Configuring a Counter Channel

From the left-hand side of the Counters screen, select Add Counter .

If you are not already in Configuration lock, the Configuration lock screen displays:

Enter a reason if required and then select Confirm . The system configuration is now locked pending the submission of your update and the Configuration Locked icon displays on the status bar.

From the left-hand side of the Counters screen, select the Counter channel required:

If you are not already in Configuration lock, the Configuration lock screen displays:

Enter a reason if required and then select Confirm . The system configuration is now locked pending the submission of your update and the Configuration Locked icon displays on the status bar.

Complete the configuration as required:

• Type - Displays the channel type, cannot be updated.

• Descriptor - Defaults to 'Counter n' where 'n' is the next number in sequence from the previous counter. Enter a unique name for this counter to identify it if required (maximum characters 40).

  Note - This is not case sensitive, for example, 'AbC' is regarded as identical to 'abc '.

• Counter Configuration - Select Expand if it does not expand automatically and complete as required:

  • Count Limit Action - Select from the following behaviors when the counter maximum or minimum are reached:

    • Rollover - Select to set this counter to start counting again from either zero +1, or a Preset Value, where specified, +1 when the Count Max or Count Min limit is reached, depending on whether this counter is counting up or down.

    • Saturate - Select to set this counter to stop counting at the Count Max or Count Min limit, depending on whether this counter is counting up or down.

  • Count Max - If this counter is counting up, for example, 0 to 100, enter the value for this counter to trigger the action required.

  • Count Min - If this counter is counting down, for example, 100 to 0, enter the value for this counter to trigger the action required.

  • Preset Value - Enter a start value for this counter, for example:

    • If counting up, you may leave the default of 0.

    • If you are counting down, you may set the default to 100.

From the left-hand side of the Counters screen select the Counter channel required. The Chart and presentation settings section displays on the right-hand side:

If you are not already in Configuration lock, the Configuration lock screen displays:

Enter a reason if required and then select Confirm . The system configuration is now locked pending the submission of your update and the Configuration Locked icon displays on the status bar.

From Chart and presentation settings, select Expand if it does not expand automatically and complete as required:

• General Settings:

  

  Complete the following as required:

  • Units - Enter an engineering unit, for example, °C, psi, Volts, up to a maximum of six characters. To enter special characters, see How do I enter special characters? for details.

    Tip - The unit displays with the channel value.

  • Number Format - Select either:

    • Numeric - Displays numbers in a decimal format, for example, 12345.6789 displays as 12,345.6789.

    • Scientific - Displays numbers in scientific notation, useful for very large or very small numbers. Numbers display as a coefficient multiplied by 10 raised to the power, for example, 12345.6789 displays as 1.23456789E+4.

    • Color - Select to choose one of the 56 available colors:

      

• Scale & Zone Settings:

  

  To set the chart scale and zoning for this channel:

  • Scale Enable - Tick to enable scale configuration and specify the scale type and the number of divisions required:

    • Scale Type ( available only when Scale Enable is enabled) - Select one of the following options:

      • Logarithmic - Divisions are displayed using a logarithmic scale. This option is suitable for analyzing data spanning multiple orders of magnitude.

      • Linear - Divisions are displayed at equal intervals. This option is ideal for displaying uniformly distributed data:

        • Scale Division Major ( available only when Scale Type is Linear) - Enter a value, or use the Plus or Minus to set the major divisions to be included on the chart (valid range 1 to 20).

        • Scale Division Minor (available only when Scale Type is Linear) - Enter a value, or use the Plus or Minus to set the minor divisions to be included on the chart (valid range 1 to 20).

          Note - Scale divisions have no impact on a chart grid, they are only for scale. The grid on the chart is defined by the division settings on the group, see Configuring Groups Settings for details.

  • Scale maximum (Unit) - Enter a value, or use the Plus or Minus to set the upper limit of the scale's range.

  • Scale minimum (Unit) - Enter a value, or use the Plus or Minus to set the lower limit of the scale's range.

  • Zone maximum (%) - Enter a value, or use the Plus or Minus to set the percentage offset for the upper limit of the scale and trendline relative to the top of the chart (valid range 5 to 100).

  • Zone minimum (%) - Enter a value, or use the Plus or Minus to set the percentage offset for the lower limit of the scale and trendline relative to the bottom of the chart (valid range 0 to 95).

    Note - The minimum value must be less than the maximum value by 5 or more.
    Tip - The Zone settings offset a scale and its associated trendline relative to the chart grid. This is useful when displaying multiple trends with similar value ranges, which would otherwise overlap and become difficult to distinguish. For example, several digital trends switching between 0 and 1 can overlap, making them difficult to distinguish unless each is defined a different Zone.