FT-110 / FT-125 Data Logger Configuration and Operation

Prerequisite: Read the EnTronics OPC Data logger manual to get familiar with the program
screen components. If not already installed, follow the installation instructions.

Introduction

The OPC Data Logger is an independent program that allows the user to configure a 'datlog'
file for monitoring and data logging. The software allows continuous logging of data or can
be configured to have logging started and stopped automatically by use of a trigger channel.

The program does not require that the application be present on the PC that is logging. The
logging program does require the controller tagnames but these are made available from the
controller via an OPC information file when communications is established with the OPC
Server.

Create an OPC Logger File

Open the OPC Data Logger Utility from the Start/Program menu.

A blank datlog screen appears

Before data can actually be logged, the program needs to create either a new map file
(datlog) or open an existing file, which contains a list of all the items to be logged along with
the required data source for the items and the selected logging rate.

Once created the map files are normally stored with the project or in a separate directory. The
map file extension ends in .rdl and contains no data but is a list of device names originating
from the tag database of the FT-110 or FT-125.

Create a New Logger Map File

To create a new Logger map file select File / New or

clicking on the blank page below the File menu.

Initially the title bar indicates the default name of the

.rdl map file is called Datlog1. This should be
renamed to indicate something meaningful.
StartFuel would be an example of a map file that
monitors select fuel components during a start, GG
Lube Oil would be a map file that monitors lube oil
system components.

With a new file selected,

the centre screen will
appear white instead of
gray and the message
READY appears in the
bottom left corner in the
Status bar.

Even though no devices

have been selected, the
file can be saved and
configured later.

Although the file can be

saved to any location on
the hard drive, it is best
to save the file to a
specific project directory
since inputs and outputs
can change from project
to project.
Select an OPC Server

Before an individual unit can be selected for

logging, the software must detect the OPC server
that communicates with the units. On the Main
Menu Select OPC - only one selection is currently
highlighted, select OPC Server (F2). The OPC
server selection window appears.

In this example, several OPC Servers are

available. The Flexitrend OP Server was
detected and should be used to log data
from an FT-110, the RSLinx OPC Server
was detected and should be used to log
data from an FT-125.

Selecting the required server will fill in

the server name box. Select OK to
confirm the selection.

The logger software is not actually capable of getting

data directly from the FT-110 or Ft-125 but only
displays it or stores data to the hard drive. Data is
made available to the logger software by additional
software packages.

In the case of the FT-110 the FT OPC Server gathers the data and the FT Comm Server
establishes communications between the FT OPC Server and the FT110. Both software
packages are automatically launched when the Flexitrend OPC Server was selected.

In the case of the FT-125 the RS Linx Classic program will act as both OPC Server and the
communications link to the ControlLogix 500 System.

Once communication has been established with the server and units the Data Logger is now
ready to be configured.
Verify the OPC Server is Running

We are now ready to configure the points or devices

that we would like to monitor but first we need to
verify the OPC Server is in communications with the
FT110 controller.

From the main menu select OPC/Server Status,

for an FT-110 the window shown below appears.
It includes the current running status of the OPC
Server and when it was started. Note the
message at the bottom of the screen that the
server is running. With the server running we can
assume that communications has been
established with the FT110 and is functioning

For an FT-125 the server status windows will

appear as below.

Once communications has been established,

the OPC server reads the FT110 controller
database and displays the information in the
point configuration screen. The server status
screen should report that the server is
running, the time the server was started and
the current time. An additional window
shows when the server was last started.

Close the Properties window if the server is running.

If communication has not been established:

For an FT-110 verify that both the FT Comm Server and the OPC Servers have been
installed and configured properly.

For an FT-125 verify that RSLinx Classic is installed and licensed correctly, running and
that the ‘topic’ for the unit that you are trying to log from has been configured under the OPC
Server Menu.
Adding Log Items

To select the points or channels that we want to

monitor, select OPC\Add Items (F3) from the Main
menu. The Add Items screen below appears.

The add items screen for an FT-110 is shown below.

The screen area on the left mimics

the Units / Database Structure
configuration detected by the OPC
server. It consists of a list of the
RTU’s that the server has detected.
Expanding the branches allows the
user to view not only the Analog and
Digital database from the Controller
but also to access the point
monitored by each FT110 I/O card
directly.

