Manual | EN
TwinCAT 3
Type system
2022-06-22 | Version: 1.6
Foreword
1 Foreword
1.1 Notes on the documentation
This description is only intended for the use of trained specialists in control and automation engineering who
are familiar with applicable national standards.
It is essential that the documentation and the following notes and explanations are followed when installing
and commissioning the components.
It is the duty of the technical personnel to use the documentation published at the respective time of each
installation and commissioning.
The responsible staff must ensure that the application or use of the products described satisfy all the
requirements for safety, including all the relevant laws, regulations, guidelines and standards.
Disclaimer
The documentation has been prepared with care. The products described are, however, constantly under
development.
We reserve the right to revise and change the documentation at any time and without prior announcement.
No claims for the modification of products that have already been supplied may be made on the basis of the
data, diagrams and descriptions in this documentation.
Trademarks
Beckhoff®, TwinCAT®, TwinCAT/BSD®, TC/BSD®, EtherCAT®, EtherCAT G®, EtherCAT G10®, EtherCAT P®,
Safety over EtherCAT®, TwinSAFE®, XFC®, XTS® and XPlanar® are registered trademarks of and licensed by
Beckhoff Automation GmbH.
Other designations used in this publication may be trademarks whose use by third parties for their own
purposes could violate the rights of the owners.
Patent Pending
The EtherCAT Technology is covered, including but not limited to the following patent applications and
patents:
EP1590927, EP1789857, EP1456722, EP2137893, DE102015105702
with corresponding applications or registrations in various other countries.
EtherCAT® is a registered trademark and patented technology, licensed by Beckhoff Automation GmbH,
Germany
Copyright
© Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG, Germany.
The reproduction, distribution and utilization of this document as well as the communication of its contents to
others without express authorization are prohibited.
Offenders will be held liable for the payment of damages. All rights reserved in the event of the grant of a
patent, utility model or design.
TwinCAT 3 Version: 1.6 3
Foreword
1.2 Safety instructions
Safety regulations
Please note the following safety instructions and explanations!
Product-specific safety instructions can be found on following pages or in the areas mounting, wiring,
commissioning etc.
Exclusion of liability
All the components are supplied in particular hardware and software configurations appropriate for the
application. Modifications to hardware or software configurations other than those described in the
documentation are not permitted, and nullify the liability of Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG.
Personnel qualification
This description is only intended for trained specialists in control, automation and drive engineering who are
familiar with the applicable national standards.
Description of symbols
In this documentation the following symbols are used with an accompanying safety instruction or note. The
safety instructions must be read carefully and followed without fail!
DANGER
Serious risk of injury!
Failure to follow the safety instructions associated with this symbol directly endangers the life and health of
persons.
WARNING
Risk of injury!
Failure to follow the safety instructions associated with this symbol endangers the life and health of per-
sons.
CAUTION
Personal injuries!
Failure to follow the safety instructions associated with this symbol can lead to injuries to persons.
NOTE
Damage to the environment or devices
Failure to follow the instructions associated with this symbol can lead to damage to the environment or
equipment.
Tip or pointer
This symbol indicates information that contributes to better understanding.
4 Version: 1.6 TwinCAT 3
Foreword
1.3 Notes on information security
The products of Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG (Beckhoff), insofar as they can be accessed online,
are equipped with security functions that support the secure operation of plants, systems, machines and
networks. Despite the security functions, the creation, implementation and constant updating of a holistic
security concept for the operation are necessary to protect the respective plant, system, machine and
networks against cyber threats. The products sold by Beckhoff are only part of the overall security concept.
The customer is responsible for preventing unauthorized access by third parties to its equipment, systems,
machines and networks. The latter should be connected to the corporate network or the Internet only if
appropriate protective measures have been set up.
In addition, the recommendations from Beckhoff regarding appropriate protective measures should be
observed. Further information regarding information security and industrial security can be found in our
[Link]
Beckhoff products and solutions undergo continuous further development. This also applies to security
functions. In light of this continuous further development, Beckhoff expressly recommends that the products
are kept up to date at all times and that updates are installed for the products once they have been made
available. Using outdated or unsupported product versions can increase the risk of cyber threats.
