unRecipe 9.1.0
User Manual

Introduction

The goal of this document is to describe how to generate recipes for a UNICOS CPC6 application and how to install, import, and activate the recipes from WinCC OA. The necessary steps for using the recipes can be summarized as follows:

  1. UAB Application generation
  2. UAB Extended Configurations Wizard

    2.1 Launch Extended Configurations Wizard

    2.2 Create a recipe class

    2.3 Run the plugin generation

  3. WinCC OA

    3.1 Create a WinCC OA - CPC6 application

    3.2 Import the recipes

    3.3 Use the recipes (activate, edit, duplicate...)

    3.4 Dynamic recipe classes

    3.5 Recipe advanced panel

    3.6 Recipe periodic saving

  4. Troubleshooting
  5. Appendix

UAB Application Generation

The first step of the procedure is to create and generate a UNICOS CPC6 application using the CPC Wizard as described in the following documents:

  1. Procedure for SIEMENS S7 (SIEMENS S7 documentation)
  2. Procedure for Schneider (Schneider documentation)

In the PLC specifications panel, enable the recipes and fill in the recipe parameters as shown in Figure 1:

Enable recipes

The most relevant settings are:

  • The Enable recipes checkbox that is used to enable/disable the use of the recipes in the PLC.
  • The maximum number of elements in a recipe.
  • The recipe activation timeout in seconds. If the recipe activation time is longer than the specified value; the recipe activation will be rejected by the PLC.

UAB Extended Configurations Wizard

Launch Extended Configurations Wizard

From the UAB Bootstrap application (installer available following the instructions in Automatic generation tools instruction), install the Extended configurations wizard, select a CPC application folder and continue, as illustrated in Figure 2:

Extended configurations wizard

Once the application is opened in the wizard, click the button Run and select the generator in the wizard panel. The recipe generator in Figure 3 will appear:

Recipes generator panel

From the recipes generator, click on the Open button, and two new windows will be displayed:

  • The specs viewer:
Specs viewer
  • The recipes configuration window:
Recipes configuration window

Create a recipe class

A recipe class definition describes the list of devices (e.g. AnalogAlarm_1) and device elements (e.g., HH, H) that will be used in all the recipes (recipe instances) of the class.

To create a new recipe class from the recipes configuration window, select the recipe class name from the select rcp class combo box, and click the Add button. The panel in Figure 6 will appear where the appropriate information must be entered.

Create recipe class

Then, click on Ok and fill in the recipe class properties in the upper part of the window is shown in Figure 5:

  • The recipe type name (currently, the only allowed value for this the field is UnRcpType).
  • The description of the recipe class.
  • The PCO alias to which the recipe class is linked.

The recipe class definitions can contain additional data for the recipe classes and recipe instances like domain, nature, access control domain, and privileged actions.

The fields used to define the additional data have the 'c' prefix for the recipe class data and the 'i' prefix for the recipe instance data. For example, the domain and nature fields for the recipe class and recipe instances are named: cDomain, iDomain, cNature, and iNature.

The same principle is applied to the privileged actions where it is possible to define the users who can trigger a specific action, like the recipe activation. The allowed values for the privileged actions are: admin, expert, or operator.

The next step is to add devices to the recipe class:

Spec viewer
  1. From the spec viewer window, select the corresponding tab to any device type allowed in a recipe. Currently: AnalogAlarm, AnalogParameter, Controller, DigitalParameter, WordParameter, and DigitalAlarm (see more about Digital Alarm under the Alarm Delay time in the Appendix section).
  2. Select the devices to include in the recipe class.

By default, when a device is added to a recipe class, all the elements included in the recipe type for that device type are added to the recipe class (e.g. when an AnalogAlarm device is added to a recipe class the following elements will be added: HH, H, L, LL). However, modifying the recipe elements of a device included in the recipe class is possible by deselecting the desired device elements.

Run the plugin generation

When the recipe class definitions are completed, it is necessary to generate the database file to be imported in WinCC OA.

