Running the HMI Application

Running the HMI application means loading the HMI data to the controller and uploading and executing the visualization in a web client/browser. The HMI pages are displayed by the standard web browser on your PC. No additional software is necessary on the PC. Via the web browser, you can control and monitor the automation application.

The HMI application can be run and visualized with the standard web browser on your PC either directly from PLCnext Engineer via the 'Cockpit' editor or, when the HMI data are loaded to the controller, by typing in the corresponding IP address in the web browser's address bar (in the latter case, PLCnext Engineer is not necessary to display the visualization).

Run and visualize the HMI application directly from the 'Cockpit' editor

To run and visualize the HMI application directly from the 'Cockpit' editor in PLCnext Engineer using the controller's web server, the following preconditions must be fulfilled:

The PC running PLCnext Engineer and the controller are physically connected to the network and the controller is reachable in the network.
The project image including the HMI data has been written to the controller. Refer to the topic "Commissioning the Application: From Compiling to Debugging ‣ Controller Commissioning: From Compiling to Debugging
×‣ Safety PLC Commissioning: From Compiling to Debugging
×" for details.
The project execution is started on the controller.

Double-click the controller node in the PLANT and open the 'Cockpit' editor in the editors area.
Select 'TCP/IP' from the drop-down list on the top left.
If the project image has not yet been written to the controller or if changes have been made since the last time the project has been written to the controller, right-click the controller node in the PLANT and select 'Write and Start Project' from the context menu or press <F5> on your keyboard. Alternatively, click the button on the 'Cockpit' toolbar.
Click the button on the 'Cockpit' toolbar (the button is only active, if the controller is reachable in the network via PLCnext Engineer). The default web browser that is configured for your computer loads the HMI application and starts with the display of the HMI page specified as startup page.

Call the HMI visualization directly via web browser (no PLCnext Engineer needed)

To call the visualization via your web browser (view the visualization in a web client) without PLCnext Engineer, the following preconditions must be fulfilled:

The PC running PLCnext Engineer and the controller are physically connected to the network and the controller is reachable in the network.
The project image including the HMI data has been written to the controller. Refer to the topic "Commissioning the Application: From Compiling to Debugging ‣ Controller Commissioning: From Compiling to Debugging
×‣ Safety PLC Commissioning: From Compiling to Debugging
×" for details.
The project execution is started on the controller.

Proceed as follows:

Open your web browser.
Enter the IP address of the controller in the address bar of the web browser in the following format (see below how to pass parameters to the URL):
https://<controller IP address> (for example, https://192.168.2.50).
You do not need to enter the name of an HMI page. The application automatically completes the path to a valid URL including the name of the HMI page specified as startup page.

Passing parameters to the URL

You can pass parameters to the URL https://<controller IP address>/ehmi/hmiapp.html used to call the HMI visualization via web browser. This allows you, for example, to specify the station ID of the HMI client used to control and monitor the visualization. Parameters are passed to the URL by appending the parameter after the question mark (?) in the URL. The value for the parameter is specified after the equals character (=). Multiple parameters can be passed to the URL by separating them with the ampersand character (&) as shown in the following example (here the station ID and the startup language for the translated HMI text resources are passed to the URL).

Example: https://192.168.2.50/ehmi/hmiapp.html?StationID=222&language=en

The following URL parameters are supported:

URL parameter Description

StationID The station id (integer value) of the HMI client used for controlling and monitoring the HMI visualization.
See the topic "Connection between HMI client and PLCnext Technology Controller" for details on how to retrieve status information about the HMI clients connected to the controller.

language Language code as defined in the 'Extras > Options' dialog under the 'International | Default Language Settings' category. The language code (for example, 'en', 'de' etc. ) specifies the default language of the HMI client when the visualization is started.

URL parameter	Description
StationID	The station id (integer value) of the HMI client used for controlling and monitoring the HMI visualization. See the topic "Connection between HMI client and PLCnext Technology Controller" for details on how to retrieve status information about the HMI clients connected to the controller.
language	Language code as defined in the 'Extras > Options' dialog under the 'International \| Default Language Settings' category. The language code (for example, 'en', 'de' etc. ) specifies the default language of the HMI client when the visualization is started.