National Instruments 322391A-01 User Manual

Lookout Operator’s Manual

Lookout Operator’s Manual

August 1999 Edition

Part Number 322391A-01

Worldwide Technical Support and Product Information

www.natinst.com

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For further support information, see the Tech nical Support Resource s appendix. To comment on the
documentation, send e-mail to [e-mail].

© Copyright 1996, 1999 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

Important Information

Warranty

The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming
instructions, due to defects in materials and work man ship, for a peri od of 90 d ays from da te o f sh ipm ent, as evi denced
by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not
execute programming instructions if National Instruments receives noti ce of su ch defect s d uring th e warranty perio d.
National Instruments does not warrant that the op eration of t he soft ware shall b e uni nterrup ted or erro r free.

A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must b e ob tain ed fro m th e facto ry an d clearl y mark ed on t he outsi de
of the package before any equipment will be accepted for warranty work. National Instruments will pay the shipping costs
of returning to the owner parts which are covered by warran ty.

National Instruments believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has been carefully
reviewed for technical accuracy. In the event that technical or typographical errors exist, National Instruments reserves
the right to make changes to subsequent editions of this document without prior notice to holders of this edition. The
reader should consult National Instruments if errors are suspected. In no event shall National Instruments be liable for
any damages arising out of or related to th is d ocum ent o r th e in form ation con tained in i t.

XCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN

E

ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
BY FAULT OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT THERETOFORE PAID BY THE
CUSTOMER
OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF

National Instruments will apply regardless of the form of action, wh ether in con tract or tort , incl udin g n egli gen ce.
Any action against National Instruments must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. National
Instruments shall not be liable for any delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty
provided herein does not cover damages, defects, malfuncti ons, or s ervice failur es caused by own er’s fai lure to fol low
the National Instruments installation, operation, or maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the product;
owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure or surges, fire, flood, accident, actions of third parties,
or other events outside reasonable control.

ATIONAL INSTRUMENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, USE OF PRODUCTS

. N

ATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS

, N

Copyright

Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without
the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.

USTOMER’S RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES CAUSED

. C

. This limitation of the liability of

,

Trademarks

Lookout™, natinst.com™, and National Instruments™ are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.
Product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

WARNING REGARDING USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS

(1) NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING
FOR A LEVEL OF RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLA NTS
OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN
REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INJURY TO A HUMAN.

(2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION O F THE SOFTWARE
PRODUCTS CAN BE IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY, COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCT IONS,
COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS AND DEVELOPMENT
SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND
HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS, MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC
MONITORING OR CONTROL DEVICES, TRANSIENT FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE
AND/OR SOFTWARE), UNANTICIPATED USES OR MISUSES, OR ERRORS ON THE PART OF T HE USER O R
APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE HEREAFTER COLLECTIVELY
TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK
OF HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD
NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY UPON ONE FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO TH E RISK OF SYST EM
FAILURE. TO AVOID DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE
REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES, INCLUDING BUT N OT
LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS. BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS
CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS' TESTING PLATFORMS AND BECAUSE A
USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY USE NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS IN COMBINATION
WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATE D BY NATIO NAL
INSTRUMENTS, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING
AND VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER NATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN, PROCESS, AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTE M OR
APPLICATION.

Conventions

The following conventions appear in this manual:

» The » symbol lead s you through nes ted menu items and dial og box optio ns

to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to
pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options
from the last dialog box.

This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important informatio n.
This icon denotes a caution, which advises you of precautions to take to

avoid injury, data loss, or a system crash.

bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click on in the software,

such as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes
parameter names.

italic Italic text denotes variab les, emphasis, a cross reference, or an introduction

to a key concept. This font also denotes te xt that is a placeholder for a w ord
or value that you must supply.

monospace Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the

keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.
This font is also used for the proper names of disk dri ves, paths, d irectories,
programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,
variables, filenames and extensions, and code excerpts.

monospace bold Bold text in this font denotes the messages and responses that the computer

automatically prints to the screen. This font also emphasizes lines of code
that are different from the other examples.

monospace italic

Italic text in this font denotes text that is a placeholder for a word or value
that you must supply.

