PLC Settings

Overview

The PLC settings view of the device editor is used to configure general settings for the controller.

Description of the Elements

The PLC settings view provides the following elements:

Element	Description
Application for I/O handling	Define here the application assigned to the device in the Devices tree that will be monitored for the I/O handling. For EcoStruxure Machine Expert, there is only one application available.
PLC settings area
Update IO while in stop	Note for PacDrive controllers: Supported by TM5 / TM7 IOs but not by controls or drive based IOs. If this option is activated (default), the values of the input and output channels are updated when the controller is stopped. In case of expiration of the watchdog, the outputs are set to the defined default values.
Behaviour for outputs in Stop	From the selection list, choose one of the following options to define how the values at the output channels are handled in case of controller stop: Keep current values The present values will not be modified. Set all outputs to default The default values resulting from the mapping will be assigned. Execute program You can determine the outputs behavior by a program available within the project. Enter the name of this program here and it will be executed when the controller gets stopped. Click the button ... to use the Input Assistant for this purpose.
Always update variables	Global definition, if the I/O variables are updated in the bus cycle task. This setting takes effect for the I/O variables of the slaves and modules only if their update setting is defined as Disabled. Disabled (update only if used in a task): The I/O variables are only updated if they are used in a task. Enabled 1 (use bus cycle task if not used in any task): The I/O variables are updated in the bus cycle task if not used in any other task. Enabled 2 (always in bus cycle task): The variables are updated in every cycle of bus cycle task, regardless of whether they are being used or whether they are mapped to an input or to an output channel. You can set this option separately for each device in the I/O Mapping dialog.
Bus cycle options area
Bus cycle task	The selection list offers the tasks defined in the Task Configuration of the active application (for example, MAST). The default setting MAST is entered automatically. <unspecified> means that the task is selected according to controller-internal settings, which are therefore controller-dependent.

NOTE: Setting the bus cycle task to <unspecified> may cause unintended behavior of your application. Consult the Programming Guide specific to your controller.

WARNING
	UNINTENDED EQUIPMENT OPERATION Do not set the Bus cycle task to <unspecified>, unless you understand the bus cycle task settings of the controller. Failure to follow these instructions can result in death, serious injury, or equipment damage.

Additional Settings

Element	Description
Generate force variables for IO mapping:	This setting is only available if supported by the device. Consult the Programming Guide specific to your controller for further information. If the option is activated, for each I/O channel, which is assigned to a variable in the I/O Mapping dialog box, two global variables will be created as soon as the application is built. These variables can be used in an HMI visualization for forcing the I/O value. For further information, refer to the I/O Mapping chapter.
Enable diagnosis for device	The library CAA Device Diagnosis is added to the project automatically. For each device, a function block is generated in the Applications tree. If the function block already exists, an extended function block is used (for example, EtherCAT) or an additional function block instance is added. This function block contains the general implementation for the device diagnostics. By use of these function block instances, the status of the devices can be retrieved in the application. Furthermore, detected errors can be evaluated. The library also provides functions for the programmatical evaluation of the Devices tree (for example, search in child devices or jump to the parent device). For detailed information, see the PDF document CAA Device Diagnosis which is part of the library.
Show I/O warnings as errors	Warnings concerning the I/O configuration are detected as errors.
Enable symbolic access for I/Os	This option is only available if supported by the device. Consult the Programming Guide specific to your controller for further information. If this option is activated, input and output variables (`VAR_INPUT` and `VAR_OUTPUT`) are automatically created for the input/output channels of the device. For this purpose, an extended function block is created based on the existing function block for each child device. In the application code, direct access to this automatically generated function block is available. This symbolic access works in parallel to the I/O mapping that you configure manually. If this option is not activated, access to I/O channels is not supported. Set up a mapping manually and assign new or existing variables per I/O channel.