IO Lists/Device IO List/
Device IO List Processing
The processing of the device IO list varies depending on the selected PLC architecture. This page explains the processing of the basic device list: Device IO List for Single Rack Architecture .
This list has 4 columns as shown on Figure 1:
- Name
- Description
- Asset Library
- Library Block
From the information provided in "Asset Library" and "Library Block" columns, the system determines the "Block Signals" table linked to the library block on My Asset Libraries page. This table has both physical and memory block signals. This information is sufficient for PLCCreator to provide following:
- Create a PLC rack with the required IO modules, determined by the signal type of physical signals of the library block specified with "Asset Library" and "Library Block" columns.
- Generate PLC tags based on the details provided in the "Name" and "Description" columns and library block physical signals, and assign them to the respective IO modules with proper tag address and/or tag name.
- Create an asset object as an instance of the library block, and associate to this object its signals, both physical and memory.
These columns are essential elements of both the
They provide the critical data required to generate IO modules - both in the main rack and remote IO racks.
Device IO list is processed sequentially row by row and this process has 7 steps as shown on Figure 2.
The first 3 steps are related to PLC hardware configuration, specifically to the creation of rack IO modules.
The fourth step is associated with the creation of PLC tags.
The last 3 steps are associated with the instantiation of programming asset blocks, or asset objects.
Referencing the Library - The first step is to find the asset library. The asset library name is specified by "Asset Library" column, and it is checked whether it exists on "Asset Libraries" table on My Asset Libraries page.
Referencing the Library Block - The second step is to find the library block. The library block is specified by the "Library Block" column, and it is checked whether it exists on "Library Block" table on My Asset Libraries page.
Referencing the Signals and Generation of the Hardware - This is the core step of PLC generation. Once the library block is found, the system finds all physical signals of the block, identifies their signal type and inserts/creates modules in PLC hardware configuration. Every block signal is associated to the right PLC module.
Generation of PLC Tags - A new PLC tag is created by concatenation of device name, specified by "Name" column, and signal name from block signal table.
Generation of PLC Asset Objects - If status of the library block on "Library Blocks" table is "PLC Block", its asset objects can be created in the PLC project. You can select the blocks for instantiation on the Asset Objects page.
If library block is selected for asset object creation, its programming asset from library file (the control logic block in the library file) will be instantiated for each device with the same type (library block) from the device IO list.
