HMI Application

PLCnext Engineer allows you to create an HMI (Human Machine Interface) application for

visualizing and monitoring
controlling and operating

the control application running on your controller.

The HMI application consists of one or more HMI pages populated with standard HMI objects or predefined HMI symbols which can be assigned to HMI tags in order to animate them or send control commands to the application.

For visualizing and controlling the automation application this way, data must be exchanged between the HMI application and the controller. This data exchange is realized by HMI tags.
An HMI tag can be seen as an HMI-internal variable. An HMI tag is assigned to a global IEC 61131-3 variable or a local variable with set HMI attribute. Via the HMI tag, the HMI application gets read or write access to variables. By adding a dynamic/action to an HMI object property and linking this dynamic/action to an HMI tag, the value of the variable can be visualized/written via the HMI.

Note
Regarding their use in HMI pages, the following applies to variables of the Safety PLC:

Safety-related IEC 61131-3 variables cannot be used in an HMI page as no HMI tags can be created and assigned to variables of a safety-related data type in the Safety PLC Data List.

It is possible to create HMI tags for exchange variables, i.e., for Safety PLC variables of a standard data type which are assigned to a global variable of the standard PLC.

The HMI application data is stored automatically as part of the project. The HMI application is part of the project image that is written to the controller when executing the 'Write and Start Project' command. In addition to the application logic and the configuration/parameterization data of your project, the project image contains all relevant HMI data. Using the web server on your controller, you can run the HMI application in a standard web browser and then monitor and control the processes running on the controller.

Features at a glance

Powerful HMI editor for designing HMI pages using HMI objects, symbols and images inserted from the COMPONENTS area. Object properties can be edited in the dockable properties window.
Animation of HMI object properties such as object position, visibility, etc., by means of HMI tags.
Actions assigned to HMI objects allow writing values to the automation process (e.g. 'Action on click' for HMI buttons).
HMI symbol libraries provide predefined symbols.
Creation and re-use of user-defined HMI symbols.
Add images and re-use them in your HMI pages as often as required.
Create released HMI libraries of user-defined HMI images and symbols.
Flexible navigation to HMI pages by setting the 'Action on Click' dynamic for an HMI object.
Definition of the navigation structure: the 'Navigation' editor allows you to define how you can navigate between your HMI pages in the project when running the HMI application.
Protecting the HMI application against unauthorized use by setting the access rights for HMI pages and HMI objects.
Create multilingual HMI applications by translating HMI texts in various languages.
Run the automation application directly from PLCnext Engineer using the web server of the controller.
Monitor and operate the automation application running on the controller via the HMI application in a standard web browser.
Optional HMI Generator which allows you to automatically generate a complete visualization (HMI content) based on your project with only one command.