User Guide Vectostudio 1.6.2
User Guide Vectostudio 1.6.2
User Guide Vectostudio 1.6.2
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ARADEX VECTOSTUDIO
V1.6.2 User Guide
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Table of content
1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 System Requirements ............................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Document Structure ................................................................................................................ 6
1.3 Further Readings ..................................................................................................................... 6
2 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 6
2.1 C++ development in VECTOSTUDIO ........................................................................................ 6
2.2 VECTOVISION development in VECTOSTUDIO ........................................................................ 7
2.3 Key Features ............................................................................................................................ 8
3 VECTOSTUDIO Installation .................................................................................................... 9
3.1 Installing VECTOSTUDIO (IDE) ................................................................................................. 9
4 Getting Started................................................................................................................... 10
4.1 The V8 Configuration............................................................................................................. 10
4.1.1 Generating a configuration.xml file............................................................................... 10
4.1.2 Creating an example I/O................................................................................................ 10
4.2 Adding a Kernel PLC............................................................................................................... 11
4.2.1 Creating a new KPLC Project ......................................................................................... 11
4.2.2 Initializing the KPLC ....................................................................................................... 12
4.3 Running the Application ........................................................................................................ 16
4.4 Using the Watch I/O View ..................................................................................................... 17
5 Concepts ............................................................................................................................ 18
5.1 Workspaces and Applications ............................................................................................... 18
5.2 Perspectives and Views ......................................................................................................... 19
5.2.1 Default Perspectives ...................................................................................................... 21
5.2.2 Customise Perspectives ................................................................................................. 21
5.2.3 The Views ...................................................................................................................... 21
6 Tasks.................................................................................................................................. 26
6.1 Application Development Cycle ............................................................................................ 26
6.2 Application Configuration ..................................................................................................... 28
6.2.1 VECTONUM V8 Application Configuration .................................................................... 29
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1 Introduction
ARADEX VECTOSTUDIO is an integrated development environment (IDE) for VECTONUM V8
and VECTONUM Embedded. ARADEX VECTOSTUDIO combines ARADEX data, tools, and
technology into a single software tool. The intuitive user interface provides the most effective way
to work with ARADEX devices. VECTOSTUDIO incorporates:
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2 Overview
VECTOSTUDIO is a fully integrated software suite, designed for all tasks related to developing and
providing ARADEX-devices. VECTOSTUDIO provides several “perspectives”, i.e. task dependent
window layouts tailored to perform the specific tasks.
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See the VECTOVISION user guide for more information about VECTOVISION 8. This document
can be found in the VECTOSTUDIO integrated help in the “VECTOVISION 8 User Guide” book.
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– All VECTOVISION tools have an intuitive and consistent user interface. After working
with one tool, you will feel at home with all VECTOSTUDIO tools.
• Easy and transparent project administration
Project administration in VECTOSTUDIO is completely realized in open file formats. It does
not matter whether you work on a C++ project, IEC 61131-3 programming or a
visualisation, your project will only consist of ASCII and XML based file formats, facilitating
code reuse. Integration into a version control System gets more easily and is an essential
requirement for the development of larger projects. By the way, VECTOSTUDIO supports
the two most popular version control systems Subversion and GIT.
• Freedom of choice of programming language
With VECTOSTUDIO you can implement your PLC either using the IEC 61131-3 languages
or C+. Although the IEC 61131-3 languages are the standard for PLC programming, C+ is
an interesting alternative for large and complex projects. Due to its object orientated features
and access to the physical hardware. All languages can be used in any combination, enabling
you to pick always the language that best suits your needs in a given situation, be it your
personal language preference, an existing body of source code or the intended purpose of
the software. Existing source code compliant with IEC 61131-3 can be imported using the
PLCopen standard.
• Effective Know How Protection
Protection of Know How is an ever increasing issue for modern companies. Therefore, when
using VECTOSUTDIO, source code will NEVER leave your workstation unless explicitly
requested. On the PLC only the natively compiled program can be found. If you feel the
need for an even higher security level, source code can also be protected by porting your
design to an FPGA (field-programmable gate array).
3 VECTOSTUDIO
Installation
3.1 Installing VECTOSTUDIO (IDE)
1. Start the VECTOSTUDIO installer by executing “vectostudio-setup.exe”. Choose a directory
of your choice for the installation destination folder, for example “C:/Vectostudio”. Please
note: you need to have permanent write permissions for the folder, VECTOSTUDIO should
be installed to.
1. Start VECTOSTUDIO by executing “[directory choice]/vectostudio/vectostudio.exe”.
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4Getting Started
Having finished the VECTOSTUDIO Installation, we are now ready to start with a new
application. This chapter provides a step-by-step instruction to create, start, and inspect a simple
C++ application. Going through these steps will give you a jump start to the system and is
recommended for beginners.
