PLC programming using TwinCAT 3 - Data types & arrays (Part 4/18)

In this part we will dive deeper into the various data types that are available in the IEC 61131-3 standard that TwinCAT implements. We'll also look at pointers and references, and why we would want to use them. After that we will take a look at how to declare and use arrays. We will finish this part by looking at one example of how we can convert one datatype to another.
The complete playlist of all the parts of this tutorial → • PLC programming using ...
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Intro 0:00
Scope 0:15
Variables 1:00
Bool data types 3:00
Integer data types 3:45
Floating point data types 8:39
String data types 9:04
Time data types 11:50
Enums 15:30
SIZEOF() 19:15
Pointers 23:14
References 26:20
Arrays 32:31
Type conversion 36:00
#TwinCAT3 #TwinCAT #PLC #Beckhoff

[@JakobSagatowski]

⬆Support this channel using the "Thanks" button⬆ or by making a donation through PayPal → www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=7FBED5B26KT7S, or by becoming a Patron → www.patreon.com/sagatowski

[@liorshtivi1953]

Your videos are better than the official Beckhoff training center... Thanks so much for the content!

[@zae1130]

I'm a Ph.D candidate in S.Korea, and you sir, you just saved my candidate qualification.

[@JakobSagatowski]

Thanks for making my day!

[@wandererJBL]

I have just joined a new job and this organization is using the Beckhoff PLC and motion in their machines.
I went to their office as well for training but was unsatisfactory.
Your videos are helping me a lot to understand the syntax of this logic.
You are to the point with very good explanation.
Thanks a lot.
you are doing a great work!

[@pedrocampana1329]

Great course. It is very clear, especially for those coming from traditional PLC programming. Thanks for sharing your knowledge on Beckhoff PLC.

[@MrBluntNose]

Thanks for your great work! This channel is an absolute Gem 💎 🙏🙌

[@JakobSagatowski]

Thank you for this kind donation, this made my week!

[@MrBluntNose]

@@JakobSagatowski You're welcome. It's the least I could've done. Keep it up!

[@heydude92]

Som en "vanlig" utvecklare har jag egentligen ingen koppling alls till PLC:er och automation (hittade hit via podcasten Kompilator) men denna videoserie är minst sagt häftig och förklaringarna av grundläggande koncept inom programmering är värdefulla även för mig!

[@gtg7529]

Dear,
Thanks for your Video.
I am really very like the parts of pointer and refernece that you are explain.
Very make sense and smart!

[@henri7356]

You're a god. Very clear and complete tutorial!! Thank you.

[@robertboukens6336]

Thank you for creating this series.

[@JakobSagatowski]

Thank you Robert!

[@andreasklappert3599]

Great video again Jakob, can't wait for the rest of the series.

[@deividasnaudzius6504]

Finally again new episode! :)

[@bjornforssberg5555]

THANKS This is very interesting for me , I have been selling Beckhoff since 1989 (Lightbus i.e Precursor to EtherCAT) to 2010 in Sweden, after that I have as retired supported TR Thailand.
Up till now , no problems imported machines from Europe = TC2 but now TC3 is starting to come. I practically have any experience Of TC3 (except ST and what I have learned in 1-4 from you ), waiting for next part but maybe especially for "next part" about Git hub :-)

[@JakobSagatowski]

Hi Björn! Sounds like you've made a really fun journey! Thanks for your feedback!

[@Desfaqhunter]

Great job! I can't wait till next episode. You are the best TwinCat Coach :D

[@JakobSagatowski]

Thanks for the kind words! Next episode hopefully coming soon!

[@user-fb3vt8hs6u]

I hope part 5 is just around the corner.

[@JakobSagatowski]

Working on it! :)

[@jatinsingh3295]

Thank you for creating awesome content! Looking forward to upcoming videos! :)

[@anhoangduc4626]

Excellent course, I got many knowledge from you. Many thanks with love

[@jktanasin]

Thanks Jakob , Really useful for me.

[@ryanarellano5520]

Thanks Jakob, for we are getting a free training 😊

[@smarttech2513]

Thanks Jakob Great video

[@ahmedchalbi891]

very helpful Tutorial , thanks !

[@adilsonoliveira5728]

Very good Jakob. Mybe you could create videos with some applications using pointers, references .... just only idea :-)

[@_Iokanaan_Marusidze_]

Thanks 👍
PLEASE, CONTINUE 🙏

[@DUIofPhysics]

Feel sorry for my kids when they have to deal with every machine breaking down on the 8th Feb 2106! Haha.
Great Tutorial!

[@sirousmohseni4]

Excellent video.

