154 Student Guide

9. Digital Database Tags _____________________________________

Chapter 9

Digital Database Tags

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9. Digital Database Tags _____________________________________

Section Objectives

The Process Database is made up of structures called tags or blocks. This section of the course
introduces the tags by starting with two of the most common tags, the Digital Input tag and the
Digital Output tag.

The objectives of this section are the following:

• Understanding the Digital Input Tag

• Understanding the Digital Output Tag

Many of the terms introduced in this section will be referenced later in the course.

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9.1. Application Development Flowchart ________________________

SCADA Server iClient (HMI)

System System
Configuration Configuration

I/O Driver
Configuration

Graphics
Development
Process Database
Development

Alarm Alarm
Configuration Monitoring

Security Security
Configuration Configuration

Configure Archived Data

Data Archiving Monitoring

Figure 9-1: Application Development Flowchart (showing Process Database Development)

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

A. Notes:
• DI - Digital Input
• Used to read digital data into the database
- valves, motors, pumps, etc.
- any process value that has two states (open/close, on/off, etc.)

B. Tagname
• Must be unique in the database
• Up to 30 characters
• Must have a non-numeric in the tagname
- though it can start with a number
• Valid characters include:
- (dash) \ (back slash)
_ (underscore) / (forward slash)
! (exclamation point) | (pipe)
# (number sign) [ (open bracket)
% (percent sign) ] (close bracket)
$ (dollar sign)
- be careful using these special characters if iFIX data will be brought into
third party software that may limit the use of the characters
• No spaces allowed

C. Description
• Maximum 40 characters
• Displayed in Alarm Summary, Charts, graphical objects, etc.

D. Next Block
• Tagname of the next tag in the chain

E. Previous Block
• Tagname of the tag before this one in the chain
• This field will be typically blank for DI blocks

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

Figure 9-2: Digital Input Tag (Basic Screen shown)

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

F. Driver
• This is the name of the Intellution I/O Driver from which this block gets data
- there are over 300 drivers available

G. I/O Address
• Specifies where the data for this tag is stored
• For output tags, specifies where the output should be sent
• Consult the I/O driver manual for details
• Do not assign the same address to exception-based and time-based tags
• Figure 9-3 represents digital and analog examples of addressing for some
common drivers

H. Hardware Option
• This is used for additional information for some I/O Drivers
• This field is often left blank
• Consult driver manual to see if field is needed

I. Scan Time
• Interval that determines how often SAC scans and processes a tag in a database
• There are three (3) types of scan time:
- time based scans
◊ tag is processed at even intervals
◊ see Figure 9-4 for available values
- exception based scans
◊ processed only when the I/O data change is greater than the poll
record dead band
- one-shot processing
◊ one-shot instructs the SAC program to process a tag once
◊ enter a zero (0) in the field

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

Type Digital I/O Address Analog I/O Address

Generic Entry Device:Address Device:Address
Allen Bradley Dev1:N7:0:0 Dev1:N7:0
GE Dev1:Q1 Dev1:R1
Modicon Dev1:00001 Dev1:40001
Opto 22 Dev1:0 Dev1:1
Siemens Dev1:DB3,2:0 Dev1:DB3,2
Texas Instruments Dev1:X1 Dev1:V1

Figure 9-3: I/O Driver Addressing Examples

Increment Range
Subseconds 0.05 - 0.95
Seconds 1 - 59
Minutes 1M - 59M
Hours 1H - 24H

Figure 9-4: Time Based Scan Times

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

J. Labels
• Up to 16 character label
- if F_CV field is used in data link, displays 0 or 1
- if A_CV field is used in data link, displays label
• Default labels: Open is 0 and Close is 1

K. Enable Alarming
• Defines whether alarm processing is enabled or disabled
• Generates alarm messages and allows links to display alarm conditions
• Allows other tags to detect an alarm from the tag
• Entire chain can be affected when alarms are disabled for a tag

L. Enable Event Message

• Provides information about events that do not imply potential problems
• Event messages do not require acknowledgment
• DI tag generates a message every time it enters an alarm state
• Must check both the Enable Alarming and the Event Message check boxes
• Event messages are sent to the same alarm destinations as alarms for a given tag
but do not appear in the alarm summary link
• Messages sent to destinations configured in SCU

M. Alarm Type
• Open alarms when value is zero, Close alarms when value is one
• Change of State generates a COS alarm on every transition
• The COS alarm exists for one scan period and should only be assigned to time-
based DI tags
• None will not generate an alarm on a change of value, but will on other events,
such as a communication failure

N. Alarm Priority
• Matched against system alarm mask
• Used for filtering alarms to alarm destinations

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

Figure 9-5: Digital Input Tag (Alarm Screen shown)

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

O. Alarm Extension Fields

• User defined fields
• Can be used as additional Description fields
• Often the first extension field contains the name of the picture that displays
information about the block
- this information can be used in a picture to allow operators to display this
picture when they double-click an entry an Alarm Summary Object
- more on this in a later chapter

P. Security Areas
• Up to three security areas that provide write-protection for the tag
• User must have access to one of the tag's security areas to change the value of a
write-protected tag
- to change the value of a block, the operator must have access to that
block's security area
• Note:
- read access for database blocks is available to all users regardless of
security area
- this allows users to retrieve data from a specific security area even if they
cannot write to that area

Q. Enable Output
• This enables the tag to output a value to the I/O Address
• This will be covered in more detail later

R. Initial Modes
• Defines mode of the tag when the PDB is loaded or when the tag is placed on
scan
• Automatic: receives data from the Driver Image Table
• Manual: accepts data from the following:
- the keyboard
- another database tag
- command script

