The Structure of a Project in Studio 5000 Logix Designer

Previously, we learned that a project in Studio 5000 Logix Designer is a container for a single Logix 5000 controller. A Studio 5000 Logix Designer project contains the application code for the Logix 5000 controller and all of the configuration data for the controller and its devices.

We also learned how to create a project in Studio 5000 Logix Designer.

In this edition of Learn Logix, we will look at the structure of the project that we have just created to understand what data is available in a Studio 5000 Logix Designer and how that data is organized and accessed.

Let's get started by talking about the Controller Organizer.

The Controller Organizer

The Controller Organizer is a graphical representation of the contents of a Logix 5000 controller.

It is a hierarchical tree of folders and files that contains all of the application code and configuration data associated with a single controller. The folders in the Controller Organizer can be expanded or collapsed to show or hide the contents of a folder.

Now that we know what the Controller Organizer is, let's look at the most important folders in the Controller Organizer.

The Most Important Folders in the Controller Organizer

All of the folders in the Controller Organizer are important in specific contexts and specific types of project. However, in my experience, the following folders are the most important folders in the Controller Organizer to know about and you will spend most of your time developing, troubleshooting, and maintaining Logix 5000 applications in these folders.

The Controller Folder

The Controller Folder contains global data for the application.

Specifically, this folder contains controller-scoped tags, the controller fault handler, and the power-up handler.

The Tasks Folder

The Tasks folder contains the controller's tasks.

Each task contains programs which contain routines and program-scoped tags.

Routines contain the actual application code for a project.

The Assets Folder

The Assets Folder contains the assets for a project.

An Asset is a reusable, global object in a Logix Designer project. Some examples of assets in a project include;

• Add-On Instructions (AOIs)
• Data Types, and
• Trends

Some types of assets may be further divided into sub-types. For example, the Data Types folder contains sub-folders for User-Defined, String, Add-On-Defined, Predefined, and Module-Defined data types.

We will look at each type of asset in more detail in a later edition of Learn Logix.

The I/O Configuration Folder

The I/O Configuration Folder contains information about the hardware configuration of the controller.

This folder is a hierarchical structure that contains the local and remote modules that the controller is configured to communicate with. We will see how to add modules to the I/O Configuration Folder in a future edition of Learn Logix.

Less Important Folders in the Controller Organizer

The following folders are important to be aware of but most beginner programmers will not actively work in these programs since the data here is more specific and only used in advanced applications.

The Motion Groups Folder

The Motion Groups folder contains motion groups that are used in motion control applications. Motion control is considered an advanced topic but its important to understand that Logix 5000 controllers can have motion capabilities and Logix Designer can be used to develop motion applications.

The Alarm Manager Folder

The Alarm Manager Folder contains the alarm configuration for a project.

Summary

The Controller Organizer is a graphical representation of the contents of a Logix 5000 controller. It provides a hierarchical view of all of the application code and data associated with a single Logix 5000 controller and its modules.

The most important folders in the Controller Organizer, where you will spend most of your time, are:

• The Controller Folder, which contains the Fault Handler, Power Up Handler, and Controller-Scoped Tags
• The Tasks Folder, which contains the Tasks, Programs, Program-Scoped Tags, and Routines
• The Assets Folder, which contains the AOIs, Data Types, and Trends
• The I/O Configuration Folder, which contains the hardware configuration for the controller and its modules

There are other folders in the Controller Organizer which contain objects used in advanced applications like the Motion Groups folder and the Alarm Manager Folder. As a beginner, you will not be working in these folders very often, but you should be aware that they exist.

Wrap Up

In this post, you learned how a Studio 5000 Logix Designer project is structured by examining the Controller Organizer. Along the way, we learned about the most important folders in the Controller Organizer and the data that these folders contain.

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