Configuring WinCC OS Project Editor for Multi-Monitor SCADA

Configuring WinCC OS Project Editor for Multi-Monitor SCADA

The Siemens WinCC OS Project Editor is the configuration workbench behind the Basic Process Control option. It produces the frame-screens, header/footer overlays, and the screen-routing logic that WinCC runtime needs in order to distribute plant displays across one or more monitors. Engineers retrofitting an existing WinCC 7.4 SP1 / 7.5 SP2 project onto a dual-monitor control room wall typically hit the same set of questions: which license do I need, can I keep my existing process screens, where are the standard pictures stored, and what happens if I delete the header or footer? This reference walks through every step of the answer.

1. OS Project Editor Architecture

The OS Project Editor is not a single tool - it is a coordinated set of screen generators, picture templates, and runtime scripts that implement a layered screen model. Understanding the layering is essential before you start changing anything.

1.1 The Frame-Screen Layer

When the editor runs, it generates one or more frame-screens sized to the full resolution of each target monitor. These frame-screens contain:

• A static header (alarm line, date/time, user identification).
• A static footer (system messages, login status, process tag status area).
• A central work area in which the plant-screens are displayed.

The plant-screens (your process graphics) are loaded inside the frame's work area. Because the work area is smaller than the full monitor resolution to leave room for the header/footer, every plant-screen that you re-use will be rendered with a slight reduction in usable area compared to a non-BPC project. Plan the screen-resolution budget accordingly: a 1920 x 1080 monitor yields roughly 1920 x 950 of usable plant-screen real estate when the default header/footer is present.

1.2 The Screen Tree and Process Pictures

After the editor has been run, the WinCC Picture Tree contains nodes similar to the following when the editor is opened in the WinCC Explorer:

OS-Project Editor
├── Monitor 1 (Frame @ 1920x1080)
│   ├── Header.PDL
│   ├── Footer.PDL
│   └── WorkArea (Plant Screens embedded here)
│       ├── Overview.PDL
│       ├── Subsystem_1.PDL
│       └── Subsystem_2.PDL
├── Monitor 2 (Frame @ 1920x1080)
│   ├── Header.PDL
│   ├── Footer.PDL
│   └── WorkArea
│       └── ...
└── Alarm-line, Process Tag Status, Date/Time templates

The editor writes the resulting .pdl files into the active WinCC project's GraCS directory. They can be opened and edited individually, but every change should be re-coordinated with the editor so the routing tables stay consistent.

2. Prerequisites

Before launching the OS Project Editor, confirm the following on the engineering station:

3. Step-by-Step Configuration

The workflow below applies to a typical retrofit where a customer has an existing single-monitor project and wants to extend it to dual-monitor operation.

3.1 Open the Project in WinCC Explorer

1. Start the WinCC Explorer on the engineering station with an RC license.
2. Open the active project (e.g. Plant_7_5_SP2.MCP).
3. Confirm that the project compiles cleanly: Project → Compiler → All. Resolve every warning before continuing.

3.2 Launch the OS Project Editor

1. In the navigation tree, right-click the project node and choose OS Project Editor.
2. The editor opens to a wizard-style dialog showing the monitors configured at the operating-system level. On a dual-monitor engineering station you will see two display entries.
3. For each monitor, set:
   • Frame — the resolution of the physical monitor.
   • Header height — typically 32 - 60 pixels.
   • Footer height — typically 24 - 48 pixels.
4. Choose the start picture for each monitor from the existing list. For a dual-monitor setup a common pattern is Monitor 1 = Overview.PDL and Monitor 2 = Area_1.PDL.

3.3 Generate the Frame-Screens

1. Click Generate. The editor creates the frame-screens, header, footer, and the routing entries in the WinCC Picture Tree.
2. Inspect the result: every plant-screen is now reachable through a frame-screen wrapper. Opening a plant-screen directly still works, but it will only render in the work area of the frame, never full-screen, until the routing entry is removed.
3. Activate the project. Runtime should now display the configured start picture on each monitor, framed by the header/footer.

3.4 Validate Existing Screens

Yes — existing process screens can be re-used in an OS Project Editor project. The editor does not convert or rewrite your plant-screens; it generates the surrounding frame and re-targets the picture-tree nodes so that they are embedded inside the work area. Because the work area is smaller than the original monitor resolution, screens that were authored to fill the full screen may now be clipped or have text overlap. Audit every screen for layout, font size, and control placement before sign-off.

