Edited 18-09-2023 by TS.
* Explanation of newly introduced keywords or datatypes like ABSTRACT, CHAR, WSTRING etc.
* Usage Tips for new CODESYS Installer,
* The new possibilities with HTML5 visualisation and visualisation in general,
* Deep dive into the plethora of shipped libraries with CODESYS as they contain many useful stuff. Sadly these libraries are poorly documented and therefore it is up to the user to sometimes just 'guess' at the usage and/or figure out how things interact.
With kind regards,
Haico Hermsen
Ideas for next version or even a new volume (volume 3)
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All posts must be respectful, positive, and constructive. Any others will be deleted.
All posts must be respectful, positive, and constructive. Any others will be deleted.
Ideas for next version or even a new volume (volume 3)
Last edited by Haico on Mon Sep 18, 2023 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Ideas for next version or even a new volume (volume 3)
Hello Haico. Thank you for your valuable input. Allow me to address each suggestion individually:
CHAR is a relatively new feature, and it is definitely on my list to add to the next edition of the book.
I considered adding ABSTRACT to the book, and SOLID fall into the same area of question. The question being, “is The Book of CODESYS the best location to have this information, and are there already other sources of information available that would address it better?” I’ve decided that there is a plethora of books on OOP already, and have decided that The Book of CODESYS shouldn’t attempt to teach OOP. It should instead concentrate on showing how the mechanics of OOP are different in CODESYS. In other words, how the OOP aspects of the language are different between traditional OOP languages (C++) and CODESYS. An experienced C++ programmer will know what ABSTRACT means, so is it necessary to address this in The Book of CODESYS? Or, on the other hand, it only takes one sentence, so why not mention it? In the case of ABSTRACT, it is on my list and I will probably mention it in the next revision. In the case of SOLID, I’m thinking there are probably better books out there that already teach these principals. What do you think?
I definitely want The Book of CODESYS to address the “I know how to write this in C++, how do I do write it in CODESYS?” type of questions. Please let me know if you find anything missing in that category.
I struggle with the issue of Dynamic Instantiation (or dynamic memory allocation in general). CODESYS strongly recommends against using any of these techniques in PLC programming, as it is commonly held belief that memory management is the #1 cause for intermittent and extremely-difficult-to-diagnose-and-fix bugs. And, since the #1 priority of most PLC systems is uptime, anything that threatens that #1 goal should not be used (in other words, the frequency that I need to reboot my smart TV or laptop would absolutely never be acceptable in a process plant). So, do I show how to implement programming techniques that are strongly discouraged??? I have dynamic memory on the list of future enhancements, but due to the reasons I just mentioned, it is a relatively low priority. Based on your input, I will consider incrementing its priority.
The new Installer is definitely on the future edition list. Although, I need to gain more experience with it before I can write on it with any authority. (And, as I’ve seen, it seems like it needs to stabilize a bit before its ready to be documented). But, it will definitely be addressed in the future.
Unfortunately, most of my experience is in the mobile and process industries, so I don’t have enough personal experience to write authoritatively on motion and CNC. Plus, I suspect that subject could be another book in itself. If I could sell this book for thousands of dollars like the online training courses sell for, I could potentially justify making the investment to become an expert and then document that expertise. But, unfortunately, even though the price of the book is a fraction of the price of online training, its price has been criticized. The only financially feasible way to gain the necessary experience is to find consulting gig that includes some component of CNC and motion. Do you need any consulting on that front?
Thanks again for your input. I hope you find my response reasonable. Feel free to comment either way.
Gary
CHAR is a relatively new feature, and it is definitely on my list to add to the next edition of the book.
I considered adding ABSTRACT to the book, and SOLID fall into the same area of question. The question being, “is The Book of CODESYS the best location to have this information, and are there already other sources of information available that would address it better?” I’ve decided that there is a plethora of books on OOP already, and have decided that The Book of CODESYS shouldn’t attempt to teach OOP. It should instead concentrate on showing how the mechanics of OOP are different in CODESYS. In other words, how the OOP aspects of the language are different between traditional OOP languages (C++) and CODESYS. An experienced C++ programmer will know what ABSTRACT means, so is it necessary to address this in The Book of CODESYS? Or, on the other hand, it only takes one sentence, so why not mention it? In the case of ABSTRACT, it is on my list and I will probably mention it in the next revision. In the case of SOLID, I’m thinking there are probably better books out there that already teach these principals. What do you think?
I definitely want The Book of CODESYS to address the “I know how to write this in C++, how do I do write it in CODESYS?” type of questions. Please let me know if you find anything missing in that category.
I struggle with the issue of Dynamic Instantiation (or dynamic memory allocation in general). CODESYS strongly recommends against using any of these techniques in PLC programming, as it is commonly held belief that memory management is the #1 cause for intermittent and extremely-difficult-to-diagnose-and-fix bugs. And, since the #1 priority of most PLC systems is uptime, anything that threatens that #1 goal should not be used (in other words, the frequency that I need to reboot my smart TV or laptop would absolutely never be acceptable in a process plant). So, do I show how to implement programming techniques that are strongly discouraged??? I have dynamic memory on the list of future enhancements, but due to the reasons I just mentioned, it is a relatively low priority. Based on your input, I will consider incrementing its priority.
The new Installer is definitely on the future edition list. Although, I need to gain more experience with it before I can write on it with any authority. (And, as I’ve seen, it seems like it needs to stabilize a bit before its ready to be documented). But, it will definitely be addressed in the future.
Unfortunately, most of my experience is in the mobile and process industries, so I don’t have enough personal experience to write authoritatively on motion and CNC. Plus, I suspect that subject could be another book in itself. If I could sell this book for thousands of dollars like the online training courses sell for, I could potentially justify making the investment to become an expert and then document that expertise. But, unfortunately, even though the price of the book is a fraction of the price of online training, its price has been criticized. The only financially feasible way to gain the necessary experience is to find consulting gig that includes some component of CNC and motion. Do you need any consulting on that front?
Thanks again for your input. I hope you find my response reasonable. Feel free to comment either way.
Gary