and not active. Currently, by default, task requests
I/O device data before starting.
8 - If the task already exists, the function will exit without launching the new
task.
16- Task doesn't wait for necessary I/O device data and starts immediately.
1106
You can select any one of modes 0, 1 or 2 and may add mode 4 and/or mode 8 and/or mode 16. For
example, set Mode to 6 to request I/O device data before starting the task, and to run the task until
the current window is freed.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster context to be applied to the new Cicode task. This is optional if you have
one cluster or are resolving the task via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quo-
tation marks "". You may pass "-" as the ClusterName argument to run the requested Cicode task
without a cluster context.
Return Value
The task handle, or -1 if the task cannot be successfully created. The task handle iden-
tifies the table where data on the associated task is stored.
Related Functions
TaskCall,TaskHnd, TaskKill, TaskNewEx, TaskResume, TaskSuspend, ReRead, Win-

Select
Example
! Create a task that displays a message for 10 seconds.

hTask=TaskNew("MyFunc","Data",0);
! Continue to run while task runs.
FUNCTION
MyFunc(STRING Msg)
FOR I=0 TO 10 DO
Prompt(Msg);
Sleep(1);
END
END
...
! Call a function which expects more complex argument
hTask=TaskNew("ArgFunc","^"string one^",^"string two^",1,2",0);
hTask=TaskNew("ArgFunc","^""+sOne+"^",^""+sTwo+"^","+iOne:##+","+
iTwo:##,0);
FUNCTION
ArgFunc(STRING sOne, STRING sTwo, INT iOne, INT iTwo)
...
END
See Also
Task Functions
TaskNewEx
1107
Creates a new Cicode task with an individual subscription rate and returns the task han-
dle. You pass the sName of the function (that creates the task) as a string, not as the func-
tion tag, and pass the arguments for that function in Arg. After the task is created, it
runs in parallel to the calling task. The new task will run forever with tags updated at
the specified time interval unless it returns from the function or is killed by another task.
By default, CitectSCADA requests necessary I/O device data and waits for the data to be
returned before starting the task - the task is provided with the correct data, but there
will be a delay in starting the task. If you add 16 to the Mode, CitectSCADA starts the
task immediately, without waiting for any data from the I/O devices - any I/O device var-
iable that you use will either contain 0 (zero) or the last value read. Use Mode 16 when
the task has to start immediately.
When mode 16 is used, ensure either appropriate delays are applied before processing ref-
erences to tags or check qualities of tags. Otherwise, the execution system may process
invalid data and return incorrect results.
ment damage.
You can specify that if the task is already running, the function will exit without launch-
ing the new task and an error will display. This is useful when you want only a single
instance of the function running at any point in time.
It is also possible to run the task within the context of a particular cluster in a multi
cluster system by setting the ClusterName parameter. If a cluster is not specified, the task
will use the cluster context of the caller, be it a page or Cicode task. Please be aware that
the cluster context cannot be changed once the code is running.
Any animation output for the new task is displayed in the window where it was created.
If you want to send output to other windows, use the WinSelect() function.
Syntax
TaskNewEx(sName, sArg, Mode, SubscriptionRate [, sClusterName] )

sName:
The name of the function to create the task, as a string.
sArg:
1108
The set of arguments to be passed to the function. Individual arguments need to be separated by
commas (,). Enclose string arguments in quotes "" and use the string escape character (^) around
strings enclosed within a string. If you do not enclose the string in quotes, then the string is only
the first tag found. The entire set of arguments need to be enclosed in quotes ("").
Mode:
The mode of the task:
0 - Task runs forever.

1 - Task runs until the current page is changed.
2 - Task runs until the current window is freed.
4 -This mode is deprecated and not active. Currently, by default, task requests
all I/O device data before starting.
8 - If the task already exists, the function will exit without launching the new
task.
16- Task doesn't wait for necessary I/O device data and starts immediately.
You can select any one of modes 0, 1 or 2 and may add mode 4 and/or mode 8, and/or mode 16.
For example, set Mode to 6 to request I/O device data before starting the task, and to run the task
until the current window is freed.
SubscriptionRate
The subscription rate for the task, between 0 and 60000 milliseconds, which determines the
frequency at which the I/ O Server reads I/O device data in order to provide tags with up-to-date
Cicode variables. A value of -1 may be passed which will use the current task's subscription rate or
the default value as set by the existing parameter [CODE]TimeData which defaults to 250.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster context to be applied to the new Cicode task. This is optional if you have
one cluster or are resolving the task via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quo-
tation marks "". You may pass "-" as the ClusterName argument to run the requested Cicode task
without a cluster context.
Return Value
The task handle, or -1 if the task cannot be successfully created. The task handle iden-
tifies the table where data on the associated task is stored.
Related Functions
TaskCall,TaskHnd, TaskKill, TaskNew, TaskResume, TaskSuspend, ReRead, WinSelect
Example
! Create a task that calls a function every half second.

hTask=TaskNewEx("MyFunc","Data",0,500);
1109
See Also
Task Functions
TaskResume
Resumes a task that was suspended by the TaskSuspend() function. After a task is
resumed, it runs on the next time-slice.
Syntax
TaskResume(hTask)
hTask:
Return Value
Related Functions
TaskHnd, TaskKill, TaskSuspend, TaskNew
Example
TaskResume(hTask);
See Also
Task Functions
TaskSetSignal
Manually applies a signal to a specified task.
Syntax
TaskSetSignal(Hnd, nSignal)
Hnd:
The task's handle. To retrieve this use the function TaskHnd().
nSignal:
Allows you to signal a specified task. Set to 0 (zero) for normal operation, 1 to stop the task or any
other number that represents a defined signal.
Return Value
1110
Related Functions
TaskGetSignal, TaskHnd, TaskKill, TaskSuspend, TaskNew, TaskResume

See Also
Task Functions
TaskSuspend
Suspends a task. The task will stop running and will start again only when TaskResume
() is called.
Syntax
TaskSuspend(hTask)
hTask:
Return Value
Related Functions
TaskHnd, TaskKill, TaskNew, TaskResume
Example
TaskSuspend(hTask);
...
TaskResume(hTask);
See Also
Task Functions
1111
1112
Chapter 55: Time/Date Functions
Time/date functions manipulate time and date variables. CitectSCADA stores time/date-
related variables as a single integer. This integer represents the number of seconds since
01/01/1970. It is in GMT, but it has an offset that updates it to local time (determined by
the timezone the application is in). The Time/date functions convert this integer into
time and date variables.
Note: The Time/date functions can only be used with dates between 1980 and 2035.
Following are functions relating to Time and Date:
Date Gets the current system date in string format.
DateAdd Adds time to a date.
DateDay Gets the day from a date.
DateInfo Returns the date format currently in effect on the CitectSCADA Server.
DateMonth Gets the month from a date.
DateSub Subtracts two dates.
DateWeekDay Gets the day of week from a date.
DateYear Gets the year from a date.
OLE- Converts an OLE DATE value to a CitectSCADA time/date value.

DateToTime
SysTime Marks the start of an event.
SysTimeDelta Calculates the time-span of an event.
Time Gets the current system time in string format.
TimeCurrent Gets the current time/date value.
1113
TimeHour Gets hours from a time.
TimeInfo Returns the time format currently in effect on the CitectSCADA Server.
TimeMidNight Converts a time variable into the time at midnight.
TimeMin Gets minutes from a time.
TimeSec Gets seconds from a time.
TimeSet Sets the new system time.
TimeToOLEDate Converts a time/date value to an OLE DATE value
TimeToStr Converts a time/date variable into a string.
TimeUT- Determines the local time bias from UTC at a specified time.
COffset
See Also
Functions Reference
Date
Gets the current date in string format.
Note: Time/Date functions can only be used with dates between 1980 and 2035. You
should check that the date you are using is valid with Cicode similar to the fol-
lowing:
IF StrToDate(Arg1)>0 THEN
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
Date( [Format] )
Format:
The format required:
Format of the string:

0 - Short time format, hh:mm AM/PM.
1 - Long time format, hh:mm:ss AM/PM.
1114
2 - Short date format, dd/mm/yy.

3 - Long date format, day month year.
4 - Time and date, weekday month day year hh:mm:ss AM/PM.
5 - Long time period, hh:mm:ss. Time needs to be in seconds.
6 - Millisecond time period, hh:mm:ss.xxx ("xxx" represents milliseconds).
Time needs to be in milliseconds.
7 - Short time period, hh:mm. Time needs to be in seconds.
8 - Long time period, "xxxxx Days hh Hours mm min ss sec where xxxxx =
number of days since 1/1/1970". Time needs to be in seconds.
9 - Extended date format, dd/mm/yyyy.
10 - Local TimeDate format, yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
11 - Time of Day, hh:mm:ss tt format with no date
UTC:
Coordinated Universal Time (optional)
0 - Display the string as a local date/time (default).

1 - Display the string as a UTC date/time (valid for formats 0-4 and 9).
If omitted, the default Format is 2. These formats follow the Regional Settings found in the Win-
dows Control Panel.
Return Value
The current date (in string format).
Related Functions
Time, TimeToStr, TimeCurrent
Example
/* If the current system date is 3rd November 1991 and the Windows
date format is dd/mm/yy; */
str = Date();
! Sets str to "3/11/91".
str = Date(2);
! Sets str to "3/11/91".
str = Date(3);
! Sets str to "3rd November 1991".
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateAdd
1115
Adds time (in seconds) to a time/date value. The return value is in time/date variable for-
mat. Use this function for time and date calculations.
Syntax
DateAdd(Time, AddTime)
Time:
The time/date to which the AddTime will be added.
AddTime:
The time to add, in seconds.
Return Value
The date as a time/date variable.
Related Functions
TimeToStr, DateSub
Example
DateVariable=DateAdd(StrToDate("3/11/91"),86400);
! Adds 24 hours to 3/11/91.
NewDate=TimeToStr(DateVariable);
! Sets NewDate to 4/11/91.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateDay
Gets the day of the month from a time/date variable.
Time/date functions can only be used with dates between 1980 and 2035. You should
check that the date you are using is valid with Cicode similar to the following:
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
DateDay(Time)
Time:
The time/date variable.
1116
Return Value
The day of the month as an integer.
Related Functions
Date
Example
! If the current system date is 3rd November 1991;

Variable=DateDay(TimeCurrent());
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateInfo
Returns the date format currently used on the CitectSCADA Server.
Syntax
DateInfo(nInfo, nExtra)
nInfo:
Determines the contents of the string returned by the DateInfo() function. Valid values and resulting
strings are:
1 - The current date order:

l "0" - MMDDYY
l "1" - DDMMYY
l "2" - YYMMDD.
2 - The current date delimiter.

3 - The current short date format.
4 - The current long date format.
5 - The current extended date format.
6 - The short weekday string. The particular weekday returned is determined
by the nExtra argument.
7 - The long weekday string. The particular weekday returned is determined by
the nExtra argument.
8 - The short month string. The particular month returned is determined by the
nExtra argument.
9 - The long month string. The particular month returned is determined by the
nExtra argument.
nExtra:
1117
When an nInfo argument of 6 or 7 is specified, the nExtra argument determines which weekday (1-
7) is returned by the DateInfo() function.
When an nInfo argument of 8 or 9 is specified, the nExtra argument determines which month (1-12)
is returned by the DateInfo() function.
The nExtra argument is ignored if any other nInfo value is passed to the function.
Return Value
A string containing one of the following:

l Current date order ("0" for MMDDYY, "1" for DDMMYY, "2" for YYMMDD;
l Current date delimiter;
l Current short date format;
l Current long date format;
l Current extended date format;
l Short weekday string;
l Long weekday string;
l Short month string;
l Long month string;
depending on the nInfo and nExtra arguments passed to the function.
Related Functions
TimeInfo
Example
! If the current system date is the fourth of December 2002;

TwelfthMonth=DateInfo(9,12);
! Sets TwelfthMonth to "December".
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateMonth
Gets the month from a time/date variable.
Note: Time/date functions can only be used with dates from 1980 to 2035. You
should check that the date you are using is valid with Cicode similar to the fol-
lowing:
1118
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
DateMonth(Time)
Time:
Return Value
The month of the year as an integer.
Related Functions
Date
Example

Variable=DateMonth(TimeCurrent());
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateSub
Subtracts time (in seconds) from a time/date value. The return value is in time/date var-
iable format. Use this function for time and date calculations.
Syntax
DateSub(Time, SubTime)
Time:
The time/date from which the SubTime will be subtracted.
SubTime:
The time to subtract, in seconds.
Return Value
The time difference (in seconds) as an integer.
1119
Related Functions
Date, DateAdd
Example
Variable=DateSub(StrToDate("05/11/91"),StrToDate("03/11/91"));
! Sets Variable to number of seconds between 2 date/times.
Str=TimeToStr(Variable,5);
! Sets Str to "48:00:00".
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateWeekDay
Gets the day of the week from a time/date variable.
that the date you are using is valid with Cicode similar to the following:
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
DateWeekDay(Time)
Time:
Return Value
An integer representing the day of the week as follows:

1 - Sunday
2 - Monday
3 - Tuesday
4 - Wednesday
5 - Thursday
6 - Friday
7 - Saturday
Related Functions
1120
Date, TimeCurrent
Example
! If the current system date is Sunday, 3rd November 1991;

Variable=DateWeekDay(TimeCurrent());
See Also
Time/Date Functions
DateYear
Gets the year from a time/date variable.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
DateYear(Time [, Mode] )
Time:
Mode:
The format required:
0 - Short year, yy. If you use this mode during the year 2000, 0 (zero) will be
returned.
1 - Long year, yyyy
If omitted, the default Mode is 0.
Return Value
The year as an integer.
Note: In the year 2000, this function will return 0 (zero) if mode 0 (zero) is used.
Related Functions
Date
1121
Example

Variable=DateYear(TimeCurrent(),0);
! If the current system date is 18th October 2000;
See Also
Time/Date Functions
OLEDateToTime
Converts an OLE DATE value (stored in a REAL) to a CitectSCADA time/date value.
Note: An OLE DATE representing a local time in the daylight savings(DST) to stand-
ard time(Std) transition period will be converted to the DST value internally. For
example, if the DST transition is 30/3/2003 2:00:00 Std, the local time will behave in
the following manner: 2:00:00 DST -> 2:59:59 DST -> 2:00:00 Std. Because of this, a
value representing the period between 2:00:00 and 2:59:59 on that date will be inter-
preted as 2:00:00 DST, not Std.
Syntax
OLEDateToTime(OLEDate, Local)
OLEDate:
The OLE DATE value to convert (stored as a REAL).
Local:
0 - OleDate represents a UTC time.
1 - OleDate represents a Local time.
Return Value
Returns a CitectSCADA time/date value.
Related Functions
TimeCurrent, TimeToOLEDate
Example
1122
Real = TimeToOLEDate(TimeCurrent(), 1);

! Sets Real to the local date/time value
TimeVariable = OLEDateToTime(Real, 1);
! Sets TimeVariable to the value of Real when interpreted as Local
time.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
SysTime
Gets the CitectSCADA internal system millisecond counter. The counter is not based on
time, but counts from 0 up to the maximum integer value and then back to 0.
You can use this function to time events down to the millisecond level, either by sub-
tracting the current SysTime from the SysTime at the start of the event, or by using the
SysTimeDelta() function (which will give the same result).
The SysTime() function does not return the time of day. Use the Time() or TimeCurrent()
function to obtain the time of day.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
SysTime()
Return Value
The CitectSCADA internal system millisecond counter (as an integer).
Related Functions
SysTimeDelta, Time, TimeCurrent
Example
Start=SysTime();
! Gets the current time.
...
Delay=SysTime()-Start;
! Sets Delay to the time difference, in milliseconds.
1123
See Also
Time/Date Functions
SysTimeDelta
Calculates the time difference between a start time and the current time, and updates the
start time to the current time. You can time continuous events in a single operation. See
the SysTime() function for information on its use.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
SysTimeDelta(Start)
Start:
The start time returned from the SysTime() function.
Return Value
The time difference from a start time and the current time.
Related Functions
SysTime
Example
Start=SysTime();
! Gets the current time.
...
Delay1=SysTimeDelta(Start);
! Sets Delay1 to the time difference from Start.
...
Delay2=SysTimeDelta(Start);
! Sets Delay2 to the time difference from the last SysTimeDelta()
call.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
Time
1124
Gets the current time in string format.

...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
Time( [Format] )
Format:
The format of the time:
0 - Short time format, hh:mm AM/PM

1 - Long time format., hh:mm:ss AM/PM
If omitted, the default Format is 0.
Return Value
The current time (as a string).
Related Functions
Date, TimeToStr
Example
! If the current time is 10:45:30;

Variable=Time();
! Sets Variable to "10:45".
Variable=Time(0);
! Sets Variable to "10:45 AM".
Variable=Time(1);
! Sets Variable to "10:45:30 AM".
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeCurrent
Gets the current system time/date in time/date variable format. Please be aware that
CitectSCADA stores time as the number of seconds since 01/01/1970. You can convert
this value into usable date and time variables by using the various Date and Time func-
tions.
1125
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
TimeCurrent()
Return Value
A time/date variable.
Related Functions
StrToDate, StrToTime
Example
! If the current system time is 11:43:10 a.m.;

TimeVariable=TimeToStr(TimeCurrent(),0);
! Sets TimeVariable to "11:43".
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeHour
Gets the hour value from a time/date variable.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
TimeHour(Time)
Time:
1126
Return Value
The hour (as an integer).
Related Functions
TimeCurrent
Example

HoursVariable=TimeHour(TimeCurrent());
! Sets HoursVariable to 11.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeInfo
Returns the time format currently used on the CitectSCADA Server.
Syntax
TimeInfo(nInfo)
nInfo:
Determines the contents of the string returned by the TimeInfo() function. Valid values and result-
ing strings are:
1- The current time hour format:

l "0" - 12 hour
l "1" - 24 hour
2- The current time delimiter.

3- The current morning time extension.
4- The current evening time extension.
Return Value
Depending on the nInfo argument passed to the function, a string containing:

l Current time hour format ("0" for 12 hour, "1" for 24 hour)
l Current time delimiter
l Current morning time extension
l Current evening time extension
Related Functions
DateInfo
1127
Example
! If the current system time is 15:43:10.;

ClockType=TimeInfo(1);
! Sets ClockType to "1".
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeMidNight
Returns the number of seconds between midnight on January 1, 1970, and the midnight
immediately prior to the specified time/date. This function is useful for performing cal-
culations with the time and date.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
TimeMidNight(Time)
Time:
Return Value
A time/date variable.
Related Functions
TimeCurrent
Example
timeNow = TimeCurrent();
! get the time variable at 7am today
time7am = TimeMidNight(timeNow) + 7*60*60;
IF timeNow > time7am AND timeNow < time7am + 10 THEN
Beep();
Prompt("Wake Up!");
END
1128
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeMin
Gets the minutes value from a time/date variable.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
TimeMin(Time)
Time:
Return Value
The minute (as an integer).
Related Functions
TimeCurrent
Example
! If the current system time is 11:43:10 a.m.

MinutesVariable=TimeMin(TimeCurrent());
! Sets MinutesVariable to 43.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeSec
Gets the seconds value from a time/date variable.
...
1129
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
TimeSec(Time)
Time:
Return Value
The second (as an integer).
Example

SecondsVariable=TimeSec(TimeCurrent());
! Sets SecondsVariable to 10.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeSet
Sets the new system time. You can set the time only on the computer which this function
is called.
Time/date functions can only be used with dates from 1980 to 2035.
If you call TimeSet without the required privileges to change the system time you will
receive a hardware alarm indicating this.
Note: that when using Vista, UAC needs to be disabled in order for the time to be set.
Syntax
TimeSet(Time)
Time:
The time/date variable to which the new time is set. Sets the time on this computer only.
Return Value
The error status of the set
Related Functions
1130
DateInfo
Example
! set the time to 11:43 on June 23 1993

time = StrToTime("11:43:00") + StrToDate("23/6/93");
TimeSet(time);.
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeToOLEDate
Converts a CitectSCADA time/date value to an OLE DATE value (this should be stored
in a REAL).
Syntax
TimeToOLEDate(Time, Local)
Time:
Time/date variable.
Local:
0 - The return value is output as UTC time.
1 - The return value is output as Local time.
Return Value
Returns an OLE date value.
Related Functions
TimeCurrent, OLEDateToTime
Example
Real = TimeToOLEDate(TimeCurrent(), 1);

! Sets Real to the local date/time value
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeToStr
1131
Converts a time/date variable into a string. Use this function for calculating time dif-
ferences or run times, and so on. Set Format to 6 to convert time periods that are in mil-
liseconds, such as the times that are returned from the SysTime() and SysTimeDelta()
functions.
Note: Once a date/time is retrieved as UTC, the string cannot be used by the Cicode
functions StrToDate and StrToTime to synthesize a date/time value as these func-
tions support local time only.
...
ELSE
...
END
Syntax
TimeToStr(Time, Format [, UTC] )

Time:
Format:

6 - Millisecond time period, hh:mm:ss.xxx ("xxx" represents milliseconds).
8 - Long time period, "xxxxx Days hh Hours mm min ss sec where xxxxx =
number of days since 1/1/1970". Time needs to be in seconds.
10 - Local TimeDate format, yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
11 - Time of Day, hh:mm:ss tt format with no date
UTC:
1132
Coordinated Universal Time (optional)

1 - Display the string as a UTC date/time (valid for formats 0-4 and 9).
Return Value
A string containing the converted time/date or period variable, or an empty string if

invalid.
Related Functions
Time, TimeCurrent, Date
Example
! If the current system time is 11:50:00 a.m.

String=TimeToStr(TimeCurrent(),0);
! Sets String to "11:50 AM".
String=TimeToStr(125 + TimeCurrent(),5);
! Sets String to "11:52:05" (the current time + 2 minutes and 5
seconds).
See Also
Time/Date Functions
TimeUTCOffset
Determines the local time bias from UTC that was in force at a specified time. For exam-
ple, US Pacific Standard Time is -8 hrs from UTC, so -28800 would be returned (-8 hours
x 60 minutes x 60 seconds). However, if the specified time occurred during daylight sav-
ing, the returned value would be -7 hours (or -25200 seconds).
Syntax
TimeUTCOffset(Time)
Time:
Return Value
The local time bias in seconds.
Related Functions
TimeCurrent
See Also
Time/Date Functions
1133
1134
Chapter 56: Timestamp Functions
The Timestamp functions enable you to programmatically read and write the Times-
tamp values of tag elements and access the timestamp information associated with a tag
value.
No function taking either Timestamp or Quality as an argument can be called from the
Cicode Kernel Window or through a CtCicode CtAPI function.
The following functions are used to interface with the TIMESTAMP data type.
StrToTimestamp Converts timestamp in a STRING format into a TIMESTAMP format
TimestampAdd Adds time (in part of) to a TIMESTAMP variable.
TimestampCreate Returns a timestamp variable created from the parts.
TimestampToStr Converts a TIMESTAMP variable into a string.
TimestampDifference Returns a difference between two TIMESTAMP variables as a number

of milliseconds.
TimestampCurrent Returns the current system date and time as a TIMESTAMP variable.
TimestampFormat Format a TIMESTAMP variable into a string.
TimestampGetPart Returns one part (year, month, day, etc) of the timestamp variable.
TimeIntToTimestamp Converts a time INTEGER which is represented as a number of sec-

onds since 01/01/1970 to a TIMESTAMP
TimestampSub Subtracts time (in part of) from a TIMESTAMP variable.
TimestampToTimeInt Converts a TIMESTAMP variable into a time INTEGER which is rep-

resented as a number of seconds since 01/01/1970.
VariableTimestamp Extracts the timestamp from a given variable.
See Also
Functions Reference
StrToTimestamp
This function converts timestamp in a STRING format into a TIMESTAMP format. This
function can be used in browsing functions to convert timestamp fields returned as a
string.
Syntax
1135
TIMESTAMP StrToTimestamp(STRING String [, INT Format [, INT UTC]])

String:
The date and time as a STRING or TIMESTAMP
Format:
The format of the string. Should be 15. Other types reserved for future use.
UTC:
If 1, the date is considered to be in UTC. Otherwise, local time is used. This field is only
applicable for format STRING formats (i.e. format is not equal 15).
Return Value
This function returns a date in TIMESTAMP format if successful, otherwise returns

TIMESTAMP of January 1, 1601, 00:00:00 (UTC). If the function is unsuccessful you can
call the IsError() function to get the actual error code.
Related Functions
SchdSpecialItemAdd, SchdSpecialItemDelete, SchdSpecialItemGetField, SchdCon-

figGetField, SchdGetField, SchdOpen, SchdSpecialItemAdd, ScheduleItemAdd, Sched-
uleItemModify, ScheduleItemSetRepeat
See Also
Scheduler Functions
Timestamp Functions
TimeIntToTimestamp
Converts a time INTEGER which is represented as a number of seconds since
01/01/1970 to a TIMESTAMP
Syntax
TimeIntToTimestamp(INT TimeInt [, INT Millisecond [, INT UTC]])

TimeInt:
The number of seconds since 01/01/1970.
Millesecond:
The number of milliseconds since last second (optional).
UTC:
Coordinated Universal Time (optional):
0 – The given time INTEGER is a local date/time.
1136
1 – The given time INTEGER is a UTC date/time (default).
Return Value
A TIMESTAMP variable or INVALID_TIMESTAMP if invalid.
Related Functions
TimestampCurrent, TimestampDifference, TimestampSub, TimestampToStr, Times-

tampAdd, TimestampCreate, TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, Times-
tampToTimeInt
Example
INT TimeInt = TimeCurrent();
TIMESTAMP t1 = TimeIntToTimestamp(TimeInt);
STRING sTimestamp = TimestampToStr(t1, 0, 0);
// sTimestamp equals current time in the short time format
// i.e. ‘HH:MM AM/PM’
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampAdd
Adds an offset to a TIMESTAMP variable.
Syntax
TimestampAdd(TIMESTAMP Timestamp, INT Offset [, INT Part])

Timestamp:
The timestamp to which Offset will be added
Offset:
The offset to add, expressed in units of the part parameter
Part:
Indicates which part to add:
1137
0 – Offset is in years.
1 – Offset is in months.
2 – Offset is in days.
3 - Offset is in hours.
4 - Offset is in minutes.
5 - Offset is in seconds (default)
6 - Offset is in milliseconds
Return Value
The TIMESTAMP variable, or INVALID_TIMESTAMP if invalid.
Related Functions
TimestampCurrent, TimestampDifference, TimestampSub, TimestampToStr, TimeInt-

ToTimestamp, TimestampCreate, TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, Times-
tampToTimeInt
Example
TIMESTAMP t1 = TimestampAdd(Tag1.T, 100); // 100 seconds
TIMESTAMP t2 = TimestampAdd(Tag1.T, 1, 0); // 1 year
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampCurrent
Return the current system date and time as a TIMESTAMP variable.
Syntax
TimestampCurrent()
Return Value
A TIMESTAMP variable containing the current system date and time.
Related Functions
1138
TimestampAdd, TimestampDifference, TimestampSub, TimestampToStr, Times-

tampCreate, TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, TimestampToTimeInt, TimeInt-
ToTimestamp
Example
TIMESTAMP t1 = TimestampCurrent();
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampCreate
Returns a TIMESTAMP variable created from the parts.
Syntax
TimestampCreate(INT Year, INT Month, INT Day, INT Hour, INT Minute, INT Second,
INT Millisecond [, INT bUtc])
Timestamp:
The timestamp from which the part will be extracted.
Year:
The year part.
Month:
The month part.
Day:
The day part.
Hour:
The hour part.
Minute:
The minute part.
Second:
The second part.
Millisecond:
The millisecond part.
1139
UTC:
0 – The given time INTEGER is a local date/time.
1 – The given time INTEGER is a UTC date/time (default).
Return Value
The composed TIMESTAMP variable, or INVALID_TIMESTAMP if invalid
Related Functions
TimestampAdd, TimestampCurrent, TimestampDifference, TimestampSub, Times-

tampToStr, TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, TimestampToTimeInt, TimeInt-
ToTimestamp,
Example
TIMESTAMP timestamp = TimestampCreate(2009, 6, 29, 11, 2, 10, 468);
STRING sTimestamp = TimestampFormat(t1, “dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff”);
// sTimestamp equals ‘29/06/2009 11:02:10.468’
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampDifference
Returns the difference between two TIMESTAMP variables as a number of milliseconds.
Syntax
TimestampDifference(TIMESTAMP Timestamp1, TIMESTAMP Timestamp2 [, INT Part

[, INT bCumulative]])
Timestamp 1:
The TIMESTAMP variable 1.
Timestamp 2:
The TIMESTAMP variable 2.
Part:
The type of time units being used for the result:
1140
0 – Result is in years.
1 – Result is in months.
2 – Result is in days.
3 - Result is in hours
4 - Result is in minutes.
5 - Result is in seconds (default).
6 - Result is in milliseconds.
bCumulative:
Defines how to pass results which values are greater than their time units (see example
below).
0 – Non-cumulative
1 – Cumulative mode (default).
Return Value
The time period between Timestamp1 and Timestamp2. The value is equal or greater
than zero. If error, returns 0 with an error code.
Related Functions
TimestampAdd, TimestampCurrent, TimestampSub, TimestampToStr, TimestampCreate,

TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, TimestampToTimeInt, TimeIntToTimestamp
Example
TIMESTAMP t1 = TimestampCreate(2008, 11, 28, 09, 01, 30);
TIMESTAMP t2 = TimestampCreate(2008, 11, 28, 09, 00, 00);
INT nTimespanCumulative = TimestampDifference(t1, t2, 5, 1);
// nTimespanCumulative is equal 90 (seconds)
INT nTimespanNonCumulative = TimestampDifference(t1, t2, 5, 0);
// nTimespanNonCumulative is equal 30 (seconds)
1141
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampFormat
Format a TIMESTAMP variable into a string.
Syntax
TimestampFormat(TIMESTAMP Timestamp, STRING Format [, INT UTC])

Timestamp:
The timestamp variable.
Format:
The format of the string is the same as .NET Framework DateTime format. Specifically be reminded
that the format is case sensitive. For example 'MM' is the zero padded month number, whereas 'mm'
is the zero padded current minute within the hour. Therefore no Year, Day or Seconds will be dis-
played if they are specified in uppercase as: YYYY, DD, SS. The correct display will only occur
when they are specified in lowercase as: yyyy, dd, ss.
A short list of formats are included below extracted from the"Custom Date and Time Format
Strings" in the Microsoft .NET Framework Developer's Guide from the MSDN Library. It is rec-
ommended that you confirm its currency by consulting the source information periodically.
Use the following single-character format strings by themselves to choose predefined standard date
and time formats:
l d Short date pattern. Ex. "6/15/2009"
l D Long date pattern. Ex. "Monday, June 15, 2009"
l f Full date/time pattern (short time). Ex. "Monday, June 15, 2009 1:45 PM"
l F Full date/time pattern (long time). Ex. "Monday, June 15, 2009 1:45:30 PM"
l g General date/time pattern (short time). Ex. "6/15/2009 1:45 PM"
l G General date/time pattern (long time). Ex. "6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM"
l M or m Month/day pattern. "June 15"
l O or o Round-trip date/time pattern. Ex. "2009-06-15T13:45:30.0900000"
l R or r RFC1123 pattern. Ex. "Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:45:30 GMT"
l s Sortable date/time pattern. Ex. "2009-06-15T13:45:30"
l t Short time pattern. Ex. "1:45 PM"
l T Long time pattern. Ex. "1:45:30 PM"
l u Universal sortable date/time pattern. Ex. "2009-06-15 20:45:30Z"
l U Universal full date/time pattern. Ex. "Monday, June 15, 2009 8:45:30 PM"
l Y or y Year month pattern. Ex. "June, 2009"
1142
For all the examples above, the input time/date is assumed to be 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM with Windows
set to the en-US locale. Many of the formats will change according to the current Windows locale.
You may combine the following format specifiers to make up custom format specifications:
l d The day of the month, from 1 through 31.
l dd The day of the month, from 01 through 31.
l ddd The abbreviated name of the day of the week.
l dddd The full name of the day of the week.
l f Fraction of a second. Returns one decimal place for each 'f', up to 'fffffff'
l F Fraction of a second, if non-zero. Returns one decimal place for each 'f', up
to 'fffffff'
l g, gg The period or era.
l h The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 1 to 12.
l hh The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 01 to 12.
l H The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 0 to 23.
l HH The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 00 to 23.
l K Time zone information.
l m The minute, from 0 through 59.
l mm The minute, from 00 through 59.
l M The month, from 1 through 12.
l MM The month, from 01 through 12.
l MMM The abbreviated name of the month.
l MMMM The full name of the month.
l s The second, from 0 through 59.
l ss The second, from 00 through 59.
l t The first character of the AM/PM designator.
l tt The AM/PM designator.
l y The year, from 0 to 99.
l yy The year, from 00 to 99.
l yyy The year, with a minimum of three digits.
l yyyy The year as a four-digit number.
l yyyyy The year as a five-digit number.
l z Hours offset from UTC, with no leading zeros.
l zz Hours offset from UTC, with a leading zero for a single-digit value.
l zzz Hours and minutes offset from UTC.
l : The time separator.
l / The date separator.
l "string" or 'string' Literal string delimiter.
l % Defines the following character as a custom format specifier.
1143
l \ The escape character.

