AVEVA™ InTouch HMI

Application Maintenance Guide

aveva.com
 © 2015-2023 by AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AVEVA
Group Limited. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein.
Although precaution has been taken in the preparation of this documentation, AVEVA assumes no responsibility
for errors or omissions. The information in this documentation is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of AVEVA. The software described in this documentation is furnished under
a license agreement. This software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license
agreement. AVEVA, the AVEVA logo and logotype, OSIsoft, the OSIsoft logo and logotype, ArchestrA, Avantis,
Citect, DYNSIM, eDNA, EYESIM, InBatch, InduSoft, InStep, IntelaTrac, InTouch, Managed PI, OASyS, OSIsoft
Advanced Services, OSIsoft Cloud Services, OSIsoft Connected Services, OSIsoft EDS, PIPEPHASE, PI ACE, PI
Advanced Computing Engine, PI AF SDK, PI API, PI Asset Framework, PI Audit Viewer, PI Builder, PI Cloud
Connect, PI Connectors, PI Data Archive, PI DataLink, PI DataLink Server, PI Developers Club, PI Integrator for
Business Analytics, PI Interfaces, PI JDBC Driver, PI Manual Logger, PI Notifications, PI ODBC Driver, PI OLEDB
Enterprise, PI OLEDB Provider, PI OPC DA Server, PI OPC HDA Server, PI ProcessBook, PI SDK, PI Server, PI Square,
PI System, PI System Access, PI Vision, PI Visualization Suite, PI Web API, PI WebParts, PI Web Services, PRiSM,
PRO/II, PROVISION, ROMeo, RLINK, RtReports, SIM4ME, SimCentral, SimSci, Skelta, SmartGlance, Spiral Software,
WindowMaker, WindowViewer, and Wonderware are trademarks of AVEVA and/or its subsidiaries. All other
brands may be trademarks of their respective owners.
U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS
Use, duplication or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions set forth in the license agreement
with AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries and as provided in DFARS 227.7202, DFARS 252.227-7013, FAR
12-212, FAR 52.227-19, or their successors, as applicable.
Publication date: Thursday, November 2, 2023
Publication ID: 1068056
Contact information
AVEVA Group Limited
High Cross
Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0HB. UK
https://sw.aveva.com/
For information on how to contact sales and customer training, see https://sw.aveva.com/contact.
For information on how to contact technical support, see https://sw.aveva.com/support.
To access the AVEVA Knowledge and Support center, visit https://softwaresupport.aveva.com.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 2
Contents

Chapter 1 Migrating and Upgrading Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Moving from a Legacy Application to the New Standalone Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Migrating and Upgrading Older Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Migrating Earlier InTouch Applications to the Current Version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Converting Legacy Alarm Displays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Managing Application Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Importing InTouch Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2 Managing InTouch Applications Using the System Platform IDE. . . . . . . . 11

InTouchViewApp Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Associating an InTouchViewApp Template with an InTouch Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Editing a Managed InTouch Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Testing a Managed InTouch Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Deploying the InTouchViewApp Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Exporting and Importing an InTouchViewApp Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Attributes of the InTouchViewApp Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Differences Between the InTouchViewApp Object and Other AutomationObjects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ViewEngine Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 3 Exporting and Importing InTouch Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Exporting and Importing Tag Data Associated with a Managed InTouch Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Exporting Tag Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Viewing Exported Tag Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Importing Tag Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Tagname Dictionary Import File Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creating an Import File Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setting the Operating Mode for Dictionary Import Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
:MODE=REPLACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
:MODE=UPDATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
:MODE=ASK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
:MODE=IGNORE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
:MODE=TERMINATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
:MODE=TEST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Setting Access Names and Alarm Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
:IOAccess Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 3
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Contents

:AlarmGroup Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Defining Tag Type Keywords and Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tag Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
:MemoryDisc Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
:IODisc Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
:MemoryInt Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
:IOInt Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
:MemoryReal Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
:IOReal Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
:MemoryMsg Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
:IOMsg Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
:GroupVar Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
:HistoryTrend Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
:TagID Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
:IndirectDisc Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
:IndirectAnalog Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
:IndirectMsg Keyword Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using Blank Strings in an Import File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Using Default Values for Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Creating SuperTag Instances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Importing Tag Definitions with DBLoad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Exporting and Importing InTouch Windows between InTouch Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Importing Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Converting Placeholder Tags for an Imported Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Exporting Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Importing Scripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Converting Placeholder Tags in an Imported Script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Tag Placeholders for Imported Windows and Scripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Exporting Industrial Graphics from an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Importing Industrial Graphics to an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Exporting Selected Symbols from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Importing and Embedding Custom Client Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Resolving Conflicts When Importing Duplicate Client Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Embedding Client Controls in Industrial Graphics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Importing HTML5 Widgets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Carousel Widget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Web Browser Widget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
QR Code Scanner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Map_App Widget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Importing Script Function Libraries to an InTouch Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Resolving Imports of Conflicting Methods in .NET Script Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Configuring the Application Style Library for Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Exporting and Importing the Application Style Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Configuring Alarm Priority Mapping for Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Exporting Industrial Graphic Text Strings from an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 4
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Contents

Importing Text Strings of Industrial Graphics to an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Exporting Localization Strings from a Symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Importing the Industrial Graphic Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 4 Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Multi-Monitor Configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Single Video Card Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Characteristics of a Single Card Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Characteristics of Single Card Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Multiple Video Card Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Characteristics of a Multiple Card Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Characteristics of Multiple Card Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Planning a Multi-Monitor Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Choosing a Multi-Monitor Video Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Determining the Application Screen Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Determining the Number of Monitors to Display the Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Determining the Placement of Application Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Windows Show in a Forced Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Windows Are Manually Moved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Windows Are Placed Automatically Based on Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Developing a Multi-Monitor InTouch Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Configuring Multi-Monitor Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Configuring Screen Resolution Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Deploying the Application and Verifying Multi-Monitor Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Verifying Multi-Monitor Support During Run Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Chapter 5 Using InTouch on a Tablet PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Annotating and Sending Visualization Screens as E-mail Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Making Window Annotations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Selecting, Copying, and Deleting Window Annotations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Saving, Printing, and E-Mailing an Annotated Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
AnnotateLayout() Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Changing Screen Orientation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Chapter 6 Managing InTouch Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

About Managing InTouch Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Running WindowViewer as a Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Configuring WindowViewer to Start as a Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Editing WIN.INI to Run Application as Service in WindowViewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Manually Starting a Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Stopping a Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Configuring the User Account for InTouch Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Troubleshooting InTouch Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 5
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Contents

Viewing Error Messages for Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Troubleshooting Problems with the Services User Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Deactivating Advised I/O Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Registry Keys for the InTouch Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 7 Alarms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Migrating from Legacy Alarm Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Migrating from the Standard Alarm System to the Distributed Alarm System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Maintaining the Alarm Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Configuring Purge or Archive Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Connecting to the Alarm Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Configuring How Much Data to Purge from the Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Configuring the Archive of Purged Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Configuring Log File Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Manually Purging and Archiving the Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Setting a Schedule for Automatic Purging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Restoring the Alarm Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Configuring the Database Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Configuring Which Files to Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Starting a Database Restore Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Appendix A Customizing Applications Settings from the INTOUCH.ini File. . . . . . . . 116

Custom INTOUCH.ini Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Setting Custom Logging Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Setting Logging Frequency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Logging Remote Referenced Tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Disabling WindowMaker Shortcut Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Setting Custom WindowViewer Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Adding a Script Loop Timer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Scaling InTouch Windows to Different Screen Resolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Setting the Length of the Print Waiting Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Logging Alarm Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Setting the Drawing Mode of a 16-Pen Trend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Resizing a Numeric Keypad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Resizing the Input Fields of Analog and String User Input Links. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Resolving Stuck Application Button or Displayed Value Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 6
Chapter 1

Migrating and Upgrading Applications

This section describes about migrating and upgrading different InTouch applications.

Moving from a Legacy Application to the New Standalone

Application
Prior to System Platform 2020, InTouch HMI users could create the following types of applications:
• Standalone
• Modern
• Managed
• Published
Standalone applications were built using legacy symbols and controls. Modern applications supported the use of
Industrial Graphics (formerly known as ArchestrA graphics/symbols) in addition to legacy symbols. Managed
applications were built using the IDE and Galaxy Objects. Standalone applications could be published into a
package and then distributed to other nodes, resulting in Published applications..
In InTouch HMI 2020, modern applications have been redesigned as more comprehensive standalone
applications. The new standalone application offers many improvements over legacy standalone applications.
• Easy distribution – Copy and paste the application folder to a different node. No import or export operations
needed.
• Use of Industrial Graphics – The new standalone application combines the ease of use of earlier legacy
applications with modern industrial graphics.
• Ready for the cloud – Applications created on-premise nodes can now be viewed on a HTML5 compliant
browser.
• Light weight – The applications files are light weight and allow for better performance and use.
There is no change in behavior of Managed and Published applications.

Migrating and Upgrading Older Applications

To support applications created in earlier versions of InTouch HMI, you can use two workflows to transition to
the new standalone application.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 7
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 1 – Migrating and Upgrading Applications

• In-place migration of older modern applications: If the node contains old Modern applications and the
product version on the node is upgraded, then you migrate the application using the Application Manager.
• Importing .aapkg files of modern applications exported from earlier versions of InTouch HMI.

Migrating Earlier InTouch Applications to the Current Version

You can migrate applications developed with older versions of the InTouch HMI to the current version. When you
attempt to open an older application with either WindowMaker or WindowViewer, you are shown the
Application Migration dialog box. Here you can:
• Choose to convert the application resolution.
• Create a backup copy before migrating the old application to the current version of the InTouch HMI.
You can migrate existing standalone, modern, or published InTouch applications to the current InTouch version.
You must specify the folder to create the backup copy and if you want to exclude any files from the backup.
1. From the application list, double-click on an application.
The Application Migration dialog box appears.
2. To convert the application resolution from the original to the current resolution, select the Convert the
application resolution from <existing resolution> to <new resolution> checkbox.
3. To change the default backup path (<Application Directory>\Bak), clear the check box for Backup the
application before migration. Then, type the path to the folder in the Backup Path box where you want to
save the backup. If the folder does not exist, you must create it, and then create the backup.
4. In the Ignore Files box, you can specify any files that you want to exclude from the backup. By default, all
files in the application directory are backed up. Type the file names you want to exclude separated by a
semicolon (;). Or, use standard wild card characters ('*' and '?') to exclude a set of files by the common
characters in their names.
5. After configuring the necessary options, click OK.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 8
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 1 – Migrating and Upgrading Applications

Converting Legacy Alarm Displays

When you open an application built with a version before InTouch 7.11 in WindowViewer, a dialog box appears
prompting you to run WindowMaker to convert the application. If you continue with the conversion, all of the
Standard Alarm Objects are converted to Distributed Alarm Objects with default values. Colors, fonts,
expressions, and alarm query settings are not preserved.

Managing Application Settings

InTouch application settings, such as the application path, are stored in the Win.ini file. The Win.ini file is located
in the below directory:
C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Local\Wonderware
WindowMaker runs as an administrative user and WindowViewer can run as an administrative or standard user.
The standard user cannot access the Win.ini directory of the administrative user profile. Therefore, as the
application developer, you need to copy the common Win.ini attributes to the standard user’s Win.ini profile
when you develop the application. This ensures that all the attributes that are set under the administrative user
are also available when WindowViewer is started by the standard user. You must copy the attributes each time
you make changes to the common Win.ini attributes.

Importing InTouch Applications

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 9
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 1 – Migrating and Upgrading Applications

You can import existing modern applications using the Application Manager, which will be converted to a
Standalone application. Standalone applications can be copied from one node to another and found using the
Find Applications option, they do not need to be imported or exported.
To import an existing modern application:
1. On the File menu, in the Import group, click Import.
The Create New Application: Select an application to import screen appears.
2. Use the Find Applications section to search for the application you want to import. Search for a folder or a
file to import.
3. Select the application and click Next.
The Enter Application Details screen appears.

4. Make any changes to the settings.

Click Finish.
A new application is created and displayed in the Application Manager.
Note: All modern applications are imported as a standalone application.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 10
Chapter 2

Managing InTouch Applications Using

the System Platform IDE

You can manage your InTouch applications using the IDE. The following procedure shows you how to do this in a
general way. For more specific information, see Managing InTouch Applications with the IDE.
The InTouch functionality in the System Platform IDE is handled by two AutomationObjects:
• The InTouchViewApp object represents an InTouch application at design time and run time.
• The ViewEngine object controls how an InTouch application runs on a target node in a Galaxy.
The following diagram shows how InTouch applications are managed using the System Platform IDE:

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 11
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 2 – Managing InTouch Applications Using the System Platform IDE

To use the IDE to manage your InTouch applications

1. Create a managed InTouch application in the System Platform IDE.
2. Open it in WindowMaker.
3. Configure your InTouch application in WindowMaker. You can switch to WindowViewer to test the
application.
4. Save the InTouch application and close WindowMaker and WindowViewer.
5. Determine which nodes to deploy the InTouch application to.
6. Deploy the InTouch application to the target nodes in the Galaxy.
7. Run the InTouch application in WindowViewer on the target nodes.

InTouchViewApp Object
Application Server manages your InTouch applications with a specific type of Application Server object called the
InTouchViewApp object.
An InTouchViewApp template references one specific managed InTouch application at design time and cannot be
executed at run time.
You must create an instance of the InTouchViewApp template. This instance can be deployed to a target node.
The target node is the node on which the managed InTouch application runs in WindowViewer.
To distribute an InTouch application, you create multiple instances of the same template and deploy them to
multiple nodes.
Optionally, you can:
• Export and import the InTouchViewApp object to exchange managed InTouch applications across Galaxies.
• Export and import tag dictionary data as .csv files.
• Export and import windows between different types of InTouch applications.
• Publish the managed InTouch application. The published InTouch application runs like a standalone InTouch
application but can contain Industrial Graphics.
• Use the attributes of the deployed InTouchViewApp object to read from and write to InTouch tags with
ArchestrA attributes.
To use the InTouchViewApp object
1. Derive an InTouchViewApp template from the $InTouchViewApp base template.
2. Associate the derived template with an InTouch application by creating a new InTouch application or
importing a standalone InTouch application.
3. Open the application in WindowMaker.
4. Configure the application in WindowMaker and test it in WindowViewer.
5. Save and close WindowMaker. The InTouchViewApp template is checked in.
6. Derive instances from the InTouchViewApp template.
7. Deploy these instances to selected target nodes within the Galaxy.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 12
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 2 – Managing InTouch Applications Using the System Platform IDE

8. Run Application Manager on the target nodes and run the managed InTouch applications in WindowViewer.

Associating an InTouchViewApp Template with an InTouch Application

After you create a new InTouchViewApp template, you can associate an InTouchViewApp template with an
InTouch application by:
• Creating a new InTouch application.
• Importing a standalone InTouch application.
The InTouchViewApp template does not contain the InTouch application data itself, such as the tag configuration
and values, but simply references the application.

Editing a Managed InTouch Application

You edit a managed InTouch application with WindowMaker as you do for a standalone InTouch application,
except that you open the editor of the InTouchViewApp template to start the associated InTouch application in
WindowMaker.
When you close WindowMaker after making changes to the InTouch application, the InTouchViewApp object is
automatically checked in.

Testing a Managed InTouch Application

You can test a managed InTouch application with WindowViewer as you can with standalone InTouch
applications.
You can fast switch between WindowMaker and WindowViewer to test a managed application if you opened
WindowMaker from the System Platform IDE.
If a managed InTouch application contains references to Application Server data, such as galaxy:UDA, then a
WinPlatform object needs to be deployed to the node you are editing the InTouch application on. Otherwise, the
data shows blank values.

Deploying the InTouchViewApp Object

After you derive an instance of your InTouchViewApp template, you can assign it to the target platform under a
ViewEngine object.
You cannot assign multiple InTouchViewApp instances that have the same parent under one ViewEngine. Instead
create a second ViewEngine instance to host additional InTouchViewApp instances with the same parent.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 13
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 2 – Managing InTouch Applications Using the System Platform IDE

After you deploy the InTouchViewApp object, you can open the InTouch Application Manager on the target node.
The associated managed InTouch application appears in the list together with the time stamp of its last
deployment in the Date Modified column.
When you deploy the InTouchViewApp instance to a target node, the InTouch application is contained in:
• A folder on the development node. This contains the source for the InTouchViewApp template.
• A folder on the target node from which the InTouch application runs. This contains an instance copy of the
InTouch application.

Exporting and Importing an InTouchViewApp Object

You can export the InTouchViewApp object. You do this, for example, to use the managed InTouch application
together with its hosting InTouchViewApp object in other Galaxies.
When you export the object, a package file (.aaPKG) is created containing information about the object, the
associated managed InTouch application, and any Industrial graphics the application uses.
When you import an InTouchViewApp object, the System Platform IDE also imports the managed InTouch
application.

Attributes of the InTouchViewApp Object

You can use the Application Server attributes of the InTouchViewApp object to access the run-time data of the
tags of the associated InTouch application. This is useful for reading and writing InTouch data directly in the
Galaxy name space and provides the same functionality as the InTouchProxy object.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 14
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 2 – Managing InTouch Applications Using the System Platform IDE

In this example, a deployed managed InTouch application uses a real tag TankLevel to report the fill level of a
tank and a discrete tag ValveOut to control the state of a valve.
To read and write the InTouch tags from the InTouchViewApp object instance
1. Right-click the deployed InTouchViewApp object, and then click Monitor.
The Object Viewer screen appears.
2. Right-click in the Watch area, and then click Add Attribute Reference.
The Add Attribute Reference dialog box appears.
3. In the Attribute Reference box, type the name of the InTouchViewApp object followed by a dot and the
name of the InTouch tag you want to read or write. For example, TankDemo_001.TankLevel.
4. Click OK. The attribute is added to the Watch area.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for any other InTouch tags you want to read or write.
6. You can now view the InTouch tag value.

