Insights In Automation’s
PanelView Plus Index (63)
Updated on April 8th, 2015
Today we’re featuring all the articles, podcasts, and videos we’ve done on the PanelView Plus.
If there’s a new PanelView topic you’d like to see covered, please let us know by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.
Easy Way To Migrate FactoryTalk View Projects To Windows 7 64 bit
March 25, 2015
Last May in this article I covered the procedure for migrating FactoryTalk ViewStudio projects to Windows 7 Profession 64 bit by using Rockwell’s legacy tag database conversion utility. In today’s article we’ll discuss an easier way to migrate your old 32bit APA’s that also doesn’t require access to a PC running a 32bit OS. The easy way to migrate …
Is the PanelView Plus 7 Standard Right For You?
February 9, 2015
With Rockwell’s release of the PanelView Plus 7 Standard last month, I’ve begun to receive “migration” inquires from PanelView Plus 6 users. However, unlike the PanelView Plus 6 which replaced the original PanelView Plus, the PanelView Plus 7 is a new line with unique features which must be considered before a decision …
The Automation Blog’s “Best Of 2014? PanelView blogs
December 30, 2014
Welcome to the second article in our “Best of 2014? series. Today we’ll list the seven most popular PanelView blogs of 2014. As we mentioned yesterday, older blogs have a distinct advantage as they’ve been around longer than newer ones. With that in mind, it doesn’t surprise me to see a couple of our “Best of 2013 …
The PanelView Plus 7 As Seen At Automation Fair 2014
December 1, 2014
The PanelView Plus 7 was on public display at Automation Fair this year, and here’s what I found out about it: 1) The PanelView Plus 7 Standard being released first The plastic bezel, standard version of the PVPlus 7 is being released first, with the higher end, aluminum bezel, performance …
How To Download Rockwell’s PlantPAx Library Of Process Objects
November 5, 2014
Rockwell’s PlantPAx Library of Process Objects recently became available to the public without requiring a support contract. In today’s article I’ll walk you through the steps you take to download this library. Steps To Download Rockwell’s PlantPAx Library Of Process Objects Step 1: Navigate to http://www.ab.com, then on the left hand side …
The PanelView Plus High-Bright Display – Seven Things You Should Know
October 13, 2014
I’ve received many questions about the PanelView Plus High-Bright display over the last few weeks, and today I want to share with you seven things you should know about it: 1) It’s Bright! While the standard PanelView Plus display is rated for 300 cd/m2 (Nits,) the PanelView Plus High-Bright Display is much brighter, …
PanelView Plus 7 Released
October 8, 2014
Last week Rockwell released the first new models in it’s PanelView Plus 7 Standard family of HMI’s. While not all the PanelView Plus 7 models are available at launch, the documentation shows the standard family will include the following models: PanelView Plus 7 Standard 400W Part Number: 2711P-T4W21D8S Display Size: 4.3-in. Resolution: 480 …
Remote I/O PanelView to PanelView Plus Communications Configuration Migration
October 1, 2014
When importing a PanelView RIO project, there’s one crucial step you don’t want to miss! Over the years I’ve received many calls from clients struggling with the conversion of Remote I/O (RIO) PanelViews. Most found it easy enough to import their old PanelView projects into FactoryTalk View Studio. But when came to setting up …
Importing Legacy PanelView Projects Into FactoryTalk View Studio
September 29, 2014
Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio HMI/SCADA development software comes with the built-in ability to import old PanelView Projects. In today’s article, I’ll walk you through the steps to do just that. Importing legacy PanelView Projects into FactoryTalk View Studio Step 1) Start by opening FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition. When prompted with the below …
Everything you need to know about the PanelView Plus, Part 5
September 26, 2014
Twenty Five things you need to know about using the PanelView Plus and View Studio Part 5 of 5 Downloading runtime files to your PanelView Plus 21) The PanelView Plus IP address is set via its configuration mode screen. The PanelView Plus IP address is set via its configuration mode screen. By …
Everything you need to know about the PanelView Plus, Part 4
September 25, 2014
Twenty Five things you need to know about using the PanelView Plus and View Studio Part 4 of 5 Browsing for Tags 16) When your Shortcut shows up as a Tag When browsing for Tags, if your RSLinx Enterprise shortcut shows up on the right side as a tag, your RSLinx Enterprise …
Everything you need to know about the PanelView Plus, Part 3
September 24, 2014
Twenty Five things you need to know about using the PanelView Plus and View Studio Part 3 of 5 Exporting and Importing Tags 11) ViewStudio HMI Tags can be exported and imported ViewStudio HMI tags can be exported and imported to / from CSV files using the “Tag Import/Export” utility that comes with …
Everything you need to know about the PanelView Plus, Part 2
September 23, 2014
Twenty Five things you need to know about using the PanelView Plus and View Studio Part 2 of 5 Setting up communications 6) Never create RSLinx Enterprise shortcut names with spaces or non-alpha characters Never create RSLinx Enterprise shortcut names with spaces or any character besides alpha, numeric and underscores (“_”) Also, never …
Everything you need to know about the PanelView Plus, Part 1
September 22, 2014
Twenty Five things you need to know about using the PanelView Plus and View Studio Part 1 of 5 Installation: 1) Always install the software in order Always install the software in the order found in the CD menu. Then reboot your PC after you have installed at a minimum these …
FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Version 8 Released!