l Any other character The character is copied to the result string unchanged.
UTC:
0 - Returns the time as a local date/time (default).
1 - Returns the time as a UTC date/time.
Return Value
A string containing the converted time/date, or an empty string if invalid.
Related Functions

tampToStr, TimestampCreate, TimestampGetPart, TimestampToTimeInt, TimeInt-
ToTimestamp
Example
TIMESTAMP t1 = TimestampCreate(2009,07,11,09,27,34,123);
STRING sTimestamp = TimestampFormat(t1, “dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff”);
// sTimestamp equals "11/07/2009 09:27:34.123"
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampGetPart
Returns one part (year, month, day, etc) of the TIMESTAMP variable.
Syntax
TimestampGetPart(TIMESTAMP Timestamp, INT Part [, INT bUtc])

Timestamp:
The timestamp from which the part will be extracted.
Part:
Indicates which part to extract:
0 – The year part
1144
1 – The month part.
2 – The day part.
3 – The hour part.
4 – The minute part.
5 – The second part.
6 – The millisecond part.
7 - The number of milliseconds since midnight last occurred.
UTC:
0 – The given time INTEGER is a local date/time.(default).
1 – The given time INTEGER is a UTC date/time.
Return Value
The required part of the TIMESTAMP variable.
Related Functions

tampToStr, TimestampCreate, TimestampFormat, TimestampToTimeInt, TimeInt-
ToTimestamp
Example
TIMESTAMP t1;
// insert code here
INT year = TimestampGetPart(t1, 0);
INT second = TimestampGetPart(t1, 5);
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampSub
Subtracts an offset from a TIMESTAMP variable.
Syntax
TimestampSub(TIMESTAMP Timestamp, INT Offset [, INT Part])

Timestamp:
1145
The timestamp to which Offset will be subtracted
Offset:
The offset to subtract, expressed in units of the part parameter
Part:
Indicates which part to subtract:
0 – Offset is in years.
1 – Offset is in months.
2 – Offset is in days.
3 - Offset is in hours.
4 - Offset is in minutes.
5 - Offset is in seconds (default)
6 - Offset is in milliseconds
Return Value
The TIMESTAMP variable, or INVALID_TIMESTAMP if invalid.
Related Functions
TimestampAdd, TimestampCurrent, TimestampDifference, TimestampToStr, Times-

ToTimestamp
Example
TIMESTAMP t1 = TimestampSub(Tag1.T, 1, 0); // 1 year;
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampToStr
Converts a TIMESTAMP variable into a string.
Syntax
TimestampToStr(Timestamp, INT Format [, INT UTC])

Timestamp:
1146
Specifies the TIMESTAMP variable.
Format:
The format number determines which of date/time patterns are used for formatting returned string.
Date/time patterns are defined in regional settings on a particular computer and can vary depend on
national or individual preferences. The possible format numbers together with examples based on
en-US regional settings are listed below:
0 – Short time format, hh:mm.
1 – Long time format, hh:mm:ss.
2 – Short date format, dd/MM/yyyy.
3 – Long date format, dddd, dd MMMM yyyy.
4 – Short date & short time format, dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm.
5 – Short date & long time format, dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss.
6 – Long date & short time format, dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm.
7 – Long date & long time format, dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss.
8 – Month day format, dd MMMM.
9 – Year month format, MMMM yyyy.
10 – RFC1123 format, ddd, dd MMM yyyy hh:mm:ss GMT
11 – Sortable date time format, yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss
12 – Short universal format, yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ssZ
13 – Long universal format, dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss
14 – Long Time & millisecond, hh:mm:ss.fff
15 - Date and time as a 64-bit value specified by the number of 100-nanosecond intervals since Jan-
uary 1, 1601 .
UTC (optional - short for Universal Time Coordinate):
1 - Display the string as a UTC date/time.
Return Value
A string containing the converted time/date or period variable, or an empty string if

invalid.
Related Functions
1147

ToTimestamp
Example
STRING sTimestamp = TimestampToStr(t1, 0, 0);
// sTimestamp equals '9:27 AM'
See Also
Timestamp Functions
TimestampToTimeInt
Converts a TIMESTAMP variable into a time INTEGER which is represented as a
number of seconds since 01/01/1970.
Syntax
TimestampToTimeInt(TIMESTAMP Timestamp [, INT UTC])

Timestamp:
The timestamp variable.
UTC:
0 – Returns the time as a local date/time.
1 – Returns the time as a UTC date/time (default)
Return Value
Time as a number of seconds since 01/01/1970 in UTC or local time depending on the
last input parameter,-1 if invalid.
Related Functions

tampToStr, TimestampCreate, TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, TimeInt-
ToTimestamp
Example
1148
INT TimeInt = TimestampToTimeInt(t1);
STRING sTimestamp = TimeToStr(t1, 0, 0);
// sTimestamp equals ‘9:27 AM’
See Also
Timestamp Functions
VariableTimestamp
Extracts the timestamp from a given variable.
Note: This function is designed to be used within Cicode; using it on graphical pages may result in displaying
an error message instead of an expected timestamp message when either its argument has not good quality or
an execution error is set.
Syntax
VariableTimestamp(Variable, INT Type)

Variable:
The variable from which the timestamp will be extracted.
nType:
The type of timestamp:
0 – The element’s date/time (default)
1 – The element’s quality date/time
2 – The element’s value date/time
Return Value
A TIMESTAMP of the given variable depending on the type. If Variable is NULL,

returns INVALID_TIMESTAMP.
Timestamps of uninitialized stack variables, uninitialized code variables and constants
are equal to 0 - invalid timestamp, while their qualities are GOOD
Related Functions

tampToStr, TimestampFormat, TimestampGetPart, TimestampToTimeInt, TimeInt-
ToTimestamp,
1149
Example
INT codeVariable = 1;
INT
FUNCTION
MyFunction(REAL arg1)
STRING str = "My string";
TIMESTAMP ts;
ts = VariableTimestamp(codeVariable, 0); //code variable
ts = VariableTimestamp(arg1, 0); //function argument
ts = VariableTimestamp(str, 0); //stack variable
ts = VariableTimestamp(Tag1, 0); //any tag/local variable
RETURN 1;
END
See Also
Timestamp Functions
1150
Chapter 57: Trend Functions
You can control a trend's operation by using the trend functions. CitectSCADA has stand-
ard trend pages, so you would not normally use these low-level functions unless you
want to define your own trend displays. You can control the movement of the trend cur-
sor, trend scaling, and the definition of trend attributes (such as the trend starting time
and sampling period). You can also create, and subsequently delete trends.
Following are functions relating to Trends:
TrnAddHistory Restores an old history file to the trend system.
TrnBrowseClose Closes a trend browse session.
TrnBrowseFirst Gets the oldest trend entry.
TrnBrowseGetField Gets the field indicated by the cursor position in the browse ses-
sion.
TrnBrowseNext Gets the next trend entry in the browse session.
TrnBrow- Returns the number of records in the current browse session.

seNumRecords
TrnBrowseOpen Opens a trend browse session.
TrnBrowsePrev Gets the previous trend entry in the browse session.
TrnClientInfo Gets information about the trend that is being displayed at the
AN point.
TrnComparePlot Prints two trends (one overlaid on the other), each with up to
four trend tags.
TrnDelete Deletes a trend created by the TrnNew() function.
TrnDelHistory Deletes an old history file from the trend system.
TrnEcho Enables and disables the echo on the trend display.
TrnEventGetTable Stores event trend data and the associated time stamp in an
event table and time table, for a specified trend tag.
1151
TrnE- Stores event trend data and time data (including milliseconds)
ventGetTableMS for a specified trend tag.
TrnEventSetTable Sets trend data from a table, for a specified trend tag.
TrnEventSetTableMS Sets event trend data and time data (including milliseconds) for
a specified trend tag.
TrnExportClip Exports trend data to the clipboard.
TrnExportCSV Exports trend data to a file in CSV (comma separated values) for-
mat.
TrnExportDBF Exports trend data to a file in dBASE III format.
TrnExportDDE Exports trend data to applications via DDE.
TrnFlush Flushes the trend to disk.
TrnGetBufEvent Gets the event number of a trend at an offset for a pen.
TrnGetBufTime Gets the trend time at an offset for a pen.
TrnGetBufValue Gets the trend value at an offset for a pen.
TrnGetCluster Gets the name of the cluster the trend graph is associated with.
TrnGetCursorEvent Gets the event number of a trend at the trend cursor.
TrnGet- Gets the time (in milliseconds from the previous midnight) at a
CursorMSTime trend cursor for a specified pen.
TrnGetCursorPos Gets the position of the trend cursor.
TrnGetCursorTime Gets the time/date at the trend cursor.
TrnGetCursorValue Gets the current trend cursor value of a pen.
TrnGet- Gets the current trend cursor value of a pen as a formatted

CursorValueStr string.
TrnGetDefScale Gets the default engineering zero and full scales of a trend tag.
TrnGetDisplayMode Gets the display mode of a trend.
1152
TrnGetEvent Gets the event number of a trend at a percentage along the

trend.
TrnGetFormat Gets the format of a pen.
TrnGetGatedValue Returns the internally stored value for <GATED>.
TrnGetInvalidValue Returns the internally stored value for <TRN_NO_VALUES>.
TrnGetMode Gets the display mode of trends (historical or real-time).
TrnGetMSTime Gets the time (in milliseconds from the previous midnight) of the
trend (plotted by a specified pen)
at a percentage along the trend,using the time and date of the
latest sample displayed.
TrnGetPen Gets the trend tag of a pen.
TrnGetPenComment Gets the comment of a trend pen.
TrnGetPenFocus Gets the number of the pen currently in focus.
TrnGetPenNo Gets the pen number of a pen name.
TrnGetPeriod Gets the display period of a trend.
TrnGetScale Gets the scale of a pen.
TrnGetScaleStr Gets the scale of a pen as a formatted string.
TrnGetSpan Gets the span time of a trend.
TrnGetTable Stores trend data in an array.
TrnGetTime Gets the time/date of a pen.
TrnGetUnits Gets the data units of a trend pen.
TrnInfo Gets the configured values of a trend tag.
TrnIsValidValue Determines whether a logged trend value is <VALID>,

<GATED>, or invalid <TRN_NO_VALUES>.
TrnNew Creates a new trend at run time.
1153
TrnPlot Prints a plot of one or more trend tags.
TrnPrint Prints a trend that is displayed on the screen.
TrnSam- Gets the number of samples configured for the currently dis-
plesConfigured played trend.
TrnScroll Scrolls a trend pen.
TrnSelect Sets up a page for a trend.
TrnSetCursor Moves the trend cursor a specified number of samples.
TrnSetCursorPos Moves the trend cursor to the given x-axis position.
TrnSetDisplayMode Specifies how trend samples will be displayed on the screen.
TrnSetEvent Sets the start event of a trend pen.
TrnSetPen Sets a trend pen to a new trend tag.
TrnSetPenFocus Sets the pen focus.
TrnSetPeriod Sets the display period (time base) of a trend.
TrnSetScale Re-scales a pen.
TrnSetSpan Sets the span time of a trend.
TrnSetTable Sets trend data from an array.
TrnSetTime Sets the starting time/date of a pen.
The following trend functions are used on standard trend templates. Use these functions
only if you create your own trend templates
(These functions are written in Cicode and can be found in the include project.)
TrendDsp- Displays the Trend Comment for the currently selected pen.
CursorComment
TrendDspCursorScale Displays a scale value for the current pen.
TrendDspCursorTag Displays the tag name of the current pen.
1154
TrendDspCursorTime Displays the cursor time of the current pen.
TrendDspCursorValue Displays the cursor value of the current pen.
TrendGetAn Gets the AN number of the trend under the mouse position.
TrendPopUp Displays a pop-up trend with the specified trend pens.
TrendRun Initializes the cursor and rubber-band features on a trend

page.
TrendSetDate Sets the starting date for the pens on a trend.
TrendSetScale Sets the scale of one or more pens on a trend.
TrendSetSpan Sets the span time of a trend.
TrendSetTime Sets the starting time for the pens on a trend.
TrendSetTimebase Sets a new sampling period for a trend.
TrendWin Displays a trend page (in a new window) with the specified
trend pens.
TrendZoom Zooms a trend in either one or both axes.
See Also
Functions Reference
TrendDspCursorScale
Displays a scale value for the current pen in the current pen font.
Syntax
TrendDspCursorScale(nAN, Percent)
nAN:
The AN of the trend.
Percent:
The percentage of full scale to display for the current pen, as an integer.
Return Value
1155
Related Functions
TrendDspCursorScale, TrendDspCursorComment, TrendDspCursorTag, TrendDsp-

CursorTime, TrendDspCursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, Trend-
SetScale, TrendSetSpan, TrendSetTime, TrendSetTimebase, TrendZoom
Example
See built-in trend templates.

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendDspCursorTag
Displays the trend tag name of the current pen in the pen font.
Syntax
TrendDspCursorTag(AN [, Mode] )
AN:
Mode:
An optional argument used to specify whether the trend tag name is displayed with a cluster prefix.
Set:
l 0 display tag without cluster prefix (default)
l 1 display tag with cluster prefix.
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorTime, TrendDspCursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, Trend-
SetScale, TrendSetSpan, TrendSetTime, TrendSetTimebase, TrendZoom
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendDspCursorTime
Displays the cursor time of the current pen in the current pen font.
1156
Syntax
TrendDspCursorTime(nAN, Format)
nAN:
The AN number of the trend.
Format:

6 - Millisecond time period, hh:mm:ss:xxx ("xxx" represents milliseconds).
8 - Long time period, days:hh:mm:sec. Time needs to be in seconds.
Note: If Format is set to 1, 2, or 3, the mode will be ignored when the sampling period
of the trend changes to less than 1 second. Instead, the time is displayed as
hh:min:ss.xxx, that is, displayed as mode 6.
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, TrendSetScale, TrendSetSpan, Trend-
SetTime, TrendSetTimebase, TrendZoom
Example
See the built-in trend templates.

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendDspCursorValue
1157
Display the cursor value of the current pen in the current pen font.
Syntax
TrendDspCursorValue(nAN)
AN:
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorTime, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, TrendSetScale, TrendSetSpan, Trend-
SetTime, TrendSetTimebase, TrendZoom
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendGetAn
Gets the AN number of the trend beneath the current mouse position.
Syntax
TrendGetAn()
Return Value
The AN of the trend, or 0 (zero) if the mouse is not positioned over a valid trend.
Related Functions
TrendDspCursorScale, TrendDspCursorTag, TrendDspCursorTime, TrendDsp-

CursorValue, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, TrendSetScale, TrendSetSpan, TrendSetTime,
TrendSetTimebase, TrendZoom
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendPopUp
1158
Displays a pop-up trend with the specified trend pens. You need to create the trend page
with the graphic builder and set the pen names to blank.
Syntax
TrendPopUp(sPage, sTag1 [, sTag2..sTag8] )

sPage:
The name of the trend page (drawn with the Graphics Builder).
sTag1:
The First trend tag to display on the page.
sTag2..sTag8:
The trend tags to display on the page.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageTrend, TrendWin, WinNewAt
Example
Buttons
Text Popup Trend
Command TrendPopUp("MyPop", "PV1", "PV2", "PV3")
Comment Display a popup trend with three trend pens
See Also
Trend Functions
TrendRun
Initializes the cursor and rubber-band features on a trend page. This function is included
as a Cicode Object on all new trend pages. Only use this function when configuring a
trend template that requires this functionality.
Syntax
TrendRun(iPageType)
iPageType:
1159
The type of the page:
0 - Normal trend page template

1 - Compare trend page template
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendSetDate, TrendSetScale, TrendSetSpan, TrendSetTime,
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendSetDate
Sets the end date for all pens on a trend. Samples taken after this date will not be dis-
played. You can enter the date in the Value argument, or leave the Value blank - a form is
then displayed in run time for the operator to enter an end date.
Syntax
TrendSetDate(nAN, Value)
nAN:
Value:
The new date, as a string. Samples taken after date will not be displayed. This argument is optional.
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetScale, TrendSetSpan, TrendSetTime,
Example
1160
See Also
Trend Functions
TrendSetScale
Sets the scale of the current pen or of all pens on a trend. You can enter a scale in the
Value argument, or leave the Value blank. A form is then displayed in run time for the
operator to enter a value for the scale.
Syntax
TrendSetScale(nAN, Percent [, Value] )

nAN:
Percent:
The scale to be set:
0 - Zero scale
100 - Full scale
Value:
An optional value for the scale, as a string.
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, TrendSetSpan, TrendSetTime, Trend-
SetTimebase, TrendZoom
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendSetSpan
Sets the span time of the trend. The span time is the time period covered in the trend
window. You can enter a span time in the Value argument, or leave the Value blank - a
form is then displayed in run time for the operator to enter a value for the span time.
Syntax
1161
TrendSetSpan(AN [, Value] )
nAN:
Value:
An optional value for the span time, as a string.
Return Value
Related Functions

CursorValue, TrendGetAn, TrendRun, TrendSetDate, TrendSetScale, TrendSetTime, Trend-
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendSetTime
Sets the end time for all the pens on a trend. Samples taken after this time will not be dis-
played. You can enter an end time in the Value argument, or leave the Value blank - a
form is then displayed in run time for the operator to enter a value for the end time.
Syntax
TrendSetTime(AN [, Value] )
nAN:
Value:
An optional value for the end time, as a string. Samples taken after this time will not be displayed.
Return Value
Related Functions
1162

Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendSetTimebase
Sets a new sampling period for a trend. You can enter a sampling period in the Value
argument, or leave the Value blank. A form is then displayed in run time for the operator
to enter a value for the sampling period.
Syntax
TrendSetTimebase(AN [, Value] )
nAN:
Value:
An optional value for the sampling period, as a string.
Return Value
Related Functions

SetTime, TrendZoom
Example

See Also
Trend Functions
TrendWin
1163
Displays a trend page (in a new window) with the specified trend pens. You need to
create the trend page with the graphic builder and set the pen names to blank. You then
display that page by calling this function and pass the required trend tags. The function
will create a new window with the specified window mode.
Syntax
TrendWin(sPage, X, Y, Mode, sTag1 [, sTag2..sTag8] )

sPage:
The name of the trend page (drawn with the Graphics Builder).
X:
The x pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
Y:
The y pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
Mode:
0 - Normal page.
rent active window.
re-sized.
64 - Always on top.
128 - Open a unique window. This mode helps prevent this window from
1164
512 - Open a unique Super Genie. This mode helps prevent a Super Genie from
being opened more than once (at the same time). However, the same
Super Genie with different associations can be opened.
1024 - Disables dynamic resizing of new window, overriding the setting of the
[Page]DynamicSizing parameter.
sTag1:
The firs trend tag to display on the page.
sTag2..sTag8:
The trend tags to display on the page.
Return Value
Related Functions
PageTrend, TrendPopUp, WinNew
Example
Buttons
Text Trend Window
Command TrendWin("MyTrend", 0, 0, 4, "PV1", "PV2", "PV3")
Comment Display a trend page in a new window with no maximize and minimize
icons
See Also
Trend Functions
TrendZoom
"Zooms" a specified trend in either one or both axes. Set the zoom values (TimeZoom
and/or ScaleZoom) to greater than one to "zoom in" or to less than one to "zoom out".
If you specify a destination AN, you can zoom one trend (at SourceAn) onto another (at
DestAn), in the same way as on the standard zoom trend page.
Syntax
TrendZoom(SourceAN, TimeZoom, ScaleZoom [, DestAn] )
1165
SourceAN:
The AN on which the source trend is located.
TimeZoom:
The scale by which the Time axis will be changed (as a real number).
ScaleZoom:
The scale by which the Scale axis will be changed (as a real number).
DestAn:
The AN on which the destination or target trend is located. If you do not enter a DestAn, it is set to
the same AN as SourceAn.
Return Value
Related Functions

SetTime, TrendSetTimebase
Example
TrendZoom(30, 2.0, 2.0);

/* Zoom in by a factor of 2 on both the time and scale axes. */
TrendZoom(30, 0.5, 0.5);
/* Zoom out by a factor of 2 on both the time and scale axes. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnAddHistory
Adds an old (backed up) trend history file to the trend system so that its data can be
used. When you back-up a trend file, change its extension so that it indicates the age of
the file's trend data (for example, the month and year).
An archived trend file does not need to reside in the same directory as existing active
trends. CitectSCADA retrieves the trend name from the header of the specified file and
adds its data to the trend history. Please be aware that only a reference to the archived
file, and not the file itself, is kept in the trend history. Therefore, care needs to be taken if
using this function to access archived files residing on removable storage media. When
you remove the media, the archived data is no longer available for display.
1166
This function can only be used if the Trend Server is on the current machine. When the
Trend Server is not in the calling process, this function will become blocking and cannot
Syntax
TrnAddHistory(FileName [, sClusterName] )
FileName:
The file name and directory path of an old history file. The old file does not need to reside in the
same directory as existing active trends to be restored.
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Trend Server resides. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the trend server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnDelHistory, MsgRPC
Example
TrnAddHistory("C:\CITECT\DATA\TR1.MAY91");
! Adds the file TR1.MAY91 to the trend system.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnBrowseClose
The TrnBrowseClose function terminates an active data browse session and cleans up
all resources associated with the session.
TrnBrowseClose(iSession)
iSession
The handle to a browse session previously returned by a TrnBrowseOpen call.
Return Value
0 (zero) if the trend browse session exists, otherwise an error code is returned.
1167
Related Functions
TrnBrowseFirst, TrnBrowseGetField, TrnBrowseNext, TrnBrowseNumRecords, TrnBrow-

seOpen, TrnBrowsePrev
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnBrowseFirst
The TrnBrowseFirst function places the data browse cursor at the first record.
is complete.
Syntax
TrnBrowseFirst(iSession)
iSession
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnBrowseClose, TrnBrowseGetField, TrnBrowseNext, TrnBrowseNumRecords, TrnBrow-

See Also
Trend Functions
TrnBrowseGetField
The TrnBrowseGetField function retrieves the value of the specified field from the record
Syntax
STRING TrnBrowseGetField(INT Session, STRING FieldName)

Session
FieldName
1168
ACQERROR, AREA, EQUIPMENT, EXPRESSION, FILENAME, FILES, LSL,

PRIV, RANGE, SDEVIATION, SPCFLAG, STORMETHOD, SUBGRPSIZE,
TIME, TRIGGER, USL, XDOUBLEBAR.
Return Value
cation that an error has been detected. This should be checked in this instance to deter-
mine if an error has actually occurred.
Related Functions
TrnBrowseClose, TrnBrowseFirst, TrnBrowseNext, TrnBrowseNumRecords, TrnBrow-

Example

INT errorCode = 0;
...
fieldValue = TrnBrowseGetField(iSession, sFieldName);
// Successful case
ELSE
// Function did not succeed
END
...
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnBrowseNext
The TrnBrowseNext function moves the data browse cursor forward one record. If you
is complete.
Syntax
TrnBrowseNext(iSession)
iSession
Return Value
1169
Related Functions
TrnBrowseClose, TrnBrowseFirst, TrnBrowseGetField, TrnBrowseNumRecords, TrnBrow-

See Also
Trend Functions
TrnBrowseNumRecords
The TrnBrowseNumRecords function returns the number of records that match the filter
criteria.
Syntax
TrnBrowseNumRecords(iSession)
iSession
Return Value
browse session.
Related Functions
TrnBrowseClose, TrnBrowseFirst, TrnBrowseGetField, TrnBrowseNext, TrnBrowseOpen,

TrnBrowsePrev
Example
INT numRecords = 0;
...
numRecords = TrnBrowseNumRecords(iSession);
// Have records
ELSE
// No records
END
...
See Also
Trend Functions
1170
TrnBrowseOpen
The TrnBrowseOpen function initiates a new browse session and returns a handle to the
new session that can be used in subsequent data browse function calls.
is complete.
Syntax
INT TrnBrowseOpen( STRING Filter, STRING Fields [, STRING Clusters] )

Filter
tagname. For example, the filter "AAA" is equivalent to "name=AAA".
Fields
ACQERROR, AREA, EQUIPMENT, EXPRESSION, FILENAME, FILES, LSL,

NAME, PRIV, RANGE, SDEVIATION, SPCFLAG, STORMETHOD, SUB-
GRPSIZE, TAGGENLINK, TIME, TRIGGER, TYPE, USL, XDOUBLEBAR.
Clusters
Return Value
Returns an integer handle to the browse session. Returns -1 if unsuccessful.

Related Functions
TrnBrowseClose, TrnBrowseFirst, TrnBrowseGetField, TrnBrowseNext, TrnBrow-

seNumRecords, TrnBrowsePrev
Example
INT iSession;
1171
...
iSession = TrnBrowseOpen("NAME=ABC*", "NAME,TYPE",
// Successful case
ELSE
// Function did not succeed
END
...
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnBrowsePrev
The TrnBrowsePrev function moves the data browse cursor back one record. If you call
Syntax
TrnBrowsePrev(iSession)
iSession
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnBrowseClose, TrnBrowseFirst, TrnBrowseGetField, TrnBrowseNext, TrnBrow-

seNumRecords, TrnBrowseOpen
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnClientInfo
Gets information about the trend that is being displayed at the AN point.
Syntax
TrnClientInfo(nAN, Pen, Type, Data, Error)

hAN:
The AN point number at which the trend is displayed.
1172
Pen:
The trend pen number:
0 - The pen currently in focus

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
nType:
The type of information you would like returned.
1 - The number of samples configured for the trend. If you select Type 1, the
Data argument is ignored.
Data:
For future enhancements; is currently ignored.
Error:
An output argument. If the function is successful, the error is set to 0 (zero). If unsuccessful, an
error value is set, and a hardware alarm is triggered.
Return Value
The requested information (as a string) if successful, otherwise a hardware alarm is gen-
erated.
Related Functions
TrnInfo
Example
INT nError;
INT nSamples;
INT nTime;
!Gets the number of samples configured for the current pen of the
trend displayed at AN 30.
nSamples = TrnClientInfo(30, 0, 1, "", nError);
IF nError = 0 THEN
nTime = nSamples * 50;
ELSE
nTime = 0;
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnComparePlot
1173
Prints two trends, one overlaid on the other. Each trend can have up to four tags con-
figured on it. The significance of this type of plot is that the two trends show different
times and display periods. It is possible to compare a trend tag or tags over different
time slots. Each trend line is drawn with a different pen style and marker as appro-
priate. The trend plot includes a comment and a legend, and you can specify the vertical
high and low scales.
For more advanced trend plotting, you can use the low-level plot functions.
Syntax
TrnComparePlot(sPort, sTitle, sComment, AN, iMode, nSamples, iTime1, rPeriod1, iTime2,

rPeriod2, Tag1......Tag8, rLoScale1, rHiScale1,......rLoScale8, rHiScale8)
sPort:
sTitle:
sComment:
The comment that is to display beneath the title of the trend plot. You do not have to enter a com-
ment.
nAN:
Sets the display mode. A value of 0 causes the default display mode to be used. Otherwise, the dis-
play mode of the specified AN is set.
iMode:
0 - black and white (default)

1 - Color
nSamples:
The number of data points on the plot.
iTime1:
The end point in time (the most recent point) for the first trend.
rPeriod1:
The period (in seconds) of the first trend. This can differ from the actual trend period. If you do
not enter a period, it defaults to the sample period of Tag1.
iTime2:
1174
The end point in time (the most recent point) for the second trend.
rPeriod2:
The period (in seconds) of the second trend. This can differ from the actual trend period. If you do
not enter a period, it defaults to the sample period of Tag5.
Tag1. . .Tag8:
The trend tags for the plot. Tags 1 to 4 needs to be for the first trend, and tags 5 to 8 needs to be for
the second.
rLoScale1, HiScale1,....LoScale8, HiScale8
The minimum and maximum on the vertical scale for the trend line of each of the tags (Tag1. . .
Tag8)
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnPlot, TrnPrint, PlotOpen SPCPlot
Example
/* Prints two black and white trends (one overlaid on the other)
to LPT1, comparing the trend lines of one trend tag (Feed_Flow) at
different times. The first trend line has a starting time of
12 noon, on 11/12/96, and the second has a starting time of 9am, on
11/10/96. Both contain 200 sample points, and have a period of 2
seconds. Both trend lines will be on a vertical scale of 10-100.
*/
INT Time;
INT RefTime;
Time = StrToDate("11/12/96") + StrToTime("12:00:00");
RefTime = StrToDate("11/10/96") + StrToTime("09:00:00");
TrnComparePlot("LPT1:","Citect Flow Comparison Plot","Comparison
with Reference",0,
0,200,Time,2,RefTime,2,"Feed_Flow","","","","Feed_Flow","","","",
10,100,0,0,0,0,0,0,10,100);
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnDelete
Deletes a trend that is displayed on a current page. This trend may have been created
by the TrnNew() function or by a trend object.
Syntax
1175
TrnDelete(nAN)
nAN:
The AN where the trend is located.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnNew
Example
TrnDelete(20);
! Deletes the trend at AN20.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnDelHistory
Removes a trend history file that has been added to the trend system by the TrnAdd-
History() function. This function does not delete the file completely, it only disconnects it
from the historical trend system.
This function can only be used if the Trend Server is on the current machine. When the
Trend Server is not in the calling process, this function will become blocking and cannot
Syntax
TrnDelHistory(FileName [, sClusterName] )
FileName:
The trend history file to disconnect from the historical trend system.
sClusterName:
Specifies the name of the cluster in which the Trend Server resides. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the trend server via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in
quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
1176
TrnAddHistory, MsgRPC
Example
TrnDelHistory("C:\CITECT\DATA\TR1_91.MAY");
! Disconnects the file from the trend system.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnEcho
Enables and disables the echo of the trend display. Use this function when you need to
make many changes to a trend display, so that the display updates only once. You
should first disable the trend echo, do all the trend changes, and then enable the echo to
show the changes.
Syntax
TrnEcho(nAN, nMode)
nAN:
The animation number of the trend.
nMode:
The mode of the echo:
0 - Disable echo of the trend display.

1 - Enable echo of the trend display, to show changes.
Return Value
The current echo mode, otherwise 0 (zero) is returned, and an error code is set. You can
Related Functions
TrnSetScale, TrnSetPeriod
Example
! Disable echo of trend display at AN40

TrnEcho(40,0);
! Change the scales on pens 1 and 2
TrnSetScale(40,1,0,-1000);
TrnSetScale(40,1,100,-1000);
TrnSetScale(40,2,0,-1000);
TrnSetScale(40,2,100,-1000);
! Enable echo to show changes to the display
1177
TrnEcho(40,1);
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnEventGetTable
Stores event trend data in an event table and the associated time stamp in a time table,
for a specified trend tag. Data is stored at the specified Period, working backwards from
the starting point specified by EventNo. If Period differs from the trend period configured
in the Trend Tags database, the values to be stored are calculated from the trend data.
Values are either averaged or interpolated.
is complete.
Syntax
TrnEventGetTable(Tag, EventNo, Period, Length, Table, TimeTable, Mode [, sClusterName] )

Tag:
The trend tag enclosed in quotation marks "" (can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is Clus-
terName.Tag).
EventNo:
The starting event number for entries in the trend table.
Period:
The time difference between tabulated trend values (in seconds). For example, if you set this period
to 30 seconds, CitectSCADA will get the last trend value (sampled at the end of the trend section),
then get the trend value that was sampled 30 seconds before that, and so on until it reaches the start
time of the trend section.
If this period is different to the trend's sampling period, the trend values will be averaged or inter-
polated. Set to 0 (zero) to default to the actual trend period.
Length:
The number of trend values to store in the trend table, from 1 to the maximum number of items in
the table.
Table:
The Cicode array in which the trend data is stored. You can enter the name of an array here (see the
example).
TimeTable:
The table of integer values in which the time stamp is stored.
1178
Mode:
The Display Mode parameters allow you to enter a single integer to specify the display options for a
trend (for a maximum of eight trends).
To calculate the integer that you should enter for a particular trend, select the options you want from
the list below, adding their associated numbers together. The resulting integer is the DisplayMode
parameter for that trend.
Invalid/Gated trend options:
0 - Convert invalid/gated trend samples to zero.

