Variable Export & Import - LS Electric XGB PLC from AutomationDirect

the xg5000 software uses variables to allocate and utilize its internal memory while the software spreadsheet style variable table has several excellent functions to easily create and edit variables sometimes more is needed often we need to batch create edit or reuse hundreds or even thousands of these variables in one or multiple projects this is where the variable export and import utility is very helpful in our project we have created a few test variables and we have a long list of IO variables created by the software for some of our analog and Specialty modules at the bottom of the table we have created one variable that will need to be copied many times but with slight numbering modifications now that we have the basic structure of our variables created we can export this variable database to do this we will rightclick anywhere in the global variable window and select export into text file this will open a pop-up window where we can select an export location it will export as a CSV file we can perform the same export on the direct variable comment tab as well as the local variables window if we open the global or the local variable CSV file we will see the same columns that are visible in the software we can edit any of these fields so let's create several new variables using excel's click and drag copy feature it allows us to create two variables in a sequence and let Excel predict the next name in the sequence correct spelling punctuation and syntax are extremely important when editing the variable file let's create a variable named test 10 that list the direct variable percent iix 0.0.1 in the address column but we will put word into the type column when we attempt to import the software will give us an import error this is because the direct variable percent 0.0.1 can only be a Boolean data type the software import error will give us some indication of what is wrong with our CSV file to allow us to diagnose and fix the issue once we have a valid file with any modifications we need to make it will import with no errors and if we look at the global variables tab we can see that new Global variable have been created in the software and are ready to use it is also important to take care when editing the pre-made Global variables associated with our analog or specialty IO incorrect changes to these values can lead to unexpected behavior from the PLC but may not be caught during the import process if we open the direct variable comment CSV file the only columns present are the direct variable and its comment we can create direct variable comments in the same way we created Global or local variables because comments are not vital to plc function if we create a direct variable comment file with invalid address numbering the PLC will ignore the additional entries and add only the valid entries but it will not give a warning or error to indicate this variable functionality also factors in if for example we have a 16 input CPU there is no point in commenting on Direct variable address percent 0.0.6 or higher only percent 0.0.0 to15 will ever be tied to an actual CPU Point since the percent I X 0.0 doxxx range is reserved for CPU inputs only the comments will be included in the program but will only serve to confuse the programmer on which variables are being used