August 29, 2014
Rockwell Automation just released the latest version of its FactoryTalk View product. Without any fanfare, FactoryTalk View Machine Edition version 8 became available for download earlier this week. This was a pleasant surprise to many of Rockwell’s own employees and distributors who had expected it to come out much later in the year. But even better …
The PanelView Plus 7: What We Know So Far
August 22, 2014
Frustratingly, I can not find ANYTHING about a possible “PanelView Plus 7? published publically by Rockwell Automation. I’m frustrated not only because I’m a big PanelView Plus fan, but also because the rumors state it’s suppose to be releasing around the first of the year. Yeah, I know: Once bitten twice shy…
Video: FactoryTalk View Logix Tag Browsing
August 5, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 10, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio Logix Tag Browsing.
Video: FactoryTalk View HMI Tag Browsing
July 29, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 9, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio HMI Tag Browsing.
Video: FactoryTalk View HMI Tag Address Browsing
July 22, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 8, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio HMI Tag Address Browsing.
Video: FactoryTalk View Importing PLC-5 & SLC-500 Tags
July 15, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 7, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio importing of PLC-5 and SLC-500 Tags.
Video: RSLinx Enterprise Re-enabling Serial Port
July 8, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 6, Shawn Tierney walks you through re-enabling the serial port in RSLinx Enterprise’s Target Tab.
Video: RSLinx Enterprise Copy Local Tab to Target Tab
July 1, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 5, Shawn Tierney walks you through copying the Local Tab to the Target Tab in Rockwell’s RSLinx Enterprise.
How To Check Your RSLinx Enterprise Shortcut on a PanelView Plus
June 30, 2014
So you’re on the plant floor with your new PanelView Plus runtime file (.MER) freshly downloaded and your screen is showing the tell tale signs that theirs no communication. If you like many people, sometime during the development cycle you learn how to disable the “information” pop-up window. Unfortunately, that same …
Video: RSLinx Enterprise Adding Logix PACs
June 24, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 4, Shawn Tierney walks you through adding Logix PLC’s on the Local Tab of Rockwell’s RSLinx Enterprise.
Video: RSLinx Enterprise Target Tab Setup
June 17, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 3, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s RSLinx Enterprise Target Tab Setup.
Connecting a PanelView Plus to a SLC-500 Channel 0 Serial Port
June 16, 2014
When looking to upgrade older PanelView 550 or 600 models, it’s common to consider the PanelView Plus 600 as a suitable replacement. For starters, most of the new PVPlus models will fit in the older PanelView cutouts. And, Panelbuilder32 programs import into View Studio mostly intact. Note: For more information about migrating …
Video: RSLinx Enterprise Local Tab Setup
June 10, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 2, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s RSLinx Enterprise Local Tab Setup.
Video: FactoryTalk View Communications Basics
June 3, 2014
In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 1, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio Communications Basics.