7. To write to an InTouch tag value, do the following:

a. Double-click it. The Modify Value dialog box appears.
b. Type a new value and click OK. The value is written back to the tag of the running InTouch application.

Differences Between the InTouchViewApp Object and Other

AutomationObjects
The InTouchViewApp object is unlike other AutomationObjects. You cannot perform some operations you can
normally do with other AutomationObjects.
• If you try to configure an InTouchViewApp instance, a message appears asking if you want to open its parent
template instead. You cannot configure the instance directly, only the parent template.
• If you try to open more than one InTouchViewApp template for configuration at a time on one node, IDE
prevents you from doing so. Close WindowMaker, WindowViewer, and Application Manager and retry.
Alternately, you can edit the InTouchViewApp object on a different node with InTouch WindowMaker.
• If you close the IDE while editing an InTouch application with WindowMaker, WindowMaker prompts you to
save any changes. It then closes and the InTouchViewApp template is checked in.
• If you close the IDE while testing an InTouch application with WindowViewer, WindowViewer closes.
If you want to:

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 15
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 2 – Managing InTouch Applications Using the System Platform IDE

• Change the association between the InTouchViewApp and the InTouch application, create a new derived
InTouchViewApp template instead.
• Use ArchestrA security (Galaxy security) in InTouch, deploy a WinPlatform instance to the node on which the
deployed managed InTouch application is running.

ViewEngine Object
The ViewEngine is an Application Server object that hosts and runs deployed InTouchViewApp objects.
To deploy an InTouchViewApp instance to a target platform, you need to assign it to a ViewEngine object first.
The ViewEngine object is then assigned to the target WinPlatform object.
The ViewEngine fulfils the same functions for the InTouchViewApp instances as the AppEngine instance does for
the Application Objects. The ViewEngine:
• Sets up and initializes the InTouchViewApp objects when they are initially deployed and started, so that they
can communicate with other objects in the Galaxy.
• Performs diagnostics on attributes that can be monitored, alarmed, and historized.
• Historizes data to the Historian.
You can use different ViewEngine objects to:
• Historize data to different Historians.
• Interact with deployed InTouch applications at different scan rates. This sets at which frequency InTouch tag
data can interact with the Galaxy name space.
A platform can host multiple ViewEngine objects. Every InTouchViewApp must be assigned to a ViewEngine.
You cannot create multiple instances of the same InTouchViewApp template to run under the same ViewEngine
object. But you can run multiple instances of the same template under different ViewEngine objects.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 16
Chapter 3

Exporting and Importing InTouch

Components

You can build InTouch applications more quickly by importing or exporting some or all of the components of an
existing application. You can import tag definitions, windows, scripts, application style libraries, Industrial
graphics, client controls, localization strings, HTML5 widgets, and script function libraries from your existing
application to a new application. Tag definitions are imported and exported from the Application Manager, other
components are imported and exported via WindowMaker.

Exporting and Importing Tag Data Associated with a Managed

InTouch Application
You can export tag data that is associated with a managed InTouch application to a .csv file. This is equivalent to
the DB Dump function of the InTouch Application Manager.
You can import the exported tag data from a .csv file back into a managed InTouch application in the same way
as the DB Load function.
The exported .csv files from a managed InTouch application and those of a standalone InTouch application are
fully interchangeable.

Exporting Tag Definitions

The figure below shows the steps to export and import tag definitions between an interim export file and an
application’s Tagname Dictionary.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 17
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

InTouch Application Manager

InTouch Application
DBDump

Tagname
Dictionary

CSV File
PumpInP PumpRPM
Inlet
RPM
Pressure
PumpOutP PumpState
Outlet On/Off
Pressure State DBLoad

You use the DBDump utility within the Application Manager to export the contents of the Tagname Dictionary to
a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file. You can view and edit the exported file with Microsoft Notepad or
Microsoft Excel. After making edits, you then import the tag definitions to an InTouch application with the
DBLoad utility, which is also an Application Manager utility.
You must convert an application to the current version of the InTouch HMI software before you can export the
tag definitions.
To export tag definitions
1. Close WindowMaker and WindowViewer.
2. Start Application Manager. The Application Manager dialog box shows a list of InTouch applications.
3. Select the application from the list.
4. On the File menu, in the Data group, select DBDump. The CSV File to Dump To: dialog box appears.

5. In the Name of CSV Dump file box, type a name for the file with a .csv file name extension.
6. Select the type of data grouping in the export file.
• Select the Group output by types check box to group the data by the types of tags in the export file. This
is the default.
• Clear Group output by types to save the output to the export file alphabetically by tag name.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 18
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

7. Click OK to save the contents of the Tagname Dictionary to the selected file. A message appears indicating
the contents were saved successfully to the file.

Viewing Exported Tag Definitions

If you use Microsoft Excel to view an export file created with the DBDump utility, each data record appears in a
separate spreadsheet cell.

The file consists of keywords, their attributes, and data from the Tagname Dictionary arranged in column order
beneath keyword attributes.
Notice the :MemoryDisc keyword in the example of the Excel spreadsheet. This keyword identifies memory
discrete tags that were exported from a Tagname Dictionary. On the same spreadsheet row, the attributes of a
memory discrete tag appear in separate spreadsheet columns. For example, the Logged attribute column shows
whether a memory discrete tag’s data is logged or not.
Immediately beneath the keyword and attributes row are the exported tags and their associated properties. In
the example of the Excel spreadsheet, OutputValve is a memory discrete tag whose data is not logged.
You can view or edit the export file created by DBDump with any program that supports the .csv file format.
Typically, Excel is used because its columnar spreadsheet format makes it easy to organize tag data. But, you can
also use Microsoft Notepad if you prefer to view or edit the file’s contents in its native comma-delimited string
format.

Importing Tag Definitions

You can use the DBLoad utility within the Application Manager to import a .csv file of tag definitions into an
application’s Tagname Dictionary. You can import a definition file that you originally created with the DBDump
utility. Or, you can create your own import file.
You can also use the DBLoad utility to create SuperTag instances. For more information, see Creating SuperTag
Instances.

Tagname Dictionary Import File Format

You can manually create DBLoad import files with any program that supports a .csv file format. If you use Excel to
create an import file, each entry is placed in a separate spreadsheet cell. This makes it much easier to read, and
there is less chance of error.
For more information on creating import files, see Creating an Import File Template.
The DBLoad import file contains a set of keywords that organize Access Names, alarm groups, and tag data
within the file.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 19
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

• A colon (:) precedes all keywords.

• To continue a line, enter a backslash (\) at the end of the line.
• To enter comments, precede them with a semi-colon (;).
The following table lists the keywords within a DBLoad import file. The table lists the keywords in the order they
are specified when you create the file with DBDump. But you can specify keywords in any order within the file.

Keyword Description

:mode Specifies how duplicate tag records are handled when importing the
contents of the DBLoad file to an application’s Tagname Dictionary.

:IOAccess Access names defined for the InTouch application.

:AlarmGroup Alarm groups defined for the InTouch application.

:MemoryDisc Memory discrete tags.
:IODisc I/O discrete tags.
:MemoryInt Memory integer tags.
:IOInt I/O integer tags.
:MemoryReal Memory real tags.
:IOReal I/O real tags.
:MemoryMsg Memory message tags.
:IOMsg I/O message tags.
:GroupVar Group Var tags.
:HistoryTrend Hist Trend tags.
:TagID Tag ID tags.
:IndirectDisc Indirect discrete tags.
:IndirectAnalog Indirect analog tags.
:IndirectMsg Indirect message tags.

Each keyword includes a set of associated attributes that specify the properties of Access Names, alarm groups,
and tags. For example, the :IOAccess keyword includes attributes to specify the application, topic, and
communication protocol, which are properties of every InTouch Access Name.

Creating an Import File Template

You can manually create Tagname Dictionary import files with any application that supports the .csv file format.
But, creating an entire import file can be time consuming and prone to errors. Using an existing .csv file as a
template is faster and more reliable.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 20
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

The following figure shows a template import file created by DBDump. The figure shows a file created from an
InTouch application that has no windows nor tags. The resulting file only includes the required keywords and
attributes without tag data.

After creating a template, you then manually add tag data beneath the keyword that identifies the type of tag.
You insert the properties of your tags in the corresponding attribute columns associated with the tag type
keywords.
To create a template import file
1. Open the Application Manager.
2. Create a new InTouch application.
For more information about the steps to create an application, see Creating an InTouch Application.
3. Select the new application from the list shown in Application Manager.
4. Export the contents of the application’s Tagname Dictionary with the DBDump utility.
For more information about exporting tags, see Exporting Tag Definitions.
5. Edit the file to insert tag data that you want to import.

Setting the Operating Mode for Dictionary Import Files

You must specify how DBLoad handles duplicate tag records while loading data from the import file into an
application’s Tagname Dictionary.
If you use a import file template created with DBDump, the first line of the file contains the :mode keyword. For
example, you can assign the value ask to the :mode keyword in cell A1 of the Excel application.

You can assign the following values to a :mode keyword:

:MODE=REPLACE
:MODE=UPDATE
:MODE=ASK
:MODE=IGNORE
:MODE=TERMINATE

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 21
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

:MODE=TEST

:MODE=REPLACE
If a duplicate tag is encountered, the DBLoad utility deletes the existing tag in the Tagname Dictionary and
replaces it with the tag from the import file with the same name.

:MODE=UPDATE
If a duplicate tag is encountered, the DBLoad utility overwrites the existing tag definition in the Tagname
Dictionary only with data explicitly specified from the import file. All other data associated with the tag remains
unchanged in the Tagname Dictionary.
Fields are considered explicitly defined if the field is in the record and entered by you or is set by the
":KEYWORD=value" mechanism. If a field is not specified in the record, and the keyword has been reset using the
":KEYWORD=" command, the current field value is not updated.
The following is an example of what occurs when an import file in the update mode is loaded/merged into the
Tagname Dictionary:
:Mode=update
:Group=Group1
:IODisc,Group,DConversion
Tagname1,Group2,
; Tagname1's Group updated to Group2 only
Tagname2,,
; Tagname2's Group updated to Group1 and the DConversion left as is
Tagname3,,Reverse
; Tagname3's Group updated to Group1 and the DConversion to "Reverse"
; the following line "resets" the Group field to its default value
:Group=
; Data field "Group" is reset to its default value
Tagname4,,
; Tagname4 will be left alone
The tag types must be compatible if the type is being changed and the tag is in use. For example, an existing
historical trend tag cannot be changed to an I/O Integer if the tag is in use by the application. Also, a tag cannot
be changed to ReadOnly=yes if the tag is being used on an input link in the application. Because of these
restrictions, update the use counts for the target application before running the DBLoad utility.

:MODE=ASK
DBLoad stops when a duplicate tag is encountered while loading the Tagname Dictionary. The Duplicate Name
dialog box appears and shows a list of options to handle duplicate tags. This is the default import mode.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 22
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Options for handing duplicates are:

• Click Replace existing with new information to replace the existing tag record with the record from the
import file.
• Click Update existing with new information to overwrite the existing tag record with only the fields that are
explicitly defined in the import file.
• Click Change Name to replace the name of the imported tag with the name you type in the box of the
Duplicate Name dialog box.
• Click Ignore this entry to ignore the tag and continue importing the contents of the file.
• Click Abort the Load to cancel the import process.

:MODE=IGNORE
The DBLoad import utility ignores the duplicate tag and continues processing the remaining records of the
import file.

:MODE=TERMINATE
The DBLoad import operation stops when a duplicate tag is encountered.

:MODE=TEST
DBLoad scans the import file for errors and does not attempt to load tag definitions into the Tagname Dictionary.
DBLoad generates a report that identifies any format errors by line number and location in the import file.
Run DBLoad with :mode=test first to identify any errors in the import file. After correcting any errors, change the
mode keyword value to :mode=replace or :mode=update before running DBLoad.

Setting Access Names and Alarm Groups

The DBLoad import file includes keywords that specify an InTouch application’s defined Access Names and alarm
groups.

:IOAccess Keyword Attributes

The :IOAccess keyword identifies the Access Names defined for an InTouch application. The :IOAccess keyword
includes a set of attributes that describe the characteristics of a defined InTouch Access Name.
The following figure shows how Access Names are defined in an Excel spreadsheet with the :IOAccess keyword.
Attributes are specified left to right in separate spreadsheet columns.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 23
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

The following table shows the list of attributes associated with the :IOAccess keyword. The table lists the
attributes in the order they are specified when using a template import file created with the DBDump utility.
String Default
Position Attributes Acceptable Values Values

1 Application Application name defined for the Access None

Name
2 Topic Topic name defined for the Access Name None

3 AdviseActive What information to poll from the server Yes

No = Advise all items
Yes = Advise only active items

4 DDEProtocol Communication protocol defined for the No

Access Name
No = Suitelink
Yes = DDE
MX = Message Exchange
5 SecApplication Application name defined for the None
secondary source of the Access Name

6 SecTopic Topic name defined for the secondary None

source of the Access Name.

7 SecAdviseActive When to poll information stored on the None

secondary server
NO = Advise all items
YES = Advise only active items
8 SecDDEProtocol Communication protocol defined for the None
secondary source of the Access Name
NO = Suitelink
YES = DDE
MX = Message Exchange

9 FailoverExpression Failover expression that switches the None

Access Name to the secondary source
when TRUE

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 24
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Default
Position Attributes Acceptable Values Values

10 FailoverDeadband Integer number of seconds before None

starting failover to the secondary source
defined by the Access Name
11 DFOFlag Disable Failover flag None
Yes = Disable Failover flag set
No = Disable Failover flag not set
12 FBDFlag Switch back to Primary flag None
YES = Switch back to the Primary source
after the failover condition clears
NO = Do not switch back to the Primary
source after the failover condition clears

13 FailbackDeadband Integer number of seconds before No value

switching back to the primary Access
Name source after the failover condition
clears

:AlarmGroup Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file contains a keyword that identifies the alarm groups defined for an InTouch application.
The :AlarmGroup keyword includes a set of attributes that describe the characteristics of the InTouch
application’s alarm groups.
The following table shows the list of attributes associated with the :AccessGroup keyword. The table lists the
attributes in the order they are specified when using a template import file created with the DBDump utility.
String Default
Position Attributes Acceptable Values Values

1 Group Name of the alarm group $System

2 Comment Comment assigned to the alarm None
group
Any text string
3 EventLogged Event logging enabled or disabled No
Yes or On = Event logging enabled
No or Off = Event logging disabled
4 EventLoggingPriority Priority assigned to events 0
1 to 999, 0 = not logged

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 25
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Default
Position Attributes Acceptable Values Values

5 LoLoAlarmDisable LoLo alarm disabled or enabled 0

0 = LoLo alarm enabled
1 = LoLo alarm disabled
6 LoAlarmDisable Low alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = Low alarm enabled
1 = Low alarm disabled
7 HiAlarmDisable High alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = High alarm enabled
1 = High alarm disabled
8 HiHiAlarmDisable HiHi alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = HiHi alarm enabled
1 = HiHi alarm disabled
9 MinDevAlarmDisable Minor Deviation alarm disabled or 0
enabled
0 = Minor Deviation alarm enabled
1 = Minor Deviation alarm disabled
10 MajDevAlarmDisable Major Deviation alarm disabled or 0
enabled
0 = Major Deviation alarm enabled
1 = Major Deviation alarm disabled
11 RocAlarmDisable Rate of Change alarm disabled or 0
enabled
0 = ROC alarm enabled
1 = ROC alarm disabled
12 DSCAlarmDisable Discrete alarms disabled or enabled 0
0 = Discrete alarm enabled
1 = Discrete alarm disabled

13 LoLoAlarmInhibititor Name of the tag used to inhibit LoLo None

alarms
Tag reference: any discrete or analog
tag

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 26
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Default
Position Attributes Acceptable Values Values

14 LoAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit Low None

alarms
Tag reference: any discrete or analog
tag
15 HiAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit High None
alarms
Tag reference: Any discrete or analog
tag
16 HiHiAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit HiHi None
alarms
Tag reference: Any discrete or analog
tag
17 MinDevAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit None
Minor Deviation alarms
Tag reference: Any discrete or analog
tag
18 MajDevAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit None
Major Deviation alarms
Tag reference: Any discrete or analog
tag
19 RocAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit Rate None
of Change alarms
Tag reference: Any discrete or analog
tag
20 DSCAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit None
discrete alarms
Tag reference: any discrete or analog
tag

Defining Tag Type Keywords and Attributes

Tag records begin with a keyword line that identifies the type of tag. Each tag keyword includes a unique set of
attributes to specify the characteristics of the data associated with the type of tag.
In the following example, the :IODisc keyword identifies the I/O discrete tag type. The remaining values in the
keyword line identify the attributes of the data associated with an I/O discrete tag. This example shows the
contents of the file with Notepad in its native comma-delimited string format.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 27
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

:IODisc,Group,Comment,Logged,EventLogged, EventLoggingPriority,RetentiveValue,InitialDis,
OffMsg,OnMsg,AlarmState,AlarmPri,DConversion, AccessName,ItemUseTagname,ItemName,ReadOnly,
AlarmComment,AlarmAckModel,DSCAlarmDisable, DSCAlarmInhibitor,SymbolicName
Beneath the tag type keyword line, individual rows specify the tags of that type with a set of attribute values. In
the following example, the HDWStatus tag belongs to the I/O Discrete tag type in the import file.
"HDWStatus","$System","",No,No,0,No,Off,"","",,1,Direct,"HistdataViewstr",No,"Status",No,""
,0,0,"",""
The record uses quotation marks to identify a blank string.
The following figure shows the same import file data in an Excel spreadsheet. The Comment cell is blank because
no tag comment is specified in the import file.

