Note 4419 - Galil

Application Note #4419 

Using Indusoft Web Studio with Galil ActiveX Controls 

Introduction 

This application note provides a simple example for communicating to a Galil DMC- 

1830 controller through Indusoft Web Studio v5.1. In order to access Galil controllers 

through Indusoft, the user must use the Galil ActiveX controls. The example described 

below can be run in Windows NT 4, 2000, or XP. In the future, Indusoft will have their 

own Galil driver that will eliminate the need for the ActiveX tools. Also, the Indusoft 

driver will provide compatibility in Windows CE as well as the operating systems listed 

above. The Galil ActiveX tools used for the application below will not operate in 

Windows CE. 

Installation 

1. Install both the Galil ActiveX toolkit (DMCOCX) and a standard 

communication interface like DMC Terminal or DMCWIN32. Once 

DMCOCX has been installed, run the REGOCX utility to register all the 

ActiveX controls. Also, install Indusoft Web Studio v5.1. 

2. If the controller is BUS based (i.e. DMC-17x0, DMC-18x0, etc.) power down 

the PC and install the controller in an available BUS slot. Otherwise, connect 

the controller to the PC with the appropriate cable (USB, Serial or Ethernet). 

3. Run the Galil Terminal software and add the controller to the registry if 

necessary. See the controller manual for the installation procedure. Establish 

communication to the controller through the terminal software to verify that the 

driver is working properly. Disconnect from the controller after verifying 

reliable communication. 

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Galil Motion Control, Inc. • 3750 Atherton Road • Rocklin, CA 95765 USA • 800-377-6329 • Ph: 916-626-0101 • Fax: 916-626-0102 • www.galilmc.com

Project Creation 

1. Starting a New Indusoft Project 

Open up Indusoft Web Studio and click on the File 1 menu to create a “New Project”. 

Click on the Project tab in the pop-up window and enter the “Application name:” and 

“Location:” for the project. For this example, “CEView Standard” should be chosen 

as the “Target platform:”. 

Figure 1. New Project Window 

1 Throughout the text, Indusoft screens, windows, function tabs, workspace components and icons will be 

shown in Bold. Menu items, tagnames, folder names, window options, toolbar items and user-defined text 

will be written in “quotes”. 

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After clicking “OK” in the New window, a Project Wizard window will appear. 

Choose the settings in that window according to Figure 2. Click “OK” when finished. 

Figure 2. Project Wizard Window 

Under the Workspace section on the left of the Indusoft development screen, click 

the Graphics tab and right click on the “Screens” folder. “Insert” a new screen and a 

dotted white grid will appear to the right. 

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2. Adding the Components 

To add ActiveX components to the screen, click on the button labeled “OCX” on the 

right edge of the development screen. The following window will appear. 

Figure 3. ActiveX Tool List 

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Add a DMCShell Control, a DMCTerminal Control, a DMCPoll Control and a 

DMCAnalog Control to the screen. Also, add three buttons to the screen. Arrange 

and resize the components to look like Figure 4. 

Figure 4. Screen1 Layout 

At this point, it may be wise to click on the File menu and save the screen as 

Screen1. 

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To ensure that Screen1 is the screen that opens first when the application is executed, 

got to the Project menu in the Indusoft development environment and click 

“Settings”. In the Project Settings window, click on the Runtime Desktop tab and 

type “Screen1” in the “Startup Screen:” box. 

Figure 5. Project Settings Window 

To have menu option on the runtime screen, check the “Menu” box in the Project 

Settings window and then click on the “Options…” button. Configure the Runtime 

menu options window as shown in Figure 6. 

Figure 6. Runtime Menu Options Window 

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3. Configuring the ActiveX Tools 

Next, right click on the DMCShell Control and select “Properties”. The Object 

Properties window will appear as shown in Figure 7. 

Figure 7. Object Properties Window 

Click the “Properties” button and make sure that the “DMCController:” number is the 

one to be accessed from the Galil Registry. The default controller number is 1. 

Figure 8. DMCShell Properties 

Repeat this process for the DMCTerminal Control. 

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For the DMCAnalog Control set the “DMCAnalogInput:” to one, and add the 

“Caption:” “Analog Input 1”. This DMC Analog Control will display the voltage of 

analog input 1 at a “DMCPollInterval:” of 500 samples per update (500msec for 

TM1000). 

Figure 9. DMCAnalog Properties 

Under the DMCPoll Control properties, select “0-Standard” as the 

“DMCPollMethod:” and “TEX” as the “DMCCommand:”. The “Caption:” for the 

DMCPoll Control should read “X-Axis Position Error”. 

Figure 10. DMCPoll Properties 

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4. Configuring the Buttons 

The button in the upper right of the Indusoft development screen needs to be labeled 

as an exit button. Right click on it, go to “Properties” and add the “Caption:” “Exit”. 

Figure 11. Exit Button Properties 

Also, add the “Caption:” “Jog X-Axis at 5000” to the button below the DMCPoll 

Control, and add the “Caption:” “Stop Jog” to the button below that. The 

development screen should then look like Figure 10. 

