No, the whole HMI project never goes on the stick: the Recipe Sheet backup and restore on the System Screen moves the recipe data alone. Export to USB, edit a copy on the PC with the syntax untouched, restore from the System Screen, and pull the stick only after the ready, writing and eject tags say the panel is done writing.
No, the whole HMI program stays in the panel. The Recipe Sheet backup on the panel's System Screen writes the recipe data alone to a USB stick, an operator edits a copy of that file on a PC, and the Recipe Sheet restore loads the edited data back. Two things break this workflow: file syntax damaged in editing, and a stick pulled while the panel writes. So the round trip runs against three system tags, ready, writing and eject, and this page walks it in the order you meet it: what rides the stick, how to edit the file, which tags gate the removal, and how to verify the restore before the machine cuts a part.
Does the whole HMI project need to go on the USB drive?
No. The Recipe Sheet backup on the panel's System Screen writes the recipe data alone to the stick, the restore reads the edited file back, the project stays in the panel, and the round trip touches zero project files.
The workflow moves recipe data only. Put the stick in the panel, run the Recipe Sheet backup from the System Screen, carry the stick to the PC, edit the file, carry it back, and run the Recipe Sheet restore. The screens, logic and project sit in the panel the whole time.
A full-project transfer is a commissioning job with its own safe project backup and restore routine; use it for upgrades and keep it away from recipe edits. Recipes can also live in PLC recipe tables loaded by a recipe button; that path moves values over the panel-to-controller link and needs no stick, which suits panels where every edit happens at the screen. The USB round trip wins when the edit starts on a PC.
Where does the recipe backup run on the panel?
On the System Screen, and on these panels it is the only place: the Recipe Sheet backup and restore live there, the screen takes no custom objects, and no operator menu can carry them.
Open the System Screen and both operations appear there: backup writes the Recipe Sheet to the stick, restore reads it back. Confirm the exact screen path in the programming software's Help for your installed version before you write the operator instruction card.
You need four things before the first transfer: a USB stick the panel accepts, a PC with a plain text editor and a file-compare tool, the approved values with their units and limits, and one custom status screen carrying the three tags covered below.
How do you edit the recipe file on the PC without breaking the syntax?
Edit a copy of the file the panel exported, change values only, and keep every label, separator and row as the panel wrote them; the syntax is critical, and one altered separator can cost you the whole restore.
- Copy the exported file on the PC. Work only on the copy; the untouched export is the rollback file.
- Open the copy in a plain text editor and read it before changing anything: the labels, the separator between fields, one row per recipe. The exported file itself and the software's Help for your version print the filename, extension, delimiter and encoding; no outside guide can list them for your version, so read them from the export.
- Change approved values only, in the number format the file already uses: same decimal separator, same sign, same digits.
- Save as the same file type, then run a file compare of the copy against the untouched export. Every difference outside your approved values goes back to what the panel wrote.
- Eject the stick with the PC's own eject action before you pull it. The PC carries the same mid-write risk right after a save.
A spreadsheet can rewrite the file when it saves: it swaps the delimiter, adds quotes, drops leading zeros, turns a code into a date, or saves a different encoding. Edit values in the text editor. If a spreadsheet must touch the file, re-open the saved result in the text editor and check it against the export line by line.
Which system tags tell you the stick is safe to pull?
Three tags: ready, writing and eject, placed as 2 indicators and 1 pushbutton on a normal screen you build, because the System Screen takes no custom objects; the programming software's Help under System Tags prints each tag's exact meaning and polarity.
The ready and writing tags report the memory device; the eject tag performs the controlled removal. Read each tag's meaning and polarity in the Help under System Tags before you build the screen, because an indicator wired on a guess can show clear while the panel still writes.
Place the two indicators and the eject pushbutton on a normal screen you create, the same way you would place a lamp or pushbutton that watches a controller bit. The System Screen takes no custom objects, so this status screen is where the operator finishes every transfer. Pulling the stick while the writing indication is active can corrupt the data on it; the three tags exist to gate exactly that.
Recommendation: build one status screen with the ready and writing tags as lamps and the eject tag on a pushbutton, keep the recipe transfer itself on the System Screen, and make the operator card read "watch the lamps, press eject, then pull." If the states conflict or the writing lamp never clears, leave the stick in and stop; pulling it to clear a stalled screen risks the file.