Tag Keyword Attributes

The following table lists all attributes associated with InTouch tag keywords. The table include columns that
describe the type of data associated with each tag attribute and its default value.
These tag attributes can be specified in any order in your DBLoad import file as long as the accompanying tag
data matches its corresponding attribute. For example, if you insert a :IODisc keyword in an Excel import file,
then all I/O discrete tags’ engineering units must be placed in the same Excel column as the EngUnits attribute.
Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

AccessName InTouch Access Name assigned to tag None

AlarmAckModel Alarm acknowledgement model 0
Integer
0 = Condition
1 = Event Oriented
2 = Expanded Summary
AlarmComment Alarm comment assigned to the tag None
Text string
AlarmDevDeadband Tag deviation alarm deadband None
Real
AlarmPri Alarm priority assigned to the tag 1
1 to 999
AlarmState Tag alarm state None
On, Off, or None

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 28
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

AlarmValueDeadband Tag alarm deadband 0

Real
Comment Comment assigned to the tag None
Text string
Conversion Tag value conversion Linear
Linear or Square Root
Deadband Value deadband assigned to the tag 0
Real
DevTarget Tag deviation target value 0
Real
DSCAlarmDisable Discrete alarms disabled or enabled 0
0 = Discrete alarm enabled
1 = Discrete alarm disabled
DSCAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit a discrete alarm None

EngUnits Engineering units assigned to tag None

Text string
EventLogged Event logging enabled or disabled No
Yes or On = Event logging enabled
No or Off = Event logging disabled
EventLogging Tag event logging enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Logging disabled
Yes or On = Logging enabled
EventLoggingPriority Priority assigned to events 0
1 to 999, 0 = not logged
Group Name of the alarm group in which the tag $System
belongs
HiAlarmDisable High alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = High alarm enabled
1 = High alarm disabled

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 29
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

HiAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit High alarm None

Any discrete or analog tag

HiAlarmPri Priority assigned to High alarm 1

1 to 999
HiAlarmState High alarm enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled
HiAlarmValue High alarm point assigned to tag 0
Real
HiHiAlarmDisable HiHi alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = HiHi alarm enabled
1 = HiHi alarm disabled
HiHiAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit HiHi alarm None
Any discrete or analog tag

HiHiAlarmPri Priority assigned to HiHi alarm 1

1 to 999
HiHiAlarmState HiHi alarm enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled
HiHiAlarmValue HiHi alarm point assigned to tag 0
Real
InitialDisc Initial value assigned to discrete tag 0
0, Off, False, or No = Off
1, On, True, or Yes = On
InitialMessage Initial tag message None
Text string
InitialValue Initial value assigned to the tag 0
Real

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 30
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

ItemName Name of the item assigned to the tag None

Text string
ItemUseTagname Use Tagname as Item Name option enabled or No
disabled
No or False = Disabled
Yes or True = Enabled
LoAlarmDisable Low alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = Low alarm enabled
1 = Low alarm disabled
LoAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit Low alarm None
Any discrete or analog tag

LoAlarmPri Priority assigned to Low alarm 1

1 to 999
LoAlarmState Low alarm enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled
LoAlarmValue Low alarm point assigned to tag 0
Real
LogDeadband Logging deadband assigned to the tag 0
Real
Logged Tag value logging enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Logging disabled
Yes or On = Logging enabled
LoLoAlarmDisable LoLo alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = LoLo alarm enabled
1 = LoLo alarm disabled
LoLoAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit LoLo alarm None
Any discrete or analog tag

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 31
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

LoLoAlarmPri Priority assigned to LoLo alarm 1

1 to 999
LoLoAlarmState LoLo alarm enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled
LoLoAlarmValue LoLo alarm point assigned to tag 0
Real
MajDevAlarmDisable Major Deviation alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = Major Deviation alarm enabled
1 = Major Deviation alarm disabled

MajDevAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit Major Deviation None

alarm
Any discrete or analog tag
MajorDevAlarmPri Priority assigned to Major Deviation alarm 1
1 to 999

MajorDevAlarmState Major deviation alarm enabled or disabled No

No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled

MajorDevAlarmValue Major deviation alarm percentage assigned to 0

tag
Real
MaxEU Maximum engineering units value assigned to 32767
the tag
Real
MaxLength Maximum message length 131
Real
MaxRaw Maximum raw value assigned to tag 32767
Real

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 32
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

MaxValue Maximum value assigned to the tag 32767

Real
MinDevAlarmDisable Minor Deviation alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = Minor Deviation alarm enabled
1 = Minor Deviation alarm disabled

MinDevAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit Minor Deviation None

alarm
Any discrete or analog tag
MinEU Minimum engineering units value assigned to -32768
the tag
Real
MinorDevAlarmPri Priority assigned to Minor Deviation alarm 1
1 to 999

MinorDevAlarmState Minor deviation alarm enabled or disabled No

No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled

MinorDevAlarmValue Minor deviation alarm percentage assigned to 0

tag
Real
MinRaw Minimum raw value assigned to tag -32768
Real
MinValue Minimum value assigned to the tag -32768
Real
OffMsg Discrete tag Off message None
Text string
OnMsg Discrete tag On message None
Text string

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 33
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Default
Attribute Acceptable Value Value

ReadOnly Tag value read only or read/write No

Yes = Read Only
No = Read/Write
RetentiveAlarmParameters Tag Retentive Parameters enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled

RetentiveValue Tag Retentive Value enabled or disabled No

0, Off, False, or No = Disabled
1, On, True, or Yes = Enabled
RocAlarmDisable Rate of Change alarm disabled or enabled 0
0 = ROC alarm enabled
1 = ROC alarm disabled
RocAlarmInhibitor Name of the tag used to inhibit Rate of Change None
alarm
Any discrete or analog tag
ROCAlarmPri Priority assigned to Rate of Change alarm 1
1 to 999
ROCAlarmState Rate of Change alarm enabled or disabled No
No or Off = Disabled
Yes or On = Enabled
ROCAlarmValue Change in tag value by percent 0
Real
ROCTimeBase Measurement period to calculate rate of change Min
Sec, Min or Hr

SymbolicName Symbolic name assigned to input data blocks by None

the S7 Tag Creator product. Symbolic names are
listed in the S7 Tag Creator Symbol Table.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 34
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

:MemoryDisc Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :MemoryDisc keyword to define memory discrete tags that can be imported
to the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :MemoryDisc keyword associated with
the properties of a memory discrete tag.
The table shows the order that :MemoryDisc keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create
the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 InitialDisc
8 OffMsg
9 OnMsg
10 AlarmState
11 AlarmPri
12 AlarmComment
13 AlarmAckModel
14 DSCAlarmDisable
15 DSCAlarmInhibitor
16 SymbolicName

:IODisc Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IODisc keyword to define I/O discrete tags that can be imported to the
Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IODisc keyword associated with the properties
of an I/O discrete tag.
The table shows the order that :IODisc keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 35
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 InitialDisc
8 OffMsg
9 OnMsg
10 AlarmState
11 AlarmPri
12 Conversion
13 AccessName
14 ItemUseTagname
15 ItemName
16 ReadOnly
17 AlarmComment
18 AlarmAckModel
19 DSCAlarmDisable
20 DSCAlarmInhibitor
21 SymbolicName

:MemoryInt Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :MemoryInt keyword to define memory integer tags that can be imported to
the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :MemoryInt keyword associated with the
properties of a memory integer tag.
The table shows the order that :MemoryInt keyword attributes are specified when the DBDump utility is used to
create the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default
values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 Logged

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 36
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 RetentiveAlarmParameters
8 AlarmValueDeadband
9 AlarmDevDeadband
10 EngUnits
11 InitialValue
12 MinValue
13 MaxValue
14 Deadband
15 LogDeadband
16 LoLoAlarmState
17 LoLoAlarmValue
18 LoLoAlarmPri
19 LoAlarmState
20 LoAlarmValue
21 LoAlarmPri
22 HiAlarmState
23 HiAlarmValue
24 HiAlarmPri
25 HiHiAlarmState
26 HiHiAlarmValue
27 HiHIAlarmPri
28 MinorDevAlarmState
29 MinorDevAlarmValue
30 MinorDevAlarmPri
31 MajorDevAlarmState
32 MajorDevAlarmValue

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 37
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

33 MajorDevAlarmPri
34 DevTarget
35 ROCAlarmState
36 ROCAlarmValue
37 ROCAlarmPri
38 ROCTimeBase
39 AlarmComment
40 AlarmAckModel
41 LoLoAlarmDisable
42 LoAlarmDisable
43 HiAlarmDisable
44 HiHiAlarmDisable
45 MinDevAlarmDisable
46 MajDevAlarmDisable
47 RocAlarmDisable
48 LoLoAlarmInhibitor
49 LoAlarmInhibitor
50 HiAlarmInhibitor
51 HiHiAlarmInhibitor
52 MinDevAlarmInhibitor
53 MajDevAlarmInhibitor
54 RocAlarmInhibitor
55 SymbolicName

:IOInt Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IOInt keyword to define I/O integer tags that can be imported to the
Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IOInt keyword associated with the properties
of an I/O integer tag.
The table shows the order that :IOInt keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 38
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 RetentiveAlarmParameters
8 AlarmValueDeadband
9 AlarmDevDeadband
10 EngUnits
11 InitialValue
12 MinEU
13 MaxEU
14 Deadband
15 LogDeadband
16 LoLoAlarmState
17 LoLoAlarmValue
18 LoLoAlarmPri
19 LoAlarmState
20 LoAlarmValue
21 LoAlarmPri
22 HiAlarmState
23 HiAlarmValue
24 HiAlarmPri
25 HiHiAlarmState
26 HiHiAlarmValue
27 HiHIAlarmPri
28 MinorDevAlarmState
29 MinorDevAlarmValue

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 39
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

30 MinorDevAlarmPri
31 MajorDevAlarmState
32 MajorDevAlarmValue
33 MajorDevAlarmPri
34 DevTarget
35 ROCAlarmState
36 ROCAlarmValue
37 ROCAlarmPri
38 ROCTimeBase
39 AlarmComment
39 MinRaw
40 MaxRaw
41 Conversion
42 AccessName
43 ItemUseTagname
44 ItemName
45 ReadOnly
46 AlarmComment
47 AlarmAckModel
48 LoLoAlarmDisable
49 LoAlarmDisable
50 HiAlarmDisable
51 HiHiAlarmDisable
52 MinDevAlarmDisable
53 MajDevAlarmDisable
54 RocAlarmDisable
55 LoLoAlarmInhibitor
56 LoAlarmInhibitor
57 HiAlarmInhibitor

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 40
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

58 HiHiAlarmInhibitor
59 MinDevAlarmInhibitor
60 MajDevAlarmInhibitor
61 RocAlarmInhibitor
62 SymbolicName

:MemoryReal Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :MemoryReal keyword to define memory real tags that will be imported to
the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :MemoryReal keyword associated with the
properties of a memory real tag.
The table shows the order that :MemoryReal keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create
the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 RetentiveAlarmParameters
8 AlarmValueDeadband
9 AlarmDevDeadband
10 EngUnits
11 InitialValue
12 MinValue
13 MaxValue
14 Deadband
15 LogDeadband
16 LoLoAlarmState
17 LoLoAlarmValue

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 41
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

18 LoLoAlarmPri
19 LoAlarmState
20 LoAlarmValue
21 LoAlarmPri
22 HiAlarmState
23 HiAlarmValue
24 HiAlarmPri
25 HiHiAlarmState
26 HiHiAlarmValue
27 HiHiAlarmPri
28 MinorDevAlarmState
29 MinorDevAlarmValue
30 MinorDevAlarmPri
31 MajorDevAlarmState
32 MajorDevAlarmValue
33 MajorDevAlarmPri
34 DevTarget
35 ROCAlarmState
36 ROCAlarmValue
37 ROCAlarmPri
38 ROCTimeBase
39 AlarmComment
40 AlarmAckModel
41 LoLoAlarmDisable
42 LoAlarmDisable
43 HiAlarmDisable
44 HiHiAlarmDisable
45 MinDevAlarmDisable
46 MajDevAlarmDisable

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 42
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

47 RocAlarmDisable
48 LoLoAlarmInhibitor
49 LoAlarmInhibitor
50 HiAlarmInhibitor
51 HiHiAlarmInhibitor
52 MinDevAlarmInhibitor
53 MajDevAlarmInhibitor
54 RocAlarmInhibitor
55 SymbolicName

:IOReal Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IOReal keyword to define I/O real tags that can be imported to the Tagname
Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IOReal keyword associated with the properties of an I/O
real tag.
The table shows the order that :IOReal keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 RetentiveAlarmParameters
8 AlarmValueDeadband
9 AlarmDevDeadband
10 EngUnits
11 InitialValue
12 MinEU
13 MaxEU

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 43
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

14 Deadband
15 LogDeadband
16 LoLoAlarmState
17 LoLoAlarmValue
18 LoLoAlarmPri
19 LoAlarmState
20 LoAlarmValue
21 LoAlarmPri
22 HiAlarmState
23 HiAlarmValue
24 HiAlarmPri
25 HiHiAlarmState
26 HiHiAlarmValue
27 HiHiAlarmPri
28 MinorDevAlarmState
29 MinorDevAlarmValue
30 MinorDevAlarmPri
31 MajorDevAlarmState
32 MajorDevAlarmValue
33 MajorDevAlarmPri
34 DevTarget
35 ROCAlarmState
36 ROCAlarmValue
37 ROCAlarmPri
38 ROCTimeBase
39 MinRaw
40 MaxRaw
41 Conversion
42 AccessName

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 44
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

43 ItemUseTagname
44 ItemName
45 ReadOnly
46 AlarmComment
47 AlarmAckModel
48 LoLoAlarmDisable
49 LoAlarmDisable
50 HiAlarmDisable
51 HiHiAlarmDisable
52 MinDevAlarmDisable
53 MajDevAlarmDisable
54 RocAlarmDisable
55 LoLoAlarmInhibitor
56 LoAlarmInhibitor
57 HiAlarmInhibitor
58 HiHiAlarmInhibitor
59 MinDevAlarmInhibitor
60 MajDevAlarmInhibitor
61 RocAlarmInhibitor
62 SymbolicName

:MemoryMsg Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :MemoryMsg keyword to define memory message tags that will be imported
to the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :MemoryMsg keyword associated with
the properties of a memory message tag.
The table shows the order that :MemoryMsg keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create
the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 45
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 MaxLength
8 InitialMessage
9 AlarmComment
10 SymbolicName

:IOMsg Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IOMsg keyword to define I/O message tags that will be imported to the
Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IOMsg keyword associated with the properties
of an I/O message tag.
The table shows the order that :IOMsg keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 Logged
4 EventLogged
5 EventLoggingPriority
6 RetentiveValue
7 MaxLength
8 InitialMessage
9 AccessName
10 ItemUseTagname
11 ItemName
12 ReadOnly
13 AlarmComment
14 SymbolicName

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 46
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

:GroupVar Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :GroupVar keyword to define Group Variable tags that will be imported to
the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :GroupVar keyword associated with the
properties of a Group Variable tag.
Note: InTouch Group Var tags are obsolete. The :GroupVar keyword is included to support legacy applications
only.
The table shows the order that :GroupVar keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 SymbolicName

:HistoryTrend Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :HistoryTrend keyword to define HistTrend tags that will be imported to the
Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :HistoryTrend keyword associated with the
properties of a HistTrend tag.
The table shows the order that :HistoryTrend keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create
the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 SymbolicName

:TagID Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :TagID keyword to define Tag ID tags that will be imported to the Tagname
Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :TagID keyword associated with the properties of a Tag
ID tag.
The table shows the order that :TagID keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 47
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

:IndirectDisc Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IndirectDisc keyword to define indirect discrete tags that will be imported
to the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IndirectDisc keyword associated with
the properties of an indirect discrete tag.
The table shows the order that :IndirectDisc keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create the
import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 EventLogging
4 EventLoggingPriority
5 RetentiveValue
6 SymbolicName

:IndirectAnalog Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IndirectAnalog keyword to define indirect analog tags that will be imported
to the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IndirectAnalog keyword associated with
the properties of an indirect analog tag.
The table shows the order that :IndirectAnalog keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create
the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.
String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 EventLogging
4 EventLoggingPriority
5 RetentiveValue
6 SymbolicName

:IndirectMsg Keyword Attributes

The DBLoad import file includes the :IndirectMsg keyword to define indirect message tags that will be imported
to the Tagname Dictionary. The following table lists the attributes of the :IndirectMsg keyword associated with
the properties of an indirect message tag.
The table shows the order that :IndirectMsg keyword attributes are specified when DBDump is used to create
the import file. See Tag Keyword Attributes for the data associated with these attributes and their default values.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 48
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

String Position Attribute

1 Group
2 Comment
3 EventLogging
4 EventLoggingPriority
5 RetentiveValue
6 SymbolicName

Using Blank Strings in an Import File

For a dictionary import file, there is a difference between a field containing a blank string and a field without
data. Keyword attributes that can be assigned a blank string are:
Comment Eng Units OffMsg

InitialMessage OnMsg Application

ItemName Topic
In the following example, a blank string is indicated by quotation marks (" "):
:Comment="HI"
:MemoryDisc,Comment,Group
Tagname1,,$System
Tagname2,"",$System
where:
The value of the Comment field for Tagname1 is Hi, and the value of the Comment field for Tagname2 is a blank
comment.
Microsoft Excel ignores quotation marks that denote a blank string when it saves the file, resulting in the
following:
:Comment="HI"
:MemoryDisc,Comment,Group
Tagname1,,$System
Tagname2,,$System
To ensure that a blank string is used with Excel, type a space in the cell as the attribute value.