To run the generation, go to the recipes generator panel in the wizard (Figure 8), and click the Generate button. The database file will be generated in the output folder.

Recipes generator panel

WinCC OA

Create a WinCC OA - CPC6 application

Please follow the procedure described in the relevant document (Procedure WinCC OA UCPC Application).

Import the recipes

To import the recipes file generated by the Extended Configurations wizard do the following steps:

  1. Start the unicosHMI.pnl interface (-p vision/graphicalFrame/unicosHMI.pnl).
  2. Login as admin, and start the Import Database panel by clicking on UNICOS Menu —> Configuration —> Import Database (local) as shown in Figure 9.
UNICOS entry DB import
Import window
  1. Select an unused driver number.
  2. Set the Front End type to SOFT_FE.
  3. Add the driver if it has not yet been added from the the drop-down menu under the Front-End type label, and start it.
  4. Select the importation file Recipes.txt produced by the generator.
  5. Set the archiving to RDB from the corresponding button.
  6. Click on the Auto-import button, which will first do a check, and then an import if there are no errors. The log will show the details of the checking and import phases and errors or warnings if they occur.
  7. Open the Front-End Diagnostic and enable the communication of the RCP_FE front end (Figure 11).
Front-End Diagnostic window

Use the recipes

Browse the imported recipes

To browse the imported recipes, do the following steps:

UNICOS device tree
  1. Click on the device tree button from the unicosHMI.pnl panel.
  2. On the Device Selection panel on the left, tick on the Device type checkbox.
  3. Register the selection by clicking on the green tick button.
  4. Select the UnRcpInstance device type from the device tree.
  5. Double-click on a recipe instance on the central panel to open the recipe instance panel (Figure 13).
Recipe Instance panel

Activate a recipe instance

To activate a recipe instance, perform the following actions:

  1. Click on the' Select' button from the recipe instance panel in Figure 13.
  2. Click on the Activate button and wait until the activation finishes.

When the recipe activation is triggered, messages similar to those depicted below will appear in the recipe log frame.

[2020.02.26 09:50:21] Device locked: S7_PLC_SiemensPLC_CPC_RcpBuffers
[2020.02.26 09:50:21] Activating recipe: System3Class/Instance2
[2020.02.26 09:50:21] Sending recipe data to the PLC dist_3:S7_PLC_SiemensPLC
[2020.02.26 09:50:23] All recipe data sent to the PLC dist_3:S7_PLC_SiemensPLC
[2020.02.26 09:50:27] Recipe activation completed in PLC dist_3:S7_PLC_SiemensPLC
[2020.02.26 09:50:27] Unlocking recipe buffers...
[2020.02.26 09:50:21] Device unlocked: S7_PLC_SiemensPLC_CPC_RcpBuffers

Edit a recipe instance

To edit the values of a recipe instance, perform the following steps:

  1. Click the' Select' button in the recipe instance panel in Figure 13.
  2. Click on the Edit button afterwards. The next actions will be enabled:
    • Get the online values for all the recipe instance elements.
    • Get the recipe values from the Oracle database.
    • Save the current recipe instance values.
    • Save the recipe class and all its instances to the Oracle database.
    • Discard all changes made to the recipe instance.
  3. To modify the value of a recipe element, introduce the desired value on the field of the recipe instance table.
  4. Finally, press the Save or Save to DB button to save the changes, or the Cancel button to discard them.

The recipe instance panel allows the user to filter the available recipe elements and only display a subset matching certain patterns. Such an example is given in Figure 14, where only the elements whose description contains the text alarm and have the digit 6 in their alias are shown. In addition, generic WinCC OA pattern-matching expressions are supported.

