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PanelView Plus 7 – Reset to Factory Defaults

In today’s article I’ll walk you through resetting your PanelView Plus 7 to Factory Defaults:

Step 1) Plug a USB Keyboard into your PanelView Plus 7:

Step 2) Cycle Power to your PanelView Plus 7 while holding down the F1 Key:

Step 3) When the Maintenance Menu comes up, press the down arrow key once to select “Special BOOT Option – None”

Step 4) Now press the right key until you see “Special BOOT Option – Factory Defaults”

Step 5) Now press the up arrow key to select “Reboot With Selected Options” and press enter:

Step 6) At this point your PanelView Plus 7 will reboot and reload the default firmware it came with, which in this case was 7.0:

Step 7) This also reset the units desktop access password back to the default password of “password”


To watch a video demonstration of the above, check out Episode 38 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:



If you found this article helpful, please share it with your colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Goggle Plus!

And if you know anyone who would benefit from PanelView Plus training, please let them know about my affordable courses over at TheAutomation School.

You can also share your own thoughts and opinions on this subject by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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PanelView Plus 7 – Reset to Factory Defaults (M4E38)


In this episode I discuss how to reset the PanelView Plus 7 to Factory Defaults (Episode 38 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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PanelView Plus 7 – Firmware: How To Flash Update

In this article I’m going to walk you through flashing the firmware on a PanelView Plus 7.

Step 1) In this example we’ll be flashing the PanelView Plus 7’s firmware over Ethernet, and so our first step is to open RSLinx Classic and insure it finds out PanelView Plus on our local Ethernet network:

Note: If you’re not sure how to setup your PanelView Plus’s Ethernet address, check out our previous article below:

Step 2) Since we will be using a direct Ethernet connection (as opposed to flashing firmware using a memory card) we’ll select “Upgrade firmware on terminal” and then click on next:

Step 3) Here the utility notifies us that we need to backup all of the .MER files on the terminal before proceeding. Once done, click on Yes:

Step 4) Now we choose “Network Connection” and click on Next:

Step 5) Then we’ll select the Ethernet driver and allow it to browse our local network to find our PanelView Plus 7:

Step 6) Once our PanelView Plus 7 is found on our local network, we’ll select it and click on Next:

Step 7) Here we need to select the version of firmware to download to our PanelView Plus 7 and click on Next:

NOTE: If you don’t have any firmware installed, visit http://www.ab.com, click on “Compatibility and Downloads,” search on PanelView Plus 7, select your model from the list, and then select downloads for that model and download the desired firmware.

NOTE: If you download and install firmware newer than the version of FactoryTalk View you have installed, that action could break your Firmware Transfer Utility. The suggested fix for that issue is to reinstall the older Firmware Transfer Utility that came with your version of View Studio.

Step 8) On this page chose any required KepServer drivers and click on Next:

Step 9) Now review the summary information, and if it is correct click on Finish:

Step 10) Click Yes is you are ready to continue AND are sure your connection to the PanelView Plus 7 will not be interrupted. Note that losing the connection during a firmware upgrade could result in the PVPlus no longer functioning:

Step 11) Once done, click on Ok and close the utility. Then go to the PanelView Plus 7 and view it’s display:

Step 12) Note that newer firmware versions for the PanelView Plus 7 require you to setup a password before you can use your device:

Step 13) The password must be between 8 and 20 characters, and it must contain at least one upper case letter, one lower case letter, and either a number or special character. I typically use “Rockwell1” for systems which don’t require security (trainers, demos, etc):

Step 14) As a last step, be sure to record your password in a safe place! If you do misplace it, in my next article I cover how to reset the password by resetting the PanelView Plus 7 to factory defaults.


To watch a video demonstration of the above, check out Episode 37 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:



If you found this article helpful, please share it with your colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Goggle Plus!

And if you know anyone who would benefit from PanelView Plus training, please let them know about my affordable courses over at TheAutomation School.

You can also share your own thoughts and opinions on this subject by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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PanelView Plus 7 – Firmware: How To Flash Update (M4E37)


In this episode I demonstrate how to flash the firmware on the PanelView Plus 7 (Episode 37 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Studio 5000 CM Runtime Installation Error Fix

I recently ran into an issue while installing some Studio 5000 back revs on one of my VMs.

UPDATED 05/16/22: Additional information added at end of article.

