Configuration Parameters

Configuration parameters can be added to an equipment type to represent specific information about a physical piece of equipment, such as a set point or delay setting.

When you add a configuration parameter to an equipment type, it creates a named placeholder that is included as a field in each associated equipment instance. Parameters can be grouped together to provide context or added individually as ungrouped parameters.

Configuration parameters support Equipment Property Referencing. You can also specify a default value that is used as the initial value for a parameter when a new instance is created.

To create configuration parameters for an equipment type, use the Equipment Editor (see Add Configuration Parameters to an Equipment Type).

Note: In Plant SCADA 2023, configuration parameters replaced "custom parameters" as they were restricted by a limitation of 256 characters. Configuration parameters provide the same functionality as custom parameters, but they are stored in a dedicated configuration parameters database. This change required any existing equipment types to be migrated to a new format. If Equipment Editor detects any version 1.0 equipment types, a dialog will appear asking if you want to migrate them. If this occurs, see Migrate Custom Parameters to the Configuration Parameters Database.

Example

The Plant SCADA Example project includes an equipment type named "Building Light" that has two configuration parameters defined:

• MaxW

• Delay

  

An equipment state called "Active" is also configured for the equipment type. It includes a field called Delay that references the Delay parameter.

Observe that the equipment property reference in the Delay field uses the following syntax:

{equipment.param_list[Delay]}

Note: The syntax for a grouped parameter will be:
{equipment.parameter.group_name[parameter_name]}
See Equipment Property Referencing.

When the value is set for the Delay parameter in an associated equipment instance, it is applied to the Delay property when the equipment state is generated.

Consider the following equipment instance (defined as "Building.External.Light1").

This will result in the creation of the following equipment state (with the Delay property set to "00:00:00").

You can also view the configuration parameters in a project directly in Plant SCADA Studio (see Define Equipment Configuration Parameters in Plant SCADA Studio).