1 - Leave invalid/gated trend samples as they are.
Ordering trend sample options:
0 - Order returned trend samples from oldest to newest.

2 - Order returned trend samples from newest to oldest.
Condense method options:
0 - Set the condense method to use the mean of the samples.

4 - Set the condense method to use the minimum of the samples.
8 - Set the condense method to use the maximum of the samples.
Stretch method options:
0 - Set the stretch method to step.

128 - Set the stretch method to use a ratio.
256 - Set the stretch method to use raw samples.
Gap Fill Constant option:
n - the number of missed samples that the user wants to gap fill) x 4096.
The options listed in each group are mutually exclusive. The default value for each Display Mode is
258 (0 + 2 + 256).
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster in which the trend tag resides. This is optional if you have one cluster or
are resolving the trend via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks
"".
Return Value
The actual number of samples read. The return value is 0 if an error is detected. You can
call the IsError() function to get the actual error code. If EventNo is 0 (zero) then the
EventNo will be set to the current event number.
Related Functions
TrnEventSetTable, TrnGetEvent, TrnGetDisplayMode
1179
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnEventGetTableMS
Stores event trend data and time data (including milliseconds) for a specified trend tag.
The event trend data is stored in an event table, and the time stamp in time tables. Data
is stored at the specified Period, working backwards from the starting point specified by
EventNo. If Period differs from the trend period configured in the Trend Tags database,
the values to be stored are calculated from the trend data. Values are either averaged or
interpolated.
is complete.
Syntax
TrnEventGetTableMS(Tag, EventNo, Period, Length, Table, TimeTable, Mode, MSTimeTable

[, sClusterName] )
Tag:
terName.Tag).
EventNo:
The starting event number for entries in the trend table.
Period:
Length:
the table.
Table:
example).
TimeTable:
The table of integer values in which the time stamp is stored.
1180
Mode:
To calculate the integer that you should enter for a particular trend, select the options you wish to
use from those listed below, adding their associated numbers together. The resulting integer is the
DisplayMode parameter for that trend.




Note: Options listed in each group are mutually exclusive. The default value for each Display Mode
is 258 (0 + 2 + 256).
MSTimeTable:
The table of integer values in which the millisecond component of the time stamp is stored.
sClusterName:
"".
Return Value
The actual number of samples read. The return value is 0 if an error is detected. You can
Related Functions
1181
TrnEventSetTableMS TrnGetEvent, TrnEventGetTable

See Also
Trend Functions
TrnEventSetTable
Adds new event to a trend, or overwrites existing points with new values.
To add new events, set 'EventNo' to zero. The events are inserted at a point determined
by the time stamp associated with each event. If the timestamp of a new event is iden-
tical to that of an existing event, the new event will overwrite the old one.
To overwrite specific existing events, set 'EventNum' to the last event number of the
block of events to be overwritten, and set the times of the new events to zero.
is complete.
Syntax
TrnEventSetTable(Tag, EventNo, 0, Length, Table, TimeTable [, sClusterName] )

Tag:
terName.Tag).
EventNo:
Event Number:
l When adding new events to a trend, set EventNo to 0.
l When overwriting existing values, set EventNo to the last event number to
be overwritten. For example, if overwriting events 100 to 110, set EventNo to
110.
Length:
The number of trend values in the trend table.
Table:
The table of floating-point values in which the trend data is stored. You can enter the name of an
array here (see the example).
TimeTable:
The table of integer values in which the time stamp is stored. If you would like events to stay in cor-
rect time-stamp order, sort the values in this table in ascending order. When EventNo is non-zero
the values in this table may be zero. This will result in the values of the requested events being over-
written but the time-stamps staying the same.
sClusterName:
1182
"".
Return Value
The actual number of samples written. The return value is 0 if an error is detected. You
can call the IsError() function to get the actual error code.
Related Functions
TrnEventGetTable
Example
REAL TrendTable1[100];
INT TimeTable[100];
/* Defines an array of a maximum of 100 entries. Assume that
TrendTable1 has been storing data from a source. */
TrnEventSetTable("OP1",nEventNo, 1,10,TrendTable1[0],
TimeTable[0], "ClusterXYZ");
/* A set of 10 trend data values are set for the OP1 trend tag. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnEventSetTableMS
Sets event trend data and time data (including milliseconds) for a specified trend tag.
The event trend data is set in an event table, and the time stamp in time tables. Data is
set at the period specified, working backwards from the starting point specified by
EventNo.
If the period of setting data differs from the trend period (defined in the Trend Tags data-
base), the values to be set are calculated from the trend data, either averaged or inter-
polated. The user needs to have the correct privilege (as specified in the Trend Tags
form), otherwise the data is not written.
is complete.
Syntax
TrnEventSetTableMS(Tag, EventNo, Period, Length, Table, TimeTable, MSTimeTable [, sClus-

terName] )
Tag:
terName.Tag).
1183
EventNo:
Event Number:
l When adding new events to a trend, set EventNo to 0.
l When overwriting existing values, set EventNo to the last event number to
be overwritten. For example, if overwriting events 100 to 110, set EventNo to
110.
Period:
This will be the interval (in seconds) between trend values when they are set (that is it will be the
perceived sampling period for the trend). This period can differ from the actual trend period. Set to
0 (zero) to default to the actual trend period.
Length:
Number of trend values in the trend table.
Table:
Table of floating-point values in which the trend data is stored. You can enter the name of an array
here (see example).
TimeTable:
Table of integer values in which the time stamp is stored. If you would like events to stay in correct
time-stamp order, sort the values in this table in ascending order. When EventNo is non-zero the
values in this table may be zero. This will result in the values of the requested events being over-
written but the timestamps staying the same.
MSTimeTable:
The table of integer values in which the millisecond component of the time stamp is stored.
sClusterName:
"".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnEventGetTable
Example
// Arrays for trend data
1184
REAL garSingleValue[1];
INT ganSingleTime[1];
INT ganSingleMS[1];
// Push the data in the trend system
INT
FUNCTION LogTrend(STRING sTagName, REAL rValue, INT nDateTime, INT
nMS)
INT nSamplesWritten;
garSingleValue[0] = rValue;
ganSingleTime[0] = nDateTime;
ganSingleMS[0] = nMS;
nSamplesWritten = TrnEventSetTableMS
(sTagname, 0, 0, 1, garSingleValue[0], ganSingleTime[0], ganSingleMS[0], "Clus-
terXYZ");
RETURN nSamplesWritten;
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnExportClip
Exports trend data to the Windows Clipboard. The data is set at the specified Time and
Period, and listed from earliest to latest. Any gated or invalid data is written as 0.0.
Data is stored as a grid, with each row time-stamped. The first column/field is the date,
followed by the time, followed by the tags 1 to 8.
You can use the ClipMode argument to make the output more useful. For example, to
paste the data into Excel, use ClipMode 2 for CSV format. If you use ClipMode 1 or 3, the
default paste menu option causes data to be pasted into the user's spreadsheet as text. If
you use ClipMode 3, use the Paste Special option to paste the required format. Please be
aware that not all packages support multiple clipboard formats in this way.
Syntax
TrnExportClip(Time, Period, Length, Mode, ClipMode, sTag1 ... sTag8, iDisplayMode1 ... iDis-
playMode 8)
Time:
The starting time for the data being exported.
Period:
The period (in seconds) of the entries being exported. (This period can differ from the actual trend
period.)
Length:
1185
The length of the data table, that is The number of rows of samples to be exported. for example if
you put the length as 12, and you declare two tags to be exported, you get a grid with 12 rows of
samples. Each row has values for each of the two tags making a total of 24 samples.
Mode:
The format mode to be used:
Periodic trends
1 - Export the Date and Time, followed by the tags.

2 - Export the Time only, followed by the tags.
4 - Ignore any invalid or gated values. (Only supported for periodic trends.)
8 - The time returned will have millisecond accuracy.
Event trends
1 - Export the Time, Date and Event Number, followed by the tags.
2 - Export the Time and Event Number, followed by the tags.
ClipMode:
The format for the data being exported.
1 - Text
2 - CSV
You can add these modes for a combination of formats.
sTag1 ... sTag8:
The trend tag names for the data being exported.
iDisplayMode1 ... iDisplayMode8:
By default, this argument is set to 3 (see the details for options 1 and 2 below).

Invalid and gated samples that are not converted to zero will appear in the destination file as the
string "na" (for invalid) or "gated".
1186


12 - Set the condense method to use the newest of the samples.

Display as Periodic options:
0 - Display according to trend type.

1048576 - Display as periodic regardless of trend type.
Return Value
Note: If using this function to export trends by using event numbers, you need to
specify a valid event number in the Time argument, rather than a time.
Related Functions
ClipSetMode, TrnExportCSV
Example
TrnExportClip(TimeCurrent(), 2, 60 * 60/2, 2, 3, "Feed",

"Weight");
/* Export the last hour of data from the trend tags Feed and Weight
to the clipboard in both Text and CSV formats. Be aware that the 60 *
60/2 is a decomposed way or writing 1800, which is the number of 2
second samples in 1 hour. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnExportCSV
1187
Exports trend data to a file in CSV (Comma Separated Variable) format. The data is set
at the specified Time and Period, and listed from earliest to latest. Any gated or invalid
data is written as 0.0.
You can view the CSV file with a text editor, and import the file directly into other pack-
ages such as Excel for data analysis and presentation.
If you're using this function to export trends by using event numbers, you need to spec-
ify a valid event number in the Time argument, rather than a time.
Syntax
TrnExportCSV(Filename, Time, Period, Length, Mode, sTag1 ... sTag8, iDisplayMode1 ... iDis-
playMode 8)
Filename:
The name of the destination path and file.
Time:
Period:
period.)
Length:
The length of the data table, that is, The number of rows of samples to be exported. for example if
Mode:
Periodic trends

4 - Ignore any invalid or gated values. (This mode is only supported for peri-
odic trends.)
Event trends
1188

sTag1 ... sTag8:
The trend tag names for the data being exported.
DisplayMode parameter for that trend. By default, this argument is set to 3 (see the details for
options 1 and 2 below).




Options listed in each group are mutually exclusive.
Return Value
Related Functions
1189
TrnExportDBF, TrnPrint
Example
TrnExportCSV("c:\TrnData.CSV", TimeCurrent(), 2, 60 * 60/2, 2,

"Feed", "Weight");
/* Export the last hour of data from the trend tags Feed and
Weight.
The 60 * 60/2 is a decomposed way or writing 1800, which is the
number of 2 second samples in 1 hour. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnExportDBF
Exports trend data to a file in dBASE III format. The data is set at the specified Time and
Period, and listed from earliest to latest. Any gated or invalid data is written as 0.0.
You can import the DBF file directly into other packages such as Excel, for data analysis
and presentation.
Syntax
TrnExportDBF(Filename, Time, Period, Length, Mode, sTag1 ... sTag8, iDisplayMode1 ... iDis-
playMode 8)
Filename:
Time:
Period:
period.)
Length:
Mode:
1190
Periodic trends

odic trends.)
Event trends
sTag1 ... sTag8:
The trend tag names for the data being exported. Tag names longer than 10 characters will be trun-
cated, as the standard DBF field format is 10 characters.
DisplayMode parameter for that trend. By default, this argument is set to 3 (see the details for
options 1 and 2 below).



1191

Return Value
Related Functions
TrnExportCSV, TrnPrint
Example
TrnExportDBF("c:\TrnData.DBF", TimeCurrent(), 2, 60 * 60/2, 2,

"Feed", "Weight");
/* Export the last hour of data from the trend tags Feed and
Weight. Be aware that the 60 * 60/2 is a decomposed way or writing
1800, which is the number of 2 second samples in 1 hour. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnExportDDE
Exports trend data via DDE. The data is set at the specified Time and Period, and listed
from earliest to latest. Any gated or invalid data is written as 0.0. Data is stored as a
grid, with each row time-stamped. The first column/field is the date, followed by the
time, followed by the tags 1 to 8.
You can use the DDEMode argument to make the output more useful. For example; to
paste the data into Excel, use DDEMode 2 for CSV format. If you use DDEMode 1, data
will be put into the user's spreadsheet as text.
Note: If you're using this function to export trends by using event numbers, you need
to specify a valid event number in the Time argument, rather than a time.
Syntax
TrnExportDDE(sApplication, sDocument, sTopic, Time, Period, Length, Mode, DDEMode,

sTag1 ... sTag8, iDisplayMode1 ... iDisplayMode 8)
sApplication:
The application name to export the data.
1192
sDocument:
The document in the application to export the data.
sTopic:
The topic in the application to export the data. Be aware you may have to use a special topic format
to make the data export correctly. See your application documentation for details; For example with
Excel you need to specify the matrix of rows and columns as "R1C1:R8C50" depending on the size
of the data.
Filename:
Time:
Period:
period.)
Length:
Mode:
Periodic trends

odic trends.)
Event trends
DDEMode:
The format for the data being exported. CSV format allows the application to separate the data into
each individual element, however not every application will support this mode. See you appli-
cations documentation for details.
1193
1 - Text (default)
2 - CSV
sTag1 ... sTag8:
The trend tag names for the data being exported. Tag names longer than 10 characters will be trun-
cated, as the standard DBF field format is 10 characters.
By default, this argument is set to 3 (see the details for options 1 and 2 below).




Return Value
1194
Related Functions
TrnExportCSV, TrnExportClip, TrnExportDBF
Example
TrnExportDDE("Excel", "data.xls", "R1C1:R61C4", TimeCurrent(), 1,

60, 2, 2, "Feed", "Weight");
/* Export the last 60 seconds of data from the trend tags Feed and
Weight into Excel at R1C1:R61C4 in CSV formats */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnFlush
Writes acquired trend data to disk without waiting for the trend buffer to be filled. Citect-
SCADA normally buffers the trend data in memory and only writes to disk when
required, to give optimum performance. Because this function reduces the performance
of the Trends Server, use it only when necessary.
Syntax
TrnFlush(Name [, sClusterName] )
sName:
The name of the logging tag (can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is ClusterName.Tag).
Set to " * " to flush all trend data.
sClusterName:
"".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnSetTable
Example
TrnFlush("Trend1", "ClusterXYZ");
! Forces the Trend1 data to be written to disk.
1195
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetBufEvent
Gets the event number of a trend at an offset for a specified pen. This function only oper-
ates on an event-based trend.
Syntax
TrnGetBufEvent(nAN, Pen, Offset)

nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Offset:
The trend buffer offset, in samples. The number of samples can range from 0 to the maximum
number of samples that can display on the trend - 1.
Return Value
The event number. If Offset is not within boundaries, 0 (zero) is returned. If AN or Pen is
invalid, 0 (zero) is returned and an error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnGetEvent, TrnSetEvent, TrnGetCursorEvent
Example
! For the trend at AN20

DspText(31,0,TrnGetBufEvent(20,0,10));
/* Displays the trend event at offset 10 for the pen currently in
focus. The event will display at AN31. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetBufTime
Gets the time and date of a trend at an offset for a specified pen. The Offset should be a
value between 0 (zero) and the number of samples displayed on the trend.
1196
Syntax
TrnGetBufTime(nAN, Pen, Offset)

nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Offset:
The trend buffer offset, in samples. The number of samples can range from 0 to the maximum
number of samples that can display on the trend - 1.
Return Value
A time/date variable. If Offset is not within boundaries, 0 (zero) is returned. If nAN or Pen
is invalid, 0(zero) is returned and an error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnGetCursorTime
Example

INT time;
time = TrnGetBufTime(20,0,10);
IF time <> 0 THEN
DspText(31,0,TimeToStr(time,2));
END
/* Displays the trend date at offset 10 for the pen currently in
focus. The time will display at AN31. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetBufValue
Gets the value of a trend at an offset for a specified pen. The offset should be a value
between -1 and the number of samples displayed on the trend.
Syntax
TrnGetBufValue(nAN, Pen, Offset)

nAN:
1197
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Offset:
The trend buffer offset, in samples. The number of samples can range from -1 to the maximum
number of samples that can display on the trend minus 1.
-1 means get the last valid value in the display (provided it is less than 1.5 sample periods old).
If there is no invalid or gated sample within the last 1.5 sample periods, it is assumed that a sample
has been missed and an invalid trend value is returned. See the TrnIsValidValue function.
Return Value
The trend value. If the actual value is gated or invalid, the standard invalid or gated
values are returned (no error is set). You can check this return value using TrnIs-
ValidValue().
Related Functions
TrnGetCursorValue, TrnIsValidValue
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetBufValue(20,0,10):###.#);
/* Displays the trend value at offset 10 for the pen currently in
focus. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCluster
Gets the cluster name of a trend graph on a page.
Syntax
TrnGetCluster(nAN)
nAN:
The AN of the chosen trend graph.
Return Value
1198
The name of the cluster the trend graph is associated with.

See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCursorEvent
Gets the event number of a trend, at the trend cursor position for a specified pen. This
function only operates on an event-based trend.
Syntax
TrnGetCursorEvent(nAN, Pen)
nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
The event number, or 0 (zero) if the trend cursor is disabled.
Related Functions
TrnSetEvent, TrnGetCluster, TrnGetEvent
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetCursorEvent(20,0));
/* Displays the trend event at the cursor for the pen currently in
focus. The event will display at AN31. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCursorMSTime
Gets the time (in milliseconds from the previous midnight) at a trend cursor for a spec-
ified pen.
Syntax
TrnGetCursorMSTime(nAN, Pen)
1199
nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
The number of milliseconds since the previous midnight. If the trend cursor is disabled,
0 (zero) is returned. If nAN or Pen is invalid, 0 (zero) is returned and an error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnGetCursorTime
Example

STRING timeStr;
STRING msecStr;
timeStr = TimeToString(TrnGetCursorTime(20,1),2) + " ";
msecStr = TimeToString(TrnGetCursorMSTime(20,1),6);
DspText(31,0,timeStr + msecStr);
! Returns "23/02/01 10:53:22.717"
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCursorPos
Gets the offset of a trend cursor from its origin, in samples.
Syntax
TrnGetCursorPos(nAN)
nAN:
Return Value
The offset of a trend cursor from its origin, in samples, or -1 if the trend cursor is dis-
abled.
Related Functions
TrnSetCursorPos
1200
Example

! If the trend cursor is disabled
Offset=TrnGetCursorPos(20);
! Sets Offset to -1.
! If the trend cursor is 50 samples from the origin
Offset=TrnGetCursorPos(20);
! Sets Offset to 50.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCursorTime
Gets the time and date at a trend cursor for a specified pen.
Syntax
TrnGetCursorTime(nAN, Pen)
nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
A time/date variable. If the trend cursor is disabled, 0 (zero) is returned. If nAN or Pen is
invalid, 0 (zero) is returned and an error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnGetBufTime
Example

INT time;
time = TrnGetCursorTime(20,1);
! Displays the trend cursor date for Pen1.
! Displays the trend cursor time for Pen1.
1201
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCursorValue
Gets the value at a trend cursor for a specified pen.
Syntax
TrnGetCursorValue(nAN, Pen)
nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
The trend value. If the actual value is gated or invalid, the standard invalid or gated
values are returned (no error is set). You can check this return value using TrnIs-
ValidValue().
Related Functions
TrnGetBufValue
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetCursorValue(20,0));
! Displays the value at the trend cursor for the focus pen.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetCursorValueStr
Gets the value at a trend cursor for a specified pen. The value is returned as a formatted
string using the pen's format specification and (optionally) the engineering units.
Syntax
TrnGetCursorValueStr(nAN, Pen, EngUnits)

nAN:
1202
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
EngUnits:
Engineering units mode:
0 - Do not include the engineering units at the end of the formatted string.
1 - Include the engineering units at the end of the formatted string.
Return Value
The trend value (as a string). If trend data is invalid, or an argument passed to the func-
tion is invalid "<na>" is returned. If the actual value is gated (not triggered) "<gated>" is
returned. If the trend cursor is disabled, an empty string is returned.
Related Functions
TrnGetCursorValue
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetCursorValueStr(20,0,1));
/* Displays the value at the trend cursor for the focus pen. The
value will display as a formatted string (including the
engineering units).*/
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetDefScale
Gets the default engineering zero and full scales of a trend tag.
ation is complete.
Syntax
TrnGetDefScale(Tag, LoScale, HiScale [, sClusterName] )

Tag:
The trend tag enclosed in quotation marks "" (can be prefixed by the name of the cluster that is
"ClusterName.Tag").
1203
LoScale:
The engineering zero scale.
HiScale:
The engineering full scale.
sClusterName:
"".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetScale, TrnInfo
Example
REAL LoScale;
REAL HiScale;
TrnGetDefScale("PV1",LoScale,HiScale,"ClusterXYZ");
/* Returns engineering zero and full scales of the trend tag
"PV1". */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetDisplayMode
Returns the display mode of the selected trend pen. The display mode is set using TrnSet-
DisplayMode.
Syntax
TrnGetDisplayMode(nAN, PenNumber)
nAN:
The AN of the chosen trend.
PenNumber:
0 - The pen currently in focus.

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8.
Return Value
1204
An integer representing the trend's display mode:

1048576 - display as periodic regardless of trend type.
Related Functions
TrnSetDisplayMode
Example
int DisplayMode = TrnGetDisplayMode (10, 7)

/* Returns The Display Mode of pen 7 for the trend at AN 10.*/
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetEvent
1205
Gets the event number of the trend at a percentage along the trend, using the current
event as the base point. This function only operates on an event-based trend. The first
recorded event (the start event) would be event number 1 and the highest number would
be the latest event. The event number is stored in a LONG and would eventually wrap
around if you have enough events.
Syntax
TrnGetEvent(nAN, Pen, Percent)

nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Percent:
The percentage of the trend from the starting event, from 0 (the start event) to 100 (the end event).
Return Value
The event number.
Related Functions
TrnSetEvent, TrnGetCluster, TrnGetCursorEvent
Example
/* Display the start event for the current pen of the trend at
AN20. */
DspText(31,0,TrnGetEvent(20,0,0));
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetFormat
Gets the format of a trend tag being plotted by a specified pen.
Syntax
TrnGetFormat(nAN, Pen, Width, DecPlaces)

nAN:
1206
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Width:
The width of the format.
DecPlaces:
The number of decimal places in the format.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetScale, TrnGetUnits
Example
/* If the trend tag being plotted by Pen1 of the trend at AN20 has
a format of "###.#" */
TrnGetFormat(20,1,Width,DecPlaces);
! Sets Width to 5 and DecPlaces to 1.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetGatedValue
Returns the internally stored value for <GATED>. If the internally stored value changes
in the future, you will not need to modify your Cicode, as this function will return the
correct value.
Syntax
TrnGetGatedValue()
Return Value
The internally stored value for <GATED>.
Related Functions
TrnGetInvalidValue, TrnIsValidValue
Example
1207
REAL MyTrendValue;
IF MyTrendValue = TrnGetGatedValue() THEN
Prompt ("This value is <GATED>")
ELSE
IF MyTrendValue = TrnGetInvalidValue() THEN
Prompt("This value is <TRN_NO_VALUES>")
ELSE
Prompt("Trend value is = " + RealToStr(MyTrendValue, 10, 1));
END
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetInvalidValue
Returns the internally stored value for <INVALID>. If the internally stored value changes
in the future, you will not need to modify your Cicode, as this function will return the
correct value.
Syntax
TrnGetInvalidValue()
Return Value
The internally stored value for <INVALID>.
Related Functions
TrnGetGatedValue, TrnIsValidValue
Example
REAL newArray[100];
REAL oldArray[90];
INT trigger;
INT
FUNCTION
DoubleArray()
INT i;
FOR i = 0 TO 99 DO
IF TrnIsValidValue(oldArray[i]) = 1 OR trigger = 0 THEN
newArray[i] = TrnGetGatedValue();
ELSE
IF i >= 90 OR TrnIsValidValue(oldArray[i]) = 2 THEN
newArray[i] = TrnGetInvalidValue();
ELSE
newArray[i] = oldArray[i] * 2;
END
END
END
1208
RETURN i;
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetMode
Gets the mode (real-time or historical trending) of the trend pen.
Syntax
TrnGetMode(nAN, Pen)
nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
The current mode, 0 for real-time or 1 for historical.
Related Functions
TrnScroll
Example

INT Mode;
Mode=TrnGetMode(20,0);
! Gets the current mode of the pen in focus.
IF Mode=0 THEN
DspText(31,0,"Real Time Trending");
ELSE
DspText(31,0,"Historical Trending");
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetMSTime
1209
Gets the time (in milliseconds from the previous midnight) of the trend (plotted by a
specified pen) at a percentage along the trend, using the time and date of the right-most
sample displayed. The time associated with the right-most sample displayed is known
as the end time. The start time is the time of the left-most sample displayed. Percent 0
(zero) will correspond to the end time, and Percent 100 will correspond to the start time
Syntax
TrnGetMSTime(nAN, Pen, Percent)

nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Percent:
The percentage of the trend from the time and date of the right-most sample displayed (end time),
from 0 to 100.
Return Value
The number of milliseconds since the previous midnight. Zero (0) is returned if an error
is detected.
Related Functions
TrnGetTime
Example
1210
! For Pen 1 at AN20

STRING timeStr;
STRING msecStr;
timeStr = TimeToString(TrnGetTime(20,1,100),2) + " ";
msecStr = TimeToString(TrnGetMSTime(20,1,100),6);
DspText(31,0,timeStr + msecStr);
returns
"23/02/01 10:53:22.717"
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetPen
Gets the trend tag being plotted by a specified pen.
Syntax
TrnGetPen(nAN, Pen [, Mode] )

nAN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Mode:
An optional argument used to specify whether the trend tag name is returned with a cluster prefix.
Set:
l 0 return tag without cluster prefix (default)
l 1 return tag with cluster prefix.
Return Value
The trend tag (as a string) being plotted by Pen. If nAN or Pen is invalid, an empty string
is returned, and an error code is set. You can call the IsError() function to get the actual
error code.
Related Functions
TrnSetPen
Example
1211

DspText(31,0,TrnGetPen(20,0,1));
! Displays the trend tag with cluster prefix of the focus pen.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetPenComment
Retrieves the comment of a pen.
Syntax
TrnGetPenComment(nAN, Pen)
AN
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
The comment of the pen as a string.
Related Functions
TrnGetPen
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetPen(18,0));
! Displays the trend comment of the focus pen.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetPenFocus
Gets the number of the pen currently in focus.
Syntax
TrnGetPenFocus(nAN)
AN:
1212
Return Value
The pen currently in focus (between 1 and 8). If nAN is invalid, -1 is returned and an
error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnSetPenFocus
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetPenFocus(20));
! Displays the pen currently in focus.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetPenNo
Gets the pen number of a pen name. The pens on a trend are either defined in the Page
Trends database or set by the TrnSetPen() function.
Syntax
TrnGetPenNo(nAN, Tag)
AN:
Tag:
The trend tag.
Return Value
The pen number, or 0 (zero) if an error is detected.
Related Functions
TrnSetPen
Example
/* Assume that 8 trend fonts, Pen1TrendFont ... Pen8TrendFont are

defined in the Fonts database. The following code will display the
trend tag using the matching font for that pen. */
1213
STRING sFont;
INT iPen;
iPen = TrnGetPenNo(20,"PV1");
IF 0 < iPen AND iPen < 9 THEN
sFont = "Pen" + IntToStr(iPen) + "TrendFont";
DspStr(31,sFont,"PV1");
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetPeriod
Gets the current display period of a trend. (To obtain the sampling period, use the
TrnInfo function.)
Syntax
TrnGetPeriod(nAN)
AN:
Return Value
The current display period of a trend (in seconds), or 0 (zero) if an error code is detected.
Related Functions
TrnSetPeriod, TrnInfo
Example
/* For the trend at AN20, get and display the current display
period. */
! If the period is 10 seconds
INT Period;
STRING Str;
Period=TrnGetPeriod(20);
Str=TimeToStr(Period,5);
DspStr(31,"",Str);
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetScale
Gets the display scale of the trend tag being plotted by a specified pen.
Syntax
1214
TrnGetScale(nAN, Pen, Percent)

AN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Percent:
The percentage of the full scale, from 0 to 100.
Return Value
The scale of the trend tag being plotted by Pen. If nAN or Pen is invalid, 0 (zero) is
returned and an error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnSetScale, TrnGetDefScale
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetScale(20,0,0));
! Displays the zero scale of the focus pen.
! Displays the 50% scale of the focus pen.
! Displays the full scale of the focus pen.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetScaleStr
Gets the scale of the trend tag being plotted by a specified pen. The value is returned as
a formatted string using the pen's format specification and (optionally) the engineering
units.
Syntax
TrnGetScaleStr(nAN, Pen, Percent, EngUnits)

AN:
1215
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Percent:
The percentage of the full scale, from 0 to 100.
EngUnits:
Engineering units mode:
0 - Do not include the engineering units at the end of the formatted string.
1 - Include the engineering units at the end of the formatted string.
Return Value
The scale of the trend tag being plotted by Pen (as a string). If nAN or Pen is invalid,
<na> is returned and an error code is set.
Related Functions
TrnGetScale
Example

DspText(31,0,TrnGetScaleStr(20,0,0,1));
/* Displays the zero scale of the focus pen. The scale displays as
a formatted string (including the engineering units). */
/* Displays the 50% scale of Pen2. The scale displays as a
formatted string (including the engineering units). */
/* Displays the full scale of the trend tag being plotted by the
focus pen. The scale displays as a formatted string (excluding the
engineering units). */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetSpan
Gets the span time of a trend (if the span was set by the TrnSetSpan() function). The
span time is the total time displayed in the trend window.
Note: If you call the TrnSetPeriod() function after the TrnSetSpan() function, the span
1216
is automatically set to 0 (zero).
Syntax
TrnGetSpan(nAN)
AN:
Return Value
The span time, in seconds. 0(zero) is returned if the AN is invalid or if the span was not
set by the TrnSetSpan() function.
Related Functions
TrnSetSpan, TrnGetPeriod, TrnSetPeriod
Example
// Use a keyboard command or button to set a span of 2 hours.

