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Disclaimer: This document is written in the hope that you can utilize for your own education to gain knowledge of PLC systems (should you decide to utilize this document). Although I believe the information in this document to be accurate, it is YOUR responsibility to verify this information before implementing it in any way, especially when damage to personnel or equipment could result. By continuing to read this document, you agree to hold no one who writes, modifies, or distributes this document liable in any way (even negligence). Due to the wide variety of plant applications, some of the examples in this document may be prohibited at your location, or could cause damage to equipment, or harm personnel.
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Author: Ricky Bryce (Montgomery County, IL)
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Trending



Trending is used to graph data over time. This can be either an analog signal or a discrete signal. You are allowed 8 pens per trend chart with a maximum of 255 trending charts per project. This is a simple procedure that will guide you through the creation of a trend chart in your project.





  1. Right click the trends folder in the Controller Organizer Window, and select 'new trend'.




  2. In the new trend dialog window, name your trend, and add a description. For this example, we will leave the sample period at default. Click 'Next'.



  3. Choose the tag you wish to trend, then press the 'Add' button. You will notice your tag is now in the list of tags to trend. Click Finish.





  4. Next, Click the 'Run' button in the upper left corner of the trending chart.



  5. You will see your chart start tracking. You will notice the chart runs very fast. You only have a time period of 2 seconds currently being displayed from the left to the right side of the screen.



  6. We are going to change this to 2 minutes so the chart will run much slower. This will give us a better indication of what the signal is doing over time. The X axis runs left to right (This is Time), and the Scale runs from bottom to top. To reconfigure the X axis, right click on the chart, and choose 'Chart Properties'.



  7. On the X tab, change the time span to 2 minutes. Then press Apply, and OK.




  8. You will see your chart is now tracking over a 2 minute time period.




  9. You will see the scale is not reflecting the full range possible for the analog signal. This is because the chart defaults to automatic mode. It will take the minimum and maximum value and adjust the scale accordingly. We will account for this in the next step.



  10. Right click on the chart, and go back to 'Chart Properties'




  11. On the 'Y Axis' tab, you will notice 3 options. Automatic Mode is what we were running by default. This adjust the scale based on actual data. You can also choose preset if you like, and enter a different min/max value for each pen on the pens tab. The last option is to choose 'Custom'. This will let us lock in our own values for this particular trend chart. We will use custom for this example, and enter 0 as the minimum, and 10000 as the maximum. These values can be adjusted based on the data you are getting from your analog source. Press Apply, then OK when finished.




  12. You will see the scale on the chart is now locked in with the custom values you entered from the 'Y Axis' tab.




  13. By clicking anywhere on the chart, a value bar will appear. This value bar will indicate the exact value of the tag at that moment in time.



  14. If you click on an area of the chart, and drag your mouse, you will draw a box around a certain area of the graph. When you release your mouse, you will be zoomed in on that particular area of the chart. You will know you are in zoom mode by a magnifying glass on your mouse cursor.







  1. To get out of Zoom mode, right click on the chart, and Undo Zoom/Pan.



  2. Next, you must restart your chart by un-pausing the graph.



  3. Your chart should now be tracking. If you wish to change the color of your pen, Double-Click the pen in the upper left hand corner of your chart. A pallet will appear. Choose your new color from the pallet, then press OK.




  4. You know know the basic method for setting up a trending chart. At this time, take a few minutes to explore the other options you have for the trending chart. You can add more pens if you like under the 'pens' tab. This will allow you to track more addresses. You can also change the width of each pen, make them visible, or invisible, etc.... Try to change the color of the background.... If you have questions, ask the instructor.