Online/Offline

The current Online/Offline status is indicated on the status bar in the lower right corner of the user interface. For the status bar to display an status, three independent Online states must be achieved: GUI Online, Communications Online, and Discrete I/O Online.

Any of the following actions will toggle the GUI Online/Offline status of the active vision system:

  • From the Sensor menu, click Online.
  • Click the Online toolbar button.
  • EasyBuilder only: In the Run Job settings pane, click the Online button.
  • Press CTRL+F8.

The following table summarizes the different Online/Offline modes of the vision system:

Online/Offline Status

 Condition

The Communications and Discrete I/O Online states have been achieved, but the vision system was placed Offline from the GUI.

The three independent Online states have been achieved; the vision system is in its Online mode of operation.

The vision system was placed in Online mode from the GUI, but a communication protocol (such as ProfiNET, EtherNet/IP or Native Mode) is holding the vision system Offline. For example, a Native Mode Set Online command, SO0, has been issued telling the vision system to go Offline. The Set Online command, SO1, must be sent to the vision system to allow it to go Online. 

Note: The application will send Set Online commands to vision systems to perform administrative functions such as Backup and Restore. For more information, see Backup Dialog and Restore From Dialog.

The vision system was placed in Online mode from the GUI, but a Discrete Input line, configured as an Online/Offline Type, is set low (0). The vision system will wait for the Discrete Input signal to change states before proceeding to Online mode.
Tip: You can configure the active vision system to boot into Online mode in the Startup dialog. For more information, see Startup Dialog.

 Online Mode

When the vision system is Online, the following operations are allowed:

  • Send/receive data to/from the job over the network using network I/O functions. For more information, see Network Functions.
  • Send/receive data to/from the job over a serial port using Text, Native, DeviceNet, and Motoman modes. For more information, see Serial Port Settings Dialog.
  • Respond to Camera, External and Network image acquisition triggers.

  • Reading and writing discrete I/O.

  • Printing the spreadsheet.
  • Printing the Results Table of an EasyBuilder job.
  • Displaying images using the Record/Playback option (the image acquisition trigger must be set to Manual).

When the vision system is Online, the following actions are prohibited:

  • Saving and opening jobs or images (unless the image acquisition trigger is set to Manual, which permits opening of images while Online).

    Note: If the Allow Online Job Save checkbox on the User dialog is enabled, users with Full or Protected access are allowed to save jobs while Online. For more information, see User Access Settings Dialog.
  • Editing, moving, copying or pasting cells in the spreadsheet.
  • Editing, copying or pasting tools in an EasyBuilder job.
  • Accessing any vision system-specific menu items, except for placing the vision system Offline.
  • Interactive Graphics Mode when in the Spreadsheet view (except for EditRegion functions, which can be modified when the vision system is Online). For more information, see Interactive Graphics Mode.

Offline Mode

When the vision system is Offline, it cannot respond to an acquisition trigger or send/receive data to/from the job; however, the vision system can still respond to selected serial, network and discrete input commands that specifically toggle the Online state.