Contents

Chapter 1
Installing Lookout

Hardware and Software Requirements..........................................................................1-1

TCP/IP Networking .......................................................................................................1-2

Installing Lookout..........................................................................................................1-2

Installing from the CD.....................................................................................1-2

Installing Lookout from Floppy Diskettes......................................................1 -2

Registering Lookout ......................................................................................................1-3

Starting Lookout for the First Time.................................................................1-3

Changing Registration Information.................................................................1-5

Adding Client Connections............................... ...... ..... ...................................1-5

Setting System Options..................................................................................................1-7

Computer Name Setting..................................................................................1-7

Citadel Database Settings................................................................................1-8

Virtual Keyboard Settings...............................................................................1-8

Log Alarms Setting..........................................................................................1-8

Panel Navigation Arrows ................................................................................1-8

Security Level Settings....................................................................................1-8

Startup Process File Setting...........................................................................................1-9

Chapter 2
Lookout Basics

Starting Lookout............................................................................................................2-1

Logging on to Lookout....................................................................................2-1

Opening a Process File......................................................................2-3

The Lookout Screen.......................................................................................................2-3

Title Bar...........................................................................................................2-4

Menu Bar.........................................................................................................2-5

Status Bar.........................................................................................................2 -5

Lookout Workspace.........................................................................................2-5

Control Panels .................................................................................................2-5

Alarm Window............................................................. ...... .............................2-7

Operator Input and Navigation......................................................................................2-7

Virtual Keypad ................................................................................................2-7

Virtual Keyboard.............................................................................................2-8

© National Instruments Corporation v Lookout Operator’s Manual

Contents

Lookout Application Files.............................................................................................2-8

Process File..................................................................................................... 2-8

Source Code File.............................................................................................2-8

State File .........................................................................................................2-9

Lookout Windows Services........................................................................................... 2-10

Chapter 3
Lookout Runtime Menu Commands

File Commands..............................................................................................................3-1

File»New......................................................................................................... 3-1

File»Open........................................................................................................3-1

File»Reopen....................................................................................................3-2

File»Close ....................................................................................................... 3-2

File»Close All................................................................................................. 3-3

File»Save......................................................................................................... 3-3

File»Save All................................................................................................... 3-3

File»Print»Alarms and Events........................................................................3-3

File»Log on.....................................................................................................3-4

File»Log off .................................................................................................... 3-5

File»Exit ..........................................................................................................3-5

Edit Command....................................................................................................... ...... ..3-5

Edit»Edit Mode...............................................................................................3-5

Option Commands......................................................................................................... 3-6

Options»System.............................................................................................. 3-6

Options»User Manager................................................................................... 3-6

Options»Serial Ports .......................................................................................3-7

Selecting the Serial Port ................................................................... 3-8

Setting Receive Gap .........................................................................3-8

Selecting the Serial Connection........................................................ 3-8

Options»Import APT Database.......................................................................3-11

Options»Modbus............................................................................................. 3-11

Alarm Commands......................................... ...... ........................................................... 3-12

Alarms»Show..................................................................................................3-12

Alarms»Display Options.................................................................................3-12

Alarms»Filter Options.....................................................................................3-13

Alarms»Print...................................................................................................3-14

Alarms»Select All...........................................................................................3-16

Alarms»Deselect All.......................................................................................3-16

Alarms»Acknowledge.....................................................................................3-16

Alarms»Acknowledge All............................................................................... 3-17

Alarms»Properties...........................................................................................3-17

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Window Commands .............................................................. ..... ...................................3-18

Window»Arrange Icons...................................................................................3-18