Using Default Values for Fields

You can use keywords to set the default values for specific fields of a record. The default values are the original
InTouch values for the tag type. For example, a memory discrete tag uses the Group=$System, EventLogging=Off,
InitialValue=Off, as default values.
For example:
:KEYWORD=value

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 49
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

This sets the default value of the referenced field for all subsequent data records. Use this feature to set the
default value for fields that should remain unchanged for a number of records. If a field has a default value
defined, the default value is used if there is no data in the record for the value.
For example, if you set :GROUP=Reactor_Site, then all tags that have a blank entry for the GROUP column are
assigned to the Reactor_Site Alarm Group. If the tag has, for example, $System entered for the GROUP, the tag
remains assigned to the Alarm Group $System.
You can reset an individual keyword to its original default value by omitting the value in the equation. For
example, :GROUP=.
To reset all keywords, use the :RESET command. This command does not have arguments and affects all entries
in the file that occur after the command.

Creating SuperTag Instances

You can create SuperTags using the DBLoad utility within the Application Manager. However, the SuperTag
instances you create are not reflected in the SuperTag template definition.
You must use the valid SuperTag format, and the SuperTag instance data records must begin with the valid
keyword for the tag type. For example:

The following syntax examples are valid:

ParentInstance\ChildMember
ParentInstance\ChildMember\Submember
The following syntax examples are invalid:
ParentInstance\
ParentInstance\ChildMember\
If you use an invalid format, an error message appears.
When you import the CSV file containing SuperTag instances, the instances are automatically added to the
Tagname Dictionary and are immediately available for use in animation links and InTouch QuickScripts.

Importing Tag Definitions with DBLoad

When you import the contents of a file with DBLoad, all tag definitions are imported into the Tagname Dictionary
of the selected InTouch application.
If the import fails, a message appears describing the reason for the failure. The error messages are written to the
Logger.
To import tag definitions into an InTouch application
1. Close WindowMaker and WindowViewer.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 50
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

2. Back up the application whose Tagname Dictionary will be loaded with tag definitions from an import file.
3. Start Application Manager.
4. Select the application from the list whose Tagname Dictionary will receive the imported tag definitions.
5. On the File menu, in the Data group, click DBLoad.
A message appears requesting confirmation that you backed up the InTouch application.
6. Click Yes to confirm the application is backed up.
The CSV File to Load From dialog box appears.

7. In the Name of CSV Load file box, locate and select the file you want to import.
8. Click OK.
The next step varies based upon whether DBLoad imports new or existing tag definitions to the Tagname
Dictionary.
• If you are importing new tag definitions, the new tag data is loaded into the application’s Tagname
Dictionary. A message appears confirming the data was successfully loaded and merged.
• If you are importing existing tag definitions, the import stops if the :mode keyword is set to :mode=ask
and the import file contains duplicate tags. You are shown options to handle the duplicate tags or you
can cancel the import. For more information about keyword options, see Setting the Operating Mode for
Dictionary Import Files.
Known Limitation with Importing Tag Definitions using DBLoad Utility
The DBLoad utility may fail to import files or show performance issues when importing huge tag count
newtag.tag files of file size exceeding 2 GB.
Limitations:
• DBLoad may fail to import huge tag count file, if newtags.tag file size exceeds 2GB limit.
• DBLoad will hit performance issues while importing huge tag count CSV file.
Workaround:
Use the following registry entry to avoid importing tags to newtags.tag file, and instead import to the Tagname.x
file.
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Wonderware\InTouch\Installation.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 51
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

3. Right-click on the Installation folder in the navigation pane, or anywhere in the main area, click New, and
click DWORD value.
4. Rename the newly created file as DisableWriteToNewTag.
5. Set “DisableWriteToNewTag” key to 1.
6. Now, import tags using DBLoad from CSV file, and the import will be successful.
The effect of different values of DisableWriteToNewTag registry key on the import functionality is listed below:

DWORD Value of DisableWriteToNewTag Effect on Import

DisableWriteToNewTag registry key is present and DBLoad utility will skip importing to newtags.tag file
the DWORD value is set to 1
DisableWriteToNewTag registry key is present and DBLoad utility will import tags to newtags.tag file
the DWORD value is set to 0
Note: For InTouch HMI version 2023 onwards, the registry key DisableWriteToNewTag is not present by default,
and the DBLoad Utility skips importing to the newtags.tag file.

Exporting and Importing InTouch Windows between InTouch

Applications
You can export windows from all three InTouch application types from WindowMaker, but there are some
restrictions on importing exported windows or windows directly from an InTouch application.
• For standalone InTouch applications, you cannot import any windows from published and managed InTouch
applications that contain Industrial graphics. A warning message appears, and information on which
windows were not imported is written to the Logger.
If you import windows from managed or published InTouch application that contain Industrial graphics, the
windows are imported, but the Industrial graphics are not functional and appear as "Not Found".
• For managed InTouch applications, you can import any windows from published, stand-alone, and other
managed InTouch applications. Embedded Industrial graphics are not imported.
• For published InTouch applications, you can import any windows from standalone InTouch applications.
Embedded Industrial graphics are not imported.

Importing Windows
Importing windows from an existing InTouch application into your current application allows you to reduce
development time because you can reuse your previously created windows, objects, and window scripts.
You must convert an application to the current version of the InTouch HMI software before you can import
windows.
By default, placeholders are created for the tags associated with an imported window. After importing, you can
convert the placeholders to local tags or remote tag references. For more information, see Tag Placeholders for
Imported Windows and Scripts. If the associated tags already exist in the target application, during the import
you can select to use these instead.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 52
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

When you import windows containing SmartSymbols and select to use existing tags, the InTouch HMI still keeps
placeholders for the recovered symbols, even though the tags are available in the target application.
When you import a window from an application that contains SuperTags, only the SuperTag instances actually
used in the window are imported into the new application. The entire SuperTag template structure is not
imported. For example, if the application has hundreds of SuperTag member tags defined in it, and only 50 of
those are used in the imported window, only those 50 are imported.
Important: If you move InTouch window files using any method other than importing or exporting them, the
contents of the application Tagname Dictionary can become corrupt.
To import a window
1. Close all windows in your current application.
2. On the File menu, click Import, click Visualization, and then click Windows and Scripts.
The Open Folder dialog box appears.
3. Select the folder for the application containing the windows to import.
4. Click OK.
The Application Data Import Options dialog box appears.

5. In the Windows tab to select the individual windows to import.

6. Select the Use Existing Tags check box if the tags associated with the imported windows already exist in your
application and you want to use them instead of placeholders.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 53
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

7. Click Import.
8. Convert the placeholder tags to either local tags or remote tag references. For more information, see
Converting Placeholder Tags for an Imported Window.
9. If an imported window contains one or more wizards, double-click on each wizard to open its properties
panel. If an imported window contains one or more SmartSymbols, edit each SmartSymbol and create new
instances.

Converting Placeholder Tags for an Imported Window

When you import or export a window or QuickScript to or from your current application, all the tags associated
with that window or QuickScript are transferred with the window. But, the tags are not added to your new
application's Tagname Dictionary. Instead, the tags are automatically marked as placeholder tags unless the
Conserve Placeholders options is selected on import. You must convert these placeholder tags and, if required,
define them in your new application Tagname Dictionary.
To convert tags for a window
1. Open the window in WindowMaker.
2. Press F2 to select all objects in the window.
3. On the Animation menu, in the Substitute group, click Tags.
The Substitute Tagnames dialog box appears.

4. Click Convert. The Convert dialog box appears.

5. Convert the tags.

• Click Local to convert the placeholder tags to local tags. You are prompted to define each tag in the
Tagname Dictionary.
• Click Remote to convert the placeholder tags to remote tag references. The Access Names dialog box
appears. Select the Access Name and click Close.
After the conversion, the Substitute Tagnames dialog box shows the new tags.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 54
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

6. Click OK.

Exporting Windows
You can export application windows to:
• Create or maintain a library application of all windows.
• Create remote tag references in another application.
You must convert an application to the current version of the InTouch HMI software before you can export
windows.
When you export a window, all objects and animation links associated with that window are exported. The tags
associated with the objects in the window are converted to placeholder tags to prevent existing tags in the
destination application from being overwritten. For more information on converting placeholder tags, see
Converting Placeholder Tags for an Imported Window.
Important: If you move InTouch window files using any method other than importing or exporting them, the
application’s Tagname Dictionary can be corrupted.
To export a window
1. Close all windows in your current application.
2. On the File menu, click Export, click Visualization, and then click Windows.
3. Select the windows to export, and click Export.
The Open Folder dialog box appears.
4. Select the folder of the application to which to export the windows.
5. Click OK.
6. If a problem occurs, the Problem with Export Operation dialog box appears. Click the option for the action
you want to take and then click OK.

Importing Scripts
You can import existing QuickScripts from an InTouch application into your current application to save
development time.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 55
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

You must convert an application to the current version of the InTouch HMI software before you can import
scripts.
By default, placeholders are created for the tags associated with an imported QuickScript. After importing, you
can convert the placeholders to local tags or remote tag references. For more information, see Tag Placeholders
for Imported Windows and Scripts. If the associated tags already exist in the target application, during the import
you can choose to use these instead.
To import a window script, you must import the entire window.
For an imported ActiveX Event script to function properly in the target application, the same ActiveX control and
the same event for which the script was originally created must also be used in the target application and it must
be loaded into memory. If the window containing an ActiveX control is closed, any scripts associated with it
(either ActiveX Event scripts or QuickScripts) do not run properly.
To import a QuickScript
1. Close all windows in your current application.
2. On the File menu, click Import, click Visualization, and then click Windows and Scripts.
The Open Folder dialog box appears.
3. Select the folder for the application that contains the scripts to import.
4. Click OK. The Application Data Import Options dialog box appears.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 56
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

5. Select the check box for the Qucik Function type(s) that you want to import and then click Select to select
the individual script(s) to import.
Note: To import a window script, you must import the entire window. For more information, see Importing
Windows.
6. Select the Use Existing Tags check box if the tags associated with the imported script(s) already exist in your
application and you want to use them instead of placeholders.
7. Click Import. If your application has scripts with identical names, you are prompted to overwrite, skip, or
rename.
8. Convert the placeholder tags to either local tags or remote tag references. For more information, see
Converting Placeholder Tags in an Imported Script.

Converting Placeholder Tags in an Imported Script

When you import or export a QuickFunction to or from your current application, all the tags associated with that
QuickFunction are transferred. But, the tags are not added to your new application's Tagname Dictionary.
Instead, they are automatically marked as placeholder tags. You must convert these placeholder tags and, if
required, define them in your new application Tagname Dictionary.
To convert placeholder tags in an imported script
1. On the Scripts pane, click the type of QuickFunction you imported.
The QuickFunction script editor appears, showing the first QuickFunction on file for the selected type of
script.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 57
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

2. Click Convert. The Convert dialog box appears.

1. Convert the tags.

• Click Local to convert the placeholder tags to local tags. You are prompted to define each tag in the
Tagname Dictionary.
• Click Remote to convert the placeholder tags to remote tag references. The Access Names dialog box
appears. Select the Access Name and click Close.
2. After the tags are converted, click OK in the QuickScript editor.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 58
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Tag Placeholders for Imported Windows and Scripts

When you import a window or QuickScript, you can configure how you want the associated tags to be handled.
• Use placeholder tags.
By default, imported tags are converted to "placeholder" (or "index") tags. A maximum of 4096 placeholders
is allowed.
Placeholder tags include a three-character prefix. For example, if the original tag is WaterHeater, then the
placeholder tag is ?d:WaterHeater.
If you import a tag that contains 30, 31, or 32 characters, the placeholder prefix is still added to the
beginning of the tag, and the length of the existing tag is not truncated. For example, for placeholder tags
only, a 32 character tag is increased to 35 characters. This increase in tag length is not supported for
standard tags.
To use a placeholder tag in the application, you must either:
Convert it to a regular (local) tag and define it in the Tagname Dictionary.
Convert it to a remote tag reference. An example of a remote tag is PLC2:WaterHeater. Remote tag
references allow your application to instantly receive data from a remote tag server and eliminates the need
to define a single tag in the local Tagname Dictionary.
• Using existing tags.
During an import, if you select to use existing tags, the InTouch HMI verifies that the imported tags already
exist in the Tagname Dictionary. If a tag already exists, then the tag is imported as a fully qualified tag. Using
this option reduces the total number of placeholders, allowing you to import applications with larger tag
databases.
The following flowchart describes how tags are handled for imported windows and QuickScripts.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 59
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

BEGIN

Import a window
or QuickScript

Yes Is the tag Yes The tag in the

Use existing currently in the
application is used.
tags? target app?

No No

A placeholder (index) is END

created for each tag.
(?d:WaterHeater)

Use the Substitute Tags

Convert to Yes command to convert tags to
local tag? local tags and add them to the
Tagname Dictionary

No

Use the Substitute

Local tags are
Tags command to
created.
convert to remote tag
(WaterHeater)
references.

References to remote END

tags are created.
(PLC2:WaterHeater)

END

Exporting Industrial Graphics from an Application

You can export all Industrial graphics from an application to an aaPKG file. You can then import the graphics from
the file to another application on the same or different computer.
You cannot select Industrial graphics individually to export from an application. All Industrial graphics are
exported from an application.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 60
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

To export Industrial graphics from an application

1. Open the application in WindowMaker containing the Industrial graphics that you want to export.
2. On the File menu, click Export, and from the Visualization group, click All Industrial Graphics.
The Export Industrial Graphics dialog box appears to specify the destination folder and the name of the
export file.
3. Select the destination folder to export the aaPKG file.
4. If you want, enter the name of the export file in the File name field.
The default export file name is IndustrialGraphics.aaPKG.
5. Click Save.
A horizontal bar shows the progress of the Industrial Graphics being loaded into the export file.
6. Once the export process is finished, navigate to the destination folder in Windows Explorer, and verify that
the export file has been created.

Importing Industrial Graphics to an Application

You can import Industrial Graphics created in another application to the active application running in
WindowMaker.
Only Industrial Graphics from the aaPKG file are imported. The imported graphics overwrite any graphics of the
application open for editing in WindowMaker. If the aaPKG file contains non-supported components, the import
fails and a dialog box with an error is shown.
To import Industrial Graphics to an application
1. Open the application in WindowMaker that you want to import Industrial Graphics.
2. On the File menu, click Import, and from the Visualization group, click Industrial Graphics.
The Import Industrial Graphics dialog box appears to specify the folder containing an export file of Industrial
Graphics.
3. Using Windows Explorer, go to the folder containing an aaPKG file of exported Industrial Graphics.
4. Select the aaPKG file to import.
The File name field shows the name of the file you selected.
5. Click Open.
The Import Industrial Graphics dialog box appears with the following options for overwriting graphics.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 61
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

• Skip: Do not copy - The graphics will not be imported.

• Overwrite if the source content change version is higher - Will import the graphics only if the version of
the file imported is higher than the installed version.
• Overwrite regardless of content change version - The graphics will be imported.
6. Click OK.
A horizontal bar shows the progress of the Industrial Graphics being imported into the active application.
When finished, the progress indicator disappears.

Exporting Selected Symbols from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox

You can export selected Industrial Graphics from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox of an application to an aaPKG
file. You can then import these graphics from the file to another application on the same or different computer.
Note: This procedure explains how to export selected Industrial Graphics. See Exporting Industrial Graphics from
an Application for instructions to export all Industrial Graphics.
To export selected Industrial Graphics from an Application
1. Open the application in WindowMaker containing the Industrial Graphics that you want to select to export.
2. Select the symbols you want to export in the Industrial Graphic Toolbox.
3. Right-click on a selected symbol to show the shortcut menu.
4. Select Export and then Symbol(s)... from the shortcut menu.
The Export Industrial Graphics dialog box appears to specify the destination folder and the name of the
export file.
5. Select the destination folder to export the aaPKG file.
6. If you want, enter the name of the export file in the File name field.
The default export file name is the name of the first selected symbol from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 62
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

7. Click Save.
A horizontal bar shows the progress of the Industrial Graphics being loaded into the export file.

Importing and Embedding Custom Client Controls

You can create a custom Windows client control and embed it in an Industrial Graphic in your application. First,
you must import the client control to WindowMaker’s Industrial Graphic Toolbox. This section describes the
steps to import and then embed a custom client control in separate procedures.
To import a custom client control
1. Create a custom client control for your application.
2. Place the client control in a folder accessible to the computer where InTouch WindowMaker is installed.
3. On the File menu, click Import, and from the Visualization group, click Client Control.
Important: Only standalone applications can import custom client controls. You cannot import custom client
controls to legacy or published InTouch HMI applications.
The Import Client Control(s) dialog box appears with a field to enter the name of a custom client control you
created.
1. Using Windows Explorer, go to the folder where you placed the client control .dll file.
2. Select the client control .dll file and click Open.
WindowMaker updates and shows the custom client control you imported in the Industrial Graphic Toolbox.
You can also remove an imported client control from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox. First, select the client
control within the Industrial Graphic Toolbox. Then, right-click to show the shortcut menu and select Delete.

