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GEAutomation AnIntroductiontoRSLogix5000Tags
AllenBradley
Siemens
PDFElectric&
Supply Tagsarethemethodforassigningandreferencingmemorylocationsin
DoSupply AllenBradleyLogix5000controllers.Nolongerarethereanyphysical
Company addressessuchasN7:0orF8:7whichusesymbolstodescribethem.These
AXControl
havebeenreplacedwithtagswhichareapuretextbasedaddressing
FujiAutomation
scheme.Thisisadeparturefromthemoreconventionalwaysof
PLCProgramming programmingPLCs,whichincludesAllenBradleysearlierlineof
Handbooks PLC5andSLC500controllers.
AllenBradley
Oneofthehardesttransitionsfromtheoldersystemsisrealizinghowthe
Siemens
tagdatabaseworks.ThepersonwithexperienceinAllenBradleysystems
Modicon
willrecognizemanyoftheinstructionsandbeathomewiththeeditorin
RSLogix5000.Understandingthetagdatabaseisthefirstmajorhurdlein
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softwarehaddatafilestostoreI/Oandotherinternalvalues.These
Navigation differentdatafilescouldonlyholdonedatatype.Adatatypedefinesthe
Bookreviews formatandthesizeofthestoredvalue.
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File# Type Description

Password:*
O0 Output Thisfilestoresthestateofoutputterminalsfor
thecontroller.
Login
Createnewaccount I1 Input Thisfilestoresthestateofinputterminalsforthe
Requestnewpassword controller.

S2 Status Thisfilestorescontrolleroperationinformation
usefulfortroubleshootingcontrollerandprogram
operation.

B3 Bit Thisfilestoresinternalrelaylogic.

T4 Timer Thisfilestoresthetimeraccumulatorandpreset
valuesandstatusbits.

C5 Counter Thisfilestoresthecounteraccumulatorand
presetvaluesandstatusbits.

R6 Control Thisfilestoresthelength,pointerposition,and
statusbitsforcontrolinstructionssuchasshift
registersandsequencers.

N7 Integer Thisfileisusedtostorebitinformationor
numericvalueswitharangeof32767to32768.

F8 FloatingPoint Thisfilestoresa#witharangeof1.1754944e
38to3.40282347e+38.

Whilethismethodmadeiteasyforusinginstructions,itprovideda
challengeforlogicallygroupingdifferentdatatypestogetheraccordingto
function.Forinstance,inmachinecontrol,amotormayhaveastart,stop,
speedandalarmcodeeachwithitsowndatatype.Thus,thedatawas
scatteredthroughoutthedatafiles.

File# Name DataType

I1 Start Input

I1 Stop Input

F8 SpeedSetpoint FloatingPoint

N7 AlarmCode Integer

ComparingtheOldandNew

TheLogix5000controllershavedoneawaywithdatafilesandinitsplaceis
thetagdatabase.Thetagdatabaseorganizesmemorylocationsinone
place.Eachtagisassigneditsowndatatype.Thetablebelowshowsthe
associationbetweenthecurrentdatatypesandtheoldersystemswithdata
files.

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RSLogix5/500 RSLogix5000

File# Type

O0 Output Inputandoutputmodules,whenconfigured,
automaticallycreatetheirowntagslike
I1 Input Local:0:I.Data.0

S2 Status UsetheGSVandSSVinstructionstogetstatus
informationsuchastheCPUtime,modulestates
andscantimes.

B3 Bit AssigntheBoolean(BOOL)datatypetothetag.

T4 Timer AssigntheTIMERdatatypetothetag.

C5 Counter AssigntheCOUNTERdatatypetothetag.

R6 Control AssigntheCONTROLdatatypetothetag.

N7 Integer Assignthedoubleinteger(DINT)datatypeto
thetag.

F8 Floating AssigntheREALdatatypetothetag.
Point

CreatingaTag

OnewaytocreateanewtagisrightclickontheControllerTagsinthe
ControllerOrganizerandselectNewTag.EvenfasteristheCtrl+Whotkey.

Thefollowingdialogboxpopsup.

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TheNamegiventothetaghasthefollowingrules:

onlyalphabeticcharacters(AZoraz),numericcharacters(09),and
underscores(_)
muststartwithanalphabeticcharacteroranunderscore
nomorethan40characters
noconsecutiveortrailingunderscorecharacters(_)
notcasesensitive

Whiletagsarenotcasesensitive,itisgoodpracticetomixcasesfor
readability.ItismucheasiertoreadLine1_StartthenLINE1STARTor
line1start.

Inaddition,thetagdatabaselistsortsalphabetically.Therefore,itisbestto
usesimilarstartingcharacterswhenyouwanttagstobetogetherinthe
monitorlist.

