User Interface

The PLC-Lab program window is shown below:

Element Description
Menus The most important commands have been placed in the menu bar for quick access. You can access all menu items via the icon on the left (arrow pointing down)
License manager This button opens the License Manager. This activates or deactivates the software on the PC.
Objects In this list, which has a tree structure, all PLC-Lab objects can be found sorted by category. These include, for example, switch objects, lamp objects, cylinders, etc. When you select an object type, you can drag the object onto the drawing board and place it there.
Drawing board The objects are placed on the drawing board where the test environment or system is drawn.
Properties object This table lists the properties of the object currently selected on the drawing board. Depending on the property type, an additional dialog may appear for changing the property. For example, with color properties. If an operand is expected for a property, you can recognize this by its name.
Overview Overview of the drawing board. You can see the entire drawing board with all objects. A frame indicates the part of the drawing board that is currently visible in the drawing board. You can reposition this area with the mouse.
Action list This list, which has a tree structure, lists actions with the objects and settings sorted in PLC-Lab. Here you will find actions such as the formation of character groups, the alignment of selected objects and also the settings relating to the draw-window.
Symbol table The symbol table contains the operands to be used in the system with their symbols. The operands are assigned to certain devices, depending on which device the virtual system is to "act" on. If a new symbol is added, the operand of the device that is currently selected in the device selection is always inserted. It is possible to change an operand to another device if the new device also has this type of operand. Absolute operands without symbols can also be used within the PLC-Lab objects. However, you should avoid this, since with meaningful symbols the area of application can be recognized immediately. This gives a system a better overview. Since the symbols can be specified for the objects by drag-and-drop or autocompletion, no additional writing is necessary.
Cross reference list All operands used in the system can be listed via the cross reference list. In addition, you can see whether the operand is read from or written to. This can also be used to determine if several objects write to an operand, which is usually an error. If you double-click on a line, the object to which the item belongs is highlighted.
Selected objects The objects currently selected on the drawing area can be inserted into the table "Selected objects". By double-clicking on the entry of an object within the table, its properties can be displayed and edited. This is particularly helpful if an object is arranged in a lower Z-order and thus cannot be selected individually on the drawing area.
C# script A C# script can be created for the project within the "C# script" tab. The functions to read or write symbols are generated from the symbol table and can then be used within the C# script. The C# script extends the simulation possibilities enormously. For example, the behaviour of intelligent sensors or measuring devices can be simulated in C# and the input information can be evaluated within the virtual system.
Status bar Info messages for actions appear on the left side. Further to the right you can see the position data of the mouse pointer, information about rewiring, and connection information in run mode
Zoom The zoom slider can be used to zoom in and out of the drawing board. You can also zoom in on a certain area of the drawing board by using multi-selection while pressing the Ctrl key. When you release it, the area selected with multi-selection is zoomed to the maximum.