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Siemens How To: Starter Executable Scripts and Custom Data Lists

Siemens How To: Starter Executable Scripts and Custom Data Lists

SINAMIC’s G and S Series Drives are a powerful and versatile platform capable of doing all sorts of motion applications. Also included are onboard IO, PID functionality, and even logic gates!

Taking advantage of all the added features of the SINAMIC’s drive system can also make it difficult to keep all the parameters straight and commission your drive system efficiently. This post will walk you through how to create a Custom Data List and Executable scripts within Starter.

These features will save you time, money, and improve commissioning consistency!

Creating a Custom Data List

Within the Starter software (Available for free download), we have all seen the dreaded expert list (shown below). However, most people miss the small box next to the expert list to create a custom list.

Once you have the Custom Data List open, you can enter both comments and parameters in which you are interested.

Comments start with two backslashes (//).

Parameters can be whole arrays or specific points (as in the example). In this case, I have a few that are important to my application. This Custom Data list creates a concise list of parameters to check or monitor!

You can save this offline with the simple click of a button:

Creating an Executable Script

So, now that you have the Custom Data List highlighting all the critical parameters for your application, you do not want to type those in for every drive!

Let’s automate it with a script. Click the below, and you have a script you can run on every drive in the project!

If you want to export the script, press Export and you have a simple text file that you can import into any other project. This is perfect for documentation and distribution within your service force.

Adding and Running and Executable Script

To add an Executable script from that .txt export, add a Scripts folder to the CU drive object (shown below).

Then, import the script with the ASCII Import tool:

To run the executable, right click -> Run executable.

Pro Tip

The script saves the parameters to the online RAM only. I highly recommend adding this RAM-> ROM function to the bottom of your script. Add the text below after the final parameter setting:

Parameters(971, 0) = "1" 'Save parameters

Conclusion

In this blog, I’ve shared a quick overview of the Custom Data List and Executable Script functionality available with Starter. With these quick instructions, you too can have a trustworthy list of the critical parameters for your application as well as a simple executable to get the next job done quickly.

Learn more about DMC's Siemens PLC Programming Services.

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