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Mastering PLC Programming

You're reading from   Mastering PLC Programming The software engineering survival guide to automation programming

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Product type Paperback
Published in Mar 2023
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781804612880
Length 386 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Tools
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Author (1):
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M. T. White M. T. White
Author Profile Icon M. T. White
M. T. White
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Toc

Table of Contents (25) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Part 1 – An Introduction to Advanced PLC Programming
2. Chapter 1: Software Engineering for PLCs FREE CHAPTER 3. Chapter 2: Advanced Structured Text — Programming a PLC in Easy-to-Read English 4. Chapter 3: Debugging — Making Your Code Work 5. Chapter 4: Complex Variable Declaration — Using Variables to Their Fullest 6. Part 2 – Modularity and Objects
7. Chapter 5: Functions — Making Code Modular and Maintainable 8. Chapter 6: Object-Oriented Programming — Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Code 9. Chapter 7: OOP — The Power of Objects 10. Part 3 – Software Engineering for PLCs
11. Chapter 8: Libraries — Write Once, Use Anywhere 12. Chapter 9: The SDLC — Navigating the SDLC to Create Great Code 13. Chapter 10: Advanced Coding — Using SOLID to Make Solid Code 14. Part 4 – HMIs and Alarms
15. Chapter 11: HMIs — UIs for PLCs 16. Chapter 12: Industrial Controls — User Inputs and Outputs 17. Chapter 13: Layouts — Making HMIs User-Friendly 18. Chapter 14: Alarms — Avoiding Catastrophic Issues with Alarms 19. Part 5 – Final Project and Thoughts
20. Chapter 15: Putting It All Together — The Final Project 21. Chapter 16: Distributed Control Systems, PLCs, and Networking 22. Assessments 23. Index 24. Other Books You May Enjoy

Understanding structs

Structs are special data structures that allow you to group logically related data into a single data structure. Structs in IEC 61131-3 work very similarly to a struct in a C-like language. They are custom data types that contain variables of different data types in a singular data structure. If you’ve never programmed in a C-like language, structs may seem a lot like classes, a concept that will be covered later.

Declaring a struct

Creating a struct is very similar to creating a GVL. Similar to a GVL, you create a struct with the following steps:

  1. Right-click Application.
  2. Hover over Add Object.
  3. Click DUT.

When you finish these steps, you should see a wizard that is very similar to the wizard used to create a GVL, except that it has a few more options. The wizard can be viewed in Figure 4.12. For now, the only thing that you will need to do is change DUT in the Name field to motorStruct and click Add. Once you click Add, a new...

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