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The Properties View will pop up automatically in the right sidebar. You have to set a name for the
I/O created and may optionally set additional properties like default value, comment or unit. We
will use “dSawtooth” as a name for our new I/O.
• Select File →New →Other . The New Wizard will appear. Select Aradex Wizards →
VECTONUM V8 (K)PLC Project. Click Next> . On the second Wizard Page set
“KPlcSample” as a Project name and Select “KPLC” as PLC type.
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Click Finish and you will be asked for permission to switch to the C/C++ Perspective. Since we
will be editing C++ files in the following steps, click Yes and a new folder named KPlcSample
will appear in your workspace.
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Next we need to initialize the I/O for the KPLC. Open the source file KPlc.cpp and edit in as
shown in the image below.
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Then, we want to force the I/O to do something, not just be there. We want it to increase in every
cycle and be set back to zero when it exceeds a certain value. This is a simple saw tooth signal
generator. To achieve this, we need put code into the main method which will be executed once
every cycle. Edit KPlc.cpp as shown in the image below.
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Finally the configuration needs to know which KPLC file is to be used. Therefore we need to
assign the KPLC project we just created to the KPLC in our configuration file.
In the opening KPLC selection dialog select our newly created KPlcSample. This is located in the
“Application KPLCs” folder.
Type “KPIcSample1” as attribute name and in the KPLC selection dialog select our newly created
KPlcSample. This is located in the “Application KPLCs” folder.
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Please make sure, your VECTONUM controller device is running and connected. Then connect to
the controller by starting the connect dialog. Click on the Online -> Connect… menu. The
connect dialog is opening. Here you should see your controller. Select your controller and give
the login and password for your controller (the default user name is “vectonum” and the default
password is “vectonum”). If your controller is not shown in the list, please type the controller
network name or IP address in the Host input field. If you have troubles connecting to the
controller, please also have a look at “Setting up compatible IP addresses” in "Tips and Tricks".
Now you are connected to your controller. Maybe a dialog appears which asks to synchronize the
local and remote V8 versions. Press Yes to do so.
In the next step our new application will be downloaded to the controller and executed. Click
Online -> Download to deploy the application. Before downloading a backup of the current
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application on the controller will be created. You can use this backup to go back to the original
application at a later point of time.
After connecting and running the application the status bar in the lower VECTOSTUDIO window
should indicate the successfully changed states:
If you want to see dynamic current values, you can also open the Watch I/O View by double
clicking the I/O in the I/O View.
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5 Concepts
5.1 Workspaces and Applications
The basic organisation of data in VECTOSTUDIO is done in so called “workspaces”. Each
workspace contains exactly one application.
• One configuration project, called “configuration”. This one is automatically generated for
every application and should always be there. It mainly contains one file called
“v8configuration.xml” which is the main configuration file for VECTONUM V8 applications.
• Several PLCs and KPLCs, as necessary. Depending on the application and software design.
• Several visualisations. Depending on the application.
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The actual workspace with all projects and files can be inspected by the “Project Explorer” view.
The screen shot shows an example application containing a V8 configuration file
(configuration/v8configuration.xml), one KPLC project named “KPlcSample”, and one
VECTOVISION visualisation project called "Visualisation":
Each perspective collects a set of views to assist one activity. The following example shows the
"C++" perspective with all views to develop C++ PLCs:
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The C++ perspective arranges all views into five sections plus the perspective switcher:
1. The perspective switcher is always in the upper right corner. It shows all open perspectives
and the currently selected one - the “C++” perspective in this example
2. The “Project Explorer” shows the projects of the currently opened workspace. This view is
placed here in almost all perspectives.
3. The bigger middle of the screen is occupied by the editors of the currently opened files. In
this example the file “Kplc.cpp” is opened in the C++ editor.
4. At the right side the “Outline” view shows an outline of the currently opened file in the
editor. In this example you can see the methods of the KPLCs file.
5. In the lower left the “I/O” view shows all I/Os of the application. “I/Os” are the globally
named variables in PLC applications. The main data exchange between the system and PLCs
in applications is done by this I/Os. You can inspect the I/Os from here and drag these into
an editor view for example.
6. The lower middle screen contains all helper windows. For example the “V8 Log” shows the
current log file of the V8 system. “Problems” for example shows current problems and
warnings of the last compiler run.
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Since the VECTOSTUDIO software is based on the Eclipse development environment you can get
more information about working with workspaces, perspectives, and views in the “Workbench
User Guide” in the integrated help (Help -> Help Contents menu).
Welcome
The welcome screen is shown at the start of the program. It shows several actions to start using
VECTOSTUDIO.
