TP177B Alarm Logging: Configuring Reports with WinCC Flexible

Overview

The SIMATIC TP177B is a 6-inch color STN/LCD operator panel that ships with WinCC Flexible 2008 SPx as its configuration environment. It is frequently specified for machine-level visualization on packaging lines, OEM skids, and small process cells where panel cost and footprint dominate the BOM. Although its alarm subsystem supports on-screen indication, acknowledgment, and a runtime-resident alarm buffer, the TP177B does not provide a persistent historical alarm log on the panel. The historical-data option that exposes the alarm log editor in WinCC Flexible is restricted to the larger SIMATIC Panels from the 270 series and above (MP 277, TP 277, MP 377, and PC Runtime).

This article documents the supported pattern for generating an alarm history printout from a TP177B using the Report object together with an Alarm View, including the internal tags required for user-selectable time-range filtering, the printer selection pitfalls encountered in field deployments, and the migration path to TIA Portal WinCC Unified V18 / V20 for new projects. The diagnosis path and procedure apply to firmware image TP177B running WinCC Flexible 2008 SP3 or later, and to the corresponding Comfort/ Unified successor panels for projects that have been re-engineered.

TP177B Hardware and Software Capabilities

Why the Historical Data Tab Is Missing

In WinCC Flexible the project tree exposes four logging categories under "Logs":

1. Alarm log
2. Tag log
3. Audit log
4. Recipe log

For each category the editor generates a backing store (file-based or database-based, depending on the panel family). On the TP177B and the MP 177, the runtime image is built without the file-system-backed log engine. The log editor therefore refuses to instantiate. Field engineers attempting to enable alarm logging see the warning 0x8004xxxx at compile time indicating that the selected log destination is invalid for the chosen device.

Practical consequence: any requirement that says "the panel must record alarm history for traceability" must be met one of two ways:

• Use a Report with an Alarm View and print on demand to a panel-supported printer.
• Forward alarms to a higher-level SCADA (WinCC, WinCC Professional, or third-party) using the panel's Ethernet port and a tag or OPC UA route, then archive server-side.

Prerequisites for Report-Based Alarm Printing

Before configuring the Report object, verify the following prerequisites:

• Engineering station: SIMATIC WinCC Flexible 2008 SP3 or later installed; license for the TP177B target device present.
• Panel image: TP177B firmware compatible with the WinCC Flexible SP level used for compilation.
• Printer: A USB or serial printer using a PCL-5 / PCL-6 / PostScript-compatible driver set that WinCC Flexible can address. HP LaserJet 1320, 4200, P2014, P3015, and similar monochrome LaserJet families are the most commonly confirmed compatible devices in field deployments. Consumer inkjet and GDI (host-based) printers are generally not supported.
• Connection: USB 1.1/2.0 host port on the panel with the printer recognized by the WinCC Flexible runtime as PnP printer.
• Tags: Two internal tags of data type Date/Time defined to act as the from and to filter for the alarm view.

Step-by-Step: Configuring the Alarm Report

Step 1 — Create the internal date-range tags

1. In the project tree, open Tags > Add new tag.
2. Create Alarm_From with data type Date/Time, connection "Internal tag".
3. Create Alarm_To with data type Date/Time, connection "Internal tag".
4. Bind both tags to two Date/Time input fields on the print-trigger screen so the operator can adjust the range.

Step 2 — Insert an Alarm View object

1. Drag an Alarm View onto the desired screen from the toolbox.
2. In the properties, set Selection > Time base to "Configured selection".
3. Enable the filter and bind Time range from to Alarm_From and Time range to to Alarm_To.
4. Confirm that the alarm view populates with current entries when the simulation is started on the engineering PC.

Step 3 — Add the Report object

1. Open the screen that will trigger printing (or create a dedicated "Alarm history" screen).
2. From the toolbox, drag Report onto the screen.
3. In the report properties, select Print Alarm View as the report source and reference the alarm view from Step 2.
4. Set the output target to Printer.
5. Set the page layout: A4 portrait, 8-pt monospace or sans-serif, header row with column titles, footer with print timestamp and panel name.

Step 4 — Wire the print button

1. Place a Button on the same screen.
2. Event: Press → function PrintReport on the report object.
3. Compile and download to the panel.

Step 5 — Verify the print output

1. Trigger a few discrete alarms at runtime so the circular buffer holds entries.
2. Enter a valid from/to range and press the print button.
3. Confirm the printer feeds a page with the matching alarm rows. If the printer is offline, the runtime will report a printer timeout only after you disconnect the cable; this is the diagnostic symptom used to confirm the report job has been issued correctly.

Why Some Printers Do Nothing

The most common fault symptom reported during commissioning is "the print button does nothing and the printer does not respond". The root cause in almost every documented case is one of the following:

Internal Tag Configuration Reference

If the panel returns 0x8000xxxx on a tag read, the tag is missing or named incorrectly; the alarm view silently filters all entries out of range, which is also a frequent cause of "nothing prints but no error is shown".

Recommended Printers

Siemens has published the printer compatibility list for WinCC Flexible in the FAQ referenced below. For the TP177B specifically, the following classes are documented as compatible:

• HP LaserJet 4 / 4 Plus (legacy)
• HP LaserJet 1320 / 4200 / 4300
• HP LaserJet P2014 / P2015 / P3015
• HP LaserJet P4014 / P4015
• Epson ESC/P-compatible dot-matrix printers (for multi-part forms)

Avoid printers that require a host driver to rasterize pages (GDI / host-based). These will print correctly from a Windows PC but will not produce output when addressed by the panel's report engine because the panel cannot supply the rasterization pipeline.

Migration to WinCC Unified V18 / V20

For new installations or panel retrofits, migrate to a Comfort or Unified panel and configure true historical alarm logging rather than the report-based workaround. In TIA Portal, the alarm log is built on the Unified log concept, which stores entries in a SQLite-based database on the panel.

Configuring a Unified alarm log

1. Open the HMI device configuration in TIA Portal V18 or V20.
2. Navigate to Logs > Alarm logs and add a new alarm log.
3. Open the HMI tags or PLC tag table and assign the alarms that should be persisted.
4. In each alarm class, set Logging to the new log target.
5. Configure a Log view control on a screen and bind it to the alarm log.
6. Use the LogViewer control or the standard "Alarm control" with filter criteria for the equivalent of date-range filtering.

The TIA Portal V18 unified documentation is published as entry ID 109813308 on the Siemens Industry Online Support portal and as the TIA Portal V20 cloud manual "Logging alarms (RT Unified)". Both documents describe the same SQLite-backed approach and the configuration of log views, log segments, and retention policies.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Specifications Summary

Engineering Notes

• Document the alarm-history limitation in the Functional Requirements Specification so that the end customer signs off on print-on-demand rather than continuous archive.
• If the project requires continuous alarm archive, forward alarms from the TP177B over Ethernet to a SCADA station using OPC DA or to a WinCC station using the WinCC Connectivity Pack. The panel acts as a thin client; the archive is server-side.
• If the panel is being replaced, target a SIMATIC TP700 Comfort or a MTP700 Unified panel and configure a true alarm log with retention policy. The migration is non-trivial because WinCC Flexible projects convert to WinCC Comfort but not directly to Unified.
• Always test the printer on the actual panel during FAT, not on the engineering PC. The PC sends a fully formatted PCL job; the panel sends a panel-rendered PCL job, and the two jobs differ for some printer drivers.