Resolving Conflicts When Importing Duplicate Client Controls

You can import a different version of a client control and overwrite the existing control. The .dll hosting the
existing control will be replaced by the importing library. Conflicting client controls will be detected upon import
of the new client control .dll.
Note: Conflict detection is based solely on the name of the control. Library filenames or versions have no affect
on conflict detection.
For example, if you import a client control .dll containing the two controls MathControl and TrendControl and
the current library contains controls of the same name, the Import Client Control dialog box will display:

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 63
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

The existing client control .dll will be replaced, and the new control will now be available in the library.
If you see "Remove" in the Proceeding will column, it means there are controls in the current library that are not
in the importing library. Because the hosting .dll must be replaced to resolve the conflicting controls, any controls
that are in the current.dll but not in the importing .dll will be removed upon proceeing with the import.
For example, importing a client control .dll containing the controls MathControl and DatabaseControl and the
current library contains MathControl and TrendControl, TrendControl will be removed from the library upon
import.
The Import Client Control dialog box will prompt you to acknowledge the removal:

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 64
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

The library will be replaced and TrendControl will be removed upon completion of the import.
Restart WindowMaker to update the controls in the Graphic Toolbox.
Note: If you have imported a newer version of client control already embedded in a symbol, restarting
WindowMaker and refreshing the graphic thumbnail will not update the contents of the control. You must edit
and save the symbol for the new client control to be reflected in the thumbnail.

Embedding Client Controls in Industrial Graphics

Client controls are embedded from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox. The Graphic Toolbox already contains several
client controls. You can embed these existing controls into Industrial Graphics, or you can import custom controls
and embed those.
To embed a client control into an Industrial graphic:
1. Open the application in WindowMaker that you intend to embed a custom client control.
2. Open the window containing the Industrial Graphic that you intend to embed a custom client control.
3. Select the Industrial Graphic.
4. From the menu bar, click the Embed Industrial Graphic icon.
Important: You cannot drag and drop the custom client control from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox onto the
Industrial Graphic. You must always embed the custom client control.
1. Configure your custom client control as needed for the application.

Importing HTML5 Widgets

Widgets are small web components that can extend the functionality of a webpage or website. Custom-built
websites can also incorporate widgets, by using open-source code or frameworks to provide certain functionality

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 65
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

in whole or in part. A widget is a self-contained code block that slots into a website without changing any of its
features. Widgets are most frequently used to provide on-screen user interface elements that ingrate with other
platforms and data sources. A widget can be run on any web page on a website, with consistent placement and
user interface. For example, social media, weather, RSS or podcast widgets.
By default, the following widgets are available under the Widgets folder in the Graphic Toolbox:
• Carousel
• Web Browser
• QR Code Scanner
• Map_App
You can import a widget for a standalone and managed application. The file format is Custom Widget Package
(.cwp), which includes HTML5, CSS, and Javascript files.
Importing HTML Widgets
1. Launch WindowMaker.
2. On the File menu, click Import, click Visualization, and then click HTML5 widget.
The Import HTML5 widget dialog box appears.
3. Select the folder for the application containing the windows to import.
4. Click OK.
The widget will appear in the toolbox.
After importing the widgets
1. Create a graphic.
2. Edit the graphic and embed the widget.
3. Set the properties under the Widget Properties section. Each widget will have its own set of properties.
4. Insert the widget on a window.
The widget can now be viewed on WindowViewer and any web browser. Depending on the properties set in the
design time you can manipulate the widget in runtime. Scripts using Custom Properties under ‘Widget
Properties’ to modify widgets are not supported.

Carousel Widget
A carousel widget allows you to cycle through elements—images or slides of text—like a carousel, without any
input. This widget can be used to display dashboards, alerts or alarm information on large monitors on the plant
floor.
Note: Client Control (Alarm Client Control and Trend Client Control) display in Carousel Widget is not supported
in Window Viewer and Web Client.
Properties
In addition to the standard graphics properties, you can also configure properties specific to the widget, under
Widget Properties.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 66
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

Name Description Default

Autoplay If the Autoplay property is set to true, the carousel True

widget will automatically start on load. If it is set to false,
the user must select the next item to start the carousel.
BackgroundColor Sets a background color for the widget. Specify the color White
value in RGB, HTML Code (#FF0000) or valid HTML color
name.
GraphicNames A comma separated list of graphics the carousel will Empty
display in runtime.
Interval The amount of time delay (in milliseconds) between 5000
automatically cycling an item.
Keyboard If the Keyboard property is set to true, the carousel will True
respond to keyboard inputs.
Loop If the Loop property is set to true, the carousel will cycle True
through the graphics continuously, else it will stop after a
single cycle.
Pause If the Pause property is set to true, the carousel will True
pause the cycling of the graphics, when it detects the
mouse hovering or a touch down event. The graphics will
resume cycling when the mouse is moved away.
The carousel widget is based on the Bootstrap 4.0 Carousel component, for more information on bootstrap, go
here: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/4.0/components/carousel/

Web Browser Widget

Using the web browser widget, users can display a web site in WindowViewer and the Web Client.
If Web Client is running in HTTPS, then only HTTPS URL page can be loaded. If Web Client is running in HTTP, then
HTTP and HTTPS can both be loaded. If the policy of the web site blocks cross domain access, then this widget
will not work. The URL need not be in double quotes, but must be a valid URL.
Properties
URL: The address of the website.
Limitations
• If no protocol is specified, by default the https protocol will be used.
• If the Web Client is configured to use the HTTPS protocol, then only the HTTPS URL page will be loaded. If
the HTTP URL is used, the web browser widget will display a message "Mixed Content: The page at
'https://localhost/intouchweb' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure frame
'http://**********'. this request has been blocked: the content must be served over
HTTPS."
• The web browser widget will not function, if the web site policy blocks cross domain (cross origin) access. A
link will be provided to open the web page in a separate tab.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 67
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

QR Code Scanner
The QRCode_Scanner widget connects to a camera to scan for a QR code and returns the resulting string.
Properties
Property Name Description Default Value

QRCode The resulting string of the scanned QR code. The default Empty
value is empty.
AutoStart If set to true, the camera will start automatically. True

AutoStop If set to true, the camera will stop after scanning a QR True
Code.
Start If set to true, the camera will start. False

Stop If set to true, the camera will stop. False

BackgroundColor Sets the background color of the widget. Specify the Black
color value in RGB, HTML Code (#FF0000) or valid HTML
color name.
Limitation
• The device must have a camera.
• Using the QR Code on a physical machine instead of a virtual machine is recommended.
• Access the web client using the secure URL (https://) when using the web client remotely.
Usage
You can configure a script to read the QR code and display a graphic based on the scanned value.
In RunTime, the QR Code Scanner widget will appear with a floating toolbar with the following buttons -
AutoStart, AutoStop and StartStop.
When the widget is loaded, the camera will start automatically if AutoStart is set to True. To leave the camera on,
click AutoStop.
To manually start the camera, click StartStop and scan the QR Code.
The camera will stay on after you scan the QR code, allowing the user to scan additional QR codes. To stop the
camera, click StartStop.
The floating toolbar will display the QRCode derived from the QR Code scanned by the camera.
The user can script an action based on the QRCode returned.

Map_App Widget
The Map_App widget shows a map containing symbols within a running application. During run time, the map
provides controls and touch support to enable users to pan to different areas of the map and zoom in or out to
show more or less map detail. Graphics placed in a map typically represent business assets located within an

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 68
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

area shown by the map. These graphics can include alarming to show the current state of processes at each
business location.
Properties
You configure specific properties of the Map_App widget from the Industrial Graphic editor.

Property Description

ConfigName Name of the Map_App widget global configuration file.

InitialLatitude Latitude of the initial center point map position in decimal degrees. Valid
latitude values are +/- 0-90.
InitialLongitude Longitude of the initial center point map position in decimal
degrees.Valid longitude values are +/- 0-180.
InitialZoom Zoom level percentage of a map when initially displayed during run time.

MinZoom The minimum zoom percentage in which the map can be zoomed out
(0-100%) during run time.
MaxZoom The maximum zoom percentage in which the map can be zoomed in
(0-100%) during run time.
MaxBoundsSouth Latitude of the southern map boundary in decimal degrees (+/- 0-90) to
constrain the vertical panning movement of the screen viewport
midpoint to the bottom boundary of a map.
MaxBoundsWest Longitude of the western map boundary in decimal degrees (+/- 0-180) to
constrain the horizontal panning movement of the screen viewport
midpoint to the left boundary of a map.
MaxBoundsNorth Latitude of the northern map boundary in decimal degrees (+/- 0-90) to
constrain the vertical panning movement of the screen viewport
midpoint to the top boundary of a map.
MaxBoundsEast Longitude of the eastern map boundary in decimal degrees (+/- 0-180) to
constrain the horizontal panning movement of the screen viewport
midpoint to the right boundary of a map.
Asset Name of an asset selected from a displayed map.
CurrentLatitude Current latitude of a selected item shown on a map.
CurrentLongitude Current longitude of a selected item shown on a map.
CurrentZoom Current zoom level of a displayed map.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 69
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

FollowCurrentAsset Set this property to true to enable the MapApp widget to follow the
currently selected asset (context) and automatically pan and zoom the
map to display the asset’s location and associated symbol(the asset
should be added into the location tab in map app editor page and asset
level should be as "-1").
• Centers the map to a selected asset when the map is opened. You
can use the assets to navigate within a ViewApp. For instance, you
can display all the states and show a marker for each one of them.
Then, by selecting a state, from a map, you can set the focus of the
ViewApp to a separate pane that shows details about the state.
• The map will zoom to the selected asset's zoom layer plus 1 percent.
• If no asset is selected or a selected asset is not located on a map, the
map shows the initial zoom layer and map center point.
If the Asset property is configured, set the FollowCurrentAsset
property to false to enable the map to follow the asset configured to
load map using the asset's location and associated symbol.
Sources Map data sources configured in the app's map settings. (All) is the default
value, which includes all map data sources specified for the Map app.
Note: All must be placed within parentheses (All) as a Sources property
value.
If you want to restrict a Map app to show data from only some map
sources, use a comma delimited string to specify multiple sources.
OSM,Bing,TemperatureOverlay
ZoomLayers Map zoom layers configured for the Map app. (All) is the default value,
which includes all zoom layers specified for the Map app.
Note: All must be placed within parentheses (All) as a ZoomLayers
property value.
If you want to restrict a Map app to show data from only some zoom
layers, use a comma delimited string to specify the zoom layers by name.
country,state,city

Importing Script Function Libraries to an InTouch Application

You can import script function libraries to an InTouch Application. Different types of script function libraries can
be imported, including .NET (*.dll and other .NET file extensions), script library files (*.aaSLIB), and InTouch script
extension files (*.wdf).
The script function library you imported to one application is automatically included when exporting the
application to create another Application. The script function library also is available when publishing the
application to which it was imported.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 70
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

To import a script function library to an application

1. Open the InTouch application to which you want to import a script function library.
2. Click File on the WindowMaker main menu, then click Import, then click the Scripts.
The Import Script Function Library dialog opens.
3. Browse to the function library you want to import.
4. Select the file to import and click Open to start importing the script function library.
Note: No progress bar or progress information window appears during the import. An information window
opens when the import successfully completes.

Resolving Imports of Conflicting Methods in .NET Script Libraries

When importing a .NET class script library into an application, the existing script library will be replaced by the
importing library. Conflicting script methods will be detected at this time. Conflict detection is based on name
space, class name, method name and parameter declaration.
Note: The version or filename or either .dll have no affect on method conflict detection.
Upon import, conflicting methods will be displayed in the Import Script Function Library dialog box:

In this example, the Math::Int32 Add(Int32, Int32) exists in the current library and contains the same class,
method name and parameters as a method in the importing library. It is marked "Replace" in the "Proceeding
will" column. Proceeding with the import will replace the entire script library in the application with the
importing library.
The Math::132 Subtract(Int32, Int32) is marked "Remove" because the importing library does not contain
the subtract method. Script method conflict resolution requires replacing the entire script library, which will
also result in the removal of this method if it is not in the importing library.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 71
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

You cannot cancel the import of an individual method that would remove an existing method from the library, as
in the example above. You must proceed with all the conflicting methods or cancel the entire import.
Important: Only .NET class library files can be detected as duplicates at time of import. .aaSLIB library and .wdf
script extension files will not import if they conflict with methods in the existing library. In this case, no
notification of the conflict will be given.

Configuring the Application Style Library for Applications

You can configure style libraries for graphics in a InTouch application. You can configure application styles for
Quality and Status, Element Styles, and numeric Format Styles. Your configuration changes are saved to the
application’s repository.
• Quality and Status indicators are graphic icons that represent the current quality of application data and the
state of equipment shown by application symbols.
• Element Styles define a set of visual properties that determine the appearance of text, lines, graphic
outlines, and interior fill shown in Industrial graphics.
• Format Styles provide options to individually configure application-wide styles for common types of numbers
used in industrial graphics.
Important: This section describes the workflow within WindowMaker to access a application’s style libraries. For
more information about editing application styles, see WindowMaker online help or the Industrial Graphic Editor
User Guide.
To configure the Application Style Library
1. Open an application in WindowMaker.
2. On the File menu, click Configure, and then click Styles.
The Styles configuration screen appears with tabs to configure quality and status indicators, graphic Element
styles, and number format styles.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 72
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

3. Select a tab for the application style you want to edit.

Note: WindowViewer can run only one application at a time. If a platform is deployed on a local node, the
configured styles of the Galaxy will take precedence over any configured styles in any other standalone or
managed applications.

Exporting and Importing the Application Style Library

You can export an Application Style Library from an application and then import it to another application. The
settings for quality, Element Styles, and numeric formats are exported to an XML file.
To export an Application Style Library from an Application
1. Open WindowMaker.
2. From the File menu, click Export, and then click Styles.
The Export Application Style Library file browser screen appears with fields to specify a file name.
3. Select the folder to place the exported XML file and the name for the file.
4. Click Save.
A dialog box confirms that the Application Style Library was exported successfully.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 73
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

To import an Application Style Library into an Application

1. Open WindowMaker.
2. From the File menu, click Import, and then click Styles.
The Import Application Style Library file browser screen appears with fields to specify a file name.
3. Select the folder where the exported XML file is located and select it to show the name of the export file in
the File Name field.
4. Click Open.
A dialog box confirms that the Application Style Library was imported successfully.

Configuring Alarm Priority Mapping for Applications

You can configure the alarm priority mapping of an InTouch application to set a priority range for each alarm
severity level.
Important: This section describes the workflow within WindowMaker to map alarm priority ranges to alarm
severities. While InTouch does not have built-in Alarm Severity management as does Application Server, users
can make use of InTouch tags to implement Alarm Border animation. In this case, the priority to severity
mapping in the dialog box is used only as a visual aid to associate priorities to alarm border colors and alarm
indicator icons. For more information about configuring alarm priority mapping and alarm shelving, see
WindowMaker online help or the Industrial Graphic Editor User Guide.
To configure Alarm Priority Mappings for Applications
1. Open an application in WindowMaker.
2. On the File menu, click Configure, and then click Alarms.
The Alarm Priority section appears with fields to map a priority range to each alarm severity. This screen also
contains fields to enable alarm shelving based on alarm severity.

3. In the From Priority and To Priority Range fields, click and enter numbers from 1 to 999 to set the lower and
upper boundaries of an alarm priority range for each alarm severity.
Each priority range should be contiguous without overlap between priority ranges. Alarm severity 1 starts at
priority 1 by default.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 74
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

4. In the Shelve column, select or clear the check box to enable alarm shelving for each alarm severity.
5. Click OK to save your changes.
Your changes are saved to the application’s application folder.

Exporting Industrial Graphic Text Strings from an Application

If your application is intended to support run time language switching, you can export the text strings of its
Industrial graphics to a dictionary file. You can then translate the strings within the dictionary file to other
languages using a text editor, an XML editor, or a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or the Language
Assistant.
When you export the graphic text strings, you must specify an output folder for the dictionary file. A best
practice is to create a separate folder for each dictionary file whose strings will be translated into another
language.
All exported dictionary files follow a naming convention: <AppFolderName>AA_<LanguageID>.xml. For example,
if an application folder name is PumpStation and the language being exported is French (Language ID = 1036),
then the file name is PumpStationAA_1036.xml.
If you will be exporting language strings for different objects at different times, use separate target folders to
prevent subsequent exports from overwriting the first export.
To export Industrial graphic text strings
1. Open the application in WindowMaker.
2. On the File menu, click Export, click Localization, and then click Industrial graphic translations.
The Export Locale Data screen appears.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 75
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

3. Configure the symbol text strings to export.

• In the Languages to export list, select the check box for the language dictionary to export. The default
language is not listed.
• In the Select directory field, type the folder to which you want to export the dictionary file.
You can also browse to select an existing folder or create a new folder.
4. Click Export.

Importing Text Strings of Industrial Graphics to an Application

For symbol text, you must import the translated dictionary files for each language to enable run-time language
switching for those languages. All dictionary files for a given language should be placed in the same folder.
You can import files for only one language at a time. When you import, you select the desired language and
specify the dictionary files to import.
To import a translated dictionary file
1. Open the application in which you want to import Industrial graphic text.
1. On the File menu, click Import, click Localization, and then click Industrial graphic translations.
The Import Locale Data screen appears.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 76
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

1. Configure the import settings.

• In the Language to import list, select the check box for the language dictionary to import.
• In the Select directory box, specify the folder that includes the dictionary file to import.
• In the Select files to Import box, select the .xml files to import. Only files that include the current
application folder name and the locale ID for the selected language are shown.
2. Click Import.

