Program storage/versioning system

[Guest Guest_Jim]

I was just curious to hear how other people organize programs. All of mine are currently kept in RSLogix's default folder, but as the number of programs and revisions grow I need to have better orgnization and better version control.

[Chris Elston]

Mine are organized by JOB number first. I keep all my jobs in My Documents folder that I am currently working on by job number. M1200,M1201,M1202 etc... Then I use a program called Second Copy 32, to SYNC my "My Dcouments Folder" to our server. This way if the laptop crashes, I still have a backup of what is on my laptop. When I dock my laptop or enter our wireless network, Second Copy is configured to run a SYNC at login, and noon when I am gone to lunch. What is also awesome about Second Copy, is if you and another engineer are working on the same project, and you both are SYNCing to the same folder, my latest program gets SYNC to the server, then the server sees it has the latest copy and SYNCs the newest information to the other engineers laptop...it's sweet. It's a little SLOW copying files, I think because it's not trying to each your CPU alive, so it takes it's time coping. That is the "G" drive you see in my screen shots. Each of machines have different devices on them, like HMI, ROBOTS, PLC etc...I store them like so. I also keep PDF files, pictures, videos that pertain to each job. Also when done, I have a manual folder and e-mail folder...

[TConnolly]

I do pretty much the same thing. Except I don't use a SYNC program. The network admin has me set up to automatically backup my project folder every night, so rather than keeping the critical stuff under my documents, I keep it under my documents\projects. I also create a single element string data file in every PLC5 or SLC500 program or a program version UDT & tag in a CLX, that carries program revision info, so that a look in the PLC shows what program is really in the PLC. In our Modicon and Mitsubishi PLCs there are two registers that are reserved for revision designation information. The first comment line in the offline program file also carries version identification information. This is helpful in determining if someone did an uplaod save of one version over another file, because the comment versions information will not then match the info in the saved data table. If you make it a consistent habit to keep the comment and the downloaded revision information up to date then its not too difficult to manage. Even the best system is worthless without the discipline to keep revision info up to date. Only the version authorized for use is placed on the network folder to which the maintenance people have access, this way they don't have to sort out which revision they need to use. Edited August 28, 2005 by Alaric

[comeng]

I give my programs a unique name/number then I create a folder on my server of that name. In this folder I place the latest version of the plc program, any associated hmi programs (latest versions only) and any documentation. I then create a folder sub structure within the main folder using the folder names 2005_08_29 and keep programs by date. My laptop only has current programs on it

[Guest budw]

We also save PLC programs under a job number. The job number has a sub folder for Controls. The Controls folder contains folders for PLC, HMI, CAD, DATA and Documents. These are also kept up to date on both my laptop and the server. Server backup are done nightly and a copy is kept localy in a fireproof safe and another copy is kept off site. As engineers come and go there is no (well maybe some) big searches for the latest and greatest programs.

[GerryM]

I work in a factory, all of our Software programs are stored by project number or machine number on our server storage. Every night the server storage is backup up on tape. All of our dwg's, doc's, etc. are stored in the same place. When I want to work on something I copy it down to the \mydocuments folder on my desktop or laptop. Then, when I want, I run a batch file that backs up mydocuments using pkzip to my personal storage space on the server.

[Sergei Troizky]

I keep all my projects in the PROJECTS folder, with no exceptions. The subfolders are the customers (for some we do more than one project) and their subfolders (if any) are the specific projects. The project folders include PLC/HMI software, motor drives parameters, electrical drawings, etc. This tree is brand-independent. All the programming and CAD software used is configured to use the PROJECTS folder as default location for projects. The project software revisions are numbered consecutively, revision notes are made as the program comments in the header of the ladder. It makes no sense usually to keep more than several last revisions. And one of the main things is that the PROJECTS folder is not on the master harddrive but on a secondary FAT32 partition. It is not lost even if the system harddisk must be formatted. And biweekly backup on CD. Edited October 9, 2005 by Sergei Troizky

[gravitar]

I do mine similarly.. I use the "Projects" folder in RSLogix 500 as the main storage location for all jobs, then I subdivide it by plant, further subdivided by machine name/number.. I do it this way because 95% of what I work on is SLC 500/micrologix based. For the few other PLCs I work on, I still keep their folder under the RSLogix 500\projects subdirectory to keep everything together. I back up the projects folder to a portable hard drive every few weeks. Every 3 months or so I burn the backup to CD for an additional level of protection.

[Big Country]

I keep mine under a folder called projects then my sub folders are the areas of equipment, then for each revision, I add ver. 1 or ver. 2 and so on for each major change that I make. This allows me to go back if I don't like the result.