[@zoltansimon5699]

Hi Jakob! :) And that is
In witch part r you talking about handlink bigger strings than 255 elements? Cause I'd like to handle the dataflow of my electricity meter (DSMR port, P1 port etc). And that is approx 2.5kbytes.

[@Dudavjobovich]

Thanks a lot!

[@StanislavMilchev]

Great Video. Great work!

[@Josempe1]

Hello Jacob, happy new year.
I hope you're well.
I congratulate you on your excellent work and dedication. These tutorials are very good and I have learned a lot.
I don't know if he explains in the next videos, but I would like to know how to extract and support the programming of a Beckhoff PLC.
Thanks
Kind regards

[@joefarnsworth5496]

Is there a way to edit TwinCAT code in VisualStudio with VIM commands? I have tried the VSVIM plug in but it doesn't seem to work with the TwinCAT extensions in Visual Studio.

[@chengkeattan6571]

thank you very much

[@JakobSagatowski]

You are very welcome Chengkeat!

[@gautierkirchhoffer3915]

Hi Jakob,
many thanks for these well-structured training courses.
I asked to connect with you on Linkedin in order to get in touch with you for professional questions. It would be a pleasure to talk to you.
Gautier

[@mohamedhafez1641]

Thanks a lot for this valuable episode! Please I have a question in the last part of type conversion, does the type conversion made causes a data loss and hence a logical error?

[@Jeterify]

This is a great video! Thank you! Will you be talking about PID controllers from the Controller Toolbox in any of the videos?

[@JakobSagatowski]

Hi, thanks! No, this will not be covered in this tutorial, but I might cover it in a future series of videos!

[@Runtimevic]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge of Twincat in these videos and for the efforts you make.
Is there a way to get the slides? in order to always have them at hand.
a greeting and looking forward to the next video

[@JakobSagatowski]

Thanks Victor! Yes If I find the slides I will send them!

[@Runtimevic]

​@@JakobSagatowski , Thank you very much, if you want you can put them on github so they will be for everyone.

[@tarikrachiahi1239]

Nice video thank you

[@rasoulsadeghi8635]

Thank you very much for the valuable content. Just one question, why do we use reference and we don't use the original variable itself? which one has the priority (if any) if we write the variable or if the reference pointing to that variable?

[@JakobSagatowski]

Hi Rasoul! By using a reference we are actually using the original variable! It's if we DON'T use a reference that we use a COPY of the variable.

[@rasoulsadeghi8635]

@@JakobSagatowski thanks for your reply. Maybe there are more benefits in using references in OOP way of programming. I mean we can see it's advantages there clearly

[@Han-dc3pp]

35:06
a2dArray2 : ARRAY[1..2] OF ARRAY[1..3] OF REAL;

[@manuellonic8952]

Thanks!

[@JakobSagatowski]

Thanks for this kind donation!

[@mohdnazmimohdmazli5044]

How can I change REAL to INT in GVL?

[@wuwei5192]

Could TwinCat 3 Export ESI（xml) file?

[@JakobSagatowski]

Hi Wu! ESI-files are EtherCAT slave files, and you can import them to TwinCAT for a specific EtherCAT slave device. If you want to export any of those files, you can simply copy them from the C:\TwinCAT\3.1\Config\Io\EtherCAT folder.

[@Alex-pz7kr]

It is very inconvenient that we cannot assign other data types to reference, for example, in Siemens PLCs we can create a variable
foo:dword;
foo1 AT foo:STRUCT;
byte1:byte;
byte2:byte;
byte3:byte;
byte4:byte;
end_struct;
In this example, we can refer to any bytes

[@OfirAviv1994]

How do I find if a certian number exists in a given array?

[@luisbetancourt8213]

You can look it up with a For instruction.

[@SunilYadav-nb9wp]

Sir , still I am not clear where and why we use pointer ?

[@JakobSagatowski]

This is a good explanation for when pointers might be useful and you really have to use them: stackoverflow.com/questions/22146094/why-should-i-use-a-pointer-rather-than-the-object-itself

[@keydi98]

@@JakobSagatowski personaly, after programming for many years in C, i always use pointers even though they can be very difficult to handle in twincat than in classic C.

[@SunilYadav-nb9wp]

when will come new video

[@peterman1028]

Ogólnie super wyjaśnione tylko dlaczego to 'would' po 'if'. To jest błąd jezykowy i sie czesto tutaj zdarza i wkurza przez to.

[@peterman1028]

If and would are never good

[@soulrobotics]

nice t-shirt, VI save and quit, huh?

[@JakobSagatowski]

Correct!

[@TheSarcasticEngineer]

Honestly, that green screen gave a small heart attack. Don't do that me again. 😶

[@manumar7154]

TOO DIFICULT

[@JakobSagatowski]

Can you be more specific of what was too difficult?