When first designing industrial automation projects, it’s easy to make some common mistakes that can make integrating harder than it needs to be and cause headaches down the road. The best way to set yourself up for success is to recognize best practices as soon as possible. Not only does this save time on rework and future development, but it also allows for more predictability, better organization, and increased functionality.

2. Moderator
Kent Melville
Sales Engineering Manager
Inductive Automation

3. Presenter
Mara Pillott
Senior Applications Engineer
Inductive Automation

4. Ignition: The Industrial
Application Platform
• Unlimited licensing model
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Based on IT-standard technologies
• Scalable server-client architecture
• Web-managed
• Launch on desktop or mobile
• Modular configurability
• Rapid development and deployment
One Universal Platform for HMI, SCADA, MES & IIoT:
One Universal Platform for HMI/SCADA, MES & IIoT:
• Unlimited licensing model
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Based on IT-standard technologies
• Scalable server-client architecture
• Web-based & web-managed
• Web-deployed designer & clients
• Modular configurability
• Rapid development & deployment
Ignition: Industrial Application Platform

5. Today’s Agenda
• Introduction
• Recognize common mistakes
• Data collection and logging
• HMI design
• Scripting
• Conclusion and Q&A

6. “Ignition's so easy that you can throw a screen
together that's fully functional and you can do it in a
very inefficient manner … knowing now what I wish I
knew then, I probably would have gone through the
whole ... Inductive University, the whole course
scheme, to really understand the best way to do
things.” — Dan Stauft, OT Director at SugarCreek
Recognize Common Mistakes

7. Because Ignition is so easy to use, sometimes
developers find ways to accomplish tasks that are
inefficient or overly complex.
Ignition is designed to:
● Build assets
● Repeatedly use and/or modify them
Recognize Common Mistakes

8. Data Collection & Logging
Data is the foundation of every project.
Plan tag structure and data collection
before finalizing screen design.

9. Data Collection & Logging
Mistake: Inconsistent Folder Structure
Consistency leads to reusability.
Inconsistent tag structure slows development time and
prevents the use of templates or reusable views.
If you manually create each folder separately, tags may be
named differently, or exist in some folders but not in others.
If you drag in every tag from the PLC and let it dictate the
tag structure, this may lead to inconsistencies as each PLC
can have a different tag structure. It also may create
excessive network traffic by polling unnecessary tags.

10. Data Collection & Logging
Solution: User Defined Types
UDTs ensure consistent structure.
Reusable views or templates can easily be built from a UDT.
Tag addresses can be parameterized and multiple UDT
instances can be created with just a few clicks.
Modifications to structure on a UDT can be made on the
definition and changes apply to all instances automatically.
No more repetitive copy/paste!

11. Data Collection & Logging
Mistake: Inefficient Polling
The default tag group updates values once per second. A
common mistake is using the default tag group for all tags.
PLC tags will poll, expressions will recalculate, and query
tags will poll the database every second.
The default may be too fast for some devices or create
unnecessary traffic for values that don’t update often.
Alternatively, the default may be too slow for some data
points.

12. Data Collection & Logging
Solution: Define Tag Groups
Consider the ideal poll rate for your data points.
Create additional tag groups for slower and/or faster rates.
Assign tags to a slower tag group to reduce traffic or a faster
tag group when needed.
Avoid fast polling SQL query tags.
Poll rate for expression tag scripts should not be faster than
the expression’s execution time because it could slow down all
tags on the Gateway.

13. Data Collection & Logging
Mistake: Default Historical Configuration
By default, a tag with history enabled will record “on
change” if the value changes by 0.01.
This is not appropriate for all requirements.
Some data points require a value at set intervals.
A floating point tag may not be accurate to the nearest
0.01 and the log will have many extra records with
insignificant digits.
Other floating point tags may have more significant digits
and value changes will be missed.

14. Data Collection & Logging
Solution: Tailored Historical Configuration
Determine the best sample mode for your needs: On
Change, Periodic, or by Tag Group.
On Change records values only when the tag changes
by the deadband amount.
Periodic and Tag Group record values at set intervals.
Set deadbands to the appropriate number of significant
digits.
You can also change deadband mode to percentage
rather than absolute mode.

15. Data Collection & Logging
Standard Architecture Full Scale-Out Architecture

16. Data Collection & Logging
Mistake: Overloading a Single Gateway
Standard architecture is valid for most use cases.
As a system grows, it can be tempting to over-
leverage a Gateway.
An overloaded Gateway causes performance
degradation such as stale tags, high memory and
CPU usage, clock drift log warnings.

17. Data Collection & Logging
Solution: Consider Distributed Architecture
Split the system’s load between the front-end and back-end
tasks.
The back-end Gateways handle PLCs and devices.
The front-end Gateways handle Clients.
The Gateway Network connects Gateways and allows tags
to be shared through remote tag providers.
Evaluate your architecture when you reach 250,000 tags.

18. Recap
Data Collection & Logging Mistakes:
● Improper polling frequencies
● Inefficient polling frequencies
● Poor tag structure
● Poor tag organization
Solutions:
● Appropriate poll rates/tag groups
● Correct system architecture
● UDTs
● Consistent folder structure and
naming conventions

19. HMI Design
Mistake:
Choosing the wrong visualization
module
Solution:
Understanding when to use Vision vs.
Perspective

20. HMI Design
Mistake:
Cluttered or hard-to-read screens
Screens that are cut off or do
not resize
Solution:
Choose the appropriate container
type and screen design methods

21. HMI Design
Mistake: Container that does not resize
This example popup fits nicely on a desktop. However, the popup is cut off on a mobile device.

