'GDS Port List' Editor (Profinet device)

For controllers of the PLCnext Technology generation, input and output ports can be used in addition to or instead of resource-global variables. Programs communicate using ports, i.e., data can be read from and written to programs via ports.

Ports are listed in GDS Port Lists instead of Data Lists. These ports are either declared in a local program POU with one of the keywords 'IN Port' or 'OUT Port' or they are part of and handed over from instantiated external programs. IN and OUT ports can be assigned (mapped) to each other. This way, data can be transferred between IEC 61131-3-compliant programs developed in the current project and non-IEC 61131-3 programs (developed in C++, for example) which are instantiated in a task.

Toolbar button	Description
	The command is only available if two table entries are selected that can be connected to each other and while the debug mode is not active. Connects the selected list entries.
	The command is only active for output ports which are already assigned to an input port. Deletes the assignment of input and output port in the selected table line.
	The command is only active for input ports which are already assigned to an output port. Deletes the assignment of input and output port in the selected table line.
	The command is available for ports which are connected to another port. Deletes the assignment in the selected table row. The disconnected port is not deleted.
	The command is only active for port members which are not assigned to any other port. Removes the port member from the Port List. Unconnected port members remain after disconnecting the member of a port which has a complex data type, such as an array or struct. See topic "Ports of user-defined data types" for details.
	Removes all ports from the Port List that are not used within a POU in your project. A desktop alert displays how many unused IN and OUT ports have been removed from the list when executing the command.
	Imports IN and OUT ports from a .csv file (semicolon-separated values) to the GDS Port List. The progress of the import is displayed in the 'MESSAGES | Import Export Log'.
	Exports all IN and OUT ports contained in the active GDS Port List to a .csv file. The progress of the export is displayed in the 'MESSAGES | Import Export Log'. The log entries provide, amongst other, information on the number of ports exported. Note If you edit the exported csv file with an external tool, you must make sure that the editor used does not change the column separators (semicolons) or the file encoding. For example, MS Excel may be set to modify csv files so that they cannot be reimported.
	The command is only active for output ports which are already assigned to an input port. Duplicates the output port. The duplicated port can then be assigned to another input port creating a 1-to-n assignment. The command can be called more than once for the same output port. This way, an output port can be read several times by different input ports.
	The command is only active for duplicated output ports (see previous table line) which are not assigned to an input port. Deletes the duplicate output port from the Data List.
	Opens the toolbar for local find and replace operations.

Column	Property	Meaning
OUT Port	Expand the column by clicking the icon in the column header to display further properties.	Identifier of the output port to which the program instance can write.
	Type	Data type of the port. The data type determines what kind of value the port can have and it defines the initial value, range of possible values and the number of bits.
	Index	Index of the port.
	Retain	Indicates that a retentive port is declared. The value of a retentive port is kept in the controller memory even if power is switched off. In case of a warm start, the last value of the port is going to be used. Also refer to the topic "Retain Handling" for further information.
	OPC	Indicates that the port is visible for the integrated OPC UA server and can therefore be subscribed by OPC clients.
IN Port	Expand the column by clicking the icon in the column header to display further properties.	Identifier of the input port which the program instance can read.
	Type	Data type of the port. The data type determines what kind of value the port can have and it defines the initial value, range of possible values and the number of bits.
	Index	Index of the port.
	Retain	Indicates that a retentive port is declared. The value of a retentive port is kept in the controller memory even if power is switched off. In case of a warm start, the last value of the port is going to be used. Also refer to the topic "Retain Handling" for further information.
	OPC	Indicates that the port is visible for the integrated OPC UA server and can therefore be subscribed by OPC clients.
Function		User-defined description of the port assignment.