Recipe elements filter

Create new recipe instances

Currently, there are two ways of creating new recipe instances from the recipe instance panel:

  1. Create a new recipe instance by clicking the New instance button. A pop-up window, Figure 15, will prompt for the recipe instance name and description. The values for the new recipe instance will be taken from the PLC (online values). It is also possible to create a new recipe instance in several classes. In that case, press the Multiple classes button and, from the new window of creating multiple instances, select the recipe classes where the new instances will be created.
Create recipe instance
  1. Duplicate an existing recipe instance by clicking on the Duplicate button of Figure 13. A pop-up window, Figure 16, will prompt for the recipe instance name and description. The values of the new recipe instance will be copied from the original recipe instance.
Create multiple recipe instance

Delete a recipe instance

The following steps need to be taken to delete a recipe instance:

  1. Click the' Select' button in the recipe instance panel, Figure 13.
  2. Click the Delete button and press the confirmation message. Note that the recipe instances marked as Initial cannot be deleted.

Initial recipes

By pressing the Initial Recipes button in the recipe instance panel, Figure 13, a new window will pop up (Figure 17) displaying all the initial recipes in the PCO hierarchy (linked to the recipe instance PCO and its PCO children).

Display initial recipes

From this window, it is possible to do the following actions:

  • Trigger the activation of all the recipes in sequence.
  • Check if the recipes are active in the PLC.
  • Compare the recipe and the online values for all the recipes.
  • Save the online values of the recipe elements in the recipes.
  • Select the PCOs for which initial recipes will be displayed.
  • Clear all the log messages in the window.
  • Close the initial recipes panel.

Last activated recipes

By clicking on the Last Activated button in the recipe instance the panel, Figure 13, a new window will be opened (Figure 18), displaying the last activated recipes in the PCO hierarchy are linked to the recipe instance PCO and its PCO children.

Last recipe activated

From this window, it is possible to do the following actions:

  • Trigger the activation of all the recipes in sequence.
  • Check if the recipes are active in the PLC.
  • Compare the recipe and the online values for all the recipes.
  • Save the online values of the recipe elements in the recipes.
  • Select the PCOs for which initial recipes will be displayed.
  • Clear all the log messages in the window.
  • Close the initial recipes panel.

Save recipe values as initial

By pressing the button Save in the recipe instance panel, Figure 13, it is possible to save the values of the selected recipe in the recipe marked as Initial for the recipe class.

Save recipes in the database

The unRecipe component offers the possibility to save recipes to the Oracle database once the database configuration is created.

When a recipe is selected to be saved in the Oracle database, the recipe class and all its recipe instances will be saved in the database.

To save a recipe class and all its instances from the recipe instance panel, do the following steps:

  1. From the recipe instance panel, Figure 13, click on the Select button and then click on the Save to DB button.
  2. Introduce a comment or description message, and press Ok.
  3. Wait for the saving popup window to be displayed, and wait for the saving process to finish.

Load recipes from the database

When a recipe is being edited, it is possible to load its values from the Oracle database by clicking the DB Values button from the recipe instance panel, Figure 13. A pop-up menu, Figure 19, will show the following options:

  • Load in the panel the latest values stored in the Oracle database for the recipe.
  • Open a new panel with the history of recipe instances saved in the database. To load the recipe values, select and click on the desired recipe.
Recipe history in DB

From the database history panel, it is possible to view the contents of a recipe stored in the Oracle database by double-clicking on an entry in the table, as shown in Figure 20.

Recipe values stored in DB

Dynamic recipe classes

The unRecipe component offers the possibility to create recipes dynamically in WinCC OA without importing the recipes file. This section explains how to use dynamic recipes.

Recipe class creation

To create new recipe classes from WinCC OA, click on the recipe class option in the UNICOS Menu —> Configuration.

A new window will be opened that allows operating with the recipe classes.

Recipe class UNICOS menu
Recipe class panel

Create new recipe classes

To create a new recipe class from the panel, click on the New Class button, Figure 22. A pop-up window, Figure 23, will appear to prompt for the information required to create a new recipe class:

  • Recipe class name.
  • Recipe class description.
  • Application to filter the PCO selection.
  • PCO to which the recipe class and all its recipe instances will be linked.
Create recipe class panel

If a recipe front-end does not yet exist, the panel below in Figure 24 will appear:

Recipe frontend creation

It is recommended to choose a driver number different than the ones already existing in the application, so it is possible to import the recipes without stopping the drivers used to communicate with the different front-ends. Once the recipe front-end is created, the new recipe class will appear in the list, and it is possible to add new devices to the recipe.