To stay informed about information security for Beckhoff products, subscribe to the RSS feed at https://
[Link]/secinfo.
TwinCAT 3 Version: 1.6 5
Overview
2 Overview
TwinCAT 3 provides a type system for the management of data types. The type system consists of system
basic types and can be extended by custom data types through the customer project.
This documentation describes the TwinCAT 3 type system and the management of data types. The TMC
editor, with which the data types are created and described, is described in the documentation entitled “C++”
in the “TwinCAT Module Class Editor (TMC)” section.
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Project-based type system
3 Project-based type system
The TwinCAT 3 type system is project-specific; i.e. it is a fixed component of a TwinCAT 3 project in a Visual
Studio solution.
Data types can be defined at various points and transferred if necessary to the TwinCAT 3 type system.
Thus, local data types can also exist that don't exist in the TwinCAT 3 type system.
You will find the type system in the TwinCAT 3 project tree as an object in the SYSTEM subtree.
TwinCAT 3 Version: 1.6 7
Data types
4 Data types
The TwinCAT 3 type system displays the data types in an editor on four different tabs. The editor is opened
by double-clicking on the "Type System" object in the TwinCAT 3 project tree.
The following data types (TMC editor: "Specifications") are displayed on the Data Types tab:
• Alias: these data types are simply synonyms for other data types. For example, a time range (duration)
can be defined in a specific project as UINT.
• Struct: these data types are structures of other data types, which in turn can also be structures.
• Enum: these data types describe enumerations.
• Array: these data types are arrays with a defined number of dimensions as well as the respective
length.
The interfaces are displayed on the Interfaces tab. This data type describes an interface that can be
provided or used by different components such as function blocks or TcCOM modules. An interface consists
of methods that have a respective signature.
The Functions tab shows PLC functions and PLC function blocks whose definition was read from in a TMC/
TML file.
The Event Classes tab defines event classes that are used for the TwinCAT 3 EventLogger.
8 Version: 1.6 TwinCAT 3
Handling of data types
5 Handling of data types
In order to create or modify a data type via the TwinCAT 3 type system, select the New or Edit command
from the context menu of the first table column on the appropriate tab of the type system editor. Both
commands open the TMC editor in which you can edit the data type.
Data types from PLC projects
Data types (DUTs) can be created and saved in a PLC project. These data types initially exist locally in the
PLC project and are not usable from the point of view of TwinCAT 3. If the data types are used in the input/
output memory map (%I* / %Q*), they are imported into the TwinCAT 3 type system so that they can also be
linked through the mapping.
With the Convert to Global Type command in the context menu of a DUT in the PLC project tree you can
transfer the DUT to the type system of the higher-level TwinCAT project. Thereafter the data type is usable in
the PLC via the external types and is managed in the TwinCAT 3 type system.
To transfer a data type from the TwinCAT 3 type system to a PLC project, you can use the source code in
the “Data Types” dialog.
Data types from C++ projects
In C++ projects the data types are defined in the TMC editor in parallel with the modules. Like the internal
DUTs in the PLC project, these data types are local and thus invisible in the TwinCAT 3 type system.
Through the use of the data types in a C++/Matlab module, which has also been instanced, the data types
are inserted into the TwinCAT 3 type system.
You can also insert a data type into the TwinCAT 3 type system without using the data type in an instanced
C++ module by activating the Persistent (even if unused) check box.
Use of data types in several projects
In some cases it may be useful to use data types in several projects. In particular for EAP/network variables
it can be useful to use the same data type on both the publisher and subscriber side.
You can create individual TMC files for this under the "Type System" node.
TwinCAT 3 Version: 1.6 9
Handling of data types
A check box appears in front of every data type in the editor window of the TMC files. Using the check box
you can specify which data type is to be deposited in the respective TMC file.
The data types are additionally deposited in the TMC files. You can use these files on different computers
and in different projects, for example, by means of file exchange or version control.
