A recipe button label changes at runtime only if the project already contains a runtime-editable name field, a tag-bound caption, or a recipe-name object with editing enabled. A caption typed as screen text, like SPARE 8, is project data: it changes only through a project edit and download. Test any rename on a spare recipe first, with its values unchanged.
No, not on a project that typed the caption as screen text. A recipe button caption such as SPARE 8 is stored inside the screen project; a running panel draws that text and has no way to rewrite it. A rename without a download works only where the project already provides a path: an editable name field the operator can type into, a caption bound to a tag the runtime writes, or a recipe function whose name-editing setting is on. Some platforms ship that switch built in. The rest of the recipe, including the five ingredient values the operator entered, changes at runtime while the caption stays frozen. Here is how to tell which case you have, and the safe path for each.
Why the caption and the recipe are different objects
One spare recipe button carries three separate things: the caption the operator reads, the recipe record that holds the values, and the transfer action that copies a record to the PLC. The project stores them in different places, and they change in different ways.
Values are runtime data. The panel lets an operator open a record, type new values and save it, which is why a customer can fill a spare recipe from the panel in the first place. Captions are project text. They exist because someone typed them in the project editor, and the supported way to change them is a revised project and a download. A transfer writes values; text is untouched. That is why typing new values and pressing transfer leaves the caption frozen.
The PLC side is separate too. Writing a new recipe number to the controller changes what the machine runs, and it changes what the button shows only where a screen object displays that tag. If the recipe name itself must reach the controller as an identifier, that is its own mapping, covered in passing a recipe name from an HMI to a PLC variable.
Symptoms and what each points to
- Values saved, caption unchanged. The button still reads its old caption after a save and a transfer. The caption is typed project text, and this project has no runtime rename.
- A keyboard opens over the name. A long press, an edit icon or a keyed field brings up the on-panel keyboard. The project has an editable name field; use it, because no download is needed.
- The name follows the loaded recipe but takes no typing. The text comes from the recipe function or a name tag. Look for that object's name-editing setting in the project.
- Digits change after a PLC write, the word SPARE stays. Part of the caption is bound to a tag and part is typed. Find the tag and what writes it.
- The name reverts after a restart. The edited name is runtime data that is not stored with the record. Run the persistence test below.
Find the runtime name path, if the project has one
Open the project in the editor and select the button. One of three things will be true.
- Typed text. The label sits in the object's text property as ordinary characters. There is no runtime path here; the fix is a project edit and a download.
- A tag-bound field. The label is an output field bound to a string tag. Trace the tag to its write source. If a documented write path fills it, the rename happens at runtime and the screen updates as soon as the tag changes.
- A recipe object's name. The text belongs to the recipe function. Read that object's documentation for its name-editing setting. One major platform documents the switch as
RecipeNameEditable: set it to True and the loaded recipe name becomes editable on the panel.
Platforms that track the loaded recipe also expose it as a system tag. One names it HMI_ActiveRecipeName; binding an output field's Text / Value property to that tag puts the loaded recipe's name on screen, which is exactly the feedback a rename needs.
If the project file is not on hand, read the project off the panel before you edit anything.
Scenario: renaming SPARE 8 to 9843672
A line has a bank of 10 spare recipe buttons. The customer has filled one of them: 5 ingredient values typed in and saved, and the button still reads SPARE 8. The recipe should read 9843672.
Path A: the project has a runtime name field. The rename takes 1 edit on the panel and needs 0 downloads. The test sheet carries 6 items, the name plus the 5 stored values. Check that the values are unchanged, power the panel down for 30 seconds and up once, and check that the name and the values survived. Then allow one controlled transfer and read 5 PLC registers back against the stored values. Budget about 15 minutes for the whole check.
Path B: the caption is typed text. Nothing at runtime will change it. Post a printed card at the panel that maps SPARE 8 to 9843672 together with the recipe's values, so nobody guesses a recipe from numbers on a screen. At the next maintenance window, allow 30 minutes, change 1 caption in the project and download the revised project once, then run the same 6-item test sheet.
Either way the verification is identical: 1 + 5 = 6 items checked on the panel, and 5 registers read back after a transfer.
Test the rename before you trust it
Put the machine in a state where a stray transfer cannot act: recipe-driven outputs disabled or the line idle. Then work through this order.
- Pick a spare recipe and leave its stored values exactly as they are.
- Enter a distinctive test name through the path you found.
- Leave the screen and come back. The name must survive screen changes.
- Power the panel down and up once. The name must survive a restart if the recipe must.
- Select the recipe without transferring. The selection display and the name must point at the same record.
- Transfer once and read the PLC registers back against the stored values.
If the text never changes through a documented path, stop there. No operator workaround renames a typed caption, and an untested edit on a production recipe is how a machine ends up running the wrong settings.
The fix when no runtime path exists
Change the caption in the project editor, leave the button's action and its recipe target untouched, and download during a maintenance window. Two preparations keep it safe. Back up the running project first, especially on a panel with a history of losing its project after a power cycle. And check the panel's firmware revision before the transfer, so the revised project and the panel match.
If your editor supports global or template objects, set the caption format once and reuse it on every screen; the documentation on global object caption attributes shows the pattern. A later batch rename then touches one attribute instead of editing every button.
After the download, verify the whole path: the new name on screen, the selection pointing at the intended record, and the values arriving at the intended PLC addresses. A caption can read perfectly while its action still selects the wrong slot. Repairs for other floor screens and andon boards are gathered in the shop-floor screens section.
The decision
Recommendation: If the runtime offers recipe-name editing, enable the documented switch (RecipeNameEditable on the platform that names it that way) and bind a field to the loaded recipe's name tag in the next project revision, so every later rename happens on the panel with no download. Until that revision reaches the panel, leave typed captions alone, post the printed recipe map at the line, and change captions in a maintenance-window download verified against a spare recipe with its values untouched.
Questions
What if the edited name disappears after the panel restarts?
Then the name is not being stored with the recipe record. Run the test twice: rename on screen, then power the panel down and up and check the field before any transfer. If the name keeps clearing, keep names defined in the project, or store the name in the PLC beside the recipe's values so the record and its label reload together.
Does writing a new recipe number to the PLC change the button?
It changes what the machine runs, and on-screen text only where a screen object is bound to that tag and set to display it. A typed caption is untouched by any PLC write. If a field does read the recipe-number tag, expect the digits to change while the wording around them stays whatever the project defined.
How do I stop the same problem on a bank of spare recipe buttons?
Reserve a naming scheme for the spare captions and keep a printed map of button, recipe name and each recipe's values at the panel. Change captions only in planned project downloads and re-check the map after each one. In an editor with global or template objects, define the caption format once so a batch rename is a single edit.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.