TG - Time Display Format on the NA5

Purpose

This guide shows the users how to display the TIME data on an HMI without displaying all the nanoseconds.

Using a data display object, users are able to see the time in the following format 00:00:00.0000000. 

Some users prefer to display the time without the complete decimal seconds, displaying only HOUR:MINUTES:SECONDS to show 00:00:00.

Problem Explanation/Objective

The predetermined displays of NA5 HMI show a complete format of TIME data and do not allow the users to set just the TIME data they want to display.

Supported devices

• NA5 HMI
• NX or NJ Controllers

Requirements

For this example:

• NA5-7W001
• NX102-9000
• Sysmac Studio

Procedure

1 - On the Program section of the controller, use the following ST code:

TEST_TIME is a TIME DataType variable

TIME_STRING and TIME_STRING2 is a STRING[] DataType variable

To get a string with HH:MM:SS format for dispaly from a TIME DataType you can use the below code:

(* Convert Time to String HH:MM:SS format for Display *)
TIME_STRING := LEFT(TodToString(SecToTod(TimeToSec(TEST_TIME))),UINT#8);

If you want to display with miliseconds in the format (HH:MM:SS.SSS) then you need to do two TIME conversions to strip the lower decimals from the nanosecond conversion and CONCAT the two strings with a decimal in between: 

(* Convert Time to String HH:MM:SS.SSS format for Display *)
Time_String :=

CONCAT(LEFT(TodToString(SecToTod(TimeToSec(Test_Time))),UINT#8),'.',LEFT(RIGHT(LINT_TO_STRING(TimeToNanoSec(Test_Time)), UINT#9),UINT#3));

2 - Create the variables from the Controller on the HMI (Remember that the controller variables must be Global so they can be mapped).

3 - Add two data displays and set both with a data type of TEXT.

4 - Test the functionality with the Simulator:

Date/Revision History

First review 09/22/2025 V1.0

Author:

Karla Flores Avila, Technical Support Specialist

References

Time display formatting question - NJ Series / Sysmac Studio - MrPLC.com