VB Screen Building

This document describes the procedures and utilities for building real time Web based graphic screens under Visual Basic 6.0.  These screens may be animated using real time data from a control system.  Screens may be displayed on any workstation using a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5.

This document describes the basic procedures for building and publishing a screen.  An overview of the process is as follows:

  •  Use Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to build the basic screen

  • Animate the screen using the provided real-time objects

  • Publish the screen to the proper control system, making it accessible via the web from any network connected Internet browser

  • Install and configure the proper utilities on the control system to provide access to process variables

  • Display the page on a workstation using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer


Naming Conventions

Object Name

How to Name

Prefix

Example

Object Name

How to Name

Prefix

Example

Vector Project

The previous name of the screen under the Vector system.  Not to be changed.  (Not used in OPC system)

None

3Main

OPC Project directory

Created when new screen is generated through the tpriNtRt administrator program. Directory needs to be renamed without the mill site abbreviation.  In this case, the ‘l’ prefix was moved from the directory name.

None

\3Main\

OPC Project

Automatically created with appropriate prefix. The file will have a .vbp extension*

l

l3Main

OCX Control

(that you are building)

Automatically created with appropriate prefix.  The file will have a .ctl extension* **  

ucl

ucl3Main

The names above should be used as both the Project and Control names as referred to in Visual Basic, as well as the name of the file that is stored on the hard drive (the one in parentheses next to the Project or Control name in VB).

* = The “l” prefix is an abbreviation of the site, in this case short for “Location”

** = The “uc” prefix is an abbreviation of “User Control”

Building a Basic Screen

The following procedure defines the steps involved to build a basic screen using Visual Basic 6.0.  The tpriNtRt administrator program is used to begin a new Visual Basic screen.  All the user has to do is add controls and design the layout of the page.  Below is a screenshot of the Visual Basic design interface and descriptions of the layout:

  1. Run tpriNtRt administrator program D:\locNtRt\tpriNtRt\Apps\tpriNtRtAdmin\tpriNtRtAdmin.exe

  2. Enter screen name, e.g. ‘l3Main’ with appropriate mill site prefix, in this case ‘l’ for Location

  3. Click ‘Generate New Screen’

  4. A list of steps for creating the demo screen is displayed; those items that are checked have been automatically finished, those that are unchecked must be performed manually

A Label object will always be used for the non-changeable background text on a screen.

  1. On the toolbox to the left, choose the label control.

  2. Position the mouse where the object should be placed on the screen, hold down the left mouse button and drag to the desired size.

  3. Naming the object is optional, but should start with lbl.

  4. Set properties for label such as font, fore color, and back color.

For adding additional objects to the screen such as TelePro controls, refer to Section 6.5 of this document

  1. Select the Menu option File, Save Project

  2. Select the Menu option File, Save uc[name].ctl



Adding TelePro’s Standard Controls to a Visual Basic Web Screen

Error Handling

Adding Property Pages to the ActiveX Control

Appendix

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