Data comparison in the project

Basics of project data comparison

Operate

You can compare project data of the same type to identify possible differences. In principle, the following comparison methods are available:

Compare offline/online

With this method of comparison, you can compare the software of the device objects with the project objects. This is only possible once you have established an online connection to the device.
Offline/offline comparison

With this method of comparison, you can compare software or hardware. When comparing software, you can compare objects from projects or libraries. The hardware comparison is available for equipment from a currently open project or from reference projects. For software and hardware comparison, you can decide whether the comparison should take place automatically for all objects or whether you want to compare individual objects manually.
Detailed comparison

For some objects, for example blocks, in addition to offline/online and offline/offline comparisons, a detailed comparison can also be made. This involves opening blocks for side-by-side comparison and highlighting the differences.

A simple offline/online comparison is carried out as soon as an online connection is established. During this process, the comparable objects in the project tree are marked with icons representing the result of the comparison. In the comparison editor, you can also carry out a more comprehensive offline/online and offline/offline comparison. When comparing software, you can also select actions for non-identical objects in the comparison.

Note

Not all facilities allow all kinds of comparisons. Which comparison method can be used for which project data depends on the products installed.
Compile the user programme before starting the comparison or detailed comparison. After each program change during the comparison, repeat this step before updating the comparison result. This ensures that the comparison shows the current state.
When monitoring the module, it is important to note that the difference in time signature can also occur in the case of offline/online comparison if the block is recompiled with a code change. The checksum remains unchanged. In this case, download the block to the device and restart monitoring.
In the following cases, the timestamps of objects are used as comparison criteria:
- Export and re-import via the Openness interface
- Block calls
- Access to the global data block (DB)
This can result in different checksums, even if the objects are identical.

Comparison using checksums

The comparison of offline/online and offline/offline software objects uses checksums generated for specific object data. Objects are only the same if their checksums are identical.

Note

Timestamps are still used for offline/online comparisons for the S7-300/400 series processors.

Facility data falls into two categories:

Source data

Source data is all the data of an object that you have direct influence on, such as the object name, source code, comments or programming language. The properties you can edit here may vary from object to object.
Target data

All compiler and execution environment data are target data. This data may not have a direct impact as it is generated by the system from the source data. Once again, features vary from object to object.

The table below provides an overview of the property comparison areas:

Category	Area	Description
Source data	Security	Checksum of security objects Dodatkowe informacje na temat porównywania obiektów bezpieczeństwa można znaleźć w sekcji „Porównanie programów bezpieczeństwa” pomocy online dla SIMATIC Safety.
	Interface without comments	Checksum of all first layer block interface tags. Tag comments are not part of the checksum.
	Interface of published blocks without comments (programme units)	Checksum of all interface checksums of published software entity objects. Comments are not part of the checksum.
	Text-based block interface	Checksum of all tags, comments and formatting in the text block interface of SCL blocks.
	Code without comments	Source code checksum. Block and network comments are not included in the checksum. Comments that are not multilingual, for example in STL, and the transfer of free comments to other fields in LAD and FBD, are not included in the checksum.
	Comments (multilingual)	Checksum of all block and network comments
	Language configuration	Compare offline/online Displays the languages loaded into the device during the loading process. Offline/offline comparison: Displays the enabled languages in the project.
	Event	Checksum of all data relevant to the organisational block (OB) event.
	Real Estate	Checksum of all configurable object properties.
	Extended properties of programme elements in software units	Checksum of the publication status of objects in software units.
	Configuration of technological facilities	Checksum of technology-specific settings of a process facility.
	Alarm configuration	Checksum of all object settings related to alarms.
	Surveillance configuration	Checksum of all object surveillance settings.
	Text lists	Checksum of all text lists of the object.
	Tags without comments	Suma kontrolna wszystkich tagów wybranej tabeli tagów PLC. Kolumny „Przechowywanie” i „Monitorowanie” oraz komentarze do znaczników nie są częścią sumy kontrolnej.
	Fixed without comments	Checksum of all user constants of the selected PLC tag table. System constants and user constant comments are not part of the checksum.
Target data	Compilation and execution data	Checksum of data for compilation and relevant for loading.
Target data	A sign of the times	Timestamps for S7-300/400 processors created by the system for compilation and download. Only available if an online connection is available.
Note Note that the object determines which checksums are actually used for comparison. The value settings of the technology objects are also transferred to the block interface checksum. W przypadku bloków chronionych know-how, które zostały utworzone w starszej wersji, sumy kontrolne „Kod bez komentarzy” i „Komentarze (wielojęzyczne)” nie są wyświetlane w „Dane źródłowe”.

Offline/online comparison

Offline/online comparison allows the device objects to be compared with the project objects.

Requirement

The project tree is open.

Procedure

To carry out an offline/online comparison, follow these steps:

Select a device in the project tree that allows offline/online comparison.
Z menu skrótów wybierz polecenie „Porównaj > Offline/online”.
Jeśli nie nawiązałeś jeszcze połączenia online z tym urządzeniem, otworzy się okno dialogowe „Przejdź do trybu online”. W takim przypadku ustaw wszystkie niezbędne parametry połączenia i kliknij „Połącz”.

The online connection will be established and the comparison editor will open.

Result

All existing online and offline objects are displayed. Symbols in the comparison editor and project tree show the status of objects. In the comparison editor, you can now define specific actions for objects, depending on their status.

Conducting offline/offline comparisons

With offline/offline comparison, you have the opportunity to compare the project data of two devices. You can carry out software and hardware comparisons. With software comparison, you can compare objects from projects or libraries. The hardware comparison is available for devices from a currently open project or from reference projects. You can decide whether the comparison should take place automatically for all objects or whether you want to compare individual objects manually. The following options are also available for software comparison:

For objects that are not identical, actions can be identified to eliminate differences.
You can specify the criteria to be used for comparison.

At any time, you can drag any other device into the drop area for further comparisons.

Requirement

The project tree is open.

Performing offline/offline software comparisons

To carry out an offline/offline software comparison, follow these steps:

Select a device in the project tree that allows offline/offline comparison.
Z menu skrótów wybierz polecenie „Porównaj > Offline/offline”.

The comparison editor opens and the selected device is displayed in the left-hand area.
Drag and drop the additional device into the drop area in the right panel.

Wszystkie istniejące obiekty wybranych urządzeń zostaną wyświetlone w zależności od ustawień edytora porównań w zakładce „Oprogramowanie” i przeprowadzone zostanie automatyczne porównanie. Możesz zidentyfikować status obiektów na podstawie symboli w edytorze porównań. W razie potrzeby określ akcję dla nieidentycznych obiektów, aby wyeliminować różnice.
Define criteria for comparison if necessary.
Select an object to display the details of the property comparison.
If you want to carry out a manual comparison, click the button to toggle between automatic and manual comparison in the status and actions area. Then select the objects you want to compare.

A comparison of properties is displayed. The status of the objects can be identified from the symbols.

Performing offline/offline equipment comparisons

To perform an offline/offline hardware comparison, follow these steps:

Select a device in the project tree that allows offline/offline comparison.
Z menu skrótów wybierz polecenie „Porównaj > Offline/offline”.

The comparison editor opens and the selected device is displayed in the left-hand area.
Drag and drop the additional device into the drop area in the right panel.
Otwórz zakładkę „Sprzęt”.
If you want to carry out a manual comparison, click the button to toggle between automatic and manual comparison in the status and actions area. Then select the objects you want to compare.

A comparison of properties is displayed. The status of the objects can be identified from the symbols.

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SIMATIC S7 in action

Data comparison in the project

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