With version 23 specifically, I received the following error message on installation:

Unaware of any way to work around this issue, I ended the v23 installation, opened the Control Panel, and uninstalled the “Rockwell Automation CM Runtime” application:

After which I restarted the v23 installation, and it completed this time without issue:

Back in the Control Panel, I found v23 installed version 5.11.0 of the CM Runtime:

Concerned that the older CM Runtime might cause issues with newer versions of Studio 5000, I attempted to create a new Studio 5000 project which resulted this the error, “Application requires CodeMeterAct Runtime Modules.”

So I opened the installation files for the latest rev of Studio 5000 which I had available, found the CM Runtime installation file in the “Redist \ CodeMeter_5_21.3882″ folder,” and ran it:

And after installing the latest CM Runtime, I was able to create new Studio 5000 projects again!


UPDATE: A reader recently wrote in to share the following:

“Hi Shawn,

I learned something the hard way with Rockwell, thru four hours between yesterday and today.

Same issue as you posted here, Logix5000 version 23 install failing due to existing newer Codemeter.

After uninstalling Codemeter from “Control Panel – Programs & Features,” the problem persisted.

My laptop also has something called “Rockwell Automation CM Runtime,” which is installed along with Logix5000 v33.  .

THIS was the culprit continuing to block my version 23 install.

We found it after the frontline tech at Rockwell brought in a guru from the product group.

Solution: After also uninstalling Rockwell Automation CM Runtime, version 23 installed fine. Of course we had to reinstall Codemeter from the version 33 fileset.

All seems good.  Cheers!”

Huge thanks to our reader (I have yet received permission to share his name) for writing in to share this tip!


To watch a video about the above, check out Episode 36 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:



If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Goggle Plus.

And if you know anyone who would benefit from ControlLogix training, please let them know about my affordable courses over at TheAutomation School.

You can also share your own thoughts and opinions on this subject by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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S7-1500 – Siemens Releases New Advanced and Redundancy Controllers

Siemens expands its Advanced Controller and Redundancy Controller portfolios.

Two new Advanced Controllers have been added to the Simatic S7-1500 line, both of which combine standard, safety and motion control into a single device.

The 1515SP PC2 T CPU and fail-safe 1515SP PC2 TF CPU support motion control applications that require gearing and camming, as well as kinematics with up to four axes.

Example applications include Pick & Place, Cartesian Portal, Delta Pickers, and Scara robots.

To learn more about these two new controllers, check out Siemens press release here.

Siemens also added three new redundancy CPUs to the Simatic S7-1500 line.

Targeting small to medium size redundancy projects are the CPU1513R and CPU1515R controllers.

And for larger applications, as well as those which need higher performance and faster switchover times, Siemens also released the CPU1517H controller.

All three redundant CPUs synchronize programs and data without any user intervention, and in the unlikely event that one of the CPUs fails, the back-up CPU automatically takes control of the process with no data loss.

Field devices that support S2 redundancy, like Siemens own Simatic ET 200SP distributed I/O system, are connected to these redundant CPUs via a Profinet ring.

To learn more about these three new redundancy controllers, check out Siemens press release here.


If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Goggle Plus.

And if you’d like to share your own comment or insights about these new products, you can do so by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Working Around The Studio 5000 “CM Runtime” Install Error (M4E36)


In this episode I discuss how to work around the Studio 5000 install error, “A newer version of the Rockwell Automation CM Runtime is already installed” (Episode 36 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Migrate / Convert – CCW v11: Connected Components Workbench Now Supports Importing All MicroLogix Programs

Back in February I wrote this article about converting MicroLogix programs to the Micro800 by using CCW and the MicroLogix Library Converter.

At the time I also demonstrated how only MicroLogix 1000 programs could be converted, and in an earlier article I covered how to convert MicroLogix and SLC-500 programs to the MicroLogix 1000.

However, along with the release of CCW 11 there is an updated version of the MicroLogix to Micro800 Converter utility that has been updated to support converting the entire family of MicroLogix controllers to Micro800s.

Just as with previous versions of the tool, you’ll first need to export your MicroLogix program to a .SLC library file, a capability not available in RSLogix Micro Starter or the free Lite version of the same software.

If you do find your version of RSLogix is not able to export your program to a library file, I’d recommend contacting your local Rockwell distributor or representative and kindly asking them to preform the export on your behalf (as shown in this article.)

I’ve also recorded an updated video demonstrating this new feature, and have embedded it below:


Episode 35 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:



If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Goggle Plus.

And if you know anyone who would benefit from Micro800 training, please let them know about my affordable courses over at TheAutomation School.

