Open the Watch page for Mobile Access

Use the Watch tool to open the Watch page for a project that is running on Mobile Access, or use your web browser to go directly to that page.

The Watch page for Mobile Access is functionally similar to the Watch window in the project development environment, but it differs in several important ways:

• You can open the Watch page for projects running on both the local computer and remote computers, while the Watch window only shows the project that is currently open in the project development environment;

• You can open multiple instances of the Watch page, each in a separate browser tab, in order to access different projects at the same time; and

• The Watch page is displayed entirely in your web browser, as a part of the Mobile Access web interface.

Of course, the project must be configured to run on Mobile Access, and that requires some additional work. For more information, see Mobile Access.

Before you try to open the Watch page for a project, confirm the project is running and the Mobile Access Runtime task is started. The Mobile Access Runtime is what generates the Mobile Access web interface for a project, and the Watch page is part of that web interface. Also, if the project runtime is hosted on a remote computer, note the host name or IP address of that computer. For more information, see Runtime Tasks.

Any time you try to access a project, if that project's security system is enabled then you may be asked to log on. This includes when you open the Watch page for a project. As such, your user account must belong to a group that has the Enable Remote Debugging Tools option selected, in the security system settings. If you also want to be able to write values to the database, the Watch Window (write) option should also be selected, but that option is not required simply to use the Watch page. For more information, see Security System.

Use the Watch tool to open the page

To use the Watch tool to open the Watch page:

1. On the Home tab of the ribbon, in the Remote Management group, click Watch. The Remote Computer dialog box is displayed.

   

2. In the Mode box, select one of the following:

   Mode	Description
   HTTP (Web)	Connect to the Mobile Access web interface using unencrypted communication.
   HTTPS (Web)	Connect to the Mobile Access web interface using encrypted communication.

   If you want to use HTTP (Web) mode, you should not need to do anything else because that is the default configuration for most web servers. If you want to use HTTPS (Web) mode, the web server must be configured to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to serve web pages. For more information, see Mobile Access Installation.

3. In the Host box, type the host name or IP address of the computer that is hosting the project runtime. You do not need to include the port number as long as it has not been changed from the default port for the web server. If the port number has been changed, however, include the correct port number with the specified host.

   Tip: Even though you are opening the page from the Remote Management tools, you can use it to open the Watch page for a project running on the local computer. To do this, leave the Host box empty.

4. Click OK. Your default web browser is opened, and it opens the Watch page for the specified host.

Remember that you can open multiple instances of the page in separate browser tabs as long as you specify a different host for each tab.

Go directly to the page in your web browser

The Watch page is part of the Mobile Access web interface for a project, so you can go directly to the page without opening the project development environment. In the address bar of your web browser, type the following URL:

https://<host name or IP address>/MA/index.html?watch=1

If you are not already logged on to the project, you are prompted to log on at this time.

You can automatically log on by including your user name and password. To include only your user name, type the following URL:

https://<host name or IP address>/MA/index.html?watch=1&user=<user name>

The Logon page is displayed with your user name automatically entered. You are still prompted for your password.

To include both your user name and your password, type the following URL:

https://<host name or IP address>/MA/index.html?watch=1&user=<user name>&password=<password>

The Logon page is not displayed. Instead, you are automatically logged on, and the Watch page is displayed immediately. This option is not secure, however, especially if you save this URL as a favorite or bookmark.

Remember that you can open multiple instances of the page in separate browser tabs as long as you specify a different host for each tab.

Note: If you have more than one version of AVEVA Edge installed on the same machine, you can specify pages for each version separately by replacing /MA in the URL with a unique product and version string, which is AVEVA Edge 2026 for this version of AVEVA Edge. For example:

https://<host name or IP address>/AVEVA Edge 2026/index.html?watch=1

Use the page to monitor the project database

As stated at the beginning of this topic, the Watch tool is functionally similar to the Watch window in the project development environment. It provides the same basic interface, and in most cases you can use it in the same way. However, the tools to manage the list of tags/expressions are somewhat different.

To add a project tag or expression to the list, type it in the Tagname/Expression box and then click/tap the Add tool. Each tag value will be updated whenever it changes. Each expression will be evaluated when it is added to the list, and thereafter it will be updated only if it includes at least one tag value that changes. Only expressions that are supported on Mobile Access can be evaluated with GOOD quality. Expressions that are not supported cannot be evaluated and will always have BAD quality. For more information, see List of available functions.

To edit a tagname/expression in the list, double-click/tap it and then make your change. It will be updated after you make your change, as if you just added it.

To write a new value to a tag, double-click/tap the value (not the tagname) and then make your change. Remember that you must be logged on as a user who belongs to a group that has the Watch Window (write) option selected.

To remove a single tagname/expression from the list, click/tap it and then slide right.

To clear the entire list, click/tap the Clear tool.

To copy the entire list to your computer's clipboard, click/tap the Copy tool. You can then paste the copied list into another application such as a text editor or spreadsheet.

To paste a list from your computer's clipboard, click/tap the Paste tool. The pasted list will be appended to the existing list.