Mapping Output bits to Binary

My HMI (PanelView C400 TFT Color ) won't allow me to use an output address in a Tag.
So I have to map the outputs to b3 bits.
Is a Move the best/fastest/most efficient way to do this?
The other option I thought of seems tedious.

O:0.0/0   b3:14/0

||------------( )

O:0.0/1   b3:14/1

||------------( )

O:0.0/2   b3:14/2

||------------( )

...

The MOV is what we used when confronted iwth this type situation. Just comment the rung and be done.

Copy can also be used. As Daba likes to point out, it doesn't have to peform the type checking.

I prefer bit for bit mapping. Infinite flexibility and (in the PLC-5/SLC) actually executes faster...

Plus, for flag tags (booleans) in an HMI, and especially real I/O mapping, it's nice to be able to find them addressed to the bit level without having to backtrack through a copy instruction.

In the future, you may want to do this in reverse. Let the PLC turn on internal bits (as 'pseudo' outputs), then map these to the physical outputs. The HMI points to the pseudo outputs.

If an output ever fails, you just remap it to an spare output, and your HMI still sees the same 'output' (the internal bit).

Although the COP/MOV method looks cleaner, for physical outputs, I prefer the bit by bit method (your first example), with only ONE instance of the output bit (the coil). Makes it really easy to remap a failed output.

With your current COP or MOV approach, you would also have to reprogram the HMI to point to the remapped output.



-Eric