PLC IO Format

[hinsonjoey]

When inserting a Parametric PLC, the address format can be entered and subsequent IO will be indexed to this format.  The problem is, that ACADE uses rules from the PLC5 and SLC days of addressing on the AB platform.  Is there any way to add formats for new IO so I don't have to modify every PLC IO address?  There are the fields in ace_plc.mdb for "Address_Base" and "Address_Form", but I cannot find information on how these are supposed to work.  Thanks for any help.   

[rhesusminus]

Yes, you can select some custom numbering schemes. Locate WD.ENV in My Documents\AcadE 201X\AeData and have a look at this line:

Remember to remove the asterix in front of the line to "enable" the line.

[hinsonjoey]

Thanks, but I couldn't get this to work as desired.  I could not figure out how to get ACADE to index in the middle of an address.  The address format for a 1734-IB8S card is I.Pt00Data.  I tried I.Pt0%10%2 as a value, which did add it to the quick pick, but then subsequent addresses indexed at the end, .i.e I.Pt00Data1.  The only way I could figure out is to edit the PLC Database, modifying the TAGA value shown below.  It only works upon insert and if you modify the address from  the "Edit Component" dialog, you'll have to modify each address individually.

[rhesusminus]

AcadE will only increase the "number" at the end of the address 😞

So.. If you need it to increase some number somewhere in the middle of the address, your best bet is changing the values in the PLC database as you're doing.

[randy.brunette · Accepted solution]

The AutoCAD Electrical development team is always looking for bugs or fixes to add to the software to make it more powerful and easier to use. Be sure to go to the AutoCAD Electrical Idea Station and enter this suggestion there as well.

The Idea Station gives other users an opportunity to vote on the ideas and give the developers a better sense of the usefulness or importance of a feature to the entire user base.

The Idea Station link is here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-electrical-ideas/idb-p/37/tab/most-recent

[shuhn]

So, I am curious why my addressing won't increment on a module I programmed into the PLC Database.  When I put in the beginning address, all points end up with the same address.  I know it will work if I put the incremental value (%%A+0, %%A+1, %%A+2, etc) in the TAGA_ fields in the editor, but this isn't needed on other modules, so what else am I missing?.

[rhesusminus]

It will be hard to diagnose that problem without any screenshots or the likes.

[ccad2509]

With respect Randy take a look at your own ideas statistics

1220 ideas submitted 10 implemented that's less than 1%

Now look at the top voted stats there are 20 ideas that have more votes before you see an idea that's been implemented

Now look at the the actual ideas implemted all are.minor adjustments to the code and 1 could be argued is a base autocad function ( the one regarding ballon updates)

None of the big ideas have been implemented and that disheartens me with this approach the only conclusion is the ideas station is just a forum for frustrated users to blow off steam

And the competition keeps charging forward with inovatative ideas while acade is stuck in the slow lane of minor fixes to broken code

[shuhn]

What screenshots could possibly help with this question?  The standard terminals that come with ACADE for parametric build have only a "-" in the TAGA_ attribute.  With the terminals I made, this doesn't work.  I don't know how I found it, but I found that putting the attribute values in the editor will fix this.  The question is, why doesn't it work like the others?

[shuhn · Accepted solution]

My terminal for parametric PLC build.....

Stock terminal for parametric PLC build.

Note that the only difference is the geometry, but the addresses will not increment...

If I include the values in the editor as described in the previous post, then the addresses will increment.

[hinsonjoey]

I believe he wants to see a capture of your PLC database as shown.

[shuhn · Accepted solution]

OK.... 

On a stock PLC card, in the editor, there is no TAGA_ value in the database, yet it increments the values without issue....

For my module, where I made a custom terminal, I have to put a value in here, incrementing the value for each addressable point to make it work...

[hinsonjoey]

I reproduced your %%A+x format and it correctly addressed the I/O module, but it did not act differently than using blank in this field.  So I'm not sure you have to do this.  One question, do you have the path "K:\engineering\..." listed before any "C\Users\...\PLC" in your project properties.  This probably is not the issue as your placing the correct symbols and editing the correct database, it is all I know to check at this point.  Sorry, maybe someone else can help.

[shuhn · Accepted solution]

I really don't see how I could have the pathways wrong.  It is fairly clear to me that I'm pulling from the correct database if that is the pathway shown in the dialog box.