Create a parameter file

If a graphic display contains tag placeholders, you can specify a parameter file to supply tag or folder names, or parts of tag names, for the placeholders at runtime or in test display mode. This allows you to use different sets of tags with a single graphic display.
TIP:
The recommended maximum number of tag placeholders to be used for a single graphic display is 500.
If the display contains a display list selector object, you can also provide parameters for tag placeholders, using a parameter list.
To create a parameter file:
  1. Open the
    Parameters
    editor using one of these methods:
    • From the
      File
      menu, select
      New > Parameter
      .
    • In the
      Explorer
      window, double-click the
      Graphics
      folder to expand it, right-click
      Parameters
       and select
      New
      .
  2. In the
    Parameters editor
    , for each tag placeholder in the graphic display, type a definition using the format:
    <#number>=<string>
     where
    string
     can be a tag or folder name, or any part of a tag name, for any kind of tag.
    For example, to use a tag called
    Pea_Weight
    in a folder called
    Canning
    , the definition in the parameter file could be one of these:
    #1=Pea_Weight

#1=Canning\Pea_Weight

#1=Canning
    Using only the folder name
    Canning
    , the graphic display could contain the placeholders,
    #1\Weight
    ,
    #1\Level
    , and
    #1\Temp
    .
    TIP:
    Instead of typing the tag name, you can use the
    Tag Browser
    . Double-click in the editor and select a tag. The selected tag name is inserted in front of the cursor.
  3. Save the file using a name that will identify the set of tags defined in the file, for example,
    Canning display tags
    .
    TIP:
    • The parameter file editor automatically inserts these characters at the top of the file:
      @!=1
      This means that only if the exclamation mark is at the beginning of a line, will the text that follows the exclamation mark be treated as a comment. If an exclamation mark occurs anywhere else on the line, whatever follows it is
      not
       treated as a comment.
      To be able to start a comment elsewhere in a line, delete @!=1 from the beginning of the parameter file. When you do this, an exclamation mark can be placed anywhere in a line, and whatever follows it is treated as a comment.
    • The parameter can be any portion of a tag name. When a parameter file is called, the placeholder is replaced with whatever portion of the tag name is specified by its corresponding parameter.
    • If a parameter file name includes an exclamation point (!), no error message will appear when the parameter file is saved, but it will not be possible to create the runtime file (.mer) for the application.
      To avoid this problem, do not include an exclamation point in a parameter file name.
    • When you use a parameter file, which is generated from an SE project, directly in an ME project, an error message shows.
      To avoid this problem, delete "@!=1" from the first line of the parameter file.
    • ANSI format parameter file is shown in mess code when opened in
      FactoryTalk View Studio
      .
      To avoid this problem, convert the parameter file from ANSI to Unicode format, for example, in WordPad.
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