4.1.2 Settings

Select [View] - [Tag Browser] and make sure the Tag Browser is enabled to open the Tag Browser window.

For a more detailed view of the tags, the Tag Browser window can be undocked by dragging the header of the window. In this detailed view, the Tag Name, Type, Device, Address, Initial Value, Persistence, and Description are all displayed.

Tag Browser Editor

Item	Description
New Tag	There are two methods to create a new tag: Click the icon in the ‘Tag Browser’ window. Right-click the tag list and select [New Tag] on the submenu.
Edit Tag	There are two methods to edit a tag: Click the icon in the ‘Tag Browser’ window. Double-click a tag in the tag list to edit it. Right-click the tag to edit and select [Edit Tag] on the submenu.
Delete Tag	There are two methods for deleting a tag: Select the tag to delete and press the ‘Delete’ key. Right-click the tag to delete and select [Delete] on the submenu.
Copy Tag	Select the tag to copy/cut from the tag list. Copy or cut the tag with any of the methods shown below: 1. Press the Ctrl + C or Ctrl + X keys. 2. Right-click the tag and select [Copy] or [Cut] from the submenu. After copying, move to the destination, right-click and select [Paste] from the submenu or press the Ctrl + V keys to paste. Alternatively, users can select the desired tag to copy and click the icon in the ‘Tag Browser’ window. The copied tag can then be pasted by clicking the icon.

When creating a tag, use a name that follows the criteria listed below:

1. No special characters (e.g. Space, Tab, @, *, /, +, -, etc.)

2. The first character of a tag name cannot be a number.
Ex: “DIG1” is valid, but “1DIG” is invalid

3. Tags are not case-sensitive. All tags will be stored as uppercase.

4. You cannot use the same tag name more than once in the same tag group. However, tags may use the same name if they are in different groups.

Group Tag

If you have many tags in a single window, it may be difficult to find and manage individual tags. Group tags allow you to organize tags based on category, with a tree structure for subordinate tags. The grouped tags are displayed and managed in the Tag Browser window.

To create a group tag, select the icon in the Tag Browser window. After pressing the icon, a text field will open in the Tag Browser Window where a name for the Group Tag can be assigned.

Tag Editor

When creating a new tag or editing an existing tag, the ‘Tag Editor’ will appear on the screen. This window has two main tabs: the General tab which contains pertinent data for all tag types, and the Advanced tab which contains type-specific data for the tag.

(1) General Options

Item	Description
Tag Name	Input the desired tag name
Path	Outlines the group path of the tag
Type	Allows the user to select from 12 possible data types. The available fields in the advanced options tab will change based on the selected data type.
I/O Device	For remote tags, select the external device to associate the tag with. You can check the name of external devices using [Tools] – [I/O Device Editor]. For local tags, select “None” from the drop-down menu. Note that selecting this option will not allow the user to assign an I/O Address.
I/O Address	Enter the external device address to associate the tag with. You must enter the address using the device’s addressing method. For example, for a CIMON PLC, valid bit addresses include “X00”, “Y1E”, etc. This field is enabled only when an I/O device is selected.
Persistent	When this option is true, the last state of the tag is stored when the project is closed. When you execute the project again, the tag values will be reloaded.
Value Changed	With this option enabled, a user-defined script or action list will be performed when the tag value changes.
Quality Changed	With this option enabled, a user-defined script or action list will be performed when the quality of the tag changes. In this case, quality refers to the communications status of the tag.

BOOL Type

BOOL tags are used to represent ON/OFF status, 0 or 1, True or False, or other values with only 2 possible states. Within Canvas, binary values are stored and represented as either 0 or 1. If a boolean tag is tied to a device address with more than one bit, then any value other than 1 will be treated as a 1. This type selection does not carry any additional options in the Advanced tab of the Tag Editor.

Analog Type

Analog tags are used to represent 8, 16, 32, or 64-bit numeric values. It is important to choose the correct data type for interpreting the data (INT16, UINT32, Float, etc.). Note that within Canvas, “Analog” refers to multi-bit numeric values, but not necessarily values with an analog input source.