TrnSetSpan(40,StrToTime("2:00:00");
// Then use TrnGetSpan function to display the span
Time = TrnGetSpan(40)
DspText(31,0,TimeToStr(Time,5));
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetTable
This function allows you to tabulate values from a specific section of trend. The values
in the table (possibly an array variable) are arranged by time.
If the period (Period) is different to the trend's sampling period (configured in the Trend
Tags database), the returned values are determined by DisplayMode.
ation is complete.
Syntax
TrnGetTable(Tag, Time, Period, Length, Table, DisplayMode, Milliseconds [, sClusterName] )

Tag:
terName.Tag).
Time:
1217
The end time and date (long integer) of the desired trend section. Once you have entered the end
time and date (Time), period (Period), and number of trend tag values collected (Length), the start
time and date will be calculated automatically. For example, if Time = StrToDate("18/12/96") + StrTo-
Time("09:00"), Period = 30, and Length = 60, the start time would be 08:30. In other words, the trend
values for the period between 8.30am and 9am (on December 18, 1996) would be tabulated.
If this argument is set to 0 (zero), the time used will be the current time.
Period:
Length:
the table. This argument has a max of 4000 (in v6). Specifying a length of greater than 4000 results in
a return value of 0 and IsError()=274 (INVALID_ARGUMENT). This limit can be configured using
the citect.ini parameter [Trend]MaxRequestLength.
Table:
example).
DisplayMode:
To calculate the integer that you should enter for a particular trend, select the options you want to



1218


Options listed in each group are mutually exclusive. The default value for each Display Mode is 258
(0 + 2 + 256).
Milliseconds:
This argument allows you to set your sample request time with millisecond precision. After defin-
ing the time and date in seconds with the Time argument, you can then use this argument to define
the milliseconds component of the time.
For example, if you wanted to request data from the 18/12/96, at 9am, 13 seconds, and 250 mil-
liseconds you could set the Time and Milliseconds arguments as follows:
Time = StrToDate("18/12/96") + StrToTime("09:00:13")

Milliseconds = 250
If you don't enter a Milliseconds value, it defaults to 0 (zero). There is no range constraint, but as
there are only 1000 milliseconds in a second, you should keep your entry between 0 (zero) and 999.
sClusterName:
Name of the cluster in which the trend tag resides. This is optional if you have one cluster or are
resolving the trend via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
The actual number of samples read. 0(zero) is returned if an error occurs. You can call
the IsError() function to get the actual error code.
Related Functions
TrnSetTable, TrnGetDisplayMode
Example
/* Defines an array of a maximum of 100 entries in which the trend
data is stored. */
TrnGetTable("OP1",StrToDate("18/12/91")
+StrToTime("09:00"),2,10,TrendTable1[0],0, "ClusterXYZ");
/* Stores the values of trend tag "OP1" in Table TrendTable1. Data
1219
is stored at the following times:

18/12/91 09:00:00 TrendTable1[0]
08:59:58 TrendTable1[1]
08:59:56 TrendTable1[2]
...
18/12/91 08:59:42 TrendTable1[9] */
Average=TableMath(TrendTable1[0],100,2);
/* Gets the average of the trend data. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetTime
Gets the time and date of the trend (plotted by a specified pen) at a percentage along the
trend, using the time and date of the right-most sample displayed. The time associated
with the rightmost sample displayed is known as the end time. The start time is the time
of the left-most sample displayed. Percent 0 (zero) will correspond to the end time, and
Percent 100 will correspond to the start time.
Syntax
TrnGetTime(nAN, Pen, Percent)

AN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Percent:
1220
The percentage of the trend from the time and date of the right-most sample displayed (end time),
from 0 to 100.
Return Value
A time/date variable. 0 (zero) is returned if an error is detected.
Related Functions
TrnSetTime
Example

DspText(31,0,TimeToStr(TrnGetTime(20,0,0),2));
! Displays the trend current date for the focus pen.
! Displays the trend current time for the focus pen.
! Displays the time 50% along the trend for the focus pen.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnGetUnits
Gets the data units for the trend tag plotted by a specified Pen.
Syntax
TrnGetUnits(nAN, Pen)
AN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Return Value
The data units for the trend tag plotted by Pen, otherwise an empty string is returned,
and an error code is set. You can call the IsError() function to get the actual error code.
Related Functions
TrnGetFormat, TrnGetScale
Example
1221

DspText(31,0,TrnGetUnits(20,0));
! Displays the data units for the focus pen.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnInfo
Gets the configured values of a trend tag.
is complete.
Syntax
TrnInfo(Tag, Type [, sClusterName] )

Tag:
The name of the trend tag enclosed in quotation marks "" (can be prefixed by the name of the
cluster that is ClusterName.Tag).
nType:
The type of information required:
1 - Trend Type
2 - Sample Period (to obtain the Display Period, use the TrnGetPeriod function)
3 - Trend File Name (without file extension)
4 - Area
5 - Privilege
6 - Current Event Number. Valid only for event type trends
7 - Engineering Units
8 - The storage method used for the tag. A returned value of 2 represents two
byte storage (scaled), 8 represents eight byte storage (floating point).
9 - The file period of the tag in seconds. If the file period is set to monthly or
yearly, a file period cannot be calculated as months and years vary in
length. Therefore, a file period of 0 will be returned for trends with such
file periods.
sClusterName:
"".
Return Value
1222
The value (as a string), otherwise an empty string is returned, and an error code is set.
You can call the IsError() function to get the actual error code.
Example
! Get the file name of trend tag LT131

sFileName = TrnInfo("LT131", 3, "ClusterXYZ");
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnIsValidValue
Determines whether a logged trend value is:
l <VALID> - an actual trend value;
l <GATED> - if a periodic trend has a trigger condition, and that condition is FALSE, a
standard substitute (or GATED) value is logged instead of the actual value; or
l <INVALID> - for some reason, no value was logged.
Syntax
TrnIsValidValue(TrendValue)
TrendValue:
A trend value (of type REAL).
Return Value
0 for <VALID>
1 for <GATED>
2 for <INVALID>
Related Functions
TrnGetGatedValue, TrnGetInvalidValue
Example
INT
FUNCTION
DoubleArray()
INT i;
FOR i = 0 TO 99 DO
IF TrnIsValidValue(oldArray[i]) = 1 OR trigger = 0 THEN
newArray[i] = TrnGetGatedValue();
Prompt ("This value is <GATED>");
ELSE
1223
IF i >= 90 OR TrnIsValidValue(oldArray[i]) = 2 THEN

newArray[i] = TrnGetInvalidValue();
ELSE
newArray[i] = oldArray[i] * 2;
Prompt ("This value is <TRN_NO_VALUES>");
END
END
END
RETURN i;
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnNew
Creates a new trend at run time. This function performs the same operation as an entry
in the Page Trends database. After the trend is created by the TrnNew() function, all the
other trend functions can access and control the trend.
Syntax
TrnNew(nAN, Trend [, Tag1 ... Tag8] [, sClusterName] )

AN:
The AN where the bottom right-hand corner of the trend is located.
Trend:
The trend definition number (as a STRING).
Tag1 . . .Tag8:
The trend tags. (These tags cannot be prefixed with cluster name, cluster should be specified with
the ClusterName argument).
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster in which all the trend tags reside. This is optional if you have one cluster or
are resolving the trends via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quotation marks
"".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnDelete
Example
1224
TrnNew(20,"trn002","PV1","OP1", "ClusterXYZ");
/* Creates a new trend at AN20 using trend definition 2, plotting
"PV1" on Pen1 and "OP1" on Pen2. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnPlot
Prints the trend line of one or more trend tags. Each trend line is drawn with a different
pen style and marker as appropriate. The trend plot includes a comment and a legend,
and you can specify the vertical high and low scales. The Mode defines the color mode
of the printer. The default mode is black and white.
Note: The TrnPlot() function is used only for sending trends to a printer, and cannot
be used for embedding a trend plot in a report.
For more advanced trend plotting, you can use the low-level plot functions.
Syntax
TrnPlot(sPort, nSamples, iTime, rPeriod, sTitle, AN, Tag1......Tag8, iMode, sComment, rLoS-
cale1, rHiScale1, ......rLoScale8, rHiScale8)
sPort:
nSamples:
The number of data points on the plot.
iTime:
For periodic trend or event trends displayed as periodic:
The end point in time (the latest point) for the trend plot.
For event trend type:
The event sample number (e.g. using TrnGetEvent)
rPeriod:
The period (in seconds) of the trend plot. This can differ from the actual trend period.
If you omit the period, it defaults to the sample period of Tag1.
sTitle:
1225
Tag1. . .Tag8:
The trend tags.
AN:
The AN of the chosen trend. If you enter 0 (zero), the display mode will default to 258. (This is the
display mode that is passed into TrnGetTable() when it is called internally by TrnPlot().) If you call
TrnPlot() from a report, you need to enter 0 (zero) here.
iMode:
0 - Black and White

1 - Color
sComment:
The comment that is to display beneath the title of the trend plot. You may pass an empty string if
no comment is required.
rLoScale1, HiScale1,......LoScale8, HiScale8:
The minimum and maximum on the vertical scale for the trend line of each of the tags (Tag1. . .
Tag8).
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnComparePlot, TrnPrint, PlotOpen, SPCPlot
Example
/* Prints a black and white plot to LPT1, containing the trend

lines of two variable tags (PV1 & PV2). The trend lines have a
starting time of 9am, on 11/10/96, 200 sample points, and a period
of 2 seconds. The trend line of PV1 will be on a vertical scale of
0-200, and PV2 will be on a vertical scale of 0-400. */
INT time;
Time = StrToDate("11/10/96") + StrToTime("09:00:00");
TrnPlot("LPT1:",200,Time,2,"Citect Trend
Plot","PV1","PV2","","","","","","",0,"Process variable operation
at shutdown",0,200,0,400);
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnPrint
1226
Prints the trend that is displayed on the screen (at nAN) using the current display mode
for each trend. You can specify the trend title, the target printer, whether to print in color
or black and white, and whether to display the Plot Setup form when the function is
called.
Syntax
TrnPrint(sPort, sTitle, AN, iModeColor, iDisplayForm)

sPort:
within quotation marks "". For example "LPT1:", to print to the local printer, or "\\Pserver\canon1"
using UNC to print to a network printer.
It is not necessary to enter a printer port. The first time the printer port is omitted, you will be
prompted to select one at the Printer Setup form. The selection you make will then be used as the
default.
sTitle:
The title to print at the top of the trend plot. If you omit the title in sTitle, the page title will be used.
AN:
The AN where the trend plot is located.
iModeColor:
-1 - Color to be decided (Default). CitectSCADA refers to the [GENERAL]Prin-

terColorMode parameter to determine print color. If there is no setting for
this parameter, it will default to black and white.
0 - Black and White
1 - Color
DisplayForm:
Defines whether or not the Plot Setup form will display when the function is called. This form
allows you to enter the color mode of the printer, and define the printer setup etc. (See Printing
Trend Data for more information on this form.)
-1 - CitectSCADA refers to the [GENERAL]DisablePlotSetupForm parameter to deter-

mine if the form will display.
0 - Do not display form
1 - Display form
Return Value
Related Functions
1227
TrnPlot, TrnComparePlot, WinPrint, SPCPlot
Example
TrnPrint("LPT1:","Test Print",40,0,0);
/* Prints the trend plot displayed at AN40, without prompting for
setup details.*/
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSamplesConfigured
Gets the number of samples configured for the currently displayed trend.
Syntax
TrnSamplesConfigured(nAN)
AN:
Return Value
The number of samples configured for the trend, or 0 (zero) if an error is detected. You
Example
/* For the trend at AN20, get and display the number of samples */
INT nSamples;
nSamples=TrnSamplesConfigured(20);
DspStr(31,"",IntToStr(nSamples));
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnScroll
Scrolls the trend pen by a specified percentage (of span), or number of samples.
Syntax
TrnScroll(nAN, Pen, nScroll [, nMode] )

AN:
The AN where the trend is located. Set to -1 for all trends on the current page.
Pen:
1228
The trend pen number. Set to -1 for all pens.
nScroll:
The amount by which the trend will be scrolled. Use nMode to specify whether the trend will be
scrolled by percentage or by number of samples.
Because the resolution of Client requests is 1 second, requests of millisecond accuracy are rounded
to 1 second. For example, if requested to scroll 2 samples of 400 milliseconds (a total of 0.8 sec-
onds), the trend will actually scroll 1 second.
nMode
The type of scrolling to be performed.
1 - The trend will be scrolled by a percentage of span. Default.

2 - The trend will be scrolled by a number of samples. This mode is not avail-
able if the user puts the trend into the 'trend span' mode by setting the
span. In this case no scrolling would take place; the user needs to use
nMode 1.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnSetTime
Example
! Scroll all pens (of the trend at an20) 100% forwards.

TrnScroll(20,-1,100); or TrnScroll(20,-1,100,1);
! Scrolls all pens (of all trends on the current trend page) 300% backwards.
TrnScroll(-1, -1, -300); or TrnScroll(20,-1.-300,1);
!Scrolls all pens (of all trends on the current trend page) 3 samples forwards.
TrnScroll(20,-1,3,2);
!Scrolls all pens (of all trends on the current trend page) 1 sample backwards.
TrnScroll(20,-1,-1,2);
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSelect
Sets up a page for a trend. This function allows you to set up a trend before the trend
page is displayed. You can therefore use a single trend page to display any trend in the
project by selecting the trend first, and then displaying the trend page. The PageTrend()
function uses this function to display the standard trend pages.
1229
Call this function and a set of TrnSetPen() functions before you display a trend page.
When the trend page is displayed, all pens set by the TrnSetPen() functions are dis-
played. You can use the TrnSelect() function to configure different set of pens to be dis-
played on one generic trend page. The pen settings in the Page Trend database are
overridden.
Note: Trend functions used after the TrnSelect() function needs to use the special
value -2 as their AN. (See the example below).
Syntax
TrnSelect(Window, Page, AN [, sClusterName] )

Window:
The window number (returned from the WinNumber function).
-3 - for the current window.

-2 - for the next window displayed.
Page:
The name of the page that displays the trend.
AN:
The AN where the trend displays, or -3 for the first trend on the page.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster that is associated with any trend tag for this trend graph. This is optional if
you have one cluster or are resolving the trend via the current cluster context. The argument is
enclosed in quotation marks "".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnSetPen, PageTrend, WinNumber
Example
TrnSelect(WinNumber(), "TrendPage", 40, "ClusterXYZ");

TrnSetPen(-2,1,"PV1");
PageDisplay("TrendPage");
1230
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetCursor
Moves the trend cursor by a specified number of samples. If the trend cursor is dis-
abled, this function enables it. If the cursor is enabled and the number of samples is 0
(zero), the cursor is disabled. If the cursor is moved off the current trend frame, the trend
scrolls.
Syntax
TrnSetCursor(nAN, Samples)
AN:
Samples:
The number of samples to move the cursor.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetCursorTime, TrnGetCursorValue, TrnGetCursorValueStr, TrnSetCursorPos
Example

TrnSetCursor(20,1);
! Moves the trend cursor forwards 1 sample.
TrnSetCursor(-1,-40);
! Moves the trend cursor (of all trends on the current trend page)
backwards 40 samples.
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetCursorPos
Moves the trend cursor to a specified x-axis point, offset from the trend cursor origin. If
the trend cursor is disabled, this function enables it. If the position is outside of the trend
frame, it sets the trend cursor to half of the frame.
Syntax
TrnSetCursorPos(nAN, Position)
1231
AN:
Position:
The x-axis point at which to position the trend cursor, offset from the trend cursor origin.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetCursorPos, TrnSetCursor
Example
! For the trend at AN20, if the trend frame is 400 points

TrnSetCursorPos(20,0);
! Moves the trend cursor to its origin.
TrnSetCursorPos(20,200);
! Moves the trend cursor to half of its frame size (200 points).
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetDisplayMode
Specifies how raw trend samples are displayed on the screen.
Syntax
TrnSetDisplayMode(nAN, PenNumber, DisplayMode)

AN:
The animation number of the chosen trend.
PenNumber:
The pen number of the chosen trend. Specify:
0 - The current pen

1-8 - Pens 1 through 8
-1 - All pens
DisplayMode:
1232
To calculate the integer you should enter, select the options you want to use from the list below,
adding their associated numbers together. The resulting integer is the DisplayMode parameter for
that trend.
Note: Options listed in each group are mutually exclusive. The default value for each
Display Mode is 258 (0 + 2 + 256).





1048576 - display as periodic regardless of trend type.
Since the Display as Periodic options are read-only, they cannot be set using TrnSetDisplayMode.
They can be retrieved using TrnGetDisplayMode() and also used with the TrnExport group of func-
tions.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetDisplayMode, TrnGetTable
1233
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetEvent
Sets the start event of a trend pen. This function only operates on an event-based trend.
Syntax
TrnSetEvent(nAN, Pen, Event)

AN:
Pen:

1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Event:
The number of the start event.
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetEvent, TrnGetCluster, TrnGetCursorEvent
Example
! Sets pen1 to event number 123456

TrnSetEvent(20,1,123456);
! Scrolls pen1 back by 100 events
TrnSetEvent(20,1,TrnGetBufEvent(20,1,0)-100);
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetPen
Sets the trend tag of a trend pen. The trend pen changes to the specified tag and the
trend is refreshed. The trend pen needs to be in the operator's area to be displayed. If out-
side of the operator's area, data is not displayed. You cannot mix periodic trends and
event trends in the same trend window.
1234
This function may sometimes return before the pen is actually set when called on a PC
which is not the trend server. This may create difficulties for following functions such as
TrnSetScale. A wrapper function can be used to confirm the pen is set before returning.
See example 2 below.
Syntax
TrnSetPen(nAN, Pen, Tag)

AN:
-1 - All trends on the current trend page.

-2 - The function being called is using the special AN setup by the TrnSelect()
function.
Pen:
The pen for which the trend tag will be changed.
-2 - The first available pen (This value is automatically changed to 0 for SPC
trends because they have only one pen per trend.)
-1 - All pens on the trend. (Not allowed for SPC trends.)
0 - The pen currently in focus.
1...8 - Pen1....Pen8
Tag:
The trend tag. If Tag = ! the pen is deleted.
Return Value
0 (zero) if successful, otherwise an error code is returned. Be aware that if a mixture of

periodic and event trends is detected, the return value is 0 (zero), but the hardware
alarm #329 is set.
Related Functions
TrnGetPen, TrnSelect
Example 1

TrnSetPen(20,1,"PV1");
! Sets the trend tag of Pen1 to "PV1".
Example 2
1235
INT
FUNCTION
BlockedTrnSetPen(INT hAN, INT nPen, STRING sTrend)
INT timeout = 5000
INT sleepTime = 10
INT error = -1
INT elapsed = 0
INT currentTime
STRING sPenName
error = TrnSetPen(hAN, nPen, sTrend)
IF error = 0 THEN
error = -1
currentTime = SysTime()
WHILE error <> 0 AND elapsed < timeout DO
sPenName = TrnGetPen(hAN, nPen)
IF sPenName = sTrend THEN
error = 0
ELSE
SleepMS(sleepTime)
elapsed = elapsed + SysTimeDelta(currentTime)
END
END
END
RETURN error
END
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetPenFocus
Sets the focus to a specified pen. After the focus is set, the focus pen is used with other
trend functions.
Syntax
TrnSetPenFocus(nAN, Pen)
AN:
Pen:
The trend pen:
-4 - Make the next pen the focus pen; without skipping blank pens.
-3 - Make the previous pen the focus pen; without skipping blank pens.
-2 - Make the next pen the focus pen; skip blank pens.
-1 - Make the previous pen the focus pen; skip blank pens.
0 - Keep the current focus.
1...8 - Change Pen1. . .8 to be the focus pen.
1236
Return Value
The old pen focus number, or -1 if an error is detected. You can call the IsError() function
to get the actual error code.
Related Functions
TrnGetPenFocus
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence NextPen
Command TrnSetPenFocus(20, -2)
Comment For the trend at AN20, make the next pen the focus pen
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetPeriod
Sets the display period (time base) of a trend. When the period is changed, CitectSCADA
reads the historical data to reconstruct the trend data, and refreshes the trend. Every pen
has the same display period.
This function clears the span set by the TrnSetSpan() function.
Syntax
TrnSetPeriod(nAN, Period)
AN:
The AN where the trend is located. Set to -1 for every trend on the current page.
Period:
The new sampling period (in seconds) of the trend. To set the display period to the sampling
period, set this argument to 0 (zero),
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetPeriod, TrnEcho, TrendSetTimebase, TrendSetSpan
1237
Example
System Keyboard
Key Sequence ## Enter
Command TrnSetPeriod(20, Arg1)
Comment Set a new sampling period for the trend at AN20
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetScale
Sets a new scale for a trend pen. In the automatic scaling mode, the zero and full scales
are automatically generated.
Syntax
TrnSetScale(nAN, Pen, Percent, Scale)

AN:
Pen:
-1 - All pens
1...8 - Pen1...Pen8
Percent:
The scale mode:
-2 - Set both zero and full scales to the default scales.

-1 - Place the trend into automatic scale mode.
0 - Set the zero scale.
100 - Set the full scale.
Scale:
The new value of the scale. Scale is ignored if Percent is -2.
Return Value
1238
Related Functions
TrnGetScale, TrnEcho, TrnSetScale
Example

TrnSetScale(20,-1,100,5000.0);
! Sets the full scale of all pens to 5000.0
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetSpan
Sets the span time of a trend. The span time is the total time displayed in the trend win-
dow. You can set the period to contain fractions of a second. For example, if you set a
trend with 240 samples to a span of 10 minutes, then each sample would be 2.5 sec-
onds. Choose a span long enough to provide a sufficient sample rate to capture accurate
real time data.
Syntax
TrnSetSpan(nAN, Span)
AN:
Span:
The span time (in seconds).
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnSetPeriod, TrnGetSpan, TrnSetSpan
Example
// Set a span of 2 hours.

TrnSetSpan(40,StrToTime("2:00:00"));
// Then use TrnGetSpan function to display the span
Time = TrnGetSpan(40);
DspText(31,0,TimeToStr(Time,5));
1239
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetTable
Writes trend tag data from a table to the trend logging system (starting at the top of the
table, and continuing to the bottom). Each value is written with a time and date, as spec-
ified by Period. If Period differs from the trend sampling period (defined in the Trend
Tags database), the trend's sample values will be calculated (averaged or interpolated)
from the tabulated trend data.
The user needs to have the correct privilege (as specified in the database), otherwise the
data is not written.
ation is complete.
Syntax
TrnSetTable(Tag, Time, Period, Length, Table, Milliseconds [, sClusterName] )

Tag:
terName.Tag).
Time:
The time and date (long integer) to be associated with the first value in the table when it is set. Once
you have entered the end time and date (Time), set period (Period), and number of trend tag values
to be set (Length), the start time and date will be calculated automatically. For example, if Time =
StrToDate("18/12/96") + StrToTime("09:00"), Period = 30, and Length = 60, the start time would be
08:30. In other words, the first value from the table would be set with time 9am, and the last would
be set with time 8.30am (on December 18, 1996).
If this argument is set to 0 (zero), the time used will be the current time.
Period:
This will be the interval (in seconds) between trend values when they are set (that is it will be the
perceived sampling period for the trend). This period can differ from the actual trend period. Set to
0 (zero) to default to the actual trend period.
Length:
The number of trend values in the trend table.
Table:
The table of floating-point values in which the trend data is stored. You can enter the name of an
array here (see the example).
Milliseconds:
1240
This argument allows you to set the time of the first sample in the table with millisecond precision.
After defining the time and date in seconds with the Time argument, you can then use this argu-
ment to define the milliseconds component of the time.
For example, if you wanted to set data from the 18/12/96, at 9am, 13 seconds, and 250 milliseconds
you could set the Time and Milliseconds arguments as follows:
Time = StrToDate("18/12/96") + StrToTime("09:00:13")

Milliseconds = 250
If you don't enter a milliseconds value, it defaults to 0 (zero). There is no range constraint, but as
there are only 1000 milliseconds in a second, you should keep your entry between 0 (zero) and 999.
sClusterName:
"".
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetTable
Example
/* Defines an array of a maximum of 100 entries. Assume that
TrendTable1 has been storing data from a source. */
TrnSetTable("OP1",StrToDate("18/12/91")
+StrToTime("09:00"),2,10,TrendTable1,0,"ClusterXYZ");
/* A set of 10 trend data values are set for the OP1 trend tag. */
See Also
Trend Functions
TrnSetTime
Sets the end time and date of a trend pen. If you set a time less than the current time, the
trend display is set to historical mode and samples taken after this time and date will
not be displayed. If you set the time to the current time, for example by using the Time-
Current or TrendZoom cicode functions, the trend is displayed in real-time mode and
samples after this date and time will display.
Syntax
TrnSetTime(nAN, Pen, Time)
1241
AN:
The AN where the trend is located, or:
-1 - All trends on the current page

0 - The trend where the cursor is positioned
Pen:
-1 - All pens
1...8 - Pen1. . .Pen8
Time:
The end time and date of the trend. Samples taken after this time and date will not be displayed. Set
to 0 (zero) to set the trend to the current time (real-time mode).
Return Value
Related Functions
TrnGetTime, TrnSetTime
Example
TrnSetTime(20,1,TimeCurrent()-60*30);
/* Sets Pen1 to 30 minutes before the current time (30 minutes ago). */
TrnSetTime(20,1,0);
/* Sets the trend to real-time mode. */
See Also
Trend Functions
1242
Chapter 58: Window Functions
Window functions control the display of windows. You can open, move, size, activate,
and de-activate windows. You can also specify titles for your windows.
Following are functions relating to Windows:
GetWinTitle Returns the name of the active window as a string.
HtmlHelp Invokes the Microsoft HTML Help application
Mul- Displays a CitectSCADA window on each of the configured monitors

tiMonitorStart when a display client starts up.
WinCopy Copies the active window to the Windows clipboard.
WinFile Writes the active window to a file.
WinFree Removes a display window.
WinGetFocus Gets the number of the CitectSCADA window that has the keyboard
focus.
Win- Gets the window handle for the current window.

GetWndHnd
WinGoto Changes the active window.
WinMode Sets the display mode of the active window.
WinMove Moves the active window.
WinNew Opens a display window.
WinNewAt Opens a display window at specified coordinates.
WinNext Makes the next window active.
WinNumber Gets the window number of the active CitectSCADA window.
WinPos Positions a window on the screen.
1243
WinPrev Makes the previous window active.
WinPrint Prints the active window.
WinPrintFile Prints a file to the printer.
WinSelect Selects a window for Cicode output.
WinSetName Associates a name with a particular window by its window number.
WinSize Sizes a window.
WinStyle Switches on and off scrolling and scroll bar features for existing win-
dows.
WinTitle Sets the title of the active window.
WndFind Gets the Windows number of any window in any application.
WndGet- Gets a profile string from any .INI file.

FileProfile
WndGetProfile This function is obsolete from this version of the product.
WndHelp Invokes the Windows Help application.
WndInfo Gets the Windows system metrics information.
WndMon- Returns information about a particular monitor.

itorInfo
WndPut- Puts a profile string into any .INI file.

FileProfile
WndPutProfile This function is obsolete from this version of the product.
WndShow Sets the display mode of any window of any application.
WndViewer Invokes the Windows Multimedia application.
See Also
Functions Reference
GetWinTitle
Returns the name of the active window as a string.
1244
Note: This function is unavailable in the Web Client.
Syntax
GetWinTitle()
Return Value
The title of the active window as a string if successful; otherwise, an error is returned.
Related Functions
WinTitle
See Also
Window Functions
HtmlHelp
Invokes the Microsoft HTML Help application (hh.exe) to display a specific topic from a
specific HTML help file (.chm).
Syntax
HtmlHelp(sHelpFile, nCommand, sData)

sHelpFile:
The help file to display. For example: "C:\Program Files\Citect\CitectSCADA 7.30Schneider Elec-
tric\PowerSCADA Expert 7.30\bin\CitectSCADA.chm"
nCommand:
The type of help:
0 - Display a topic identified by an internal file name in the sData field. This is
the name of the file within the .chm file. For example: "CitectSCADAPow-
erLogic_SCADA_Help_Overview.html"
1 - Display a topic identified by the Mapped Topic ID in the sData field. For
example: "1000"
2 - Terminate the help application
3 - Display the index
sData:
Optional data, depending on the value of nCommand. See above.
Return Value
1245
Related Functions
WndHelp
Example
The following example displays the overview page of the CitectSCADA help:
HtmlHelp("C:\Program
Files\Citect\CitectSCADA 7.30Schneider Electric\PowerSCADA Expert 7.30
\bin\CitectSCADA.chm", 0,
"CitectSCADAPowerLogic_SCADA_Help_Overview.html");
See Also
Window Functions
MultiMonitorStart
Displays a CitectSCADA window on each of the configured monitors when a display
client starts up. It sets up the windows according to the Multi-Monitor Parameters [Mul-
tiMonitors]Monitors and [MultiMonitors]StartPage#.
Syntax
MultiMonitorStart()
Return Value
None.
See Also
Window Functions
WinCopy
Copies the graphics image of the active window to the Windows Clipboard. You can
paste this Clipboard image into other applications.
Notes:
l This function might not work as expected if called directly from the Kernel; instead,
this function should be called from a graphics page.
raised.
Syntax
WinCopy( [xScale] [, yScale] [, bSwapBlackWhite] [, sMap] )

xScale:
1246
The x scaling factor for the item being copied. This argument is optional, as a default setting of 1 is
used to maintain the current horizontal scaling of the image. The outcome is proportional to 1; for
example, 0.5 halves the width of the image.
yScale:
The y scaling factor for the item being copied. This argument is optional, as a default setting of 1 is
used to maintain the current vertical scaling of the image. The outcome is proportional to 1; for
example, 0.5 halves the height of the image.
bSwapBlackWhite:
Swaps the colors black and white for the purpose of printing pages with a lot of black content. Use
the default value of 1 to swap black and white (optional).
sMap:
The file name or path of a text based map file used to specify colors to swap when printing. By
default CitectSCADAwill look in the bin directory for the map file. The format for the map file is:
RRR GGG BBB RRR GGG BBB [HHH] [SSS] [LLL]//

Where:
RRRis a decimal red intensity value between 000 and 255.
GGGis a decimal green intensity value between 000 to 255.
BBBis a decimal blue intensity value between 000 to 255.
HHH, SSS and LLL are optional tolerance values to enable swapping a range of colors. Default
values are shown below.
HHH is a decimal value representing the Hue tolerance. Valid range is 0 to 360. Default = 0.
SSS is a decimal value representing the Saturation tolerance. Valid range is 0 to 255. Default = 2 *
Hue tolerance.
LLL is a decimal value representing the Luminance tolerance. Valid range is 0 to 255. Default = 2 *
Hue tolerance.
Leading zeros are not required, however they aid readability.
The first three RGB values specify the FROM color, and the second three RGB values specify the
TO color. The tolerance values are applied to the FROM color when replacing individual pixels in
the image.
Comments may be placed at the end of each line, or on individual lines, and needs to be proceeded
with // or !.
Example map file to swap the CSV_Include project:
1247
043 043 255 155 205 255 025 000 025

//Change dark blue to light blue using Hue and Luminance tolerance of 25. (Converts
the CSV title bar)
000 000 000 255 255 255 //Swap black to white with no tolerance
Note:If swap color ranges overlap, the behavior is undefined (i.e. a color that falls in
both ranges may end up as either color)
Return Value
Related Functions
WinPrint
Example
WinCopy();
! Copies the active window to the Windows Clipboard.
WinCopy(0.5,0.5);
! Copies the active window to the Windows Clipboard at half the
current size.
See Also
Window Functions
WinFile
Writes the graphics image of the active window to a file. The file is saved in the Citect-
SCADA compressed .bmp format.
Notes:
raised.
Syntax
WinFile(sFile [, xScale] [, yScale] [, bSwapBlackWhite] [, sMap] )

sFile:
The name of the file to be created.
xScale:
1248
The x scaling factor for the item being printed. This argument is optional, as a default setting of 1 is
used to maintain the horizontal scaling of the image. The outcome is proportional to 1; for example,
0.5 halves the width of the image .
yScale:
The y scaling factor for the item being printed. This argument is optional, as a default setting of 1 is
used to maintain the current vertical scaling of the image. The outcome is proportional to 1; for
example, 0.5 halves the height of the image.
bSwapBlackWhite:
sMap:

Where:
Hue tolerance.
Hue tolerance.
the image.
with // or !.
1249
043 043 255 155 205 255 025 000 025

the CSV title bar)
Return Value
Related Functions
WinPrint
Example
WinFile("DUMP");
/* Writes the active window to a file named DUMP in the current
directory. */
See Also
Window Functions
WinFree
Removes the active display window. Be aware that the last window (and any child win-
dows owned by the last window) cannot be removed. You cannot call this function as
an exit command (see Page Properties) or from a Cicode Object.
Notes
l This function cannot be used in the CitectSCADA Web Client.
raised.
Syntax
WinFree()
Return Value
Related Functions
WinNew, WinNewAt
1250
Example
WinFree();
! Removes the active display window.
See Also
Window Functions
WinGetFocus
Gets the number of the CitectSCADA window that has the keyboard focus.
Syntax
WinGetFocus()
Return Value
The window number of the CitectSCADA window that has the keyboard focus. Be aware
that this is not the same as the window handle, returned from the WndFind() function.
Related Functions
WndFind
Example
nCitectWin=WinGetFocus();
! Gets the number of the CitectSCADA window that has
the keyboard focus
See Also
Window Functions
WinGetWndHnd
Gets the window handle for the current window. The window handle may be used by
'C' programs and CitectSCADA Wnd... functions. You may pass the windows handle to
a 'C' program by using the DLL functions.
Syntax
WinGetWndHnd()
Return Value
The window handle if successful, otherwise 0 (zero) is returned. Be aware that this is not
the same as a CitectSCADA window number returned from the WinNumber() function.
Related Functions
1251
DLLCall, WinNew, WndFind, WndShow
Example
INT hWnd;
hWnd = WinGetWndHnd();
WinShow(hWnd,6); //iconize the window
See Also
Window Functions
WinGoto
Changes the active window. The specified window is placed in front of all other win-
dows and all keyboard commands will apply to this window. You cannot call this func-
tion as an exit command (see Page Properties) or from a Cicode Object.
being raised.
Syntax
WinGoto(Window)
Window:
The window number (returned from the WinNumber() function). Be aware that this is not the same
as the window handle, returned from the WndFind() function.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinNew
Example
! If two windows are displayed;

WinGoto(1);
! Changes the active window to Window 1.
WinGoto(0);
! Changes the active window to Window 0.
See Also
Window Functions
1252
WinMode
Sets the display mode of the active CitectSCADA window.
being raised.
Syntax
WinMode(Mode)
Mode:
The mode:
0 - Hide the window.

2 - Activate the window in an iconized state.
3 - Activate the window in a maximized state.
4 - Display the window in its previous state without activating it.
5 - Activate the window in its current state.
6 - Iconize the window.
7 - Display the window in an iconized state without activating it.
8 - Display the window in its current state without activating it.
9 - Activate the window in its previous state.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinNew
Example
! Iconize the active CitectSCADA window.