Figure 12. Fully Labeled Development Screen 

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The Exit button must be formatted to exit out of the runtime environment. Highlight 

the Exit button by left clicking on it, and click on the icon that looks like a computer 

mouse in the right toolbox of the development screen. Next, right click on the Exit 

button and go to “Properties”. Select “On Down” from the pull down menu in the 

upper right corner of the Object Properties window. In the first “Expression” box 

type in the following: 

XSet(“DMCShell1”,”DMCConnect”,”False”) 

The XSet function call is a utility within Indusoft for setting a value (”False”) to the 

property (“DMCConnect”) of the ActiveX object (“DMCShell1”). This particular 

call ends communication with the controller. The other ActiveX calls within Indusoft 

are XGet and XRun. For more information, see the Indusoft documentation. 

In the second “Expression” box, add the text “Shutdown()”. This command will 

shutdown and exit the Indusoft runtime screen. Figure 13 shows the Object 

Properties window for the Exit button. 

Figure 13. Configuration Properties for the Exit Button 

Repeat the configuration process for the X-Axis Position Error button, but use the 

following function in the “Expression” box instead: 

XSet(“DMCShell1”,”DMCCommand”,”JG5000;BGX”) 

This function will send the commands JG5000;BGX to the controller. The Object 

Properties window for the X-Axis Position Error button should look like Figure 14. 

Figure 14. Configuration Properties for the X-Axis Position Error Button. 

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Likewise, the Stop Jog button should be configured in the same fashion. For this 

button, the “Expression” box in the Object Properties window should contain the 

following function: 

XSet(“DMCShell1”,”DMCCommand”,”STX”) 

This function will stop motion on the x-axis. 

5. Adding the Startup Screen 

Now that the ActiveX tools have been configured, they must be referenced and 

initialized from a Startup screen. Go to the Tasks tab under the Workspace, right 

click on the “Math” folder and “Insert” a math screen. Enter the word “Startup” in 

the “Description:” and the number “1” in the “Expression:” box. Setting the 

“Expression:” to 1 ensures that the Startup screen always executes. 

The next step is to add three “Tag Name” entries into the Startup math window. The 

first tag should be called “Connect”. After entering this name into the “Tag Name” 

box, Indusoft will ask the user, “Would you like to create this tag?”. Click “Yes” and 

select “String” as the tag “Type:”. 

Figure 15. Properties for the “Connect” tag 

This “Connect” tag should have the following “Expression”: 

XGet(“DMCShell1”,”DMCConnect”) 

This function call will determine whether or not communication has been established 

with the Galil controller. It will assign the string, “True” to the “Connect” tag if the 

controller is connected and “False” if it is not connected. If communication has not 

been established, it is necessary to make the connection through a second function 

call. In the following “Expression:” box, enter the function call below. 

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If(Connect"True",XSet("DMCShell1","DMCConnect","True")) 

This expression says that if the “Connect” tag is not equal to “True” then establish 

communication to the card with the XSet function call. This “If” statement does not 

require a “Tag Name”. 

Next, enter the word “Poll” into the third “Tag Name” box on the Startup screen. 

When prompted to make “Poll” a tag, click “Yes” and select “String” as the tag 

“Type:”. The “Expression:” for the “Poll” tag should be as follows: 

XGet(“DMCPoll1”,”DMCPollController”) 

This function call determines if the software is polling the controller or not. 

The following “Expression:” box should contain a function call to initiate the 

DMCPoll Control. It should be written as follows: 

If(Connect"True",XSet("DMCPoll1","DMCPollController","True")) 

The third “Tag Name” called “Analog” will have the “Expression”: 

XGet(“DMCAnalog1”,”DMCPollController”) 

The following “Expression” box should contain an “If” statement for initiating the 

DMCAnalog Control. It should be written as follows: 

If(Connect"True",XSet("DMCAnalog1","DMCPollController","True")) 

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The finalized Startup screen should look like Figure 16. 

Figure 16. Startup Math Screen 

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Run the Application 

The project has now been fully developed. Return to the Indusoft development 

screen and click on the Run Application icon on the upper toolbar. This button has a 

small picture of a computer with a down arrow next to it. 

A CEView window should appear on the screen that looks similar to Figure 17. If 

there are compilation errors with the application, they will appear in the log window 

at the bottom of the Indusoft development screen. 

Figure 17. CEView Runtime Screen 

At this point, the user can send commands from the terminal utility, jog and stop the 

x-axis with the command buttons, view the voltage on analog input one and view the 

x-axis position error in the polling window. 

To end the application, either go to the File menu and “Exit”, click the “X” button at 

the upper right of the CEView screen, or click the Exit button above the Analog 

Input 1 box. 

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Conclusion 

Indusoft Web Studio is a helpful tool for integrating several devices into the same 

programming environment. Some of these devices include Allen Bradley PLCs and 

OPTO 22 I/O racks as well as Galil Motion Controllers. Contact Indusoft for a full 

list of communication drivers in the Web Studio software. 

The example shown above does not utilize the full capabilities of Indusoft Web 

Studio. For detailed programming questions contact Indusoft at 1-877-463-8763, or 

for specific Galil support call 1-800-377-6329. 

The example application described above is called IINTRO and is available for free 

download at http://www.galilmc.com/ftp/pub/indusoft/. There is also a more 

complicated application at this location called DMCDEMO. 

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Note 4419 - Galil

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