Add new devices to a recipe class

To add new devices to an existing recipe class, do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class from the list in Figure 22, and click on the Select button.
  2. Click on the Add devices button. A new window, Figure 25, will pop up containing all the available devices. Select the required devices for the recipe class in the panel. Filtering the devices by application and searching them using the box is possible. Once the required devices are selected, click the Ok button to continue.
Device selection
  1. Click the Apply changes button in the recipe class panel, Figure 22, to include the new changes introduced. To cancel the addition of devices to the recipe class, click the Cancel button.

Remove devices from a recipe class

To remove devices from a recipe class, go to the recipe class panel, Figure 22, and do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class in the list and click the Select button.
  2. In the table, select the devices to be removed from the recipe class.
  3. Click the Remove Sel button, and accept the confirmation message.
  4. Click the Apply changes button to remove the selected devices from the recipe class and all its recipe instances (if any). On the contrary, click on the' Cancel' button to abort the removal of devices in the recipe class.

Edit the device elements of a recipe class

To edit the device elements included in a recipe class, do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class in the list in Figure 22, and click on the Select button.
  2. Click on the Edit Elements button. A new window, Figure 26, will pop up, allowing the edition of the recipe class device elements. This window shows all the devices included in the recipe class organized by device type and the allowed elements to include in the recipe class. If a single device is selected in the list, its elements included in the recipe class will have a grey background in the list. From this window, it is possible to select one or several devices of the same type and select the desired elements to be included in the recipe class using the list. Once the required device elements are selected, click on the Apply button to continue modifying the recipe device elements.
  3. Click on the Ok (or Cancel) button to close the Edit recipe elements window.
  4. Finally, press the button to apply the modifications in the recipe class and all its recipe instances (if any). On the contrary, click on the button to undo the modification of the recipe device elements.
Edit recipe class elements

Remove a recipe class

To remove an existing recipe class and all its recipe instances, do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class in the list in Figure 22, and click on the Select button.
  2. A pop-up window will appear to confirm the removal of the recipe class and all its recipe instances.

Note that the recipe classes created with an importation file and the recipe classes containing initial recipes cannot be removed.

Duplicate an existing recipe class

To duplicate an existing recipe class do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class to duplicate in the list in Figure 22, and click on the Select button.
  2. Click the Duplicate button in the recipe class window. A new pop-up window, Figure 27, will appear to ask for the necessary information to create a new recipe class.
  3. Introduce the data for the new recipe class and click on the Ok button.
Duplicate recipe class

Edit the privileges for a recipe class and its instances

The recipe class and recipe instance privileges allow configuring the actions assigned to the different UNICOS roles (admin, expert, operator). The different actions correspond to the buttons in the recipe class and instance panel. The actions assigned to the operator role can also be executed by the admin and expert users, and the admin users can also execute the actions assigned to the expert role.

To edit the recipe class privileges, do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class in the list in Figure 22 and click on the Select button.
  2. Click on Privileges. A new window, Figure 28, will pop up to show the different privileges assigned to the UNICOS roles.
Recipe privileges
  1. To modify the privileged actions assigned to a specific role, click on the button [...] at the right of the UNICOS role. A new window (Figure 29) will pop up to show the current actions assigned to the selected UNICOS role (table on the right side of the window) and the unassigned actions (table on the left). In the example illustrated in the image below, all the privileges are already assigned, so removing the existing privileges for the operator role is possible.
Recipe privileges selector
  1. Once the privileges are assigned to the UNICOS roles, click the Ok button to apply the changes to the recipe class and all its recipe instances. The Reset button will restore the privileges to the previous values. The Load Default button will restore the default values for the recipe class and its recipe instances.