WinMode(7);
See Also
Window Functions
WinMove
1253
Moves the active window to a new location and sizes the window in a single operation.
This is the same as calling the WinPos() and the WinSize() functions. You use PageInfo
to get the current window position.
Notes
l This function cannot be used in the CitectSCADA Web Client.
raised.
Syntax
WinMove(X, Y, Width, Height)

X, Y:
The new x and y pixel coordinates of the top-left corner of the active window.
Width:
The width of the window, in pixels.
Height:
The height of the window, in pixels.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinSize, WinPos, PageInfo
Example
WinMove(100,50,500,300);
/* Moves the top-left corner of the active window to the pixel
coordinate 100,50 and size the window to 500 x 300 pixels. */
See Also
Window Functions
WinNew
Opens a new display window, with a specified page displayed. The window can later be
destroyed with the WinFree() function.
1254
You can also specify if the displayed page operates within the context of a particular
cluster in a multiple cluster project. When the page is displayed during runtime, the
ClusterName argument is used to resolve any tags that do not have a cluster explicitly
defined.
being raised.
Syntax
WinNew(Page,ClusterName)
Page:
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster that will accommodate the page at runtime. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the page via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quo-
tation marks "". If the Page parameter is prefixed with the name of a cluster, this parameter will not
be used.
Return Value
The window number of the window, or -1 if the window cannot be opened. Be aware
that this is not the same as the window handle returned from the WndFind() function.
Related Functions
WinFree, WinNewAt
Example
! If the display window being opened is window number 2:

Window=WinNew("Alarm");
! Displays the Alarm page and sets Window to 2.
See Also
Window Functions
WinNewAt
Opens a new display window at a specified location, with a selected page displayed.
The window can later be destroyed with the WinFree() function.
1255
You can also specify if the displayed page operates within the context of a particular
cluster in a multiple cluster project. When the page is displayed during runtime, the
ClusterName argument is used to resolve any tags that have a cluster omitted.
being raised.
Syntax
WinNewAt(Page, X, Y, Mode[, sClusterName])

Page:
X:
The x pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
Y:
The y pixel coordinate of the top left corner of the window.
Mode:
0 - Normal page.
rent active window.
re-sized.
1256
64 - Always on top.
being opened more than once.
4096 - Allows the window to be resized without maintaining the current aspect
ratio. The aspect ratio defines the relationship between the width and the
height of the window, which means this setting allows you to stretch or
compress the window to any proportions. This option overrides the set-
ting of the [Page]MaintainAspectRatio parameter.
8192 - Text on a page will be resized in proportion with the maximum scale
change for a resized window. For example, consider a page that is
resized to three times the original width, and half the original height. If
this mode is set, the font size of the text on the page will be tripled (in
proportion with the maximum scale). This option overrides the setting of
the [Page] ScaleTextToMax parameter.
16384 - Hide the horizontal scroll bar.
32768 - Hide the vertical scroll bar.
sClusterName:
The name of the cluster that will accommodate the page at runtime. This is optional if you have one
cluster or are resolving the page via the current cluster context. The argument is enclosed in quo-
tation marks "". If the Page parameter is prefixed with the name of a cluster, this parameter will not
be used.
Return Value
The window number of the window, or -1 if the window cannot be opened. Be aware
that this is not the same as the window handle returned from the WndFind() function.
Related Functions
WinFree, WinNew
Example
1257
Buttons
Text Mimic Page
Com- WinNewAt("Mimic", 100, 20, 0)

mand
Comment Display the mimic page in a new window at coordinate 100, 20.
Buttons
Text Pop Page
Com- WinNewAt("Popup", 100, 200, 2)

mand
Comment Display the popup page in a child window at coordinate 100, 200
Buttons
Text Pop Page
Com- WinNewAt("Popup", 100, 200, 4)

mand
Comment Display the popup page in a new window with no maximize and minimize
icons
System Keyboard
Key Pop ######## Enter

Sequence
Com- WinNewAt(Arg1, 100, 200, 2)

mand
Comment Display a specified popup page in a child window at coordinate 100, 200
System Keyboard
Key Pop ######## Enter

Sequence
Com- WinNewAt(Arg1, 100, 200, 4)

mand
1258
Comment Display a specified popup page in a new window with no maximize and mini-
mize icons
See Also
Window Functions
WinNext
Makes the next window (in order of creation) active.
Syntax
WinNext()
Return Value
The window number of the window, or -1 if there is no next window. Be aware that this
is not the same as the window handle returned from the WndFind() function.
Related Functions
WinNew, WinPrev
Example
! If the display window being made active is window number 2:

Window=WinNext();
! Makes the next window active and sets Window to 2.
See Also
Window Functions
WinNumber
Gets the window number of the active CitectSCADA window. This number can be used
with other functions to control the window.
Syntax
WinNumber([sName])
sName:
String name previously associated with a window number using WinSetName().
Return Value
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Window Number associated with the Name provided. If no Name is specified then the
active window number is returned. If there isn't a valid window number associated with
the name provided then -1 is returned.
Related Functions
WinNew, WinGoto, WinSetName
Example
! Create a new window, but keep the active window the same:
Window=WinNumber();
WinNew("Alarm");
WinGoto(Window);
See Also
Window Functions
WinPos
Moves the active window to a new location. You use PageInfo() to get the current win-
dow position.
being raised.
Syntax
WinPos(X, Y)
X, Y:
The new x and y pixel coordinates of the top-left corner of the active window.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinSize, WinMove, PageInfo
Example
WinPos(100,50);
/* Moves the top-left corner of the active window to the pixel
coordinate 100,50. */
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See Also
Window Functions
WinPrev
Makes the previous window (in order of creation) active.
Syntax
WinPrev()
Return Value
The window number of the window, or -1 if there is no next window. Be aware that this
is not the same as the window handle returned from the WndFind() function.
Related Functions
WinNext
Example
! If the display window being made active is window number 2:

Window=WinPrev();
! Makes the previous window active and sets Window to 2.
See Also
Window Functions
WinPrint
Sends the graphics image of the active window to a printer.
Notes:
raised.
Syntax
WinPrint(sPort [, xScale] [, yScale] [, bSwapBlackWhite] [, sMap] )

sPort:
The name of the printer port to which the window will be printed. This name needs to be enclosed
using UNC to print to a network printer. sPort may not contain spaces.
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xScale:
The x scaling factor for the print. The default value of 0 (zero) automatically scales the print to fit
the page. A value of 1 is used to maintain the current horizontal scaling of the image. The outcome
is proportional to 1; for example, 0.5 halves the width of the image (optional).
yScale:
The y scaling factor for the print. The default value of 0 (zero) automatically scales the print to fit
bSwapBlackWhite:
sMap:

Where:
Hue tolerance.
Hue tolerance.
the image.
with // or !.
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043 043 255 155 205 255 025 000 025

the CSV title bar)
Return Value
Related Functions
WinPrintFile
Example
WinPrint("LPT3:",0,0,0);
! Prints the active window on printer "LPT3". The print will be
scaled to fit the largest possible page area and will retain the
orientation of the printer, aspect ratio and colors that are
displayed on screen.
WinPrint("LPT3:");
!Prints the page as in the first example, but swaps black and
white on the printout.
See Also
Window Functions
WinPrintFile
Prints a file to the system printer. The file needs to be saved with the WinFile() function.
Note: This function might not work as expected if called directly from the Kernel; if
the WinFile function does not succeed, WinPrintFile either doesn’t print anything or
prints a previously saved page. This function should be called from a graphics page.
Syntax
WinPrintFile(sFile, sPort [, xScale] [, yScale] [, bSwapBlackWhite] [, fromColor] [, toColor] )

sFile:
The file name.
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sPort:
The name of the printer port to which the window will be printed. This name needs to be enclosed
using UNC to print to a network printer. sPort may not contain spaces
xScale:
The x scaling factor for the print. The default value of 0 (zero) automatically scales the print to fit
yScale:
The y scaling factor for the print. The default value 0 (zero) automatically scales the print to fit the
page. A value of 1 is used to maintain the current horizontal scaling of the image. The outcome is
proportional to 1; for example, 0.5 halves the width of the image (optional).
bSwapBlackWhite:
fromColor
The hex RGB color value (0xRRGGBB) to change into toColor. The default value of -1 results in no
color change (optional).
toColor
The hex RGB color value (0xRRGGBB) into which fromColor is changed. The default value of -1
results in no color change (optional).
Note: To change a color, a value needs to be specified for both fromColor and toColor.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinPrint
Example
! Save image to disk then print.

WinFile("temp");
WinPrintFile("temp", "LPT3:",0,0,0);
! Prints the file "temp" on printer "LPT3". The print will be
scaled to fit the largest possible page area and will retain the
orientation of the printer, aspect ratio and colors that are
1264
displayed on screen.
WinPrintFile("temp","LPT3:");
! Prints the page as in the first example, but swaps black and
white on the printout.
WinPrintFile("temp","LPT3:",0,0,0,0x00FF00,0xFF0000);
! Changes green to red.
WinPrintFile("temp","LPT3:",0,0,1,0x00FF00,0xFF0000);
! Changes green to red and black to white.
Window Functions
WinSelect
Selects a window to make active. This function only affects the output of Cicode func-
tions. It does not change the screen focus of the windows, or move a background win-
dow to the foreground.
Always re-select the original window if it is called from a Page database (Page Numbers,
Page Symbols, and so on), because other Cicode tasks will assume it is the correct win-
dow. This function only changes the active window for the Cicode task that called it.
being raised.
Syntax
WinSelect(Window)
Window:
The window number to select. Be aware that this is not the same as the window handle returned
from the WndFind() function.
Return Value
The old window number.
Related Functions
WinGoto, WinNumber
Example
OldWindow=WinSelect(1);
! Selects window number 1.
Prompt("Message to Window 1");
! Sends message to window number 1.
WinSelect(2);
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! Selects window number 2.

Prompt("Message to Window 2");
! Sends message to window number 2.
WinSelect(OldWindow);
! Selects original window.
See Also
Window Functions
WinSetName
Associates a name with a particular window by its window number. An association
with a window is removed when the window is free.
Syntax
WinSetName(sName [, iWinNum] )
sName:
String name to associate with window number iWinNum.
iWinNum:
An optional parameter which specifies the window number with which to associate Name. If no
number is specified the name is associated with the currently selected window number..
Return Value
Related Functions
WinNumber
See Also
Window Functions
WinSize
Sizes the active window. The origin of the window does not move.
being raised.
Syntax
WinSize(Width, Height, Mode)

Width, Height:
1266
The new width and height of the window, in pixels.
Mode:
Specifies if the size refers to the viewable area or the total window.
0 - the size to refer to the viewable area.
1 - the size to refer to the total window size.
Default - 1
Return Value
Related Functions
WinMove, WinPos
Example
WinSize(200,100);
! Sizes the active window to 200 pixels wide x 100 pixels high.
See Also
Window Functions
WinStyle
Switches on and off scrolling and scrollbar features for existing windows.
Syntax
WinStyle(Style, Mode)
Style:
One of the following:
1 - Hide horizontal scroll bars.

2 - Hide vertical scroll bars.
Mode:
The mode of the option:
0 - Turn option off.

1 - Turn option on.
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Return Value
Related Functions
WinNewAt
Example
To turn horizontal and vertical scroll bars off for the current window:
WinStyle(1, 1);
WinStyle(2, 1);
See Also
Window Functions
WinTitle
Sets the title of the active window.
If a window title has been set with the [Page]WinTitle parameter, CitectSCADA uses this
title when it refreshes the page (overriding the window title set with the WinTitle() func-
tion). To minimize the likelihood of CitectSCADA from overriding the title, set the param-
eter [Page]WinTitle to *.
Syntax
WinTitle(sTitle)
sTitle:
The new title for the window.
Return Value
Related Functions
WinNew, GetWinTitle
Example
WinTitle(Time()+" "+Date());
! Places the current time and date into the window title.
See Also
Window Functions
1268
WndFind
Gets the Windows handle of any window of any application, so that the window can be
manipulated. The window handle is not the same as the CitectSCADA window number
and cannot be used with functions that expect the CitectSCADA window number (the
Win... functions).
The window title (caption) needs to be an exact match of the window name (including
any blank spaces) for this function to find the window. You should therefore check that
the other application does not change the title of the window during execution.
Be aware that if the title banner of a CitectSCADA window is set with the CitectSCADA
parameter [Page] WinTitle, you should not specify justification (for example, use {TITLE,
32,N}). If justification is not disabled (that is the N is omitted), you need to pass the full
title of the window (including leading and trailing blanks) to this function.
Syntax
WndFind(sTitle)
sTitle
The title (caption) of the window.
Return Value
The window handle. Be aware that this is not the same as a CitectSCADA window
number returned from the WinNumber() function.
Related Functions
WinNew
Example
hWndExcel=WndFind("Microsoft Excel - Book1");

! Gets the Windows number of the window titled "Microsoft Excel -
Book1"
See Also
Window Functions
WndGetFileProfile
Gets a profile string from any .ini file.
Syntax
WndGetFileProfile(sGroup, sName, sDefault, sFile)

sGroup:
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The name of the [group].
sName:
The name of the variable.
sDefault:
The default value.
sFile:
The .ini file name.
Return Value
The profile string from sFile.
Related Functions
WndPutFileProfile
Example
! get this user startup page from USER.INI File

sStartup =
WndGetFileProfile(Name(),"Startup","menu","[Run]:\USER.INI");
PageDisplay(sStartup);
See Also
Window Functions
WndHelp
Invokes the Windows Help application (WinHlp32.EXE) to display a specific topic from
a specific help file.
Syntax
WndHelp(sHelpFile, Command, Data)

sHelpFile:
The help file to display.
Command:
The type of help:
1 - Displays the help topic identified by the context string/number in the Data
field. The context string/number needs to be defined in the [MAP] section
of the help's .HPJ file.
2 - Closes the Help application. Enter an empty string for the Data argument.
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3 - Displays the help contents topic defined by the CONTENTS option in the
[OPTIONS] section of the .HPJ file.
4 - Displays the contents topic of the designated How to Use Help file. The con-
text string/number (specified in the Data field) needs to be defined in the
[MAP] section of the .HPJ file.
5 - Changes the current help contents topic to match the context string/number
specified in the Data field. This topic is used instead of the one defined
by the CONTENTS option in the [OPTIONS] section of the .HPJ file. This
will affect Command 3 (see above). The context string/number needs to
be defined in the [MAP] section of the help's .HPJ file, and the help file
needs to already be open. The change will last only until the help file is
closed.
8 - Displays, in a pop-up window, the help topic identified by the context
string/number in the Data field. The context string/number needs to be
defined in the [MAP] section of the .HPJ file.
9 - Tests that the correct help file is displayed. If the correct help file is cur-
rently displayed, this command merely makes the help the active win-
dow. If the incorrect help file is displayed, WinHelp opens the correct
file, and displays the help contents topic defined by the CONTENTS
option in the [OPTIONS] section of the .HPJ file.
Note: This command will not distinguish between two files of the same name,
regardless of their paths.
11 - Displays the CitectSCADA Help Topics with either the Contents, the Index,
or the Find tab selected, depending on which one was last used. Enter an
empty string for the Data argument.
257 - Searches the help index for your keyword (as specified in the Data field)
and displays the first topic in the index with an identical match. If there
is no match, displays the index with your keyword already entered. To
display the index without passing a keyword, enter an empty string for
the Data argument.
258 - Executes the Help macro string specified in the Data field. Help needs to
be running and the help file needs to be open, or the message is ignored.
260 - Displays, in a pop-up window, the help topic identified by the context
string/number in the Data field.
261 - Searches the help index for your keyword (as specified in the Data field)
and displays the first topic in the index with an identical match. If there
is no match, displays the index with your keyword already entered. To
display the index without passing a keyword, enter an empty string for
the Data argument.
1271
Data:
The context string/number or keyword of the help topic that is requested.
Return Value
Related Functions
WndViewer
Example
WndHelp("MyHelp.HLP", 3, 1);
! Displays the "MyHelp" Contents page.
WndHelp("C:\Help\Process.HLP", 8, 239);
! Displays topic labelled "239" in the "Process" help file.
See Also
Window Functions
WndInfo
Gets information on the window system (such as the widths and heights of the various
elements displayed by Windows). WndInfo() can also return flags that indicate whether
the current version of the Windows operating system is a debugging version, whether a
mouse is present, or whether the functions of the left and right mouse buttons have been
exchanged.
Syntax
WndInfo(iType)
iType:
The system measurement to be retrieved. Measurements are in pixels. The system measurement
needs to be one of the following values:
0 - Width of the screen.

1 - Height of the screen.
2 - Width of the arrow bitmap on a vertical scroll bar.
3 - Height of the arrow bitmap on a horizontal scroll bar.
4 - Height of the window title. This is the title height plus the height of the win-
dow frame that cannot be sized (SM_CYBORDER).
5 - Width of the window frame that cannot be sized.
6 - Height of the window frame that cannot be sized.
7 - Width of the frame when the window has the WS_DLGFRAME style.
1272
8 - Height of the frame when the window has the WS_DLGFRAME style.
9 - Height of the scroll box on vertical scroll bar.
10 - Width of the scroll box (thumb) on horizontal scroll bar.
12 - Height of the icon.
13 - Width of the cursor.
14 - Height of the cursor.
15 - Height of a single-line menu bar. This is the menu height minus the height
of the window frame that cannot be sized (SM_CYBORDER).
16 - Width of the window client area for a fullscreen window.
17 - Height of the window client area for a fullscreen window (equivalent to
the height of the screen minus the height of the window title).
18 - Height of a Kanji window.
19 - Non-zero if the mouse hardware is installed.
20 - Height of arrow bitmap on a vertical scroll bar.
21 - Width of arrow bitmap on a horizontal scroll bar.
22 - Non-zero if the Windows version is a debugging version.
23 - Non-zero if the left and right mouse buttons are swapped.
24-27 - Not Used
28 - Minimum width of the window.
29 - Minimum height of the window.
30 - Width of bitmaps contained in the title bar.
31 - Height of bitmaps contained in the title bar.
32 - Width of the window frame that can be sized.
33 - Height of the window frame that can be sized.
34 - Minimum tracking width of the window.
35 - Minimum tracking height of the window.
76 - x co-ordinate of upper left corner of virtual screen
77 - y co-ordinate of upper left corner of virtual screen
78 - width of virtual screen
79 - height of virtual screen
80 - number of monitors available
Return Value
The system metric information.
Example
width = WndInfo(0); ! get width of screen
1273
height = WndInfo(1); ! get height of screen

WinPos(width/2, height/2); ! move window to centre of screen
monitors = WndInfo(80); ! get number of monitors available
See Also
Window Functions
WndMonitorInfo
Returns information about a particular monitor.
Syntax
WndMonitorInfo(iMonitor, iType)
iMonitor:
Monitor Number 1 to n, where n is the number of monitors returned from WndInfo(80). Using 0
will return the value for the virtual screen. Using an unsupported monitor number (0 or n) will
return -1 for all values.
iType:
Type The monitor measurement to be retrieved:
0 - x co-ordinate of upper left corner of monitor.

1 - y co-ordinate of upper left corner of monitor.
2 - width of monitor.
3 - height of monitor.
4 - x co-ordinate of upper left corner of monitor working area.
5 - y co-ordinate of upper left corner of monitor working area.
6 - width of monitor working area.
7 - height of monitor working area.
Return Value
Requested information about the selected monitor.

See Also
Window Functions
WndPutFileProfile
Puts a profile string into any .INI file.
Syntax
WndPutFileProfile(sGroup, sName, sData, sFile)

sGroup:
1274
The name of the [group].
sName:
The name of the variable.
sData:
The variable data.
sFile:
The .INI file name.
Return Value
Related Functions
WndGetFileProfile
Example
WndPutFileProfile(Name(), "What", "100", "USER.INI");
See Also
Window Functions
WndShow
Sets the display mode of any window of any application.
Syntax
WndShow(hWnd, nMode)
hWnd:
The Windows handle of the window (returned from the WndFind() function). Be aware that this is
not the same as a CitectSCADA window number returned from the WinNumber() function.
nMode:
The window mode:
0 - Hide the window.

1 - Activate the window in normal mode.
2 - Activate the window in an iconized state.
3 - Activate the window in a maximized state.
4 - Display the window in its previous state without activating it.
1275
5 - Activate the window in its current state.

6 - Iconize the window.
7 - Display the window in an iconized state without activating it.
8 - Display the window in its current state without activating it.
9 - Activate the window in its previous state.
Return Value
Related Functions
WndFind
Example
WndShow(WndFind("Microsoft Excel"), 0);

! Hides the "Microsoft Excel" window.
See Also
Window Functions
WndViewer
Invokes the Microsoft Multimedia application.
Syntax
WndViewer(sViewerFile, Command, Data)

sViewerFile:
The Multimedia Viewer file to display.
Command:
The type of help:
1 - Displays a Viewer topic (specified in the Data field) in the main Viewer win-
dow.
2 - Displays a Viewer topic (specified in the Data field) in a pop-up window.
Data:
The context string of the Multimedia Viewer topic.
Return Value
1276
Note: CitectSCADA cannot test if the topic has been found or displayed correctly. For
example, if you pass an invalid topic, the viewer will open with "Viewer topic does
not exist" - but this function will return 0.
Related Functions
WndHelp
Example
WndViewer("MyFile.MVB",1, "Contents");
! Displays the contents topic in the Multimedia file "MyFile.MVB".
WndViewer("HelpFile.MVB",2, "HelpTip");
! Displays the HelpTip topic in the Multimedia file "HelpFile.MVB"
in a popup.
See Also
Window Functions
1277
Chapter 58: XML Functions

Following are functions related to XML:
XMLClose Deletes an XML document in memory
XMLCreate Creates a new XML document in memory
XMLGetAttribute Retrieves the attribute value of the node from an XML doc-
ument in memory
XMLGetAttributeCount Retrieves the number of attributes (properties of a node.

Each attribute has a name and a value) within an XML doc-
ument in memory
XMLGetAttributeName Retrieves the name of an attribute (property of a node.

ument in memory
XMLGetAttributeValue Retrieves the value of an attribute (property of a node.

ument in memory
XMLGetChild Retrieves the child node for the specified parent node in
XML document in memory
XMLGetChildCount Retrieves the total number of child nodes for the specified
parent node in an XML document in memory
XMLGetParent Retrieves the parent node within the contents of an XML

document in memory
XMLGetRoot Retrieves the root node of an XML document in memory
XMLNodeAddChild Creates an element node with the specified Name and

Namespace and appends the node to the end of the list of
child nodes of specified parent node in the XML doc-
ument.
XMLNodeFind Selects a single node from the contents of an XML doc-

ument in memory
XMLNodeGetName Retrieves the name of the specified node
XMLNodeGetValue Retrieves the value of a node from the contents of an XML

document in memory
XMLNodeRemove Removes specified XML node from its parent and XML doc-
ument
XMLNodeSetValue Sets the value of the specified node.
XMLOpen Loads an XML file from disk
XMLSave Saves an XML file to disk
1278
XMLSetAttribute Sets the value of specified attribute of the node in the XML
document. If the attribute does not exist, it will be
created.
See Also
Functions Reference
XMLNodeAddChild
Creates an element node with the specified Name and Namespace and appends the
node to the end of the list of child nodes of specified parent node in the XML document.
Syntax
INT XMLNodeAddChild(INT hDoc, INT hNode, STRING sName[, STRING sNamespace = ""
])
hDoc
Handle of the XML document the parent node belongs to. Returned by XMLCreate or XMLOpen.
hNode
Handle of the parent node.e.g. <shapes>, <polygons>, <polygon>. Returned by XMLGetRoot,

XMLGetChild, XMLGetParent or XMLNodeFind.
sName
The qualified name of the new element node.
sNamespace
Optional parameter. The namespace URI of the new node.E.g.<shapes xmlns="http://schneider-elec-

tric.com/shapes/v1">.
Return Value
Handle of the newly created node, or -1 on error.
Related Functions
XMLClose, XMLCreate, XMLGetAttribute, XMLGetAttributeCount, XMLGe-

tAttributeName, XMLGetAttributeValue, XMLGetChild, XMLGetChildCount, XMLGet-
Parent, XMLGetRoot, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetName, XMLNodeGetValue,
XMLNodeRemove, XMLNodeSetValue, XMLOpen, XMLSave, XMLSetAttribute
Example
The example adds a new element node to the root of XML document and then adds two
new element nodes to the first created node.
1279
INT hDoc, hRoot, hNode;

hDoc = XMLCreate(“shapes”, “http://schneider-electric.com/shapes/v1”);
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
hRoot = XMLGetRoot(hDoc);
IF hRoot <> -1 THEN
hNode = XMLNodeAddChild(hDoc, hRoot, “polygons”);
IF hNode <> -1 THEN
XMLNodeAddChild(hDoc, hNode, “polygon”);
XMLNodeAddChild(hDoc, hNode, “polygon”);
END
END
END
The xml document created by the code above:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<shapes xmlns="http://schneider-electric.com/shapes/v1">
<polygons>
<polygon/>
<polygon/>
</polygons>
</shapes>
See Also
XML Functions
XMLCreate
Use this function to create a new XML document in memory.
Syntax
INT XMLCreate(STRING sRootElement, STRING sNamespace = "")

sRootElement:
Root element of the XML document.
sNamespace:
Optional. Namespace URI of root element.
Return Value
Handle of XML document, or returns -1 on error
Related Functions
1280
XMLClose, XMLGetAttribute, XMLGetAttributeCount, XMLGetAttributeName, XMLGe-

tAttributeValue, XMLGetChild, XMLGetChildCount, XMLGetParent, XMLGetRoot,
XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetName, XMLNodeGetValue, XMLNo-
deRemove, XMLNodeSetValue, XMLOpen, XMLSave, XMLSetAttribute
Example
Following example creates an empty XML document and sets root element to shapes
and namespace of root element to “http://schneider-electric.com/shapes/v1”.
INT hDoc=XMLCreate("shapes",“http://schneider-electric.com/shapes/v1”);
See Also
XML Functions
XMLOpen
Reads an XML file from disk to create XML document.
Syntax
INT XMLOpen(STRING sFilePath)

sFilePath
Absolute path of XML file
Return Value
Handle of the XML document, or -1 on error.
Related Functions

Parent, XMLGetRoot, XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetName,
XMLNodeGetValue, XMLNodeRemove, XMLNodeSetValue, XMLSave, XMLSetAttribute
Example
Following example reads disk file “H:\Data\books.xml” to create XML document.
INT hDoc, hNode;

hDoc=XMLOpen("H:\Data\books.xml");
See Also
XML Functions
1281
XMLClose
Use this function to delete an XML document in memory
Syntax
INT XMLClose(INT hDoc)

hDoc
Handle of the XML document. Returned by XMLCreate or XMLOpen.
Return Value
Related Functions
XMLCreate, XMLGetAttribute, XMLGetAttributeCount, XMLGetAttributeName, XMLGe-

Example
Following example creates an empty XML document and sets root element to shapes
and namespace of root element to “http://schneider-electric.com/shapes/v1”, then
destroys the XML document.
INT hDoc=XMLCreate("shapes",“http://schneider-electric.com/shapes/v1”);
XMLClose(hDoc);
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetAttribute
Retrieves the attribute value of the node from an XML document in memory.
Syntax
INT XMLGetAttribute(INT hDoc, INT hNode, STRING sAttributeName)

hDoc
hNode
Handle of the node. Returned by XMLGetRoot, XMLGetChild, XMLGetParent or XMLNodeFind.
1282
sAttributeName
Name of attribute.
Return Value
Value of specified node's attribute
Related Functions
XMLClose, XMLCreate, XMLGetAttributeCount, XMLGetAttributeName, XMLGe-

Example
Following example creates an XML document from local file “H:\Data\books.xml”, then
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets value
of the node’s attribute “Language”.
INT hDoc, hNode;

STRING sValue;
hDoc=XMLOpen(“H:\Data\books.xml”);
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
hNode = XMLNodeFind(hDoc,”/bookstore/book/”);
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
sValue=XMLGetAttribute(hDoc,hNode,"Language");
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetAttributeCount
Gets number of attribute of specified XML node.
Syntax
INT XMLGetAttributeCount(INT hDoc, INT hNode)

hDoc
hNode
Return Value
1283
Number of attribute of specified node.
Related Functions
XMLClose, XMLCreate, XMLGetAttribute, XMLGetAttributeName, XMLGe-

Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets
number of attribute of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode;

INT nCount;
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
nCount=XMLGetAttributeCount(hDoc,hNode);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetAttributeName
Gets name of specified XML Node’s attribute by using attribute index.
Syntax
STRING XMLGetAttributeName(INT hDoc, INT hNode, INT iAttribute)

hDoc
hNode
iAttribute
The attribute index.
Return Value
Name of specified node's attribute
1284
Related Functions

Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets name
of the first attribute of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode;

STRING sName;
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
IF hNode <> -1 THEN
sName=XMLGetAttributeName(hDoc,hNode,0);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetAttributeValue
Gets the value of the specified XML node's attribute by using attribute index.
Syntax
STRING XMLGetAttributeValue(INT hDoc, INT hNode, INT iAttribute)

hDoc
hNode
iAttribute
The attribute index.
Return Value
Value of specified node’s attribute.
Related Functions
1285

tAttributeName, XMLGetChild, XMLGetChildCount, XMLGetParent, XMLGetRoot,
Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets value
of the first attribute of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode;

STRING sValue;
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
IF hNode <> -1 THEN
sValue=XMLGetAttributeValue(hDoc,hNode,0);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetChild
Retrieves the child node for the specified parent node in XML document in memory.
Syntax
INT XMLGetChild(INT hDoc, INT hNode, INT iChild)

hDoc
hNode
Handle of the parent node. Returned by XMLGetRoot, XMLGetChild, XMLGetParent or XMLNode-

Find.
iChild
The child index.
Return Value
Handle of child node, or -1 on error
Related Functions
1286

tAttributeName, XMLGetAttributeValue, XMLGetChildCount, XMLGetParent, XMLGe-
tRoot, XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetName, XMLNodeGetValue,
Example
gets the root node, then gets the first child node of the root node.
INT hDoc, hRoot, hChild;

hDoc = XMLOpen(“H:\Data\books.xml”);
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
hRoot = XMLGetRoot(hDoc);
IF hRoot <> -1 THEN
hChild = XMLGetChild(hDoc,hRoot,0);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetChildCount
Retrieves the total number of child nodes for the specified parent node in an XML doc-
ument in memory.
Syntax
INT XMLGetChildCount(INT hDoc, INT hNode)

hDoc
hNode
Handle of the parent node. Returned by XMLGetRoot, XMLGetChild, XMLGetParent or XMLNode-

Find.
Return Value
Number of child nodes, or -1 on error
Related Functions
1287

tAttributeName, XMLGetAttributeValue, XMLGetChild, XMLGetParent, XMLGetRoot,
Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets the
number of children of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode;

INT nCount;
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
nCount=XMLGetChildCount(hDoc,hNode);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetRoot
Gets the root element of the specified XML document.
Syntax
INT XMLGetRoot(INT hDoc)

hDoc
Return Value
Handle of root element, or-1 on error.
Related Functions

Parent, XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetName, XMLNodeGetValue,
Example
1288
gets the root element.
INT hDoc, hRoot;

If hDoc <> -1 THEN
hRoot=XMLGetRoot(hDoc);
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLNodeGetName
Gets the name of the specified node.
Syntax
STRING XMLNodeGetName(INT hDoc, INT hNode)

hDoc
hNode
Return Value
Name of specified node.
Related Functions

Parent, XMLGetRoot, XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetValue,
Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets the
name of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode;
1289
STRING sName;
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
sName=XMLNodeGetName(hDoc,hNode);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLNodeGetValue
Gets value of specified node.
Syntax
STRING XMLNodeGetValue(INT hDoc, INT hNode)

hDoc
hNode
Return Value
Value of specified node
Related Functions

Example
selects the first node that matchs XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets the
value of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode;

STRING sValue;
1290
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN

IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
sValue=XMLNodeGetValue(hDoc,hNode);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLGetParent
Gets the parent of specified node. If specified node is the root node in the tree, the parent
is the document node.
Syntax
INT XMLGetParent(INT hDoc, INT hNode)

hDoc
hNode
Return Value
Handle of parent node, or error will be returned
Related Functions

tAttributeName, XMLGetAttributeValue, XMLGetChild, XMLGetChildCount, XMLGe-
tRoot, XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeFind, XMLNodeGetName, XMLNodeGetValue,
Example
selects the first node that matchs XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”, then gets the par-
ent of the node.
INT hDoc, hNode, hParent;

hDoc=XMLOpen("H:\Data\books.xml");
If hDoc <> -1 THEN
hNode=XMLNodeFind(hDoc,”/bookstore/book/”);
1291
IF hNode <> -1 THEN

hParent=XMLGetParent(hDoc, hNode);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLNodeRemove
Removes specified XML node from its parent and XML document.
Syntax
INT XMLNodeRemove(INT hDoc, INT hNode)

hDoc
hNode
Return Value
Related Functions

XMLNodeGetValue, XMLNodeSetValue, XMLOpen, XMLSave, XMLSetAttribute
Example
INT hDoc, hNode;

IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
XMLNodeRemove(hDoc,hNode);
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLSave
1292
Use this function to save XML document on disk.
Syntax
INT XMLSave(INT hDoc, STRING sFilePath)

hDoc
sQuery
Absolute path of the disk file that XML document is written to.
Return Value
Related Functions

XMLNodeGetValue, XMLNodeRemove, XMLNodeSetValue, XMLOpen, XMLSe-
tAttribute
Example
INT hDoc, hNode;

hdoc=XMLOpen("H:\Data_Backup\books.xml");
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
XMLSave(hDoc, "H:\Data_Backup\books.xml");
END
See Also
XML Functions
XMLNodeFind
Use this function to select the first XML node that matches the XPath expression.
Syntax
INT XMLNodeFind(INT hDoc, STRING sQuery)

hDoc
sQuery
1293
XPath Expression
Return Value
Handle of the first XML node that matches the XPath expression, or BAD HANDLE on
error.
Related Functions

Parent, XMLGetRoot, XMLNodeAddChild, XMLNodeGetName, XMLNodeGetValue,
Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/”
INT hDoc, hNode;

hDoc=XMLOpen("H:\data\books.xml");
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
hNode=XMLNodeFind(hDoc,"/bookstore/book/");
End
See Also
XML Functions
XMLSetAttribute
Use this function to set the value of specified attribute of the node in the XML document.
If the attribute does not exist, it will be created.
Syntax
INT XMLSetAttribute(INT hDoc, INT hNode, STRING sName, STRING sValue)

hDoc
hNode
sName
The name of the attribute.
sValue
1294
The value of the attribute
Return Value
Related Functions

XMLNodeGetValue, XMLNodeRemove, XMLNodeSetValue, XMLOpen, XMLSave
Example
selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/” and sets the
value of the node’s attribute “Language” to “English”.
INT hDoc, hNode;

hDoc = XMLOpen(“H:\Data\books.xml”);
IF hDoc less -1 THEN
IF hNode less -1 THEN
XMLSetAttribute(hDoc, hNode, “Language”, “English”);
END
END
See Also
XML Functions
XMLNodeSetValue
Sets the value of the specified node.
Syntax
INT XMLNodeSetValue(INT hDoc, INT hNode, STRING sValue)

hDoc
hNode
Handle of the node. Returned by XMLGetRoot, XMLGetChild, XMLGetParent, XMLNodeFind.
sValue
Value of the element node.
1295
Return Value
Related Functions

XMLNodeGetValue, XMLNodeRemove, XMLOpen, XMLSave, XMLSetAttribute
Example
The following example creates an XML document from local file “H:\Data\books.xml”,
then selects the first node that matches XPath expression “/bookstore/book/title” and sets
the node’s value to “Harry Potter”.
INT hDoc, hNode;

hDoc = XMLOpen("H:\Data\books.xml");
IF hDoc <> -1 THEN
hNode=XMLNodeFind(hDoc,"/bookstore/book/title");
IF hNode <>-1 THEN
XMLNodeSetValue(hDoc,hNode,"Harry Potter");
End
End
See Also
XML Functions
1296
Part: 4
Technical Reference
This section contains information for Users and describes the following:
Cicode Errors
Browse Function Field Reference
1297
1298
Chapter 59: Cicode Errors
This section describes the error codes used by CitectSCADA in the following situations:
l Hardware related errors
l Cicode and general errors
l Mail API errors
Hardware/Cicode Errors
CitectSCADA 'traps' system errors automatically. When CitectSCADA detects a system
error, it generates a hardware alarm, and the corresponding error message is placed in
the alarm description. Each error has an associated (unique) error number.
You can use the IsError() function to get the number of the last error. Alternatively, you
can trap and process errors within your user functions. Use the ErrSet() function to ena-
ble or disable error trapping.CitectSCADA 'traps' system errors automatically. When a
system error occurs, CitectSCADA generates a hardware alarm, and the corresponding
error message is placed in the alarm description. Each error has an associated (unique)
error number. Number 0 means no error, errors start from 1.
Range Sour- Cause

ce
1 - 31 PLC or The I/O Device is reporting an error, or CitectSCADA is

I/O experiencing the reported error trying communicate with
Devic- an I/O Device. Often caused by incorrect configuration or
e poor cabling. For a detailed list of these errors see Generic
Gener- Errors.
ic
errors
256 -511 Gen- General errors are wide ranging, from animation to server
eral problems. However, there are two main causes of general
errors:
1. Device
External devices such as printers, databases, and files

can cause many different hardware errors since they are
beyond the control of CitectSCADA. Often the device itself
is improperly configured or non-existent.
2. Cicode
1299
Cicode errors are generated when your project con-

figuration calls a Cicode function in an invalid way, or
when a Cicode function returns an error or does illegal
operations.
For a detailed list of these errors see Cicode and General

Errors.
382 - 383 Invali- This will indicate that the tag data validation process has
d tag identified a discrepancy with the tag index values. See Val-
data idating distributed project data for tag-based drivers for
more information.
You can use the IsError() function to get the number of the last error. Alternatively, you
can trap and process errors within your user functions. Use the ErrSet() function to ena-
ble or disable error trapping.
Cicode and General Errors

The table below describes the general errors in Cicode.
Error No. Error title Description
0 No Error No error
32 The unit the tag is on has When the error for a tag has specific values
not been connected to yet the tag test can show "#WAIT" for this
error. This occurs for scheduled or Dial-up
devices.
53 The tag is not known by the The reason for a tag being unknown by the
server being talked to at this I/O or alarm system may not be that it does
time. not exist, just that the server it is on is yet to
come up and tell us about it. However, more
often that not, it is because it does not exist.
55 Tag value is limited Tag value is limited to be within range.
256 General software error An internal CitectSCADA software error is

detected. Contact Technical Support for
this product and provide details on what
causes the error.
257 Value is out of range A numeric value is out of range. An out-

of-range value has been passed to a func-
tion, or an array index is off the end of an
array, or a value that is outside of the
specified engineering scale has been
assigned to a I/O Device variable. You can
1300
disable range checking on PLC variables

with the CodeSetMode() function.
258 Buffer has been overrun A buffer has been overrun. More data has
been passed to a function than it can
write to its temporary buffers. Try again
by calling the function twice, with half the
data in each call.
259 Array has been overrun An array passed to a function is too small
for the data requested. Define a larger
array or reduce the maximum data size
requested.
260 Path does not exist The specified path to a device or file does
not exist. During a function call (that tried
to open a file), a non-existent path was
specified. Call the function again with the
correct path.
261 File does not exist The specified file or device does not exist.
During a function call (that tried to open a
file), the file could not be found. Call the
function again with the correct file name.
This error will also be detected if you try
to call TrnDelHistory() on a file that has
not been added using TrnAddHistory().
262 Cannot open file The specified file cannot be opened. Dur-
ing a function call (that tried to open a
file), the file could not be opened. There
may be a mode error (for example, from
trying to open a read-only file in write
mode), or the file may be open by others,
or the operating system resources may be
too low to open the file.
Check that the file does exist (use File

Manager), and that you have the correct
rights to open it. (Check with your net-
work supervisor that you have correct
rights to open the file).
263 Cannot read file The specified file cannot be read. Either
an error has been detected during a read
operation, or the end of file was unexpect-
edly found, or a disconnection from of the
file server occurred, or the operating sys-
tem is out of resources.
1301
264 Cannot write to file The specified file cannot be written to.
During a function call (that tried to write
to a file), a write error has been detected.
There could be a disk full error, or a dis-
connection from of the file server may
have occurred, or the operating system is
out of resources.
265 Invalid file type An attempt was made to open a file of the
wrong type, for example, you tried to
open an ASCII file as a dBASE file.
266 Field not found in file The specified field does not exist in the
device or database. A function that is try-
ing to access an individual field in a data-
base cannot find that field. Check that you
have specified the correct field name and
database name.
267 File mode is invalid An operation has been attempted on a file

or device that is of the wrong mode, for
example, you tried to perform a seek on a
printer device.
268 Key not found in file The requested key was not found when a
key search was performed on a database
device, that is the record specified on an
indexed search cannot be found. Either
the record does not exist or you have
specified the wrong key.
269 Bad handle specified A bad handle has been passed to a func-
tion. You have called a function that
requires a device handle, font handle,
window handle, etc., but you passed a
number that does not associate with a
read device, font, or window (for exam-
ple, you called WinGoto(100) when no
window with the handle "100" exists).
Check where the handle or number was
retrieved from, and verify that it is the
same handle. This error may also be
detected if you have closed or destroyed
the resource and you then try to access it.
271 No more free handles left All the available file handles have been
used, that is too many files or databases
are open at the same time. Open fewer
1302
files at one time or increase the number of

file handles in the [CtEdit]DBFiles param-
eter.
272 Out of memory CitectSCADA is out of memory. Increase

the amount of memory in the computer or
use smaller databases.
273 Divide by zero An attempt has been made to divide a

number by zero.
274 Invalid argument passed An invalid argument has been passed to a

Cicode function. This is a general error
message and is generated when argu-
ments passed to a function are out of
range or are invalid. Check the value of
arguments being passed to the function.
If arguments are input directly from the
operator, you should check that the cor-
rect arguments are being passed to the
function.
275 Overflow A calculation has resulted in a numeric

value overflow. Check for operations that
will generate large numbers.
276 No privilege for operation A user has requested an operation for

which he or she has no privilege.
277 Not in correct area A user has requested data that does not
belong to the current user area.
278 Report already busy A request has been made to run a report
that is already running. You can get the
current state of a report with the Rep-
GetControl() function. You can ignore this
error message (because the report is
already running).
279 Report is late for The report cannot run at the rate
execution requested in the configuration. An
attempt could have been made to run a
report too frequently, and the required
data cannot be read from the I/O Device
(s) in time for the next report.
1303
280 Invalid report ID spec- The specified report name does not exist,
ified or the user has no privilege to run the
report, or the report is not in the current
user area. Check the name of the report
and the current user's privilege and
areas.
281 No server could be found The specified CitectSCADA server cannot

be found. Either the server is not running
or there is some disturbance in the net-
work. Check that the network is set up
correctly, and you are using the same
Server Name on both the client and
server.
282 Foreground Cicode can- You cannot block the foreground Citect-
not block SCADA task. You may have called a block-
ing function from one of the Page
animation databases.
283 Trend has missed sam- The trend cannot run at the rate
ples requested in the configuration. An
attempt could have been made to trend
the data too frequently, and the required
data cannot be read from the I/O Device
(s) in time for the next trend. Either
increase the performance of the com-
munication link to the PLCs or slow the
rate of trend data acquisition.
284 Device is disabled An attempt was made to access a device

that is disabled. You can disable any
devices (printers and other logging
devices) with the DevDisable() function.
When CitectSCADA (or your Cicode func-
tion) tries to access a disabled device,
this message returns and all output is
lost.
285 Foreground Cicode run is The foreground Cicode task is taking too
too long long to animate the display page. The
Cicode is too complex and is taking too
long to execute. Simplify the Cicode that
is animating the page, or increase the
[Code] TimeSlice parameter. If you can-
not simplify the Cicode, you can create a
separate task using TaskNew() to cal-
culate your complex operation, and then
use the Display functions to display the
1304
results. Cicode running from a TaskNew()

call is in background mode and can run
as long as required.
286 Out of Cicode threads CitectSCADA has run out of Cicode tasks.
Run fewer tasks (for example, reports,
key commands, and Cicode tasks) in par-
allel, or increase the number of tasks with
the [Code]Threads parameter. This error
can be caused by a configuration error if
you keep creating tasks that do not finish.
287 Floating point exception An invalid floating-point number has been

trap found. Check the floating-point data from
the I/O Device.
288 Out of buffers CitectSCADA is out of dynamic buffers.

You have called a function that requests
buffer space but no buffers are available.
Check which function is causing the error
and increase the associated buffers, or
slow the rate of transfer to that function.
If the error occurs on a server or LAN
device, increase the number of buffers
with the [Lan]ReadPool parameter.
This error can also be detected if some-

thing is stopping the release of the buff-
ers, for example, if network
communication has stopped or a PLC has
just come off-line. The error 'Out of buff-
ers' can also be generated in the following
ways:
Calling QueWrite() when the queue func-

tions have run out of buffers. You can
increase the number of queue buffers
with the [Code] Queue parameter.
Calling WinFree() to free the last Cicode

window. If WinFree() did free the last win-
dow, CitectSCADA would have no win-
dows left.
To verify which function is causing the

hardware error, display the {ERRPAGE}
and {ERRDESC} fields on the hardware
alarm.
289 Name does not exist The specified name does not exist in this
1305
context. You are probably using the

wrong name.
290 Not finished A request has been made for trend data
that has not yet finished trending.
291 File not CitectSCADA for- The specified file is not in CitectSCADA for-
mat mat. The file (trend, graphic, or any other
file) is in an invalid format. Check that the
name of the file is valid or that the file has
not become corrupted.
292 Invalid function The specified function name does not

exist. You have tried to create a task, or
called a remote procedure, or set an event
function that does not exist.
293 File error A general file error has been detected.

Either a general hardware error has
occurred, or the operating system is out
of resources, or the file server is down.
294 File EOF The end of the file was found. An attempt
was made to read data off the end of a file
or database.
295 Cicode stack overflow A Cicode evaluation stack overflow has

occurred. There are too many local func-
tion variables or nested function calls.
Reduce the number of local variables or
increase the [Code] Stack parameter.
The Cicode stack is used to store local

function variables and function calls. If
you have many nested functions and a
large number of local function variables,
the Cicode stack may overflow. When the
Cicode stack overflows, the Cicode that
caused the overflow is halted.
You can estimate the size of the stack by

counting the maximum number of local
function variables in the deepest function
calls. For example, if function A has 10
variables and calls function B with 30 var-
iables, which calls function C with 40 var-
iables, the stack needs to be 10 + 30 +
40 = 80 deep.
1306
296 Queue empty An attempt has been made to read an ele-

ment from an empty queue.
297 Semaphore owner died The owner of a Cicode semaphore was

halted, killed, or returned without releas-
ing the semaphore. Reset the shared
resource back to a known state (because
the task that died may have left it in a
mess), and then continue. For example, if
you are sharing a printer, do a form feed.
298 Semaphore timeout The requested semaphore was still in use

after the specified timeout. Either try to
get the semaphore again or abort the
operation and tell the operator of the
detected error.
299 Cancelled The specified form or command was can-

celled. This error is returned when a user
presses the Cancel button on a form. The
normal procedure is to abort the oper-
ation.
300 Trend not found The trend does not exist at the specified
AN and page. A trend function may have
been called when the trend is not defined
for that AN.
301 Trend pen not found The required trend pen name does not
exist in the Trends database or is not in
the current user area. Check that the pen
name exists and check the current user's
privilege and area.
302 Trend data not valid The requested trend data is not valid.
Either the I/O Device data was bad, or the
CitectSCADA trend server was shut down,
or the trend data was disabled.
303 Invalid animation number The AN specified in the function is not

defined. You called one of the DspXXX
animation functions, but you specified an
animation number that was out of range
or that had been deleted.
304 File server inoperative, CitectSCADA has detected that a file

stand-by active
1307
server has become inoperative, and will

switch to the standby file server. The file
server's inoperative condition is due to
errors of the network or of the file server
computer. This error is displayed only if
you have enabled redundant file servers.
If a redundant file server is not enabled,
CitectSCADA and Windows become inoper-
ative when the file server becomes inoper-
ative. You should report this error to the
operators to fix the file server.
305 Conflicting types of The same AN is being used for two dif-
animation ferent types of animation. This error is
detected if you try to display two (or
more) incompatible types of animation on
the same AN (for example, you try to dis-
play a symbol at a AN where a bar graph
is already displayed). Check the con-
figuration. If you need to display a new
animation, you need to first delete the old
animation with the DspDel() function.
306 SQL field value truncated A maximum of 1000bytes (1Kb) can be

returned from a single field call. If the
field data is larger than this limit, it is
truncated. You have tried to access a data-
base where one of the fields is greater
than 1000 bytes in size. Change the data-
base field size to less than 1000 bytes so
it can be accessed. In fact, you should
change the field size to less than 256
bytes, the maximum allowable length of a
Cicode string.
307 SQL database error A general SQL error. Call the SQLErrMsg()
function for details of the detected error.
308 SQL null field data Data has been requested from a field that
returned contained no data, or the SQL server does
not support this type of field data. Citect-
SCADA will return an empty string. Call
the SQLFieldInfo() function to list the
fields in the database.
309 Trend data is gated You have requested trend data that was
gated (set to logging disabled) by the
trigger expression (that is when it was
acquired). The data is returned with the
1308
gated values set to 0.
310 Incompatible server ver- Two servers are running incompatible ver-
sion sions of the CitectSCADA software. Install
the latest version on each server. Contact
Citect Technical Support to arrange for an
upgrade.
311 Alarm tag synchronize When the Alarm server shuts down it
error writes an alarm save file. If the alarm
server is in tag mode (rather than record
mode) this message will display. You can
set the mode with the [Alarm]SaveStyle
parameter. You can ignore this message
as it is an alert only.
312 MAPI generic error A generic MAPI error has been detected.
Call the MailError() function to retrieve
the MAPI error.
313 No MAPI The MAPI mail system is not installed, or

incorrectly installed on the computer.
314 MAPI offline The computer is not logged on to the MAPI

mail system. Call the MailLogon() function
to log on to the MAPI mail system.
315 MAPI no mail No mail was available. This message is

returned from the MailRead() function if
no mail is available.
316 dBASE record locked by The dBASE file is being accessed by

another another user. Check if the dBASE file has
been opened in exclusive mode by the
other user. This error can also be
detected if another user is updating the
dBASE file, and will usually occur if it is
an indexed database, and the file is on a
slow file server. You can adjust dBASE
access with the [General]LockRetry and
[General]LockDelay parameters.
317 Not in this version The operation is not supported in this ver-
sion of CitectSCADA. You need to upgrade
to a higher version.
1309
318 Invalid page function You have called the PageGoto(), PageNext
(), PagePrev(), PageDisplay(), or Page-
Last() as an exit command in the Pages
database.
319 Low physical memory CitectSCADA is low on physical memory.

Increase available physical memory (not
virtual memory). Reduce the size of
SMARTDRV cache, close any other win-
dows programs that are running, or add
more RAM to your computer. You can set
the minimum size of memory required by
CitectSCADA with the [Memory]MinPhyK
parameter. This parameter sets a value
for the minimum physical memory before
CitectSCADA will generate this error mes-
sage.
This error may also be detected if your

swap file is large (that is greater than 20
Mb). Reduce the size of your swap file.
The swap file is configured with the Win-
dows Control Panel (386 Enhanced icon).
320 Cannot free window The WinFree() function has been called
but CitectSCADA has no windows left. (Be
aware that the last window and any child
windows owned by the last window can-
not be removed.)
321 Font cannot be found The specified font cannot be found. Check
the font name.
322 Cannot connect to LAN CitectSCADA has detected an error on the

network.
323 Super Genie not Asso- A Super Genie variable has not been asso-
ciated ciated correctly. This error can be
detected if a variable passed to the Super
Genie is the wrong data type or the var-
iable does not exist. The error will also be
detected if the Ass() function has not
been called for the variable.
325 Project is not compiled Changes have been made to the project
while the system was running. Either
restart the system or shutdown and re-
compile.
1310
326 Could not run the Citect- The CitectSCADA compiler could not be
SCADA compiler found. Either the computer has run out of
memory, or the compiler has been
removed from its directory.
327 User type not found An attempt was made to create a user of a
type that has not been defined in the
users database.
328 User already exists An attempt was made to create a new

user with the same name as an existing
user.
329 Cannot have mixed An attempt was made to display both a

trends periodic trend and an event trend in the
same trend window. Check the project
configuration (Trend Tags and Page
Trends databases) for mixed trends dis-
played in a trend window.
336 Event type trend is One of the arguments passed to this

expected trend function is only valid for event type
trends.
337 Trend in file does not The trend name inside the trend file does
exist not exist in the trend database. It is likely
that the trend file belongs to a trend
which is deleted from the system con-
figuration.
338 Plot Functions Sequence Plot functions are to be written in

Mismatch sequence since they depend on the data
set up by other plot functions. Please
refer to the description section for each
Plot Function for the order of plot func-
tions.
339 Plot Marker is not Defined An undefined plot marker symbol has
been used. Use the PlotSetMarker func-
tion before the PlotLine, PlotXYLine or
PlotMarker functions.
340 Invalid subgroup size The subgroup size specified for this SPC
trend is not valid.
341 Trend Cursor Disabled The trend cursor is currently disabled.
1311
342 Debug break The DebugBreak() Cicode function has

been called. This indicates an invalid con-
dition detected in user written Cicode.
Enable the Cicode debugger to find the
cause of the problem.
343 Foreground Cicode can- A breakpoint has been hit in foreground

not break Cicode. Foreground Cicode cannot be
blocked. You can disable this error mes-
sage in Debug Options, accessed through
the Debug menu in the Cicode Editor.
344 Format overflow This error occurs when the string being
used to return an error message is not
long enough for the information to go into
it.
345 Data not ready This error is returned when the

requested data is not ready to be
returned. Try again later.
346 Dynamic Out of licence The dynamic point count has exceeded
points the point limit. See CitectSCADA Licence
Point Count.
347 Assertion did not suc- An assertion in your Cicode has been
ceed in user Cicode proven FALSE, and the task terminated.
Assertions are made using the Assert()
function. If you set the [Code]Debug-
Message parameter to 1, the assertion is
logged and the operator prompted.
348 Property does not exist The tag property does not exist.
350 RDB file not found A RDB file is not found. Try a full compile
and re-start.
353 Cannot connect to FTP Problems connecting to the FTP server for
file copy. Check that the service is run-
ning correctly by using a 3rd party tool
outside CitectSCADA.
354 Unrecognized object The automation object to be used is not

class known or registered.
355 Object has no interface The automation objects interface no

longer exists. This is either a logic or code
1312
error.
356 Object automation excep- Generic automation exception code for log-
tion ging issues.
357 Too many arguments Formatting issues likely due to too many
arguments (automation)
358 Too few arguments Less arguments available than expected

(automation)
359 Named object already An object tried to be created when it was

exists already existed and it was not expected to
exist. Check your cicode (automation)
360 Unrecognized named The name of an object did not match the
object internal records. Check your cicode (auto-
mation).
361 Page CTG/RDB record An animation object id was not found in

mismatch the records. Try a full compile and re-
start.
362 Object event queue CitectSCADA has run out of Cicode tasks
flooded while processing ActiveX events. Create
fewer concurrent ActiveX events, or
increase the number of tasks with the
[Code]Threads parameter.
363 Incorrect number of argu- Internal error in cicode handling of

ments objects. Try a full recompile and restart.
364 No 'this' argument Internal error in cicode handling of

objects. Try a full recompile and restart.
367 File cannot be printed Unable to print the specified file on the
specified port.
368 Animation number invalid Unable to display the animation at the

given AN.
369 Wrong type for text dis- Unable to display the given animation as
play text.
370 No FileFind instances to There are no FileFind instances to close.
1313
close
371 No dialback response The retry count for the dialback response
returned has been exceeded.
372 Unrecognised ActiveX The ActiveX graphics data was unable to

object be loaded as it is an unrecognised object.
374 Date Time Conflict A Date and/or time conflict has been
detected. If you are attempting a TrnAdd-
History(), verify that the file you are add-
ing does not have a conflicting time or
date with existing trend files.
375 Password Expired The password has expired. Change pass-

word or adjust the [General]Pass-
wordExpiry settings.
376 Error Writing to Files of An error has occurred while attempting to

Trend write to a trend file.
377 Error Reading Files of An error has occurred while attempting to

Trend read from a trend file.
379 Cannot modify field The Users.DBF cannot be modified by direct

user manipulation.
380 Name Exists The user name specified already exists in

the Users.DBF.
381 File Format Error The file is not in the desired format. It
may be corrupted.
382 Page data / variable tag Page data / variable tag data mismatch
data mismatch with tag-based driver.
384 The code this queue/sem- Cicode task has been flagged as locked or
aphore was waiting for inactive. This will not apply if a Cicode
exited due to an error task was killed deliberately by the Cicode
logic.
385 Cannot download web- Unable to download the webclient sig-

signature.xml nature file.
388 OID check disabled Attempting to open a DBF file without

checking to see if it has changed.
1314
391 Unsupported Cicode func- A number of Cicode functions can only be

tion in Citect Web Client run in a non Web context. This error is
flagging that such a function was tried
from a Web client.
392 Timeout from Rnd Alarm The timeout for receiving alarm data from
Server the redundant alarm server has been
exceeded.
393 RDB and associated page The RDB page version does not match the
mismatch one expected after compilation.
394 Remote license lost The remote licence can not be found.
400 Project or file is Read- The operation could not be completed

Only because the project or file is read only.
401 Redundant server not The redundant server is current not avail-
found able or was not found.
402 Cluster not specified Cicode call is ambiguous because no

cluster was specified.
403 Cluster not found The provided cluster name was not seen
as a valid cluster name.
404 Cluster name and tag mis- A cluster name and a tag with a cluster
match name prefix were both passed, but they
do not match each other.
405 Cluster not connected The operation cannot continue as the

cluster is not connected.
406 Cluster already con- The operation cannot continue as the

nected cluster is already connected.
407 Databrowse pending Databrowse session currently being con-

nected and is not yet available for further
commands.
408 Databrowse not sup- This normally means that data has been
ported requested from the wrong client / server
type, that is a client request on a server
or vice versa.
1315
409 Databrowse type not Browse type unknown. Check that the ver-
found sions of citect32 are the same.
410 Databrowse session not iSession handle is invalid.

found
411 Databrowse session Cannot open a session as it already exists.

exists
412 Databrowse session EOF Cannot browse beyond end of file. No

more records left in the browse.
413 Databrowse field not The specified field is not present in the
found file.
414 Databrowse invalid field The specified field is not valid for this
browse function.
415 Databrowse no command Browse command unknown. Check that

the versions of citect32 are the same.
416 Databrowse no next Internal flag that all clusters have been
cluster processed. Users use this in cicode to
determine that there are no more
clusters.
417 Cluster required for oper- The operation cannot continue as the
ation cluster is required for operation of a
server.
418 No server of type on There is no server of the required type

cluster configured on the server.
419 Client / Server ID mis- An ID given to a Cicode function is not of

match the correct type.
420 Not available outside proc- This functionality is not available outside
ess a process boundary for example, Alarm-
FirstCatRec is only able to be called from
inside the Alarm Server process.
421 Invalid tran handle Citect's internal communications sub-

detected system detected an error while trying to
send a message.
1316
422 Dial call did not succeed An attempt to make a call to a remote I/O
device did not succeed. You can find
more information on the cause of this
problem (if it is reproducible) by setting
[Dial]Debug=1 and [Dial]DebugLevel=3
and looking in the syslog.dat.
423 Waiting for initial data Occurs when attempted to read the value
before the initial value has been retrieved
from the device.
424 Tag not found Occurs when attempt to read or sub-

scribe to a tag that does not exist.
425 No connector Not used.
426 Write to named pipe did An attempt to send a message via a name
not succeed pipe has did not succeed.
427 Redirect from non-Cicode A function cannot be redirected to

task another component as a proxy RPC unless
it is in the context of a Cicode call.
428 Data browse record is The specified record is not valid for this
invalid browse function.
429 Can't plot symbol to The Cicode PlotMarker() function can only
printer plot a symbol to the display. This error
occurs when the PlotMarker() Cicode func-
tion is used with a user-defined marker
and a printer was specified as the output
when PlotOpen() was called.
430 Alarm sort parameters The [Alarm]SortMode parameter value on

mismatch client is different as compared to the
value on the alarm server. This value
should be same in order to display alarms
in correct order on the client.
431 Summary sort param- Values for [Alarm]SummarySort and

eters mismatch [Alarm]SummarySortMode parameters on
client are different as compared to the
values on the alarm server. These values
should be same in order to display alarm
summary in correct order on the client.
432 Property not ready A specific tag property has been read in
1317
synchronous mode, before the value has

been retrieved from the server. (similar to
subscription value is pending)
433 Cicode type mismatch Some server side changes are now
allowed for cicode, without restarting the
client. This means that now it is possible
to change a tag type to one that now can-
not be converted as it was before. Eg val
= TagA - TagB, If TagA has been con-
verted from Integer to String, then the
cicode will raise a cicode type mismatch
as the '-' operation is not supported for
strings
434 Invalid data conversion Attempt to convert a value to a type that

cannot store the value for example, ULong
to Long, and the value is greater than the
Long type can handle.
436 User password invalid The password is incorrect. Check that the
user name and password are typed in cor-
rectly.
437 Unable to load security Cannot load or initialize the Windows secu-
provider rity provider. This indicates that the instal-
lation of operating system may be
corrupted or the Windows security pro-
vider was not included.
439 Authentication did not Cannot authenticate the given Windows

succeed user name and password. Check that the
user name and password are typed in cor-
rectly
440 Authentication session Cannot find the authentication session dur-

does not exist ing the authentication process for the Win-
dows user. This indicates that there was
miscommunications in between client and
server.
441 Role checking did not suc- Cannot perform the role-check process
ceed for the Windows user. Check that the
roles database in the project is not cor-
rupted.
442 No linked role The given Windows user is not linked to

any role defined in the project.
1318
443 Acquire user credentials Cannot obtain the user credential handle
did not succeed from Windows.
444 Acquire user access Cannot obtain the user access token. This
token did not succeed indicates that the security context of the
Windows user was invalid.
445 Encrypt data did not suc- Cannot encrypt the user information dur-
ceed ing the Windows user authentication proc-
ess. This indicates that the security
context of the Windows user was invalid.
446 Decrypt data did not suc- Cannot decrypt the user information dur-
ceed ing the Windows user authentication proc-
ess. This indicates that the security
context of the Windows user was invalid.
447 The name of the table can Cicode UsrKernelTableInfo() has asked
not be found in the ker- for a table that does not exist.
nel.
449 Invalid logout The logout was called when there is no

one logged in or the logged on user is sys-
tem default user.
450 Invalid tag data Invalid tag data has been detected.
453 Subscription value is Occurs when a tag has been subscribed

pending to, and attempted to read the value before
the initial value has been retrieved from
the server.
457 Old and new SQL func- An attempt has been made to terminate a
tions mixed SQL session by calling SQLDisconnect
when it was opened by SQLCreate and
SQLOpen, or by calling SQLClose and
SQLDispose when it was opened by
SQLConnect.
512 Time out error Did not execute requested action on time.
513 Access denied error Access denied to perform requested

action.
514 Write unsuccessful Can not write to view-only client. User

needs to login with valid user credentials
to get write access.
1319
517 Can't swap pages from Cannot swap the page on foreground
foreground cicode.
518 Too Many arguments for Too many arguments have been passed to
function a Cicode function. Check the number of
rect number of arguments are being
passed to the function.
519 Remote cicode call Inter- Cicode call that triggers an RPC remote
rupted call is interrupted before the expected
result is returned.
520 Alarm category out of A category number is out of its valid

range range (from 0 to 16375 inclusively).
521 Data browse record is A record is deleted during reload of ART

deleted server.
522 Trend archive property A trend records archive properties are

mismatch changed during start-up or reload.
523 Alarm priority out of A category priority is out of its valid range
range (from 0 to 255 inclusively).
524 ComBreak is obsolete [Page]ComBreak and [Page]Com-

parameter BreakText are obsolete parameters.
525 Tag in Last Usable Value Tag quality is uncertain and its value is
the last usable value.
526 Tran authentication Login did not authenticate correctly.

unsuccessful
527 High watermark reached High watermark is reached on trans-

on Tran action, network is overloaded.
528 Reduced size of resized The specified resized page has been
page reduced in size to fit the constrains of the
maximum height and width of 4096.
529 Too few arguments Too few arguments have been passed to a
Cicode function. Check the number of
1320

rect number of arguments are being
passed to the function.
530 Null pointer as an argu- A string with invalid pointer has been
ment passed to SCADA execution system.
532 Tag resolve timeout Server responses to tag exists requests have
timed out.
533 Server reload before ini- The attempt to initiate a server side online
tialize change did not succeed because the server
has not been fully initialized.
534 Server reload not prepared The attempt to reload the main alarm server
when the non-main alarm server is not
reloaded first.
535 Alarm command partial suc- An alarm command has succeeded on at

cess least one cluster but has been unsuccessful
on at least one other cluster in a multi
cluster environment.
536 No record found for the oper- Indicates that for the given scope there is no
ation record found for the requested operation.
537 Operation unsuccessful Indicates that the requested operation was

unsuccessful.
540 Database not connected The connection to database, such as the

alarm runtime database has not been estab-
lished. This could be the hosting server
such as the alarm server is not available, or
the logon to the database was unsuccessful.
543 XML Exception Load or parse error in the xml.
544 Invalid Xpath expression Invalid Xpath expression.
545 Invalid XML operation Invalid operation on an XML document
546 Exceeded XML Boundary Exceeded the boundary, unable to add more
to xmlDocument or xmlNode.
547 Exceeded Boundary Cannot create a new connection or trans-

action, boundary exceeded.
548 Invalid Proxy dll Specified dll is not a valid proxy dll.
549 Missing Proxy Method Specified method cannot be found in proxy

dll.
550 Invalid Proxy Method Specified method cannot be invoked from

proxy dll.
1321
551 Ambiguous Proxy Method More than one method in proxy dll matches
the binding criteria.
552 Invalid OP Proxy Method The method in proxy dll has one or more
unspecified parameters
553 Proxy Load Error Cannot load proxy dll.For example, proxy dll
may have a dependency that cannot be
found.
554 Transaction Process Error Other errors occurred when processing a

transaction. The transaction cannot be proc-
essed.
555 Invalid URI Web service address provided is not

valid/well formed URI
556 Transaction not ready Not all parameters are loaded before proc-
essing the transaction
557 Tag Name Exceed Length Tag name exceeds the 254 character length
limit.
Windows Socket Error Codes
The following CitectSCADA error codes are mapped to standard Windows socket errors.
Generally these errors are beyond CitectSCADA's control, that is, there is a external rea-
son why CitectSCADA cannot use the TCP/IP connection (assuming there are no Citect
configuration issues).
1330 WSAENETDOWN (10050) Network is down.
1331 Socket unreachable (10051) Network is unreachable.
1332 Network reset (10052) Network dropped connection on

reset.
1333 Connection aborted (10053) Software caused connection abort.
1334 Connection reset (10054) Connection reset by peer.
1335 No buffers available (10055) No buffer space available.
1340 Socket timeout (10060) Connection timed out.
1322
1341 Connection refused (10061) Connection refused.
1343 Name too long (10063) Item Name too long.
1344 Host down (10064) Host is down.
1345 Host unreachable (10065) No route to host.
MAPI Errors
The table below describes the MAPI errors in Cicode.
Error Error title Description

num-
ber
0 SUCCESS_ The command completed successfully.

