Introduction

This tutorial explains how to build an application by using the Winproladder programming package to write a ladder control program. In this tutorial we will not tackle the advanced features of WinProladder, only the basic operations needed to build a simple application will involved. Hope this will lead the user into the world of WinProladder with less efforts.

Description of sample program

The application we will build in this tutorial is described as below: Write a control program to generate a moving LED pattern by using the output indicators. The time chart of output is shown below

At first Y0 will be 'on' for one second. After that Y1 will also 'on'. This will cycle to Y2 then Y3 ... After Y7 is 'on', the next time all output will all be 'off' for 1 second. This procedures will repeat again as described above. The corresponding control ladder program is shown at below:

The content of element comment will be built is shown below

General Features
Windows based application program. All the operations follow the convention of windows
environment, easy for learning and operating. No matter beginner or Pro can operate with great efficient. Adopts project concept, which category the whole tasks of program to be developed with hierarchy tree. Through the visual effect the user can see through the whole project at first glance. No matter at program or maintenance stage all the jobs need to do can perform with intuitive. Provides the thoughtful and considerate entry method, incorporate both the keyboard and mouse for entry device. No matter at field site or office environment can operate with ease and efficiency. Provides the connecting way of PLC and PC with varieties. Among the connections, there are hard wire connection, Modem connection and Internet connection. For every different connection WinProladder provide a session name to associate the setting of the communication parameters, such as port no., baud rate, IP address, phone number, etc.. With this feature can alleviate the user from the burden of the memorizing.

Program Editing
Provides the on-line program editing capability. After modify the ladder program can send the RUN
command immediately without to re-down load the program to PLC. With this feature can reduce the application development time dramatically comparing with other PLC without this feature. Provides multiple ladder program windows, can show different fragmentation of ladder program at one time and perform the copy, paste and compare operation between these windows. Provides the flexible ladder network editing capability. With the help of copy, paste and delete highly efficient operation can complete a complex program with few keystrokes. Provides the capability to divide the whole program into many program units. User can at will partition the whole development task into many independent program units according to the functionality or other classify methodology and perform the entry, editing, testing and documentation jobs independently. With this feature can greatly ease the maintenance of the whole application. Provides the flexible program search capability, can search contact, register or function. Also can set a filter to narrow down the search object to ease the user from picking up the desire results among the whole bounces of search result. Best of all, just double click the interested message line can bring out the corresponding ladder program to the user. Provides a powerful syntax check tool. With this tool can parse the user's program and generate a parsing message in one message window. In this window all the warning or error messages regard the program will be listed line by line. User just double click the interested line then the ladder program will be shown on the window with the cursor stay on the question part.

Program Testing
Provides multiple status monitoring pages. User can monitor and modify the status of discrete
contacts and registers on the status page. Each discrete input and output (include the internal relay) can be disabled and forced on or off. Each register can be selected individually to show with different format such as hexadecimal, decimal and binary. Best of all, the layout of the status pages can be stored in the project and there is no need for user to re-define the page each time when he/she want to monitor the status. Provides multiple high lighted ladder program display window. The conducting condition of each contact element can be revealed by the color of the element drawing. The register value embedded with the function block also can be shown currently with ladder diagram. The discrete element can be easily disabled and forced on or off directly from the ladder diagram.

Program Documentation
Provides following report function

Ladder diagram printout - Can select the scope and detail level of the ladder diagram for different
kind of reporting requirements. Ladder element usage report printout ?Can list the statistics of all ladder elements used in the project and the cross reference list of all elements.

Working Desk Of The WinProladder

Before we proceed to build the first application program, we should first acquaint with the desk environment of WinProladder. The screen shot shown on below is a typical working screen of WinProladder.

The screen as you can see is consist of many operating areas, among these areas the most important are as follows Main Menu Most of the operations can be activated by using the mouse to left click the main menu and the pull down sub-menu. Tool Bar Most of the major operations can be activated by using the mouse to left click the button on this area. Component Pallet The buttons in this area are used while perform the ladder program entry or editing. Status Bar This area provides the information about the PLC connection mode and it's connecting status, current cursor position, ladder memory utilization, insert or overwrite mode. Project Tree This area outline the whole project with hierarchy tree. All the jobs needed to work out can be activated by direct click the mouse button on the tree object. which lead an intuitive working environment.

Ladder Diagram User can input or monitor the ladder program in this area. Winproladder allow the user open multiple ladder windows in this area at same time. The ladder windows can be tile horizontal or vertical or cascaded. Each window can contain more than one program unit, while operating can click the tab on the window to bring out the desire program unit.