TagsNamedfor TagsNotNamedfor
Grouping Grouping

Level_High High_Level

Level_Low Insert_Nut

Insert_Nut Knife_Stop

Knife_Stop Low_Level

UsetheDescriptionfieldforalongerdescriptionofthetag.Itisbestto
keepnamesshortyetnotcryptic.Tagnamesaredownloadedandstoredin

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thecontrollerbutthedescriptionisnotasitispartofthedocumentationof
theproject.

ThetagTypedefineshowthetagoperatesintheproject

Base Atagthatactuallydefinesthememorywherethedata
isstored

Alias Atagthatrepresentsanothertag

Produced Senddatatoanothercontroller

Consumed Receivedatafromanothercontroller

Aliastagsmirrorthebasetagtowhichtheyrefer.Whenthebasetagvalue
changessodoesthealiastag.Usealiasesinthefollowingsituations:

programlogicinadvanceofwiringdiagrams
assignadescriptivenametoanI/Odevice
provideamoresimplenameforacomplextag
useadescriptivenameforanelementofanarray

Producedandconsumedtagsmakeitpossibletosharetagsbetween
controllersinthesamerackoroveranetwork.Thisarticledoesnotcover
thisaspect.

SelectaDataTypeforthetagbytypingitinorbyclickingontheellipsis
buttonandselectingitfromthelist.Adatatypeisadefinitionofthesize
andlayoutofmemoryallocatedforthecreatedtag.Datatypesdefinehow
manybits,bytes,orwordsofdataatagwilluse.
ThetermAtomicDataTypereferstothemostbasicdatatypes.Theyform
thebuildingblocksforallotherdatatypes.

DataType Abbreviation Memorybits Range

Boolean BOOL 1 01

ShortInteger SINT 8 128to127

Integer INT 16 32,768to32,767

DoubleInteger DINT 32 2,147,483,648to

2,147,483,647

RealNumber REAL 32 +/3.402823E38to

+/1.1754944E38

Logix5000controllersaretrue32bitcontrollers,meaningthememory
wordsare32bitswide.Nomatterwhat,atagalwaysreserves32bitsof
memoryevenifitisaBooleanorintegerdatatype.Forthisreason,itis
besttouseaDINTwhendealingwithintegers.Furthermore,aLogix5000

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controllertypicallycomparesormanipulatesvaluesas32bitvalues(DINTs
orREALs).

ALogix5000controllerletsyoudivideyourapplicationintomultiple
programs,eachwithitsowndata.TheScopeofthetagdefinesifatagis
global(controllertags)andthereforeavailabletoallprogramsorlocal
(programtags)toaselectprogramgroup.Paycarefulattentiontothisfield
ascreatingitinthewrongareamayleadtosomeconfusionlateronasto
itslocation.

ControllerTagsareavailabletoallprograms.Youcannotgowrongusing
controllerscopedtagsunlessyoueasilywanttocopyandpasteprograms.A
tagmustbecontrollerscopedwhenusedinaMessage(MSG)instruction,to
produceorconsumedataandtocommunicatewithaPanelViewterminal.
ProgramTagsareisolatedfromotherprograms.Routinescannotaccess
datathatisattheprogramscopeofanotherprogram.Havingprogramtags
makeiteasytocopy/pasteprogramsandnothavetoworryabout
conflictingtagnames.Makesurethoughthatnocontrollertagsarenamed
thesameasprogramtags.

Styleistheforminwhichtodisplaythetagbydefault.Thefollowingtable
providesyouwithinformationonthebaseandnotationusedforeachstyle.

Style Base Notation

Binary 2 2#

Decimal 10

Hexadecimal 16 16#

Octal 8 8#

Exponential 0.0000000e+000

Float 0.0

EditandMonitorTags

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ToeditexistingtagsselecttheLogic>EditTagsmenuitem.Aspreadsheet
likeviewletsyoucreateandedittags.

Clickingthe+signnexttoatagrevealsitsstructure.ForaDINTtagthisis
the32individualbitsthatmakeupthetagwhichwillnotbeofinterestif
youareusingthetagasanumberratherthenindividualbits.Ifyoudowish
tousetheindividualbitsthenyoucanaddresstheminthiswaywiththetag
namefollowedbyaperiodandthenthebitposition(e.g.MyTag.5).Shown
belowistheexpandedstructureforaTIMER.NoticeitismadeoftwoDINTs
andthreeBOOLs.Inthiscase,theBooleansarepackedintooneDINTand
thereforeatimerusesthreeDINTsofmemory.