The add item screen for an FT-125 is shown below

The screen area on the left

mimics the Controller Tags
section of the ControlLogix
application detected by the OPC
server. The root projects listed
will be those defined by the Topic
Names in the RSLinx OPC
Server.
To add an item from the FT-110 controller
database, click on the plus sign next to the
RTU and select the desired controller. The
figure on the right has the Analog database
of Controller 1 selected in the left window
while the right window displays all the items
in the analog database. These items are
now listed Alpha/Numerically and not by
associated controller channel number. This
makes it considerably easier to find the
required items when configuring the log.

By selecting one or more items from the list

and pressing the Add Item(s) button adds
those items to the list of the Main Logger
screen.

For the FT-125 the OPC

Server topic should be
selected and then the
online option selected. The
associated tags in the
controller tag list will then
be shown on the right hand
screen area as shown on
the left.

By selecting one or more

items from the list and
pressing the Add
Item(s)button adds those
items to the list of the Main
Logger screen. Multiple
selections can be made
using the ‘ctl’ key to add
individual items or the
‘shift’ key to select groups
of items.

In this example from an FT-110 log our analog

database entries indicate that the database is
contained in Controller 1, which occupies Slot
11 of RTU#42.
On an FT-110 is possible to log directly from the
I/O card, if this is required then it is necessary to
expand the configuration tree until the I/O cards
are visible. Expand the desired card and click on
a card point. Items available include the value of
the point as seen by the card, and all the status
points of the card.

The example below shows a datlog

configured to log the physical input value
from the Digital Input Trip Card located in
Slot J1 in Rack on RTU 42.

Function Buttons

Trigger Setup Determines how data is to be collected. Options include manual data
(F4) logging and automatic data logging which allows the user to
determine a trigger point and how much data to collect before and
after the trigger has occurred.
Monitor (F5) Allows the user to simply monitor mapped channels without logging
data. Screen update rates can be adjusted to suit the user.

Log Data (F6)

Pressing the Log Data button starts the data logging process.
Pressing the button again stops the logging process when in manual
data logging mode. In automatic logging, pressing the button starts
the process and when the trigger occurs, the logging process
automatically stops.

CBPlot (F7) Launches the graph / plotting program manually.

In many instances it is desirable to just view the contents of a group of related channels such
as bearing temperatures or vibration levels of a unit. We could use the FT110 database but
the desired channels may be spread over 8000 channels and not easily viewable. With the
logger software the user can configure any number of map files and at any time recall them
for either logging or just monitoring.

Pressing the Monitor button displays the data values in the Value column next to each item
in the tag list of the main logger window. Although data collection may be set for 50 ms as
indicated on the logger screen, data is updated to the screen only once every 1000 ms (1
sec). To change the screen update rate, open the data logger properties window from the
Main menu, View/Properties, and change the Monitor Update Rate to something less than
1000 ms.

Data Logger Trigger Configuration

The trigger configuration

determines how the data
logging process is started
and stopped. Pressing the
Trigger Setup (F4) button
brings up the Trigger
Configuration screen.
Under Trigger Types are
two radio buttons that
configure the logger for
manual or automatic
logging.
 Manual Start, Manual Stop is the
manual data collection mode and
simply means that data logging is
started by pressing the Log
Databutton and stopped by
pressing Log Data button again.

Manual Start, Timed Stop is still

manual data collection mode but
will automatically stop logging after
a period of time defined in the
Post-Buf Size setting.
Triggered, One Shot is used to
automatically record a single log
but requires a trigger configuration
to work.

Triggered, Auto Re-Arm is used

to automatically record multiple
logs but requires a trigger
configuration to work.

The Trigger can either be a digital or analog channel and is configured in the centre of the
configuration screen. By selecting a channel from the database, the software constantly
monitors this channel for either a change of state in a digital channel or exceeding a specific
parameter of an analog channel.

When configuring a trigger channel a data storage buffer(s) must be configured. The
buffer(s) are use to hold a specific amount of data before or after the trigger point and is
defined in second, minutes or hours of data.

Three options are available.

Beginning Trigger Middle Trigger End Trigger

Once the user determines he needs
data before, after or both before and
after the trigger point, we need to
determine how much data is needed.
The top right portion of the Trigger
Configuration screen is used to
define the length of time to log data.
The pre Buffer is the amount of time
in seconds, minutes or hours to log
data before the trigger occurs while
the post Buffer configures the data
logged after the trigger.
The trigger is a channel, which initiates the
collection of data. Before a channel is
available in the Trigger Configuration
Listand can be selected to be the trigger, it
must be available in the Item List. When
the channel is selected from the list its
name will be place in the Item Location
field. The fields below the item location can
now be used to configure the trigger event.

