Status and Mode Indicators for Digital Input Tags

Status and mode indicators are typically associated with digital input tags. Because the value of a digital input tag is typically a "0" for a "false", "off", or "stopped" state, and "1" for a "true", "on", "running" or "started" state, you can choose to use a changing color, changing text, or a changing bitmap to portray the "0" or "1" value. For example, you could portray the state of a motor by:

•      A changing text object displaying either "On" or "Off";

•      A changing color object that displays either green for "on" or red for "off";

•      A bitmap object with a changing color area that displays either green for "on" and red for "off"; or

•      A pair of bitmaps that display the same object in two different positions (e.g. an opened valve bitmap and a closed valve bitmap).

VTS provides you with a wide variety of drawing methods suitable to the type of tag and your requirements. As you will see in the tutorial, these are presented to you at the click of a button and are easily configurable.

In our tutorial application, much of the operator data involves status and mode indications related to digital input tags. For example, we must provide the means for operators to determine whether equipment such as the booster pump and the compressor are running or are stopped. As mentioned above, one quick visual indicator for status is a changing color area on a bitmap representing the equipment. Consider the example in Figure 5:

Figure 5

In the above illustration, the color indicator at the base of each of the motors clearly imparts to the user the status of the motor. As you can see in this example, Motor 5 is off, while Motor 6 is on.

Throughout the tutorial application, we will use methods similar to the example shown above to impart to users the status and mode of the digital equipment.