Emerson Exchange 365

Multiple Faceplates

I was looking for a way to be able to display multiple faceplates.   

Operators can open up 4 faceplates right now,   but when they try and open a 5th, it closes the previous faceplate.  

Is there a way to increase this value from 4, to 8?   

So operators can open up a total of 8 faceplates at one time>? 

• DeltaV #DCS

Eric Bailey

• 18 Nov 2019 4:29 PM
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8 Replies

• Andre Dicaire

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 4:46 PM

  In Operate each faceplate file is copied three times and thus a limit of 4 instances of the same faceplate. you see the limit of four when all four are the same faceplate and you call for a fifth of the same file.
  
  Not sure what is entailed to increase this. Hope some one has done this and will share.
  
  DeltaV Live does not have this restriction.

  Andre Dicaire

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• dikshitsh

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 4:48 PM

  By four faceplates, you mean 4 faceplates of same type I guess. There is a detailed explanation given on one of the threads here on how to increase the number of faceplates. Please go through it carefully and you will find all answers to your query.
  emersonexchange365.com/.../8890

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• KeithStThomas

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 4:52 PM

  DeltaV can open 4 of each type of faceplate, eg 4 motor + 4 PID + 4 AI for a total of 12 in this case. Unfortunately you cannot open a 5th of any one type. How often would operations want to display so many faceplates? One method around this could be to create a graphic that contains the 8 faceplates of interest.

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• dikshitsh

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 5:13 PM

  In reply to KeithStThomas:

  Keith, We can open more than four FP's of the same type. I have provided the link in my earlier reply which explains how that can be done!

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• Andre Dicaire

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 6:02 PM

  In reply to dikshitsh:

  The link provided by dikshitsh provides the information you need. I'll recap hear.
  
  Multiple faceplates of the same type are limited by the number of "copies" of each Faceplate file made in the Temp/ folder. The Update popup pictures tool will make three copies by default, appending the numbers 1, 2 and 3 to the faceplate name,( i.e. fp_loop1.grf, fp_loop2.grf, etc.) You can manually create copies by opening your faceplate in Operate configure and saving it to the Temp/ folder, adding additional copies by numbering them 4, 5 etc.
  
  However, you can update a global variable so that the Update popup pictures utility will create the number of copies you want. The global variable is frsvariable.misc_glb.gn_CopyNumber. This is important so that if you change a faceplate, the update utility will update all the copies, not just the default first 3.
  
  Be sure to thoroughly test that updating the global variable will allow the creation and update of your additional file copies, and that you get the required behavior. Note that Emerson does not test to an increased number of popup copies. The product has used 3 copies for decades, so it is reasonable to assume v12 and up on windows 10 will be able to handle more copies without resource issues. I would suggest you increase the count only to the number you need. Sometimes, too much of a good thing becomes a bad think...
  
  Final note. The FRSvariable is a standard variable, and on a reinstall of DeltaV software, such as on a migration or a rebuild of a machine, the value will revert to the default of 3. Checking the User_ref file shows this variable is not initialized by default. You can add a line (with appropriate comment) in your user_settings file for your system that initializes this variable to the number you want to see. When you migrate, your custom USER_settings file will migrate or be part of your recovery plans.
  
  I want to acknowledge Yousef El-Bahtimy for his contribution on the referenced thread.

  Andre Dicaire

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• Andre Dicaire

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 6:22 PM

  In reply to Andre Dicaire:

  So I decided to run this by updating the variable from 3 to 5 (change initial and current field to 5.)
  
  Know that it will update all popups to have 5 copies in the Temp folder. This takes time, about 3 to 4 seconds per copy. As noted in the thread, the progress bar may not reflect actual time. If you check your Temp Folder before starting, you can expect the number of files and increase accordingly and with that the Disk space used. Not a big deal in todays disk drives, but it was a concern back "in the day".
  
  But I am getting my 4th and 5th copies added. This will propagate to all workstations via Auto Update, so you'll need to give this some time as well. Be patient. You can check on your workstations in the Graphics-Fix/Pic/Temp/folder for files to have the desired number of files before you start testing.

  Andre Dicaire

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• chrishoffpauir

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 6:33 PM

  In reply to Andre Dicaire:

  Thanks to both of you for this thread. I was unaware of the variable and just copied fp/dtl manually in the past.

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• Andre Dicaire

  

  • 18 Nov 2019 9:16 PM

  In reply to chrishoffpauir:

  Learning something here. I ran the update but found very few modules were replicated to have 5 instances. ( two actually). Although it took a while, what I've determined is that the utility checks date times on files and does not update the Temp folder if the Files align, and therefore there is no change. To get the files to update, Open each file and make a minor change. I moved an item up and than back down and saved. Then the file was updated in the Temp folder and additional files were added.
  
  It takes 3 to 4 seconds to add each file, so about 20 seconds per updated faceplate for 5 copies.

  I'm also not sure what would happen if you went beyond 9 for number of copies.  that would end up with 2 digits in the name.  Will the runtime Popup function be able to extract a value of "10" or would it see just the "0".  It all depends on how the function was structured.  It if only extracts the last digit, there could be a limit of 9 copies, or even introduce errors with 10 or more copies.  Please be careful and test thoroughly as you add copies.

  Andre Dicaire

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