Engineering and Non-engineering Devices
This topic contains the following sections:
- Adding Ethernet devices as non-engineering devices to the project
- Using non-engineering Ethernet devices as engineering devices
PLCnext Engineer differentiates between the following two types of devices:
- Engineering devicesEngineering devices are devices that are part of the active controller/Profinet configuration. The active controller/Profinet configuration is represented as hierarchical tree structure in the PLANT where the engineering controller is the root node of the tree (see [1] in the figure below). All physical and logical components (hardware and software) of the plant/machine to be controlled are child nodes in the hierarchy.Only the devices in the active configuration are relevant for the engineering project (contains all data such as network and communication settings, device parameterizations, controller runtime configuration, etc. required for the application).
- Non-engineering Ethernet devicesNon-engineering Ethernet devices are devices that are not part of the active controller/Profinet configuration. They are not relevant for the engineering project (see above). Non-engineering devices are shown as single child nodes of the 'Project' node without any sub-structure (see [2] in the figure below). A Non-engineering device has only one 'Settings' editor that provides general and Ethernet-specific properties.
Note
Safety-related non-engineering devices do not create any safety-related data (such as parameters) in the project. Therefore, it is not necessary to logon to the Safety-related Area when adding such a device.
Adding Ethernet devices as non-engineering devices to the project
Devices that support Ethernet communication can be added as non-engineering devices to the project. This can be done in the following ways:
- via drag and drop from the COMPONENTS area.To do this, drag the device from the COMPONENTS area and drop it on the 'Project' node in the PLANT.
Note
A non-engineering controller can only be added to the project, if the project already contains an engineering controller (see below how to use a non-engineering controller as engineering controller). - via the 'Physical Topology' editor.To do this, select the device in the 'Network Topology' editor and click the
button on the editor's toolbar.Further Info
For details on this procedure, see the topic "Scanning the network and adding devices/connections to the project".
Using non-engineering Ethernet devices as engineering devices
Non-engineering Ethernet devices can be added to the engineering project and thus used as engineering devices. Depending on the device type, the procedures differ as follows:
- PLCnext Technology controllers
To make a non-engineering controller an engineering controller, select 'Use as engineering controller' from the context menu of the controller in the PLANT (this operation cannot be undone). The controller/Profinet configuration with the selected controller as root node and the corresponding sub-structure will be created.Note
Using a non-engineering controller as engineering controller is only possible if the project does not contain an engineering controller (i.e., the engineering controller has been deleted from the PLANT).
- Profinet devicesTo use a non-engineering Profinet device as engineering device, drag the device and drop it on the 'Profinet' node in the project's tree structure. The device will be added to the 'Profinet' node as child node with all associated sub-elements as shown in the following example.You can undo this operation, i.e., make the engineering device as non-engineering device again, by dragging the device and dropping it on the 'Project' node.