Exporting Localization Strings from a Symbol

If your application is intended to support run time language switching, you can export the text strings of one or
more symbols selected from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox. You can then translate the exported strings within
the file to other languages using a text editor, an XML editor, or a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel.
When you export the text strings from a symbol, you must specify an output folder. A best practice is to create a
separate folder for each file whose strings will be translated into another language.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 77
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

All exported localization files follow a naming convention: <AppFolderName>AA_<LanguageID>.xml. For

example, if an application folder name is PumpStation1 and the language of the localization strings being
exported is Mexican Spanish (Language ID = 2058), then the file name is PumpStation1AA_2058.xml.
To export localization strings from a symbol
1. Open the application in WindowMaker.
2. Select the symbols from the Industrial Graphic Toolbox whose localization strings you want to export.
• Left-click on a symbol name to select a single symbol.
• Press the Ctrl key and left-click on symbol names to select two or more symbols.
• Left-click on a symbol name and then press the Shift key and left-click on another symbol name to select
all symbols between the two selected symbols.
3. Right-click on a selected symbol to show the shortcut menu.
4. Select Export, then Localization, and finally Selected Symbols(s).
The Export Locale Data dialog box appears.

5. Configure the symbol text strings to export.

• In the Languages to export list, select the localization strings to export from the symbols. The default
language is not listed.
• In the Path field, type the folder to which you want to export the localization strings. Click Browse to
select an existing folder or create a new folder.
6. Click Export. A bar shows the progress of the export operation.
7. Click View Details and verify the localization strings within each selected symbol were exported successfully.

Importing the Industrial Graphic Library

During application development you can import the Industrial Graphic Library and Situational Awareness Library
into a standalone application, if
• The application was created with a blank template and does not contain the Industrial Graphic Library or
Situational Awareness Library
• An older standalone application or modern application was migrated, but the libraries were not imported

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 78
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 3 – Exporting and Importing InTouch Components

To import the Industrial Graphic Library to an application:

• In the Industrial Graphic Toolbox, right-click the application name and select Import Industrial Graphic
Library.
The Import Industrial Graphics dialog appears. The Industrial Graphics Library is imported first followed by
the Situational Awareness Library.
On completion, the Industrial Graphic Library and the Situational Awareness Library appear in the Industrial
Graphic Toolbox.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 79
Chapter 4

Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

A multi-monitor system shows an InTouch application on several monitors simultaneously. Together, a multi-
monitor configuration creates a composite screen composed of all monitors connected to the computer running
an InTouch application. Each monitor can show a portion of the screen or only a single window component like a
keypad.
While running an InTouch application, you can move the mouse between monitors and drag windows from one
monitor to another. Also, in some multi-monitor configurations you can show an entire InTouch application
window across all monitors, as shown in the following figure.
Node running
InTouch
application
Video
Card

Multi-Monitor Configurations
You can use two basic multi-monitor configurations.
• Single video card
• Multiple video card
Each configuration has unique hardware, software, and configuration requirements. Also, each configuration
supports a different set of multi-monitor features.

Single Video Card Configuration

In the single video card configuration, the computer has a single video card installed with multiple output ports
connected to monitors.
Node running
InTouch
application
800 X 600 800 X 600

Multi-monitor
screen at
1600 x 1200

800 X 600 800 X 600

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 80
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

The composite screen resolution is the sum of the individual horizontal and vertical resolution of each monitor.
For example, a popular video card connects four 17 inch monitors stacked as a cube: two on the bottom and two
on the top. In the previous figure, each monitor runs at a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. The composite
virtual screen resolution is 1600 x 1200 pixels.

Characteristics of a Single Card Configuration

Single video card drivers have the following characteristics:
• The single video card drives all monitors simultaneously to create a single, large screen.
• The properties of all attached monitors can be configured using a single set of screen values.
• The composite screen shows the Windows taskbar across all of the monitors in the bottom row of the
configuration.
• Windows applications can be maximized to fit all monitors.

Characteristics of Single Card Drivers

The following figure shows the Windows Display Properties dialog box to configure the driver for all monitors
connected to a single video card with multiple output ports.

In this figure, the resolution setting is for four monitors arranged side by side in a single row. The resolution for
each monitor is 1024 x 768. Added together, the composite screen resolution is 4096 x 768. You only need to
configure a single monitor’s resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. The resolution setting applies to all
monitors connected to the single video card.

Multiple Video Card Configuration

In the multiple video card configuration, the computer has multiple video cards installed. Each video card
connects a single monitor to the computer running an InTouch application.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 81
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

Node running
InTouch Video
application Cards

800 X 600 800 X 600 800 X 600

Characteristics of a Multiple Card Configuration

Dynamic Resolution Conversion (DRC) works with other distributed features to provide independence from
screen resolution restrictions. In a NAD architecture, you create and maintain an InTouch application on a
development node and then copy it to several View nodes. DRC allows all view nodes to show the application,
even if the nodes are running at different screen resolutions.
DRC enables each View node to scale the application to a number of user-defined options, including a custom
resolution. This scaling takes place while WindowViewer compiles the application and does not require
WindowMaker. Because each View node can use a different DRC setting, you must configure each individual
View node.
DRC makes it easy to support multi-monitor systems. Simply select from the DRC resolution conversion options
to show an InTouch application over the entire composite screen or just a portion of it.

Characteristics of Multiple Card Drivers

The following figure shows the Windows Display Properties dialog box to configure the drivers for all monitors
connected to individual video cards installed on the computer running an InTouch application.

You click a numbered rectangle in the Display Properties dialog box to select the monitor you want to configure.
You arrange the numbered rectangles to match the physical placement of the monitors. Screen resolution, color
depth and refresh rate apply only to the monitor you select.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 82
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

Planning a Multi-Monitor Application

To set up multiple monitors for your application, you must:
• Choose a multi-monitor video card
• Determine the application screen resolution
• Determine the number of monitors to display the application
• Determine the placement of application windows

Choosing a Multi-Monitor Video Card

Technical Support can provide you with a list of recommended video cards that support multi-monitor InTouch
applications.
Before you select a video card, get more information from Technical Support to answer the following questions:
• What versions of InTouch does the video card support?
• Does the card support a single or a multiple card configuration?
• What are the recommended drivers for the video card?
• What are the recommended configuration settings for the video card?

Determining the Application Screen Resolution

Determining your overall screen resolution and knowing the exact size of your viewing area simplifies the
process of creating an application for a multi-monitor environment.
Create a drawing that shows the overall monitor configuration. The drawing should show the resolution of each
monitor and the combined resolution of all the monitors together. This drawing helps you visualize the horizontal
and vertical pixel range for each monitor.
For example, if you have a composite screen composed of two horizontal monitors with a screen resolution of
800 x 600, then the top left pixel location of the second monitor would be at pixel 800 x 0. The screen pixel count
goes from 0 to 799 for the first monitor and 800 to 1599 for the second. Using the drawing as a guide, you can
determine the placement of application windows on the composite multi-monitor screen.

Determining the Number of Monitors to Display the Application

You can simplify the effort to create a multi-monitor InTouch application by using a development environment
similar to the production environment. Using a multi-monitor development environment may not be possible in
all cases. When you only have a single monitor attached to the computer used to develop your InTouch
application, you can still build a multi-monitor application by developing the windows and configuring the
windows dimensions and locations to your estimated display needs.
Use the WindowMaker Properties pane to modify the characteristics of a window. In the Windows pane, select
the window you want to modify. The Window Properties pane appears on the right navigation pane.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 83
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

The X Location and Y Location values determine the horizontal and vertical pixel placement of a window’s top
left corner on a screen. The origin of horizontal and vertical pixel scales is at the top left corner of a screen.
The Window Width and Window Height settings determine the overall size of the window. For example, you can
configure a window with the following settings:
• X location = 1024
• Y location = 0
• Window Width = 1024
• Window Height = 768
The multi-monitor configuration consists of four monitors arranged in a single horizontal row. Each monitor has a
resolution of 1024 X 768. The overall composite screen resolution is 4096 X 768.
By setting the window’s horizontal origin to 1024 and vertical origin to 0, you force this window to appear on the
second monitor during run time. The window covers the entire screen surface of the second monitor.

Determining the Placement of Application Windows

You can use several different configurations when developing InTouch windows for a multi-monitor environment.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 84
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

Windows Show in a Forced Location

One method is to simply develop and force windows to show where specified. Make sure that WindowViewer is
maximized across the total viewing area of all monitors. This allows the InTouch application windows to show on
specified monitors.
You can use InTouch security features to deny access to the Windows desktop.

Windows Are Manually Moved

Another option is to develop an application where windows are manually moved to the monitors of choice,
allowing a single application to run on different monitor configurations. This involves the following:
• All windows in the application must be of type Popup.
• The main WindowViewer parent window can be small and not covering all monitors. However, you cannot
use InTouch security for denying access to the Windows desktop in this configuration because InTouch is not
maximized.
In this configuration popup windows are used which can be easily moved to any monitors, regardless of the main
WindowViewer parent window location. Popup windows do not have to remain within the parent
WindowViewer window. You can shrink the size of the main window and move it to a corner of a monitor,
allowing all the popup windows to be moved freely to the monitors of choice.

Windows Are Placed Automatically Based on Environment

The final method includes an additional step added to the above method. The step allows an application to
automatically place windows based on the environment used. This is the most complicated of configurations and
requires extensive scripting and planning.
In this configuration, the ShowAt() and ShowTopLeftAt() script functions dynamically place windows based on a
default set of coordinates and calculations. This can be configured many different ways depending on your
application requirements.

Developing a Multi-Monitor InTouch Application

You must assign values to selected parameters in the InTouch.ini and Win.ini files to support multi-monitors.
These parameters enable you to place InTouch system dialogs and keypads in the proper locations on the
composite screen.

Configuring Multi-Monitor Parameters

To enable multi-monitor support, you add a set of InTouch parameters to the Windows Win.ini file. These
parameters enable multi-monitor support for the node running the InTouch application and the resolution of
each monitor.
To configure the multi-monitor settings on a node
1. Edit the Win.ini file located in the Windows folder of the computer running the InTouch HMI software.
2. Locate the [InTouch] section within the Win.ini file and add the following parameters:

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 85
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

Parameter Description

MultiScreen=1 A value of 1 enables multi-monitor mode. A

value of 0 disables multi-monitor mode.
MultiScreenWidth=nnnn Width of a single screen in pixels.

MultiScreenHeight=nnnn Height of a single screen in pixels.

For example, if you want to show your InTouch application with a screen resolution of 2560 x 1024 on two
horizontal monitors, enter the following:
[InTouch]
MultiScreen=1
MultiScreenWidth=1280
MultiScreenHeight=1024

Configuring Screen Resolution Conversion

You can specify a parameter value to maintain the current resolution of InTouch application windows when
migrating between nodes running different screen resolutions.
The ScaleForResolution parameter value determines whether application windows (*.win) are automatically
scaled by WindowMaker after the display resolution changes on the computer running WindowViewer. The
ScaleForResolution parameter does not affect the resolution of WindowViewer dialog boxes.
To configure screen resolution conversion on a node
1. Edit the InTouch.ini file of the computer running InTouch.
2. Add the ScaleForResolution parameter to the file.
ScaleForResolution=1
When set to 0, resolution conversion is disabled.
When set to 1, resolution conversion is enabled.
Note: If the ScaleForResolution parameter is not added to the InTouch.ini file, the default value is enabled
(ScaleForResolution=1). When you disable the parameter (ScaleForResolution=0), you are still prompted to
convert the resolution. But, the resolution conversion does not occur.

Deploying the Application and Verifying Multi-Monitor Settings

The ScaleForResolution parameter becomes particularly important when you develop an application on a single
monitor system that is intended to run on a multi-monitor system. The value assigned to the ScaleForResolution
parameter determines whether the application can be scaled when moved from one environment to the other.
Important: It is recommended that you make a backup copy of the application before moving it to an different
environment.
For example, if an application is developed on a computer with a single monitor with a resolution of 1024 x 768
and is intended to run on a system with four monitors in a side-by-side configuration with a total resolution of
4096 x 768, this requires an application conversion.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 86
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 4 – Setting Up a Multi-Monitor System

When you deploy the application on the multi-monitor system, a message appears prompting you to convert the
application.
If the ScaleForResolution .ini setting is configured, you still see this message but the application is not converted
and can then be run as designed. Simply click Yes to continue startup.
If the .ini setting is not configured, the InTouch HMI converts and scale all of the graphics and windows in the
application to the new resolution. Doing so stretches and enlarge all windows and graphic displays, thus creating
some unwanted results.
Important: Make sure that the multi-monitor Win.ini parameter settings are also configured on the destination
computer before running your application. Win.ini settings do not automatically transfer with an InTouch
application.

Verifying Multi-Monitor Support During Run Time

You can download an optional script function from the Technical Support script library that verifies if the local
node running the InTouch application provides multi-monitor support.
The WWMultiMonitorNode() function determines if the node supports multi-monitors and the number of
monitors attached to the node.
Typically, you run the WWMultiMonitorNode() function from a QuickScript to determine the number of monitors
assigned to the node running the InTouch application.
The following example shows an example of a QuickScript statement with the value of the
WWMultiMonitorNode() function assigned to an InTouch integer tag. The QuickScript can be set to run when the
application starts in WindowViewer.
{MultiMonitors defined as an integer tag}
MultiMonitors = WWMultiMonitorNode();
{After executing this function Result = 4}
WWMultiMonitorNode() reads the MultiScreen parameter specified in the node’s Win.ini file. The
WWMultiMonitorNode() function returns either a 0 or a positive integer.
• 0 return value
WWMultiMonitorNode() returns a 0 if MultiScreen=0 or if the MultiScreenWidth or MultiScreenHeight
parameters are set incorrectly to 0 in the [InTouch] section of the Win.ini file.
• Positive integer return value
WWMultiMonitorNode() returns the number of monitors in the multi-monitor configuration if
MultiScreen=1 and the MultiScreenWidth and MultiScreenHeight parameters have been assigned correct
screen resolution values.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 87
Chapter 5

Using InTouch on a Tablet PC

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and InTouch comes pre-installed with a line of portable Tablet PCs. These rugged
Tablet PCs are waterproof and vibration resistant, making them suitable for most industrial environments. Tablet
PCs are also available from other computer manufacturers that can run InTouch applications.
Operators carry a Tablet PC with them as they move around their plant. The Tablet PC runs an InTouch
application that represents their actual plant processes. Using a pen that acts as a screen pointer or an input
device, operators select InTouch objects on the screen or as a keyboard substitute to write notes directly on the
screen.

Operators can write notes and annotate a running InTouch application with direct observations about their
actual plant processes.

Annotating and Sending Visualization Screens as E-mail Messages

Use the AnnotateLayout() script function to capture screens shown on a Tablet PC. The AnnotateLayout()
function is available only when InTouch runs on a Tablet PC using the Windows XP Tablet PC operating system.
The AnnotateLayout() function takes a screen capture of the visible portion of the active InTouch window. The
captured screen appears in the Annotate Layout dialog box.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 88
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 5 – Using InTouch on a Tablet PC

The Annotate Layout dialog box contains a toolbar and menu options. The dialog box shows the screen capture
in its client area. You can annotate the image using various drawing tools, and save, print, or send the screen
capture in an e-mail message.

Making Window Annotations

To make annotations to the window, use the following tools:
• Pen: To draw and write comments.

• Highlighter: To highlight areas of the window using a semi-transparent color.

• Eraser: To delete parts of an annotation.

Each of these tools has certain options such as size, color, or transparency.
• To set these options, click the downward arrow next to each tool’s icon and then click the command for the
option.
• To restore these options to their default settings, on the Tools menu, click Restore Defaults.

Selecting, Copying, and Deleting Window Annotations

You can select, copy, and delete annotations that you make in the window.
To select annotations

1. Click the Lasso icon in the toolbar.

2. While holding down the stylus button, draw an area around the annotations that you want to select.
You can now cut, copy or delete the selected annotations.
To cut, copy, and paste annotations
• Use the standard Windows Cut, Copy, and Paste commands.
To delete annotations
• Do any of the following:
• To delete all annotations on a window, on the Edit menu, point to Clear and then click All.
• To delete annotations that you selected using the lasso, on the Edit menu, point to Clear and then tap
Selection.

Saving, Printing, and E-Mailing an Annotated Window

After you make annotations to a window, you can save it as an image file, print it, or send it as an e-mail
attachment.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 89
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 5 – Using InTouch on a Tablet PC

You only need to configure the e-mail server one time.

To save an annotated window
1. On the File menu, click Save. A standard Windows Save As dialog box appears.
2. Enter a name and format for the file and click OK.
To print an annotated window
1. On the File menu, click Print. A standard Windows Print dialog box appears.
2. Specify any printing options and click OK.
To send an annotated window as an e-mail attachment
1. On the Edit menu, click E-Mail Configuration. The E-Mail Configuration dialog box appears.
2. Enter the host name of the SMTP e-mail server to use for sending e-mail. If you are unsure, ask your
administrator for assistance. Click OK.
3. On the File menu, click E-Mail. The E-mail dialog box appears.
4. Enter sender and recipient addresses and write a message. An image file of the annotated window is
automatically added as an attachment.
5. Click Send to send the e-mail message.

AnnotateLayout() Function
Shows the Annotate Layout dialog box, where you can annotate the current view screen from where this script
function is called. This function is only supported on the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system.
Category
System
Syntax
AnnotateLayout()
Remarks
When Annotate Layout dialog box appears, the screen image of WindowViewer is captured. Use the dialog box
to:
• Annotate the screen capture using the pen in conjunction with tool bar and menu item settings.
• Save the image and the annotation as a .gif or .jpeg file.
• Print the image and the annotation (if a printer is configured).
• Send the image and the annotation as an attachment of an e-mail message (if SMTP is configured).

