PiWeb Reporting and Textelement?

[[Si...]]

Hi,
I posted about this in the Calypso Section. But would like to see if anyone knows about the Text Element in the Resource section.
I can only get it to work thru Custom Report and not in PiWeb report.

If you are very familiar with PiWeb how do I get this feature to show up on a PiWeb report? And since Calypso will be going 100% PiWeb in the near future, this will help.

[[La...]]

To be honest, I don't think that Text Element is supported by PiWeb Reporting from what I can see. What is it that you are trying to communicate via the text element? There are other ways that this can be done and still have them show up on the report. I can share some ideas with you if I know what the Text Elements function is.

Laura

[[No...]]

From the 6.4 release notes:

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Text elements are not even transferred to the PiWeb database, so you can't insert them into a report.
It might be thinkable to create some kind of workaround, but it would be complicated and very annoying to use. Better say goodbye to text elements and find another way.

[[Me...]]

I know this would be cumbersome but you could put it in you comment field in the characteristic you need on each report.

[[No...]]

Yes, but sometimes you may need a text element that isn't tied to a specific characteristic. The same is true for groups and group comments. I have several programs where I use groups to structure things purely for my own needs. I wouldn't want those texts to appear on a report.
By the way, on a report you can't see where a group ends unless you enclose everything in groups (i.e. group ends where the next one begins). This may lead to additional confusion. I already tried to create group indentations with PiWeb formulas (which is working), but to do it properly I would need to gather information about preceding elements, which seems to be impossible.
This whole text element thing is just one of many unsatisfactory "features" introduced with PiWeb reporting.

[[Me...]]

Well that sounds like it is going to be a real pain in the arse. I hope they fix this because we use text element like it is going out of style. We are going to start changing over to PiWeb full time in the very near future and I am trying to figure out all the bus before we get there as well. I am going to the class at the end of May so I hope I can get as many questions/ideas worked out by then.

[[No...]]

Looks like you'll have to sue them to get text elements included. I already entered a software wish for text elements almost 3 years ago, but Zeiss doesn't seem to care. Instead they added the paragraph cited above to the release notes, confirming it won't happen. 😡

[[Ja...]]

We are in the same boat here. Currently we have over 1200 different reports as most of our parts have manual inspections that need to be done at different sequences of machining. Eventually we will be getting Monitor setup at all the workstations so the machinists can enter their manual checks and have them stored tot he Database, but that still means we need to create different reports for each part/seq. I was hoping to have one report template for all the reports to minimize programming time. Zeiss needs to create a "Manual Inspection" characteristic that you can put in your manual inspections, and link it so PiWeb sees it and sets up the Manual Input for PiWeb reporting.

I had heard that Zeiss was not working on that as they wanted the CMM to be a "one-stop shop" for all inspection, but i dont think they have a head that can use thread gages yet....

[[La...]]

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You definitely do not have to create different reports for each part. I created a system for a company that uses PiWeb on tablets at the machine tools - we used one report template to do all the manual checks (some vernier, some thread gauges).

Yes, you do need to create the characteristic in PiWeb planner so that it knows the characteristic name, nominal, tol, etc etc. But if you give it a characteristic attribute (ie Gage Group = Manual) then you can use a filter where Gage Group = Manual and have them populate the page for each part you do manual checks on. It's really quite easy. We also have the interactive CAD model come in for each part and a link to the drawing. You can use a variable in your linking, so I have it linking to the drawing in additional data which is basically PartNumber.pdf.

I usually ask our customers to map out the process they have in mind when incorporating PiWeb and we sketch out on paper what we want the reports to generally look like and the info we want them to contain. Maybe if you have something similar I can tell you how I would approach structuring your system -- ideally as few reports as possible to do the max amount of work!

[[Ri...]]

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Unfortunately in my experience, if the comment is on more than one line, it cuts it off.
I have not found any automatic scaling of characteristic size for multi line comments.

[[No...]]

Exactly. The comment is a simple text box (do not confuse with text element!) with a PiWeb variable.
Text boxes don't resize automatically, so all you can do is to make it as big as it can possibly get right from the start. 21st century stuff...

[[Si...]]

My Work Around is to just add a Stop Move with a small comment.

[[Ry...]]

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Sorry to bring up an old post, but I've just begun using PiWeb and quickly realized my textelements are gone.