C++
The C++ perspective is suitable for developing C++ PLC and KPLC for VECTONUM V8 and
Embedded.
IEC 61131
The IEC 61131 perspective is suitable for developing IEC 61131-3 PLCs and KPLCs.
VECTOVISION
The VECTOVISION perspective is suitable for VECTOVISION HMI development.
VE_Config
The VE_Config perspective is suitable for using the integrated VE configuration tool.
To do this, open a perspective that comes most close to the one you wish to have. Add new by
the Window -> Show view menu. Place them, where you need them by dragging the view’s title
bar with the mouse. Or close unnecessary views with the small x in the view’s title bar.
If the perspective has the desired views and layout you can save them by the Window -> Save
Perspective As… menu. Then give a new name to create a new perspective or choose an existing
perspective to overwrite it with your settings. In the latter case you can always go back to the
original perspective using the Window -> Reset Perspective… menu.
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The Project Explorer is the central place for the projects your application consists of. It contains all
projects at the top level, as they exist as directories in the current workspace directory. All files are
ASCII or XML based, so they can easily be stored in source code revision systems and copied
around from one application to another.
Available features are:
• New… creates all types of files and projects. E.g. new PLCs or HMIs.
• Copy, Paste, Move, and Rename are the usual file operations.
• Refresh synchronises the view with the file system. Usually this is done automatically, for
example if a file from the workspace is manipulated from the outside of VECTOSTUDIO.
Use this command to manually trigger a synchronisation with the file system.
• Import… and Export… provides ways to import and export projects. Mostly used are:
– Create a ZIP archive of one or more projects: Export… -> Archive File
– Import existing projects from a ZIP archive: Import… -> Existing Projects into
Workspace -> Select archive file
– Copy existing projects from one workspace to another: Import… -> Existing
Projects into Workspace -> Select root directory
– Work with revision control systems (SVN, GIT). See this chapter for more information
about working with revision control systems.
– Import PLCopen projects (IEC 61131-3 projects only)
The project named “configuration” always contains the project configuration and data. See the
Application Configuration chapter below.
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The I/O view shows all I/Os available in the current application. “I/Os” are the globally
named variables in PLC applications. The main data exchange between the system and
PLCs in applications is done by these I/Os. You can inspect the I/Os from here and drag
these into an editor view for example.
Available features are:
• Overview over all I/Os in the system. The I/Os are sorted into a hierarchical tree. The folder
structure is based on the I/O names. Every underscore (“_”) marks a folder. For example the
I/O “drvX_In_dNominal” is structured in the following way “drvX” > “In” > “dNominal”. If
the option “Toggle InOut Folders” is active the input and output prefixes are considered as
part of the I/O name and the folder structure changes to “drvX” > “In_dNominal”.
• The I/Os shown are based on the standard configuration file (project
“configuration/v8configuration.xml”). Additionally, all I/Os from the connected controller are
also shown in the I/O view. If an I/O is only available on the online controller, it is shown in
italics. You can also show only local I/Os from the configuration file or only remote I/Os from
the connected controller.
• All I/Os can be inspected from here. If you place the mouse cursor over an I/O the tooltip
shows the I/O’s attributes when they are present: name, value, default, unit, comments, and
I/O links.
• Dragging I/Os from here into other views and editors, e.g. the V8Configuration or
VECTOVISION editor, is very convenient.
• Add I/O to Watch I/O view or simply double clicking an I/O adds the I/O to the Watch I/O
view. Doing this on a folder adds all I/Os in that folder to the Watch I/O view.
• Find I/O in V8 configuration file jumps to the I/O definition in the V8 configuration file if
available.
• Copy I/O to clipboard copies the I/O name into the clipboard for further use.
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• A filter at the top of the view can be used to quickly find an I/O. Here you can type in
fractions of the name. If you type in more than one filter text separate them with a blank.
E.g. “drv input” searches for all I/Os containing the substrings “drv” and “input”.
• Filter linked I/Os only shows I/Os that have I/O links. This filter is useful to check if all I/Os
are linked correctly.
• A toolbar dropdown “Local + Remote” to select between local I/Os and I/Os from the
remote application. Local I/Os live in the current application domain until they are
downloaded to your target device.
The primary function of the Watch I/O view is to inspect and set the values of I/Os. Therefore it
shows a name-value list of the I/Os you have added. Adding I/O to the Watch I/O is done through
the I/O View.
• Create your set of I/Os to inspect. Group them into named lists. Use the green + to add a
new list.
• Read and write I/O values. Changing I/O values are coloured in blue to quickly inspect
changes.
• I/O lists are stored permanently.
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5.2.3.4 V8 Log
The V8 Log view simply shows the current V8 log. Available features are:
• The messages and icon to the very left is colored according to the severity (info, warning,
error, or critical error) of the message.