SUCCESS
1 MAPI_USER_ The command was aborted by the user.

ABORT
2 MAPI_E_FAIL- General MAPI error.

URE
3 MAPI_E_ The login did not succeed, either the login user is unknown,
LOGIN_FAIL- misspelt, or the password is incorrect.
URE
4 MAPI_E_ The disk is full. The mail system will copy files into the tem-
DISK_FULL porary directory when mail is read. This can fill up the local
hard disk.
5 MAPI_E_ Insufficient memory to complete the command.

INSUF-
FICIENT_MEM-
ORY
6 MAPI_E_ More privilege is required to complete the requested com-

ACCESS_ mand.
DENIED
1323
8 MAPI_E_TOO_ You have tried to open too many sessions to the mail sys-
MANY_SES- tem.
SIONS
9 MAPI_E_TOO_ Too many attached files in a message.

MANY_FILES
10 MAPI_E_TOO_ Too many recipients for a mail message.

MANY_RECIP-
IENTS
11 MAPI_E_ Cannot find the attached file.

ATTACH-
MENT_NOT_
FOUND
12 MAPI_E_ Cannot open the specified attached file. Often because the
ATTACH- file does not exist.
MENT_OPEN_
FAILURE
13 MAPI_E_ Cannot write the attached file.

ATTACH-
MENT_
WRITE_
FAILURE
14 MAPI_E_ Recipient of the mail message is unknown. Check if the user

UNKNOWN_ is configured in the mail system or check the spelling of the
RECIPIENT user's name.
15 MAPI_E_BAD_ Unknown recipient type.

RECIPTYPE
16 MAPI_E_NO_ No new messages to read.

MESSAGES
17 MAPI_E_ The mail message is invalid.

INVALID_MES-
SAGE
18 MAPI_E_ Text message is too large to be sent. If you want to send

TEXT_TOO_ large text messages, write the text to a file and attach the
LARGE file to the mail message.
19 MAPI_E_ Mail session is invalid. You should not get this error mes-
INVALID_SES- sage; contact Technical Support for this product.
SION
1324
20 MAPI_E_ You should not get this error message; contact Technical
TYPE_NOT_ Support for this product.
SUPPORTED
21 MAPI_E_ The recipient of the mail message is ambiguous. Specify the

AMBIGUOUS_ exact user name to which the mail is to be sent.
RECIPIENT
22 MAPI_E_MES- Mail message is in use. You should not get this error mes-
SAGE_IN_USE sage: contact Technical Support for this product.
23 MAPI_E_NET- Mail cannot be sent or received as the network has expe-

WORK_FAIL- rienced an error.
URE
INVALID_EDIT- Support for this product.
FIELDS
INVALID_ Support for this product.
RECIPS
26 MAPI_E_NOT_ Command is not supported by this implementation of MAPI.

SUPPORTED
1325
1326
Chapter 60: Browse Function Field Reference
See Server Browse Function Fields for Server fields.
Field Name Description Length Values
ACKDATE Event acknowl- 12 short: dd-mm-yy

edge date
[default] extended: dd-mm-yyyy
Note: works between: UTC time

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise "".
Note:The format can be chaged

by setting ExtendedDate to FALSE
under the section [Alarm] in the
citect.ini file.
ACKDATEEXT Extended Event 12 For non-Hardware alarms: dd-

Acknowledge mm-yyyy
date
ACKTIME Event acknowl- 12 hh:mm:ss [am|pm].

edge time
1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise ""
ACKUTC Event Acknowl- 12 Integer that represents a "time"

edgment Time value - the number of seconds since
Jan 1, 1970 in UTC format not Local.
ACQERROR Acquisition Error 6 Numeric value (integer)
ALARMTYPE Alarm type 16 "Digital", "Analog", "Advanced",

(text) "Multi-Digital", "Time Stamped",
"Time Stamped Digital", "Time
Stamped Analog"
ALMCOMMENT Alarm comment 254
AREA Alarm area 16 Numeric value (integer)
ARR_SIZE Array size Integer (1 means it is not an array)
1327
CATEGORY Alarm category 16 Numeric value (integer)
CLUSTER The cluster the 32

tag exists on
COMMENT Comment 64 If hardware alarm = "".
Or configured event description

or trend comment
CUSTOM1 Alarm custom 64

field #1

field #2

field #3

field #4

field #5

field #6

field #7

field #8
DATE Alarm Date in 12 short: dd-mm-yy

default format

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise "".
Note: The format can be

changed by setting ExtendedDate
to FALSE under the section
[Alarm] in the citect.ini file.
DATEEXT Extended Alarm 12 dd-mm-yyyy
1328
date
DEADBAND Alarm dead- 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

band Analog alarms: Numeric value
(real)
DELTATIME Event on dura- 12 hh:mm:ss

tion
DESC Alarm descrip- 254 For Analog Alarms

tion
"OFF", "ON", "ON State 2", "ON
State 3", "ON State 4", "ON State
5", "ON State 6", "ON State 7",
"DEVIATION", "RATE OF
CHANGE", "LOW", "HIGH", "LOW
LOW", "HIGH HIGH", "Invalid".
For others - configured descrip-

tions.
DEVIATION Alarm deviation 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

Analog alarms: Numeric value
(real)
ENG_FULL The engi- 11 Numeric value (real)

neering full
scale for this
value
ENG_UNITS Engineering 8 The predefined values (see

units below) are in the Help.dbf of the
bin directory but the user may
specify it as a free text:
%, Amps, deg, ft, ft/min, ft/s,

ft/sec, gal, gal/h, gal/min, gal/s,
gal/sec, Hz, kg, kg/h, kg/min,
kg/s, kg/sec, km/h, kPa, kW,
litres, lt, lt/h, lt/min, lt/s, lt/sec,
m/min, m/s, m/sec, metres, Rev,
Rev/h, RPM, t, t/h, Tonnes, Volts,
Watts.
ENG_ZERO The engi- 11 Numeric value (real)

neering zero
scale for this
value
ERRDESC Extra Citect info 80 For Hardware alarms: error
1329
on alarms description according to the con-

figuration.
ERRPAGE Alarm from this 80 For Hardware alarms: the Citect

Citect page page the alarm is assigned to.
EXPRESSION Logged variable 65 The logged variable name (clus-

name tername.tagname).
If the expression contains simple

Cicode containing a single tag
name, such as "LT131" or
"LT131<1000", the tag name is
returned (in both these cases
LT131). If the expression con-
tains a function call or more than
one tag name, an empty string is
returned.
FILENAME File where the 231

trend data is to
be stored
FILES The number of 4

history files
stored on the
hard disk (for
this tag)
FORMAT Alarm format 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

(real)
FULLNAME Event user full 20 For non-Hardware alarms the con-

name figured full name of the event
user if exists.
Otherwise "System".
GROUP Alarm group 16 For Argyle (Multi-digital) Digital

alarms: Numeric value
HELP Alarm help 254 The name of the help page.
HIGH Alarm high 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

(real)
HIGHHIGH Alarm highhigh 12 For Analog, and Timestamped
1330

(real)
LOCAL- Alarm Date and 24 yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss[.ttt].

TIMEDATE Time
1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise ""
LOGSTATE Log state text 13 "ACTIVE", "INACTIVE", "DIS-

ABLED", "ENABLED", "ACKNOWL-
EDGED", "LOW", "HIGH", "LOW
LOW", "HIGH HIGH", "RATE",
"DEVIATION", "CLEARED", "UNAC-
KNOWLEDGED"
LOW Alarm low 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

(real)
LOWLOW Alarm lowlow 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

(real)
LSL Lower spec- 16

ification limit
MILLISEC Alarm mil- 6 Numeric value (integer)

liseconds
NAME Alarm name 80
NATIVE_COM- Event Comment 64 For non-Hardware alarms: the

MENT event description.
NATIVE_DESC Alarm descrip- 80 Analog alarm - Alarm state text.

tion
Otherwise - Configured alarm
description.
NATIVE_NAME Alarm name 80 Configured alarm name.
NATIVE_SUM- Event descrip- 80 For non-Hardware Analog

DESC tion text alarms: the event state string.
For non-Hardware other alarms:

the event [or if it does not exist]
the alarm description
short: dd-mm-yy
Note: works between: UTC time 1331

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise "".
OFFDATE Event on date 12 Note: The format can be chaged

citect.ini file.
OFFDATEEXT Extended Event 12 For non-Hardware alarms: dd-

off date mm-yyyy
OFFMILLI Alarm summary 6 For High Resolution, Times-

milliseconds tamped Digital and Timestamped
Analog alarms it is the mil-
liseconds part of the off time
OFFTIME Event off time 12 hh:mm:ss [am|pm].

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise ""
OFFTIMEDATE Special SQL for- 12 For non-Hardware alarms:

matted date HH:MM:SS.
and time
Note: The format can be con-
figured in the citect.ini file by
specifying TimeDate under the
section [Alarm].
OFFUTC Event off time Integer that represents a "time"

value - the number of seconds since
OLD_DESC Argyle old state 8 "Invalid", "OFF", "ON", "ON State

desc. 2", "ON State 3", "ON State 4",
"ON State 5", "ON State 6", "ON
State 7"
ONDATE Event on date 12 short: dd-mm-yy

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise "".
Note: The format can be chaged

citect.ini file.
ONDATEEXT Extended Event 12 For non-Hardware alarms: dd-

on date mm-yyyy
1332
ONMILLI Alarm summary 6 For High Resolution, Times-

milliseconds tamped Digital and Timestamped
Analog alarms it is the mil-
liseconds part of the on time
ONTIME Event on time 12 hh:mm:ss [am|pm].

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise ""
ONTIMEDATE Special SQL for- 12 For non-Hardware alarms:

matted date HH:MM:SS.
and time
section [Alarm].
ONUTC Event on time Integer that represents a "time"

value - the number of seconds since
PAGING Alarm paged 8 A flag to indicate that the alarm is

flag going to be paged. Values are 1
(TRUE) or 0 (FALSE).
PAGINGGROUP Paging group 80 A freeform text field indicating

for alarm the sequence of people to notify
in the event the alarm occurred.
PERIOD The period of 32 In hh:mm:ss (hours:mi-

the history file nutes:seconds).
PRIORITY Alarm category 4 Numeric value (integer)

priority
PRIV Alarm privilege 16 Numeric value (integer)
PSI_TYPE PSI type code Integer
RANGE Process range 16
RATE Alarm rate 12 For Analog, and Timestamped

(real)
RAW_FULL The raw full 11 Numeric value (real)

scale for this
1333
value
RAW_ZERO The raw zero 11 Numeric value (real)

scale for this
value
RUNNING Running time in 16 Numeric value (real)

seconds
SAMPLEPER Sample period 16 Numeric value (real)

of the trend in
seconds
SCALED_TYPE PSI type code (of a Integer

scaled value, if
scaling is appli-
cable)
SDEVIATION Standard devi- 16

ation
SPCFLAG Indicates tag is

a Statistical
Process Control
(SPC) tag
STARTS Number of 16 Numeric value (real)

starts
STATE Alarm state 16 "OFF", "ON", "ON State 2", "ON

string State 3", "ON State 4", "ON State
LOW", "HIGH HIGH", "Invalid"
STATE_DESC Argyle state 8 "Invalid", "OFF", "ON", "ON State

description 2", "ON State 3", "ON State 4",
"ON State 5", "ON State 6", "ON
State 7"
STATE_DESC0 Argyle state 0 64 For Argyle (Multi-digital) Digital

alarms: "OFF".
For others: "INVALID"

alarms: "ON".
1334

alarms: "ON state 2".





STORMETHOD Storage method 16 "Scaled" or "Floating Point"

for the SPC data
SUBGRPSIZE The size of each 8

subgroup
SUMDESC Event descrip- 80 Analog alarm - Event state text.

tion text
Otherwise - Configured event [or
alarm in case event not defined]
description
Displays the last active state of the

SUMSTATE Event state 16
Alarm.
text.
"OFF", "ON", "ON State 2", "ON
State 3", "ON State 4", "ON State
1335

LOW", "HIGH HIGH", "Invalid"
SUMTYPE Event state 16 For non-Hardware alarms: "DIS-

ABLED", "UNACKNOWLEDGED",
"ACKNOWLEDGED", "CLEARED".
TAG Tag name 80
TAGEX Extended Alarm 32 <cluster>.<tag> when cluster

tag defined
Otherwise <tag>.
TAGGENLINK Indicates Tag Name of the IO Device from which

was imported this tag was generated
from an IO
Device
TIME Alarm Time 12 hh:mm:ss [am|pm].

1/1/1980 - UTC time
31/12/2037, otherwise ""
TIMEDATE Special SQL for- 24 HH:MM:SS.

matted time
section [Alarm].
TOTALISER Running total of 16 Numeric value (real)

value
TRIGGER Last trigger 5 0 OR 1

value, used to
(accumulator check for rising
fields) edge of the
trigger code
TRIGGER The variable tag 65 The variable tag (clus-

that triggers tername.tagname) that triggers
(trend fields) data logging data logging.
If the trigger contains simple

Cicode containing a single tag
name, such as "LT131<50", the
tag name is returned (in this case
LT131). If the expression con-
1336
tains a function call or more than

one tag name, an empty string is
returned.
TYPE Alarm, Trend or 16 For Alarms:

Tag type string
"DISABLED", "UNAC-
KNOWLEDGED", "ACKNOWL-
EDGED", "CLEARED"
For Trends:
"1" - Periodic, "2" - Event, "3" -

Periodic Event
For Tags:
RDT_DIGITAL 0
RDT_INTEGER 1
RDT_REAL 2
RDT_BCD 3
RDT_LONG 4
RDT_LONG_BCD 5
RDT_STRING 7
RDT_BYTE 8
RDT_UINTEGER 10
RDT_ULONG 18
TYPENUM Alarm type 4 Numeric value (integer)
USERNAME Event user 16 For non-Hardware alarms the con-

name figured name of the event user if
exists.
Otherwise "System".
USL Upper spec- 16

ification limit
VALUE Formatted 16 Analog Alarms - numeric value

alarm value formatted according to con-
(alarm fields) figuration.
VALUE The value to be 16 Numeric value (real)

added to the
(accumulator totaliser while
fields) trigger is true
XDOUBLEBAR Process mean 16
1337
Server Browse Function Fields
Field Description Length Values

Name
CLUSTER The name of the cluster to which 16

the server belongs.
COMMENT Comment 48
LEGA- The port number the server is lis- 16 Number between 1

CYPORT tening on for legacy connections. and 65535.
If no legacy port number was con-
figured, this field contains the
default legacy port number for the
server type.
MODE Indicates whether the server is 16 For Alarm, Report

configured as a primary or and Trend
standby. servers:
1 - primary
0 - standby
For I/O servers the

MODE field is set
to "0".
NAME The name of the server 16
NETADDR The network addresses associated 70 A comma-sep-

with the server. arated list of one
or more names.
The field contains
the network
address names as
configured, and
not IP addresses.
PORT The port number the server is lis- 16 Number between 1

tening on. If no port number was and 65535.
configured, this field contains the
default port number for the server
type.
TYPE Specifies the purpose of the server 16 "Alarm", "I/O",

"Report", "Trend"
1338
Index
AlarmDspPrev Cicode function 203
AlarmEnable Cicode function 203
: AlarmEnableRec Cicode function 206
: operator 81 AlarmEventQue Cicode function 207
AlarmFilterClose Cicode function 208
AlarmFilterEditAppend Cicode function 209
_
AlarmFilterEditClose Cicode function 209
_ObjectCallMethod Cicode function 159
AlarmFilterEditCommit Cicode function 210
_ObjectGetProperty Cicode function 161
AlarmFilterEditFirst Cicode function 211
_ObjectSetProperty Cicode function 161
AlarmFilterEditLast Cicode function 212
AlarmFilterEditNext Cicode function 212
A AlarmFilterEditOpen Cicode function 213
Abs Cicode function 618 AlarmFilterEditPrev Cicode function 214
AccControl Cicode function 151 AlarmFilterEditSet Cicode function 215
AccumBrowseClose Cicode function 152 AlarmFilterOpen Cicode function 216
AccumBrowseFirst Cicode function 153 AlarmFirstCatRec Cicode function 217
AccumBrowseGetField Cicode function 153 AlarmFirstPriRec Cicode function 218
AccumBrowseNext Cicode function 154 AlarmFirstTagRec Cicode function 220
AccumBrowseNumRecords Cicode function 155 AlarmGetDelay Cicode function 221
AccumBrowseOpen Cicode function 156 AlarmGetDelayRec Cicode function 221
AccumBrowsePrev Cicode function 157 AlarmGetDsp Cicode function 223
Accumulator Cicode functions 151 AlarmGetFieldRec Cicode function 226
ActiveX Cicode functions 159 AlarmGetFilterName Cicode function 229
Alarm Cicode functions 173 AlarmGetInfo Cicode function 230
Alarm Filter Cicode functions 178 AlarmGetOrderbyKey Cicode function 231
AlarmAck Cicode function 179 AlarmGetThreshold Cicode function 232
AlarmAckRec Cicode function 182 AlarmGetThresholdRec Cicode function 232
AlarmAckTag Cicode function 183 AlarmHelp Cicode function 234
AlarmActive Cicode function 183 AlarmNextCatRec Cicode function 234
AlarmCatGetFormat Cicode function 184 AlarmNextPriRec Cicode function 236
AlarmClearRec Cicode Function 187 AlarmNextTagRec Cicode function 237
AlarmComment Cicode function 188 AlarmNotifyVarChange Cicode function 239
AlarmCount Cicode Function 189 AlarmQueryFirstRec Cicode function 240
AlarmCountList Cicode Function 192 AlarmQueryNextRec Cicode function 241
AlarmDisable Cicode function 193 alarms, hardware 1299
AlarmDisableRec Cicode function 195 AlarmSetDelay Cicode function 243
AlarmDsp Cicode function 196 AlarmSetDelayRec Cicode function 243
AlarmDspClusterAdd Cicode function 198 AlarmSetInfo Cicode function 244
AlarmDspClusterInUse Cicode function 199 AlarmSetThreshold Cicode function 249
AlarmDspClusterRemove Cicode function 199 AlarmSetThresholdRec Cicode function 251
AlarmDspLast Cicode function 200 AlmBrowseAck Cicode function 252
AlarmDspNext Cicode function 202
1339
Index
AlmBrowseClose Cicode function 253 arguments, string 33

AlmBrowseDisable Cicode function 253 Ass Cicode function 972
AlmBrowseEnable Cicode function 254 AssChain Cicode function 974
AlmBrowseFirst Cicode function 254 AssChainPage Cicode function 981
AlmBrowseGetField Cicode function 255 AssChainPopUp Cicode function 982
AlmBrowseNext Cicode function 256 AssChainWin Cicode function 982
AlmBrowseNumRecords Cicode function 256 AssChainWinFree Cicode function 984
AlmBrowseOpen Cicode function 257 Assert Cicode function 652
AlmBrowsePrev Cicode function 259 Assert function 148
AlmSummaryAck Cicode function 260 AssGetProperty Cicode function 986
AlmSummaryClear Cicode function 260 AssGetScale Cicode function 989
AlmSummaryClose Cicode function 261 AssInfo Cicode function 990
AlmSummaryDelete Cicode function 261 AssInfoEx Cicode function 994
AlmSummaryDeleteAll Cicode function 262 AssMetadata Cicode function 975
AlmSummaryDisable Cicode function 263 AssMetadataPage Cicode Function 976
AlmSummaryEnable Cicode function 263 AssMetadataPopUp Cicode function 977
AlmSummaryFirst Cicode function 264 AssMetadataWin Cicode function 978
AlmSummaryGetField Cicode function 265 AssPage Cicode function 998
AlmSummaryLast Cicode function 266 AssPopUp Cicode function 999
AlmSummaryNext Cicode function 266 AssScaleStr Cicode function 1001
AlmSummaryNumRecords Cicode function 267 AssTag Cicode function 1003
AlmSummaryOpen Cicode function 268 AssTitle Cicode function 1005
AlmSummaryPrev Cicode function 269 AssVarTags Cicode function 1005
AlmTagsAck Cicode function 270 AssWin Cicode function 1007
AlmTagsClear Cicode function 271
AlmTagsClose Cicode function 271 B
AlmTagsDisable Cicode function 272 background tasks 101
AlmTagsEnable Cicode function 272 Beep Cicode function 653
AlmTagsFirst Cicode function 273 bit operators 89
AlmTagsGetField Cicode function 273 Breakpoint window 114
AlmTagsNext Cicode function 275 breakpoints 124
AlmTagsNumRecords Cicode function 275 browse function field reference 1327
AlmTagsOpen Cicode function 276
AlmTagsPrev Cicode function 278
C
AnByName Cicode function 162
calculations
ArcCos Cicode function 619
variables in 22
ArcSin Cicode function 619
CallEvent Cicode function 475
ArcTan Cicode function 620
caret (^) character 34
AreaCheck Cicode function 651
ChainEvent Cicode function 479
argument structure 54
CharToStr Cicode function 945
arguments
Cicode Editor
default values 58
toolbar options 113
key sequences as 25
Cicode errors 1300
passing data to 33
1340
Index
Cicode keywords CreateObject Cicode function 165

restricted Cicode keywords 16
CitectColourToPackedRGB Cicode function 293 D
CitectInfo Cicode function 654 data
CitectVBA Watch window 117 displaying, using expressions 27
Clipboard Cicode functions 281 logging expression 28
ClipCopy Cicode function 281 returning 36
ClipPaste Cicode function 282 data operators 87
ClipReadLn Cicode function 282 data types 51, 64
ClipSetMode Cicode function 283 Date Cicode function 1114
ClipWriteLn Cicode function 284 date functions 39
cluster Cicode functions 285 DateAdd Cicode function 1116
ClusterActivate Cicode function 285 DateDay Cicode function 1116
ClusterDeactivate Cicode function 286 DateInfo Cicode function 1117
ClusterFirst Cicode function 286 DateMonth Cicode function 1118
ClusterGetName Cicode function 287 DateSub Cicode function 1119
ClusterIsActive Cicode function 288 DateWeekDay Cicode function 1120
ClusterNext Cicode function 288 DateYear Cicode function 1121
ClusterServerTypes Cicode function 289 DDE Cicode functions 307
ClusterSetName Cicode function 289 DDEExec Cicode function 308
ClusterStatus Cicode function 290 DDEhExecute Cicode function 308
ClusterSwapActive Cicode function 291 DDEhGetLastError Cicode function 309
code debugging 122 DDEhInitiate Cicode function 310
CodeSetMode Cicode function 1075 DDEhPoke Cicode function 312
CodeTrace Cicode function 659 DDEhReadLn Cicode function 313
cohesion 141 DDEhRequest Cicode function 313
color Cicode functions 293 DDEhSetMode Cicode function 314
ComClose Cicode function 299 DDEhTerminate Cicode function 315
comments 45 DDEhWriteLn Cicode function 315
formatting 134 DDEPost Cicode function 316
communication Cicode functions 299 DDERead Cicode function 318
ComOpen Cicode function 300 DDEWrite Cicode function 319
Compile Errors window 117 DebugBreak Cicode function 661
ComRead Cicode function 302 debugging 125
ComReset Cicode function 303 error trapping 147
ComWrite Cicode function 304 debugging breakpoints 124
constants, standards for 130 debugging code 122
controlling tasks 102 debugging functions 46
converting integers to strings 81 DebugMsg Cicode function 661
copying DebugMsg function 147
variables 21 DebugMsgSet Cicode function 662
Cos Cicode function 620 decision-making 28
coupling 142 declaration standards, variable 128
CreateControlObject Cicode function 162
1341
Index
declaration, function 52 DspAnCreateControlObject Cicode function 355

declarations, formatting 131 DspAnFree Cicode function 356
default values for arguments 58 DspAnGetArea Cicode function 357
default variable values 66 DspAnGetMetadata Cicode function 358
defensive programming 143 DspAnGetMetadataAt Cicode function 358
DegToRad Cicode function 621 DspAnGetPos Cicode function 359
DelayShutdown Cicode function 663 DspAnGetPrivilege Cicode function 360
DevAppend Cicode function 322 DspAnInfo Cicode function 361
DevClose Cicode function 323 DspAnInRgn Cicode function 362
DevControl Cicode function 324 DspAnMove Cicode function 362
DevCurr Cicode function 325 DspAnMoveRel Cicode function 363
DevDelete Cicode function 326 DspAnNew Cicode function 364
DevDisable Cicode function 326 DspAnNewRel Cicode function 365
DevEOF Cicode function 327 DspAnSetMetadata Cicode function 365
DevFind Cicode function 328 DspAnSetMetadataAt Cicode function 366
DevFirst Cicode function 329 DspBar Cicode function 367
DevFlush Cicode function 329 DspBmp Cicode function 368
DevGetField Cicode function 330 DspButton Cicode function 369
DevHistory Cicode function 331 DspButtonFn Cicode function 371
device Cicode functions 321 DspChart Cicode function 372
DevInfo Cicode function 332 DspCol Cicode function 373
DevModify Cicode function 333 DspDel Cicode function 374
DevNext Cicode function 335 DspDelayRenderBegin Cicode function 375
DevOpen Cicode function 336 DspDelayRenderEnd Cicode function 376
DevOpenGrp Cicode function 338 DspDirty Cicode function 377
DevPrev Cicode function 339 DspError Cicode function 378
DevPrint Cicode function 339 DspFile Cicode function 378
DevRead Cicode function 340 DspFileGetInfo Cicode function 379
DevReadLn Cicode function 341 DspFileGetName Cicode function 380
DevRecNo Cicode function 342 DspFileScroll Cicode function 381
DevSeek Cicode function 342 DspFileSetName Cicode function 382
DevSetField Cicode function 343 DspFont Cicode function 383
DevSize Cicode function 344 DspFontHnd Cicode function 384
DevWrite Cicode function 345 DspFullScreen Cicode function 385
DevWriteLn Cicode function 346 DspGetAnBottom Cicode function 386
DevZap Cicode function 346 DspGetAnCur Cicode function 387
display Cicode functions 351 DspGetAnExtent Cicode function 388
displaying data 27 DspGetAnFirst Cicode function 389
DisplayRuntimeManager 664 DspGetAnFromPoint Cicode function 389
DLL Cicode functions 441 DspGetAnHeight Cicode function 390
DLLCall Cicode function 441 DspGetAnLeft Cicode function 391
DLLCallEx Cicode Function 442 DspGetAnNext Cicode function 391
DLLOpen Cicode function 444 DspGetAnRight Cicode function 392
DriverInfo Cicode function 583 DspGetAnTop Cicode function 392
1342
Index
DspGetAnWidth Cicode function 393 DspText Cicode function 434

DspGetEnv Cicode function 393 DspTipMode Cicode function 435
DspGetMouse Cicode function 394 DspTrend Cicode function 436
DspGetMouseOver Cicode function 395 DspTrendInfo Cicode function 438
DspGetNearestAn Cicode function 395 DumpKernel Cicode function 664
DspGetParentAn Cicode function 396
DspGetSlider Cicode function 397 E
DspGetTip Cicode function 397 EngToGeneric Cicode function 665
DspGrayButton Cicode function 398 EnterCriticalSection Cicode function 1076
DspInfo Cicode function 399 EquipBrowseClose Cicode function 448
DspInfoDestroy Cicode function 401 EquipBrowseFirst Cicode function 448
DspInfoField Cicode function 402 EquipBrowseGetField Cicode function 449
DspInfoNew Cicode function 403 EquipBrowseNext Cicode function 450
DspInfoValid Cicode function 404 EquipBrowseNumRecords Cicode function 450
DspIsButtonGray Cicode function 405 EquipBrowseOpen Cicode function 451
DspKernel Cicode function 406 EquipBrowsePrev Cicode function 452, 461
DspMarkerMove Cicode function 407 EquipCheckUpdate Cicode function 453
DspMarkerNew Cicode function 408 EquipGetProperty Cicode function 453, 455
DspMCI Cicode function 409 Equipment Database Cicode functions 447
DspPlaySound Cicode function 410 EquipStateBrowseFirst Cicode function 457
DspPopupConfigMenu Cicode function 411 EquipStateBrowseGetField Cicode function 457
DspPopupMenu Cicode function 412 EquipStateBrowseNext Cicode function 459
DspRichText Cicode function 414 EquipStateBrowseNumRecords Cicode
DspRichTextEdit Cicode function 415 function 459
DspRichTextEnable Cicode function 416 ErrCom Cicode function 463
DspRichTextGetInfo Cicode function 416 ErrDrv Cicode function 464
DspRichTextLoad Cicode function 417 ErrGetHw Cicode function 465
DspRichTextPgScroll Cicode function 418 ErrHelp Cicode function 467
DspRichTextPrint Cicode function 419 ErrInfo Cicode function 467
DspRichTextSave Cicode function 420 ErrLog Cicode function 468
DspRichTextScroll Cicode function 421 ErrMsg Cicode function 469
DspRubEnd Cicode function 422 error Cicode functions 463
DspRubMove Cicode function 422 error handling 144
DspRubSetClip Cicode function 423 error messages 1299
DspRubStart Cicode function 424 error trapping 147
DspSetSlider Cicode function 425 errors
DspSetTip Cicode function 426 Cicode 1300
DspSetTooltipFont Cicode function 426 general 1300
DspStatus Cicode function 427 Hardware Cicode errors 1299
DspStr Cicode function 428 MAPI 1323
DspSym Cicode function 429 ErrSet Cicode function 469
DspSymAnm Cicode function 430 ErrSetHw Cicode function 470
DspSymAnmEx Cicode function 431 ErrSetLevel Cicode function 472
DspSymAtSize Cicode function 432
1343
Index
ErrTrap Cicode function 473 FileSetTime Cicode function 506

escape sequence character 34 FileSize Cicode function 507
escape sequences 85 FileSplitPath Cicode function 508
evaluating functions 32 FileWrite Cicode function 509
event Cicode functions 475 FileWriteBlock Cicode function 509
events FileWriteLn Cicode function 510
handling 99 FmtClose Cicode function 551
triggering 29 FmtFieldHnd Cicode function 552
Exec Cicode function 666 FmtGetField Cicode function 553
ExecuteDTSPkg Cicode function 875 FmtGetFieldCount Cicode function 553
Exp Cicode function 621 FmtGetFieldHnd Cicode function 554
expression data, logging 28 FmtGetFieldName Cicode function 554
expressions 27 FmtGetFieldWidth Cicode function 555
decision-making with 28 FmtOpen Cicode function 556
triggering events using 29 FmtSetField Cicode function 557
expressions, formatting 133 FmtSetFieldHnd Cicode function 558
FmtToStr Cicode function 558
F for...do 94
Fact Cicode function 622 foreground tasks 101
fields for browse functions 1327 form Cicode functions 513
file Cicode functions 493 FormActive Cicode function 514
file headers 44 FormAddList Cicode function 515
FileClose Cicode function 494 format Cicode functions 551
FileCopy Cicode function 495 format operator (:) 81
FileDelete Cicode function 496 format templates 136
FileEOF Cicode function 496 formatting
FileExist Cicode function 497 comments 134
FileFind Cicode function 497 expressions 133
FileFindClose Cicode function 498 function headers 139
FileGetTime Cicode function 499 functions 134
FileMakePath Cicode function 499 simple declarations 131
FileOpen Cicode function 500 text strings 83
FilePrint Cicode function 501 formatting statements 132
FileRead Cicode function 502 FormButton Cicode function 516
FileReadBlock Cicode function 503 FormCheckBox Cicode function 517
FileReadLn Cicode function 504 FormComboBox Cicode function 518
FileRename Cicode function 504 FormCurr Cicode function 520
FileRichTextPrint Cicode function 505 FormDestroy Cicode function 521
files FormEdit Cicode function 521
include 23 FormField Cicode function 522
using 16 FormGetCurrInst Cicode function 524
Files window 118 FormGetData Cicode function 525
FileSeek Cicode function 506 FormGetInst Cicode function 526
FormGetText Cicode function 527
1344
Index
FormGoto Cicode function 528 miscellaneous 39

