Adding Variables to the Monitor Window - LS Electric XGB PLC from AutomationDirect

the xg5000 software gives us numerous ways to interact with and control our xgb PLC one of the most effective is to monitor alter and automatically respond to changes in the various variables associated with our project in real time this is useful for testing our system troubleshooting issues and general process monitoring to get started with monitoring we must have a project open and be online with the XM CPU once once we are online with the CPU we can either click the monitor icon in the upper left corner of the screen or we can go to monitor start monitoring now that we are monitoring let's look at our ladder program called ladder program 1 this program is a single rung of code with the variables test one test 4 and test two in it the monitor window at the bottom of the screen has four tabs to allow us to view or group variables as needed let's add the three test variables from the program to to our monitor window at the bottom of the software screen there are three ways to add a variable to the monitor window first we can type the variable name into the window as we do the variable status will automatically be displayed as we are currently monitoring the PLC it is important to know if your variables are Global or local variables as we add test 4 it defaults to a global variable but since test 4 is a local variable it shows no status since a test for Global variable does not exist we need to change change the program heading to latter program one to get the status to appear this can get very confusing if you use the same variable name for a local and a global variable it is recommended to name your variables unique names to avoid this confusion the second option for adding the variable is to click and hold on the variable we want to add the cursor will change to a small symbol of a red cross through Circle we can then drag it from the logic down to the monitoring window it is important to wait for the cursor to change as a fast click and drag will simply highlight multiple items in the logic the third option for adding a variable is to rightclick on it we can then go to add to variable Monitor and then select one of the four variable monitor Windows to add the variable to this is very useful if we want to add many variables all at once if we go to the global slir variable screen we can highlight many rows and still rightclick to add them all to our chosen monitor window this will work anywhere you can rightclick on a variable in the software if we then want to see multiple monitor Windows simultaneously we can click and drag to arrange them above each other for simultaneous viewing resetting the windows is as simple as going to window reset window layout we can add variables to the monitor window when we are offline as well this is a great feature as it will allow us to plan our troubleshooting sessions in advance if we are offsite or time with the machine is at a premium