• Messages about saved analyser files will carry an icon to the right which on click will
download and open the respective analyser file.
• Clear all and Pause are useful operations when working with lots of messages.
• Copy copies messages into the clipboard. Usable for example to copy parts of the log into an
e-mail.
• Search function for log entries. Press the keyboard shortcut CTRL+F to open the search
dialog. With CTRL+K you can navigate to the next entry.
• A search filter to quickly select all matched log entries.
5.2.3.5 CHRONOSCOPE
The CHRONOSCOPE view gives a great overview about the processes running on V8 controllers.
The view displays the contents of the V8 log in a timeline. This gives you a quick overview about
the overall status and the processes running from the past until now. In this manner it can be seen
as counterpart to the detailed V8 log view.
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Double clicking the entries shows the according entry in the V8 log view and vice versa.
This way you can quickly switch from the overview CHRONOSCOPE to the detailed V8
log view.
Zooming and scrolling into the timeline by mouse.
Double clicking the entries in the „Analyser” line opens the analyser and error files.
The „Application” 1..3 lines will be feed by the „APP_INFO_0..2” messages. This is
especially useful to visualise running jobs, progress information or other major machine
status.
The VECTOVISION Log view shows the log file of the locally running VECTOVISION Viewer. Use
it for example to inspect locally running VECTOVISION test runs while developing HMIs.
The features are very much the same as in the V8 Log view:
• The messages and icon on the very left is coloured depending on the kind of message (info,
warning, error, or critical error).
• Clear all and Pause are useful operations when working with lots of messages.
• Copy copies messages into the clipboard. Usable for example to copy parts of the log into an
e-mail.
• A filter line can be used to search for specific messages. You can type in several filter phrases
separated by a blank " ". The filter result then shows the messages that contain all filter
phrases, just like any web search engine.
6Tasks
6.1 Application Development Cycle
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1. (Connect) In the example the development cycle begins by connecting to the controller.
2. (Create Backup) It is good practice to create backup before doing the first changes. Just to
preserve the previous controller configuration and eventually have a look into it later.
3. After that we can do the essential development steps:
1. (Configure Application) Many tasks can be done without programming, just by
configuring the system components. For example this includes the hardware
configuration and adding existing technology modules to add functionality to the
application.
2. (Create PLC) Of course, application specific logic has to be programmed into PLCs.
Add a new PLC or KPLC project to your application.
1. (Add PLC to configuration) After creating a new PLC this PLC needs to be
added to the current configuration to be executed.
2. (Edit PLC) A new PLC does nothing. The new logic needs to be added.
3. (Edit PLC) If there is an existing PLC, the PLC logic may have to be edited.
4. (Create VV HMI) Some applications require one or more visualisations. Add a new
VECTOVISION 8 project to your application.
1. (Configure HMI startup) If the visualisation is an end user visualisation it
should start automatically with the application. This is not the case for service
and developer visualisations.
2. (Edit HMI) Add controls to the new visualisation and edit as desired.
5. (Edit HMI) If there is an existing visualisation, the visualisation may have to be
adjusted.
4. These development steps maybe repeated (step 3).
5. (Download) If the application is ready to be tested, the next step is to download it to the
controller.
6. (Test) After that the application should be executed. It is time to test the changes.
7. (Inspect) The VECTOSTUDIO tools Analyser, Watch I/O, and Log can be used to inspect the
running application.
8. If additional development is required, continue at step 3.
9. (Create Backup) Otherwise it is good practice to create a backup at the end of the
development/day.
10. (Disconnect) Disconnect to finish the job.
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Each application requires one application configuration project named “configuration” in the
“Project Explorer” view.
The picture below shows a minimal VECTONUM V8 application configuration in the “Project
Explorer” (left window) and having the v8configuration file opened in the configuration editor
(right window):
The configuration project contains several pre-defined folders. Following data can be placed in
these folders:
configuration/application
While downloading the application onto a V8 controller, this folder will be completely copied into
the /opt/v8/application folder of the controller. See the V8 User Guide (“VECTONUM V8
Benutzerhandbuch”) for more information.
configuration/application/configuration/v8configuration.xml
This is the central configuration file. You can place any other file in this directory. But the file
named v8configuration.xml will be used as the defining application configuration.
configuration/application/configuration/WatchIO
This is the default location for configuration file from the “Watch I/O” view.
configuration/application/firmware
Contains additional device firmware files. You can put application specific VECTOPOWER device
firmware files in this folder for automatic update over fieldbus.
