How to provide machine data as HTML-files

You may know it: You want to make machine data available to many users centrally, quickly and easily. Our DataSuite offers you the possibility to do just that. In this article, we show you how you can easily generate HTML files from MDE data.

Content

Advantages of the HTML format

Before we show you how to generate machine data as HTML files, we will first show you the advantages of HTML files. The DataSuite, our universal software for collecting and processing machine data, is the basis for the following steps.

Why HTML?

Providing machine data as an HTML file has several advantages. HTML is a text-based mark-up language and the schema is simple and uniform, which is why you do not need to rely on licences with this file format. To make the data more accessible, you can upload it to your web server.

By uploading a file to the web server, it can be opened from anywhere. We will show you how to upload an HTML file to DataSuite’s integrated web server at the end of the article.

The integrated web server of the DataSuite is a simple and fast solution that does not require any IT knowledge. If you want to use an external web server, which is much more complicated but offers more possibilities, we recommend the article: “Article follows”.

Machine data in HTML file

In this part of the article we will show you how to provide your machine data as an HTML file.

To do this, click on an existing trigger in the Trigger menu item and open the associated settings by clicking on “Edit”.

Now you can add another action at the end of the already existing flow by pressing “+”. Then search for “HTML” in the search box and click the following result:

Then click on the red framed field and assign a file name for the HTML file. Please note that only a conversion from Excel to HTML takes place here.

So you have to create an Excel file with DataSuite first or select an existing Excel file, which will be converted to HTML in this step. The trigger “Write data record” already creates in the default configuration such a file, so you only have to use the “+” Button to add a convert-action.

Why is the extra step Excel file useful?

Excel is more or less the HTML designer. In an Excel template, you can format the data and combine it with charts and other things. The Excel file created in this way then only needs to be converted into HTML. Datasuite does this for you. You can read how to easily generate Excel files from machine data in this article:

It works that easy: Write Excel files with the Siemens S7

In the “Publish” field below, you can either save your HTML file on the file system or publish it directly on the integrated web server. We will show you where the difference lies and what the steps entail in the next section.

Publish HTML website in file system and integrated web server

Now we will show you how to publish your HTML website with machine data in the file system and directly on the integrated web server. Note, however, that the integrated web server must be configured beforehand. A standard configuration is already available and can be used. However, you must switch on the web server. You can find out how this works in the article: “follows”.

Publish HTML websites in the file system

First we focus on saving in the file system. To do this, enter the file name that the file with your machine data should have. If your trigger condition is fulfilled, the trigger is executed. You can also start the trigger manually.

After executing the trigger, you have successfully converted an Excel file containing your valuable data into an HTML file. You receive your HTML file and an additional folder.

To display the HTML file, the _files folder is also required. This contains the sheets and graphics, i.e. the actual content.

As you can see, the conversion worked and all the required files are there. In the next step we will show you how to publish the website directly on the integrated web server. This allows the website to be accessed directly via the browser.

Publish HTML websites on the integrated web server

To publish the file on the web server, select “Webserver” under the “Publish” field. Enter the address under which you want to call up the website. The first part is already predefined and cannot be changed.

If you now execute the trigger, you can access the document locally at the localhost address as seen below.

As you can see, we have converted an Excel file containing machine data into an HTML file that is now accessible via the browser. This means that you do not need any software on the systems to open the file.

We have shown you an example here, but you can reproduce the whole process with your real Excel files. You can repeat these steps as often as you like to upload all your machine data to the integrated web server or save it in the file system.

Further DataSuite functions and customer support

DataSuite offers numerous other functions, for example, you can use it to generate PDF or Excel documents from machine data and automatically write machine data to a database. You can find the article on this in the DataSuite Tech Blog.

You can find much more information and setting options in the DataSuite software manual, which is included in the download. There you will find detailed instructions with screenshots.

Further information and assistance free of charge from our experts:

Phone: +49 2742 72927 80
E-mail: [email protected]

Conclusion

The DataSuite software enables you to easily provide your machine data as HTML files. You can save them locally in the file system or, thanks to the integrated web server, make them available quickly and easily as web pages in the network.

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How to provide machine data as HTML-files

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Send SMS with a S7 PLC

When it comes to reducing unplanned downtime, problems can often arise. We offer you an easy way to keep track

29. March 2022

< Overview

Send SMS with a S7 PLC

When it comes to reducing unplanned downtime, problems can often arise. We offer you an easy way to keep track of your downtimes. In this article, we show you how you can automatically receive an SMS with a comprehensive error message and PLC variables of your S7 in case of a machine downtime.

Content

Why sending SMS from the S7 is worthwile

Improving the monitoring of your machines and plants will in most cases lead to a drastic reduction of your downtimes. Our versatile software for collecting and processing machine data, DataSuite, can have a big positive impact on this. Later in this article, we will show you how you can automatically receive an SMS when one of your machines fails. The big advantage is that you will be notified immediately with comprehensive information about the possible source of the error. Moreover, the SMS feature can be used with any cell phone, completely without installing an additional app or needing an internet connection.

This article builds on the article: “Reduce downtime in production”. There we showed how you can save time, money, and nerves with the help of DataSuite.

