Specifications
8 – Configuring Points
116 R400
About Points
The PlantScape server uses “points” to store information about a field value or
device, for example, the state of a pump, a temperature sensor, the process
variable of a control loop, and so on.
PlantScape records each significant change in the values for a point as an event,
which operators can see on the Event Summary display. Point events are also
treated as alarms, for which you can configure a priority that controls whether the
event is included in the Alarm Summary. For more information about point
events and alarms, see “Defining Events, Alarms, and Alarm Priorities” on
page 162.
As with the configuration of the hardware items, the key component of point
configuration involves using Quick Builder to define the necessary details to the
server database.
Depending on your data acquisition and control requirements, you might only
need to define very simple points. For example, you might only need to define
points that are going to be used in simple processes or applications, such as
monitoring an oven temperature or monitoring the state of a pump.
On the other hand, your data acquisition and control requirements might be more
sophisticated. For example, you might want to use a point to:
• Monitor and control a process
• Generate an alarm
• Collect historical data
• Start an application, and so on
• Run a server script to perform a task on point change
• Or you may be using a point server interface that uses flexible points that
directly maps the field point object to a server point.
Regardless of how simple or complex your points might be, the procedure for
configuring points can be reduced to the following steps:
Points on PlantScape Control Processors
For points on PlantScape Control Processors, you use:
1
The Process Control Building software to configure your control strategies,
as documented in the PlantScape Process Control Building Guide.
2
Control Builder to create any scripts you want to run when the point
changes.
plscpcg.book Page 116 Monday, May 28, 2001 10:11 AM