Object ‘Project information’

Symbol:

Function: This object contains the properties, meta-information, and project information. With this, you can check the authorship and integrity of the project.

Call

• Double-click the object in the device tree
• Menu bar Project ‣ Project information

Requirement: CODESYS creates the object when you click Project ‣ Project Information, and the dialog box opens.

CODESYS saves the project information directly in the project. For example, if you transfer a project to another system, then the Project information object is also transferred. You do not need a project archive.

Tab ‘File’

The tab displays the properties of the project file and their attributes. You cannot edit these attributes. They correspond to the file properties of Windows Explorer.

Tab ‘Summary’

This tab contains general information and meta-information of the project file. CODESYS uses this information to create keys in the Properties tab. For example, if the name Company_A is specified in Company, then the Company key with the value Company_A is provided in the Properties tab.

Attention

If you save your project as a library project, then you should pay attention to the guidelines for library developers (Library Development Summary).

For a library project, a Company, a Title, and a Version must be specified to install the library.
Company	Name of the company (example: Company_A).
Title	Title of the project (example Automation_A).
Version	Version of the project (example: 0.0.0.1).
Released	: Activates protection from modification. Result: If you edit the project now, then a dialog prompt opens to confirm whether you really want to change the project. If you reply to this prompt one time by clicking Yes, then no additional prompts appear for more editing actions.
Categories	Categories of the library project, according to which you can sort in the Library Repository dialog box. If no category is specified, then the category Other is assigned to the library. The categories originate from one or more external description files in XML format. However, they can also originate from a library project that has already been created. Requirement: The project is a library project.
Author	Author of the project (example: Arnold Best).
Standard namespace	If you do not define a standard namespace here, then the name of the library file is applied automatically as the namespace.
Description	Example: For internal use only
	The Library categories dialog box opens where you can add library categories.

Dialog box Library Categories

List of categories	List of the categories that are assigned to the library project. They can originate from several sources. After you specify all desired categories, click OK to confirm.
Button Add	The From description file and From other library commands appear.
Button Delete	CODESYS removes the selected category.
Command From description file	The Select description file dialog box opens where you select a description file (\*.libcat.xml). The file contains command categories. When you click Open, CODESYS accepts the categories.
Command From another library	The Select library dialog box opens, where you select a library with command categories to be accepted. When you click Open, CODESYS accepts the categories.
Button OK	CODESYS provides the categories as project information and displays it in the Library Categories field.

See also

• Guidelines for Creating Libraries
• Command ‘Library repository’

Tab ‘Properties’

In this tab, you can define keys that you can control externally from user-specific programs.

Attention

If you have opened a library project, then please note the description of the relevant keys in the guidelines for library developers (Library Development Summary).

If you have opened a symbol library as a project, then the key VisuSymbolLibrary = TRUE must be defined. It identifies the library as a symbol library.

Key	Name of a new key or the key selected in Properties. Requirement: A key is selected in Properties and its values are changed.
Type	Data type of the key (text, date, number, yes/no, version)
Value	Value of the key
Add	Adds the key in Properties. Requirement: A new key is specified.
Edit	Saves the change. Requirement: A key is selected in Properties and its values are changed.
Remove	Deletes the selected key. Requirement: A key is selected in Properties.

Properties

List of the properties that are defined as keys. CODESYS creates keys automatically for the information in the Summary tab. Click a key to edit it in the input fields above the list.

See also

• Guidelines for Creating Libraries
• Using the symbol library in the visualization: _visu_using_symbol_library
• Dialog Box ‘Properties’ - ‘Image Pool’

Tab ‘Statistics’

This dialog box provides statistical information about the number of objects of the individual type or use in the project.

Tab ‘Licensing’

The dialog box is for the license protection of libraries.

Caution

You can protect only compiled libraries in this way.

Variables

Activate dongle licensing	: The library requires a dongle with a license to use it.
Firm code	License information that must be supplied from the dongle for using the library later.
Product code
Activation URL
Activation mail

See also

• Guidelines for Creating Libraries

Tab ‘Signing’

In this dialog box, you can sign a library project with a vendor-specific, unique key. Requirement: This key is available as a private key file (\*.libpk) with an associated token.

Activate signing	: CODESYS signs the library project with a single-use, manufacturer-specific key.
Private key file	Location of the private key file \*.libpk (example: D:\\for lib developers only\\mycomp_libkey.libpk).
Public key token	Example: 427A5701DA3CF3CF Requirement: A private key file is specified, and CODESYS has read and entered the token.
Create private key file	CODESYS creates a new private key file.

Options for creating blocks for accessing project information

Automatically generate ‘Project Information’ POUs

Note: The functions that are created with this option can be used only if the runtime system supports the WSTRING data type. If this is not the case, then you can use the function that were created with the Automatically generate ‘Library Information’ POUs option in the application at least for accessing properties. These functions are not registered in the runtime system. : CODESYS creates POU objects of the FUNCTION type in the POUs view, allowing programmatic access to the project properties in the application. The function blocks GetCompany, GetTitle and GetVersion are created for the properties Company, Title and Version. The following function blocks are available for user-defined properties: GetBooleanProperty: BOOL (TRUE/FALSE) GetNumberProperty: DINT (numeric value) GetTextProperty: WSTRING (character string) GetTextProperty2: POINTER TO WSTRING (unlimited length) GetVersionProperty: VERSION (version number as character string) Note: Do not activate this option for standard libraries, because this can cause problems on smaller systems due to the additional memory requirements.

Automatically generate ‘Library Information’ POUs

: CODESYS creates POU objects of the FUNCTION type in the POUs view, allowing programmatic access to the project properties in the application. For the Version and Released properties, the following functions are created: GetLibVersion (version number as character string), GetLibVersionNumber (version number as numeric value), and IsLibReleased (TRUE/FALSE). Note: These functions are not registered in the runtime system. This option is available as an alternative solution is the runtime system does not support the WSTRING data type, therefore not permitting you to use the functions created with the Automatically generate ‘Project Information’ POUs option.

See also

• Making Project Settings