22. HMI Design
Solution:
Mobile-Responsive Design
The popup uses a flex container and
resizes on desktop or mobile.

23. HMI Design
Flex Container
Best for most mobile-responsive screens.
The Flex Container can alter a component's
width and height to accommodate all types of
devices and screen sizes.
It expands components to fill available free
space, or shrinks them to prevent overflow.

24. HMI Design
Coordinate Container
Component's size and location are relative to
parent size and location.
Components can be fixed-size or grow/shrink
proportionally when the view is stretched.
Best for HMI screens or building diagrams
when components should not resize.
Use a coordinate container when you want
overlapping components.

25. HMI Design
Breakpoint Container
Use when you want different components on
mobile and desktop.
Breakpoint consists of a single breakpoint
and two child views.

26. HMI Design
Column Container
Use when you want the same components
on all screen sizes, but in different positions
and sizes.
Column container has 3 breakpoints, each
with 12 columns and unlimited rows.

27. HMI Design
Tab Container
Use for classic tab strip navigation buttons.
Only one component can be displayed in
each tab.

28. HMI Design
Mistake: Cluttered or hard-to-read screens
Screens are difficult to read if there is too much information
In this example:
● Components are not aligned.
● Motors, tanks, and valves do not stand out from each other.
● Font is not consistent.
● When every value is highlighted, we don’t know which value is important.

29. HMI Design
Solution: Use rulers and alignment tools
Components are easiest to read when lined up in a predictable grid.

30. HMI Design
Solution: Convey information visually with symbols
It is easy to pick out the motor, tank, and valve components.

31. HMI Design
Solution: Use Styles and Themes for consistent look and feel

32. HMI Design
Solution: Emphasize Important Data
Emphasize important data through color, position,
size, isolation, and contrast.
In this example, only the faulted pump is
highlighted.

33. HMI Design
Traditional HMI High-Performance HMI
Solution: High-Performance HMIs

34. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Choose the best
component for the task

35. HMI Design
Solution:
Check the Ignition Exchange
Platform to share and discover free
Ignition resources
Consistently updated
https://inductiveautomation.com/exchange/

36. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Establish a consistent
hierarchy
Main
Menu
Sub Menu
Sub Menu
Main Screen
Main Screen
Main Screen
Main Screen

37. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Consistent Navigation
Use docked menus on every page.

38. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Consistent Navigation

39. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Affordance: make it obvious what’s
clickable

40. HMI Design
Solution:
Affordance: make it obvious what’s clickable

41. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Separate categories from
utilities

42. HMI Design
Mistake:
Hard-to-use screens
Solution:
Avoid too many clicks

43. HMI Design
Mistake:
Incorrect bindings
Solution:
Understanding direct vs. indirect
bindings
How do you know when to use indirect binding?
If you find yourself tempted to copy/paste a
component and then change the direct binding,
consider an indirect binding.

44. HMI Design
Mistake:
Incorrect bindings
Solution:
Templates and embedded views

45. HMI Design
Mistake:
Incorrect bindings
Solution:
Parameters and transforms
In this example, there are five instances of the
Blend Tank view on a Flex Repeater. Each view
has a Device Number parameter.
Flex Repeater instances can be added manually
but it is often faster and more dynamic to use a
transform.

46. HMI Design
Mistake:
Incorrect bindings
Solution:
Parameters and transforms
In this example, we used a loop to add
five instances.
A list of views could also be generated
from a database query.

47. Recap
HMI Design Mistakes:
● Wrong Visualization Module
● Cluttered or hard-to-read screens
Solutions:
● Vision vs. Perspective
● Container type
● Symbols
● Grids and rulers
● Emphasize important information
● High-performance HMI

48. Recap
HMI Design Mistakes:
● Hard-to-use screens
● Incorrect bindings
Solutions:
● Component type
● Hierarchy/common look and
feel/styles and themes
● Affordance
● Separate categories from utilities
● Avoid too many clicks
● Direct vs. indirect
● Parameters and transforms
● Templates and embedded views

49. Scripting
Mistake:
Overly complex solutions
Solution:
Know when to use scripting
vs. bindings
Consider if built-in functionality
meets the project needs

50. Scripting
Don’t:
Add change script to parameter to set display values.
Do:
Use indirect bindings on components.

51. Scripting
Mistake:
Overly complex solutions
Solution:
Using too many scripting functions
Be cautious if one script is calling another
script then calling another script.

52. Scripting
Mistake:
Unorganized scripts
Solution:
Define scripting functions
Don’t be tempted to copy/paste lines of
code.

53. Scripting
Mistake:
Unorganized scripts
Solution:
Categorize into libraries with standard
locations and naming conventions
Group scripts into packages.

54. Scripting
Mistake:
Unorganized scripts
Solution:
Commenting code
What the script does and why.

55. Scripting
Mistake:
Misunderstanding the scope
Solution:
Gateway vs. client vs. designer

56. Scripting
Mistake:
Misunderstanding the scope
Solution:
Custom property vs. session property

57. Scripting
Mistake:
Misunderstanding the scope
Solution:
Message handling

58. Recap
Scripting Mistakes:
● Overly complex solutions
● Unorganized scripts
● Misunderstanding the scope
Solutions:
● Scripting vs. binding
● Too many scripts
● Define scripting functions
● Libraries with standard locations
and naming conventions
● Commenting code
● Gateway vs. client vs. designer
● Custom vs. session property
● Message handling

59. Conclusion
It’s easy to make mistakes.
Fortunately, with Ignition it’s just as
easy to fix those mistakes, then avoid
making them in the future.
Ignition provides many ways to make
your projects more organized, efficient,
stylish, and user-friendly.

62. Join us for the 2021 Ignition Community Conference on Sept. 21 & 22!
Register for free at: icc.inductiveautomation.com
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