Blog

During last year's ROKLive event in Orlando, I learned about a feature in FactoryTalk View Site Edition that I have already begun leveraging in all my projects: the FactoryTalk View Studio Command Line.

The Command Line can be accessed from the project tree under the System Folder. Clicking this opens a blank text window with an ellipsis button in the top right.

Clicking the ellipsis gives you access to the Command Wizard, which allows you to select and create commands similar to how you would on a button object.

After creating your command, it will appear in the Command Line. Hit Enter to execute the command, or set of commands.

It's usually beneficial to have the Diagnostic List up as well to verify that the commands were executed successfully.

After hitting Enter, we can see that the write was successful.

I have leveraged this feature the most for managing bulk updates on a PlantPAx system. For instance, we recently had a system with over 100 interlock conditions that required string descriptions to be entered on a system being commissioned.

This could be done via Rockwell's Studio 5000 Application Code Manager (ACM) or individually via the PlantPAx faceplates; however, because the software was being commissioned and tested onsite by the customer, it was much easier and faster for us to use excel to create a list of commands. These could be copy-pasted by the customer into the Command Line and entered to update all the fields at once.

The only drawback to the Command Line is that it has a limit of 5000 characters at a time, but this is pretty easily worked around by splitting up the commands you enter into groups less than that number.

Learn more about DMC's Factorytalk expertise and contact us for your next project.