Create a new project

In this topic we will create a new project with the project name - tutorial.pdw Step 1. [Mouse] left click the main menu File -> New Project or [Keyboard] Ctrl + N Then 'New Project' dialog will be brought out. Step 2. Input the project name - ' tutorial project ' in the 'Project Name' filed and pickup one model in the 'Model Name' combo-list and then use the mouse left click the OK button or press the Enter key.

Ladder program entry

In this topic we will input the example ladder diagram step by steps. Step 1. At first we will input the network N0 which is shown below

a. Input the timer contact [Mouse] button then the pointer will change Move the mouse pointer to the component pallet and click the from the pure arrow shape into the a arrow shape with a A contact beneath with it. At this time the cursor act like a stamp, if left click the mouse button will stamp a A contact on the click position. Now move the cursor to the top most left position of ladder window and click then a dialog will pop out

Now enter the T0 with keyboard and press Enter . or [Keyboard] First move the cursor to the top most left position of ladder window and follow the key sequence BT0 Enter or T0B Enter or T0 Enter ( if previous key-in element is B contact) to enter the B timer contact. The key sequence BT0, B stands for B contact and T0 is the timer reference number. While key in, a dialog will be popped up as mouse input method but can ignore it and continue to key in the other keys. b. Enter timer function [Mouse] button then the pointer will change Move the mouse pointer to the component pallet and click the from the pure arrow shape into the a arrow shape with a T letter beneath it. Now move the cursor to the position right next to T0 contact and click then a dialog will pop out

Now enter the 0 at T: field then enter 100 at PV field and click the OK button or press Enter . or [Keyboard] Press the Shift+T key to bring out a dialog which is the same as the mouse input, and then enter the 0 at T: field then use Down key to move cursor to PV: field then enter 100 and then press Enter . Step 2. Enter the network N1 which is shown below

a. Enter the T0 A contact [Mouse] Move the mouse pointer to the component pallet and click the the N1 network first row position and click then key-in T0 Enter. button then move the pointer to

[Keyboard] Move the cursor to the N1 network first row position and then press AT0 Enter. b. Enter the SHFT function [Mouse] button then move the pointer to Move the mouse pointer to the component pallet and click the the position right next to the T0 contact and click then a dialog will pop out

Now enter SHFL Enter or 51 Enter or click the 'Shift/Rotate' item in the class field and then pick 'SHFL' in the Name field then SHFL will shown in the Function Name field and then press Enter key. After above operation then will pop up a dialog as follow

Use mouse to click the check box of Pulse to check it ( to make this function pulse activated) then complete the input of D: and N: field. If you do not know or forgot the meaning of D: or N: filed can move the pointer above the filed name you questioned then there will appear a hint. Also if you forgot the valid input range or data type of specific field you can move the pointer to that input field and there also will appear a hint about the valid data type and range .

[Keyboard] Very similar to mouse input. The only difference is that keyboard input method use F key to bring out the function lookup dialog. Step 3. Enter the network N2 which is shown below

a. Enter the contacts of network of N2 [Mouse] Move the pointer to N2 network and follow the method described at step 2 to input the M1924 contact and then move the pointer to the row beneth M1924 then input M6 contact. button then move the pointer to the position Move the pointer to component pallte and click the next to M1924(column 2) and click the mouse left button then M1924 and M6 will vertically join togather with a vertical short. or [Keyboard] Move the cursor to N2 network and enter the M1924 contact as described in step 2 then press the Enter key then the cursor will move to the position beneth M1924. Input M6 contact and use Up key move the cursor to the position next to M1924 then press V key to input a vertical short. b. Enter MOV function Please refer to the input method described at step 2 to enter this function. Step 4. Enter the network by copy operation a. Enter a simple network In this step we will use copy operation to enter the reset of the ladder program. We will leave the network shown below not to enter deliberately until next topic.

The network we are going to enter is shown as follow

There is nothing special to enter the first network shown above as compare to previous. So follow the same procedures described above to complete this.