You can also share your own thoughts and opinions on this subject by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Migrate / Convert – CCW v11: Import Any MicroLogix Program Into Connected Components Workbench (M4E35)


In this episode I demonstrate how CCW 11 allows you to import any MicroLogix program (but not SLC-500 programs) (Episode 35 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Migrate / Convert – Logix, Micro800: Seven Things Studio 5000 Users Need To Know About CCW

If you’re familiar with Studio 5000 (or RSLogix 5000) and find yourself in the position of having to write a program for a Micro800, below are seven CCW tips to help you get started:

1) Controller Organizer:

In Studio 5000 Logix Designer, the Controller Organizer starts with the Controller itself under which Controller Tags are nested, followed by Tasks with Programs, Tags, and Routines nested underneath:

CCW’s Project Organizer starts with the Controller, then Programs with Tags and Routines blow them, followed by Globals:

2) Global vs Local Tags:

In Studio 5000 there are Controller Tags which are Globally Scoped, as well as Parameters and Local Tags (formerly Program Tags) found in each Program and which can be Local or Globally Scoped:

In CCW, each Program has its own Local Variables, and the entire project also contains Global Variables:

3) Tag Browser:

Studio 5000 has a powerful “drop-down” Tag Browser which is accessible by selecting the address field as shown below:

The “drop down” Variable Selector in CCW, which is also accessible by selecting the address field, is merely a simple linear list that I’ve not found much use for aside from selecting I/O addresses:

Instead, I prefer the tabbed “pop-up” Variable Selector which is accessed by double clicking on the the instruction instead of clicking on the address field:

4) Setting your Project Path:

In Studio 5000 it’s easy to choose your project’s path by selecting the RSWho button on the Path toolbar:

In CCW, setting your project path is a little more involved.

  • First double click on the Controller in the Project Organizer.
  • The select the Connection Path link under the Connect button on the top right of the window.
  • Finally, select Browse from the Set Connect Path pop-up window to launch the Connection Browser with RSWho window:

5) Verifying your Project:

Verifying your entire project in Studio 5000 can be completed by using the menu as shown, or selecting the Toolbar button with the Computer with Green Check-mark icon:

Verifying your CCW project is done by selecting “Build” from the Device menu, or by clicking on the Toolbar Button with a Black Down Arrow icon:

6) Downloading:

Downloading using Studio 5000 can be done through the Communications menu, or by using the Offline drop down selection on the toolbar:

Downloading from CCW can be done using the Tooolbar button with the Blue Down Arrow icon, or by opening the Controller page and then selecting the Download Button as shown below:

NOTE: You will typically want to select “Download with Project Values,” unless you want to zero out all non-initialized tags.

7) Saving a Project to a single file:

Saving a project to a single file (.acd) so it can be easily shared is as simple as choosing Save or Save As in Studio 5000:

In CCW, to save your project to a single file you’ll need to choose Export Project and save your project as an Archive (.ccwarc) file:


If you’d like to listen to a related discussion, check out Episode 34 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:



For more CCW tips for Studio 500 users, check out Rockwell’s guide below:

If you have an thoughts or opinions on this topic, you can share them by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Migrate / Convert – Logix, Micro800: Seven Things Studio 5000 Users Need To Know About CCW (M4E34)


In this episode I review the highlights of Rockwell’s CCW Guide for Studio 5000 users (Episode 34 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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PanelView Plus 6, 7 – Managing Users and Group from a Running Application

In the early years of the PanelView Plus, user management was limited to logging in, logging out, and changing one’s own password.

For many companies who required operators to log in before using HMIs, this limitation often lead to the expense of contracting OEMs or Integrators to make simple User, Group, and Password edits to their HMI applications.

Fortunately, in version 8 of FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Rockwell added the following new runtime user management options:


Add User/Group:

Delete User/Group:

Change User Properties:

Modify Group Membership:

Unlock User:

Enable User:

Disable User:


How To Add User and Group Management to your FactoryTalk View Machine Edition 8+ application:

To make use of these new features in FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition 8 or greater, first insure you already have the users and groups created under runtime security:

Next, create a graphic display that, only those who will manage the HMI’s users and groups, are allowed to access:

Now add the User Management Objects to the display that you want your User Managers to have access to:

Finally, add a “goto” display button to one of your existing displays to display your new user management display.

