Reader small image

You're reading from  PLC and HMI Development with Siemens TIA Portal

Product typeBook
Published inApr 2022
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781801817226
Edition1st Edition
Right arrow
Author (1)
Liam Bee
Liam Bee
author image
Liam Bee

Liam Bee has worked in automation for over 16 years, after starting his career at 16 years old as an instrument technician in the water industry. He began his automation journey by maintaining PLCs and the instruments connected to them. He found very early on that he had an interest in PLCs and automation, taking the time to learn PLC programming in his own time, as well as exposing himself as much as possible to automation while working. After 8 years of working in maintenance, Liam started his own side business, providing bespoke controls using lower-range PLC solutions. This experience proved invaluable to his progression; he learned quickly, often through failure, and his knowledge of control design improved significantly. 12 years into his career, he moved roles again; this time, he was looking for something to fill knowledge gaps and target Siemens as he was yet to use Siemens extensively. Liam started at Aquabio Ltd and quickly found himself immersed in Siemens SIMATIC Manager and TIA Portal. Over the next 3 years, he worked hard to understand Siemens' tools and development environments, calling on knowledge from other PLC environments that he had previously worked with. Over his years working with automation, he has learned many different languages and development environments. He has worked with Siemens, Allen Bradley, Schneider, Mitsubishi, and a host of other PLC platforms, all of which have helped shape the design concepts that he uses today. Liam has also taught himself computer programming languages such as VBA, VBS, VB.NET, C#, Java, and more. Closing the space between IT and industrial automation is important as time moves forwards and he has always tried his hardest to be at the forefront of innovation.
Read more about Liam Bee

Right arrow

Special objects

TIA Portal comes equipped with two types of special objects: Elements and Controls. Both types of object have a range of pre-built properties and events that relate to their designated purpose.

Both Elements and Controls can be found in the Toolbox window to the right in TIA Portal when a screen is open, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

Figure 9.12 – Elements and Controls in the Toolbox section

These objects have more specific roles than Basic objects. Elements are typically objects that a user may interact with, such as a button or slider. Controls are objects that allow a TIA Portal's Unified environment to make use of a particular function, such as displaying a faceplate or managing alarms.

Elements

Elements are essentially ready-made faceplates that programmers can drop into a project to enable quick visualization of data. You can see an example of an element in the following screenshot:

...
lock icon
The rest of the page is locked
Previous PageNext Page
You have been reading a chapter from
PLC and HMI Development with Siemens TIA Portal
Published in: Apr 2022Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781801817226

Author (1)

author image
Liam Bee

Liam Bee has worked in automation for over 16 years, after starting his career at 16 years old as an instrument technician in the water industry. He began his automation journey by maintaining PLCs and the instruments connected to them. He found very early on that he had an interest in PLCs and automation, taking the time to learn PLC programming in his own time, as well as exposing himself as much as possible to automation while working. After 8 years of working in maintenance, Liam started his own side business, providing bespoke controls using lower-range PLC solutions. This experience proved invaluable to his progression; he learned quickly, often through failure, and his knowledge of control design improved significantly. 12 years into his career, he moved roles again; this time, he was looking for something to fill knowledge gaps and target Siemens as he was yet to use Siemens extensively. Liam started at Aquabio Ltd and quickly found himself immersed in Siemens SIMATIC Manager and TIA Portal. Over the next 3 years, he worked hard to understand Siemens' tools and development environments, calling on knowledge from other PLC environments that he had previously worked with. Over his years working with automation, he has learned many different languages and development environments. He has worked with Siemens, Allen Bradley, Schneider, Mitsubishi, and a host of other PLC platforms, all of which have helped shape the design concepts that he uses today. Liam has also taught himself computer programming languages such as VBA, VBS, VB.NET, C#, Java, and more. Closing the space between IT and industrial automation is important as time moves forwards and he has always tried his hardest to be at the forefront of innovation.
Read more about Liam Bee