4Control Engineering Projects

A 4C project (short form: project) is used to group and manage all components which are needed to handle a global task (such as automating a production process). Thus, a project includes all source files (e.g. classes), but also files and components which are not mandatory for performing the actual control task (e.g. libraries and files for project documentation or user interface settings). A 4C projects always contains one single configuration. All files belonging to a project are stored in a central folder which also contains the project file named projectname.4cp. This is a central management file in which the project settings are stored and which references all files that are part of the project. The name of the folder and of the project file are usually identical with the project name you specify when creating a new project.

The tree structure defining the call hierarchy of the project is visualized in the Class view of the Navigator.

Configuration
Each 4C project contains one single configuration, in which one or more resources are declared. You can consider the configuration as a control system with one or more central processing units. The project configuration is stored in the project folder as a separate file named configurationname.con and displayed in the Class view of the Navigator next to the configuration icon . The name of the configuration usually is the project name, it is created automatically when you define the project. As a project can only contain one configuration, it is not possible to create other configurations or to delete the existing one.

Resources
Within the configuration, there are one or more subordinate resources. Resources are assigned to targets. It is possible to assign the same resource to multiple targets. The runtime program which is generated by compiling a target can then be downloaded to the runtime system of the corresponding target and executed there.

A resource is used for the following:

Import of the declaration file for global variables
Declaration of the tasks assigned to the resource
Declaration of the program instances assigned to the resource
Assignment of program instances to tasks
Management of all data which can be compiled and downloaded to the associated runtime system.

Each resource for a configuration is stored in the project folder as a separate file named resourcename.res and displayed in the Class view of the Navigator next to the resource icon . To create a resource, click the right mouse button on the configuration shown in the Class view of the Navigator and select Insert Resource from the context menu.

Targets
The runtime program which is generated by compiling a resource can be downloaded to a target platform (control system hardware) and executed there. For this, you must declare the target platform in the project and assign it to a resource. A declared target platform is called target. In the Target view of the Navigator, the targets are displayed with hardware-specific icons.

To declare a new target, click the right mouse button on the project shown in the Target view of the Navigator and select a target platform from the context menu.

The object list displays all objects of the current project. Instances which are created automatically by 4CONTROL, as well as individual global variables and constants are not shown. Global variables and constants are each grouped in a pool in the Navigator view.