Changing Screen Orientation

If the Tablet PC is running in tablet configuration, and WindowViewer is configured to dynamically change the
application resolution to the screen resolution, an InTouch application developed in landscape mode is scaled to
fit portrait mode.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 90
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 5 – Using InTouch on a Tablet PC

If WindowViewer is not configured to dynamically change the application resolution, the landscape application is
not scaled. In this case, some InTouch windows can be truncated on the Tablet PC.
When switching from one configuration to another, the screen resolution is switched by default. For example, if
the tablet PC running in laptop configuration is switched to tablet configuration, the screen orientation switches
from landscape (1024 x 768) to portrait (768 x 1024) mode.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 91
Chapter 6

Managing InTouch Services

A service is a Windows process that performs a specific unattended background system function without a user
interface or a required user logon.
The following startup options are available for Windows services:
• Automatic. When Windows restarts, the service automatically starts without any user intervention.
• Manual. A user or an application process must explicitly start the service.
• Disable. The service is prevented from starting. This is useful for troubleshooting.
Note: The parameters option in the InTouch WindowViewer service is not supported.
Services are started without compromising the Windows security system.
The InTouch HMI includes the following Windows services:
• Alarm DB Logger
• Alarm DB Purge/Archive
• NetDDE Helper
• SuiteLink
• WindowViewer

About Managing InTouch Services

A service is a Windows process that performs a specific unattended background system function without a user
interface or a required user logon.
The following startup options are available for Windows services:
• Automatic. When Windows restarts, the service automatically starts without any user intervention.
• Manual. A user or an application process must explicitly start the service.
• Disable. The service is prevented from starting. This is useful for troubleshooting.
Note: The parameters option in the InTouch WindowViewer service is not supported.
Services are started without compromising the Windows security system.
The InTouch HMI includes the following Windows services:
• Alarm DB Logger

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 92
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 6 – Managing InTouch Services

• Alarm DB Purge/Archive
• NetDDE Helper
• SuiteLink
• WindowViewer

Running WindowViewer as a Service

If you configure WindowViewer to run as a Windows service, WindowViewer automatically starts when the
computer on which the application is installed starts. The WindowViewer service runs in the background. If the
WindowViewer service is running you cannot start another instance of WindowViewer.
Running WindowViewer as a service provides the following benefits:
• Most disaster recovery plans require that essential computer systems start immediately after electrical
power is restored. Microsoft Windows Servers can restart automatically after power is restored. When
WindowViewer runs as a service, your plant automation system can begin running immediately. The last
InTouch application that was opened in WindowViewer automatically starts when the computer restarts.
• WindowViewer continues to log historical data, gather alarm information, process scripts, act as an I/O
Server, and write values as an I/O client, even as different operators log on and off.
Note: A logged on user must have proper access to the network location if a network application is used to
run as a service or a network path is used as a historical logging folder.
If WindowViewer is already running as a service and you attempt to start it again from a shortcut icon or by
clicking WindowViewer on the Windows Start menu, a message is logged in the Operations Control Log viewer.
The message describes the restrictions to starting WindowViewer when it has been configured to run as a
service.
If WindowViewer is already running as a service and you attempt to launch Application Manager or
WindowMaker, a warning message will be logged in the Operations Control Log viewer.The message explains that
Application Manager and WindowMaker cannot open when WindowViewer is running as a service.
Important: When running WindowViewer as a service, the user account privileges have been set to non-
interactive to reduce the potential security exposure of running a service with administrator privileges.

Configuring WindowViewer to Start as a Service

Running WindowViewer as a Windows service provides continuous operation after the operator logs off and
automatic start up at system boot time without operator intervention. This allows unmanned station start up of
WindowViewer without compromising operating system security.
When WindowViewer is configured to start as a service, an InTouch application must also be specified to run in
WindowViewer as a service. You can specify the application directory in the Node Properties dialog box or
manually enter it into the WIN.INI file.
To configure WindowViewer to start as a service
1. Launch InTouch Application Manager.
2. On the Tools menu, click Node Properties.
The Node Properties dialog box appears.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 93
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 6 – Managing InTouch Services

3. Select Start following application in WindowViewer as a service to configure WindowViewer to

automatically run as a service.
The Application path field will become enabled.
4. Click the ellipsis button to prompt a file explorer and navigate to your InTouch application.
The application directory will populate in the group box.
5. Click OK.
6. Click the WindowViewer icon in the Application Manager toolbar.
WindowViewer will now run as a service for the specified InTouch application.
Note: You can also fast switch from WindowMaker to WindowViewer to start the WindowViewer service for the
InTouch application if you have configured the Node Properties as described in the above steps. You can do this
in place of starting WindowViewer from the Application Manager.

Editing WIN.INI to Run Application as Service in WindowViewer

If the option Start following application in WindowViewer as a service is enabled in the Node Properties, you
can manually enter the application directory into the WIN.INI file. If you update the WIN.INI file before selecting
the application in Application Manager, WindowViewer runs as a service for the application once selected.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 94
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 6 – Managing InTouch Services

You can also update the WIN.INI with the application open in WindowMaker. If you then fast-switch to run time,
WindowViewer runs as a service for the application.
Note: The above functionality is not supported for Managed InTouch applications. If you attempt to fast-switch a
Managed application from WindowMaker to run as a service in WindowViewer, a warning message will be
logged in the Logger.
The WIN.INI is located here:
C:\ProgramData\Wonderware\InTouch\Service\win.ini
Enter the directory of the application you want to run as a service, as in the example below:

Manually Starting a Service

You can manually start the InTouch WindowViewer service using the Windows Control Panel.
WindowViewer does not appear in the Services Control Panel unless you configured it to start as a service. For
more information, see Configuring WindowViewer to Start as a Service.
To start the WindowViewer service using Control Panel
1. Start the Control Panel.
2. Double-click Administrative Tools and then double-click Services. The Services dialog box appears.
3. In the details pane, right-click Wonderware WindowViewer service and then click Start.
Important: The command prompt cannot be used to start WindowViewer as a service.

Stopping a Service
You can manually stop the WindowViewer service using the Control Panel.
To stop the WindowViewer service using the Control Panel
1. Start the Control Panel.
2. Double-click Administrative Tools and then double-click Services. The Services dialog box appears.
3. In the details pane, right-click WindowViewer and then click Stop.

Configuring the User Account for InTouch Services

By default, Windows services run using the local system account. InTouch services require a user account with
administrative privileges, which may not be provided by the local system account.
When you install the InTouch HMI, you specify an administrative account that all AVEVA services run under, if the
account was not created already. This account is considered the master account. The InTouch services use the
master account to automatically start up.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 95
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 6 – Managing InTouch Services

Note: The master account is also called the impersonation account. An impersonation account is the user or
group account that provides access to the restricted resource "area" of your site or server.
If you want to change the master account, use the Change Network Account Utility.
Caution: Changing the master account affects all AVEVA services, not just InTouch services.
To change the master account
1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to AVEVA, and then click Change Network Account. The
Change Network Account dialog box appears.
2. Change the user account. For more information, see the Change Network Account documentation.
3. Click OK.

Troubleshooting InTouch Services

If a service depends on other services starting before it can start, Windows verifies if the prerequisite services
are running before starting the service.
Depending on your requirements for running WindowViewer, be aware of the following dependencies:
• The NetDDE Helper service must be running if you plan to use Distributed Alarming or Distributed History or
if you intend to access network DDE data.
The NetDDE Helper service also depends on both the Network DDE and Network DDE DSDM services being
installed and configured for either Manual or Automatic startup. During installation, the NetDDE Helper
service is configured for Manual startup. WindowViewer automatically starts this service when the computer
starts.
• If you need WindowViewer to act as a SuiteLink server or client, then the SuiteLink service must be running.
The SuiteLink service also requires that Microsoft TCP/IP be installed.
• If you want to store any messages or errors while WindowViewer is running, you must make sure that the
Operations Control Log Viewer service is installed.
Both the SuiteLink and Operations Control Log Viewer services should be installed and configured to run in
automatic startup.

Viewing Error Messages for Services

Use the Windows Event Viewer to troubleshoot error messages related to services. For example, you may see
the error "One or more services failed to start …" The Windows Event Viewer lists informational messages,
warnings, or errors that occurred while starting Windows services. For more information about the Event Viewer,
see your Microsoft documentation.
You can see any warning or error messages that resulted from an InTouch service failing to start. If the Event
Viewer indicates that the WindowViewer service failed to start, the most likely cause is a dependency on a
prerequisite service that is not running.

Troubleshooting Problems with the Services User Account

If InTouch services fail to install or start after you install the InTouch HMI, you could have a problem with the user
account that they run under.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 96
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 6 – Managing InTouch Services

To troubleshoot services user account problems

1. Open the Windows User Manager window and create a new master user account.
This user account must have administrative privileges on the local computer to start an InTouch component
as a service. If you do not see your computer's node name in the domain list, then manually type in the node
name.
For more information, see Configuring the User Account for InTouch Services.
2. Verify that your computer's node name is no longer than 14 characters. If the node name contains
underscore characters (_) or dashes (-), remove them.
3. During installation when you are prompted to enter the domain name, type in the node name of your
computer, not the domain name. Then, type the user name that was created in step 1 and your password.
4. If you already installed the InTouch HMI, you can still specify the domain name, user name, and password by
running the ArchestrA Change Network Account Utility.
5. Reboot your computer.
6. Log onto your network domain with any valid user account. Even if your domain goes down, it does not
affect your InTouch application that is running on the local computer.

Deactivating Advised I/O Items

When you start up the Windows operating system, the services that are configured to automatically start will
start in the "background" with no visible user interface appearing on the desktop. The services in this situation
are running in the system context. When an operator logs on the system, any services that are running in the
system context that have an associated user interface automatically appear on the desktop. In this situation, the
services are now running in the desktop context.
If you configure the WindowViewer service to automatically start, the service runs in the system context when
the operating system starts. Then, when a user logs on, the WindowViewer service continues to run but in the
desktop context, and the WindowViewer user interface automatically appears.
If you have InTouch Access Names defined with the Advise only active items option turned on, and have I/O tags
that are active only in certain InTouch application windows (the tags are not used anywhere else in the
application), it is possible to "deactivate" those tags. For example, if WindowViewer is running as a service, and
you close an application window using a script, the window automatically is unloaded from memory, thus
terminating the link to those tags.

Registry Keys for the InTouch Services

The InTouch services are listed as keys in the Windows registry:
SuiteLink:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SLS
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\slssvc
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SuiteLink
NetDDE Helper:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WWNetDDE

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 97
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 6 – Managing InTouch Services

WindowViewer:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VIEW

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 98
Chapter 7

Alarms

You can create InTouch applications that generate alarms and events to notify operators about the status of
process activity.
• Alarms warn run-time operators about process conditions that could potentially cause problems. Typically,
you set up an alarm to trigger when a process value exceeds a defined limit. An operator must usually
acknowledge the alarm.
• Events represent normal system status messages. A typical event is when a system condition occurs, such as
an operator logging on to an InTouch application. Operators do not have to acknowledge events.
The following figure shows how the InTouch HMI handles alarms and events while an application is running.
Alarm and event data is saved to the alarm database.
Running Physical Process

HiHi Alarm
InTouch
Client 90
Alarm
Provider

HiHi Alarm
Alarm

Ack

Running InTouch
Application
Alarm Records
Log On Event

Event
Records

Alarm Database

You can configure any tag for event monitoring. An event message is logged to the alarm system each time the
tag value changes. The event message includes how the value changed and whether the operator, I/O, scripts, or
the system initiated the change.

Migrating from Legacy Alarm Systems

You can migrate your applications built using the Standard Alarm System or AlarmSuite.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 99
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

Migrating from the Standard Alarm System to the Distributed Alarm

System
When you migrate a Standard Alarm system to the Distributed Alarm system, all of the Standard Alarm Displays
in the master/slave application are migrated to Distributed Alarm Display objects.
Colors, fonts, the expressions, and the alarm query settings are not migrated. The new Distributed Alarm Display
object has the following default query, where node name is the name of the master node:
\\nodename\InTouch!$system
The acknowledgement and alarm status dotfields continue to work as before. Depending if the I/O tag was
configured for NetDDE or SuiteLink, you may need to enable NetDDE. However, you may decide you no longer
need separate controls for issuing acknowledgements, as the alarms can now be acknowledged using the
Distributed Alarm Display object.

Maintaining the Alarm Database

You manage the alarm database using two InTouch utilities. Use the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility to remove
records from the database permanently or archive them to files. If the database becomes corrupt, use the Alarm
DB Restore utility to restore archived records.
The following figure shows how both utilities purge/archive records and then restore them back to the database.
Alarm Database

Alarm Records
Alarm DB Purge
Purge/Archive Request
Alarm Records
Purge Records Archive Records

Archive
Log File Files
Archive Records
Alarm Records

Alarm DB
Restore

Log File

You must be logged on to the computer as an administrator to use the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility.

Configuring Purge or Archive Settings

Use the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility to:
• Select the type of records to purge from the alarm database.
• Purge records automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.
• Optionally archive purged database records to files.
• Save the status of archive or purge operations to a log file to troubleshoot problems.
• Show the status of purge or archive operations.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 100
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

Important: The Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility runs as a set of Windows services. To reduce the security
exposure of running the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility with administrator privileges, the user account
permissions are set to non-interactive.

Connecting to the Alarm Database

Before you can use the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility, you must connect to the alarm database.
To configure the database connection
1. Open the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Purge-Archive.
2. Click the Database tab.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 101
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

3. Configure the database connection. Do the following:

a. In the Authentication list, select the authentication method: SQL Server Authentication or Windows
Authentication (default).
Note: Windows authentication can provide better application security than SQL Authentication. If you switch
from Windows Authentication to SQL Authentication, a pop up dialog will appear recommending that you
use Windows Authentication for this reason. If you choose to ignore this warning and proceed with SQL
Authentication, click OK. A similar message will be logged in the Log Viewer.
a. In the Server Name list, click the node name of the server.
b. In the Database box, type the name of the alarm database.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 102
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

c. In the Credential Information area, from the Credentials drop-down, select the credentials for
authentication.
Note: The Credentials field is enabled only when you select SQL Server authentication type. The Windows
Authentication method uses the credentials of the user currently logged in, and disables the Credentials
field. For standalone InTouch applications, the credentials are retrieved from the Application Manager. For
managed InTouch applications, the credentials are retrieved from the Credential Manager of the Application
Server. . For more information, see Work with Credential Manager in the AVEVA™ InTouch HMI Application
Development Guide.
4. Click Test Connection to test the connection to the database. A message indicates if the connection to the
alarm database is successful.
5. Click OK.
6. Click Apply.

Configuring How Much Data to Purge from the Server

You can:
• Select the type of alarm records to be purged from the alarm database.
• Optionally archive purged records from the alarm database to files.
• Select the folder location to store the purge log file.
You can select the type of table that needs to be purged, either the AlarmDetail or AlarmConsolidated table.
All data from the day previous to the number specified is purged. Valid entries are 0-9999. If you select 0, all
records are purged from the alarm database except the current day’s records.
To select records to purge
1. Open the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Purge-Archive.
2. Click the General tab.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 103
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

3. In the Purge Properties area, configure the type of records to purge. Do either of the following:
• Click Detailed Mode to purge alarm records that are saved in the database in Detailed mode.
• Click Consolidated Mode to purge alarm records that are saved in the database in Consolidated mode.
4. In the Days Online box, type the number of days worth of records to retain in the alarm database.
5. Click Apply.

Configuring the Archive of Purged Data

You archive the records purged from the alarm database and then restore them using the Alarm DB Restore
utility.
When you purge the alarm database, the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility automatically creates a set of nine
archive files that correspond to the purged alarm database tables. Each file contains the purged records of a
single table.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 104
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

The Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility assigns names to the archive files based upon the table name, date, and time
when the purge operation occurred. For example, the name of the archive file for the AlarmMaster table that
was purged on June 22, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. is formatted like the following:
AlarmMaster_06222007_1730.txt
To configure the archive
1. Open the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Purge-Archive.
2. Click the General tab.

3. Select the Archive check box.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 105
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

4. In the Archive Folder Path box, type the folder location where archive files should be saved or click the
ellipsis button to browse for the location.
5. Select the Create Unique Folders check box if you want the archive files to be placed in an individual sub-
folder beneath the archive file folder.
6. Click Apply.

Configuring Log File Settings

The Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility generates status messages during a purge operation. You can view these
messages online from the utility’s Status window. The Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility also writes purge messages
to the purge log file named WWAlmPurge.log.
The example below shows the messages stored in the log file after a successful purge operation.
Purge Started on 12:16:48 PM 6/22/2007
Starting transaction....
Archiving Table ProviderSession...
Archiving Table Query...
Archiving Table Cause...
Archiving Table Alarm Master...
Archiving Table OperatorDetails...
Archiving Table Alarm Detail...
Archiving Table Comment...
Archiving Table Events...
Archiving Table TagStatus...
Purging records in the database...
Committing....
Purge Completed On 12:16:52 PM 6/22/2007
144 records from AlarmMaster were purged along with the related records from other tables.
By default, the purge log file is stored in this folder: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Wonderware\InTouch. For computers running the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, the default
application folder is C:\Users\UserName\Documents\My InTouch Applications.
You can change the storage location of the purge log file.
The Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility appends new messages to the log file each time a purge occurs.
To set archive logging
1. Open the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Purge-Archive.
2. Click the General tab.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 106
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

3. In the Log File Path box, type the folder location where the purge log file should be placed or click the ellipsis
button to browse for the location.
4. Click Apply.