FormGroupBox Cicode function 528 page 38
FormInput Cicode function 530 report 39
FormListAddText Cicode function 531 returning values 60
FormListBox Cicode function 532 scope of 50
FormListDeleteText Cicode function 533 structure of 41
FormListSelectText Cicode function 534 syntax 49
FormNew Cicode function 535 table 74
FormNumPad Cicode function 536 time and date 39
FormOpenFile Cicode function 538 FuzzyClose Cicode function 567
FormPassword Cicode function 538 FuzzyGetCodeValue Cicode function 568
FormPosition Cicode function 539 FuzzyGetShellValue Cicode function 568
FormPrompt Cicode function 540 FuzzyOpen Cicode function 569
FormRadioButton Cicode function 541 FuzzySetCodeValue Cicode function 570
FormRead Cicode function 542 FuzzySetShellValue Cicode function 571
FormSaveAsFile Cicode function 543 FuzzyTech Cicode functions 567
FormSecurePassword 544 FuzzyTrace Cicode function 572
FormSecurePassword Cicode function 544
FormSelectPrinter Cicode function 545 G
FormSetData Cicode function 546 general errors 1300
FormSetInst Cicode function 546 GetArea Cicode function 667
FormSetText Cicode function 547 GetBlueValue Cicode function 294
FormWndHnd Cicode function 548 GetEnv Cicode function 668
FTP Cicode functions 561 GetEvent Cicode function 479
FTPClose Cicode function 561 GetGreenValue Cicode function 294
FTPFileCopy Cicode function 562 GetLogging Cicode function 668
FTPFileFind Cicode function 562 GetPriv Cicode function 831
FTPFileFindClose Cicode function 564 GetRedValue Cicode function 294
FTPOpen Cicode function 564 GetWinTitle Cicode function 1244
FullName Cicode function 830 Global variable window 115
function headers 139 group Cicode functions 573
function libraries 43 groups of functions 43
functions GrpClose Cicode function 573
arguments and 33 GrpDelete Cicode function 574
Assert 148 GrpFirst Cicode function 575
debugging 46 GrpIn Cicode function 575
DebugMsg 147 GrpInsert Cicode function 576
declaration 52 GrpMath Cicode function 577
evaluating 32 GrpName Cicode function 578
event handling 99 GrpNext Cicode function 578
formatting 134 GrpOpen Cicode function 579
groups 43 GrpToStr Cicode function 580
keyboard 39
libraries 43
1345
Index
keyboard functions 39
H KeyBs Cicode function 596
Halt Cicode function 1077 KeyDown Cicode function 597
handling events 99 KeyGet Cicode function 598
handling, error 144 KeyGetCursor Cicode function 599
hardware alarms 1299 KeyLeft Cicode function 599
Hardware Cicode errors 1299 KeyMove Cicode function 600
headers, file 44, 138 KeyPeek Cicode function 600
headers, function 139 KeyPut Cicode function 601
HexToStr Cicode function 945 KeyPutStr Cicode function 602
HighByte Cicode function 622 KeyReplay Cicode function 602
HighWord Cicode function 623 KeyReplayAll Cicode function 603
HtmlHelp Cicode function 1245 KeyRight Cicode function 604
HwAlarmQue Cicode function 278 KeySetCursor Cicode function 604
KeySetSeq Cicode function 605
I KeyUp Cicode function 606
I/O device Cicode functions 583
if...then 93 L
IFDEF macro 75 labels, standards for 131
IFDEFAdvAlm macro 76 LanguageFileTranslate Cicode function 675
IFDEFAnaAlm macro 77 LeaveCriticalSection Cicode function 1078
IFDEFDigAlm 78 libraries of functions 43
include files 23 LLClose Cicode function 443
InfoForm Cicode function 669 Ln Cicode function 623
InfoFormAn Cicode function 670 Log Cicode function 624
Input Cicode function 671 logging expression data 28
input, runtime operator 25 logic 28
integer data type 51, 64 logical operators 91
integers 81 Login Cicode function 833
IntToReal Cicode function 672 LoginForm Cicode function 833
IntToStr Cicode function 946 Logout Cicode function 835
IODeviceControl Cicode function 584 LogoutIdle Cicode function 835
IODeviceInfo Cicode function 588 LowByte Cicode function 624
IODeviceStats Cicode function 593 LowWord Cicode function 625
IsError Cicode function 474
M
K macro arguments 79
KerCmd Cicode function 672 mail Cicode functions 611
KernelQueueLength Cicode function 673 MailError Cicode function 611
KernelTableInfo Cicode function 673 MailLogoff Cicode function 612
KernelTableItemCount Cicode function 675 MailLogon Cicode function 612
KeyAllowCursor Cicode function 596 MailRead Cicode function 613
keyboard Cicode functions 595 MailSend Cicode function 614
1346
Index
MakeCitectColour Cicode function 295 multiple arguments'arguments

MAPI errors 1323 multiple 35
math/trigonometry Cicode functions 617 multiple statements 23
mathematical operators 87 MultiSignatureForm 836
Max Cicode function 626 MultiSignatureTagWrite 837
menu Cicode functions 633 multitasking 101-102
MenuGetChild Cicode function 634
MenuGetFirstChild Cicode function 634 N
MenuGetGenericNode Cicode function 635 Name Cicode function 838
MenuGetNextChild Cicode function 636 naming standards, variables 129
MenuGetPageNode Cicode function 636
MenuGetParent Cicode function 637
O
MenuGetPrevChild Cicode function 637
object data type 51, 64
MenuGetWindowNode Cicode function 638
ObjectAssociateEvents Cicode function 166
MenuNodeAddChild Cicode function 639
ObjectAssociatePropertyWithTag Cicode
MenuNodeGetProperty Cicode function 640
function 168
MenuNodeHasCommand Cicode function 640
ObjectByName Cicode function 169
MenuNodeIsDisabled Cicode function 641
ObjectHasInterface Cicode function 170
MenuNodeIsHidden Cicode function 642
ObjectIsValid Cicode function 170
MenuNodeRemove Cicode function 642
ObjectToStr Cicode function 171
MenuNodeRunCommand Cicode function 643
OLEDateToTime Cicode function 1122
MenuNodeSetDisabledWhen Cicode
one-dimensional variable arrays 72
function 644
OnEvent Cicode function 483
MenuNodeSetHiddenWhen Cicode function 645
operator precedence 92
MenuNodeSetProperty Cicode function 646
operator, format 81
MenuReload Cicode function 647
operators
Message Cicode function 676
bit 89
messages, error 1299
logical 91
Min Cicode function 626
relational 90
miscellaneous Cicode functions 649
operators, data 87
miscellaneous functions 39
Output window 115
modular programming 140-142
module variables 67
MsgBrdcst Cicode function 1079 P
MsgClose Cicode function 1080 PackedRGB Cicode function 296
MsgGetCurr Cicode function 1080 PackedRGBToCitectColour Cicode function 296
MsgOpen Cicode function 1081 page Cicode functions 701
MsgRead Cicode function 1083 page functions 38
MsgRPC Cicode function 1084 PageAlarm Cicode function 703
MsgState Cicode function 1086 PageBack Cicode function 704
MsgWrite Cicode function 1087 PageDisabled Cicode function 705
MultiMonitorStart Cicode function 1246 PageDisplay Cicode function 706
PageFile Cicode function 708
PageFileInfo Cicode function 709
1347
Index
PageForward Cicode function 710 PlotGrid Cicode function 750

PageGetInt Cicode function 710 PlotInfo Cicode function 753
PageGetStr Cicode function 711 PlotLine Cicode function 754
PageGoto Cicode function 712 PlotMarker Cicode function 756
PageHardware Cicode function 713 PlotOpen Cicode function 758
PageHistoryDspMenu Cicode function 714 PlotScaleMarker Cicode function 761
PageHistoryEmpty Cicode function 715 PlotSetMarker Cicode function 762
PageHome Cicode function 715 PlotText Cicode function 763
PageInfo Cicode function 715 PlotXYLine Cicode function 764
PageLast Cicode function 718 Pow Cicode function 627
PageListCount Cicode function 719 pre-emptive multitasking 102
PageListCurrent Cicode function 720 precedence, operator 92
PageListDelete Cicode function 723 Print Cicode function 347
PageListDisplay Cicode function 722 PrintFont Cicode function 348
PageListInfo Cicode function 721 PrintLn Cicode function 349
PageMenu Cicode function 724 private scope 50
PageNext Cicode function 725 Process Analyst Cicode functions 769
PagePeekCurrent Cicode function 726 ProcessAnalystLoadFile Cicode function 769
PagePeekLast Cicode function 727 ProcessAnalystPopup Cicode function 770
PagePopLast Cicode function 728 ProcessAnalystSelect Cicode function 771
PagePopUp Cicode function 729 ProcessAnalystSetPen Cicode function 773
PagePrev Cicode function 729 ProcessAnalystWin Cicode function 774
PageProcessAnalyst Cicode function 731 ProcessIsClient Cicode function 679
PageProcessAnalystPens Cicode function 732 ProcessIsServer Cicode function 679
PagePushLast Cicode function 733 ProcessRestart Cicode function 680
PageRecall Cicode function 734 ProductInfo Cicode function 680
PageRichTextFile Cicode function 735 programming standards 127
PageSelect Cicode function 737 programming, modular 140
PageSetInt Cicode function 737 ProjectInfo Cicode function 681
PageSetStr Cicode function 738 ProjectRestartGet Cicode function 682
PageSOE Cicode function 739 ProjectRestartSet Cicode function 682
PageSummary Cicode function 740 ProjectSet Cicode function 683
PageTask Cicode function 741 Prompt Cicode function 683
PageTransformCoords Cicode function 742 pseudocode 44
PageTrend Cicode function 743 public scope 50
ParameterGet Cicode function 677 Pulse Cicode function 684
ParameterPut Cicode function 678
passing data to arguments 33 Q
PathToStr Cicode function 946 Quality Cicode functions 777
Pi Cicode function 627 quality data type 51, 64
plot Cicode functions 747 QualityCreate Cicode function 777
PlotClose Cicode function 747 QualityGetPart Cicode function 778
PlotDraw Cicode function 748 QualityIsBad Cicode function 780
PlotGetMarker Cicode function 750
1348
Index
QualityIsControlMode Cicode function 779 SchdNext Cicode function 807

QualityIsGood Cicode function 780 SchdNumRecords Cicode function 807
QualityIsOverrride Cicode function 781 SchdOpen Cicode function 808
QualityIsUncertain Cicode function 782 SchdPrev Cicode function 810
QualitySetPart Cicode function 782 SchdSpecialAdd Cicode function 810
QualityToStr Cicode function 783 SchdSpecialClose Cicode function 811
QueClose Cicode function 1088 SchdSpecialDelete Cicode function 811
QueLength Cicode function 1089 SchdSpecialFirst Cicode function 812
QueOpen Cicode function 1089 SchdSpecialItemAdd Cicode function 813, 817
QuePeek Cicode function 1090 SchdSpecialItemClose function 814
QueRead Cicode function 1092 SchdSpecialItemDelete Cicode function 815
QueWrite Cicode function 1093 SchdSpecialItemFirstCicode function 815
SchdSpecialItemGetField function 812, 816
R SchdSpecialItemNext Cicode function 818
RadToDeg Cicode function 628 SchdSpecialItemNumRecords function 818
Rand Cicode function 628 SchdSpecialItemOpen Cicode function 819
real data type 51, 64 SchdSpecialItemPrev function 819
RealToStr Cicode function 947 SchdSpecialModify Cicode function 820
relational operators 90 SchdSpecialNext Cicode function 821
RepGetControl Cicode function 793 SchdSpecialNumRecords Cicode function 821
Report Cicode function 793 SchdSpecialOpen Cicode function 822
report Cicode functions 791 SchdSpecialPrev Cicode function 823
report functions 39 ScheduleItemAdd Cicode function 823
ReportGetCluster Cicode function 791 ScheduleItemModify Cicode function 825
RepSetControl Cicode function 794 ScheduleItemSetRepeat Cicode function 826
ReRead Cicode function 1093 Scheduler Cicode functions 796
returning data from functions 36 scope 66, 128
returning values from functions 60 scope, function 50
Round Cicode function 629 security Cicode functions 829
runtime operator input 25 select case 96
runtime operator input triggering 31 SemClose Cicode function 1094
SemOpen Cicode function 1095
SemSignal Cicode function 1096
S
SemWait Cicode function 1097
SchdClose Cicode function 798
SendKeys Cicode function 606
SchdConfigClose Cicode function 798
Sequence of Events Cicode functions 855
SchdConfigFirst Cicode function 799
sequences, escape 85
SchdConfigGetField Cicode function 799
SerialKey Cicode function 305
SchdConfigNext Cicode function 800
server Cicode functions 857
SchdConfigNumRecords Cicode function 801
ServerBrowseClose Cicode function 858
SchdConfigOpen Cicode function 801
ServerBrowseFirst Cicode function 859
SchdConfigPrev Cicode function 805
ServerBrowseGetField Cicode function 861
SchdFirst Cicode function 806
ServerBrowseNext Cicode function 860
SchdGetField Cicode function 806
ServerBrowseNumRecords Cicode function 861
1349
Index
ServerBrowseOpen Cicode function 858 SQLCall Cicode function 880

ServerBrowsePrev Cicode function 860 SQLCancel Cicode function 881
ServerDumpKernel Cicode function 685 SQLClose Cicode function 882
ServerGetProperty Cicode function 862 SQLCommit Cicode function 882
ServerInfo Cicode function 863 SQLConnect Cicode function 883
ServerInfoEx Cicode function 866 SQLCreate Cicode function 887
ServerIsOnline Cicode function 868 SQLDisconnect Cicode function 889
ServerReload Cicode function 869 SQLDispose Cicode function 890
ServerRestart Cicode function 871 SQLEnd Cicode function 891
ServerRPC Cicode function 1098 SQLErrMsg Cicode function 892
ServiceGetList Cicode function 686 SQLExec Cicode function 892
SetArea Cicode function 687 SQLFieldInfo Cicode function 897
SetEvent Cicode function 488 SQLGetField Cicode function 899
SetLogging Cicode function 688 SQLGetRecordset Cicode function 900
setting SQLGetScalar Cicode function 902
variables 21 SQLInfo Cicode function 903
Shutdown Cicode function 689 SQLIsNullField Cicode function 905
ShutdownForm Cicode function 691 SQLNext Cicode function 906
ShutdownMode Cicode function 692 SQLNoFields Cicode function 907
Sign Cicode function 629 SQLNumChange Cicode function 907
Sin Cicode function 630 SQLNumFields Cicode function 908
Sleep Cicode function 1099 SQLOpen Cicode function 909
SleepMS Cicode function 1100 SQLParamsClearAll Cicode function 910
SOEArchive 855 SQLParamsSetAsInt Cicode function 911
SOEDismount 855 SQLParamsSetAsReal Cicode function 916
SOEEventAdd Cicode Function 856 SQLParamsSetAsString Cicode function 917
SOEMount 856 SQLPrev Cicode function 919
source file headers 138 SQLQueryCreate Cicode function 919
SPC Cicode functions 927 SQLQueryDispose Cicode function 920
SPCAlarms Cicode function 927 SQLRollBack Cicode function 921
SPCClientInfo Cicode function 929 SQLRowCount Cicode function 921
SPCGetHistogramTable Cicode function 930 SQLSet Cicode function 922
SPCGetSubgroupTable Cicode function 931 SQLTraceOff Cicode function 924
SPCPlot Cicode function 932 SQLTraceOn Cicode function 925
SPCProcessXRSGet Cicode function 934 Sqrt Cicode function 631
SPCProcessXRSSet Cicode function 935 Stack window 115
SPCSetLimit Cicode function 936 standards, for constants, variables and
SPCSpecLimitGet Cicode function 937 labels 130
SPCSpecLimitSet Cicode function 938 standards, naming, for variables 129
SPCSubgroupSizeGet Cicode function 939 standards, programming 127
SPCSubgroupSizeSet Cicode function 940 statements
SQL Cicode functions 873 using multiple 23
SQLAppend Cicode function 877 statements, executable 132
SQLBeginTran Cicode function 879
1350
Index
stepping through code 125 SubscriptionGetTimestamp Cicode

StrCalcWidth Cicode function 948 function 1021
StrClean Cicode function 948 SubscriptionGetValue Cicode function 1022
StrFill Cicode function 949 SubscriptionRemoveCallback Cicode
StrFormat Cicode function 949 function 1023
StrGetChar Cicode function 950 SuperGenie Cicode functions 971
string arguments 33 SwitchConfig Cicode function 693
string Cicode functions 943 syntax 47
string data type 51, 64 SysTime Cicode function 1123
strings 81 SysTimeDelta Cicode function 1124
strings, formatting 83
StrLeft Cicode function 951 T
StrLength Cicode function 951 table (array) Cicode functions 1011
StrLower Cicode function 952 TableLookup Cicode function 1011
StrMid Cicode function 953 TableMath Cicode function 1012
StrPad Cicode function 953 TableShift Cicode function 1014
StrRight Cicode function 954 Tag Cicode functions 1015
StrSearch Cicode function 955 Tag Reference /TagReadEx() behaviour in Cicode
StrSetChar Cicode function 956
Expressions 46
StrToChar Cicode function 956
TagBrowseClose Cicode function 1023
StrToDate Cicode function 957
TagBrowseFirst 1024
StrToFmt Cicode function 958
TagBrowseNext 1026
StrToGrp Cicode function 959
TagBrowseNumRecords 1026
StrToHex Cicode function 959
TagBrowseOpen Cicode function 1027
StrToInt Cicode function 960
TagBrowsePrev 1030
StrToLines Cicode function 961
TagDebug Cicode function 1030
StrToLocalText Cicode function 962
TagDebugForm Cicode function 1031
StrToPeriod Cicode function 963
TagEventFormat Cicode function 1033
StrToReal Cicode function 963
TagEventQueue Cicode function 1034
StrToTime Cicode function 964
TagGetProperty Cicode function 1037
StrToTimestamp 1135
TagGetScale Cicode function 1039
StrToValue Cicode function 965
TagInfo Cicode function 1041
StrTrim Cicode function 966
TagInfoEx Cicode function 1044
StrTruncFont Cicode function 966
TagRamp Cicode function 1048
StrTruncFontHnd Cicode function 967
TagRDBReload Cicode function 1049
structure of functions 41
TagRead Cicode function 1049
structure, argument 54
TagReadEx Cicode function 1052
StrUpper Cicode function 968
TagResolve Cicode function 1055
StrWord Cicode function 969
TagScaleStr Cicode function 1056
SubscriptionAddCallback Cicode function 1016
TagSetOverrideBad Cicode function 1057
SubscriptionGetAttribute Cicode function 1017
TagSetOverrideGood Cicode function 1059
SubscriptionGetInfo Cicode function 1019
TagSetOverrideQuality Cicode function 1061
SubscriptionGetQuality Cicode function 1020
TagSetOverrideUncertain Cicode function 1062
SubscriptionGetTag Cicode function 1020
1351
Index
TagSubscribe Cicode function 1064 TimestampAdd Cicode function 1137, 1144

TagUnresolve Cicode function 1067 TimestampCreate Cicode function 1139
TagUnsubscribe Cicode function 1067 TimestampCurrent Cicode function 1138
TagWrite Cicode function 1068 TimestampDifference Cicode function 1140
TagWriteEventQue Cicode function 1070 TimestampFormat Cicode function 1142
Tan Cicode function 631 TimestampSub Cicode function 1145
task Cicode functions 1073 TimestampToStr Cicode function 1146
TaskCall Cicode function 1101 TimestampToTimeInt Cicode function 1148
TaskCluster Cicode function 1102 TimeToOLEDate Cicode function 1131
TaskGetSignal Cicode function 1103 TimeToStr Cicode function 1132
TaskHnd Cicode function 1103 TimeUTCOffset Cicode function 1133
TaskKill Cicode function 1104 Toggle Cicode function 697
TaskNew Cicode function 1105 TraceMsg Cicode function 698
TaskNewEx Cicode function 1108 trapping, error 147
TaskResume Cicode function 1110 trend Cicode functions 1151
tasks TrendDspCursorScale Cicode function 1155
controlling 102 TrendDspCursorTag Cicode function 1156
tasks, foreground and background 101 TrendDspCursorTime Cicode function 1156
TaskSetSignal Cicode function 1110 TrendDspCursorValue Cicode function 1158
TaskSuspend Cicode function 1111 TrendGetAn Cicode function 1158
TegBrowseGetField 1025 TrendPopUp Cicode function 1159
TestRandomWave Cicode function 693 TrendRun Cicode function 1159
TestSawWave Cicode function 694 TrendSetDate Cicode function 1160
TestSinWave Cicode function 695 TrendSetScale Cicode function 1161
TestSquareWave Cicode function 696 TrendSetSpan Cicode function 1161
TestTriangWave Cicode function 697 TrendSetTime Cicode function 1162
text files 23 TrendSetTimebase Cicode function 1163
text strings, formatting 83 TrendWin Cicode function 1164
Thread window 116 TrendZoom Cicode function 1165
threads 101 triggering
time and date Cicode functions 1113 runtime operator input 31
Time Cicode function 1125 triggering events 29
time functions 39 TrnAddHistory Cicode function 1166
TimeCurrent Cicode function 1125 TrnBrowseClose Cicode function 1167
TimeHour Cicode function 1126 TrnBrowseFirst Cicode function 1168
TimeInfo Cicode function 1127 TrnBrowseGetField Cicode function 1168
TimeIntToTimestamp Cicode functions 1136 TrnBrowseNext Cicode function 1169
TimeMidNight Cicode function 1128 TrnBrowseNumRecords Cicode function 1170
TimeMin Cicode function 1129 TrnBrowseOpen Cicode function 1171
TimeSec Cicode function 1129 TrnBrowsePrev Cicode function 1172
TimeSet Cicode function 1130 TrnClientInfo Cicode function 1172
Timestamp Cicode functions 1135 TrnComparePlot Cicode function 1174
timestamp data type 51, 64 TrnDelete Cicode function 1175
TIMESTAMP data type 64-65 TrnDelHistory Cicode function 1176
1352
Index
TrnEcho Cicode function 1177 TrnSamplesConfigured Cicode function 1228

TrnEventGetTable Cicode function 1178 TrnScroll Cicode function 1228
TrnEventGetTableMS Cicode function 1180 TrnSelect Cicode function 1229
TrnEventSetTable Cicode function 1182 TrnSetCursor Cicode function 1231
TrnEventSetTableMS Cicode function 1183 TrnSetCursorPos Cicode function 1231
TrnExportClip Cicode function 1185 TrnSetDisplayMode Cicode function 1232
TrnExportCSV Cicode function 1188 TrnSetEvent Cicode function 1234
TrnExportDBF Cicode function 1190 TrnSetPen Cicode function 1234
TrnExportDDE Cicode function 1192 TrnSetPenFocus Cicode function 1236
TrnFlush Cicode function 1195 TrnSetPeriod Cicode function 1237
TrnGetBufEvent Cicode function 1196 TrnSetScale Cicode function 1238
TrnGetBufTime Cicode function 1196 TrnSetSpan Cicode function 1239
TrnGetBufValue Cicode function 1197 TrnSetTable Cicode function 1240
TrnGetCluster Cicode function 1198 TrnSetTime Cicode function 1241
TrnGetCursorEvent Cicode function 1199
TrnGetCursorMSTime Cicode function 1199 U
TrnGetCursorPos Cicode function 1200 UserCreate Cicode function 839
TrnGetCursorTime Cicode function 1201 UserCreateForm Cicode function 840
TrnGetCursorValue Cicode function 1202 UserDelete Cicode function 841
TrnGetCursorValueStr Cicode function 1202 UserEditForm Cicode function 842
TrnGetDefScale Cicode function 1203 UserInfo Cicode function 842
TrnGetDisplayMode Cicode function 1204 UserLogin Cicode function 843
TrnGetEvent Cicode function 1206 UserPassword Cicode function 846
TrnGetFormat Cicode function 1206 UserPasswordExpiryDays Cicode function 847
TrnGetGatedValue Cicode function 1207 UserPasswordForm Cicode function 848
TrnGetInvalidValue Cicode function 1208 UserSetStr Cicode function 848
TrnGetMode Cicode function 1209 UserUpdateRecord Cicode function 849
TrnGetMSTime Cicode function 1210 UserVerify Cicode function 850
TrnGetPen Cicode function 1211 using
TrnGetPenComment Cicode function 1212 files 16
TrnGetPenFocus Cicode function 1212 multiple statements 23
TrnGetPenNo Cicode function 1213
TrnGetPeriod Cicode function 1214
V
TrnGetScale Cicode function 1214
variable arrays
TrnGetScaleStr Cicode function 1215
functions 74
TrnGetSpan Cicode function 1216
one-dimensional 72
TrnGetTable Cicode function 1217
variable scope 66
TrnGetTime Cicode function 1220
variable tags, standards for 130
TrnGetUnits Cicode function 1221
VariableQuality Cicode function 788
TrnInfo Cicode function 1222
variables 63, 85
TrnIsValidValue Cicode function 1223
copying 21
TrnNew Cicode function 1224
declaration standards 128
TrnPlot Cicode function 1225
default values for 66
TrnPrint Cicode function 1227
1353
Index
in calculations 22
module 67 X
naming standards 129 XML Cicode functions 1278
scope standards 128 XMLClose Cicode function 1282
setting 21 XMLCreate Cicode function 1280
VariableTimestamp Cicode function 1149 XMLGetAttribute Cicode function 1282
VerifyPrivilegeForm 851 XMLGetAttributeCount Cicode function 1283-
VerifyPrivilegeTagWrite 852 1284
Version Cicode function 699 XMLGetAttributeValue Cicode function 1285
XMLGetChild Cicode function 1286
XMLGetChildCount Cicode function 1287
W
XMLGetParent Cicode function 1291
while...do 95
XMLGetRoot Cicode function 1288
WhoAmI Cicode function 854
XMLNodeAddChild Cicode function 1279
WinCopy Cicode function 1246
XMLNodeFind Cicode function 1293
WinFile Cicode function 1248
XMLNodeGetName Cicode function 1289
WinFree Cicode function 1250
XMLNodeGetValue Cicode function 1290
WinGetFocus Cicode function 1251
XMLNodeRemove Cicode function 1292
WinGetWndHnd Cicode function 1251
XMLNodeSetValue Cicode function 1295
WinGoto Cicode function 1252
XMLOpen Cicode function 1281
WinMode Cicode function 1253
XMLSave Cicode function 1293
WinMove Cicode function 1254
XMLSetAttribute Cicode function 1294
WinNew Cicode function 1254
WinNewAt Cicode function 1255
WinNext Cicode function 1259
WinNumber Cicode function 1259
WinPos Cicode function 1260
WinPrev Cicode function 1261
WinPrint Cicode function 1261
WinPrintFile Cicode function 1263
WinSelect Cicode function 1265
WinSetName Cicode function 1266
WinSize Cicode function 1266
WinStyle Cicode function 1267
WinTitle Cicode function 1268
WndFind Cicode function 1269
WndGetFileProfile Cicode function 1269
WndHelp Cicode function 1270
WndInfo Cicode function 1272
WndMonitorInfo Cicode function 1274
WndPutFileProfile Cicode function 1274
WndShow Cicode function 1275
WndViewer Cicode function 1276
writing functions 43
1354

CitectSCADA Cicode Reference

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CitectSCADA Cicode Reference

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CitectSCADA

Contact Schneider Electric today at www.schneider-electric.com

Chapter 1: Introducing Cicode 15

Chapter 2: Using Cicode Commands 21

Chapter 3: Using Cicode Expressions 27

Chapter 4: Using Cicode Functions 31

Calling Functions from Commands and Expressions 31

Chapter 5: Working with Commonly Used Functions 37

Chapter 6: Writing Functions 41

Chapter 7: Using Variables 63

Declaring the Variable Data Type 64

Chapter 8: Using Arrays 69

Chapter 9: Using Cicode Macros 75

Chapter 10: Converting and Formatting Cicode Variables 81

Chapter 11: Working with Operators 87

Chapter 12: Working with Conditional Executors 93

Using FOR ... DO Loops 94

Chapter 13: Performing Advanced Tasks 99

Chapter 14: Editing and Debugging Code 105

Chapter 15: Using Cicode Programming Standards 127

Standards for Constants, Variable Tags, and Labels 130

Functions Reference 149

Chapter 16: Accumulator Functions 151

Chapter 17: ActiveX Functions 159

Chapter 18: Alarm and Alarm Filter Functions 173

Chapter 19: Clipboard Functions 281

Chapter 20: Cluster Functions 285

Chapter 21: Color Functions 293

Chapter 22: Communication Functions 299

Chapter 23: DDE Functions 307

Chapter 24: Device Functions 321

Chapter 25: Display Functions 351

Chapter 26: DLL Functions 441

Chapter 26: Equipment Database Functions 447

Chapter 27: Error Functions 463

Chapter 28: Event Functions 475

Chapter 29: File Functions 493

Chapter 30: Form Functions 513

Chapter 31: Format Functions 551

Chapter 32: FTP Functions 561

Chapter 33: FuzzyTech Functions 567

Chapter 34: Group Functions 573

Chapter 35: I/O Device Functions 583

Chapter 36: Keyboard Functions 595

Chapter 37: Mail Functions 611

Chapter 38: Math/Trigonometry Functions 617

Chapter 39: Menu Functions 633

Chapter 40: Miscellaneous Functions 649

Chapter 41: Page Functions 701

Chapter 42: Plot Functions 747

Chapter 43: Process Analyst Functions 769

Chapter 44: Quality Functions 777

Chapter 45: Report Functions 791

Scheduler Functions 796

Chapter 46: Security Functions 829

Chapter 46: Sequence of Events 855

Chapter 47: Server Functions 857

Chapter 48: SQL Functions 873

Chapter 49: SPC Functions 927

Chapter 50: String Functions 943

Chapter 51: Super Genie Functions 971

Chapter 52: Table (Array) Functions 1011

Chapter 53: Tag Functions 1015

Chapter 54: Task Functions 1073

Chapter 55: Time/Date Functions 1113

Chapter 56: Timestamp Functions 1135

Chapter 57: Trend Functions 1151

Chapter 58: Window Functions 1243

Chapter 58: XML Functions 1278

Technical Reference 1297

Chapter 59: Cicode Errors 1299

Cicode and General Errors 1300

Chapter 60: Browse Function Field Reference 1327

This section provides some introductory material for CitectSCADA:

The addition of either symbol to a “Danger” or “Warning” safety

This is the safety alert symbol. It is used to alert you to personal