Comparing projects¶

To adjust the compare settings for S7 projects, proceed as follows:

1. Open the UserClient.
2. Select an S7 component in the Project tree.
3. Click on the Edit tab in the ribbon on the Edit component configuration button.
4. Click on the Comparator configuration button.
5. The S7 program: dialog opens.
6. Select the desired program and confirm your selection with OK.

7. The Comparison configuration dialog opens.

   

8. Once you have made the desired settings, confirm them with OK.

9. In the Component configuration dialog, click on Apply.

   Info

   The settings in the comparator configuration are only transferred to the server when a new version of the component is created. A new version must be created and checked in so that the comparison results of jobs and versions match.

Changes in Step 7 Properties Blocks¶

In order for the changes made to be displayed in Properties Blocks, the compare settings of the S7 component must be changed.

1. In the Comparison configuration dialog, activate the option Compare content in the DB compare area.

If a new version of the component is now created, the difference will be recognized in Properties blocks.

Code timestamp during comparison¶

As of Version 3.2, there is no comparison using the code timestamp, as blocks that are created with external editors (e.g. SCL) receive a new code timestamp each time they are compiled.

Exclude/include initial/update values of variables¶

1. In the Comparison configuration dialog, activate the option compare content in the DB compare area.
2. The Variables area is now activated.
3. In the text field, enter the variables whose initial/updated values you want to exclude or include. The variables are specified in the format {Name of DB}.{Name of variables}.

4. Examples:

   DB3.STRUCT.Variable
   DB3.STRUCT.Variable.*
   DB3.*.Variable.*
   

5. Use the radio buttons to select whether you want to exclude or include the values of the variables.

Include additional program parts¶

1. Click on the More options button in the Comparison configuration dialog.

2. The Included when comparing section is displayed in the lower part of the dialog.

   

3. Here you can use the checkboxes to select program parts to be included in the comparison/excluded from the comparison.

Include STL sources in all clients by default¶

The comparison of STL sources can be activated in the Included when comparing area using the STL source checkbox.

You can also specify on the server side that STL sources are compared by default. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Start the AdminClient.
2. Click on the INI files menu item.
3. The Edit ini file dialog opens.
4. Select the Classes.ini file. Path to the file: ..\vdServerArchive\VD$A\Configuration\Compare\Classes.ini)
5. Select the section [SimaticS7]. If this section does not exist, create it at the end of the file.

6. Assign the value Y to the key 7169.

   [SimaticS7]
   7169=Y
   

Comparison of Drive ES¶

To perform an S7 Comparison of drive ES, a valid and licensed installation of Microsoft Access including ODBC driver is required.

Comparison of security programs¶

For safety programs, the checksum generated by the SIMATIC S7 Manager, is compared and displayed in addition to the date of the last compilation of the F program section. Information about CRC and timestamp is stored in a special database, the number of which can vary. It can be identified by its name (F_GLOBDB) and its creation language (F_DB). Generally, the blocks managed by the SIMATIC S7 Manager are ignored during the comparison. These include:

• Blocks in the languages F_AWL and F_CALL
• Blocks in the language F_DB, if the author's name has the format FALG{NNNN}. Here, N can be a digit from 0-9 or a hyphen.
• Block in the language F_DB with the name F_GLOBDB. Here, checksum and timestamp are extracted and displayed as described above.

Comparison for LibraryManagement¶

The following comparisons are carried out in LibraryManagement:

• Blocks: By content and properties
• Source: By content and properties
• CFC: By content or name
• SFC: By content or name

Comparison of blocks with activated know-how protection¶

Comparison of blocks that are protected by the S7 Block Privacy Add-on recognizes differences. The differences are not shown in detail.

Differences in messages¶

Differences in Messages are not displayed.

Differences in the declaration lists of blocks¶

Differences in the declaration lists of two data blocks are ignored under certain conditions in order to prevent the difference declaration list from being displayed multiple times when the declaration list is changed and the instance DBs are properly updated. The differences are ignored if:

• The two data blocks instance DBs and the numbers of the assigned function blocks are the same and
• Both function blocks exist and the respective declaration lists of FB/DB are the same.

Initial values for connections of blocks in CFCs¶

When connecting a Block in a CFC, the initial values are ignored during comparison if they have the attribute S7_server with the value alarm_archiv, as the initial value is managed by the SIMATIC S7 Manager. When copying the CFC, a new message number is assigned that does not match the number in the source block. This would lead to the display of differences between the blocks.

Changes in Step 7 HW Config¶

The hardware configurations made in Step 7 HW Config must be accepted with the Save and Translate command before they are recognized during versioning.

FAQ¶

Related topics¶

• Siemens S7-Multiprojects
• LibraryManagement
• UserClient
• AdminClient -> INI files