Benefits of using Add-On Instructions with Add-On Graphics

An Add-On Instructions in
Logix Designer
 complements an Add-On Graphic in
Studio 5000
View Designer
.
  • Add-On Instructions
    in
    Logix Designer
     provide commonly used functions or device control. They allow creating sets of commonly-used logic and provide a common interface to the logic and documentation for the instruction.
  • Add-On Graphics
    in
    Studio 5000
    View Designer
     allow creating commonly-used graphic elements, defining their properties, and associating those properties with a
    Logix Designer
     user-defined data types. Reuse the Add-On Graphic with any tag from the same version of .acd file configured with that user-defined data type.
If there is an Add-On Instruction in
Logix Designer
 that represents a mixer, create a corresponding Add-On Graphic in
View Designer
 to visually depict the mixer. Bind the properties of the graphic elements in the definition of the Add-On Graphic to members of the user-defined tag type by navigating to a single tag reference.
For example, if there is a Mixer tag type that has Level and Temperature members, recreating the tag type and members for every mixer is not necessary. Create the Add-On Instruction in
Logix Designer
 once and reuse it. If there are several mixers in the system, creating a graphic element to depict each mixer is not necessary. Create an Add-On Graphic once and reuse it.
Use the Add-On Instruction with the Add-On Graphic by binding the the user-defined Mixer type to the Add-On Graphic by reusing the single Mixer tag reference. Binding tags when using the Add-On Graphic each time is not necessary. Bind once by selecting the instance of the user-defined type within Logix. Bind to the Mixer tag path to Mixer 1 for the first instance of the Add-On Graphic. All of the members of the Mixer tag type appear for the instance of the Add-On Graphic. Bind the Mixer tag path ito Mixer 2 for the second instance of the Add-On Graphic, and so forth.
Later, if Agitator speed is added to the Add-On Instruction, the Agitator tag member appears for all Tank tags in the user-defined type. In
View Designer
, to depict the agitator on the Add-On Graphic, change the definition of the Tank Add-On Graphic to contain a numeric display, and bind that numeric display to the Agitator member of the Mixer tag type. The agitator and its data then appear on every instance of the Mixer Add-On Graphic.
The benefits of using Add-On Instructions with Add-On Graphics are:
  • Code reuse.
    Save time recreating tag types and graphic elements by creating Add-On Instructions with Add-On Graphics.
  • Consistency.
     Promote consistency between projects by reusing Add-On Instructions with Add-On Graphics.
  • User friendly interface.
    Place complicated algorithms inside an Add-On Instruction and make only essential parameters visible or required. Place complicated visualizations inside an Add-On Graphic and make only essential properties visible.
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