Online Config Mode

Overview

The Online Config Mode command allows connecting the programming system to a device without the need of first having loaded an application. This is useful for the initial start-up of an I/O system when you want to test the controller configuration before you build and load a real application program.

By default, the command is available in the contextual menu when you select a device in the Devices tree. It serves to enable and disable the online configuration mode, which allows connecting to the controller according to the current communication settings.

Depending on the device, the command starts the simple or an extended online configuration mode. The extended online configuration mode can be of interest in the event that there is already an application available on the controller. These two types are described in the following sections.

Simple Online Configuration Mode

When you select the Online Config Mode command, the connection to the controller will be established. If there are already one or several applications on the controller, a message box is displayed. It prompts you to confirm that the existing applications will be deleted. As a result, an implicit application (HiddenOnlineConfigModeApp) will be created. This pseudo-application allows you to access inputs/outputs online. Device objects in the Devices tree will be displayed and available with the green symbol  and green shade. However, the functionality will be restricted to the following I/O handling functions:

oRead inputs/outputs

oWrite outputs

oDiagnostic (in tree and on status page)

oScan

oInteractive online functions if available (for example, write asynchronous messages)

Extended Online Configuration Mode

This mode is only available if activated by the device description. It will take effect only if there is already an application available on the controller. In this case, you will see a dialog box, displaying the existing application. In addition to the standard online configuration mode (Config application mode), you have an additional option to connect to the controller in Parameter mode. This allows you to access the device parameter values without having to log in.

NOTE: In the Online Config Mode, the writing and forcing of values in the I/O Mapping dialog works differently than the extended configuration mode or the Parameter mode. The outputs are written immediately after they have been inserted in the table. There is no column Prepared value, though the output values can be modified directly after a double-click in column Current value.

When the command Online Config Mode is used again in order to switch off the online config mode, the pseudo-application will be stopped and the connection to the controller will be terminated.