Controls News 13
131
Technical support:
Lean Engineering with Saia®PG5
Template projects
FUPLA page templates
(*.
fxp)
FBoxes from FUPLA pages
(
standard license)
FBoxes with IL preprogrammed
(
adv. license)
FBs and PBs programmed
in IL
Intuitive
All templates (incl. for
example the S-WebEditor)
direct in the same project
Simple to create
Intuitive
Symbol names can be
changed during import
Library administration is
the same as in Saia®FBoxes
Function assistance
included
Library administration is the same as in
Saia®FBoxes
Function assistance included
Comprehensive range of functions
Functions similar to
FBoxes can be created
relatively easily
Simple to create
Template projects can be
shared across the company
Individual functions can
easily be reused
Simple to create
FBoxes can be shared
and licensed across the
company (FBox internal
functions are not visible
to outsiders)
FBoxes can be shared and licensed across
the company (FBox internal functions are
not visible to outsiders)
The function of the FBox can be modified
subsequently (incl. version management)
Can be used as a precursor
for the development of
a FBox
The function of the FBox
can be modified
subsequently
The file sizes of templates
can be very large
no library administration
(
yet) available in PG5
(
in progress)
additional data (e.g.
graphics) not contained
in templates
FBox names cannot be
used
Requires extensive know-how of the
developer’s FBox
Relatively high development and
test costs per FBox
Version management
not automatically
integrated
Function of the FBoxes
cannot be modified
subsequently
FB parameters cannot
be transferred using
FUPLA
This was actually possible with PG5 2.0 directly in
the device configurator, but since the project began
in 2008, this version of PG5 was not yet available.
These issues may appear to be rather unusual at
first, particularly for those accustomed to program-
ming with the DDC Suite. But if you think that every
employee in the company is familiar with this meth-
od and symbol naming, it is clear that this inter-
nal company standard unifies the structure of the
projects and so reduces the adjustment period of
a project. This means employees can quickly famil-
iarize themselves with a project that they have not
created themselves.
Reusability of program components
As is clear from the application above, it is impor-
tant when creating programs to standardize recur-
ring functions so as to prevent duplication of devel-
opment and testing.
In this project, the following methods were used for
the reuse of functions:
Integration of standard functions via IL FBs and
PBs
Reuse of pre-programmed FUPLA pages by
importing *.fxp data files
Reuse of standard functions for a project through
the use of a template project
Generation of a symbol structure using an exter-
nal tool, with import of symbol definitions into
PG5 using Excel-Import
As you can see, PG5 provides
several ways to create functional
units and reuse them in future
projects. Depending on the in-
clination of project developers,
there is no definitive «way to go»
but a variety of ways in which
suitable methods can be used
and combined. Most recently it
has become clear that an increas-
ing number of combinations of
different editors, tools and inter-
faces is being used. So it’s even
more important to be aware of
the advantages and potential
limitations of current thinking.
Ready-to-use templates
The lowest cost option for this
type of method involves the use of DDC Suite tem-
plate projects, that are available in a ready-to-use
form on the support site
.
These can be combined as required. So the export
functionality of existing FUPLA pages is a very in-
teresting way to make program components re-
usable throughout the company. We are further
improving the FUPLA export functionality to make
it even simpler to work with the templates in
FUPLA Editor.
Comparison table for the reuse of program components
The table below shows the various methods for creating recurrent features that are unified key components.
In comparison with the project discussed here, the only addition are in-house FBoxes that of course also
ensure the reuse of program functions.
Simple creation
of originalFUPLA
templates
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