Data Type	Description	Range
SINT(INT8)	Signed 8-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	-128 ~ 127
INT(INT16)	Signed 16-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	-32768 ~ 32767
DINT(INT32)	Signed 32-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	-2147483648 ~ 2147483647
LINT(INT64)	Signed 64-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	-9223372036854775808 ~ 9223372036854775807
USINT(UINT8)	Unsigned (non-negative) 8-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	0 ~ 255
UINT(UINT16)	Unsigned (non-negative) 16-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	0 ~ 65535
UDINT(UINT32)	Unsigned (non-negative) 32-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	0 ~ 4294967295
ULINT(UINT64)	Unsigned (non-negative) 64-bit integer. Enables the ‘Encoding’, ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	0 ~ 18446744073709551615
REAL(FLOAT)	32-bit floating-point number. Enables the ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	-3.40282346638529e+038 ~ 3.40282346638529e+038
LREAL(DOUBLE)	64-bit floating-point number. Enables the ‘Clamp Mode’, ‘Deadband Type’, and ‘Scale Mode’ advanced options.	4.9 x 10^-307 ~1.8 x 10⁺³⁰⁸

It is important to verify that the data type of every tag matches the data type used within the paired device. If there is a mismatch, data may be incorrectly represented or manipulated.
For data types that span multiple addresses (namely 32-bit double words), only the first address is needed. The address of the remaining words or bytes is implied. Note that Modbus devices typically only send and receive one 16-bit word per address. Therefore, Modbus double words may not be directly accessible via a single real tag.

(1) Advanced (Analog Type)