You may also want to add visibility to your “goto” button, so only your User Managers can see the “goto” button. In this example the user managers have security code “M”:

Finally, create a new runtime matching the version and firmware of your existing PanelView Plus or Machine Edition runtime, then download and run it on your HMI:

Note: For an an example of the above, check out the free demo application, “User Mgmt Demo,” which comes with FactoryTalk View Studio 8+:


If you’d like to listen to a discussion of the above, check out Episode 33 of The Automation Minute below:



You can share your questions, thoughts, and opinions on this article by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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PanelView Plus 6, 7 – Managing Users and Group from a Running Application (M4E33)


In this episode I discuss how Rockwell enabled the editing of users and groups from running ViewME and PanelView Plus applications (Episode 33 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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On Sale: Seasons 1-4 of The Automation Minute

Seasons one through four of The Automation Minute are now on sale for just $9.99 each!

And for anyone who would like to pickup multiple seasons, I’ve created the discount code, TAM25, which will save you another 25%!

When you purchase a season, you no only get lifetime access to download the video files, you can also stream them completely commercial free anywhere you have an internet connection!

Seasons One through Three contain fifty plus episodes each, with a total average runtime just shy of three hours.

Season Four is currently up to Episode 32, and as each new episode is released it will also be added to the Season Four bundle.

To find out more, click here or navigate to https://theautomationschool.com/courses/the-automation-minute/

And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me by clicking on the comment link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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Where Do You Get Your Automation News Online?

Which-Automation-Websites-Do-You-Visit

Many of us can’t afford the time or expense required to travel to industry trade shows to learn what’s new and coming in industrial automation.

And even those of us located near major metropolitan areas, which seem to have no shortage of vendors willing to provide updates, taking time out of our busy days can still be a challenge.

With that in mind, I wanted to reach out to see which websites you find the most useful for staying up to date on automation industry news and new product releases.

So if you have a moment, please vote in the poll on the right by selecting those automation websites you visit most often, or add your own favorite sites by selecting the “other” option and filling in the text field.

Thanks in advance for taking part!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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What’s New In Connected Components Workbench V11? (P43)

I review the new features of Connected Components Workbench v11 in Episode 43 of The Automation Podcast.


Watch the Podcast:


Listen to the Podcast:

Audio Player

Learn about other releases:

Check out our coverage of other releases of CCW below:

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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CCW – v11: What’s New in Connected Components Workbench

Earlier this month Rockwell released version 11 of Connected Components Workbench.

Below I’ll summarize the new features as documented in the release notes, and I hope to cover some of these new features in more depth in the coming weeks:

New Features:

  • Support for the new Micro870, 2085-EP24VDC, and 2080-MEMBAK-RTC2
  • New Micro800 2080-MOT-HSC plug-in instructions (HSCE, HSCE_CFG,HSCE_CFG_PLS, HSCE_READ_STS, HSCE_SET_STS)
  • New Micro800 instructions based on Micrologix equivilents (LFL, LFU)
  • MicroLogix to Micro800 Conversion Tool 4.00 now installs with CCW and has been expanded to also support the Micrologix 1100, 1200, 1400 and 1500
  • Several Spectrum Controls 2085 expansion module profiles are now automatically installed, including those for the 2085sc-IF16C, IF16V, IF8u, and OF8.
  • PanelView 800 DesignStation palette increased to 65k colors
  • DesignStation Symbol library now arranged in categories to improve ease of use
  • DesignStation now supports font and screensaver downloads
  • Installation wizard now aligned with other Rockwell products and supports Record and Playback feature

Enhanced features

  • Module Profile Tool 2.00 now supports plug-in and expansion module profiles from Encompass products
  • Micro800 Fault diagnostics view upgraded to display several of the last recoverable and non-recoverable faults
  • UDFB/UDF local variables now support unlimited UDFB/UDF local variables

Corrected Anomalies

  • If the “Current” updater is installed with CCW it will no longer check for updates every day, but once every thirty days instead.
  • Ladder logic branch execution no longer depends on the order of
    parallel branches, making CCW now function in the same way as the MicroLogix controllers.

For a complete list of New Features, New Products supported, and Anomalies, see the official product release notes.


Learn about other releases:

Check out our coverage of other releases of CCW below:

Find out more:

If you would like to view the Connected Components Workbench 11.0 release notes, head over to Rockwell’s Product Versions webpage, then search on and select Connected Components Workbench from the list.

Once all the versions are loaded, click on the document icon as shown below:


If you’d like to listen to a discussion of the above, check out Episode 43 of The Automation Podcast below:



So, what do you think of the new features of Connected Components Workbench 11?

Will you jump in and install v11 right away because of the added features or hardware support?

