Eplan Io Closed Loop

EPLAN IO Closed Loop

Use this skill to turn a live EPLAN Electric P8 session into a repeatable IO export workflow without mutating the project.

Assume Windows, PowerShell, and an already open EPLAN project. Prefer a read-only offline DataModel session for extraction. Do not edit the live project unless the user explicitly asks for modifications.

Workflow

1. Confirm that an EPLAN process is open.
2. Resolve the active project path from the EPLAN main window title.
3. Run the read-only export script in a child powershell.exe -STA process.
4. Produce eplan_io_points.csv and eplan_io_summary.txt in the requested output directory.
5. Report module counts, direction counts, and a few representative points.

Bundled Scripts

• scripts/find-open-eplan-project.ps1 Resolve the active .elk file from the open EPLAN window title. Use this first when the user says EPLAN is already open.
• scripts/export-eplan-io.ps1 Open the project through the EPLAN offline API in read-only mode and export the PLC IO list.
• scripts/run-open-project-io-export.ps1 Wrapper that finds the project, passes paths through environment variables, and launches the export script in a child STA PowerShell process.

Default Command

Run this when the user simply wants the current project's IO list:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\skills\eplan-io-closed-loop\scripts\run-open-project-io-export.ps1" -OutputDir "C:\path\to\output"

If the project path is already known, pass it explicitly:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\skills\eplan-io-closed-loop\scripts\run-open-project-io-export.ps1" -ProjectPath "C:\Projects\Example.elk" -OutputDir "C:\path\to\output"

Output Files

• eplan_io_points.csv One row per PLC IO point with module type, PLC box, terminal, address, symbolic address, data type, function text, and page.
• eplan_io_summary.txt Project path, output path, PLC box count, IO point count, direction counts, and module-kind counts.
• eplan_io_error.txt Present only when the export script throws.

Important Rules

• Keep the extraction read-only. Use ProjectManager.OpenMode.ReadOnly.
• Set LockProjectByDefault = $false before opening the project.
• Pass EPLAN_PROJECT_PATH and EPLAN_OUTPUT_DIR through environment variables before launching the child script.
• Use the child powershell.exe -STA wrapper even if the parent shell is already PowerShell. This avoids fragile hosting differences.
• Treat the export as successful when the CSV and summary exist, even if the child process returns a non-zero exit code. The EPLAN API host can return odd process codes after a successful export.
• Expect Chinese project paths. Avoid hardcoding them directly inside .ps1 source when a wrapper can pass them through environment variables.

Interpretation Rules

• Infer Direction from module prefix when EPLAN leaves PLCIOENTRY_DIRECTION empty:
  • AI, DI => Input
  • AQ, DQ => Output
• Trim internal formatting prefixes from FunctionText by keeping only the content after the last @ and removing the trailing ;.
• Treat ConnectionEndpoints and ExternalConnections as optional enrichment only. In many projects, EPLAN exposes the PLC addresses but not explicit field-side closure through these APIs.

What To Report

Include:

• project path
• generated file paths
• PLC box count
• IO point count
• counts by AI, AQ, DI, DQ
• counts by Input and Output
• a few representative points such as I0.0, Q0.0, IW0+, or QW0+

If the user asks for a field-device closed loop and the CSV has empty ConnectionEndpoints, say that the module/address/function loop is exported successfully, but field-side source/target closure is not exposed by this project through the current API path.