Best Practices for maintaining version control

Hi all,
I have a client with a large collection of PLC-5 (yes 5) with DH+ connections. They have a number of laptops that 'float' and three configuration stations that fixed and connected to the mill ethernet network.
Of course what happens is that programming documentation is too often lost (and perhaps more I suspect, if download is used too casually).

My essential choices are to enforce a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) or to go to some asset management software (like FactoryTalk Asset Center).

My question is about perferred best practices. What is your opinion?

Hello Jeff,

First of all, never use a PLC-upload ! It should be your last option.
Store all sources on a central server (dayly back-up etc.)
Then it comes down to the most difficult thing: discipline !
If you want to monitor operation: get the actual version from the server.
If you want to change functionality or debug, start with getting the actual version from the server. If anything changed: store the actual version on the server !!
Use version numbers, and include a document describing which changes took place in what version.

If you use text-based source code, a version control system like VNC or source-safe can be a valuable tool. However, make sure you thourouglhy understand these systems to prevent lost / damaged / incomplete source code.

Hope it's of any help.

Kind regards,

Frank

Franky B,

i disagree, the plc code is the master. it may not work correctly, but it is still the master since it's whats running. one cannot say that the copy on the server is the correct version.

we had 6 laptops and multiple pcs with programming software.
the pc's i don't count because they were dedicated pc's tied to the machines.

we always had trouble keeping track of the correct version of the program even with 6 laptops. someone would make a change and not send me the file so i could put it on the server. Just when i got the bugs worked out, 12 people were given full access to the plc programs on the server. after that, files were changed, deleted, moved. the maintenance super and i decided to forget the server and keep copies on our laptops since we proved the files could not be trusted. ticked off my boss but we proved our case inside of a week when someone moved his files (not me - a contractor).

i always made a copy of my program in a backup folder, then uploaded the plc program. some documentation may not be there but you know whats going on. i then do a comparison of the files for the differences.

regards,
james

one possibility

When I had similar concerns I did a bit of code to detect changes in the checksum on any of the processors. A changed checksum meant changed program. I would then ask the 5w/1h questions. Eventually the guys on the floor became consistent about reporting changes without the nag.

For comments and version control on the floor computers, I did a batchfile script to clean out the dross and push the latest version to each troubleshooting pc from the "authoritative" archive, which was kept updated.

Old school? Yeah, probably...

@ The OP just use Asset Centre as it will work in the environment you have and lock down and control access. This way you can control and know who did what, when and why.

We se it here with close to 800 plc's and a whole lot of HMI's and about 1500 drives. I put it in not long after I came here now that was a mess to clean up.

Take control of your environment before it gets worse.

The Plc Kid said:

@ The OP just use Asset Centre as it will work in the environment you have and lock down and control access. This way you can control and know who did what, when and why.

We se it here with close to 800 plc's and a whole lot of HMI's and about 1500 drives. I put it in not long after I came here now that was a mess to clean up.

Take control of your environment before it gets worse.

Click to expand...

+1
This nut has been cracked, no need to reinvent the wheel, etc.
We were in the same boat here about a year ago. We had an army of guys wandering around with thumb drives, hoping they were working with the most current file, and the techs hoping they could still get online when the contractors were gone. Not a good situation.
In my case, there were some hiccups getting AssetCentre up and running, but things are so much better since we did.

Thanks! - I found this helpful

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