PlcConsole

Connection

This is where you manage local PLC profiles, validate the endpoint and decide whether the app should move into the connected tab view.

Manual Home
Entry Flow Manage Profiles Scan Network Test Connection Info Connection Failure Backup Profiles Activate and Disconnect

Entry Flow

The Connection screen is the app's entry point. Use it to select or create a PLC profile, verify that the PLC responds, save the profile for later and then enter the operational screens.

Create or choose: Select a saved profile, choose New for a blank draft or choose a discovered PLC from Scan Network.

Verify first: Use Test Connection Info to send a short PLC connectivity probe against the current values.

Activate second: Activate Profile opens the operational tabs. It uses the selected profile, but does not itself repeat the connectivity probe.

PlcConsole sends PLC commands through short-lived sessions. Activation is therefore an app-state change, not a promise that a permanent TCP connection is being held open. Test a new or edited profile before activation, particularly when the PLC may be intermittently available.

Manage PLC Profiles

Connection Screen

Connection screen with stored profile picker, host, port and station ID fields

Description

This screen combines profile selection, editing, validation and activation. Changes are made to a working profile. Save persists it locally; Activate Profile can use a valid unsaved draft, but does not store it.

Stored Profile: Choose a local profile or work with Unsaved Profile. New creates a blank draft. A scan result also becomes an unsaved draft so you can name, review and save it deliberately.

Profile fields: Profile Name is required. IP accepts an IPv4 address, Port must be from 1 to 65535 and Station ID must be from 0 to 255. The URI row shows the exact endpoint PlcConsole will use.

Save and default: Save is available only for a valid profile with unsaved changes. Default is available only after the profile is saved and has no unsaved edits; it determines which profile is preferred next time the app starts.

Changing drafts safely: If you select another profile, start a new one, import profiles or accept a discovered PLC while edits exist, PlcConsole asks whether to Save Changes, Discard Changes or Cancel.

Delete: Delete removes the selected saved profile after confirmation. It is unavailable for an unsaved draft.

Scan Network

Scan network screen with local subnet scan progress and discovered PLC targets

Description

Scan Network is a proof-of-concept discovery helper. It starts immediately, searches the detected private IPv4 /24 on the configured port, then confirms a candidate with the PLC protocol using the current station ID.

Current settings: The sheet displays the local IP address, scanned range, port, station ID and progress. It uses the Port and Station ID currently entered on the Connection screen.

Conservative scan: Use Stop Scan to cancel it, Scan Again to restart or Done to close the sheet. The scan is deliberately conservative because embedded PLC Ethernet modules can be sensitive to rapid short-lived sessions.

Verified results: Open port checks alone are not enough; the device must also reply to the protocol probe before it is shown as a discovered PLC.

Draft handoff: Select a found device to prefill an unsaved profile. The scan does not test every possible station ID, so adjust Station ID and test again if a known PLC is not found.

Test Connection Info

Successful connection test result shown on the connection screen

Description

This action runs a short-lived connectivity probe against the current profile name, host, port and station ID. It does not save the profile and it does not enter the operational tabs.

Inline result: The result appears inline on the Connection screen, so you can review the outcome while still editing the profile.

Recovery hint: If the probe fails, the screen keeps you in the editor and exposes a recovery hint rather than hiding the error behind a silent failure.

Recommended sequence: Test a newly created, scanned or edited profile first. If it succeeds, save it when you want to reuse it, then select Activate Profile to work with the app's operational tabs.

Connection Failure

Connection test failure state with an error message and recovery hint

Description

Failure stays on the Connection screen on purpose. The app surfaces the error message and a recovery hint so the user can correct the endpoint immediately instead of discovering the broken profile later on the dashboard or register screens.

Recovery: Check the port, IP address, station ID, PLC power and local network path when you see this state.

Cleared on edit: Editing any of the profile fields clears the previous feedback, which makes it clear that the next test belongs to the current values.

Meaning of this result: A failed test leaves you on this screen. A successful test returns the screen to its disconnected state and displays the success message; it is then your choice whether to save or activate the profile.

Back Up and Restore Profiles

Use Export to create a JSON backup of every saved PLC profile. The archive includes the profile name, endpoint, station ID, default flag, and local profile identifier. Keep this file outside the app when you need to transfer profiles to another device or restore them later.

Export: Export is available when at least one saved profile exists. On iPhone and iPad, confirm Choose Location and use the Files picker to select where to write the JSON file.

Import: Import uses the Files picker and merges valid profiles into the local collection. An imported profile with the same identifier updates the local profile instead of creating a duplicate.

Validation: PlcConsole rejects unreadable files, unsupported archive versions, empty archives, duplicate profile identifiers, multiple defaults and profiles with invalid connection settings. If the import contains one default profile, it becomes the local default.

Activate and Disconnect

Activate Profile opens Dashboard, register tools, Watchlist, Batch Operations, Diagnostics, History and Site Automation using the selected PLC profile. Site Automation is last in the default tab order, but Preferences can move it immediately after Dashboard for users who use that workflow frequently. Use Disconnect in the top-right toolbar of an operational screen to return here. Disconnect resets screen-level command results and errors so that a prior profile does not leave stale status behind.

The Connection screen also contains a connected-only Loopback Test that sends a simple diagnostic payload and shows the echoed result. For detailed diagnostic commands, use the dedicated Diagnostics screen.