I use textelements to enter in manual measurement requirements during and at the end of the program. If the report is going to the floor, I hand write the measured values on the paper report. But if it is going to a customer, I will write the values into the textelement for each report that gets saved as a PDF.

How can I do this in PiWeb now?

Thanks,
Ryan

[[ke...]]

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It would be great to incorporate something like this.

[[Ia...]]

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You can replace your text elements with result elements (Size->More->result element). Instead of the default "calculate formula" you can tick "result input". In the dialog text, just write what dimension you want measured. You can also input tolerances, and it will be displayed just like any other characteristic. After the CMM is finished running, the result element will pop up, prompting you to enter in the manual measurement.

It's not perfect, but it works.

[[Ry...]]

Ian,

Thank you for the helpful suggestion. That will work when I'm entering the data directly at that time, however, there are times when I measure the features after the CMM, or I'm running a batch of parts and don't have time to enter each one.

Here is how I used textelement in the past.
This allows me to enter comments and visual inspections as well for those that don't have a physical measurement or data that can be entered.

How can I come up with something like this in PiWeb?

Thanks,
Ryan

[[Ry...]]

Good Day Everyone,

I'm still having troubles trying to find a work around for the missing Text Element feature in PiWeb. As I've shown above how I used Text Element in the past, what can I do to create something like that in PiWeb? I like the features of PiWeb, and don't want to resort to custom printout in order to complete my manual checks in one printout.

Thanks for any help
Ryan

[[Ma...]]

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Only solution - create plan specific PiWeb template

[[Jo...]]

Hello everyone interested in Text Elements,

This was a very difficult issue for us to solve as the application of text elements are different for every customer and follow no standard. We have worked hard and will have a solution for text elements in CALYPSO 2021.

I appreciate the discussion, and would also recommend other methods for documentation such as using comment fields like many have suggested.

[[Gu...]]

In CALYPSO 2021 there is a
"text element"
and
"group comments with dynamic increase" in the number of text lines in the protocol element
Note:
The text element has no assignment to inspection characteristics. Better to use a group with group comment. The group with group comment is assigned to inspection characteristics. The group supports sorting and filtering in the report
For a group with one inspection characteristic: Select the characteristic => Edit / Create group

Here is a preview in CALYPSO 2021

[[Ja...]]

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This is how we do our Manual checks as well. The machinists run the parts on the CMM and then take the part back to their workstation and perform the manual inspections. Our current process is they use ADOBE ACROBAT and enter the information as text on the pdf's that Calypso/PiWeb exports.

What I want to try an setup is when they open the report in PiWeb Monitor, and there are manual checks, they show up on the report so they can input the data directly.

[[La...]]

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If you have PiWeb SBS or Enterprise, you can create your manual characteristics in Planner by right clicking on the Part folder > New > New Characteristic. Then make sure to enter all of your info (Nominal, Lower Allowance, Upper Allowance etc.), or if it's an attributive check, select Attributive from the Characteristic Type drop field and select the appropriate results catalog from the Measured Value Catalog field.

You can then load your report in Monitor and have the Manual checks integrated. Normally I also flag my manual characteristics with a Module or identifier that specifies they are Manual, that way I can use characteristic attribute sorting to bring them to the top or bottom of a report. Or, if I want a specific Manual only report, then I can filter out just the manual checks that someone has to do and they don't have to see the associated CMM results.

Lots of options!

[[Gu...]]

Thank you Laura,
here is one more tip and the limitation, if only PiWeb reporting plus is available. Create a CALYPSO measuremnt plan with theor. element, characteristics, a CAD model and run it one time. If you use the trick with theor. elements and a CAD model in CALYPSO, you can use the MiBa position, the interactive CAD Model... in the PiWeb designer for your manual input page. If necessary, upload the database to the PiWeb sbs/enterprise

[[Ja...]]

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OK, I have it setup in Planner, but when i pull up my report in monitor, they dont show up. I have them included below. You will have to rename the "Single Report - Copy.pptx" to "Single Report - Copy.ptx"

[[La...]]

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I took a look at your report. If you open the page data binding (double click on the little page/pencil icon in the top left corner of your page), you will see in the bottom right pane of the data binding pane that there is a yellow filter button activated. Your page is set to show 'only Characteristics with measured data'.

I would guess that the reason your manual characteristics aren't populating in your table is because the last record does not have any measured data in it. Try unchecking that and see if that's the issue.