AnEasierWaytoCreateTags

Theeasiestwaytocreatetagsisontheflywhileprogramming.Whenan
instructionisfirstuseda?willindicatedtheneedforatag.There
arethreeoptionsatthispoint:

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1.Doubleclickonthe?andselectanexistingtagfromthedrop
downbox.
2.Rightclickonthe?andselectnewtag.
3.Doubleclickonthe?andtypeinthetagname.Ifitdoesnotall
readyexist,thenrightclickonthetagnameandselectCreate
NewTagName.Becarefulwiththismethodnottousespacesor
specialcharacters.

ThenicethingaboutallthesemethodsisthatRSLogix5000will
automaticallyfillinthecorrectdatatypeaccordingtotheinstructionused.
Anotherquickmethodistodraganddropanexistingtagtoanew
instruction.Makesuretoclickonthetagnameratherthentheinstruction.

Conclusion

Thesearethebasicsoftags.Theadvantagesare:

1.Tags,ifdoneright,createalevelofdocumentationthatisstoredin
thePLC.
2.Thesoftwaredoesanautomatichousekeepingofmemorylocations.
Theresnomoreworryingaboutphysicaladdressingandmemory
conflicts.
3.Structurescanbemoreeasilyputtogetherbasedonfunctionrather
thendatatype.

Advancesubjectsincludearrays,userdefineddatatypes(UDT)andAddOn
Instructions.Hopefully,youwillcontinuetolearnmoreaboutthepowerof
tags.Thereisnodoubtthatifyougrasptheprinciplespresentedhereyou
willbewellonyourwaytousingandtroubleshootinganyLogix5000
controller.

AllenBradley'sPLC up AQuickTutorialonRSLogix
ProgrammingHandbook Emulator5000

Printerfriendlyversion
(categories: AllenBradley ProgrammableLogicControllers )

plcsoftwear

Submittedbyalezz_zakonMon,2007101507:58.
dearSir,
Ihavemanyplcs(omron,mitsubishi,simmens,toshiba)ineedthesoftwear
thatreadsalltheobovePLC's.

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10/20/2016 AnIntroductiontoRSLogix5000Tags|PLCdev

Regards,
AlezzZak

Manypeopleaskmeabout

SubmittedbyTimYoungonWed,2007121209:29.
Manypeopleaskmeaboutgettingtheprogrammingsoftwarefor
differentPLCs.You'llhavetocontactalocaldistributor,talktotheir
salespeopleandbuytherightpackageforyourneeds.PLCsoftwareis
typicallynotfree.

WiththeexceptionoftheAB

SubmittedbyAnonymous(notverified)onThu,2011102700:10.
WiththeexceptionoftheABMicro800familythatyoucandownload
FREEsoftwareforTHATFAMILYonly(Micro800,830&soontobe
released850).AlsoaskyourABdistributorforaCDifyoudon't
wanttodownloadit.

manyplc

Submittedbyjanjager(notverified)onSun,2008091408:50.
tryopenplc(iec1131)thiscandoyourjob
http://www.plcopen.org

Hadyougotit?

SubmittedbyAlexWang(notverified)onThu,2009041621:39.
Hadyougotit?

manyPLCs

Submittedbyduggo1(notverified)onMon,2010100420:35.
:)wouldn'tweall:(

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10/20/2016 AnIntroductiontoRSLogix5000Tags|PLCdev

Thereisnosinglesoftware

SubmittedbyAtac(notverified)onTue,2011070513:29.
ThereisnosinglesoftwareprogramthatwillrunallthedifferentPLC
types,orevenallthePLC'sofasinglemanufacturer.Youhavetoget
thesoftwareforthespecificmanufacturer,familyandversionofPLC
youwanttoprogram.

Emulator

SubmittedbyAnonymous(notverified)onSat,2008072612:16.
ActuallyIwantaplcemulatorsoftwareforpractice.
Sohowigetthis?

It'sthesamewitha

SubmittedbyTimYoungonWed,2008080619:32.
It'sthesamewithasoftwareemulatorinthatyou'llhavetotalktothe
vendoroftheequipment.Somemanufacturerssellanemulatorand
somedon't.

plcsimulator

SubmittedbyLELOS(notverified)onFri,2008090513:33.
iwantitimmediattly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thanks!!!!!!!!

simuladordeplc

Submittedbykerlin(notverified)onMon,2008091523:30.
parahacermispracticasdeestudiosypoderaplicarlosporquees
unbuenprograma

PLCsimulator

SubmittedbyPRAMODKUMARSINGH(notverified)onTue,2011
062107:06.

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10/20/2016 AnIntroductiontoRSLogix5000Tags|PLCdev

PLCsimulatorisanelectronicinterfacingdevicetosimulatePLCI/O
indifferentwaysliketoenableordisablethesignals

plcemulator

SubmittedbyAnonymous(notverified)onSun,2010013122:14.
wereyouabletgettheemulator

knowledge

SubmittedbyRamchandraKashalikar(notverified)onSat,20110820
01:52.
IaminterestedinlearningPLCprogramming.

