C-more Micro HMI Switch Object from AutomationDirect

The Switch Object does the exact same thing as a Pushbutton object – it modifies a TAG which is usually located on a PLC. In this example, we can see that this switch is setup to modify address C100 on a Click PLC – watch this TAG as I flip the switch a few times … once that happens, It’s now up to the PLC to do something with that. That’s a key point – the switch doesn’t actually change anything, it just updates a TAG. The PLC sees that and the PLC acts accordingly. The only real difference between the Pushbutton Switch and this Switch is instead of a text message on a button that lights up, you can use a graphical version of Switches typically found on control panels to help the user better relate to the expected action. By the way, If you want to create a switch using your OWN graphics then look for the video on “How To Use The Bitmap Button Object!” Let’s do an example of several of these standard switches so you can see how they behave. Double click or drag the switch object onto the screen. First, Assign a TAG for this switch to modify. We’ll choose this LIGHTS_1 TAG for this switch. Second, select the switch action right here. These were covered in the Push Button Switch video so we’re not going to review those here - we’ll just leave it with a toggle switch. Finally, choose a graphic. We already saw the Toggle bar in action in an earlier demo, so let’s use this selector switch for this guy. Press OK and there’s our selector switch. We’ll just re-size it and move it into place. Now – just for fun, let’s make several copies and change the graphic for each one – lets highlight the switch, hit control C and then control V to paste a new copy and then double click on the switch. All we have to do now is just change the TAG … and pick a new graphic. How about the LOCK. The Lock/Unlock. And remember on all of these objects, you can always test them in this little mini simulator here. You will see the results both here in the simulator and on the screen. So we have out TAG, our new graphic, we’re ready to go. Let’s resize that to make room for the other guys… Now, instead of doing copy and paste this time, let’s just grab a graphic right out of the parts list – we’ll grab this paddle switch. And drop it right on the screen. The beauty of that is it does all the work for us! We’re all setup. All we need to do is assign a new TAG. We’ll grab LIGHTS3 for this guy. And say OK. Let’s do that again, that was quick. I’m gonna grab a rocker switch, drop that on the screen, again everything is all setup, I just add a new TAG .. let’s have him control LIGHTS4 and say OK. We’ll move him up onto the screen where we can see him. Hit simulate, save the project, and up pops our simulator with our four new switches. So these four switches are controlling these four TAGs. As I click on the switch, you’ll see it change it’s TAG. So here’s our selector switch, it changes that first TAG right here … the LOCK/UNLOCK … currently off, changes to ON. Our ON/OFF and our Rocker Switch. So, as you can see, the Switch Object is a great way to customize your users experience, so have some fun with it! Well, that’s it for this video – be sure to check out all of the other videos in this series. And as always, please send us any topics you would like to see covered – or - any other comments for that matter – we appreciate the feedback!