SFC Element Properties

Overview

You can view and edit the properties of an SFC element in the Element Properties dialog box. Open this dialog box via the command Element Properties, which is part of the View menu.

It depends on the currently selected element which properties are displayed.

You can configure whether the particular types of properties should be displayed next to an element in the SFC chart from the View tab of the SFC editor options.

Common Properties

Property	Description
Name	Element name, by default <element><running number> Examples: step name Step0, Step1, branch name branch0 and so on.
Comment	Element comment, text stringExample: Reset the counter. Press CTRL + ENTER to insert line breaks.
Symbol	For each SFC element implicitly a flag is created, named like the element. Here you can specify whether this flag variable should be exported to the symbol configuration and how the symbol then should be accessible in the controller. None: The symbol will be exported to the symbol configuration, but it will not be accessible in the controller. Read: The symbol will be exported to the symbol configuration and it will be readable in the controller. Write: The symbol will be exported to the symbol configuration and it will be written to the controller. Read/Write: Combination of read and write. By default, this field is left empty. That is that no symbol is exported to the symbol configuration.

Property

Description

Name

Element name, by default <element><running number> Examples: step name Step0, Step1, branch name branch0 and so on.

Comment

Element comment, text stringExample: Reset the counter.

Press CTRL + ENTER to insert line breaks.

Symbol

For each SFC element implicitly a flag is created, named like the element.

Here you can specify whether this flag variable should be exported to the symbol configuration and how the symbol then should be accessible in the controller.

None: The symbol will be exported to the symbol configuration, but it will not be accessible in the controller.

Read: The symbol will be exported to the symbol configuration and it will be readable in the controller.

Write: The symbol will be exported to the symbol configuration and it will be written to the controller.

Read/Write: Combination of read and write.

By default, this field is left empty. That is that no symbol is exported to the symbol configuration.

Specific Properties

Specific Property		Description
Initial step		This option is activated in the properties of the current initial step (init step). By default, it is activated for the first step in an SFC and deactivated for other steps. If you activate this option for another step, you must deactivate it in the previous init step. Otherwise, a compiler error will be generated.
Duplicate on copy		This option is available for steps that contain a step action (entry action, main action, or exit action), and for transitions that are linked to a transition object. If the option Duplicate on copy is selected, a new object is created for each called action, step, and property when the step or transition is copied. The new object contains a copy of the implementation code of the source object. If the option Duplicate on copy is not selected, the link to the called object is retained for the associated actions, steps, and properties when the step or transition is copied. New objects are not created. The source and the copies of the step or transition call the same action, step, or property.
Times		Defines the minimum and maximum processing times for the step.
	Minimal active	Minimum length of time the processing of this step should take, even though the following transition is TRUE. Permissible values: time according to IEC syntax (for example, `t#8s`) or TIME variable; default: `t#0s`.
	Maximal active	Maximum length of time the processing of this step should take. Time outs in steps are indicated by the implicit variable SFCError flag. Permissible values: time according to IEC syntax (for example, `t#8s`) or TIME variable; default: `t#0s`
Actions		Defines the actions to be performed when the step is active. Refer to the description of the Sequence of Processing in SFC for details.
	Step entry	This action will be executed after the step has become active.
	Step active	This action will be executed when the step is active and possible entry actions have already been processed.
	Step exit	This action will be executed in the subsequent cycle after a step has been deactivated (exit action).

NOTE: Use the corresponding implicit variables to determine the status of actions and time outs via SFC flags.