However, the file itself must not be used by different projects at the same time, so that these are normally
stored in the project directory and this project is then available as a copy on different computers, e.g. via
version control.
Since the GUID is used to identify the data type, the type system recognizes this double deposition
automatically.
When using data types after they have been integrated in several projects, make sure that changes to the
data types are made as far as possible only in one place. Otherwise the different variants can no longer be
merged to a common version.
See also:
Management and identification of data types [} 11]
10 Version: 1.6 TwinCAT 3
Management and identification of data types
6 Management and identification of data types
Data types in the TwinCAT 3 type system are fundamentally identified on the basis of their GUID. Thus,
several data types can exist with the same name. The same applies to different versions of a data type.
Each version of a data type is assigned a new GUID.
At the same time, each data type has a list of data types that it keeps hidden ("Datatype Hides").
This makes it possible to use different versions of a data type in the project at the same time.
The Update Instances... command in the context menu of a data type in the type system editor (Data Types
tab) employs the respectively latest version for selected uses of a data type.
TwinCAT has a so-called reference counter for each data type. This counter can be seen in the RefCount
column in the editor of the type system. Each use of the data type in a project, and also in an editor and so
on, increments the counter. If a counter is at 0, the data type is no longer used and is discarded.
TwinCAT 3 Version: 1.6 11
Management and identification of data types
If the Persistent (even if unused) setting in the context menu of a data type is activated, the data type
description will be saved in the TwinCAT project file (*.tsproj) even if the data type is not used in the
TwinCAT project. The setting is activated by default with data types that are newly created directly via the
type system editor. This ensures that the data types are not directly deleted if the TwinCAT project is saved
before the new data types are used.
If a SharedTMC is used underneath the Type System object in the TwinCAT project tree, the setting should
not be activated for data types in this file as the data types are saved both in the project and in the
SharedTMC. The setting is deactivated by default with data types that are newly created directly via a
SharedTMC editor.
The Auto Delete (if unused) setting should not be manually changed, but is shown for the sake of
completeness. Data types for which this setting is activated are hidden for PLC projects and cannot be used
there. The setting should not be used, for example, to automatically clean the type system. Unused data
types are not automatically saved in the TwinCAT project and are then no longer in the type system after
reloading the TwinCAT project.
12 Version: 1.6 TwinCAT 3
Alignment of data types
7 Alignment of data types
The memory layout of a data type is determined by the alignment. Further information on the alignment can
be found in the “Alignment” section in the documentation entitled “PLC”.
With the default alignment of 8 bytes it can be ensured that the access to data types functions optimally in
terms of runtime and access on different platforms. Deviation from this should only take place in exceptional
cases.
The TwinCAT 3 type system marks data types in color.
• Yellow if the length of the data type is not a multiple of the largest internal field (max. 8 bytes). As a
result, the alignment no longer obeys the rules in the case of an array of such a data type.
• Red if the alignment within the data type no longer obeys the rules.
The TMC editor offers the possibility to specify the memory layout of a data type for a selected alignment.
Alternatively, the layout can be manually specified using offsets.
If the size of a data type that is used in another data type is changed, then this data type must also be
adjusted. The TMC editor offers an appropriate recursive function for this at the data type overview level.
TwinCAT 3 Version: 1.6 13
Files in connection with the type system
8 Files in connection with the type system
The TwinCAT 3 type system is formulated entirely in XML.
Depending on the field of application there are different files that contain the data types:
• .tsproj file – TwinCAT project
This file contains the entire TwinCAT project, including the complete TwinCAT 3 type system.
• .tmc files – TwinCAT Module Class files
These files are used to describe the TcCOM modules themselves. They include module class
descriptions and the data types used. At the same time, these files are used to realize the exchange of
data types between projects, as described above.
• .tmi files – TwinCAT Module Instance files
These files describe the instance of a class. They are deposited on the destination by the
TwinCAT 3 Engineering in order to describe an instance of a class. In addition, instance information
can also be transferred from one project to another using a .tmi file.
14 Version: 1.6 TwinCAT 3
More Information:
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Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG
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33415 Verl
Germany
Phone: +49 5246 9630
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