Window»Minimize All....................................................................................3-18

Window»nTitle................................................................................................3-18

Window»More Windows................................................................................3-19

Run Commands.............................. ...... ..... ................................................... ...... ...... ......3-19

Run»Add..........................................................................................................3-19

Run»Revise......................................................................................................3-20

Run»Delete................................................................................................ ..... .3-20

Help Commands ............................................................................................................3-20

Help»Contents.................................................................................................3-20

Help»About Lookout............................................... ........................................3-20

Appendix A
Technical Support Resources

Glossary

Index

Contents

Figures

Figure 1-1. System Options Dialog Box.................................................................. 1 -7

Figure 2-1. The Lookout Screen..............................................................................2-4

Figure 3-1. Serial Port Settings Dialog Box.............................................................3-7

Table

Table 3-1. Dialing Prefix Default Settings.............................................................3-10

© National Instruments Corporation vii Lookout Operator’s Manual

Installing Lookout

This chapter explains how to install and configure the runtime Lookout
software.

This manual explains how to install, configure, and use the Lookout
runtime software. It assumes that you are already familiar with your
operating system.

Hardware and Software Requirements

Lookout requires the following:

• Pentium class PC running at 90 MHz or faster

• At least 32 MB RAM

• 45 MB free disk space, plus possibly 100 MB or more, depending on
how much data you intend to log to the Lookout database, Citadel.Y ou
should also have about 50 MB of disk space for file swapping on
Windows NT computers.

• Windows 98/95 or Windows NT version 4 or later

• Network card and TCP/IP net w orking installed on the computers you
want to connect, if you intend to take advantage of Lookout
networking

1

Because Lookout can run 24 ho urs a day, your computer should h av e some
form of AC power surge protection. An uninterruptible power supply
(UPS) provides the ultimate protection. A UPS provides complete isolation
between the AC power source and the computer and has backup battery
power if there are blackouts and brownouts. A quality surge protector will
protect your computer from most electrical sur ges and spik es if yo u do not
need battery backup.

Lookout is Y2K compliant and requires no special considerations for the
year 2000.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-1 Lookout Operator’s Manual

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

TCP/IP Networking

You must be properly set up on a network with TCP/IP protocols installed
if you want to use the networking capabilities of Lookout 4. If TCP/IP is
not working properly on your computer, con sult your system admin istrator.

Installing Lookout

Installing from the CD

1. Before installing, make sure you have shut down all applications
that may currently be using ODBC. Such applications include
spreadsheets, word processors, database programs, MS Query, and
similar applications.

2. Insert the Lookout CD into your CD drive.

3. The Lookout CD-ROM has autorun capability. If for some reason the
autorun fails to start the CD installation routine, click on the Start icon
in the taskbar and select Run.

4. Enter
OK.

Lookout installs an ODBC driver as a part of its database capability.

5. Follow the remaining instructions to complete the Lookout
installation.

N

:\SETUP where

N

represents your CD-ROM dri ve. Then select

Installing Lookout from Floppy Diskettes

If the computer you want to install Lookout on does not have a CD-ROM
drive, follow these instructions for installing the software:

1. Prepare about two dozen blank diskettes: 3.5-inch, 1.4MB. Label each
diskette as Disk1, Disk2, and so on.

2. On another computer with a CD-ROM dri ve and diskette drive, copy
the files in the individual DiskN subdirectories on the CD onto the
appropriately labeled 3.5- inch flopp y disk ette. Do not cop y the DiskN
directory itself onto your floppies. Copy only the contents of each
directory.

3. On the computer where you wan t to install Lookout, insert the disk ette
labeled Disk1 and run the

4. Follow the installation instructions on the screen.

Lookout Operator’s Manual 1-2 www.natinst.com

setup.exe program from the diskette.

Registering Lookout

Be sure to register your Look out package to receive y our permanent unlock
code. As an unregistered package, Looko ut is l imi ted to 50 I/O poi nt s and
one client connection and only runs for 30 days.