How to Migrate FactoryTalk View Projects to Windows 7 64 bit
May 28, 2014
So you just got a new laptop with Windows 7 64 pre-installed? Welcome to the wonderful world of 64 bit computing! By the way, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can’t open any of your old FactoryTalk View APA files in your new 64 bit OS. Well, not …
How to edit a PanelView Plus (ViewME) MER Runtime file
May 26, 2014
Recently a client asked how they would go about editing a PanelView Plus .MER file that their customer had sent them. Unfortunately, this is not always a simple answer. Converting a version 5.0 or greater .MER runtime file back into an editable project If you’re using FactoryTalk ViewStudio 7.0 on Windows 7 64 bit, …
What are PlantPAx Process Objects?
May 21, 2014
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about PlantPAx lately. Specifically about PlantPAx as it pertains to HMI and SCADA systems. While PlantPAx is a very wide and broad topic, when I get the above question it typically relates to Rockwell’s highly developed faceplates, formerly known as the “PlantPAx Library of Process Objects.” The …
Why does it take my PanelView Plus several minutes to boot?
March 17, 2014
I recently had a customer call with a very strange issue: His PanelView Plus was taking over 5 minutes to boot. Calls to tech support and several other troubleshooting steps lead nowhere. Not knowing what else to do, I asked the client if he could send me his HMI and PLC …
Podcast: Accessing the configuration mode of the PanelView Plus
March 3, 2014
In The Automation Podcast: Episode 15, we discuss how to access the configuration mode of the PanelView Plus.
Podcast: Transferring projects to your Allen-Bradley HMI using a USB Flash Drive
February 27, 2014
In The Automation Podcast: Episode 14, we discuss transferring projects to your Allen-Bradley HMI, including the PanelView Plus and Component, using a USB Flash Drive.
Graphically enhancing your PanelView Plus or ViewSE project
February 12, 2014
Most of the modern HMI projects I’ve seen look as if they escaped from the 70’s. I mean, why spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a modern HMI if your screens are going to consist of large square buttons and numeric displays? To be fair, there’s often not enough time in the design schedule for polishing …
Using the Tag Import And Export Wizard with FactoryTalk ViewStudio (or RSView32)
January 29, 2014
If you’re using FactoryTalk ViewStudio (aka RSViewStudio) or RSView32 with a PLC-5, SLC-500, or MicroLogix, it often makes sense to import your tags and descriptions from the comments and symbols in your PLC program. There are actually two means of import tags into View. In today’s article we’ll cover how to import your tags using the “Tag Import …
Importing PLC and SLC tags into FactoryTalk ViewStudio (or RSView32)
January 27, 2014
If you’re using FactoryTalk ViewStudio (aka RSViewStudio) or RSView32 with a PLC-5, SLC-500, or MicroLogix, it often makes sense to import your tags and descriptions from the comments and symbols in your PLC program. There are actually two means of import tags into View. In today’s article, we’ll cover how to import your tags directly into the HMI …
Flashing your PanelView Plus 6 firmware using a memory card step-by-step
January 15, 2014
Earlier in the week in this blog post we discussed how flashing a PanelView Plus 6 over the network could take hours. Today we’ll take you step-by-step through a quicker way of flashing your PVPlus 6 by doing so using a memory card. Flashing your PanelView Plus 6 firmware using a …
Is flashing your PanelView Plus 6 taking hours? Here’s a trick to get it done under 5 minutes.
