When generating a PLC schematic, schematic pages with different views can be selectively generated:
- Single-line Representation
- Multi-line representation
- Overview of the inputs and outputs (macro variant A)
- Overview of the rack layout (macro variant E).
The page names of the generated pages are automatically calculated based on the start page, but can also be manually changed.
EPLAN generates a PLC schematic by automatically placing macros and using unplaced functions from the project. These macros must be assigned to the PLC devices, which largely occurs automatically.
Assignment of macros
The assignment of macros to the PLC devices is effected in the dialog Generate PLC schematic which you open via the command Generate schematic. (To this purpose you first have to Customize the ribbon and then assign the desired command to a user-defined command group.) The Macro file table column provided this for the assignment. Once PLC devices have been read into the Generate PLC schematic dialog, the macro file from the main part (the first part that is not an accessory) is automatically entered at the PLC box.
The macro file can also be manually selected or swapped. Macros can be selected via the file selection dialog or dragged into a table cell from the Windows Explorer via Drag & Drop.
When assigning a PLC macro, a check is made to see if all necessary macro representation types are present and that they match the device functions. The results of this check are shown in the Status table column. If the macro contains all the necessary data then a green icon 
is displayed. In rows of the macros where data is missing (for example a particular representation type), a yellow icon 
is displayed. If the macro is missing or does not match (e.g. it contains too few connection points) then a red icon 
is displayed.
If you mark a table cell with an icon, the Show messages popup menu item can be used to open a dialog containing detailed status information.
If warnings / errors still exist when generating the schematic, then these macros are placed anyway and only the DT is used at the corresponding boxes and connection points in the macro.
Wiring macros
With PLC connection points you can specify wiring macros. The wiring macros can contain single-line and multi-line representations. Automatic assignment of the multi-line and single-line wiring of the inputs and outputs is not possible when the connection point is not yet placed. You must perform this assignment yourself, by specifying appropriate window macros in the Generate PLC schematic dialog, at the connection points where wiring is to be inserted. A macro can occupy multiple connection points, e.g. all connection points of a channel.
Automatic assignment of the wiring macro occurs when the connection point is already placed and the macro box was also inserted, e.g. via a previous schematic generation. At every placed connection point, a search is made in the connection point direction for the handle of a macro. The handle of the wiring macro must lie either exactly on the connection point of the PLC connection point or on the next grid point in the connection direction.
If a macro is found, then the macro name is read from the macro box and entered into the appropriate cell of the Generate PLC schematic dialog. As with PLC macros, this occurs every time a device is added to the table.
Automatic assignment of pages
In the Generate PLC schematic dialog you select the representation type to be generated. The page type columns are activated or grayed out, depending on the selection. Within the enabled columns, only the page cells containing PLC macros are activated.
The error status is also appropriately adjusted. If (e.g.) only the multi-line representation is to be generated, then no more errors exist when no symbol variant A exists in the selected macro for the "Overview" representation type.
If particular representations already exist, then the existing page names are displayed.
The calculation (and subsequent generation) of the pages occurs for the devices selected in the tree view of the Generate PLC schematic dialog. This allows particular part sections to be inserted into particular identifier structures. Only functions that are not yet placed in the affected representation types, or functions that were automatically placed in a previous generation, are taken into account.
First single-line, then multi-line representations, then I/O overviews, and finally rack layout overviews are generated.
I/O overviews for inputs and outputs and rack layout overviews are distinguished by the macro variants. In both cases, the macros are placed using the "Overview" representation type. Macro variant A is intended for I/O overviews and macro variant E is for rack layouts.
See also