Ladder Logic "Flag"

I think in a past life that I ran across a ladder logic developer program that allowed me to put a flag on a rung so I could quickly jump back and forth. Does anyone recall this as well? What program was that?

Are you searching for a particular software that has this, or are you asking about a certain one? I don't recall seeing one in rslogix 500/5000, but maybe someone else knows how to create one.

oxlacey said:

I think in a past life that I ran across a ladder logic developer program that allowed me to put a flag on a rung so I could quickly jump back and forth. Does anyone recall this as well? What program was that?

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Perhaps you are referring to JMP and LBL instructions in Allen-Bradley, e.g. here and here? They are probably considered the Devil's spawn by some, but the can come in handy if used with care.

If you are referring to Rockwell's RSLogix 5000 or Studio 5000 then it is called Bookmarks. The bookmarks look like flags on the rungs. Then you can jump from bookmark to bookmark to navigate to specific sections of logic. They are not saved though. Opening an existing program you wouldn't see any bookmarks. You add them as you go, then they are discarded when you close the file.

You have to go into the toolbars and enable it as the Bookmark toolbar is disabled by default. I think it is under the View menu for the 5000 software. View then Toolbars.

OG

It sounds like you are referring to jumping to specific rungs when using the ladder editor. If so, please let everyone know what ladder software you are using?

Taking a guess that you are referring to RSLogix500 then you can use Ctrl-G and then type in the file:rung you are trying to go to.

It's been a while but there is another RS500 helper which has to do with naming pages or sections of a file and then being able to get there by name.

Before everyone fires off with talk of RSlogix500/5000, I should point out that the OP did not mention what platform he is using, or even which manufacturer's software.

I don't think it's worth guessing, the thread will fill up with tons of information which could be potentially useless to the OP.

Once we know his platform we can give him pertinent answers.

My vote is to wait for the OP to return ...

daba said:

My vote is to wait for the OP to return ...

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Since the OP asked "What program was that?" I take it the platform is un-remembered.

Yeah, I took it to mean the OP didn't know what program it was. And I showed an example of a program that does indeed show a flag.

OG

I'm in no way disagreeing with your statements, however I took it to mean he wants to know what it was, so he can do some more programming, rather than reminiscing past pleasures.

Then I figured if he was going to do some more ladder programming he would have a target PLC in mind, rather than just programming for the fun of it ....

I'm sure we could fill this thread with a huge list of all programming software that has (or in this case, had, might not be around anymore) bookmark functionality, or backward/forward buttons. I wonder if we did such a list, one of them might jog his memory ???

And how far back do we need to go ? PLCs and their associated programming software programs have been around since the late 60's (yes, that's over 50 years!) when Bedford Associates started Modicon. Some systems even had programming software emanating from different sources (e.g. A-B 6200 Series PLC2 and Taylor).

From his last question "What program was that?" can we infer he believes there was only ever one program that could do bookmarking ? I'm sure there could be lots of them.

I seem to remember you could do it in Telemecanique's rather poor programming lash-up using a dedicated machine that had an IP whatever rated keyboard that the keys needed pressing so hard you could only do twenty minutes max, then needed a break to let your fingers recover. Hey, reminiscing is fun !


Back in a previous life I ...... oh, never mind ....

Operaghost said:

If you are referring to Rockwell's RSLogix 5000 or Studio 5000 then it is called Bookmarks. The bookmarks look like flags on the rungs. Then you can jump from bookmark to bookmark to navigate to specific sections of logic. They are not saved though. Opening an existing program you wouldn't see any bookmarks. You add them as you go, then they are discarded when you close the file.

You have to go into the toolbars and enable it as the Bookmark toolbar is disabled by default. I think it is under the View menu for the 5000 software. View then Toolbars.

OG

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It's actually really convenient to map these as shortcut keys using Autohotkey/AutoIT.

I wish this was a native Studio shortcut, but I have it so that Alt+B is bookmark, Alt+N is next bookmark, Alt+V is previous bookmark.
I had to use mouse movements and returns when I press that shortcut keys. IF someone needs this this information should be enough.

Codesys 3.5 and programming platforms derived from it have this for some time now. Not exactly sure when this was introduced. I do find it a useful feature in complex and large pieces of code.

Siemens software also has Breakpoints.
Throwing it out as a possibility.

RVaughan said:

Siemens software also has Breakpoints.
Throwing it out as a possibility.

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It may be a language issue, but I don't think "Breakpoint" is the correct terminology.

Usually a "Breakpoint" is where you want code execution to stop, rather than a reference to a location in the code for the programming software to return to.