Concept V2.5

Lesson 12 Objectives:After completing this lesson, the learner will be able to:

• Describe the difference between Located and Unlocated Variables.• State the rules for Variable naming• Use the Variable Editor to create and or delete Variables.

Lesson OverviewConcept Software uses the idea of named Variables and Constants in it’s programming structure in order to contain global data that needs to be passed between objects. The use of these named Variables eliminates the need to physically join objects together through the use of links.

This lesson will explain Variables and Data Types, the naming of Variables, hardware addressing and the difference between using or not using hardware addresses with Variable names.

Concept V2.5

Each Variable has to be declared with the Variable Editor before using it:Either independently with Project

Variable declaration… [F8]Or during programming with a double-click

on an input / output assignment.

A data type must be assigned to each Variable. CONCEPT software provides elementary and derived data types

Concept V2.5

Common Data Types and Ranges

• BOOL Must be a ON ( 1 ) or OFF ( 0 )• WORD Represents a “bit string 16”,

meaning the length of data is 16 bits. • INT Represents an integer value.

The range of values are -32768 through 32767

• UINT Represents an unsigned integer value. The range of values are 0 through 65535

• REAL Represents a floating point value. The range of values are 8.43e-37 through 3.36e+38

Concept V2.5

Entering Literal ValuesLiteral values are used to assign values to pins, or

to assign constants to variables, and are not meant to be changed by the program.

You can enter literal values as base 2 (binary) 2#1111111111111111

base 8 (octal) 8#177777

base 10 (decimal) 65535 (no 10# needed)

base 16 ( hex) 16#FFFF

All of the above values are equal, they were just entered differently

Concept V2.5

Variable names: • Max. length 32 characters, may start with number

Unlocated:• Tag name without a hardware address.• Implemented in the code, so it´s faster

than a located variable.

Located:• Tag name with a hardware address. (State RAM.)• Not implemented in the code, so it´s

not as fast as a unlocated variable.

Constants:• Used to define value to a tagname,

e.g., Hi_Temp = 103.7• They cannot be located.

State-RAM

DDI...

DDO...

AVI...

AVO...

3x

4x

HW

I/O Map Ranges

1x

0x

1:1 - 1:32

0:1 - 0:32

3:1 - 3:8

4:1 - 4:4

1:1

0:1

3:1

4:1

Motor_On

Valve_Ctrl

Variable List Program

Variable declarations

Time1

Time2

Logic_InterlockStart_PB

Tank_Level

FFB

FFB

Level_Limit

Unlocated VariablesLocated Variables

Concept V2.5

Configuration, Addressing and Variable Assignments

Concept V2.5 Direct Addressing

Every direct address has a reference that indicates it’s position in the sequence and whether it is an input address (read only) or an output address (read / write).

• 0x / %QXx area = bit outputs (discrete), example 1: 000001 is discrete Output 1example 2: %QX00001 is Output Bit 1

• 1x / %IXx area = bit inputs (discrete), example 1: 100017 is discrete Input 17example 2: %IX00017 is Input Bit 17

• 3x / %IWx area = register inputs, example 1: 300300 is register input 300

example 2: %IW000300 is Input Word 300• 4x / %QWx area = register outputs,

example 1: 400029 is register output 29example 2: %QW00029 is Output Word

29

Concept V2.5

Variable Editor

Identifier Data Type

Unlocated Variable

Located Variable

# times used in program

Sort by:Name, Data Type, or Address

Click & Drag here

Paste here

Concept V2.5

Create New Variables by Copying

Rename the newly created variables

Concept V2.5

Search/Paste Dialog

Concept V2.5

Search/Replace Dialog

Concept V2.5

It is possible to change online without stopping the CPU:Variable Names Reference Addressesunlocated to located addresses and vice versa

Changed variables can be downloaded into the Quantum PLC with Download changes.

Concept V2.5

Variable Editor - Export Utility

Concept V2.5

Using Excel for Variables

Concept V2.5

Variable Editor - Import Utility

Concept V2.5

Variable Editor - Import UtilityVariable Import

Complete Import Selective Import

Sort ConstantsUnlocatedLocatedInput/Output available

for DFB

FilterBegins withContains

Concept V2.5

The Reference Data Editor

Concept V2.5

Reference Data Editor

Concept V2.5

Reference Data Editor Templates - Saving

Concept V2.5

Reference Data EditorAutomatically convert Concept V2.x to V2.5 format

Save as filename.RDF

New Templates are ASCII Text5 Variable attributesTag NameAddress (Reference Number)ValueSetValueDisplayFormat

(Hex,Dec,Binary etc)

RDE Templates can now be used for multiple Projects

Concept V2.5

Reference Data Editor Templates - Opening