TIA Portal V14 - Tag Comments

Rob...

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Jul 2016
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Ok, so I've recently been given a project to do in portal V.14 after a good few months using studio 5000.

I know there isn't a way to do this in V.13.1 that I was previously using but was hoping dearly that this would have been fixed in this update.

Is there any way to show tag comments above the tag when programming in LAD, like studio 5000 (and every other software package I've used do!).

I know Siemens are going down the symbolic tag route, but as everyone knows the more description you can add to your code, the easier it is for someone else/maintenance to deal with down the line.
 
Hello Rob,

There is,

1.Options
2.Settings
3.PLC programming
4. Under general settings for PLC programming you have the possibility to change the View ( at the operand representation)

//Vic
 
VictorBit

Taken a look at that, and it's not what I'm after unfortunately.

Thanks for the input.
 
Rob,

I think it's actually the setting right after the ones he circled. Set "Location of tag information" to "At LAD/FB address".

However, this capability was only introduced in V14 SP1, so if you're at 14 with no SP then you'll need to upgrade. I've been waiting for this for years.
 
Well, we get all the updates as an SI, so I'll dig that out. Update to SP1 and get back to you all.

Thanks!
 
View menu will give you access to those options.
The "Tag Information" option above the one shown in the picture should have what you're looking for

view_tags.jpg
 
I always choose "below LAD/FBD network".
If you choose "at LAD/FBD network" then the networks bloom out and becomes unreadable just because of the size.
 
I always choose "below LAD/FBD network".
If you choose "at LAD/FBD network" then the networks bloom out and becomes unreadable just because of the size.

The downside of comments below is that you need to cross reference the tag above in the logic with the tag below with the comments. If there is a complex rung above it, the table can get rather beefy. It takes up less space overall, but it makes it harder to match a tag to its comments.

The reason this becomes important (in my experience) is that I work with a lot of Rockwell programmers who are used to the tag comment and tag name being always together in the code, and the tag comment ends up being pretty much required to understand what is going on. I see many situations where the wire number (VL1551) is the tag name, and the actual function is the description (Hot water valve open). I also see countless situations where they have an array of bits (in a DINT) with different comments for each of the bits to indicate its use, and they are pretty much meaningless without the comments.

There are other ways to solve these problems via Siemens best practices, but most of the systems I work on have dual spec Siemens & Rockwell, and the Siemens code spec was written by an AB trained guy who wanted it to match exactly.
 
I guess that for comments "at LAD/FBD network" you need to selfimpose a limit to the length of the tag comments. I tend to be quite verbose, better too much than too little.

The tag symbols on the other hand must be reasonably meaningful. So much that they really help with the understanding of the code. I mean, why have symbols if they dont help; you could just as well remove the symbols altogether.
I name symbols after the connected item which follows functions and item naming, plus a small helpful description, i.e. for a sensor it could be "=W1-BG2_end_position".
To use wirenumbers sounds a really bad choice IMO.
 
We will generally use tags relating to the P&ID drawings.

So for instance AVxxZSO

(Automated Valve xx Open Limit)

Where the xx designation would be a number, an I would normally write a comment such as "Plant Inlet Valve Open Limit".

I have a excel sheet built up that auto generates tags, comments and lays them out ready for importing into Logix, AutoCAD. Saves a huge amount of time.

However just having a tag AVxxZSO won't mean much for maintenance or someone new reading the code without prior knowledge of the plant or looking all over the P&ID.
 

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