4. Standard Picture Storage and Modification

The default header, footer, alarm line, and process tag status templates are stored in the WinCC installation directory, not in the active project. The canonical path on a 64-bit Windows host is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\WinCC\Options\PDL

The editor copies these templates into the active project the first time it is run. The copy in GraCS is the one the runtime uses; the templates in Options\PDL are the master source.

4.1 Modifying the Master Templates

1. Open the relevant .pdl file from C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\WinCC\Options\PDL in Graphics Designer.
2. Make the change (logo, color scheme, text labels, additional status fields).
3. Save and close.
4. Re-run the OS Project Editor on the target project. The updated master will be copied into GraCS overwriting the previous copy.

5. Header and Footer Handling

The header and footer created by the OS Project Editor are not decorative. They host WinCC runtime objects (alarm-line control, process tag status control, user admin control) that the Basic Process Control runtime components expect to find at known coordinates. Deleting the header or footer picture objects breaks those integrations.

5.1 Recommended Procedure to "Hide" the Header/Footer

1. Open the generated Header.PDL in Graphics Designer.
2. Reduce the picture height to 4 - 8 pixels in the picture properties.
3. Move all controls to the new compressed strip or set their Visible property to 0.
4. Save and test in runtime. The plant-screen work area is now nearly the full monitor height, but the BPC alarm-line and tag-status APIs still find the controls at valid coordinates.

6. Dual-Monitor Setup Walkthrough

This is the most common deployment scenario for an OS Project Editor project: one engineering station, two operator monitors, no extra licensing.

6.1 Windows Configuration

1. Set both monitors to the same resolution (e.g. 1920 x 1080) in Display → Screen Resolution.
2. Set the secondary monitor to Extend these displays (not duplicate).
3. Arrange the monitors in the Windows display grid so the cursor travels in the correct direction when crossing the bezels.

6.2 WinCC Configuration

1. Open OS Project Editor; the two monitors will be detected automatically.
2. Assign Monitor 1 to the overview screen and Monitor 2 to the area screen, or assign both to the overview and have the second monitor mirror a sub-area — this is the choice that drives the screen routing.
3. Generate. The editor produces one frame-screen per monitor and a routing table that the WinCC runtime uses to populate the picture tree.
4. Activate runtime. The plant-screens are now distributed across the two physical monitors, each surrounded by the BPC header/footer.

6.3 Verification

• Cursor travels across the Windows extended desktop.
• Alarm lines and tag-status controls are present and active on both monitors.
• Picture tree navigation opens screens inside the correct frame on the correct monitor.
• User login/logout on either monitor is reflected in the system messages on the other monitor.

7. Re-Using Existing Screens in a New OS Project Editor Project

Engineers retrofitting a project often have a large library of process screens. The OS Project Editor will accept them with no conversion, but the following checks are mandatory:

8. Verification Checklist

Before handing the project to the customer, walk through the following verification sequence on the operator station with the RT license.

1. Activate runtime. The configured start picture must appear framed by the BPC header/footer on the correct monitor.
2. Click every button in the picture tree. Each navigation should load the new screen inside the same frame on the same monitor; only picture-tree entries configured for "Monitor 2" should switch monitors.
3. Trigger an alarm. The alarm line in the header must highlight, and the alarm must be acknowledgeable from either monitor.
4. Log in and out. The user identity in the footer should update.
5. Power-cycle the operator station. The project should auto-start and restore the last open screen inside the correct frame.
6. Open the WinCC diagnostics viewer. No errors or warnings related to picture loading should be present.
7. Open the alarm logging database. All alarm records must include the source screen and source monitor.

9. Troubleshooting Matrix

10. Field-Proven Caveats

• Edit masters, not copies. The single most common source of "my changes keep disappearing" tickets is editing the project copy of a frame, header, or footer picture. Always modify the master under Options\PDL if the change is intended to persist.
• Never delete the header/footer. The BPC option is wired to those pictures. Shrink them to a few pixels; do not delete them.
• Same resolution, both monitors. Mixed resolutions on a dual-monitor pair force the editor to scale frame-screens, which produces soft text and unexpected button hits. Set both monitors to the same native resolution.
• Audit screen coordinates. Every plant-screen authored for full-screen use must be re-audited. Coordinate-sensitive elements (status bars, trend faders) move with the work-area shift.
• License stations are different. RC on engineering, RT on operator. If you generate the project on the operator station by mistake, you will get a license error even though runtime can later run it without error.
• Regenerate after every template change. Manual edits inside the generated frame-screens are preserved only if the editor does not overwrite them. The default behaviour is to overwrite; use File → Save As in Graphics Designer to keep parallel copies if you need both.

11. Frequently Asked Questions