Create a new recipe instance

To create a new recipe instance from the recipe class window, do the following steps:

  1. Select the recipe class in the list from the panel in Figure 22, and click on the Select button.
  2. Click on the New Instance button. A pop-up window, Figure 30, will prompt for the recipe instance name and description. The values for the new recipe instance will be taken from the PLC (online values).
Create recipe instance

Save recipes in the database

The unRecipe component allows saving recipes to the Oracle database once the database configuration is created (see the configuration database setup in the Appendix section at the end of this document).

When a recipe is selected to be saved in the Oracle database, the recipe class and all its recipe instances will be saved in the database.

To save a recipe class and all its instances from the recipe class panel, do the following steps:

  1. Click on the Select button in Figure 22.
  2. Click on the Save to DB button and press the confirmation dialog.

Load recipes from the database

From the recipe class panel, Figure 22, it is possible to load the values of all its recipe instances. To do that:

  1. Click the Select button in the recipe instance panel, Figure 22.
  2. Click on the Edit button.
  3. Then, click on the Load from DB button. When this button is pressed, a pop-up menu, Figure 31, will offer the following options:
    • Update the recipe instances with the latest values stored in the Oracle database for each recipe instance.
    • Open a new panel with the history of all the recipe instances saved in the database. It is possible to retrieve the recipe values by selecting the desired recipe and double-clicking on it.
Load recipes from DB

When the recipe elements are different in the system and the Oracle database, only the values corresponding to the recipe elements existing in the local recipe will be updated.

Recipe advanced panel

Within the unRecipe component, a panel can perform bulk operations in recipe instances. The advanced recipe panel is accessible through the UNICOS configuration menu, allowing performing operations for the recipes available in the system and the Oracle database.

Recipe advanced UNICOS Menu

Advanced recipe panel for recipes available in the system

The advanced recipe panel allows the following actions for the recipes available in the system:

  • Filter the recipes displayed in the panel by application, name, PCO link and description.
  • Select all the recipes in the panel.
  • Trigger the activation of the selected recipes.
  • Check the activation status of the selected recipes.
  • Compare the recipe values and the online values of the selected recipes.
  • Save the online values of the recipe elements in the selected recipes.
  • Export the selected recipes to *.csv files.
  • Save the recipe classes of the selected recipes and all their recipe instances in the Oracle database.
  • Reload the available recipes.
  • Close the recipe advanced panel.
  • Delete the selected recipe instances.
Recipe advanced panel

Advanced recipe panel for recipes stored in the database

The advanced recipe panel allows the following actions for the recipes available in the Oracle database:

  • Filter the recipes displayed in the panel by application, name, PCO link and description.
  • Select all the recipes in the panel.
  • Trigger the activation of the selected recipes.
  • Load the recipe values of the selected recipes from the Oracle database. The recipes will be created if they do not exist in the system.
  • Reload the available recipes.
  • Close the recipe advanced panel.
  • Delete the selected recipe instances.

To view the contents of a recipe stored in the Oracle database, double-click on the recipe name. A new panel, Figure 34, will be opened to display the recipe values.

Recipe advanced DB

Recipe periodic saving

Introduction

The recipe periodic saving option gives the users the possibility of saving recipes periodically in a database with a specific time and date frequency. Multiple recipes can be saved simultaneously, but it is recommended to configure a time to save the recipes when the users are not operating with them, as it is necessary to lock them to save them to the database.

Requirements

  • Have installed the unRecipe component version 1.6.0
  • Ensure that the new WCCOActrl manager unRecipe/unRcpPeriodicSaving.ctl number 104 is running. It is designed to always be running after installing the unRecipe version 1.6.0.
  • Configure a database using the JCOP Framework -—> ConfigurationDB Tool or following the instructions from the section Database configuration setup in the Appendix. Ensure that the connection is running and accessible for the users.