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configuration/application/firmware/parameters
Contains additional device firmware parameter definition files. You can put application specific
VECTOPOWER firmware parameter files that are used in your application. Attention: You have to
restart the V8 service or controller to actually use them.
configuration/application/machinespecific
All machine specific data will be placed in this folder. For example these are I/O values of
persistent I/Os, which may vary from machine to machine even if they are all running the same
application.
configuration/local/install-packages
VECTONUM V8 and VECTOVISION 8 install packages may be placed here. If necessary they will
be installed during application download.
The picture below shows a minimal VECTONUM Embedded application configuration in the
“Project Explorer” (left window) and having the AppConfiguration file opened in the configuration
editor (right window):
The configuration project contains pre-defined folders. Following data can be placed in these
folders:
configuration/application/configuration/AppConfiguration.appconfig
This is the central configuration file. You can place any other file in this directory. But the file
named AppConfiguration.appconfig will be used as the defining application configuration.
configuration/application/firmware
Contains additional module files. You can put pre-compiled, binary VECTONUM Embedded
modules (*.module) here. Useful if you want to deploy modules to customers without providing
the source code.
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For existing V8ApplicationStudio users: The backup and restore function is very much the same as
in V8ApplicationStudio, except the source format. Therefore you can use old backups in
V8ApplicationStudio and vice versa, with the exception of the sources.
Application name
The name of the application. The default value here is read from the current configuration file.
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Application version
The version of the application. The version consists of four numbers. The default value here is also
read from the current configuration file.
User name
Your name. This is just for information purposes.
Comment
An informal text about this backup, e.g. “NC functions complete”.
V8 System
Check to include the V8 system into the backup.
Application Runtime
Check to include the application runtime into the backup. If checked it is possible to restore or
copy this application without sources.
Application source
The sources, currently visible in the Project Explorer view.
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Here you can choose the backup to be restored. In the lower part of that dialog you can also
specify which parts of that backup should be restored. The options correspond to the ones with
which the backup was created.
Attention: Please note that existing files will be replaced without query! Files and directories not
existing in the backup will be deleted from the local file system to get a clean copy!
In “Readonly Mode” file systems are read only. This is the right mode do run predefined tasks,
when no changes are to be made on the controller. In this mode power failures or pulling the plug
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won’t damage the controller, in all other modes power failures can damage the file system. Please
shut the controller down before turning the power off.
In “Stadard Mode” changes can be made to files in the /var directory, making this the suitable
mode to define tasks or run tasks where log files need to be saved other data needs to be written
in the /var directory.
In “Service Mode” file systems are available to be written. Use this mode only if changes to at the
controller system are necessary.
In “(S.M.) v8 disabled”, the file systems are available to be written, but the v8 service is not
available. Use this mode if there are problems with the v8 system and changes to the controller
are necessary.
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Here you can choose the file to be encrypted and set a password. Please bear in mind, that the
security of the encryption highly depends on the length and complexity of your password. The
longer and more complex (digits and special characters) your password is, the higher is the
reached security. A minimum of 6 characters is required. At least 10 characters, including digits
and special characters, is highly recommended for critical data.
As in the previous encryption dialog, pick the encrypted file and enter the encryption password.
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If you use an external software revision control system please make sure, the .project,
.cproject, and .settings files and folder are included. Otherwise you will get build errors.
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named like “Scan contents of archives” (e.g. ZIP or JAR files). You can temporarily switch off this
feature and retry if VECTOSTUDIO has normal execution performance now. If so please check for
solutions for working with Java JAR files in the virus scanner manual.
1. Create a backup of the current application sources using the Online →Backup
Application… menu. In the opening dialog only the “Application Source” option from
“Include Packages” is required.
2. Create a new workspace using the File →Switch Workspace →Other… menu. Give the new
workspace path and make sure the “Copy Setting” options are not checked.
3. Import the previously created backup from the first step using the Online →Restore
Application… menu.
2. Select the menu Team →Share Project(s) from the project context menu.
3. In the opening dialog it should indicate that there is an existing Subversion connection.
4. Click Finish in the dialog. The Project Explorer should now show the SVN connection after
the project’s name.
1. Open the Properties of the network adapter that is connected with the ARADEX controller.
2. Open the Properties of TCP/IPv4.
3. Choose “Obtain an IP address automatically”.
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The GIT server connection via SSH requires the SSH server to have SSH keys with 1024 prime
size. The server you want to connect to probably does not provide this key length. You can check
the existing SSH key on your server in the /etc/ssh/moduli file. It should contain „1023” (not
„1024”) keys. If the keys are missing you can generate new SSK keys with the ssh-keygen tool
on your server.
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1. an error description
2. the VECTOSTUDIO log file; This file can be accessed by the Help → About ARADEX
VECTOSTUDIO → Installation Details → Configuration → View Error Log menu.
