Creating an HMI heartbeat tag readable by PLC

jperry · May 6, 2026, 4:36pm

How to make an HMI heartbeat tag on EBPro and have the PLC read the value? I need to test communications of gates while in “remote mode” and am struggling to make an internal HMI tag that updates every x seconds etc.

Arden.y · May 6, 2026, 4:50pm

Hi @jperry ,

Thank you for your question. To accomplish this, we would recommend creating a macro that executes periodically and uses both the GetData and SetData functions to send and receive the heartbeat values.

Here are a few helpful resources for creating and configuring macros in EasyBuilder Pro:

jperry · May 6, 2026, 5:11pm

do you have an example macro I could start with?

Arden.y · May 6, 2026, 5:39pm

Hi @jperry ,

Here is an example of how you can test this. Please ensure that Periodical execution is checked at the top of the macro to simulate the HMI heartbeat.

macro_command main()
	bool xBit = false
	
	// Set device to PLC
	GetData(xBit, "Local HMI", LB, 0, 1)
	
	// Toggle the bit value
	if xBit == false then 
		xBit = true
	else
		xBit = false
	end if
	
	// Write back to LB-0
	SetData(xBit, "Local HMI", LB, 0, 1)	
end macro_command