PLCnextStoreApps

This repository contains documentation for creating PLCnext app containers as well as demo PLCnext apps for different app types including their source files.

PLCnext App-Parts

For the full documentation about the procedure for creating PLCnext apps and their packaging in the corresponding app container see the "PLCnext Technology - PLCnext App Integration Guide" on the PLCnext Community site (Link to PLCnext App Integration Guide). A PLCnext App must contain a Metadata-App-part and at least one optional App-part.

#	App-Part	Description	Type
1	Metadata	App meta information such as identifier and version	Mandatory
2	PLCnext Engineer App	Contains a complete PLCnext Engineer project configuration (solution app)	Optional
3	Command line tools	A command line tool can be integrated into a PLCnext system in the form of an app. The command line tool can then be started from a shell without specifying the full path.	Optional
4	Shared libraries	Shared libraries can be integrated into the app container and made known to the Linux system when the app is installed/activated	Optional
5	Linux Daemons	A (Linux) daemon (exe) can be integrated into a PLCnext system in the form of an app	Optional
6	PLCnext Extensions	Extensions of the PLCnext runtime can be integrated into a PLCnext system in the form of an app. With a PLCnext extension, the PLCnext runtime can be extended by the following elements: A process dependent on the PLCnext runtime (PLCnext process) A PLCnext shared library (PLCnext library). Usually it belongs to a PLCnext component A PLCnext component (PLCnext component)	Optional
7	Configuration of the PLCnext Runtime services	PLCnext system services can be enabled/disabled with this app part	Optional
8	File- / Data-Storage	When necessary, it is used to specify whether a persistent and/or temporary location is required for the App	Optional
9	Update Configurations	Used to enable auto update mode, keep Apps persistent/temporary data on update or to run an update shell script after installing the new app version	Optional

The following shows the contents of an app description file in which all types of app parts are configured by way of example:

{
    "plcnextapp": {
        "name": "Full Multipart App",
        "identifier": "00000000000000",
        "version": "Full 20.0 (112.12 DemoVersion)",
        "target": "AXC F 2152",
        "minfirmware_version": "20.0.0",
        "manufacturer":"Phoenix Contact",
        "licensetype":"Full"
    },
    "engineerapp": {
        "folder": "/arp/PCWE"
    },
    "cmdtools":
    [
       {
         "path" : "/bin/DemoCmdTool"
       },
       {
         "path" : "<Path to cmd tool executable binary>"
       }
    ],
    "plcnextextensions" : 
    [
        {
            "acfconfigpath"  : "/PLCnextRuntimeDaemon.acf.config"
        },
        {
            "acfconfigpath"  : "<path to PLCnext extension .acf.config file>"
        }
    ],
    "linuxdaemons" :
    [
        {
          "path"     : "/bin/daemon1exe", 
          "cmdargs"  : "arg1  arg2 ... argN",
          "starttime": "40"
        },
        {
          "path"     : "<Path to daemon executable binary>", 
          "cmdargs"  : "<arg1  arg2 ... argN>",
          "starttime": "99",
          "initScriptTemplate":"<Path to own template file>"
        }
    ],
    "sharedlibs":
    [
       {
         "libpath" : "/lib/sharedlib1.so"
       },
       {
         "libpath" : "<Path to shared library binary>"
       }
    ],
    "datastorage": {
        "persistentdata": true,
        "temporarydata" : true
    },
    "plcnextservices":
    [
       {
           "service": "<Service ID>",
           "action" : "EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS"
       },
       {
           "service": "WBM",
           "action" : "MUST_HAVE"
       },
       {
           "service" : "OPCUA",
           "action"  : "MUST_NOT_HAVE"
       }
    ],
    "updateconfigs": {
        "autoupdate_enabled": true,
        "keep_persistentdata": true,
        "keep_temporarydata" : false,
        "post_updatescript": "<Path to app update script>"
    }
}

Table of Content

This table describes the demo app examples in the git project folder DemoApps

#	Demo App	Description	Sources
1	PLCnext Engineer App	The demo app with an engineer part (solution app) contains a simple solution for flashing an LED (controlling a digital output) in an AXL F DO16 I/O module. The I/O module is controlled by the controller (AXC F 2152) via Axioline F	DemoCmdToolApp
2	Command Line Tool App	To demonstrate an app with a CmdTool App-Part a simple tool was developed, which is installed in an app and displays a text message on the console when called from the command line	DemoEngineerApp
3	Linux shared library App	n/a yet	n/a
4	Linux daemon App	In the SampleLinuxDaemon app the simple program "SampleLinuxDaemon" is started as a Linux daemon, which permanently reads the current time stamp in an endless loop every second and writes it into a log file linuxDaemonOut.log.	SampleLinuxDaemonApp
5	PLCnext Extensions App	Contains two examples for PLCnext Extensions Apps: Demo PLCnext Runtime App (PLCnext-Process) based on the example in the PLCnext Github Repo SampleRuntime Demo PLCnext-Component App	PlcnextSampleRuntimeApp WbmPlcnextComponentApp
6	PLCnext services configuration App	In the demo app for configuring PLCnext system services, the WBM-PLCnext component is switched off. For this the action "MUST_NOT_HAVE" is configured for the Plcnext service with the ID "WBM", therefore the name "SC_WBM-MNH" is selected for the app.	DemoPlcnextServicesConfigApp
7	Data Storage	The procedure for using and configuring a Data Storage App Part is explained in the demo apps "Demo PLCnext Runtime App" and "Demo Linux Daemon App"	PlcnextSampleRuntimeApp SampleLinuxDaemonApp
8	Update configs	The update configs demo App contains an App container to update demo App SampleLinuxDaemonApp from app version 123.11.6.0 to 123.11.6.9	SampleLinuxDaemonUpdateApp