Introduction

 

This document continues where the introductory presentation of Intro­duction of CODESYS Library Development (LibDevIntro) ended. It summarizes the most important topics from the section "How to Develop CODESYS Libraries". If you have not recently read the introductory section, we encourage you to review it as a preparation for the descrip­tion below.

Reusability matters

It's a lot of work to design, build, test, and maintain a CODESYS appli­cation. Many CODESYS projects share common problems. Wouldn't it be great if we could reduce some of this repeated work?

Reusability is the CODESYS way of life. The CODESYS Store offers a vast range of libraries you can use in your own CODESYS projects. Check out the CODESYS Store for existing reusable libraries that you can incorporate into your own project. Many CODESYS elements are simply CODESYS libraries (e.g. VisuElements, NetVariables, Symbol­Configuration). This means that you can take existing CODESYS libraries and integrate them into your own CODESYS project. You simply need to compose the parts that make your project unique.

We have carefully defined ten guidelines for you to follow when designing a reusable library. These guidelines ensure that the risk of future compatibility issues with CODESYS or other libraries will be mini­mized. By following these guidelines, you will produce libraries that are user-friendly, easy to maintain, and include valuable documentation.

In the list of guidelines below, each topic is linked to a chapter containing a detailed description. These descriptions, however, are intended as a short version of the complete, textbook-style descriptions found in CODESYS Guidelines for Library Development (LibGuide.chm). This document has not yet been released. We are making every effort to publish it as soon as possible.

• Select a meaningful filename (required)

• Register a unique library namespace (required)

• Enter all project information (required)

• Apply the correct method for referencing other libraries (required)

• Design smart interfaces (required)

• Implement user-friendly error handling (required)

• Use the correct method for deployment and licensing (required)

• Ensure consistency by using templates (optional)

• Use a familiar and uniform project structure (optional)

• Ensure clean code by applying a consistent naming conventions (optional)

Every new CODESYS library that is part of the CODESYS setup and intended for use in end-user applications must comply with the guide­lines marked as required. All libraries to be uploaded to the CODESYS Store must pass an acceptance test to confirm compliance with these guidelines (see: Optional and Required).