Current State Properties - Outputs

[JonW]

I just got my BCS-462 and I'm fiddling around with setting up the states and outputs. On the "Main Control" screen, there is a table titled "Current State Properties" with the first field titled "Outputs Asserted in this State". For one of my initial states, I set it up so that Out0, Out1, Out6 & Out7 are all on. However, in the table it only lists Out0 & Out1, but the next table below titled "Outputs" shows green dots for all 4 being controlled.

My question is: Why doesn't the table "Current State Properties" list all outputs associated with the current state?

[ECC]

The current state properties table only lists output properties of the PWM outputs, which are 0:5. This is a holdover from the 460 mostly, and can be changed if anyone has suggestions. The intent of the Current State Properties table was to aid process debug/monitoring, and particularly to list the temperature setpoint. The original thinking is that the extra 462 on/off outputs would most likely be used for valve profiles, so giving each output a row in the table would just crowd the screen without giving much useful info. Suggestions welcome.

[JonW]

I can see the logic with that. My only real issue is that you may have outputs within 0-5 plus some additional ones as part of the current state and it would be nice to see that all at a glance (without having to scroll down past the state diagram). Being able to move the state diagram down the page so that the tables for "Current State Properties", "Outputs" and "Inputs" were all in a row would help greatly.

Any thoughts as to supplying your base web pages and allowing others to modify them and upload separately from the logic code? If that's not possible, what about some setup options to be able to tweak the ordering of components or turn features on/off. Another thought is to possibly keep the same index.html as the "Main Control" page, but have a secondary "Dashboard" page that is customizable.

Regarding customizable setup options, maybe some things like the following:
"Hide Unused Timers" index.html would suppress display of timers that are not being used in the currently displayed process.
"Hide Unused Web User Inputs" index.html would suppress display of Web User Inputs that are not being used in the currently displayed process.
"Hide Current State Diagram" index.html would suppress display of the state diagram.
"Display Order of Current State Properties = 1" Set the Current State Properties table to be the 1st table listed after "Select Process".
"Display Order of Outputs = 2" Set the Outputs table to be the 2nd table listed after "Select Process".
"Display Order of Inputs = 3" Set the Outputs table to be the 3rd table listed after "Select Process".
"Display Order of State Diagram = 4" Set the State Diagram table to be the 4th table listed after "Select Process".

[ECC]

Thanks for the suggestions JonW, and welcome!! Glad to have some more good feedback!

Hides are easy. Reordering gets a little tricky because the output table needs the full width of the interface depending on the programmed names, which forces it to the bottom. But by hiding timers and Wins it would get it closer to the top.

The Current State Properties table might get axed in one of the next releases, seems like it could be more tightly integrated into the state diagram (which also could be worked over to display better graphics.) In fact, adding setpoints to the temperature gauges directly would remove 99% of the need for the current state properties table.

Do people like/use/need the Current State Properties table, or do you think the real estate could be better served by improving the State Diagram (or something else)?

[gbrewer]

I am interested only in knowing what state I am in during the process. I personally think it could be handled by text since I "built" the state to begin with. I would be in favor of modification as long as we had obvious indicators about what it active during that specific state. As of the latest release, i got sent to the bottom of the page.