On-Line Monitoring

From within the i-TRiLOGI software, you are able to read/change the physical logic states of all the I/Os and internal variables of the target PLC, by using its excellent "on-line monitoring" capability. On-Line Monitoring uses the same I/O and variables display screens as the simulator to display the real-time data it captures from the PLC. Hence the experience of using on-line monitoring is nearly identical to that of using the simulator.

Note: In order to perform on-line monitoring, the TLServer must be actively running. TLServer can be running on the same computer that i-TRiLOGI is running at (using localhost IP 127.0.0.1), or on another computer on the same local area network, or at anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. The experience is identical regardless of where the TLServer (and hence the PLC) is situated.

Activating On-Line Monitoring

You can activate the on-line monitoring mode by cicking on the "On-Line Monitoring" item under the "Controller Menu" or simply press <Ctrl-M> on the keyboard. A password dialog will appear for your to enter the Username/Password pair to for authentication before you are allowed to gain access to control the PLC. The Username/Passwoard must have already been defined in TLServer  before you can use them.

ID (Hex)

Since a TLServer can be connected to as many as 256 M-series/F-Series PLCs, each PLC must have a unique ID for identification. You will need to enter the matching PLC's ID here for successful communication with the PLC. The number entered should be in hexadecimal, hence the range of acceptable numbers is from 00 to FF.

If there is ONLY ONE PLC attached to TLServer and you are not sure of its ID, you can ask i-TRiLOGI to detect its ID by clicking on the "Detect ID" button.  This method however will not work if there are more than one PLC being connected to the TLServer since all connected PLCs will attempt to send their IDs simultaneously and therefore TLServer will receive garbled data.

Username & Password

You must have a username and password defined in TLServer and the same username/password pair must be correctly entered here for authentication.

Memorize Username & Password

When you run i-TRiLOGI Version 6.x as an application you will have the option of memorizing the username and password so that you don't have to enter them every time. If the checkbox is left unchecked then the username and password will not be saved when the program quits.

TLServer's IP Address: Port

• If you run the TL6 as a local application on your PC, you will need to enter the TLServer's IP Address: Port. However, when running the TL6 as an applet off your Internet browser, this field is not editable and it will automatically be filled with the IP Address of the TLServer from which the applet was loaded. This is because the Java Security model dictates that a Java applet can only communicate with the server from which it was loaded (also known as "applet can only phone home!") . Hence for applet, you will not be allowed to switch to another TLServer of a different IP address.

• Therefore, if TL6 is run as an application it is very powerful because it is able to program/control/monitor any  M-series/F-Series PLCs in any part of the world. All you need is just an IP Address and the Port number of the TLServer as well as the authorized username and password to gain access to the PLC. If you leave this field blank, i-TRiLOGI will automatically fill it with the default local host address: 127.0.0.1:9080.

• The IP address of the destination i-TRiLOGI server (can be TLServer, XServer or the built-in F-server for the F-Series PLCs) is displayed on the on line monitoring screen.

i-TRiLOGI Application vs Applet

If i-TRiLOGI is running as an "Application" on local PC, then you will be prompted to enter the HTTP Proxy Server IP Address and Port number  (e.g. 165.23.345.1:8080) . You can ask your network adminstrator for the proxy server's address or check it out from your Netscape or IE5's option menu.

However, if you run i-TRiLOGI as an applet using the browser, then you will not be prompted to entser the HTTP proxy's IP Address. This is because the i-TRiLOGI applet makes use of the browser itself to perform the HTTP tunnelling.  Due to Java Security model, Applet will not be able to connect to the client's network proxy server directly. It can only use the browser's built-in proxy settings to do the job. (The browser's built-in proxy settings must have been correct to access TLServer via proxy server, otherwise you would not have been able to run i-TRiLOGI as an applet from that TLServer in the first place!).

After you have successfully log-in to the TLServer, a "Full-Screen Monitoring" window will be opened for you to monitor and control your PLC. At the same time, a red color banner will be displayed along the upper status line of the  ladder logic screen to warn you that it is performing monitoring function. The I/O logic states of the target PLC will be updated on both the ladder diagram as well as the Full Screen Monitoring window periodically. For descriptions on Full Screen Monitoring window please click on the following link:

 Continue to Full-Screen Monitoring