Understanding iFIX - GE Customer Center

Configuring the Picture Path

If you are using a shared PIC directory on a drive other than the one on which iFIX is installed, you must enter the full path in the SCU.

For example, if you want to use a shared PIC directory on the G:\drive, you must enter G:\PIC in the SCU. If you enter G:\, your WorkSpace will not open correctly.

Finding and Replacing Data

Many process environments are expansive, and may include pictures or schedules that reference many sources of data for operations in different locations throughout your plant. If you need to reroute certain data to another node, or globally change a data source throughout a plant, you can do so quickly, without disrupting operation or using valuable resources by finding and replacing data.

Finding data locates values of picture and schedule properties that match the search string. It also locates property values of objects in your pictures.

The search string you enter indicates the data you want to locate and optionally replace. Any property value that matches this text appears on the Find tab. On the Replace tab, only values you can modify appear.

Find Options

You can select any of the following options when finding data:

Match Case – Finds text that matches the exact case of the search string.

Whole Word Only – Finds only whole words that match the search string. A whole word is any text delimited by a carriage return, a line feed, a space, a hyphen (-), a semi-colon (;), a colon

(:), a comma (,), a period (.), an underscore (_), an exclamation point (!), quotation marks ("), apostrophe ('), parenthesis ( ), braces { }, or brackets [ ]. This means that a typical data source, such as Fix32.MIXER1.AI1.F_CV contains five words.

Data Source Only – Finds only data sources that match the search string.

NOTE: If a data source used to animate an object has its Data Conversion type set to

Object, the data source is ignored during all

Find operations.

Include Scripts – Finds text in the scripts associated with the current picture or schedule.

Replace Options

When replacing data, you can select from the following options:

Replace Selected – Replaces only the property values you select.

Replace All – Replaces all property values found.

Replace Preview – Displays the results of replacing all property values in the Replace Value With column.

NOTE: You cannot undo a Find and Replace operation and the text you enter as the replacement string appears exactly as you enter it.

Notes on Special Characters in Search

Strings

When you use wildcard characters such as the * or

? character in your search string, text containing the following special characters will not be found even if it satisfies the search criteria:

" ' ( ) * + ; ? @ ^ ' { } ~

For instance, if you want to locate [email protected] and enter j*com as your search string in the Find What field, the [email protected] term is not found, since the text includes a special character (@).

Example: Finding and Replacing Data

Assume you want to replace all of the tags in a picture from MIXER.AI_VALVE_OPEN to

MIXER.AI_VALVE_CLOSED. One way you can change these values is to perform a whole word find and replace.

To perform a whole word find and replace:

1. On the Edit menu, click Find and Replace.

2. In the Find What field, enter

MIXER1.AI_VALVE_OPEN.

3. Click the Replace tab, and enter

MIXER1.AI_VALVE_CLOSED in the

Replace With field.

4. Click Replace Preview to view the resulting values in the Replace Value With column.

5. Click Replace All.

If you find and replace a tag which returns numeric data only, such as F_CV, with a tag that returns non-numeric data, such as A_CUALM, Data links that are connected to this tag will no longer appear to update. For example:

If you replace...

F_CV

A_CV

F_CV

F_CV

With...

A_CV

F_CV

A_MODE

A_CV and then

A_MODE

Then the

Replace will...

Works for analog tags where the A_CV is simply a string containing a number.

Work without errors.

Not work.

Not work because the tag was originally a number.

Using Wildcards

One of the most powerful options you have when finding and replacing data is the ability to include wildcards in search strings and the replacement text you enter. You can enter any of the following wildcards:

* – Finds zero or more characters.

? – Finds any single character. For example, the search string TAN? locates the string TANK. It also locates the string TANKS.

When replacing data, the wildcard only lets you substitute one character for the wildcard. For example, if you replace TAN? with TANZ, the resulting strings are TANZ and TANZS.

\ – Finds wildcard characters in the search string.

For example, \* locates an asterisk (*) in the property values being searched.

To make your searches more effective, use these guidelines:

•

•

•

If the search string has wildcard characters, the replacement string must have the same wildcard characters or none at all.

If the search string has no wildcard characters, the replacement string cannot have any wildcard characters.

Do not use * and ? in the same search string.

The table below details some examples of using wildcards with Find and Replace.

Find and Replace Wildcard Examples

Property

Value

Search

String

Replacement

Text

NODE1.AI1 N*.A* M*.B*

NODE1.AI1 *.AI1

Modified

Value

MODE1.BI

1

NEWNOD

E.A

NEWNODE

.A

NODE1.AI1

NODE1.AI2

*.*

NOD*.AI*

N2.A2

BE*.CO*

MIXER1.AI3 MIXER1.A?? MIXER1.

D??

*Alarm Area

Mixer*

\*Alarm Area

Mixer\*

-Alarm

Area

Mixer-

N2:A2

BEE1.CO2

MIXER1.DI

3

-Alarm Area

Mixer-

Finding and Replacing Data in Scripts

By default, finding and replacing data in the

Proficy iFIX WorkSpace does not search in the scripts associated with the current picture or schedule. However, you can search in event scripts by selecting the Include Scripts check box.

Declarations, forms, class modules, and other scripts are not searched by iFIX. To search in these scripts, use the Visual Basic Editor (VBE). For more information on using the VBE, refer to its online Help. iFIX lets you add find and replace capabilities to your scripts using the FindReplace interface in the

FixScriptGlobal object. Refer to the Writing

Scripts manual and the iFIX Automation Interfaces

Help file for more information.

Using Find and Replace with User

Globals

In order to use the Find and Replace command on

User Globals, you must right-click the User icon in the Globals folder in the system tree, and select

Find and Replace from the menu.