January 13, 2014
Last week a client told me it was taking him up to four hours to flash the firmware on his PanelView Plus 6. In fact, it takes so long he avoids doing it whenever possible. I honestly hadn’t flashed my PVPlus 6 in quite some time, so I downloaded the …
The Automation Blog’s “Best Of 2013? Human Machine Interface blogs
December 31, 2013
Welcome to the second article in our “Best of 2013? series. Today we focus on our seven most popular Human Machine Interface (HMI) blogs. As we noted yesterday, our older blogs have a distinct advantage when compared to our newer blogs because they have been around much longer and had the opportunity to get more …
Rockwell’s Water Waste Water Accelerator Toolkit
December 23, 2013
Rockwell’s Water Waste Water Accelerator Toolkit (WWWAT for short) is designed to reduce engineering and development time around Water and Waste Water applications. This “Accelerator Toolkit” is also designed for use with RSLogix5000 and FactoryTalk View Site Edition. The initial download is roughly 510mb and is in the form of an “.exe” install file. Once downloaded …
DataStore Plus “step by step” setup in FactoryTalk ViewStudio
December 11, 2013
Earlier in the week we described what the DataStore Plus ActiveX was. Today we walk you through the steps you need to take to add it to a FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition project. Basic steps to setup the DataStore Plus ActiveX in ViewStudio: Create and configure a new “on top” display to host the DataStore Plus ActiveX …
Rockwell’s DataStore Plus extension for the PanelView Plus 6
December 9, 2013
Last week I was contacted by an OEM for my advice on the best way to create reports that customers could view in Microsoft Excel. Since his equipment was outfitted with the PanelView Plus 6, I suggested the first option we should discuss would be the one already built-in to his existing HMI: Rockwell’s DataStore Plus ActiveX extension. FactoryTalk View Machine Edition …
FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition: What comes in the box?
December 4, 2013
What actually comes in a package of FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition? We’ll show and explain all the contents in today’s blog. ViewStudio Machine Edition Packaging ViewStudio, like most Rockwell Software, comes in a plastic “clam shell” style box. On the front is the product name and logo. On the back is the part number, …
Seven things you need to know before using the PanelView Plus
November 26, 2013
I still run into clients who are just beginning to use the PanelView Plus, even though it was released a decade ago. So for all everyone out there who is new to the PanelView Plus, here are seven things you need to know: 1) PanelView Plus hardware features: The original PanelView Plus came in four …
How to use FactoryTalk ViewPoint
November 8, 2013
Yesterday in this article I described how to download and install FactoryTalk ViewPoint. Today I’ll walk you through how to use FactoryTalk ViewPoint to publish content for a FTView Machine Edition application destined to run on a PanelView Plus. NOTE: ViewPoint supports running on the PanelView Plus and ViewSE, but does not support ViewME station runtimes on …
How do you get FactoryTalk ViewPoint?
November 7, 2013
In a blog post last week I described ViewPoint as a software package which adds webserver capabilities to the PanelView Plus and FactoryTalk View Site Edition (aka Supervisory Edition.) However, before you can publish your FactoryTalk View Studio graphic displays using ViewPoint, you’ll need to download and install it first. In today’s article I’ll show you where to …
Can you save FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition 6.0 projects as a previous version?
November 4, 2013
Back on August 20th I blogged here about if it was possible to save a FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition version 7.0 project as a previous version. I found that while you could open a v7 project in v6.1 by saving the project as a v6.1 MER, you could not open any older MER’s in …
What is ViewPoint?
November 1, 2013
Many clients have asked me, “What is ViewPoint?” Simply put, ViewPoint is an extension to FactoryTalk View Site Edition and the PanelView Plus which adds web server functionality to the FactoryTalk View project. Web Client Compatibility When Rockwell implemented ViewPoint, they did so as a Silverlight browser plugin that works well on …
Using an Apple iPad or iPhone to monitor and control your Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus
October 30, 2013
Last week I had the opportunity to show a client how to use his Apple iPad and iPhone to remotely control his PanelView Plus 6. Afterwards, I thought it would make an excellent blog post. The first step is to setup your PanelView Plus as a VNC server, and we covered how to …
Remotely controlling your Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus using VNC
October 28, 2013
In today’s article we’ll discuss how you can remotely monitor and control your Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus using VNC (Virtual Network Computing.) The ability to use handheld devices with HMI or SCADA systems has been around for a long time. In fact, in the picture to the right you can see me …
PanelView Plus 6 Compact requires ME Transfer Utility version 7.0
September 17, 2013
A client recently called me about issues he was having downloading to his new PanelView Plus 6 Compact. He was using FactoryTalk ViewStudio version 6.1 which was the same version as the firmware on the unit. But, when he browsed for the panel in RSLinx Enterprise, at best he received a …
Replacing a PanelView 550 with a PanelView Plus
September 16, 2013
Recently, a client called asking if it would be possible to replace a PanelView 550 with a new PanelView Plus. The answer is yes, but the ease of doing so will depend greatly on the model. Note: In this article we’ll focus on the physical replacement, leaving the software migration …
Panelview Plus with Remote I/O support
September 4, 2013
With the release of the PanelView Plus 6 700-1500, Rockwell chose to no longer support the legacy Remote I/O (RIO) network. However, for users who still need to replace old RIO PanelViews, Rockwell has made several new catalog numbers for the original Panelview Plus with firmware 5.1 and RIO support available. These models (listed below) all …
Downloading the updated View Machine Edition / PanelView Plus Transfer Utility from Rockwell Allen-Bradley (A-B)
August 29, 2013
I’ve been getting a lot of calls from clients who have FactoryTalk ViewStudio 5.0, but need to download their Machine Edition runtime application (.mer) to a PanelView Plus 6.0. I’ve previously wrote about how to use a USB flash drive to transfer an .mer file, but since its more convenient to …
Can you save a FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition 7.0 project as a previous version?
