Plain Ladder

How a job moves

1. Start from a print or a sentence. A photo of a sheet, a description, or the fill-in boxes.
2. Read the option check. For each motor, valve, alarm, and sensor, the portal lists the ladder choices that fit that item.
3. Run the check. Flip the inputs in the simulator and read what the outputs do. The simulator does not talk to a PLC.
4. You import the file in the Rockwell software and read every rung against the sheet.
5. You download from that software when the machine is in a safe state.

What a new programmer is learning

A print already shows the devices. The hard part is knowing which ladder choice belongs with each one: a seal for a motor, a delay for an alarm, a stop that can beat the start, an overload that is not branched around.

The portal does not add those choices by itself. It marks what this job already uses, and it lists the rest so you can check them against the sheet.

Where the work is stored

Each job is a project folder inside the ladder folder, under data, then projects. Sources holds the functional description, electrical prints, HMI screens, PDFs, and other drawings. Adding a file builds the ladder again from every file in that same folder. Transfer to PLC holds the files you copy to the computer with the Rockwell software. Nothing in that folder is sent to a PLC by itself.

To open the portal, double-click Start Plain Ladder.bat and leave the black window open.

Name this job

Version 13 through 20 is RSLogix 5000. Version 21 and newer is Studio 5000. Use the number in the title bar. Import the program into the project you have open.

Project files

Start from a project folder. Add the equipment functional description, electrical prints, HMI screenshots, PDFs, and other drawings. When a new file is added, the ladder is built again from every file in that same project.

If the project name is empty, the drawing's file name is used. A PDF or a photo can be read. A CAD file is kept with the project.

Fill in the boxes

A check can be on, off, above a number, or always. A result can turn on, latch, time, count, move, scale, or do math. Scale turns a raw signal, such as 4000 to 20000, into engineering units, such as 0 to 100. "Keep it on" is the usual motor circuit. A PID loop, a message, or a jump is set up in the Rockwell software.

Or type a sentence

Choices that fit each kind of item

Use this sheet while you read a print. When a job is built, the same list is checked against the devices that job actually named.

Saved jobs

These stay in the ladder folder on this computer.

Find a PLC through Rockwell's software

This page cannot see the PLC. On the computer that has Studio 5000 and RSLinx, open Plain Ladder there, or open this project link in that computer's browser and download the file. A person downloads from Rockwell when the machine is safe.

The search looks on this computer for Studio 5000, RSLinx Classic, and FactoryTalk Linx. Then it asks RSLinx which names it can already see. It does not scan the plant network address by address.

Open RSLinx and wait until RSWho is on the screen before you search, if you want a live device list.

Path you see in RSWho

A path looks like AB_ETHIP-1\192.168.1.10. This box only stores the note. It does not connect.

Saved on this computer for the next job.

What works with this portal

Plain Ladder writes files for the Rockwell software you already license. It also writes a C-more tag file and a screen layout for the HMI. It does not include those programs, and it does not replace the licenses.

Bring the files into the software

After you make a job, the review page lists the clicks for that controller. For RSLogix 5000 and Studio 5000, the usual path is:

1. Open your licensed project.
2. In the organizer, right-click the task that should hold this logic. MainTask is the usual one.
3. Choose Import Program.
4. Pick the .L5X file from the Transfer to PLC folder.
5. The whole program comes in at once, with every rung already in the routine.
6. Read the routine. Point each name at the real input or output if the machine already uses different names.
7. Download from Studio 5000 only after that, with the machine in a safe state.

Set the Logix version on the New ladder page to the number in the RSLogix 5000 or Studio 5000 title bar before you make the file. Safety logic, safety locks, and safety signatures stay with someone trained for that controller. Emergency stops, guards, and light curtains stay in the safety design.

On the shop computer

Other laptops build and check a project from its link on the MonTek labs page. This computer is the one with the Rockwell license. Open the same link here, download the file, then import it in Studio 5000 or RSLogix.

1. Install Python 3 from python.org if that PC does not have it. Check Add python.exe to PATH.
2. Copy this whole folder onto that PC.
3. Double-click Start Plain Ladder.bat.
4. Open Find PLC and search.

Rockwell's SDK install notes mention Python versions. Leave the Python you use for this portal in place. Manual import uses Studio 5000's own menus and does not need the SDK.