====== MP STUDIO 2 Phase 7 · Monitoring and the Data Table ======

[[products:mp_studio:monitoring|한국어]] | **English**

Monitoring shows the state of the program running on the device on the MP STUDIO 2 screen in real time. You can check values on the ladder canvas, in the Data Table, on the Watch card and in the Value Trend graph, and change values on the device with value writes and forced I/O.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:monitor-flow.svg?1000 |Figure 1. What the PC and the device exchange during monitoring }}

===== Starting and Stopping Ladder Monitoring =====

  - Download the current project to the device.
  - Click **Monitoring** in the top band or press ''Ctrl+M'' (**Run → Monitoring**).
  - To stop monitoring, press ''Esc'' or ''Ctrl+M''.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:monitor-ladder-marked.svg?1200 |Figure 2. The ladder canvas during monitoring }}

  * **① Power flow:** contacts, coils, wires and function blocks that carry power change to the power-flow color. A green frame is shown around the canvas while monitoring.
  * **② Current values:** values of timer, counter and data addresses are shown above the cells.
  * **③ Device pill:** shows **Monitoring · port** and the scan time (SCAN).
  * **④ Status pills:** show the scan time (**SCAN TIME**) and the firmware version of the device.

If you edit the ladder while monitoring, monitoring is turned off with the notice **Monitoring stopped because the program changed.** To check the edited program, download it again and then turn monitoring back on.

==== Device Program Differs ====

If you edit the ladder after downloading and then turn monitoring on, the device pill shows **Device program differs**. The device is still running the previous program, so a value on the screen may belong to a different cell. When you see this tag, download again.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:program-stale-pill.svg?700 |Figure 3. The Device program differs tag }}

==== No Response ====

If the device stops responding during monitoring, the device pill and the status pills show **No response**. Check the cable, the device power and the communication port settings.

===== Write Value to Memory =====

During monitoring, right-click a word cell and select **Write Value to Memory**, or select the cell and press ''Alt+Enter'', to open the **Write Value to Memory** window.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:cell-write-dialog-marked.svg?550 |Figure 4. The Write Value to Memory window }}

  - Check **① the address and data type** and **② the current value**.
  - Enter the value to write in **③ Value** and click **④ Write**.

A value outside the range of the data type is not sent, and the reason is shown. The program may overwrite the written value on the next scan.

===== Force ON and Force OFF =====

During monitoring, right-click a bit cell and use **Force ON** or **Force OFF** to force that point on or off. The **Force** buttons in the Inspector do the same. You can check and release all forced points at once in the [[#forced_input_and_output|FORCE INPUT / OUTPUT]] window.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:monitor-context-menu.png?285 |Figure 5. The right-click menu of a cell during monitoring }}

During monitoring, the cell menu contains **Monitoring Off**, the value display formats (**Signed Decimal**, **Unsigned Decimal**, **Hexadecimal**, **Binary** and **Floating Point**), **Write Value to Memory**, **Force ON** and **Force OFF**, and **Add to Watch (address)**.

===== Data Table =====

Select **Run → Data Table** to open the **Data Table** window. Register addresses to see their values in a table, write values or record a trend.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:data-table-marked.svg?780 |Figure 6. The Data Table during monitoring }}

  - Enter an address such as ''D10'', ''M0'' or ''R1'' in the **① Address** column and press ''Tab'' to move to the next cell. If the address has a symbol, it is shown in the **Symbol** column.
  - **② Format** shows the data type of the address (''BIT'', ''WORD'' and so on). For word values, choose the display format, such as signed decimal, in the drop-down next to **Value**.
  - Click **③ Monitoring** to start reading values. While monitoring, the button changes to **Stop Monitoring**.
  - To change a value, enter it in **④ Modify** and click **Force Write**. You can enter decimal, ''0x'' (hexadecimal) or ''0b'' (binary) values.

  * Use **⑤ Save .dt** and **Open .dt** to save the address list to a file and load it again.
  * Click **⑥ Trend** to open the [[#value_trend_graph|Value Trend]] panel.
  * Click **✕** at the end of a row to delete that row, or **Clear** to delete all rows.
  * The registered address list is remembered separately for each project file.
  * Even when the program check fails, addresses in the fixed memory areas (P, M, D, T, C and R) can be read. User variable and system clock rows are then shown as **—**.

==== Add to Watch ====

You can add the address of a ladder cell to the Data Table directly.

  * Click the **Add to Watch** button in the Inspector.
  * Or right-click the cell and select **Add to Watch (address)**.

If the Data Table is closed, it opens and the address is added. An address that is already registered is shown as **Watching** in the Inspector.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:watch-add-inspector-marked.svg?480 |Figure 7. The Add to Watch button in the Inspector }}

==== Watch Card ====

The addresses and values registered in the Data Table are also shown on the **Watch** card in the right column. If monitoring is on, the values on the Watch card keep updating even after you close the Data Table window.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:watch-card-live.png?480 |Figure 8. The Watch card during monitoring }}

===== Value Trend Graph =====

Click **Trend** in the Data Table to open the **Value Trend** panel, which shows how the values of the registered addresses change over time.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:trend-panel-marked.svg?900 |Figure 9. The Value Trend panel }}

  * **① Start Recording and Stop Recording:** start or stop recording values. While recording, the number of recorded rows is shown.
  * **② Pause and Resume:** freeze or resume only the graph display. Recording continues.
  * **③ Time span:** choose the time range shown on the screen (seconds or minutes).
  * **④ Legend:** the color and current value of each address. Click a legend entry to hide or show the line of that address.
  * **⑤ Save CSV…:** saves the recorded values to a CSV file.

Bit addresses (''M0'' in the figure) are shown as ON/OFF waveforms below the graph.

Recording stops automatically when the number of recorded rows reaches the limit. Nothing is drawn while monitoring is off.

===== Forced Input and Output =====

Select **Run → FORCE INPUT / OUTPUT** to open the **FORCE INPUT / OUTPUT** window. Forced I/O makes an input point read a set value instead of its real signal, or makes an output point send a set value regardless of the ladder result.

{{ :en-us_products:mp_studio:force-io-dialog-marked.svg?900 |Figure 10. The FORCE INPUT / OUTPUT window }}

  - In **① the input points** and **② the output points**, choose ON or OFF for the points to force. Dimmed points do not exist on this model.
  - Click **③ Apply Force** to send them to the device.
  - Click **④ Read Status** to read the force state of the device again. The number of points forced ON and OFF is shown at the top of the window.
  - Read **⑤ the notice** for how Apply Force works and how to release forced points.

> **Caution:** Applied force values are stored in the device and stay in effect after a power cycle or a program re-download. To release them, press **Clear**, then **Apply Force**.

If both ON and OFF are set for one point, the device applies OFF. When points are forced, the device pill shows **Forced N** during monitoring; click it to open this window. Click **Show Frames** to see the communication frames that will be sent to the device.

===== Related Pages =====

  * [[:en-us_products:mp_studio:download|Phase 6 · Check, Communication and Download]]
  * [[:en-us_products:mp_studio:simulation|Phase 8 · Simulation]]
  * [[:en-us_products:mp_studio:troubleshooting|Phase 10 · Troubleshooting]]

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