S3 Basics: How to create a Plug-In Component

This article describes how a new plug-in component is created. It is assumed that you use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, 2008, or 2010.

Step by step

  1. If not already done, set the environment variable %APCOMMON% to the Common directory of your CoDeSys installation. (This is the directory where CoDeSys.exe, IPMCLI.exe, and IPM.exe are installed.)
  2. Open Visual Studio and load (or create) the solution that should contain the plug-in component.
  3. Add a new project to the solution, using the "Class Library" template.
  4. Edit the properties of the newly created project:
    1. Make sure that the Assembly name: ends with .plugin. That makes sure that the assembly will have the extension .plugin.dll.
    2. The Output type must be set to "Class Library".

    3. It is recommended that you enter the following line to the Post-build event command line:

      "%APCOMMON%\IPMCLI.exe" -i:"$(TargetPath)"

      This makes sure that the plug-in component will be installed whenever the assembly is built.

    4. It is also recommended that you define "Start external program" pointing to the CoDeSys.exe file in your installation as debug start action. Then CoDeSys is automatically started from the correct location when you start debugging your code.
  5. Edit the AssemblyInfo.cs file in your project like that:
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using _3S.CoDeSys.Core.Components;

[assembly: AssemblyTitle("CFC Editor")]
[assembly: AssemblyDescription("Editor views for POUs, actions, and methods in Continuous Function Chart (CFC)")]
[assembly: AssemblyCompany("3S-Smart Software Solutions GmbH")]
[assembly: AssemblyProduct("CoDeSys")]
[assembly: AssemblyCopyright("Copyright © 1994-2010 by 3S-Smart Software Solutions GmbH. All rights reserved.")]
[assembly: AssemblyVersion("3.4.0.0")]
[assembly: PlugInGuid(your_plug_in_guid_here)]
[assembly: PlugInKey(your_plug_in_key_here, "APFull")]
  1. The combination of plug-in GUID and assembly version uniquely identifies the plug-in component. It is not allowed to use an asterisk (*) in the version specification. In order to create a GUID, you can use the "Create GUID" tool from the Tools menu. If you do not have a corresponding plug-in key for signing the plug-in yet, outcomment the corresponding line. In that case, when starting CoDeSys, a message will pop up that tells the user that there is an unsigned plug-in around. For development purposes, you can ignore that message. Sooner or later, you should contact 3S for a valid plug-in key.
  2. Add a reference to the Core.dll to your project. You can do this easily by choosing the "Add Reference..." command, switching to the "Browse" tab and selecting the DLL from the Interface Binaries folder of your Automation Platform SDK installation. Make also sure that the "Copy Local" flags of all your references (except the System references) are set to true.
  3. Build your project once. It should compile without errors, and the following text should appear in your Output window, indicating the assembly has been correctly installed as plug-in:

    Installation and Profile Manager Copyright © 1994-2010 by 3S-Smart Software Solutions GmbH. All rights reserved. Plug-in successfully installed.
     
  4. Start the IPM.exe from your CoDeSys installation (to be found in the same folder as CoDeSys.exe) and add your new plug-in component to a version profile.
  5. Finished! You can now start developing your code. Whenever you build your project, the plug-in will be automatically installed. Whenever you start debugging, CoDeSys will start and load your plug-in component, and setting breakpoints in your code will work just fine.

Important notes

  • It is not allowed to add a reference to another plug-in component to your project. The tools IPM and IPMCLI will refuse to install a plug-in component that statically references another plug-in component. If you want to call from another plug-in, you must use a public interface.
  • The tools IPM and IPMCLI expect that the dependencies of the plug-in are in the same folder as the plug-in binary itself. You can achieve that easily by setting the "Copy local" flag of each reference (except the System references) to a value of true.