The network leaded by M1 contact thru. the network leaded by M7 contact are very similar to the first network, so we can use copy operation to complete this part of entry. Here is the procedures, Move the mouse pointer to the first network shown above and hold down the left button of mouse and drag down or right or use keyboard Hold down the Shift key and press Up or Down key until the first network is selected then click the menu items as follows Edit -> Copy or use keyboard Ctrl + C Then move the mouse pointer to the next network and click the menu items as follows Edit -> Paste or use keyboard Ctrl + V then there will be a new network identical with the first nextwork appears. Follow the same procedures described above to make the template of next two networks. After that make these two networks copied again to build the next 4 networks. So with 3 times copy and paste operation we can complete the all 8 networks. The last step is to modify the reference number of the networks built by previous operations. Step 5. Save the project [Mouse] File -> Save then key-in tutoria Enter [Keyboard] Ctrl + S then key-in tutoria Enter

Ladder Program Editing

Insert a network
In this topic we will finish the entry of network N3 which did not enter at previous topic. The network N3 is shown at below

Method 1. Move the mouse pointer to the network N3( latter will become N4) and click the will be selected. Click the right button of mouse then will appear a popup menu as shown below then network N3

click the 'Insert before this network' item then an empty N3 network appears. Repeat this procedure once to get another empty network. Follow the procedure described in the previous topic to enter the whole network. Method 2. Press Ins key to enter the insert edting mode. The cursor now will change from the solid box to hollow box. Move the pointer to the first element of Network N3 and click then press Enter key then an empty network will appear. Enter the T0 conatct and counter function then move the pointer to the position beneth T0 to enter the M0 contact and vertical short to finish this network entry.

Edit the reference number of element

a. Contact Move the cursor to the element required for editing and direct input the new reference number( or contact type) and press Enter or press Space key or double click the left mouse button to bring out the editing dialog. b. Function block Move the cursor to the function block required for editing and press Space key or double click the left mouse button to bring out the editing dialog.

Ladder Syntax Check

a. Check ladder Click the menu item as follows Tool -> Syntax Check or press shortcut key F8 to check the ladder. a. Set the option of syntax check Click the menu item as follows Project -> Option or press shortcut key Ctrl + F8 to change the setting of synatx check options.

Ladder Program Testing

In this topic we will changed the working mode from off-line to on-line. Because all the modifications to project will only save in the disk while in off-line operating mode, so before begin to test the program we must first save the project data to PLC. The project data can be transferred to PLC include ladder program, element comment, table data and configurations while network comment and program unit comment can only exist in the project file. Save project data to PLC Click the menu items as follows File -> Save AS -> To PLC then a dialog will pop up as follow

There are three pre-defined connection sessions can be found in the 'Connection Name' combo list which are RS232, UDP, TCP. In this tutorial we assume to connect the PLC with serial line so we can pick RS232 or create a new cession with click the New button which will bring out an wizard to direct you to create a new cession. If you don't want to create a new cession but the pre-defined session is not exactly what you want then you can click the Edit button to change it. After click the OK button the WinProladder will try to connect with PLC, if the connection success then a mesasge box will shown as below

Click OK button to return to the ladder window.

PLC start and run control

[Mouse] Click the menu as follows PLC -> Run PLC -> OK to start the PLC. or while PLC is running PLC -> Stop PLC -> OK to stop the PLC. [Keyboard] Press the keys Ctrl + F9 Enter to Stop the PLC. F9 Enter to start the PLC.

Ladder Monitoring
While operate at on-line mode and PLC is running, the ladder diagram will displayed with high-light the conducting(short) contact will drawn with a red box as shown below

As you can see T0 B contact is short ( because the status of T0 is off). All the discrete elements can be disabled then force on or off right at ladder window. For eample if want to force the M0 then just move the cursor over the M0 conatct or coil then click the right mouse button to pop up a menu as shown below

Click the desired item to control the element state. All the disabled element in the ladder diagram is

different than normal element in appearance as shown below in order to differentiate them with ease.

The diagram shown above, M0 and Y0 are disabled.

View live register data in ladder diagram

The ladder diagram default is not to show the register value, if want to view the live register data can click the menu item as follows View -> Register content or press the shortcut key F11 to activate it. A sample ladder diagram with live register data display is shown below

Status Monitoring
Winproladder provides a multi status-page feature allow user to monitor a bunch of contact status or register value at one time. Create a new status page Click the mouse button at project tree window on the icon menu then click 'New Staus page' or Click the menu items as follows Project -> Status Page -> New Status Page A sample status page is shown at below and right click to pop up a

The discrete element can be disabled/enabled, force on or off by just click the mouse right button to bring out the menu shown below

The register can be selected to show in binary, decimal or hexadecimal format by click the mouse right button to bring out the menu as shown below

The ' ref No.' field of staus page default is to show reference number, for readability this field can selected to show with comment. This can be set by click the ' View element comment' . Define the items for monitoring in the status page The items in the status page can be defined with following syntax item,item ... where item can be a signle item or a range of item. A range of item can be expressed by two single

item separated by '-' or '~' symbol. For example X0,X2-X5,Y0-Y5,R0-R5 can define 17 items with one command.