If a digital channel is selected as the trigger

the available options will be:

Low to High Log will triggered when digital channel goes from Low to High (0 to 1)

High to Low Log will triggered when digital channel goes from High to Low (1 to 0)

Low Anytime digital channel is low (0)

High Anytime digital channel is high (1)

Changes Any time digital channel changes state, High to Low or Low to High
If an analog channel is selected as the
trigger the available options will be.

== Trigger is equal to a value !=

Trigger is not equal to a value > T

rigger is greater than a value < Trigger

is less than a value

>= Trigger is greater than or equal to a value

<= Trigger is less than or equal to a value

Changes By Trigger changes by a selected value

Is Between Trigger channel is between two selected values

Not Between Trigger channel is not between two selected values

NOTE When logging data from Allen Bradley based FT-125 all channels will all be
recognised as analog by OPC Data Logger and the digital trigger options will not be
available. To use the trigger in this case you should select an analog condition for the digital
channel. For example to detect digital Low to High (0 to 1) use the analog test >0, to detect
High to Low (1 to 0) use the analog test <1.

When the trigger setup is complete, press the OK button to close the configuration window
and return to the logger Main window. Note that the trigger configuration information is now
included just below the trigger setup button.
Saving a configuration

Before Data Logger is used to log data it is recommended that the configuration is saved to
allow future use of the ‘Datlog Map’ file without the need to configure again. Also it is
recommended to give the Logged Data file a name that will give information relating to the
logged data.

Selecting
File/Savefrom the
main menu saves the
configuration file
containing a list of all
items to be logged but
does not contain any
data. Only one file
need be created if all
the units at a site are
the same. For different
unit types, separate
configuration files will
need to be created
since channel
assignments may
differ from unit to unit.

The Sub-Name can be used to further describe a

logged file, if multiple logs are taken and saved and the
Sub-Name is not changed, the original file will not be
overwritten because part of the file name is dependent
on Date and Time. Even though the Sub-Name is not
changed the date and time will be different from file to
file.
Once all data has been logged it is saved to a file whose name is made up of several pieces
of information. The following is an example of a typical log file name.

The table below provides more detailed information about all the components that make up
the file name.

Test1 In our example, Test1 was the name of the RTL configuration file, which
is specific to a Unit and stored with the application program.

Date Month – Day – Year

Time Hour – Minute – Second – Milliseconds
Sub-Name A descriptive name entered in the Sub-Name field of the main data
logger window. The name entered is totally up to the user.
Extension Automatic but selectable from the Log Properties menu. This allows the
data file to be saved as a TVD file viewable by CBPlot only or as a CSV
file transportable to other applications.

Data Logging

before we can log data we need to determine the rate at which the
logger program will collect data. The Log Rate field of the Data
Log Information window section is changeable only when NOT
monitoring or collecting data.

If the Log Rate field is gray then turn off the monitoring or data
collection process. The Log Rate field changes to white, enter 50
into the field for a data collection rate of 50 ms.

Before starting the collection

process, we need to determine
where the data will be stored. The
actual log file location was
determined by the entry in the Log
Location field in the Data Log
Properties window we configured
earlier.
Once any required trigger has been configured press the Log Data button to start the
logging process. The word Logging appears at the bottom of the screen in the status bar to
indicate that data is being collected and written to a file on the hard drive.

Once enough data has been collected, dependent upon the trigger settings the Log will
either automatically stop logging or if no trigger is used then pressing the Log Data button
again stops the collection process. Once the file has been completely written to the PC the
software will automatically launch CBPlot to display the data is a graphic format.

Note that the items that were logged now appear as pen items 1, 2 and 3 and are graphically
depicted in the display portion of the screen.
Data Logging with a Trigger

The trigger is configured as previously described. Once the Log Data button is pressed the
Logging Data message appears as normal. However, the data is now being saved in a
continuous ‘latest
in, oldest out’ buffer
and will remain so
until the trigger event
occurs. When the
trigger occurs a
message ‘Triggered’
is shown on the top
right of the Trigger
Information

section and after

any post buffer time
the data will be
automatically saved
to the hard disk.