Building and loading the application onto the PLC

This article is about the workflow phase "integration and system test" for an application.

In the phase "integration and system test", the application (with all POUs) is built in Neuron Power Engineer and then loaded on the PLC. This results in the code image for the application that is running on the PLC.
Before actually building and loading the application, it is important to perform a static code analysis. And after building and loading the application, it is important to check the build report and compare its information with previous reports.

(info)  When applying this building and loading process to a library, this part is known as creating and deploying the library.

Comply with warning 1 and warning 2 before loading the application onto the PLC:

Warning 1

Perform a static code analysis. Details: See "Performing a static code analysis".

 

Warning 2

Make sure that only tested versions of →POUs are used in the safety-relevant application. This must be solved by organisational measures.

One possibility to ensure that only tested versions of POUs are used is the usage of only POUs that are provided within a versioned library after the POUs have been tested (a SiL-test, a PiL-test and a static code analysis must have been performed for them) and they have been released as well. Details on creating a library with POUs: See Neuron Power Engineer  user documentation , "Creating custom library with user blocks"

How to build and load the application onto the PLC:

  1. Enter the specifications (e.g. the IP-address) that are required within the PLC-object of the Neuron Power Engineer project, so that the correct PLC is addressed when loading the application. Details: See Neuron Power Engineer user documentation, "Configuring PLC within PLC-object"
    (info) The PLC-object provides other specifications as well to create an application. See Warning 3.

  2. In Neuron Power Engineer, open the perspective Application Testing: menu Window, Open Perspective and Application Testing

  3. Connect to the PLC. See Warning 4. 
    Details: See Neuron Power Engineer user documentation, "Connecting to PLC or disconnecting from PLC"

  4. Build and load the application onto the PLC. Details: See Neuron Power Engineer user documentation, "Building and loading application onto PLC"
    Result: A build report is generated. This build report is needed later on (see step 8).

  5. In Neuron Power Engineer, check the following:

    1. The Instances view must display the target-specific execution state that identifies that the PLC is operated in safe mode. See Warning 5.
      Details on the target-specific execution states: See the safety manual for the target platform, e.g. the "logi.µSRTS safety manual", article "Possible execution states"

    2. No errors must be reported – neither in separate windows nor in the Problems and Error Log views. See Warning 5 for possible messages on resource usage.
      If errors are reported, fix them and repeat all workflow phases (as required by the change of the application). In the case that there are only warnings and/or infos, contact the system integrator and clarify the necessary course of events.

  6. Make sure that the Instances view displays matching fingerprints. See Warning 6.
    These fingerprints must match:

    1. the fingerprint for the application in Neuron Power Engineer that is displayed in the line for the resource name

    2. the fingerprint for the application loaded onto the PLC that is displayed in the line Code identification below of PLC Information

  7. Check which program instances are displayed in the Instance view, under the Program Instances item. See Warning 7.
    The program instance Counter is listed in the following illustration:

  8. Open the build report that has been generated when the application has been built. See Warning 8.
    (info)  The automatically shown Build Log view provides a link in the field Report to open the generated build report. Details: See Neuron Power Engineer user documentation, "Displaying build log and build history". See Warning 5.

  9. Compare the information in the reports as specified in warning 8.

  10. Keep all reports (the MRC-report, the build report and – if required – the SiL-/PiL-test reports as well). Observe that the build report is in particular required to clearly identify the built/loaded application.

Warning 3

Mind all restrictions when using Neuron Power Engineer . See the article "Restrictions for the application" of the "logi.µSRTS safety manual" and the article "List of unsupported and restricted elements" of the documentation "Safety instructions on working with the IDE".

Warning 4

When identical applications are used on different PLCs, organisational measures must be taken to ensure that the correct PLC is addressed when the connection is established.
This is valid because identical applications have the same fingerprints in  Neuron Power Engineer.

Warning 5

If the application can be loaded and it is started (= running) on the safety PLC, there is sufficient resource usage for processing the application. Consult the system integrator whether there are specific messages reporting problems with the resource usage on the safety PLC. For additional information on how to determine the resource usage, consult the system integrator as well.

Warning 6

Make sure that the fingerprint for the application in Neuron Power Engineer matches the fingerprint for the application loaded onto the PLC. Continue with the workflow only if the fingerprints do match. If they do not match, do not go on to validate and/or release the application.

 

Warning 7

Make sure that the safety application contains only the correct programs (= program instances listed in the Instances view) as they are intended to be used in the safety application.

Warning 8

The generated build report contains information about the built application and its elements.

Example for build report

Example for build report

(info) Observe that the illustration is an example. Your actual report might be different and/or contain additional information/sections. 

Check the following information in your build report:

  1. the build infrastructure – in particular the version numbers and checksums
    Make sure that these pieces of information match the information provided by the system integrator to guarantee that the variant/version of Neuron Power Engineer has been released by the system integrator for the usage of developing a safety-relevant application and/or libraries for them.

  2. the →resource information – in particular the code identification (= fingerprint of the application)
    Make sure that this piece of information matches the fingerprint for the application loaded onto the PLC as displayed in the Instances view of Neuron Power Engineer. If they do not match, do not go on to validate and/or release the application.

  3. the remaining program structure – in particular the names and the fingerprints of each application element as well as whether there is an IO task

    1. Make sure that the names and the fingerprints of each application element match the names and fingerprints recorded in the MRC-report and in the SiL-/PiL-test reports (see the kept reports from "SiL-test: Testing the POUs on the PC" and "PiL-test: Testing the POUs on the PLC"). If they do not match, do not go on to validate and/or release the application.

    2. Make sure that the expected version of the libraries is used. If a different version is used, do not go on to validate and/or release the application.

    3. Only if an IO task is specified: Make sure that only one task is listed as the designated IO task and that the specified IO task is the expected task. Also, comply with all warnings that are specified under "Warnings/notes for accessing IOs". If the information is not as expected and/or the warnings are not complied, do not go on to validate and/or release the application.

  4. errors or warnings/infos
    Make sure that no errors are reported. If errors are listed, fix them and repeat all workflow phases (as required by the change of the application). In the case that there are only warnings and/or infos, contact the system integrator and clarify the necessary course of events.

Comply with the following as well:

Warning 9

A change of Neuron Power Engineer and/or the application requires a full re-validation unless stated otherwise in the appropriate Neuron Power Engineer  documentation.
This means: You must validate the application anew, when you are:

  • rebuilding the same application using a different version of Neuron Power Engineer .

  • changing/enhancing an already released application and rebuilding this application using the same versions of Neuron Power Engineer .