TABLE OF CONTENTS This book has been written as a user guide and tutorial for the new international standard IEC 1131-3 for programmable logic controllers (PLCs). If you are not familiar with the background and purpose of the standard it is recommended that you read through this introductory chapter.
If you are considering designing or writing control programs using any of the IEC 1131-3 languages for the first time, you are advised to gain an understanding of how programs are structured and can be built up from various software elements; this is reviewed in Chapter 2, IEC 1131-3 concepts . This chapter will also explain how the standard provides a selection of programming languages for developing different parts of a control program.
Later chapters give specific details on using each of the IEC 1131-3 languages. The suitability of each language for solving different types of industrial control problems is described along with techniques and examples.
Facilities in the IEC 1131-3 and an accompanying standard IEC 1131-5 for communicating with other PLCs and devices are discussed in Chapter 12, Communications .
| Note | Although it is the intention that this book should accurately describe the languages and concepts of the standard, you should always refer to the published IEC 1131-3 standard for all formal definitions of any part of the standard. Alternative interpretations are described in the text in situations where some minor details in the standard are ambiguous. |
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