mcjschmidt
Member
Hi everyone!
I have a question for the Siemens Step7 gurus out there. But first, some background!
There's also a TL;DR at bottom if you don't care about why I'm asking.
When I first started programming in Step7, I was taught the following procedure whenever I went to make mods to a program:
1. Open up my latest copy of program
2. Go online
3. Copy the main FC blocks from the online version to the offline version (these FC blocks are all that are ever really changed)
4. Close the online version
5. SaveAs the Offline version as "My_Program 13Oct16 Original"
6. SaveAs the Offline version as "My_Program 13Oct16"
Now I'd know I had the most recent program, "My_Program 13Oct16", open, and could make any mods to the program, knowing that I had a copy of the original program as well in case any of my mods went awry.
However, the other day I was tasked with changing the IP address of a Step7 PLC, but I was unable to download the Hardware Configuration (I was online via RS232). This was determined to be because I didn't have a recent enough version of WinCC Flexible package installed. The lack of this package prevented me from seeing/modifying the remnants of an abandoned Siemens HMI Application located inside my Project. This abandoned HMI Application was then preventing me from downloading the Hardware Configuration (I guess because it had a different Subnet mask or IP assigned than was allowed in my new configuration?).
The solution was then to have another fellow (who had an up-to-date version of WinCC Flexible) get online with the PLC. He then deleted the abandoned HMI Application and was subsequently able to download the Hardware Configuration. So I thought cool, IP successfully changed!
Well apparently, because I didn't have the right version of WinCC Flexible, I couldn't upload the Hardware Configuration to my copy of the Project either. So I was very happily connected via RS232, but I couldn't get my offline version's Hardware Configuration to match that of the new online version Hardware Configuration in order to connect via Ethernet. The fellow who had downloaded the Hardware Configuration had disappeared, otherwise he could've just sent me a copy.
So the way I finally got an offline copy of the project with the correct Hardware Configuration was to go online via RS232, and then File > SaveAs the entire project. I was then able to disconnect the RS232 and connect via Ethernet using my newly acquired offline project.
So my question and TL;DR:
Is there some reason not to get online with a Siemens Step7 PLC and just File > SaveAs the entire ONLINE project in SIMATIC Manager? The symbols remained, the comments remained, the DBs remained.
It seems like the vast majority of people suggest something similar to the procedure I listed at the top of this post. But if you can just File > SaveAs the entire thing, then why go through an entire procedure?
The one thing I did find on the internet that seems to say what I did was OK practice is the "Description" in the attached image.
Thanks for any and all help! It is much appreciated!
schmidt
I have a question for the Siemens Step7 gurus out there. But first, some background!
There's also a TL;DR at bottom if you don't care about why I'm asking.
When I first started programming in Step7, I was taught the following procedure whenever I went to make mods to a program:
1. Open up my latest copy of program
2. Go online
3. Copy the main FC blocks from the online version to the offline version (these FC blocks are all that are ever really changed)
4. Close the online version
5. SaveAs the Offline version as "My_Program 13Oct16 Original"
6. SaveAs the Offline version as "My_Program 13Oct16"
Now I'd know I had the most recent program, "My_Program 13Oct16", open, and could make any mods to the program, knowing that I had a copy of the original program as well in case any of my mods went awry.
However, the other day I was tasked with changing the IP address of a Step7 PLC, but I was unable to download the Hardware Configuration (I was online via RS232). This was determined to be because I didn't have a recent enough version of WinCC Flexible package installed. The lack of this package prevented me from seeing/modifying the remnants of an abandoned Siemens HMI Application located inside my Project. This abandoned HMI Application was then preventing me from downloading the Hardware Configuration (I guess because it had a different Subnet mask or IP assigned than was allowed in my new configuration?).
The solution was then to have another fellow (who had an up-to-date version of WinCC Flexible) get online with the PLC. He then deleted the abandoned HMI Application and was subsequently able to download the Hardware Configuration. So I thought cool, IP successfully changed!
Well apparently, because I didn't have the right version of WinCC Flexible, I couldn't upload the Hardware Configuration to my copy of the Project either. So I was very happily connected via RS232, but I couldn't get my offline version's Hardware Configuration to match that of the new online version Hardware Configuration in order to connect via Ethernet. The fellow who had downloaded the Hardware Configuration had disappeared, otherwise he could've just sent me a copy.
So the way I finally got an offline copy of the project with the correct Hardware Configuration was to go online via RS232, and then File > SaveAs the entire project. I was then able to disconnect the RS232 and connect via Ethernet using my newly acquired offline project.
So my question and TL;DR:
Is there some reason not to get online with a Siemens Step7 PLC and just File > SaveAs the entire ONLINE project in SIMATIC Manager? The symbols remained, the comments remained, the DBs remained.
It seems like the vast majority of people suggest something similar to the procedure I listed at the top of this post. But if you can just File > SaveAs the entire thing, then why go through an entire procedure?
The one thing I did find on the internet that seems to say what I did was OK practice is the "Description" in the attached image.
Thanks for any and all help! It is much appreciated!
schmidt