Variables

All variables in the entire project are grouped by:

Variable

Description

Global Variables

List all global variables used and accessible throughout the entire program.

Program Variables

List the variables related to your specific selected program.

Retain Variables

List all variables to be retained when the system is powered down.

For each variable, the Dictionary toolbox allows you to set these parameters:

Field

Description

Attributes

The variable attributes are Read-only, External, IN, OUT.

  • Read-only: A variable set as Read Only is a constant.
    • It cannot be modified in the PLC code, but it can be manually forced.
    • Read-onlyvariables can be mapped to Inputs but not to Outputs.
      • Inputs can change state and a Read-only variable cannot change its value to match the input state.
  • External: this attribute is not used.
  • IN or OUT: Input or Output parameters of User Defined Function Blocks

Description

The variable description is a long comment text that describes the variable.

Dim.

To declare an array, specify dimensions for an internal variable.

See Arrays for more information.

HMI

Select variables to be used in HMI.

See Map Variables to HMI for more information.

Init value

The variable initial value when you start your application.

See Variable Initial Value for more information.

Name

The variable name.

Syb.

Reserved.

Tag

The variable tag is a short comment, that can be displayed together with the variable name in graphical editors.

Type

The variable type (can also be UDFB or complex structure).

See Data Types for more information.

User Group

The variable user group (used for sorting variables).

Value

All the variables in the Dictionary are animated with real-time values 1

  • This column is only displayed when your application is running.
  • See Variable Monitoring for more information.