Please tell us what your experience has been with Do-more...

[Controls Guy]

I have often taken string value (recipe names, recipe component names, etc.) broken them up into 16 bit values representing two bytes each, and transmitted them to a range of contiguous registers in the PLC.

When looking at the same range from the PLC end, in a DL PLC, you could add V2000 or whatever to a data view and configure it to display ASCII, x number of bytes, and byte swapped or not (IIRC).

You have all this and more for native DM strings, but in some cases I'm not doing anything with the strings, just keeping them in a block with associated operational data, so there's no reason to move them to an SS type value.  In my case, they're in a range of MHR registers, which as far as I can see, I can only display as ASCII two bytes at a time.

Is there a way to emulate the old multi-register view for non string types in DM data views?  If not, I'd like to make a feature request for it in a future release.

Thanks!   

[franji1]

Do-more meets DL half way (see the attached Data View screen shot).  The numeric registers have ASCII and Swapped ASCII, but only for that register.  But using Ctrl+Enter, you can easily monitor MHR/V/D/R,etc. as ASCII, addition to all the other Do-more numeric formats.  The only thing you cannot do is specify the size - it's always the number of bytes for that numeric element (so you could get up to 4 characters per row using casts, e.g. MHR4:SD, vs. just two characters for MHR4).

[Controls Guy]

Right, that's what I was saying, so consider it a feature request for whenever you have a chance to get to it.

At least showing the registers as 32-bit is twice as good as what I came up with.

Thanks!   

[Controls Guy]

So those bytes stored in MHR's?  I want to copy them to an SSx.  The string in the MHR is variable length with no delimeter, and usually has zero's in any spare positions.  I'm using STRPUTB to copy the bytes to the string.  How do I strip the 0's when I copy to the SS?  Alternatively, I'm using the SS to STRPRINT to another SS I'm going to STREAMOUT to something.  Is there a way to strip the NULLs while doing the STRPRINT?

Also could really use the ability to EDIT numeric registers in multi-byte mode (extension of yesterday's request to be able to view them that way), or at least to be able to edit in ASCII one register at a time.

Tried STRTRIM but it only trims a list of about 6 common non-printing chars.  Recommend adding a checkbox to have it delete ALL non-printing chars (or as customizable as you want to make it), but definitely with the capability to remove 0x00 bytes.

[BobO]

So those bytes stored in MHR's?  I want to copy them to an SSx.  The string in the MHR is variable length with no delimeter, and usually has zero's in any spare positions.  I'm using STRPUTB to copy the bytes to the string.  How do I strip the 0's when I copy to the SS?  Alternatively, I'm using the SS to STRPRINT to another SS I'm going to STREAMOUT to something.  Is there a way to strip the NULLs while doing the STRPRINT?

Also could really use the ability to EDIT numeric registers in multi-byte mode (extension of yesterday's request to be able to view them that way), or at least to be able to edit in ASCII one register at a time.

STRTRIM will remove leading or trailing whitespace, and it should remove NULLs as well...although I have a sinking feeling it may not. I will make sure it does for the upcoming release.

We have plans to add a memory view of the type you are asked for. It'll happen eventually.

[Controls Guy]

I tried STRTRIM and unless I'm doing it wrong, it doesn't strip NULs.

Assuming that it doesn't, what's the workaround?

I tried STRFIND (to be followed with a STRDELETE), but I can't figure out how to enter a NUL as the character to find.

[BobO]

It's suppose to...and I just updated it to do so.

Workaround? Brute force. Loop...character by character...just like the instruction (now) does it.

[Controls Guy]

But even then, I need a way to compare the byte in question to a NULL.  How do I enter the string value for one to do the compare?

[BobO]

"$00"

[Controls Guy]

Hmmm....thought I tried that in STRFIND.  Maybe I didn't include the quotes.  Will give it another try.  (Because as long as I can find it, I can still trim it in two boxes with no looping)

[Controls Guy]

STRFIND "$00" + STRDELETE works great.

You rock, dude!   Thanks! 

[BobO]

Sorry it required the work around...

[Controls Guy]

No sweat.  Consider it OJT in Do-More.     Heck, that's barely a workaround anyway!

One glitch -- STRFIND is edge triggered so it had only worked once when I reported it fixed.  I'll need to generate some edges.  Not a problem -- I have the technology!   

[BobO]

That's now optional in rel 1.1. There were about 5 or 6 instructions that were strictly edge triggered that we have changed to optional.

[Controls Guy]

To create an edge, I put an ST7 on the rung ahead of the STRFIND, but the rung is in a called program, and the scan toggle doesn't seem to work.

How should I handle edge triggered stuff in programs and tasks?