Alternatively you can find the VECTOSTUDIO log file using the Windows Explorer. The log
file is located in the .metadata/.log file in your current workspace path.
The fastest way to get more space for the editor is to double click on the editor tab. This
temporarily minimises all other views and maximises space for the editors. A second double click
on the editor tab brings back the original screen layout.
Alternatively you can minimise each view by the minimise button on the upper right corner of all
views. If you find a screen layout you feel comfortable with, you can save it by the Window ->
Save Perspective As… menu.
7 Reference
7.1 Menus
This chapter briefly describes the VECTOSTUDIO main menu. Please bear in mind that the visible
menu items depend on the currently selected view, editor and perspective. Therefore not all
menu items are visible all the time.
Most context menu items are also available via this main menu.
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Open File…
Opens an arbitrary file. The file maybe located outside of the current workspace.
Close
Closes the currently selected file in the active editor.
Close All
Closes all file from all editors.
Save
Saves the currently selected file.
Save As…
Saves the currently selected file in another location and name.
Save All
Saves all opened files.
Revert
Reverts the current change (if any) to the last saved state.
Move…
Move the current file to another location.
Rename…
Renames the current file.
Refresh
Refreshes the Project Explorer. The Project Explorer should update itself continuously all the time.
Use this menu action if the automatic refresh did not work. For example if a file changed on a
remote file system.
Print…
Prints the selected file.
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Switch Workspace
Switches to another, existing workspace. Or creates a new workspace.
Restart
Restarts VECTOSTUDIO. Use this if you encounter strange problems, like out of memory
problems.
Import…
Opens the import dialog. This provides various import options for files and projects. Like ZIP file
or PLCopen XML import.
Export…
Opens the export dialog. This provides various export options for files and projects. Like ZIP file
export.
Encrypt
Encrypts arbitrary files. See Encrypting and Decrypting files
Decrypt
Decrypts arbitrary files. See Encrypting and Decrypting files
Properties
Opens the Properties View for the currently selected element/file.
Exit
Exits VECTOSTUDIO.
Undo
Reverts the last change.
Redo
Redoes the last undo action.
Cut
Cuts the current selection out and copies it into the clipboard.
Copy
Copies the current selection into the clipboard.
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Paste
Pastes the clipboard contents at the current selection.
Delete
Deletes the current selection.
Select All
Selects all elements.
Find/Replace…
Opens the find and replace dialog.
Add Bookmark…
Adds a (named) bookmark at the current selection.
Add Task…
Adds a (named) task at the current selection. See the “Tasks” view.
Toggle Comment
Comments in or out the current selection.
Shift Right
Indents the current selection.
Shift Left
Removes an indent at the current selection.
Correct Indentation
Automatically adjusts the indentation at the current selection. You can adjust the indentation style
in the “Properties” dialog.
Add Include
Adds an include directive (language dependent).
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Organize Includes
Automatically arranges, adds, and removes the include directives (language dependent).
Sort Lines
Sorts the selected lines in alphabetical order.
Implement Method
Adds a method implementation according to the current method declaration (language
dependent).
Surround With
Inserts a code template (language dependent).
Rename
Renames the current variable/function/class/type, etc.
Extract Constant
Extracts the selected literal and replaces it with a constant definition.
Extract Function…
Extracts the selected code into a separate function.
Toggle Function
Toggles the selected functions definition between header and source file.
Hide Method…
Changes the selected methods visibility to “private”.
Apply Script…
Applies a refactoring script.
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Create Script…
Creates a refactoring script. Use this to automate several refactoring steps.
History…
Shows the done refactoring history of the last days.
Go Into
Places the current focus into the current element.
Go To
Relocates the current focus to several, logical places, e.g. the next method.
Open Declaration
Shows the declaration of the current element.
Toggle Source/Header
Toggles between header and source file.
Open Element…
Jumps to an element, selected in the opening search dialog.
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Open Resource…
Jumps to a file, selected in the opening search dialog.
Show In
Opens the current file in another, appropriate editor.
Quick Outline
Shows a quick outline window of the current editor contents.
Next Annotation
Jumps to the next annotation. That could be any search, error, or the like marker in the current
editor.
Previous Annotation
Jumps to the previous annotation. That could be any search, error, or the like marker in the
current editor.
Go to Line..
Jumps to a specific line in the current file.
Back
Goes back in the list of last focus positions.
Forward
Goes forward in the list of last focus positions.
Search…
Opens the search dialog. This dialog contains the several special search options.
File…
Searches for a text across files. Search space can be limited to file/project/workspace scope.
Text
Immediately searches for the currently selected text in file/project/workspace scope.
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Open Project
Opens the project if it is closed.
Close Project
Closes the project. A closed project will not be considered by the other operations any more (like
build, search, etc.).
