Introduction

All Maple Systems HMIs programmed with EBPro (EasyBuilder Pro), including every cMT X Series and cMT Series model, are compatible with Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC – Free Tag Names (Ethernet). Configure your Controller and HMI/cMT with the following parameters to establish reliable communication.

Supported Series: CX8000,CX90x0,CX1010,CP62xx,CX5010,CP62xx,CX1020,CX2020,CPxxxx,C6920,CX2030,CPxxxx,CP6930,CX2040,C65xx,C69xx

Website: http://infosys.beckhoff.com/

HMI Settings

Parameters	Recommended	Options	Notes
PLC type	Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC – Free Tag Names (Ethernet)
PLC I/F	Ethernet
Port no.	48898
PLC sta. no.	No need to set station no.
Online simulator	YES
EasyAccess 2.0	NO

Support Device Type

Data Type	EBPro (EasyBuilder) Data Format	Memo
Bool	bit
Word	16-bit BCD, Hex, Binary, Unsigned	16-bit
Int	16-bit BCD, Hex, Binary, Signed	16-bit
UInt	16-bit BCD, Hex, Binary, Unsigned	16-bit
DWord	32-bit BCD, Hex, Binary, Unsigned	32-bit
DInt	32-bit BCD, Hex, Binary, Signed	32-bit
Real	32-bit Float	32-bit
UDInt	32-bit BCD, Hex, Binary, Unsigned	32-bit
LInt	64-bit Signed	64-bit
ULInt	64-bit Unsigned	64-bit
LWord	64-bit Unsigned	64-bit
Double	64-bit Float	64-bit
String	ASCII input and ASCII display	Max length: 256
WString	ASCII input and ASCII display	*^Note1

Note1: Support WString in EasyBuilderPro V6.08.02 and later versions

Note2: EBPro (EasyBuilder Pro) V6.03.02 or later supports 64 bits data type, but please note that the address limit range is 48 bits in maximum.

Note3: When importing, there are two modes of one/two char per word to choose from. When importing one char per word, choose Unicode data format for ASCII objects, and choose UTF-8 (Default) data format for two char per word.

IEC-61131 STRING type select dialog showing one char per word and two char per word options with byte and word index mapping examples.

TwinCAT 2 PLC Settings

To connect Beckhoff devices, HMI’s information must be registered to PLC first. The following steps describe how to register HMI’s information into Beckhoff devices.

Open TwinCAT 2 System Manager
Open TwinCat System Manager. Select [Actions] menu, and then select [Choose Target System]. Select the device you are connecting.
Add HMI to AMS Router
Open TwinCat System Control. Go to [AMS Router] tab, click [Add] to add HMI information. Please add the HMI information as below.n- Name: A user-defined namen- AMS Net ID: HMI’s IP address + u0022.1.1u0022n- Address: HMI’s IP address
Apply AMS Router Configuration
If added successfully, you will see a new item in Remote Computers. Click [Apply] to apply the configuration.
Activate TwinCAT 2 Configuration
Open TwinCat System Manager again. Select [Actions] menu, and then select [Activate Configuration] to apply the new settings.

TwinCAT 3 PLC Settings

To connect Beckhoff devices, HMI’s information must be registered to PLC first. The following steps describe how to register HMI’s information into Beckhoff devices.

Choose TwinCAT 3 Target System
Double click [SYSTEM], and then select [Choose Target System]. Select the device you are connecting.
Add HMI Route Entry
Expand the SYSTEM layer, select [Routes]. Click [Add] to add HMI information as below.n- Name: A user-defined namen- AMS Net ID: must be HMI’s IP address + u0022.1.1u0022n- Transport Type: TCP_IPn- Address: HMI’s IP address
Apply Routes Configuration
If added successfully, you will see a new item in Remote Computers. Click [Apply] to apply the configuration.
Activate TwinCAT 3 Configuration
Select [TwinCAT] menu, and then select [Activate Configuration] to apply the new settings.

How to Import Tags

EBPro (EasyBuilder) supports two ways to import tags.

EasyBuilder System Parameter Settings Device tab showing Local HMI and Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC Free Tag Names device, with Import Tags and Get Tag Info buttons highlighted.

Get Tag Info

[Get Tag Info] could retrieve the tags directly from Beckhoff devices. Select the network adapter to access the Beckhoff devices.

Import Tags

There are three formats for importing tags: Linear, Hierarchical, EBproTag

The files generated after compilation in TwinCAT2 and TwinCAT3 programming software can be directly imported to EasyBuilder. Supported file types:

TwinCAT2: .tpy and .EXP
TwinCAT3: .TcDUT, .TcGVL, .TcPOU and .TPY

TPY files can be imported as linear or hierarchical
TwinCAT2 does not support the conversion of global_tag from Linear to Hierarchical

EasyBuilder Import Tags dialog listing importer types: Linear for .TPY, .EXP, .TcDUT, .TcPOU, .TcGVL files; Hierarchical for TwinCAT2 and TwinCAT3 .TPY files; and EBProTag for .CSV files.

Import and select hierarchical way, support filter tag function.

EasyBuilder Tag Manager showing hierarchical tag tree with Device_tags expanded to reveal MAIN, GVL, GVL_1, Tony_Global_Test, Constants, and TwinCAT_SystemInfoVarList program units.

Select PLC Software Version. Select the file type and then click [Import]. The invalid address types will be displayed in Error Status field. The “Import successfully” message will be shown upon completion.

EBPro (EasyBuilder Pro) confirmation dialog displaying the message Imported tag information successfully with an OK button.

NOTE:

Tag name can not include “.”.
GVL files with Tc2GvlVarNames attribute are not supported.

Code snippet showing a GVL file with the Tc2GvlVarNames attribute and VAR_GLOBAL block, labeled Not Supported.

Except for .EXP file of TwinCAT2, after the TwinCAT project is compiled, other file types are generated and placed in the same folder as the project. To generate .EXP files, please select [Project] » [Export], and then select the tag location to be exported.