Item	Description
Clamp Mode	This option dictates how the tag will handle values outside of the specified Maximum/Minimum values. Note that this setting only applies to write requests, and will not change values read from the PLC.
	Clamp High	To use Clamp High, select ‘Clamp High’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Engineering Max value. Any tag value greater than the assigned Engineering Max value will be overwritten to the Engineering Max value.
	Clamp Low	To use Clamp Low, select ‘Clamp Low’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Engineering Min value. Any tag value less than the assigned Engineering Min value will be overwritten to the Engineering Min value.
	Clamp Both	To use Clamp Both, select ‘Clamp Both’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Engineering Max and Engineering Min values. Any tag value greater than the assigned Engineering Max value will be overwritten to the Engineering Max value, and any tag value less than the assigned Engineering Min value will be overwritten to the Engineer Min value.
	Reject High	To use Reject High, select ‘Reject High’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Engineering Max value. Any tag value greater than the assigned Engineering Max value will be discarded, and the tag value will remain at the last recorded tag value.
	Reject Low	To use Reject Low select ‘Reject Low’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Engineering Min value. Any tag value less than the assigned Engineering Min value will be discarded, and the tag value will remain at the last recorded tag value.
	Reject High	To use Reject Both select ‘Reject Both’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Engineering Max and Min values. Any tag value greater than the assigned Engineering Max value will be discarded, and the tag value will remain at the last recorded tag value. Any tag value less than the assigned Engineering Min value will be discarded, and the tag value will remain at the last recorded tag value.
Scale Mode	Converts the original input data into a new value using one of four methods.
	Linear Range	To use the Linear Range method, select ‘Linear Range’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Raw Low, Raw High, Scaled Low, and Scaled High values. With this option, the tag value will be linearly scaled such that the Raw Low is converted to the Scaled Low and the Raw High is converted to the Scaled High. Intermediate values are scaled linearly. For a given input (raw) value, the exact output (tag) value can be calculated using the formula below: Tag Value = (Input Value – Raw Low) / (Raw High – Raw Low) * (Scaled High– Scaled Low) + Scaled Low Example: Select a ‘REAL’ tag type. Set the Raw Low to 0 and the Raw High to 1. Set the Scaled Low to 0 and the Scaled High to 100. Now, PLC values (on the left) will be converted to the following tag values (on the right): -17.0 becomes 0 0.0 becomes 0 0.25 becomes 25 0.75 becomes 75 1.0 becomes 100 24.0 becomes 100 Any input value below the Raw Low will be converted to the Scaled Low. Any input above the Raw High will be converted to the Scaled High. For a given tag value, the corresponding input value can be calculated using the formula below: Input Value = (Tag Value – Raw Low) / (Scaled High – Scaled Low) * ( Raw High– Raw Low) + Raw Low
	Linear Slope	To use the Linear Slope method, select ‘Linear Slope’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Slope and Intercept values in their respective fields. With this option, the tag value will be calculated using the formula below: Tag Value = (Input Value * Slope) + Intercept Example: Select an analog tag with data type UINT. For a Slope of 0.1 and an Intercept of 10: Minimum value: (0 * 0.1) + 10 = 10, Maximum value: (65535 * 0.1) + 10 = 6563.5 For a given tag value, the corresponding input value can be calculated using the formula below: Input Value = (Tag Value – Intercept) / Slope
	Square Root	To use the Square Root method, select ‘Square Root’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Raw Low, Raw High, Scaled Low, and Scaled High values. With this option, the tag value will be exponentially scaled, such that the Raw Low is converted to the Scaled Low and the Raw High is converted to the Scaled High. Intermediate values are scaled exponentially, with a fixed exponent of 1/2. For a given input (raw) value, the exact output (tag) value can be calculated using the formula below: Tag Value = (Scaled High – Scaled Low) * sqrt((Input Value - Raw Low) /(Raw High– Raw Low)) + Scaled Low Any input value below the Raw Low will be converted to the Scaled Low. Any input above the Raw High will be converted to the Scaled High. For a given tag value, the corresponding input value can be calculated using the formula below: Input Value = ((Tag Value – Scaled Low) / (Scaled High – Scaled Low))^2 * ( Raw High– Raw Low) + Raw Low
	Polynomial	To use the Polynomial method, select ‘Polynomial’ from the drop-down menu. Next, enter the desired Exponent, Slope, and Intercept values. With this option, the tag value will be exponentially scaled. For this option, the tag value will be calculated using the formula below: Tag Value = Slope * (Input Value)^Exponent + Intercept For a given tag value, the corresponding input value can be calculated using the formula below: Input Value = ((Tag Value - Intercept)/(Slope))^(1/Exponent)
Deadband Type	Filters the original input data and discards any new input data that falls within a specified range of the last recorded tag value.
	Absolute	To use the Absolute method, select ‘Absolute’ from the ‘Deadband’ drop down menu. Next, assign any numeric value in the ‘Deadband’. If the absolute difference between the current tag value and the last recorded tag value is greater than the Deadband value, the current value of the tag is sent. If the absolute difference is less than the Deadband value, the current value is filtered. Example: Select a ‘DINT’ tag type and an ‘Absolute’ Deadband type. For a Deadband of 10: Last Recorded Tag Value: 40 Current Tag Value: 12 Absolute Difference = \|Last Recorded Tag Value - Current Tag Value\| For this case, the absolute difference between the two tags is 28. The absolute difference is higher than the Deadband, so the current tag value will be recorded. Next, say that the last recorded tag value remains at 40 with a new current tag value of 32. The absolute difference in this case would be less than the headband, so the current tag value would be filtered and the tag value would remain as the last recorded tag value.
	Percent	To use the Absolute method, select ‘Absolute’ from the ‘Deadband’ drop down menu. Next, assign any numeric value in the ‘Deadband’. If the absolute difference between the current tag value and the last recorded tag value is greater than the Deadband value, the current value of the tag is sent. If the absolute difference is less than the Deadband value, the current value is filtered. Example: Select a ‘DINT’ tag type and an ‘Absolute’ Deadband type. For a Deadband of 10: Last Recorded Tag Value: 40 Current Tag Value: 12 Absolute Difference = \|Last Recorded Tag Value - Current Tag Value\| For this case, the absolute difference between the two tags is 28. The absolute difference is higher than the Deadband, so the current tag value will be recorded. Next, say that the last recorded tag value remains at 40 with a new current tag value of 32. The absolute difference in this case would be less than the headband, so the current tag value would be filtered and the tag value would remain as the last recorded tag value.
Encoding	Selecting the ‘BCD’ option from the drop down menu enables binary-coded decimal encoding. With this mode enabled, the Analog tag’s value will be represented by a binary sequence. Note that Binary-coded decimal does not function the same as converting a decimal number to binary.

String Tag

This tag stores a string value composed of ASCII characters. For local tags, strings up to 22 characters long can be created. For remote tags, strings will use a contiguous block of data on the target device.

(1) Advanced (String Type)

Item

Description

Max Length

Assign the maximum string length that can be written to the tag.
For local tags, you can choose a value between 1 and 22. For remote tags, the maximum length is only limited by the device memory. Note: Be careful to avoid overlapping device addresses. For example, if one string tag “STR1” begins at address D0 on a CIMON PLC, and another string tag begins at address D7, then STR1 should be no longer than 14 characters (7 words * (16 bits/word) / (8 bits/character) = 14 characters). Otherwise, editing one string may affect the other.