Importance of the DataSuite in this process

DataSuite allows you to send SMS without a SIM card. If you have set it up correctly, you will automatically receive an SMS with valuable information when a machine has a fault condition. This can be error texts directly from the plant, measured values or even other information. With the help of DataSuite, you can even include PLC variables in the SMS. In case of an alarm, you will then receive an SMS with a stored text and the values you have selected, e.g. current temperature, machine number etc. However, it should be noted that there are small costs for sending SMS at the SMS service provider SMS77. However, there is no basic fee and for an SMS with 160 characters, currently only 0.075 euros.

This is how information is exchanged in the event of a fault condition

The purpose of this article is that you will end up understanding and being able to practically implement the structure shown here. You will notice that it is actually quite simple. In order to successfully send an error message as an SMS at the end of this article, we need a trigger created in the DataSuite software. A trigger has trigger conditions and actions. If these conditions are met, the actions will be executed. So if your machine changes to the operating state “malfunction”, in this case the trigger will be triggered.

There are many ways to define a trigger. For example, you can define a temperature value from which your machine changes to the operating state “Fault”. In this case, your PLC transmits the data to the DataSuite software, which then compiles an error message in the form of an SMS. Which information the SMS should contain, you can define yourself in our software.

Praxisbeispiel und wie man eine E-Mail mit einer S7 verschicken kann

We will then show you a real-life example of how you can use DataSuite to send SMS messages. The DataSuite is mandatory for this. At the end of the article, you can enter your email address to request a free trial version of DataSuite.

Note: How you can send an e-mail with a fault message, we have shown for you in this article: Send e-mail with an S7 PLC

You would like to get a live insight into DataSuite 3?

In a live online demonstration, we will go into detail about the individual functions and answer any questions you may have. Together we will find out whether DataSuite 3 is suitable for your needs.

Send SMS with a S7 PLC

In this part of the article, we will show you the required configurations in DataSuite to be able to receive error messages automatically via SMS. In our example, an error has occurred in the “Press 3” plant, which is why you will receive an SMS with the associated error message.

To be able to send SMS with an S7, you have to create your sms77 account in the DataSuite. If you do not have an account yet, please create a new account on the sms77 website beforehand.

If you have created an account, you can now set it up in DataSuite. To do so, please click on the menu item “Accounts” and then on “Create new account”.

Then select the option “Sms77 Account” in the dialog and click on “Create” afterwards. Now you have to make some settings for the setup of the Sms77 account. Next, we will customize exactly this SMS account in DataSuite. There you can activate the debug mode at the very top.

What is the debug mode?

You can activate the debug mode when configuring the SMS account. In this case, the SMS are not sent to save costs during setup or testing. Before commissioning, this mode should definitely be deactivated, because this way no SMS are sent.

You will find a button at the bottom of the configuration page to test the settings. You can also limit the number of sent SMS per minute and hour underneath. This makes sense to prevent high costs due to accidentally sent SMS during commissioning in case of configuration errors.

Enter the name that is to be displayed in the SMS as the sender. Below this, your API key must be entered. To be able to send SMS, you have to create an API key at sms77. We will show you in the next step how this works exactly.

Create API key at sms77

Now we will show you how to create an API key at sms77 to then link this account to DataSuite. First open the developer page of sms77. After you have logged in, please click on the + button at the tile “API keys”. Now a small menu will open, where you please enter a name at the top. After you have clicked on “Save”, your API key will be displayed below.

With a click on the key, it can now be copied to continue with the setup in DataSuite. Go back to the configuration page of your SMS connection in DataSuite and paste your API key into the field provided. Now you can save the configuration like this. Make sure that debug mode is enabled if you’re still testing and don’t want to send an SMS for now. In the next step, we will show you how to define the SMS using a trigger.

Define SMS for the alert case

If you have successfully created an API key and added your SMS account, you can now define the message for the alert case. To do this, create a new trigger in the “Trigger” menu. Then search for “PLC sends SMS” in the search bar and click on “Create”.

First, the trigger conditions must be defined. When you purchase or test DataSuite, we will send you a free manual that explains the trigger conditions of a trigger. For now, we will deal with the configuration of the SMS itself. To define the SMS, please click on the “Send email” field below. The configuration could look like this:

Select the sms77 account at the top. Enter the recipient below. Multiple recipients can be entered, separated by a semicolon (0274296887280; 0274296887281). Now you can enter the message of the SMS. The message can also contain variables. With a click on the “var+” symbol on the right side, you can select a variable directly from the control. In this example, we use the error code from the PLC. Note that sms77 charges per 160 characters. After saving, you can execute the trigger. Remember that no SMS can be sent in debug mode.

Your malfunction SMS can look like this

If the trigger was configured correctly, everything should now work. If the trigger condition you defined is met, an SMS is sent directly to the numbers you entered. However, the trigger can also be activated manually in the “Trigger” menu.

You can of course also receive an SMS in other fault conditions, the possibilities are not limited to you here. The SMS you would then receive could look like this:

As you can see, you can customize the error message you receive in the event of a fault according to your needs. This way, you will always receive exactly the information you require.

Further DataSuite functions and information options

DataSuite offers many more functions, for example you can use it to create PDF or Excel documents from machine data and automatically write machine data to a database.

You can find much more information and setting options in the DataSuite software manual, which is included in the download. There you can find detailed instructions with screenshots.

More information and help free of charge from our experts:

Phone: +49 2742 72927 80
E-mail: [email protected]