The Target
The Development System runs on your PC. The machine’s control runs somewhere else, even when that somewhere else is the same PC. The target is that other end, and almost everything the toolbar and the status bar show is about it.
A target is a name and an address
Section titled “A target is a name and an address”Targets are kept in Target Machines. Add New Target asks for two things: a Name you will
recognise in a list, and an Address the runtime answers on. One target is ACTIVE, and that
is the one the toolbar is pointed at.
The runtime listens on port 14522. A runtime on the same PC as the Development System is
localhost:14522, which is what a fresh project is pointed at.
The toolbar says what you are pointed at
Section titled “The toolbar says what you are pointed at”Four things on it are about the target, and they are independent of each other:
Machine 1 | which target is active |
I/O Mode | Simulation or Real Hardware: whether this project drives the real devices or a simulated set |
localhost:14522 | the address it will dial, with a gear for its settings |
OFFLINE | whether it is connected. The chain beside it connects and disconnects |
OFFLINE has a middle state: it reads as connecting while the attempt is in flight, and
ONLINE once it is up.
Unknown is the first thing you will see, and it is not a fault
Section titled “Unknown is the first thing you will see, and it is not a fault”A Development System that has not connected to anything cannot know anything, so the status bar says so. Connect, and all three answer at once.
Three Unknowns and an OFFLINE badge is what a correctly working IDE looks like before you
press connect. It is not a broken installation and there is nothing to diagnose.
What each one turns into
Section titled “What each one turns into”Read left to right, they are three separate questions about the other end:
Runtime Alive · Runtime Down | is the runtime process there at all |
PLC No Program · PLC Loaded · PLC Stopped · PLC Running · PLC Paused · PLC Error · PLC E-Stop | what the PLC on it is doing |
Simulation Mode · Real Mode | which of the two the target is actually in |
A live runtime with no PLC program says PLC No Program, not PLC Stopped. The difference
matters: one is a machine waiting for a program, the other is a program that is not running.
The two Simulations are not the same reading
Section titled “The two Simulations are not the same reading”The I/O Mode on the toolbar is what this project asks for. The Simulation Mode in the
status bar is what the target reports being in. They are two different facts, and when they
disagree the status bar is the one telling the truth: it is the machine’s answer, not your
request.
Run and Config are not labels
Section titled “Run and Config are not labels”Run and Config at the far left of the status bar are the system’s two modes, and pressing
one switches to it. They are not cosmetic, and the device operations want opposite ones:
Scan Devices | wants Config mode |
Reload Devices | wants Run mode |
Both also want a real target rather than a simulated one, and at least one device already in the project. An operation asked for in the wrong mode is refused with the reason rather than quietly greyed out, so a button that does nothing is telling you which of the three it is.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Quick Start: what a project holds, and the order you build one in.
- I/O & EtherCAT: what
Scan Devicesis for. - Building & Deploying a Project: sending the configuration once you are connected.