After you have:
- Added child tags below your Context tag to monitor and control all of the I/O processes, alarms, logging of a device.
- Created properties in the Context tag to fully describe the device.
- Created parameter expressions within the child tags so that configuration is done automatically, using information stored in one place - the Context tag.
Then it's time to turn the Context tag into a new type. This is not mandatory. You could copy the Context tag and it's full structure of child tags for every new instance of the device. But, turning the Context into a type makes many other tasks easier.
You will need the Manage Tag Types security privilege to perform the tasks described here.
The steps to create a tag type are as follows.
- Ensure that your Context tag has a value in the Type field.
- The Type value will become the name of the new tag type.
- This value must be a single word and must be valid for use as tag type name. It must not match any existing tag type. If this condition is not met, an error message will be displayed.
- Type values can have a maximum of 31 characters.
- Right-click on the Context tag in the Tag Browser to open its context menu.
- Select the option, Create New Type.
A dialog will open to confirm that you wish to proceed with this action. This same dialog provides an opportunity to control which of the built-in widgets will be associated with the new type. Some of these are not optional, and cannot be deselected. You may choose to create custom widgets at a later date for your new tag type.
- Click, OK.
The new tag type is added to your application, and the selected context tag is converted to be an instance of this type.
Troubleshooting:
- An error dialog reports that the type name is not valid.
There must be a type name, which is a single word.
- An error dialog reports that the name exists, but you have not used that word elsewhere.
Name conflicts with other parts of VTScada can happen. The names, "Pump" and "Calculation" for example are both taken.