Build All
Starts building all projects.
Build Configurations
Opens the dialog maintaining the build configurations. Use the default here.
Build Project
Starts building the current project.
Clean…
Cleans build targets and intermediate files (aka “make clean”).
Build Automatically
Immediately starts a build when a source file changed on disc.
Make Target
Calls a make target, for projects with Makefile.
C/C++ Index
Manages the internal C++ indexer.
Properties
Opens the project property dialog.
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New Child
Adds a new child element below the currently selected element. The sub menu contains the valid
child types.
New Sibling
Adds a new sibling element beside the currently selected element. The sub menu contains the
valid sibling types.
Validate
Does a validation check for the current document. Normally there is no need to do this manually.
Search Text…
Opens the search dialog to search for (sub)strings in the current document. This special search
option is able to find the complete V8 identifiers.
Load Resource…
Opens the open resource dialog. You can open V8Configuration files from the workspace or from
external here.
Refresh
Refreshes the editor display. Use this if the editor display is outdated. Normally not needed.
Edit
Switches the VECTOVISION Editor from the Design mode into the Edit mode. This mode shows
the QML source code in an text editor. Please note that the editor keeps the currently selected
element in focus when switching between modes.
Design
Switches the VECTOVISION Editor from the Editor mode into the Design mode. This mode shows
a graphical what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor. Please note that the editor keeps the currently
selected element in focus when switching between modes.
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there is no active connection, the VECTOVISION Viewer starts in demo mode. The other
VECTOVISION Viewer start options are used from the last call. You can use this menu to quickly
test your HMI while development.
Translate…
Opens up the VECTVISION translate dialog to manage localisations of the current HMI project.
Connect
Opens up the Connect dialog. Here you can pick a V8 controller from the list or type in a name
or IP address. The controller has to be connected by a TCP/IP network (typically Ethernet/WLAN).
The shown list of controllers are the ones found in the online networks of the workstation. The
default login is “vectonum” and password is “vectonum”. See Running the Application for an
example.
While connecting two questions may asked:
1. If the V8 versions between VECTOSTUDIO and the controller should be synchronised. Say
“Yes” here if you want to use the “Download” option (see below).
2. If a backup should be done. Saying “Yes” here is a good practice if you want to change the
controller in any way, e.g. download an update.
If you have troubles connecting to the controller, have a look at “Setting up compatible IP
addresses” in "Tips and Tricks".
Disconnect
Closes the current connection to the controller.
Download
This may be one of the most used menu items. It runs the current application on the connected
controller. That means, all projects in the workspace are build, the PLCs, HMIs, and
configurations are copied on the controller and the new application will be started.
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Backup Application…
Opens up the Create Backup dialog to create a backup of the current application. This may
include the sources on the workstation plus binaries, runtime and configuration from the
controller. See “Creating a Backup” chapter for a detailed description.
Restore Application…
Opens up the Restore Backup dialog to restore a previously created application backup. This may
include the sources on the workstation plus binaries, runtime and configuration from the
controller. See “Restoring a Backup” chapter for a detailed description.
Reconnect
Closes and re-opens the current device connection. Could be helpful if there are connection
related problems.
Expert Download…
Opens up the “Expert Download” dialog. Here you can chose which of the download steps
should be done or not. Use this if you have detailed knowledge about the application start
process and need more control over that process. In most cases the “Download” option is the best
option.
Reboot Device…
Reboots the controller. Use this if you had a crash in a KPLC for example.
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Shutdown Device…
Shuts down the controller. Regularly shutting down the controller before power off is required
except if the controller runs in the “Read Only” mode.
Restart Application
Restarts the currently running application on the controller. If no application is executed, the
default application will be started.
Reset V8
Immediately stops the running application and unloads it on the controller. Attention: this opens
the emergency chain, activates hardware watchdogs and disables real time code. Use this only if
you know the consequences.
Restart V8…
Restarts the whole V8 service. Use this if you have updated the V8 version on the controller.
Auto-Configure
Does a complete hardware scan on the VECTOBUSes and starts up a minimal application. Use
this if you want to scan and test the fieldbus devices connected to the controller.
Reboot to Bootloader…
Reboots a VE device, but does not start the firmware. Device boots into bootloader mode instead.
Stay in Bootloader
Signals a VE device to stay in bootloader mode. Use this option while the device boots.
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7.1.10.1.2 Analyser
Save Analyser
Just like the “Save and Open Analyser” item above, this saves a snapshot of the current Analyser
state on the controller. But the created Analyser file remains on the controller for later use.
New Window
Opens up another program window. This is useful if you want to work with multiple monitors on
your workstation.
Editor
This menu assembles several options to split the current editor window into multiple parts. This is
useful if you want to have an eye on two or more sequences of the same file.
