CODESYS Application Composer

The CODESYS Application Composer is an engineering tool for the efficient creation of controller applications. It supports a modular approach and is particularly suitable for applications which are built from repeating modules.

The CODESYS Application Composer also provides a template project which can be selected in the New Project dialog. This template creates a project with a device, an application, and a Library Manager in the POU pool. The Library Manager contains the AC_ModuleBase and AC_Persistence libraries. The template, which is based on the project ComposerProject.project, can be modified if necessary. It is stored in the "Templates" subfolder of the CODESYS installation directory.

Persistence Manager: The CODESYS Application Composer also includes the Persistence Manager. It can also be used without a Composer license. In this case, the option to generate a complete controller application is not available.

Application phases of the CODESYS Application Composer

Phase 1: Developing modules

Target group: Software developers

Knowledge of software development is required.

Objective: Provision of reusable modules for later use in the CODESYS Application Composer as a basis for applications.

In Phase 1, the functionality is subdivided into logically distinct, modular units. The modules are organized into application-specific libraries and provided centrally.

Each module characterizes a functional unit at a high level and defines the following:

Parameters
Inputs and outputs (I/Os)
Visualizations
Alarms
Devices
Functional relationships to other modules

. Tools for module definition

Module Declaration Editor: Modules can be created here.

Phase 2: Creating applications

Target group: Application developers and commissioning engineers

Knowledge of software development is not required.

Objective: Assembly of a specific application by configuration.

In Phase 2, the application is created by selecting and combining the modules prepared in Phase 1 from the module tree. The module parameters are set and machine processes are defined via process modules. Optionally, application-specific code can be added in the form of extension modules. This will be taken into account when the generator is run again.

From the configured structure, a complete IEC 61131-3 source code and other special objects (visualization, I/O devices, alarm configuration) are generated via menu commands. The generated code is transparent and editable if necessary.

. Tools

Module Tree: Environment where applications are created and/or edited using the modules pre-built in Phase 1. In order to get a Persistence Manager, the top-level module Persistence Manager needs to be inserted in the module tree.
Module Editor: Tool for assembling the software modules which have been previously developed with the Module Declaration Editor. The properties of the persistence channels and data storage of the Persistence Manager are also configured here.

Phase 3: Compiling and commissioning the application

Target group: Commissioning engineers

Objective: Provision of a working application on the target controller.

The generated source code is compiled, downloaded to the controller, and started. The diagnostic and debugging tools of the CODESYS environment are available for testing, checking, and optimization purposes.

The application has been successfully compiled and installed on the controller and is operational. The machine can now be tested and operated in its intended operating state.

In this phase, a PersistenceConfig object is generated in the project from the top-level model of the Persistence Manager instantiated in Phase 2. After that, nothing can be changed in this object.