If you are installing a free client run-time version of Lo ok o ut on ly, you do
not have to re gister . If you are installing Lookout as an upgrade to an earlier
version, you have already provid ed registration information, and Lookout
opens with a request for you to log in.

In either of those cases you can skip the registration instructions.
If this is your first installation of a server or development version of

Lookout on the computer y ou are using, or if y ou have any lost or corrupt ed
your registration information, then the first time you launch Lookout,
it prompts you for registration information.

When you register Look out, you unlock it for permanent us e at your appropriate I/O

Note

count. If you do not register Lookout by the end of the 30 day period, it lapses to a demo
system. You must complete the license agreement an d mail o r f ax a co py of the ag reement
to National Instruments in order to register Look out. Upon receipt of the reg istration form,
National Instruments generates a key code to unlock Lookout and faxes or mails it to you.

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

Lookout requires a hardware key in some countries. Contact National Instruments if
you are not sure whether your system requ ir es a hardware k e y. If you were supplied a ke y
with Lookout, be sure to plug it into the parallel port on your computer before activating
Lookout.

Starting Lookout for the First Time

1. Launch Lookout by selecting Start»Programs»National
Instruments Look out»Lookout.

A dialog box appears, asking if you to register Lookout. If you are
ready to register Lookout, click on OK. The registration dialog box
appears.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-3 Lookout Operator’s Manual

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

2. Enter your name in the Name field.

3. Enter the Organization name exactly as it appears on the ke y code fax

sent in response to your registration, including punctuation marks.
This text is used in combination with the key code, and s o it m ust be
exact.

(If you have not yet recei ved your key code from National Instruments,
you can enter your regist ratio n data later. Select OK and Lookout will
inform you that you have not registered your package yet. Select OK
again until Lookout launches. )

4. Enter the Serial Number of your package. (This can be found o n your

registration form.)

5. Enter your 12 -character Keycode. The key code is not case sensitive

and you can leave the hyphens out if desired. Notice that there are no
spaces near the hyphens.

6. After completing the entries, press <Enter> or select OK.

If you enter the proper information correctly, Lookout appears on your
screen with no process running.

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If you are certain that you typed th e information correctly and Look out
does not accept it, call the National Instruments technical support line
for help.

Changing Registration Information

If you want to change the number of Lookout I/O points you are using, or
make other changes in system capabilities, National Instruments must send
you a new Lookout keycode.

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

T o chan ge your re gist ration inform ation, s elect Options»System»Change
Registration Info. Enter the new k eycode in the appro priate field to unlock

your additional Lookout functionality.

Adding Client Connections

You are limited in the number of client connections you are allowed to
maintain in Lookout. Just as with your I/O license, you must enter a
keycode.

Obtain your keycode by faxing your registration form to National
Instruments, or by calling.

Unlike the I/O point registration, you can add and remove client licenses
from any copy of Lookout. If you have a copy of Lookout running a server
process with two clients connected and need to increase the number of
client connections to three, you need only get a license for one more client
connection, and enter that particular ke ycode in addition to the ke ycode that
authorized your first two client connections.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-5 Lookout Operator’s Manual

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

To add or change client connection in form ation in Lookout, Select
Options»System from the menu, and click on the Change Client License
button. The following dialog box appears.

Click on the Add button. The following dialog box appears.

Enter your Organization name as you reported it in your registration
request for a client keycode. Enter the Serial Number of your copy of
Lookout, and the License Code your received. Click on OK.

If your registration attempt fails, the following dialog box appears.

Check to make sure you entered your organization name, serial number,
and keycode correctly. Contact National Instruments if correcting these
entries does not fix the problem.

A newly installed version of Lookout will run with one client connection
for 30 days before reverting to demo program mode.

Lookout Operator’s Manual 1-6 www.natinst.com

Setting System Options

The first time you open Lookou t is a good ti me to set som e of t he Looko ut
system options.