AfteryearsofSLCandPLC5,

Submittedbymasto(notverified)onSun,2008100512:08.
AfteryearsofSLCandPLC5,Ihaveaweektogetuptospeedon
logix5000.Ihavetoadmit,idontgetthetagging....doh!

Excellentwriteup!THANK

SubmittedbyAnonymous(notverified)onThu,2011102700:07.
Excellentwriteup!THANKYOU!

"Tagsarethemethodfor

SubmittedbyCoowallsky(notverified)onFri,2011121611:26.
"Tagsarethemethodforassigningandreferencingmemorylocationsin
AllenBradleyLogix5000controllers.Nolongerarethereanyphysical
addressessuchasN7:0orF8:7whichusesymbolstodescribethem."
N7:0andF8:7arenotphysicaladdresses.They'relogialaddresses.OnlyI
andOaddressesarephysical.
"Thesehavebeenreplacedwithtagswhichareapuretextbased
addressingscheme.Thisisadeparturefromthemoreconventionalwaysof
programmingPLCs,whichincludesAllenBradleysearlierlineof
PLC5andSLC500controllers."

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10/20/2016 AnIntroductiontoRSLogix5000Tags|PLCdev

Atagissimplyanalphanumericstringthatpointstoalocationinmemory.
That'sall.ItisnodifferentthanthefactthatdatatablelocationsinPLC
5/SLC500/MicroLogixcontrollerscontainalphanumericstringsthatpointto
locationsinmemory.
ThereareNOdifferencesbetweenatagandadatatableaddress.Bothare
analphanumericstringthatpointstoalocationinmemory.
Theonlydifferenceisthatthealphanumericstringispreassignedaname
andstructureinthePLC5/SLC500/MicroLogixthatdoesn'taffordrenaming
anddoesn'tallowforthesymbolassocitedwithit(ifused),tobe
downloadedintothecontroller.
Toomanypeoplearegettignhunguponwhattheyperceiveorhavebeen
taughtwithrespecttotagsinALLoftheseprocessors.Itwouldnotbe
programmaticallyorlogicallyincorrecttorefertoN7:28orF8:27asatag
inaPLC5.

Greattohearfromsomeonewhoactualyknows

SubmittedbyDonIndustrialTraining(notverified)onSun,20120325
17:04.
Whoactuallyknowsandunderstandswhattheyaretalkingabout.Heis
correct,Tagsjustpointtomemorylocations,justlikesymbolsalways
have.APAC(IE:Controllogix/RSLogix5000)isjusttheevolutionofthe
PLCmoreclosertocomputers,whereithasmorememoryandcan
storesymbols/tagsandwheretheinternalphysicaladdressesare
hiddenbyhigherleveloperatingsystemandallyouseeandhave
accesstoisthetag,justlikecomputersandwindowsdoes.
AlsosomeonewaswantingmoretrainingonPLC(notPAC),see
http://www.bin95.com/TroubleshootingPLCControlsSimulator.htmto
gainyearsoftroubleshootingexperiencewithPLCsimulatorinjust
days.SamesitehasPACtrainingCDtoo,tointroduceyouto
differences.

IremembermyfirstReliance

Submittedbydjw(notverified)onTue,2012050115:59.
IremembermyfirstRelianceDS.Itwasalltagsintheearly90's.
RockwellboughtoutRelianceandyearslaterABisusingwhatevery
Relianceprogrammeralreadyknowshowtodo.Smallworld.

IremembermyfirstReliance

Submittedbydjw(notverified)onTue,2012050116:00.

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10/20/2016 AnIntroductiontoRSLogix5000Tags|PLCdev

IremembermyfirstRelianceDS.Itwasalltagsintheearly90's.
RockwellboughtoutRelianceandyearslaterABisusingwhatevery
Relianceprogrammeralreadyknowshowtodo.Smallworld.

infoabutplcprograning

Submittedbymonu(notverified)onMon,2012071613:52.
Sirimnewuserhere.plzsujjestme.idontknowabutanylanguage.becoz
languagernoteasilyunderstoodableforeveryone.cananyonetellmewhich
typeofthisplclanguageimsoconfused..thatwillitakeadmissonor
not.thisplclanguageiseasilyunderstandbleformeornot..plztellme
anyone..

PLCdev|ToolsforPLCprogramming

SubmittedbyWebsiteOptimizationCompany(notverified)onThu,2012
100402:02.
HeyThere.Ifoundyourblogusingmsn.Thisisanextremelywellwritten
article.
I'llmakesuretobookmarkitandreturntoreadmoreofyourusefulinfo.
Thanksforthepost.Iwilldefinitelyreturn.

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