Training and trial without the field
YTCC has several ways to try a project without a field device or without changing the plant. They differ in what they reach: some stay in the editor, others feed values into the running project, where operator screens, alarms and history see them.
| Way | Where | What it does | Reaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test tab | Home page | Gives a signal a value and a quality as if it came from the field | The running project: screens, alarms, scripts, history; a running driver overwrites the value at its next read |
| Simulated mode of a signal | Configuration editor | Generates a test value, for example a sine, for one or more signals | The running project; alarms and history mark the value as simulated, commands to the signal are refused |
| Manual value | Configuration editor, runtime screen | Replaces the field value by a value typed in | The running project; shown with M |
| Test run | Screen editor | Runs the open page with live values, clicks and actions | Commands from the page are real commands to the running project |
| Communication-loss preview | Screen editor | Shows how the page looks without communication | Only the design view |
| Electrical simulation | Screen editor | Switches breakers and disconnectors of a single-line diagram and colors the network | Only the editor; no command is sent |
| Switching program simulation | Runtime screen | Checks a switching program against the interlocks with the live state | Nothing is switched |
Choosing a way
- To train operators on a copy of a project, copy the project (see Rename, copy and delete), run the copy without field devices and feed values with the Test tab or simulated signals. The copy has its own database, without the users and the alarm history of the original.
- To check a screen during design, use the test run and the communication-loss preview; they need no field values.
- To check alarms, simulated signals are the most realistic: the alarm service evaluates them like field values and marks them as simulated.
- To rehearse switching, simulate the switching program before it is approved and run.
Good to know
- The Test tab works only when the server allows test injection, which is off by default. Keep it off on a plant.
- Values from the Test tab, simulated and manual values reach the running project. On a project connected to a plant, they can raise alarms and be recorded in history.