Project Documentation
Element Comment Editing
Method 1. Input comments while enter the element While input or editing the element a dialog will shown as follow

Click the icon

adjacent to the item for comment will pop up another dialog as shown below

Enter the comment and description of the specified reference number in this dialog then press Enter. Method 2. Input comments by element comment editor Click the menu item as follows Project -> Comment -> Element Comment to bring out the element comment editor as shown below

With this editor can edit more than one element comments at one time. Different type of reference number can be accessed by click the button( Ex. type. ) belong to that

Network Comment Editing

Method 1. Enter the network comment while editing the ladder program. Move the cursor to the network that intended for comment and click the right mouse button then a menu popped up. Click the 'Network Comment' menu item to edit the network comment. Method 2. Enter the network comment with network comment editor. Click the menu items as follows Project -> Comment -> Network Comment to bring out the network comment editor as shown below

Program Unit Comment Editing

Please refer to the description of the section 'network comment editing' to edit the program unit comment.

View The Document With Ladder Diagram

Whenever input the network or program unit comment, the document will be shown automatically while the element comment is not. You must set the element comment visible by manual. To set the element comment visible can click the menu items as follows View -> Element Document to toggle the setting. Similarly, the network and program unit comment can set to visible or invisible by click the menu items as follows View -> Network Document View -> Program Document If the document is visible then there will be a check sign before that menu item.

Report Generation
Element Statistics
Click the menu items as follows Tool -> Element Statistics to bring out the Statistics window as shown below

Printer Out The Ladder Diagram

Click the menu items as follows File -> Print ... to bring out a dialog as shown below

The program units in the 'Program Units List' can be multi-selected for print out. To select the

program unit can hold down the Shift key while click the mouse button to mark a range of program unit or hold down the Ctrl key while click the mouse button to multi-select a program unit. Check or uncheck the check box to include or exclude the respective comment in print out. The text enter into the header field will appear at each report page.

Ladder Element Entry

Ladder Element -----------------------A contact B contact TU (up one shot) contact TD (down one shot) conatct Coil Inverse coil

Shortcut Key Description ---------------------------------------------------------------------------A Shift + A B Shift + B U Shift + U D Shift + D O Shift + O Q Shift + Q Input A contact and reference number Input A contact only Input B contact and reference number Input B contact only Input TU contact and reference number Input TU contact only Input TD contact and reference number Input TU contact only Input coil and reference number Input coil only Input inverse coil and reference number Input inverse coil only

Note: While input, can first key-in the reference number (start with X,Y,M,S,T,C) then key-in element (A,B,U,D,O,Q) , reverse the key-in order also can be accepted. Power flow Power flow inverse Power flow down one shot Horizontal short Continuous horizontal short Vertical short Function block SET function RST function Timer function Counter function I N N H Shift + H V F Shift + S Shift + R Shift + T Shift + C

Power flow up one shot P

Ladder Element Editing

Function ---------------------------Modify reference number

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Direct input the new reference number or press the SPACE key to bring out the dialoge window for editing

Modify the reference number Press the SPACE key and bring out the dialoge window for editing within the function block Delete the conatct or function Press the Delete key or Backspace key block

Network Editing

Function ---------------------------Insert a new network Delete a single network Select all the networks in the program unit Copy networks Paste networks Delete networks Cut networks

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Shift + Insert (insert above) Ctrl + Insert (insert below) Ctrl + Delete Ctrl + A Ctrl + C Ctrl + V Delete Ctrl + X

Note: Before perform the network copy,paste,delete,cut operation should use the mouse to select the networks desired to operate.

Cursor Movement
Function ---------------------------Up,Down,Left,Right Move To first row To last row To next row To next network To fisrt network of current program unit To last network of current program unit To specific network

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Up,Down,Left,Right key Home End Shift + Enter Enter Ctrl + Home Ctrl + End Ctrl + G

Project Management
Function ---------------------------Create a new project Open a project Connect to PLC Save the project

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ctrl + N Ctrl + O Ctrl + L Ctrl + S

PLC Control
Function ---------------------------Stop the PLC Start the PLC

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ctrl + F9 F9

Ladder element search

Function ---------------------------Find element Find next element

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ctrl +F F3

Misc. Operations
Function ---------------------------Setup project options Syntax check Generate report Display ladder with live register data

Shortcut Key Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ctrl + F8 F8 Ctrl + P F11