Configuration steps

Once the requirements are set, the next step is to select the time and date frequency when each recipe will be saved into the database. Next, select the new option UNICOS HMI menu button -—> Configuration -—> Recipes -—> Recipe Periodic Saving.
In this configuration panel, Figure 35, the user can see the following:

  • The list of recipes that can be selected from the cascade button defined as “Recipe Class/Recipe Instance”.
  • The frequency of the periodic saving (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never).
  • The date and time when the next backup will take place.
  • A button next to the next backup information to select the minute, hour, day, day of the week, day of the month, and month (depending on the frequency period), that the user can choose to save to the database.
  • A description message box that will add a comment associated with the recipe that will be saved.
  • A table with the already configured recipes indicating the next backup date and description introduced. Note that if the frequency is changed to never, the " Apply " button is clicked. The corresponding recipe will disappear from the table, indicating that the recipe is no longer configured to be saved periodically.
  • The “Apply” button will apply changes to a particular recipe. Please notice that each recipe must be configured individually, i.e., the “Apply” button must be clicked for each recipe change to count.
  • The “Cancel” button that closes the Recipe Periodic Saving configuration window and discard any changes that have been made if the “Apply” button has not been clicked beforehand.
Recipe periodic saving panel

The time and date of the recipes that will be automatically saved periodically can be seen in the Next Backup box in the recipe configuration panel of Figure 35, and also in the last column of the table displayed after selecting UNICOS HMI menu button -—> Configuration -—> Recipes -—> Recipe Advanced, Figure 36 for each recipe configured, or in the recipe instance faceplate panel, Figure 37, in the top right corner.

Recipe advanced next backup
Recipe instance next backup

System Integrity alarm for unRecipe Periodic saving

The user can configure a system integrity alarm, and it will be raised in the case of a problem with the TCP connection (Warning – code 10), the maximum time of the manager restart reached (Warning – code 20), unRecipe manager blocked (Error – code 30), unRecipe manager stopped (Error – code 40), and no connection or database not accessible (Error – code 50).

The alarm can be set in the HMI menu button -—> Configuration -—> System Integrity (local) subsystem unRcpPeriodicSaving. The alarm can be added like any other system integrity alarm. To display the particular alarm in the System Status button, first, add the alarm in the System Integrity (local). Then select the HMI menu button -—> Configuration -—> Application -—> Alarms. After that, click the cascade button next to Add Class, select unRcpPeriodicSaving, and add it to the list of existing alarms.

Limitations

There are currently known limitations regarding this new implementation. The major ones are:

  • An alarm is not raised if one of the recipes is not saved to the database. The alarm has yet to be implemented, because it is unclear which strategy to follow to configure the single alarm if various recipes are saved at the same time but only one of them fails. At the moment, there is only one alarm for the whole implementation. Still, for the case detailed above, the number of alarms needed would have to be the same that the existing recipe instances configured to be saved periodically into the database, which might be too many. Nevertheless, a message indicating that a recipe has been saved or has failed to be saved currently written in the corresponding WinCC OA log.
  • The user might be unable to operate the recipe instance faceplate for a particular recipe if this recipe is being saved to the database simultaneously. The cause is the lock that is used for processing. In this case, the user might create an issue by accessing or closing the recipe instance faceplate panel during this time, as the saving procedure could be closed or skipped. That is why it is recommended to set up a time for the backups when the users are not operating with the different recipes.
  • It could be considered a limitation having to click on the “Apply” button in the recipe Periodic Saving configuration panel for each recipe that needs to be changed.
  • If there is a problem with the TCP/IP connection, the unRcpPeriodicSaving alarm cannot be added to the System Integrity panel. If it already exists, the status of the newly added CTRL manager to periodically save recipes is not detected properly. Therefore, the alarm is not raised in case of the CTRL manager is stopped or blocked if the TCP/IP connection is not correctly set.

Troubleshooting

Recipe activation failed

The recipe activation can fail if the recipe activation timeout is not properly set.

Schneider PLCs

To verify the recipe activation timeout in a Schneider PLC, do the following steps:

  1. Open the project and double-click on the item in the project structural view.
  2. Type _Timeout in the variable name and press the key.
Timeout activation for Schneider PLCs
  1. The variable's value must differ from 0 (t#0s). Otherwise, introduce a new timeout value (e.g., t#100s).
  2. After applying the changes, it is necessary to build the changes and download the project to the PLC.