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Hide/Show Toolbar
Hides or shows the main toolbar.
Open Perspective
Let you choose a perspective and opens it. Use this if you want to switch manually to a specific
perspective. The "Perspective Chooser" on the top right corner of the VECTOSTUDIO program
window provides a shortcut. The Perspective Chooser also shows all currently open perspectives.
Show View
Let you choose a view and opens it.
Customize Perspective…
Opens the customise perspective dialog for the current perspective. Here you can customise the
tool bar, the menus, and shortcuts as you prefer.
Reset Perspective
This menu item resets a perspective to its factory defaults if you have changed it.
Close Perspective
Closes the current perspective.
Navigation
Provides several options to navigate between the screen items, such as editors and views. Use this
mainly to navigate in the program window without using the mouse.
Preferences
Opens the preferences window. This preferences window provides all program preferences in one
place. Use the hierarchical category or the filter function on the left of the dialog to navigate
between the various options.
Welcome
Opens the Welcome screen. This screen is shown on every start of VECTOSTUDIO.
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Help Contents
Provides access to the internal help system. Here you can find this program documentation,
among others.
Search
Searches for phrases in the internal help system.
Dynamic Help
Adds the Help view to your perspective. This help view always shows the help page that belongs
to the current input focus.
Key Assist…
Shows an overview of all currently available keyboard shorts. Useful to get into keyboard handling
of the program.
Cheat Sheets…
Opens up the Cheat Sheet selection dialog. Cheat sheets are guided instructions to do specific
tasks.
Installation Details
Opens up a dialog with program installation details. Not needed in normal use but useful for
VECTOSTUDIO program trouble shooting.
Licence Info
Shows program licence status. That is if the VECTOSTUDIO licence USB dongle is valid or not.
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-clean Resets internal data. Use this option if there are strange
program problems after updating or installing another
VECTOSTUDIO version.
-data path Opens VECTOSTUDIO with a specific workspace.
Give the workspace path here.
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Overall download times are reduced by ~75 %. E.g. if the first download took 4 minutes
before, it will now take about 1 minute.
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Notes:
The actual speedup depends on the workstation hardware used. More available CPUs will
give more speedup. (Above numbers are measurements on quad-core CPU.)
A current V8 version will also give a slight speedup.
An update of the project Makefiles will also speedup the build process. To do this, select
the PLC and KPLC projects in your workspace and select the Configuration->Update
Project Makefiles... menu from the Project Explorer context menu.
Closed projects in the workspace are also included in the backup now.
VECTONUM Embedded development: New option generates a binary "Application
Runtime" file which contains all the data to set up a VD50 or VECTOPOWER device from
the source code. With this file the VE_Config tool can be used to set up VE devices without
sources in one go.
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• The random ‘Subversion connector is not available’ bug is fixed. (Background information:
using ‘SVNkit’ SVN connector instead of ‘Native JavaHL’ now. The previous one is still
available. See Preferences->Team->SVN->SVN Connector.).
• And a lot of smaller bug fixes and polishing across all functions.
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• The configuration project will be created automatically once for every new workspace now.
Before it was created every time, if there was not an existing one.
• Watch I/O View
– I/O values can be shown in binary or hexadecimal format.
– I/O views can be saved and loaded into files.
– Multiple selections are possible. This simplified editing and arranging I/Os in the list.
• V8Configuration Editor: The in-editor search function can be started from the standard “Edit
-> Find/Replace…” menu. This also implies the standard Ctrl+F shortcut.
• Backup and Restore: The backup and restore dialogs got two buttons to quickly access the
local backups and the backups on the controller.
• Download
– All files are saved before downloading now. This improves the usability of the
download operation.
– Before the first download on a controller automatically an application backup of the
running application will be done. This backup will be done parallel to the build
process and only includes the “Application Runtime” to speed up the overall
download process. VECTOSTUDIO automatically keeps the last 10 of these
automatically done backups.
– VS now checks if the v8configuration.xml file was changed on the controller after
downloading an application. If so, the user will be warned before the next download
and has the option to see the changes made on the controller.
– VS can now also show the differences of the v8configuration.xml file before
downloading, if the local and the running are different.
• Updated to VECTOVISION 1.1.
• Updated to VE_Config 1.1.10.
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– The properties pane on the right side immediately commits input now. Dropping a
value into a property input field was only committed when acknowledged by the
return key before. This should prevent inconsistent data between the text and design
mode in the VV Editor.
– The limitations for entering numbers in the property editor are removed. There was a
maximum of 1000 before.
• Several other fixes and smaller improvements.
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• New V8 Online Operations: Save Analyser, Start/Stop Worker Task, Auto-Configure, Reset
Kernel