August 20, 2013
A client recently asked how he could save or export a FactoryTalk ViewStudio Machine Edition 7.0 project as a previous, older version. As FactoryTalk ViewStudio users know, there is no way to perform a “save project as” a previous version in the software. However, the software does allow for saving runtime files (.mer) as previous versions, …
FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition (ViewME) and PanelView Plus (PVPlus) Quick Start Videos from Rockwell Allen-Bradley (A-B)
August 13, 2013
Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition (ViewME) and PanelView Plus (PVPlus) can be a little challenging for new users to learn. I still remember my own frustration trying to setup RSLinx Enterprise for the first time when I received my beta copy of FactoryTalk View Studio 3.0 back in late 2003. Since then, Rockwell has released …
Using DH-485 On The New PanelView Plus 6 400 And 600
August 1, 2013
Most of the original PanelView Plus 400 and 600 models accepted an optional communications module, and the following were available: 2711P-RN3 DH-485 communication module 2711P-RN8 DH+ communication module 2711P-RN15C ControlNet communication module 2711P-RN22C RS-232 isolated communication module However, with the release of the new PanelView Plus 6 400 and 600, we lose the …
How To Automatically Run A USB Flash Drive Script On The PanelView Plus
July 31, 2013
On Monday and Tuesday we discussed how to access the “Configuration Mode” of the PanelView Plus and PanelView Plus 6. One additional way we did not yet cover is using an “autorun.bat” file on a USB Memory Stick (aka USB Thumb Drive, USB Flash Drive.) These script are written to automatically move all …
Why Is The White Box Missing On My PanelView Plus? Why Doesn’t F1 Bring Up Configuration Mode?
July 30, 2013
Why is the PanelView Plus “Goto Config Mode” white box missing on boot? Why doesn’t pressing F1 on boot bring me to the PanelView Plus configuration mode? Yesterday we discussed how to get into the “Configuration Mode” of a PanelView Plus, and we learned the easiest way to do so was to either put a “Goto Config” …
How To Access The PanelView Plus Configuration Mode
July 29, 2013
When powering on a PanelView Plus for the first time, its boots up to the main Configuration Mode menu screen. From here, the user has several options: Load an application from internal memory, of from a Compact Flash Card (versions 3.0-5.1,) SD Card (versions 6.0-7.0,) or from most USB Flash Drives. Run the loaded application Edit the …
Transferring Runtime Files (.mer) To PanelView Plus Using USB Flash Drive
July 26, 2013
The ability to transfer Rockwell Software’s FactoryTalk View Machine Edition runtime files (.mer) to the PanelView Plus and PanelView Plus 6 using standard USB Memory Stick (aka USB flash drive, USB thumb drive) is a handy feature, if you know how exactly to do it. In most cases you’ld typically download the runtime file …
Easy way to edit or create large numbers of FactoryTalk View Machine Edition alarm messages
July 9, 2013
When you have hundreds or even thousands of alarm messages to add to your FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (View ME) project, this little trick can be really helpful. To start, enter a few alarm messages of each type you’ll need into the View ME Alarm Setup Message Editor to act as your template. …
I hope the above article listing all our blogs, podcasts, and videos about the PanelView Plus was helpful.
If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, please feel free to leave them with us by filling out 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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