Have you thought about using watch tables?  Watch tables accept UDT-based tags very well, plus you can see all the structure within the UDT by expanding UDT-based tags.

As far as cross-referencing tags within a UDT goes, you _may_ be able to create a custom filter - but I have not experimented with that particular thing too much.

Search *this* conference for "custom filter" to see what others have done to see if that helps you any.

As for knowing whether someone is online monitoring, my best suggestion is to monitor plc scan time.

There will certainly be a fairly consistent long-term average, long-term peak.  If you see the short-term peak go way above the long-term peak, you might be detecting someone getting connected.  If you see the long-term peak start going up and then level off but have a larger variability, you may be detecting someone online troubleshooting and navigating around from block to block.

If you build a LOT of extra code, you can monitor for a value modification that can only be explained by an outside presence, like when someone uses a right-click -> modify -> set value to ___.

MatsSN

Hi,

Is there any way to detect online monitoring of a block? I am trying to make my programs as library friendly and reusable as possible. That involves a lot of interfacing on the blocks and using UDT's to reduce in&out pins. That makes cross reference a lot harder.

So i was thinking of making a couple of networks just for debugging and monitoring some values. Then I could just set a debug when bit when needed, and turn off to reduce memory reading when not needed.

That made me wonder if there is any way to detect online monitoring, preferably inside a single block so I could set the debug bit automatically, and prevent med from forgetting to turn it off. 

 .. I can see how the knowing the online state of a PC can be abused on all sorts of naughty ways.  "Sir, we cannot reproduce the error while we have the PC connected to the machine."

MatsSN

Hi,

Is there any way to detect online monitoring of a block? I am trying to make my programs as library friendly and reusable as possible. That involves a lot of interfacing on the blocks and using UDT's to reduce in&out pins. That makes cross reference a lot harder.

So i was thinking of making a couple of networks just for debugging and monitoring some values. Then I could just set a debug when bit when needed, and turn off to reduce memory reading when not needed.

That made me wonder if there is any way to detect online monitoring, preferably inside a single block so I could set the debug bit automatically, and prevent med from forgetting to turn it off. 

What you hoping for is available as status records of the Profinet port. Those data are read by Step7 and represented as all sorts of diagnostics in the software. knowing which records to reference is a bit tricky. I have not found a comprehensive document about that yet. You may try your luck by contacting Siemens via the "Support Request" link.

BUT there might be something that is already available and helpful. Have a look at [LINK: Library for PROFINET data records]. Reference pages 12, 13 and 14. 

--

Do make a consideration that you should not add so much more bulk to processing that it is uneconomical to have the functionality. It may easily happen that it takes less processing to have the added debug code run all the time instead of detecting when to activate it. 

A semi-automatic way would be to have a user set a bit. The bit can be reset after some time limit.

To force the situation you can have a physical key switch. This switch could also activate a software password. See the ENDIS_PW instruction for some insight on how an internal password can block online access.

Ahh, in my current typical projects, there is (nearly) always something connected to every PLC port.  If a PC connection is made while the PLC is running, it could be detected and then inferred someone is connecting to the PLC.

However, there is nothing I saw in that library that stated someone was using TIA Portal for online monitoring of the PLC logic.  You have to infer it.

I like the option of a securely located pushbutton or selector switched, like inside a small enclosure on the side of the main electrical cabinet or enclosure containing the PLC.  Perhaps even have it safety keyed switch that changes how the logic is functioning when someone is online monitoring - automatically.

However, a watch table bit toggle can accomplish the same thing and trigger "online monitoring detection" for no hardware costs.