Siemens PLCs

To verify the recipe activation timeout in a SIEMENS PLC, do the following steps:

  1. Open the project in Step-7, click on the program sources, and double click on the Recipes source file.
Step-7 PLCs recipe sources
  1. The value of the ActivationTimeout variable must be different than 0. Otherwise, introduce a new timeout value (e.g., 100), Figure 38.
Timeout activation for Step-7 PLCs
  1. After applying the changes, it is necessary to build the changes and download the project to the PLC.

Oracle driver not available

The error message displayed in listing oracle_driver_missing may appear while trying to save/load recipes from the Oracle database.

[2020.02.27 09:51:20] Error: Failed to open connection: TestConnection Oracle driver (QOCI8) not available

To fix the issue, please install the Oracle Instant Client.

Appendix

Configuration database setup

The unRecipe component allows users to save and load recipes from an Oracle database. However, before performing operations on the database, it is necessary to configure the connection to the database. The following actions should be performed:

  1. From the WinCC OA console open the graphical editor (Gedi).
  2. From the JCOP Framework tab of Gedi, open the Device Editor and Navigator, Figure 41.
Device editor and navigator
  1. Select the Configuration mode, right-click on the distributed system, and select Configuration DB from the contextual menu. The Configuration Database Tool window will be opened, Figure 42.
Configuration database tool
  1. Click on the button [...] available in the CDB Setup and status frame. The Configuration Database Setup window will be opened.
Configuration database setup and status
  1. In the Database setup frame, click on the [...] button next to the DB connection combo box and select the option Create. The Database connection setup window will be opened, Figure 43.
Configuration database connection
  1. Introduce the required data to create the connection to the database.
  2. Click on the Try to connect button. If the configuration is correct, a confirmation message should appear. Click on the confirmation message.
  3. If everything has been properly set, then click on Create to finish the process.

Notice that to be able to operate with recipes in the database, it is necessary to install the Oracle Instant Client.

Recipe type definition

The recipe type definitions file contains the list of device types and device elements that can be included in a recipe class and recipe instance, e.g., a recipe can contain the MPosR element of a WordParameter device type, Figure 45.

Recipe type definition

The default file path for the file is:

The recipe type definitions file contains the following fields:

  • defaultType: Contains a Boolean value used to specify if the recipe type is the default one. Only one recipe type can be used as the default type.
  • typeName: The recipe type name. The value must be unique within the file.
  • deviceType: This field adds a new device type to the recipe type. It contains a UNICOS device type name (e.g. AnalogAlarm).
  • dpe: This field adds a new device type attribute to the recipe type. For example, the value FEDeviceManualRequests: HH Alarm will add the HH attribute of the AnalogAlarm device type to the recipe type.

Figure 46, displayed below, shows the relationships between the recipe types, classes, and instances. A recipe class must belong to a recipe type, and a recipe instance must belong to a recipe class.

Recipe relationships

Alarm Delay time

In the latest version of the unRecipe component (version 1.6.0), the new AlDt device element has been added to analog and digital alarms. Moreover, digital alarms are now supported so that the user can include any device defined for this type. However, there are some requirements to be able to configure the alarm delay time:

  • The unCPC and unRecipe components should be updated to versions 6.6.11 and 1.6.0 respectively.
  • The resources package version installed in a particular PLC or PLCs should be 1.5.0.

If only the unCPC and unRecipe components are updated, but the PLC resource package version is not; then the AlDt field is deselected by default (so there are not problems activating a particular recipe). In addition, any device that belongs to a particular PLC that is defined under digital alarm type will not be displayed, unless the resource package version of the PLC is updated to the 1.5.0 version.

If the PLC resource package version is updated, but the unCPC and unRecipe components are not, the AlDt and digital alarm types will not be available, but all the previous implementations will continue working without issues, i.e. backward compatibility is ensured.