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9.2. Digital Input Tag_________________________________________

Figure 9-6: Digital Input Tag (Advanced Screen shown)

S. Electronic Signature
• Enable electronic signatures functionality here
• This will be explained in detail in a later chapter

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9.3. Digital Output Tag _______________________________________

A. Notes:
• DO - Digital Output
• Used to write digital data from the database to an I/O address in the DIT
- any process value that has two states (open/close, on/off, etc.)
- value is sent every time SAC program processes the tag
- if a stand alone tag, digital value is output each time the value of the tag is
changed

B. Event Messaging
• If selected, a message is generated every time a value is sent to the DIT

C. Invert Output
• Toggles the current value before sending it to the DIT

D. Initial Value
• Value is sent to the DIT when the Process Database is loaded
• The value is sent whenever the Database is reloaded

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9.3. Digital Output Tag _______________________________________

Figure 9-7: Digital Output Tag (Basic Screen shown)

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 iFIX Fundamentals

9.4. __________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

Digital Database Tags

Lab Exercise 9

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this lab exercise, the student will be able to:

1. Add a Digital Input tag to the Process Database.

2. Add a Digital Output tag to the Process Database.
3. Save the Database from the Database Manager.
4. Reload the Database from the Database Manager.

Estimated time to complete this exercise: 20 minutes

Introduction

In the water treatment application, the Rapid Mixer is used to introduce three chemicals to
the water - Alum, Lime, and a polymer. These chemicals make the particles in the water
“sticky” so they can become larger particles. This process is called Coagulation.

In this exercise, you will create digital tags to monitor and control the valves and mixer of the
Rapid Mixer. In later exercises, you will link the tags in the process database to the objects
in the Rapid Mixer picture.

When you are finished with this exercise, turn to section 9.5 and answer the questions.

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

A. Open the Database Manager.

Prepare to add new database tags by first opening the Database Manager.

1. From the WorkSpace System Tree, double click the Database Manager.
The Database Manager opens with the following prompt:

2. Select Open Local Node and click OK.

The Database Manager spreadsheet appears.

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

B. Add a Digital Input Tag.

Create a new tag to monitor the water flow into the Rapid Mixer.

1. From the Blocks menu, select Add.

The Select a Block Type dialog box appears:

2. Select DI – Digital Input from the list of available block types, and click OK.
The following dialog box appears:

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

B. Add a Digital Input Tag (continued).

3. Set following options to the value listed at the right:

Tag Name Mixer_In_Stat
Description: Rapid Mixer Water Inlet Valve Status
I/O Address: 20:3
Open Label: NO FLOW
Close Label: FLOW
4. Click Save when finished.
The following dialog box appears:

5. Click Yes to place the new block on scan.

The tag is added to the database. It should appear as the top row in the spreadsheet.

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

C. Add additional tags.

Create more digital blocks to control and monitor the Rapid Mixer.

1. Using the same procedure described in the previous pages, add an additional database
tag. Set following options to the value listed at the right:
Tag Type: Digital Output
Tag Name Mixer_In_Control
Description: Rapid Mixer Water Inlet Valve Control
I/O Address: 20:3
Open Label: NO FLOW
Close Label: FLOW
Initial Value: NO FLOW
Note: This tag will be used to control the inlet valve to the Rapid Mixer.

2. Add an additional database tag. Set following options to the value listed at the right:
Tag Type: Digital Input
Tag Name Mixer_Out_Stat
Description: Rapid Mixer Water Outlet Valve Status
I/O Address: 20:4
Open Label: NO FLOW
Close Label: FLOW
Note: This tag will be used to monitor the outlet valve of the Rapid Mixer.

3. Add an additional database tag. Set following options to the value listed at the right:
Tag Type: Digital Output
Tag Name Mixer_Out_Control
Description: Rapid Mixer Water Outlet Valve Control
I/O Address: 20:4
Open Label: NO FLOW
Close Label: FLOW
Initial Value: NO FLOW
Note: This tag will be used to control the outlet valve of the Rapid Mixer.

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

C. Add additional tags (continued).

4. Using the same procedure described in the previous pages, add an additional database
tag. Set following options to the value listed at the right:
Tag Type: Digital Input
Tag Name Rapid_Mixer
Description: Rapid Mixer Status
I/O Address: 20:5
Open Label: IDLE
Close Label: MIXING
Enable Output: Enabled
Note: This tag will be used to monitor and control the mixer of the Rapid Mixer. By
using the Enable Output option of this Digital Input, the tag can be used to do both
reads and writes.

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______________________________________________ Lab Exercise 9

D. Save and Reload the Database.

Now that the tags have been added, save the changes and reload the database.

1. From the Database menu, select Save.

The new tags are saved along with the existing database tags.
2. From the Database menu, select Reload.
The following dialog box appears:

3. Select Database from the list and then click Reload.

The database is reloaded and the tags appear in the spreadsheet.
4. From the View menu, select Refresh.
The tag values in the spreadsheet are updated to show the current values.
5. Select Database and select Exit.

End of Lab Exercise

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9.5. Summary Questions _____________________________________

1. What is the difference between a Primary Tag and a Secondary Tag?

2. What are the three possible settings for Scan Time?

3. What is the difference between an alarm and a message?

4. What is the purpose of the Labels of a Digital Input tag?

5. What is the purpose of the Initial Value field of a Digital Output tag?

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