You can share your thoughts and opinions by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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View Studio ME – How User and Group Security Was Improved In Version 8

FactoryTalk View 8 Splash

FactoryTalk View 8 SplashIn previous articles I discussed how in version 4 of FactoryTalk View Studio, Rockwell migrated the security system to FactoryTalk Security and the local FactoryTalk Directory (FTD).

This change enabled the sharing of Users and Groups between FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ViewME) and other products, which also supported using the local FTD.

However, for end users who had to maintain Rockwell’s PanelView Plus terminals, many of which come in on OEM equipment, the change was seen more as a hurdle than an enhancement.

This was because many end users use HMI security to limit the changing of system setpoints and other critical control variables to qualified operators.

As pointed out in my previous articles, editing ViewME applications version 4 through 7 that contain runtime security could be a trying experience for those who didn’t create the applications in the first place.

But in version 8 of ViewME, Rockwell apparently came to the conclusion that the added complexity of using FTD with ViewME outweighed the benefits, and they changed the software so the security information again resided in the application itself (as it had before version 4 was released.)

Now, when you restored a ViewME Application Archive in version 8, you were no longer offered the option to restore the FTD as all the Users and Groups were now part of the application and not the local directory.

While this change did mean you could no longer have the ability to share ViewME Users and Groups with other applications, the advantage of not having to archive all your ViewME applications whenever you needed to open an application from another computer or directory, was well worth it.

So if you’re still using View Studio versions 4 through 7, and are running into issues restoring ViewME applications along with the corresponding Users and Groups, I’d highly recommend upgrading to version 8 or higher.

If you are unable to upgrade from versions 4 through 7, I’d recommend checking out my previous article on how you can safely restore those old ViewME applications along with their Users and Groups:


If you’d like to watch a video discussion of the above, check out Episode 32 of The Automation Minute Season 4, below:



If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter!

And if you’d like to share your thoughts, opinions, or questions on this article you can do so by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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View Studio ME – How User and Group Security Was Improved In Version 8 (M4E32)


In this episode I discuss how Rockwell improved saving and restoring FT View ME User & Group Security (Episode 32 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)




If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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View Studio ME – How To Safely Restore Application Users and Groups

Restoring FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ViewME) Applications from an Application Archive (.apa) file is typically a straight forward endeavor.

One exception is when you’re restoring a pre-6.1 application on a 64bit OS using FactoryTalk View versions 6.1 through 9.0, and I cover those issues in the below articles:

Another exception (and the one this article in about) is when you’re trying to restore FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ViewME) applications that include User and Group security created on a different PC in versions 4 through 7.

The reason for this is, versions 4 through 7 of ViewME uses the local FacotryTalk Directory (FTD) to store Users and Groups, and you can only have one local FTD active on your PC at any given time.

And by default, when you restore a ViewME application the local FTD for that application (which contains its Users and Groups) is not restored because it would orvewright your existing local FactoryTalk Directory.

So to be sure you don’t lose your current local Directory, while still being able to restore and edit version 4-7 applications from other PCs, follow the below steps:

Step 1) To insure you don’t lose the security settings for your current applications, the first step is to backup ALL of the View Machine Edition AND View Site Edition Local Applications on your PC.

You do so using the Application Manager, and you can find a step-by-step procedure in my article here:

Step 2) Now that all your local FactoryTalk View applications have been backed up, run the Application Manager again:

Step 3) Then select Machine Edition, and click on Next:

Step 4) Now select Restore application, and click on Next:

Step 5) Then browse for and select your Application Archive (.apa) file and select Next:

Step 6) Here you’ll need to select the second option to also restore the application’s local FactoryTalk Directory:

Important: Only do this is you have already backed up your applications as directed in Step 1

Step 7) Press OK to confirm you have read the warning that your current local FactoryTalk Directory will be overwritten:

Step 8) After the application is restored, you may be prompted to log back into the local FactoryTalk directory. You can typically do so by using your Windows logon:

Step 9) Now you should be able to open the application you just restored, and edit it including its User and Group Runtime Security:

Step 10) Don’t forget to backup your application when you’re done editing it. And to restore any other APA files with their FTDs if you need to edit any of those projects.

If you forget to restore the FTD with a version 4-7 project that has security, you’ll likely see Security ID’s in place of Users and Groups in the Runtime Security settings.

This indicates the current local FactoryTalk Directory is not the same as the one used with the open application.


If you’d like to watch a video discussion of the above, check out Episode 31 of The Automation Minute Season 4, below:



If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter!

And if you’d like to share your thoughts, opinions, or questions on this article you can do so by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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