Do-more Data view updates

[plcnut]

I have a problem with data view locking up, and not updating. If I turn Status off and then back on it will be fine, but usually does not update reliably for more than a few seconds. I thought that maybe it was my bogged down computer, but I just bought a brand new laptop with an i7 processor and 8gb of ram with win7 professional, and I have the same problem. I also occasionally get an error(I believe it is a timeout error but can't remember for sure) when trying to download an update to the plc.
Do I just need to change a setting somewhere? Any advice is appreciated.   

[franji1]

Are you getting any comm errors (click on the Link Info pane on the status bar, where the link name and user name are shown, e.g. Online/Default User/MySim).  This will bring up a dialog with any logged comm errors.

Also what version of Designer do you have (Help->About)?

Make sure you have the latest display driver updates for your laptop (many times this is the issue, if it's not due to comm failures)

[plcnut]

I'm running version 1.0.2, and all firmware is up to date with the latest Live update.
Here's a screenshot of the error screen:

[franji1]

Turn all status OFF (see No Status button in line tool bar). 
Open up a data view and enter something for it to monitor where the value is changing (e.g. $ScanCounter in RUN mode or $Now in Program mode).  Then turn status ON for JUST the Data View (right click on the Data View and check Status On at the bottom of the context menu).

Then do a screen shot of the Link Info page (like you just did).  Save that screen shot to a file.  Then once the Data View status quits updating (i.e. you see the bug), do another screen shot of the Link Info page and save that to another file.

Post both of those screen shots to this forum.

FYI, 1.0.2 is the latest Designer version, so you're okay.

[plcnut]

Apparently I am overloading Data view. I did as you said, and opened 1 data view with only one item ($Scancounter) and made sure it was the only status enabled. I did not have any problems with it updating. When I went back and looked, all of the other data views I was using had about 50 items each. I was only using one of them at a time, but when I watched the transaction count in the link monitor, it was moving 180 transactions a second and 800 item transfer rate per second. after a little while of running it slows down and stops updating but there are no errors when it happens.

[plcnut]

When it messes up the transfer rate drops to about 23 transfers a second and 26 items per second.

[franji1]

Whoa!  Yeah, there is definitely some bandwidth limitations when doing comm, even if your processor can do an infinite loop in 6 seconds  .

What do you mean "one at a time"?  Are you disabling status on all views, and then enabling status on only the one view?  Or???

There is a work-around to throttle down Data View requests, if you want.  The default update rate for Data Views are 50ms.  Those can be slowed down if you need to have a TON of data points at one time.  However, you must tweak the DmDesigner.ini file to do it.  Let me know if you need this info.

[plcnut]

"one at a time" = disable all status, then turn the status on for one data only (click the data view header to focus, then slick the status icon).
I did not realize that I had so many items in my data view :/ I just kept adding things here and there as I went, and it added up...

I may throttle back the update time if I end up needing to view that much at once, but for now I'll just work with a few less items in my data views.

It would appear that if a data view ever gets behind, it never tries to recover, it just freezes and waits to be turned off and back on. Maybe there could be an automatic retry?

[BobO]

It would appear that if a data view ever gets behind, it never tries to recover, it just freezes and waits to be turned off and back on. Maybe there could be an automatic retry?

It never stops trying. There is something far more fundamental at work here, probably something OS related....memory, video...something. The PC is somehow getting constipated. The 'Session failed' error in the list is when the session handle goes bad and attempts to restore it fail. It will only go bad when there are no successful comms for 30 seconds. Something bad has happened for us to be unable to talk for 30 seconds.

I'm wondering if it is some kind of power management thing, where the OS is attempting to dial back a bit, causing things to get backed up...

[franji1]

If you ever need to throttle it back (this is typically only needed for older, slower PCs), in the Applications panel of the Launch Pad dockable/floatable view in Designer, click on the DmDesigner.ini file and hit the RUN button in the panel.  This will open the .INI file in Notepad.

Scroll down to the [SETUP] section and look for the entry with a semicolon in front ;DataViewInterval=50.  The semicolon is a "comment" character, so just delete the semicolon and then change the value from 50 to 100 (or 150 or 200).  This is the update time in milliseconds for items in the Data View.  If the line is missing, just add it by hand under the [SETUP] group.

So you should end up with something like

Code: [Select]

[SETUP]
...
DataViewInterval=100
...

in your DmDesigner.ini file.

Save and close Notepad, then shut down all instances of Do-more Designer and then re-run it, and your Data Views should no longer "fall behind".

[plcnut]

BobO,

The "session Failed" is where I powered down the PLC while working in the panel.

I opened up a data view after Franji1 posted earlier with the %Scancounter as the only item and it has not missed a beat since, but I did open up another data view with approximately 50 items in it including quite a few String elements, and it varies in how long, but it will stop updating after a few seconds to a few minutes. Once it stops updating, it will not restart until I turn status off and back on again.

[BobO]

Open Task Manager. Please tell me what CSMainDm.exe and DmDesigner.exe are doing (memory and CPU load) when it's working and when it fails.

[BobO]

Oh yeah...and what is your PLC scan time and the port you are talking to on the DM1?

[plcnut]

TaskMan1 is while it is working,TaskMan2 is when it is stopped.
Scan times: Min 723us Avg 1.9ms Max 8.7ms
Talking on the Ethernet port through a switch with a c-more.

[BobO]

I've had a data view full of strings (100-ish) for a while now. About 175 xfers per second, and about 2500 items per second...no retries, no errors.

Given that your tasks don't get slow or get bloated, comm just starts slowing down, I'm wondering about the switch or some other Windows process that is getting backed up.

In your Task Manager, sort by CPU and see if anything is taking 12%. Barring that, I'm thinking switch...