leaving parts of a record blank

RAPID Programming
1

Hi all,
I wonder if it is possible to hide or skip parts of a record when I don’t use them. I use a record to create settings which contains other records which define certain types in my program. Sometimes, my program requires all the types but sometimes I only need 1. Me and my colleagues struggle with the fact it looks and works quite messy when not all types are used. For now I set settings to 0 when the certain type is not use. I wonder if there is a way to skip or hide parts of the records. For example below. I want to only use setpoints_type_2 but I need to fill all of them to let the program run properly. Any suggestions?
In the example below it should be nice if the records with 0 can be hidden.

PERS settings setting1:=
[[“TYPE1”,0,0,0,FALSE],[“TYPE2”,100,10,10,TRUE],[“TYPE3”,0,0,0,FALSE],[“TYPE4”,0,0,0,FALSE],[“TYPE5”,0,0,0,FALSE],[“TYPE6”,0,0,0,FALSE]]
PERS settings setting2:=
[[“TYPE1”,200,30,1,FALSE],[“TYPE2”,100,10,10,TRUE],[“TYPE3”,80,5,20,FALSE],[“TYPE4”,10,1,10,TRUE],[“TYPE5”,80,80,80,TRUE],[“TYPE6”,400,10,30,TRUE]]

RECORD settings
setpoints_type_1;
setpoints_type_2;
setpoints_type_3;
setpoints_type_4;
setpoints_type_5;
setpoints_type_6;

RECORD setpoints type 1
string: type_name
num: speed;
num: zone;
num: acceleration;
bool: calc_speed

RECORD setpoints type 2
string: type_name
num: speed;
num: zone;
num: acceleration;
bool: calc_speed

RECORD setpoints type 3
string: type_name
num: speed;
num: zone;
num: acceleration;
bool: calc_speed

RECORD setpoints type 4
string: type_name
num: speed;
num: zone;
num: acceleration;
bool: calc_speed

RECORD setpoints type 5
string: type_name
num: speed;
num: zone;
num: acceleration;
bool: calc_speed

RECORD setpoints type 6
string: type_name
num: speed;
num: zone;
num: acceleration;
bool: calc_speed

2

Hi, this is a interesting question and i’m curious how others solve this kind of issue.
I wrote an example how I do based on your data.
I think it’s important that the code is flexible and it’s easy for endusers to read and modify the code.
With my method I can change the record structure (amount of setpoint_types or what’s included in a setpoint_type) and only have to update the syntax in 3 datas.
And I would not have to do any changes to the programs that don’t need the new changes.
Splitting the code in different modules also make’s it easier to handle.

First I would create a module called records that looks like this:

    !***********
    !*** MODULE RECORDS
    !***********
    RECORD Programdata
        string Name;
        string SetupProc;
    ENDRECORD
    
    RECORD SettingsData
        setpoints_type_1 spd1;
        setpoints_type_2 spd2;
        setpoints_type_3 spd3;
        setpoints_type_4 spd4;
        setpoints_type_5 spd5;
        setpoints_type_6 spd6;
    ENDRECORD
    
    RECORD SetpointData
        string type_name;
        num speed;
        num zone;
        num acceleration;
        bool calc_speed;
    ENDRECORD
    
    ALIAS SetpointData setpoints_type_1;
    ALIAS SetpointData setpoints_type_2;
    ALIAS SetpointData setpoints_type_3;
    ALIAS SetpointData setpoints_type_4;
    ALIAS SetpointData setpoints_type_5;
    ALIAS SetpointData setpoints_type_6;

I also like to have a module for all my data declarations, so I would put these datas there.

    !***********
    !*** MODULE DATAS
    !***********
    CONST SetpointData spdNull:=["",0,0,0,FALSE];
    CONST SettingsData sdNull:=[["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE]];
    PERS SettingsData sdCurrent:=[["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE],["",0,0,0,FALSE]];
    PERS Programdata pdActive:=["",""];

Next I would have a module for my programs.
This is the module where endusers would create / edit programs.

    !***********
    !*** MODULE PROGRAMS
    !***********
    CONST Programdata pdProgram1:=["Program 1","pdsetup_Program1"];
    CONST Programdata pdProgram2:=["Program 2","pdsetup_Program2"];
    
    PROC pdsetup_Program1()
        sdCurrent:= sdNull;
        pdActive:= pdProgram1;
        !Setup SetpointData #1
        !Reserved
        !Setup SetpointData #2
        sdCurrent.spd2.type_name:="TYPE2";
        sdCurrent.spd2.speed:=100;
        sdCurrent.spd2.zone:=10;
        sdCurrent.spd2.acceleration:=10;
        sdCurrent.spd2.calc_speed:=TRUE;
        !Setup SetpointData #3
        !Reserved
        !Setup SetpointData #4
        !Reserved
        !Setup SetpointData #5
        !Reserved
        !Setup SetpointData #6
        !Reserved
    ENDPROC
    
    PROC pdsetup_Program2()
        sdCurrent:= sdNull;
        pdActive:= pdProgram2;
        !Setup SetpointData #1
        sdCurrent.spd2.type_name:="TYPE1";
        sdCurrent.spd2.speed:=200;
        sdCurrent.spd2.zone:=30;
        sdCurrent.spd2.acceleration:=1;
        sdCurrent.spd2.calc_speed:=FALSE;
        !Setup SetpointData #2
        sdCurrent.spd2.type_name:="TYPE2";
        sdCurrent.spd2.speed:=100;
        sdCurrent.spd2.zone:=10;
        sdCurrent.spd2.acceleration:=10;
        sdCurrent.spd2.calc_speed:=TRUE;
        !Setup SetpointData #3
        sdCurrent.spd2.type_name:="TYPE3";
        sdCurrent.spd2.speed:=80;
        sdCurrent.spd2.zone:=5;
        sdCurrent.spd2.acceleration:=20;
        sdCurrent.spd2.calc_speed:=FALSE;
        !Setup SetpointData #4
        !Reserved
        !Setup SetpointData #5
        !Reserved
        !Setup SetpointData #6
        !Reserved
    ENDPROC

Then in my actual jobProcs I would check the data like this:

    PROC rType1Job()
        IF sdCurrent.spd1 = spdNull RETURN;
    ENDPROC
    PROC rType2Job()
        IF sdCurrent.spd2 = spdNull RETURN;
    ENDPROC
    PROC rType3Job()
        IF sdCurrent.spd3 = spdNull RETURN;
    ENDPROC
    PROC rType4Job()
        IF sdCurrent.spd4 = spdNull RETURN;
    ENDPROC
    PROC rType5Job()
        IF sdCurrent.spd5 = spdNull RETURN;
    ENDPROC
    PROC rType6Job()
        IF sdCurrent.spd6 = spdNull RETURN;
    ENDPROC

Has anyone found a different solution?

The biggest drawback of this method is that the users can edit the programs with “ProgramData” on the flexpendant. But they learn quickly to do it with ProgramEditor.

I like the ability to quickly add more data to the settings, and not have to update old programs that dosen’t need the changes.