EcoStruxure Machine Expert is a device-independent controller programming system.
Conforming to the IEC 61131-3 standard, it supports standard programming languages.
The object-oriented approach is not only reflected by the availability of corresponding programming elements and features, but also in the structure and version handling of EcoStruxure Machine Expert and in the project organization. Multi-device usage of an EcoStruxure Machine Expert project is possible based on jointly used, instantiated programming units.
A parallel installation of several versions of EcoStruxure Machine Expert components and working with the desired combination of versions is possible. This also pertains to the device-specific use of different compiler versions. Individual functions can be added without having to update the whole version.
For further information, refer to the Compatibility and Migration User Guide.
Project organization is also determined in an object oriented fashion. An EcoStruxure Machine Expert project contains a controller program composed of various programming objects and it contains definitions of the resources which are needed to run instances of the program (application) on defined target systems (devices, controllers).
So there are two main types of objects in a project:
|
Object Type |
Description |
|---|---|
|
These are programs, functions, function blocks, methods, interfaces, actions, data type, definitions, and so on. |
|
|
Resource objects () |
Device objects are only managed in the . To insert objects in the , refer to Adding Elements to the Navigators section. |
Code generation by integrated compilers and the subsequent use of the resulting machine code provides for short execution times.
The data transfer between EcoStruxure Machine Expert and the device is conducted via a gateway (component) to a runtime system. After downloading the application to the controller it can be monitored and controlled in EcoStruxure Machine Expert.
The programming languages mentioned in the standard IEC 61131 are supported via specially adapted editors:
FBD/LD/IL editor for function block diagram (FBD), ladder logic diagram (LD), and instruction list (IL)
SFC editor for sequential function chart
ST editor for structured text
Additionally, EcoStruxure Machine Expert provides an editor for programming in CFC that is not part of the IEC standard:
CFC editor for continuous function chart
CFC is an extension to the standard IEC programming languages.
A CFC - page-oriented editor is also provided. It allows you to arrange the CFC elements on individual pages.