In Lookout, sele ct Options»System from the menu bar. The System
Options dialog box appears as shown in the following illustration.

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

Figure 1-1.

Only users logged on with security levels or 9 or greater can access the System

Note

Options dialog box.

System Options Dialog Box

Computer Name Setting

The computer name field shows the network name of the computer yo u are
working on. If this field is blank, and you intend to use the networking
capability of Lookout, you need to check your network settings to make
sure your computer is properly named for network operations.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-7 Lookout Operator’s Manual

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

Citadel Database Settings

The Citadel Database fields set the default destination for Citadel data
logged by Lookout. All processes running under a single instance of
Lookout will use this data path to log d a ta to Citadel, unless you override
this setting when you create the process.

You set the Default path and the Default computer separately. Use the
complete path name for the Default path setting, and the fully qualified
computer name for the Default computer setting.

Virtual Keyboard Settings

Lookout features a virtual keyboard that you can access when in run mo de
by clicking on a control that accepts a text or numeric input. You can set
whether a right-click or a left-click pops up this keyboard in the Virtual
Keyboard Pops Up On field in the System Options dialog box.

Log Alarms Setting

If you have a printer directly connected to your computer, you can direct
that all alarms can be printed when they occur. Set the Log al arms to box
in the System Options dialog box to the communications port to which
your printer is connected. You can also capture a network printer port on
Windows 98/95 machines. Consult your operating system documentation
for information on this procedure.

Panel Navigation Arrows

Select the Show panel navigation arrows in status bar checkbox if you
want to use panel navigation arrows. These arrows, located in the right side
of the status bar, activate control panels in the order in which you las t
accessed them. This feature is most convenient when you have a large
number of control panels in a process and need to cycle through a subset of
them several times in a short period of time.

Security Level Settings

You may not have access to the security level settings. Consult your
Lookout system administrator for information on these settings,
if necessary.

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Startup Process File Setting

If your computer runs Loo kout 24 hours a day, yo u may want to ensure that,
if the computer temporarily loses power, it will automatically reboot and
begin executing your processes when power returns.

T o get startup processes, select Options »Startup, and the follo wing dialog
box appears.

To add a file to your list of startup processes, click on the Add button.
A dialog box you can use to browse for a file appears.

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

Select the file you want to run when Lookout opens and click on Open.
You can add as many process files as you want. The files will open in the

order in which they are entered in the Startup Process Files dialog box.
To edit a path name to a file, highlight the file name and click on the Edit

button.

© National Instruments Corporation 1-9 Lookout Operator’s Manual

Chapter 1 Installing Lookout

To make sure Lookout loads and runs when your computer boots or
reboots, consult your operating system documentation instructions on
how to set a default startup application.

Lookout Operator’s Manual 1-10 www.natinst.com

Lookout Basics

This chapter explains how to start and get around within Lookout.
Basically , y ou use the mouse, k e yboard, touch screens, and si milar tools t o

manipulate controls on Lookout control panels. Most of what you do is as
simple as throwing a switch or adjusting a control knob.

Some operations require you to use Lookout menu items, covered in
Chapter 3, Lookout Runtime Menu Commands.

For specific information regarding the processes you are using, consult
your Lookout administrator.

Starting Lookout

Logging on to Lookout

If you are using Lookout ou tside of th e United Stat es, you may be req uired to us e a

Note

hardware key. Be sure to plug the key into the parallel port on your computer before
activating Lookout. If you do not, the program will not run.

2

Launch Lookout by selecting Start»Programs»National Instruments
Lookout»Lookout, or double-click on the Lookout icon.

When you start or restart Lookout (after having provided regis t ration
information in y our f i rst s tartup ), yo u ar e greeted b y the lo g on dial og b ox,
as shown in the following illustration.

© National Instruments Corporation 2-1 Lookout Operator’s Manual