GX IEC tips

[KAZAH 6]

to the point

[KAZAH 6]

No need to invent anything.must take into account the experience of other.open access to information and monitor trends.the most important thing is not a systemic approach.software is supposed to facilitate the work and not be forced to suffer.the most important thing no one asks us what we need.

[KAZAH 6]

[djtron 0]

I like that discussion and many of important points have been triggered so far. For us as programmers the most important issue is the handling of the software. I would like to know your opinions about some other points: 1) The last GX IEC Developer (7.04) has been released in the time of a world economic crisis. I wouldn't wonder, if they sort it out mostly because of this crisis. Of course, it has been implemented something of IEC in GX Works2. At least with the latest version of GXW2 I can successfully import (my simple) projects (FBDs) from GX IEC Developer. But don’t you believe the reason of stopping GX IEC Dev. was mostly to save costs? 2) Maybe Mitsubishi decided in that difficult time to cut this and no matter what happens, it is okay for them. I mean this little market they have here in Europe, why they should care? 3) I don't believe that Mitsubishi will get problem in the Asian market, not selling their products. I believe the opposite. E.g. India. It was more or less owned by Rockwell, today it's Mitsubishi. But in Europe GXW2 could become a real problem, since programmers used to IEC (may) refuse it. And this partly, since the software bundle iQ Works wasn't much usable in the beginning. Even the Japanese customer refuses GXW2 - they prefer still GX Developer. I am myself thinking to change over – where possible - to another product and sort out Mitsubishi. But how we say in Germany: “Cobber, stick to your last”. Don’t you agree, that Mitsubishi should really improve GXW2 drastically or give us back IEC Dev. to do so? 4) Mitsubishi has been the only one, as far as I know, who had 2 different software beside each other on the market. Neither Siemens nor Rockwell did so. I never liked that point. Do you know any other who did so?

[Crossbow 294]

djtron, there is no relation between the economic situation and GX Works2. The plan was always to replace GX Developer and GX IEC Developer with one single programming package. The development started many many years ago, around the time of GX Developer 8.55. I can tell this because some of the bad English which was corrected after that version in GX Developer was present in the original copies of GX Works2. So it became obvious where the split happened. And I disagree on the two software packages being unique to the market. Look at RS Logix 500 versus 5000. Is that not as drastic of a difference as GX Developer and GX IEC Developer? And at least GX Works2 can open older version programs, you don't need to have 5 different versions of RS Logix 5000 on your PC to support a plant. The reason was simple. Japan saw no need for IEC programming, as that's not how any of the Japanese vendors did things. IEC was a demand of the European market, and so the European market created GX IEC Developer without Japan. Endgame now is to move both into GX Works2 and stop this duplicate development effort. Even though it doesn't do everything perfectly, GX Works2 is still light years better than GX Developer for the basic programmer. 1. It has more F1 help, including the programming commands, which did not exist in GX Developer. You always needed to have the programming manual PDF nearby. Even all of the GX Works2 manuals are available in the Help menu now. 2. Connection setup is simplified, and the project can store more than one connection method, which I use constantly as some days I am in front of the machine and others I am at my desk over Ethernet. 3. The tools which were GX Simulator and GX Configurator are all built in, removing the issues with GX Configurator and cross reference. 4. Built-in comments which can be imported for intelligent modules and special relays and special registers. 5. Simplified user interface with automatic switching of toolbars based on which window is open. 6. Complete backward compatibility for supported PLCs. You can open a GX Developer project, change it, and save it back to the GX Developer format. Who else allows that? You can also import a project written in ladder and upgrade it to support labels or move to a structured program. If you try to make or open an A Series program in GX Works2 (not supported) it automatically switches you back to GX Developer. 7. The keyboard commands and screen colors and toolbars can be completely customized. And they are not saved in the projects anymore, so once you get your screen set up the way you like, opening someone else's program won't realign everything. And the new docking windows make screen organization much better. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it's perfect. No programming software is. There are many things which can be improved. But it's way ahead of GX Developer, which is what most of my customers use. I have attended MEAU's training classes on GX Works2 Programming and GX Works2 Structured Programming, and now I loathe having to use GX Developer for a safety PLC or A Series. GX Works2 is so much cleaner.