PLCSQL
– independent SQL client in a Siemens PLC
• Communicate directly with a SQL server
without the need of Windows-software as
OPC server, Visual Basic, .NET etc.
• Easy to configure and integrate in the PLC
program, including diagnosis and fault
handling.
• Available for standard Ethernet enabled
Siemens S7 CPU’s without the use of
special hardware modules.
Data between production and office
The need for data exchange between production
floor and the production planning office keeps
increasing.
The planning department requests to know the
current capacity throughout the production to be
able to react on production stops and bottlenecks.
The demand for evaluating the material, energy
and time consumption increases.
To obtain certain certifications it is a must to be
able to log and trace the complete life cycle of a
particular product.
Flexible production
Many factories today have order based
production, where the production facilities must
be reconfigured for every different order. If this
reconfiguration is done manually, the risk of
failure increases. Further typically no
documentation for the actual used production
parameters for the particular orders is preserved.
Direct data communication between the ERP
system and the PLC’s on the production floor gives
the production stations directly access to order
information for the current order.
Afterwards the exact used parameters, measured
process values and any alarms can be logged.
SQL communication in a PLC!
Automatic Syd has developed a SQL client, which
can be used in a standard Siemens S7 PLC with
Ethernet connectivity.
This eliminates the requirement for a Windows
based, third-party software gateway or any
hardware gateway, as the PLC communicates
directly with the SQL server!
The benefits of this solution:
• No risk of an unstable Windows
environment with the need for continuous
updates, or programs which suddenly stop
working after the installation of a Service
Pack or software update.
• Full integration of SQL communication in
the current control system, enabling easy
visualization of SQL communication status
in the existing user interface (e.g. SCADA or
operator panel).
• Only one place to parameterize which data
to transfer to/from the SQL server. The
configuration is done with simple ladder
programming in the PLC. No OPC server,
driver .ini file, tag list or gateway to
reconfigure!
• The performance is typically better than
OPC connections due to less overhead.
 PLCSQL
– independent SQL client in a Siemens PLC
Configuring PLCSQL
PLCSQL is available as a S7 Example project with a
Siemens WinCC Flexible user interface.interface From
within this interface it iss possible to configure the
SQL connection (network card type, server IP
address, port, user name,, password etc.).
If preferred, this configuration can be made
programmatically instead.. All setup parameters
are saved in a simple setup DB block in the PLC.
P
This enables development of functions for
dynamic setup parameters,, e.g. for handling
server failover swap etc.
The SQL queries for retrieving, inserting or
manipulating SQL data can be freely customized as
a text string in the PLC. In the example project
proj we
have included function blocks for generating
dynamic SQL queries for logging and retrieving
data in an easy way.
Tested Siemens CPUs
• S7-300 with integr. PN, e.g.. 315-2DP/PN
315
• SoftPLC, (WinAC), e.g. Microboxbox 427B
427 and C
• ET200s CPU, e.g. IM151-8
• S7-300 with network card, e.g. CP343-1
• S7-400 with onboard network card
• S7-400 with integrated PN controller.
Programming the dataflow
At Automatic Syd we asked ourselves: Why is it
always necessary to reconfigure the desired values
to be transferred to/from
to the SQL-server
somewhere else, than exactly where you need
them? With the PLCSQL solution it is the PLC-
programmer, with the use of simple ladder
programming who decides which values are used.
In the example below all the necessary code is
shown to log a new value from the PLC to the SQL
server. A measured process value is saved as
parameter 82.
The bit UpdatedParameters for parameter 82 is
set to high. The PLCSQL will then automatically
save this value in the SQL server – without any
further programming! The same simple method is
used to read e.g. g. order values from the SQL
server. The client is able to handle the BOOL, INT,
DINT and STRING data types.
Tested SQL-servers
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Advanced
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 RC0
• MySQL 5.1