How do you restore the edited recipe sheet?
Carry the stick back, run the Recipe Sheet restore from the System Screen, and wait for the writing indication to clear before you touch the stick; the restore replaces the panel's stored sheet with your edited file in one operation.
- Put the stick in the panel's USB port. If the panel ignores it, test the USB drive before you suspect the recipe.
- Open the System Screen and run the Recipe Sheet restore.
- Watch the writing indication on your status screen until it settles at the idle state the Help documents.
- Press the eject pushbutton, then pull the stick.
- Open the recipe on the panel and check it, next section, before any machine load.
How do you check the restore before the machine runs?
Open the recipe on the panel, compare every changed value against the approved PC copy, and confirm the recipe number and name before any load to working machine variables; a file the panel accepted is not proof the values fit the machine.
Check units as well as numbers against the process sheet: the restore validates the file, and the process engineer validates the values. A setpoint of 175 means nothing until the unit beside it matches the machine's.
When the recipe load lands in the controller, sequence it with a handshake tag the PLC catches, so the controller latches the new values at a defined moment instead of racing the panel. Keep the untouched export on the stick and one copy on the PC; a restore that loads wrong values rolls back with the export in one step. If operators also change values at the panel, put saving operator recipes from the panel into the routine, or the export you compare against on the PC is stale.
Post the running recipe where the line can see it. A shop-floor notice screen that plays its content from a microSD card or a USB stick, with no subscription, can carry the recipe name and today's setpoints and run every shift. Size its text with the planning figure of 20 ft of viewing distance per inch of capital height, the safer reading of the standard 30 ft per inch figure, so a title read from 12 ft needs 0.6 in capitals with line spacing of 1.7 times that height.
How does an example round trip run with real numbers?
A forming line holds 24 recipes of 16 values each, so the sheet carries 24 × 16 = 384 values; the process engineer approves 3 changes to recipe 7, and the round trip moves the sheet once, edits 3 values and restores all 384.
The values here are illustrative, chosen to show the arithmetic; your sheet's counts and limits come from your own process.
The sheet: 24 recipes × 16 values = 384 values. The engineer approves three changes to recipe 7: heater temperature 165 °C to 175 °C, a rise of 10 °C; dwell 40 s to 45 s; line speed 28 m/min to 30 m/min.
The round trip: backup from the System Screen, the writing indication clears, eject, pull. On the PC: copy the file, edit the three values, and the file compare shows exactly 3 differences across 384 values; eject on the PC, pull. Back at the panel: restore from the System Screen, the writing indication clears, eject, pull. Recipe 7 on the panel now reads 175 °C, 45 s and 30 m/min, and the handshake hands the load to the controller at a defined moment.
The line notice screen shows the three new setpoints at 0.6 in capitals, readable from 12 ft at 20 ft per inch, with 1.02 in line spacing (1.7 × 0.6 in). The whole edit moved 3 of 384 values and zero project files.
Questions
Can the recipe round trip run over the network instead of USB?
Some HMI runtimes export and import recipe datasets as CSV files through runtime system functions, which a network client can trigger. If your runtime offers that, the same rules hold: export from the panel first, edit a copy, import it back, and keep an untouched export for rollback. The System Screen path with a stick needs no network setup and works on an isolated panel.
Why does the panel reject the recipe file after a spreadsheet edit?
A spreadsheet rewrites the file when it saves: it can change the delimiter, add or drop quotes, strip leading zeros, turn a numeric code into a date, or save a different encoding. Go back to the untouched export, apply the value changes in a plain text editor, save as the same file type, and compare the two files; only your approved values should differ.
What if the writing indication never clears after a restore?
Leave the stick in the panel and stop; pulling it mid-write is what corrupts the file. Note any alarm text and follow the recovery steps in the software Help. Before that stick returns to the panel, give it a full write and read cycle on a PC, and keep a second stick on the shelf so the next transfer waits on nothing.
Should the stick keep the untouched export after the restore?
Yes. Carry the untouched export and the edited file on the stick, plus one copy of each on the PC, all labeled by date. A restore that loads the wrong values rolls back in one step from the export, with no new edit session. Clear superseded copies off the stick so the operator always restores the newest file.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.