About local messages

Use local messages displays to provide ongoing information on the status of devices and processes.

For example, you might put a local message display object in your display to describe the status of a device whose condition cannot be shown graphically with complete accuracy. A hoist might have related local messages to say "At top" or "At bottom" as well as "Lowering," "Raising," and "Stopped."

First, set up a file containing the local messages and their trigger values in the Local Messages editor. Then assign the file of messages to a local message display object. When you set up the local message display object, assign a tag or expression to the Value control.

At runtime, when a message’s trigger value matches the Value control, the local message display object shows the associated message.

Configure the Value control at the data source to change to the trigger value that suits the particular message. For example, you might set up a message "Motor running" with the trigger value 10. Configure the data source to monitor the motor and, when the motor starts, set the Value control to 10. The local message object on the display would then read "Motor running" until the Value control changes.

The local message display object always appears in the graphic display it’s placed in, whether or not there is a message to display.