Manually Purging and Archiving the Database

You can purge and archive your alarm database manually. This overrides the activation time and starts the
purging and archiving immediately.
The purge operation checks for the presence of an archive file and appends to the same. If the archive file is not
present, the file is created as per the naming convention and then used for archiving.
The purge operation does not delete entries in tables such as ProviderSession, Query, and Cause that are linked
to the main tables such as AlarmMaster through foreign key constraints. The related records in these tables are
written to the files to maintain the data consistency and also retained in the database.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 107
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

Caution: Manually purge all records (the Purge All Now option) only when the Alarm DB Logger service is
stopped. If the purge operation is committed successfully while the Alarm DB Logger service is running, the
Alarm DB Logger service stops logging and starts caching records.
To manually purge and archive records from the alarm database
1. Open the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Purge-Archive.
2. Click the Purge/Archive tab.

3. Click Test Now to perform a test purge to verify your connection to the database and archive locations.
The test purge creates empty archive files in the specified archive folder. The Status area shows a message
that the test was successful.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 108
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

The Test Now button is available only if you have chosen to archive your purged records. The Archive option
is located on the General tab.
4. Purge the records from the database. Do either of the following:
• Click Purge Now to purge the selected records.
• Click Purge All Now to purge all records.
5. To stop a purge, click Cancel Purge. If you cancel the purge, the alarm database is rolled back to its original
state.

Setting a Schedule for Automatic Purging

The Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility can automatically purge or archive records from the alarm database at
scheduled intervals. You can perform a test purge to verify your connection to the database and target locations
and to start and stop purging.
To set a schedule for automatic purging
1. Open the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Purge-Archive.
2. Click the Purge/Archive tab.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 109
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

3. In the Time Interval area, select a purge interval, either daily, weekly, or monthly.
If you click Weekly or Monthly, a Day box appears in the Activation Time area for you to specify the day of
the week or day of the month.
If you click Daily, in the Time box, configure the time of day that you want the purge/archive operation to
start.
4. In the Run As area, click Normal application to run the purge-archive utility as an application or click
Windows Service to run it as a service.
For Windows Service, either select Virtual account or specify the username and password for another
account under the This account: area.
Note: For more information on Virtual account, see Using Virtual Accounts.
5. Click Apply to save your purge and archive settings.
6. Click Activate to place the Alarm DB Purge-Archive utility on an automatic purge schedule.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 110
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

7. Click Close.
To stop the automatic purge schedule and remove the Window Service, click Deactivate. After a brief delay
the service will be removed from Window Services.

Restoring the Alarm Database

The Alarm DB Restore utility restores the archived alarm records in the archive files back to your alarm database.
The following figure summarizes the steps to restore alarm records to the database.
Alarm DB Alarm Database
Restore
Archive Records
Archive Alarm Records Alarm Records
Files
Alarm Records

Archive
Log File Request

To restore a database, you must:

• Configure the connection to the alarm database.
• Select which records to restore to the alarm database.
• Restore archived records to the alarm database.
When minimized, the Alarm DB Restore utility appears as an icon in the system tray. When you right-click the
icon, a menu shows the following commands:
Command Description

Restore Begins the restoring process.

Cancel Restore Cancels the restoring process.
Clear Status Clears the status window.
Hide Window Minimizes the Alarm DB Restore utility to an icon in the system tray.

Show Window Opens and maximizes the Alarm DB Restore utility.

Exit Closes the Alarm DB Restore utility.
If you right-click in the Alarm DB Restore utility, the same menu appears.

Configuring the Database Connection

You must select a database to restore the archived data to. If the specified database is not present on the server,
you are prompted to create a new database with default server parameters.
To configure a database for restoring
1. Open the Alarm DB Restore utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Restore.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 111
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

2. Click the Configuration tab.

3. Configure the connection to the alarm database. Do the following:

a. In the Authentication list, select the authentication method: SQL Server Authentication or Windows
Authentication (default).
Note: Windows authentication can provide better application security than SQL Authentication. If
you switch from Windows Authentication to SQL Authentication, a pop up dialog will appear
recommending that you use Windows Authentication for this reason. If you choose to ignore this
warning and proceed with SQL Authentication, click OK. A similar message will be logged in the Log
Viewer.
b. In the SQL Server Name list, click the node name of the server that hosts the alarm database.
c. In the Database box, type the name of the alarm database.
d. In the Credentials Information area, from the Credentials drop-down, select the credentials of alarm
database for authentication.
The Credentials field is enabled only when you select SQL Server authentication type. The Windows
Authentication method uses the credentials of the user currently logged in, and disables the Credentials
field.
Note: For standalone InTouch applications, the credentials are retrieved from the Application Manager. For
managed InTouch applications, the credentials are retrieved from the Credential Manager of the Application

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 112
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

Server. For more information, see Work with Credential Manager in the AVEVA™ InTouch HMI Application
Development Guide.
a. Click Test Connection to test your connection to the database. A message indicates whether the
connection to the alarm database is successful or not.
b. Click OK.
4. Click Close.

Configuring Which Files to Restore

You can select a time period for the records to restore and whether you want the database tables to be
recreated.
If you cancel the restore, the database is rolled back to its original state.
Caution: If you try to restore archived alarms that are already present in the database, the archived records are
not restored. This avoids duplicate alarm/event entries in the database. The Alarm GUID or Event GUID
associated with records determines whether an alarm or event is already present in the database.
To select database records to restore
1. Open the Alarm DB Restore utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Restore.
2. Click the Selection tab.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 113
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

3. In the Folder Path for Archived Files box, type the full path (up to 255 alphanumeric characters) to the
location of the archived files or click the button to locate and select the folder where archived files are
stored.
4. In the Restore files later than (Date/Time) area, select the date and time to start restoring records to the
database.
The starting date and time are set by default to the current date and time.
5. In the Folder path for log file box, type the full path (up to 255 alphanumeric characters) where the log files
are created and stored or click the button to locate and select a folder.
6. If you select the Recreate Tables check box, the tables of the specified alarm database are recreated.
7. Depending on the type of Logging Mode you selected for the alarm records contained in the archived files,
select:
• Detailed - Recreate the alarm database tables in detailed mode.
• Consolidated - Recreate the alarm database tables in consolidated mode.
Important: Recreating tables overwrites all records currently stored in the alarm database.
1. Click Restore.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 114
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Chapter 7 – Alarms

Starting a Database Restore Operation

You restore archived database records after you have established the database connection, specified the
archived files folder and a time filter.
To restore database records from an archive
1. Open the Alarm DB Restore utility. Do the following:
a. In the Tools view, expand Applications.
b. Double-click Alarm DB Restore.
2. Click the Selection tab.

3. Click Restore. A message shows whether the restoration is successful and the number of records restored to
the database.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 115
Appendix A

Customizing Applications Settings from

the INTOUCH.ini File

The first time you run an InTouch application, the INTOUCH.ini file is created in the application folder. When the
INTOUCH.ini file is created, values are assigned to a set of parameters that determine the operating
characteristics of an individual InTouch application.
As you continue configuring your application from WindowMaker or WindowViewer, new INTOUCH.ini
parameters are created or existing parameters are modified. For example, when you configure logging from the
WindowMaker Historical Logging Properties dialog box, logging parameters are added to the INTOUCH.ini file.
Other configuration parameters must be manually added to the INTOUCH.ini file.
After you customize your application, you can copy the INTOUCH.ini file to a different application's folder. This
way, you can create consistent operating characteristics for your applications without having to repeat all
customization steps.

Custom INTOUCH.ini Parameters

The following table lists a set of parameters that you can manually enter in the INTOUCH.ini file to provide
additional custom properties to your InTouch applications.
INTOUCH.ini Parameter Purpose

16PenTrendDrawMode Determines whether a 16-Pen Trend shows data

values in average mode or min-max mode.

ApplicationThumbnail Sets the name of the application thumbnail file.

AllowPubAppEdit Sets the application flag, so that it can edit a

published application. If the value is 1, you can edit a
published InTouch file.
CommentRetentive Determines whether run-time changes to the Alarm
Comment field are saved.
ForceLogCurrentValue Determines whether the current value of logged tags
are written to the Historical Log file at an interval set
by the ForceLogging parameter.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 116
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Appendix A – Customizing Applications Settings from the INTOUCH.ini File

INTOUCH.ini Parameter Purpose

ForceLogging Sets the length of the interval when tag values are
periodically written to the Historical Log file regardless
of their current values.
LoopTimeOut Sets the time out period of FOR-NEXT loop processing
in an InTouch script.
MarkAppReadOnlyNonRDS On a non-RDS node, if this parameter is set to 1, it will
consider this a read-only node and consume a read-
only license for an InTouchView application.
MouseMustBeOnObjectForOnKeyUp Determines if the mouse must be over the object for
the On Key up action to be triggered. The value is '1'
by default.
NoKeyboardResize Determines whether the numeric keyboard is resized
to the resolution of the WindowViewer screen.
OldRightMouseBehavior Determines whether the right mouse button is
enabled in WindowMaker.
PrintScreenWait Sets the wait period before printing a screen from
WindowViewer.
PrintWindowWait Sets the wait period before printing an InTouch
window from WindowViewer.
RemoteTagsLogEvents Determines whether an InTouch application logs
remote referenced tag alarms and events.
RemoteTagsNoIOEvents Determines whether an InTouch application logs
remote referenced tag alarms.
ScaleForResolution Determines whether InTouch application windows are
automatically resized when changing nodes that have
different screen resolutions.

ViewLicenseRetryCount Determines the times WindowViewer will attempt to

acquire the license in the background, during Startup
and when no license is available.

WindowNameWithSpecialCharacters If the parameter is set to 1, then new windows can be

created with special characters in the window name.

Setting Custom Logging Properties

You can add a set of parameters to the INTOUCH.ini file that specify how tag values are saved to the InTouch
historical log file. The values assigned to these parameters determine logging frequency and if the values of
remote referenced tags are logged.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 117
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Appendix A – Customizing Applications Settings from the INTOUCH.ini File

Setting Logging Frequency

The InTouch HMI writes entries to the historical log file based upon two conditions:
• The InTouch HMI writes an immediate log entry whenever a tag value changes by an engineering unit value
greater than its log deadband value.
• The InTouch HMI writes the current values of all logged tags at a fixed interval. The default fixed interval is 60
minutes.
You add two parameters to the INTOUCH.ini file to change the interval.
• ForceLogging
ForceLogging specifies the length of the fixed logging interval in minutes. ForceLogging can be set to a value
from 5 to 120. The default is ForceLogging=60.
• ForceLogCurrentValue
ForceLogCurrentValue forces the InTouch HMI to write log entries for all logged tags even if the current
values are less than or equal to their log deadband ranges. The default is ForceLogCurrentValue=0.
In the following example, current tag values are written to the Historical Log file at 15 minute intervals or when
the value of the tag changes:
ForceLogging=15
ForceLogCurrentValue=1

Logging Remote Referenced Tags

By default, remote referenced tags are not logged to the events log file. To log remote referenced tags, you must
enable event logging and then add the RemoteTagsLogEvents parameter to the INTOUCH.ini file.
RemoteTagsLogEvents=1
To exclude I/O tags from being logged, add the RemoteTagsNoIOEvents parameter to the INTOUCH.ini file. The
RemoteTagsNoIOEvents parameter applies only if the RemoteTagsLogEvents parameter is set to 1.
RemoteTagsNoIOEvents=1

Disabling WindowMaker Shortcut Menus

By default, WindowMaker shows an shortcut menu when you right-click with your mouse over the selected
object. If you prefer to develop your application using the same mouse behavior as earlier versions of the
InTouch HMI, you can turn off WindowMaker’s right-click behavior by setting the oldrightmousebehavior
parameter to 1 in the INTOUCH.ini file.
oldrightmousebehavior=1

Setting Custom WindowViewer Properties

You can add a set of INTOUCH.ini file parameters that set the behavior of WindowViewer to:
• Handle script looping.
• Scale InTouch windows for different screen resolutions.
• Set a waiting period to print windows or screens.
• Log run time changes to an alarm comment.
• Set the drawing mode of a 16-Pen Trend.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 118
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Appendix A – Customizing Applications Settings from the INTOUCH.ini File

• Resize the numeric keypad.

• Resizing input fields of analog and string user input links.

Adding a Script Loop Timer

By default, a FOR-NEXT loop within an InTouch script must complete within five seconds. WindowViewer stops
the script automatically if the FOR-NEXT loop processing has not finished by the time-out limit. This time-out
limit prevents an infinite loop caused by a scripting error.
Occasionally, you may need to write a script in which the FOR-NEXT loop code processing exceeds the five
second time-out limit. You can change the length of the time-out limit by adding the LoopTimeout parameter to
your INTOUCH.ini file.
In this example, loop processing continues for a maximum of 20 seconds:
LoopTimeout=20

Scaling InTouch Windows to Different Screen Resolutions

You can add a parameter to the INTOUCH.ini file to maintain the current resolution of InTouch windows when
you migrate the application to other nodes running different screen resolutions.
The ScaleForResolution parameter value determines if application windows are automatically scaled by
WindowMaker after the display resolution changes on the computer running WindowViewer. The
ScaleForResolution parameter does not affect the resolution of WindowViewer dialog boxes. Resolution
conversion is enabled when the ScaleForResolution parameter is set to 1.
ScaleForResolution=1

Setting the Length of the Print Waiting Period

When you select a window or screen to print, WindowViewer loads the selected window or screen into memory.
WindowViewer then waits 10 seconds to allow all DDE variables shown in the window or screen to be updated.
After the waiting period ends, WindowViewer sends the window or screen to the printer.
The WindowViewer print waiting period can be changed by adding the PrintWindowWait or PrintScreenWait
parameters to the INTOUCH.ini file. The wait period for either parameter is expressed in milliseconds.
PrintWindowWait=15000
PrintScreenWait=20000

Logging Alarm Comments

Operators can add a comment when acknowledging an alarm. To write run time changes to the Alarm Comment
field in the tag database, add the following line to the INTOUCH.ini file for the current application.
CommentRetentive=1

Setting the Drawing Mode of a 16-Pen Trend

You can select the line drawing mode of a 16-Pen Trend based on the value of the 16PenTrendDrawMode
parameter.
• Averaging mode: 16PenTrendDrawMode=0
Because of the time range and the buffer size of the 16-Pen Trend, each pixel on the trend can represent
several seconds' worth of data. Each interval can contain several samples with different values. As a result,

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 119
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Appendix A – Customizing Applications Settings from the INTOUCH.ini File

the trend’s data point can appear as a vertical line between the maximum and the minimum values observed
within the interval.
After the minimum to maximum vertical line is drawn, the trend pen moves to the calculated average value
for the interval. The next interval begins by drawing the line from the average value to the next interval on
the trend. The vertical minimum to maximum line is drawn and the pen rests at the average value calculated
for the interval. This process repeats for each sampling interval.
Averaging is the default drawing mode of a 16-Pen Trend if the 16PenTrendDrawMode is not specified in the
INTOUCH.ini file.
• Min-Max mode: 16PenTrendDrawMode=1
In the Min-Max drawing mode the trend line is drawn by directly connecting the endpoints of each data
collection interval.

Resizing a Numeric Keypad

You can add a parameter to the INTOUCH.ini file that determines whether an InTouch application’s numeric
keypad can be resized or not. Increasing the size of the keypad at higher screen resolutions (1280 x 1024) keeps
the text appearing on the keypad legible. But, you may have applications with limited screen space that set
practical limits on the size of the keypad.
You can add the NoKeyboardResize parameter to the INTOUCH.ini file. By default the parameter is not included.
Its default value is:
NoKeyboardResize=0
The default value permits the numeric keypad to be resized according to the screen resolution.
The alternative value you can assign to the parameter is:
NoKeyboardResize=1
In this case, the keypad does not resize based on screen resolution and the numeric keypad size remains fixed.

Resizing the Input Fields of Analog and String User Input Links
You can add the Resizable InputLink parameter to the INTOUCH.ini file to resize the input box of the Analog or
String user input links with your mouse. The Resizable InputLink parameter must be set to a non-zero value.
After the Input field is resized the first time, WindowViewer adds the Resizable InputLink Width and Resizable
InputLink Height parameters to the INTOUCH.ini file. These parameters specify the width and height of Input
boxes in pixels.
Example:
Resizable InputLink = 1
Resizable InputLink Width=300
Resizable InputLink Height=50
Also, you can edit the INTOUCH.ini file to manually modify the values assigned to these parameters.

Resolving Stuck Application Button or Displayed Value Problems

A parameter can be added to the InTouch.ini file to resolve problems in which an InTouch application button is
stuck in the down position or a displayed value does not change. The button and the value do not respond to
repeated mouse clicks.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 120
 AVEVA™ InTouch HMI
Appendix A – Customizing Applications Settings from the INTOUCH.ini File

Possible causes of this problem can be an OnKeyUp script that does not run because a graphic element with an
OnKeyDown script hides the window. Also, the stuck button problem can be caused when there are two scripts,
OnKeyDown to set a bit and OnKeyUp to clear the bit. The operator clicks the button, but the window containing
the button closes before the mouse is released.
To solve these problems, do the following:
• Insert the UseLegacyOnKeyUp=1 parameter in the Intouch.ini file.
• Select the Use In-Memory Window Cache check box in the WindowViewer Properties dialog box.

© 2015-2023 AVEVA Group Limited or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Page 121