What You Should Know About Interfaces Page 1 of 3
What You Should Know About Interfaces
In the software, an "interface" stands for a Windows driver that controls the interaction between the hardware
and the software. Installing an interface in the "Install/Remove Interfaces" dialog box) does not mean that the
module (for example, a card) is actually installed on your PC or programming device. You should always ensure
the following:
1. The interface is inserted in your programming device/PC.
2. All settings for the module have been correctly made.
3. The corresponding driver (known as the interface) is installed.
4. An interface parameter set is created for the interface (completed automatically).
5. This interface parameter set is assigned to the access point of your application.
The following schematic illustrates the interaction, using STEP 7 as an example:
See also:
What You Should Know About Interface Parameter Sets
Basic Procedures
How to Go Online
What You Should Know About Setting the PG/PC Interface
You can operate your programming device (PG) or PC on various bus systems that are used to network
programmable logic controllers (for example, the MPI bus, PROFIBUS, Industrial Ethernet).
Each installed interface is represented by an interface parameter set. An interface parameter set is a set of
parameters belonging to an interface.
Your applications (STEP 7, WinCC, etc.) access your interfaces via one or more access points. You set the
access path by selecting an access point for an application and the interface parameter set.
When you assign parameters to the PG/PC interface, you select the interface parameter set which is most
suitable for connecting to the bus you are using. If necessary, you can modify the properties of the interface
parameter set, adapting them to the requirements of your specific application.
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What You Should Know About Interfaces Page 2 of 3
Note
For STEP 7, only the "S7ONLINE (STEP 7)" access point is used.
See also:
What You Should Know About Interfaces
What You Should Know About Interface Parameter Sets
Basic Procedures
How to Go Online
User Rights
What You Should Know About Interface Parameter Sets
Selecting a suitable interface parameter set is a simple way of assigning parameters to the PG/PC interface. An
interface parameter set is a set of parameters belonging to an interface.
You can use predefined interface parameter sets and modify their properties for a particular application, or you
can create and adapt your own interface parameter sets by copying an existing set and modifying its properties.
Properties of Interface Parameter Sets
In the tabbed pages of the dialog boxes which are accessed with the "Properties..." button, you determine the
values of the definable parameters of an interface parameter set; for example:
l Station address
l Transmission rate
Structure of the Display in the List of Interface Parameter Sets
The list is structured as follows:
< interface > [< network type >] [< board >]
< interface > is the name of the interface.
< network type > indicates the network type for which this interface parameter set was created. An interface can
have interface parameter sets for various network types.
< board > is a number that indicates the interface for which this interface parameter set was created.
The information < network type > and < board > is only displayed when there are several network types for one
interface and/or more than one interface of the same type installed in your programming device/PC. STEP 7
cannot communicate via two interfaces (whether the same type or different) at the same time.
See also:
Basic Procedures
How to Go Online
User Rights
Specifying access rights in the operating system
When you install "Set PG/PC Interface", the "Siemens TIA Engineer" user group is created automatically. This
allows the users entered in this group to configure the PG/PC interface. To allow manual IP configuration (for
PROFINET without DHCP), the user must also be included in the "Network Configuration Operators" group that
is preinstalled by the operating system.
These rights can only be assigned to the user by the administrator.
Including users in the user groups "Siemens TIA Engineer" and "Network Configuration Operators"
Enter the local users who can access "Set PG/PC Interface" with their login in the "Siemens TIA Engineer"
group.
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What You Should Know About Interfaces Page 3 of 3
Follow the steps below:
1. Open the Control Panel in Windows and select "User Accounts".
2. In the navigation window, select the entry "Manage User Accounts" (and confirm the displayed prompt with
"Continue").
3. In the "Advanced" tab, select the "Advanced" entry in the "Advanced User Management" section.
4. In the navigation window, select the entry "Local Users and Groups > Users". All users are displayed in the
data window.
5. Using the context menu, open the "New User" and create an account with the same login for every user that
needs to access "Set PG/PC Interface".
6. Select the "Properties" context menu command for each user you create.
7. In the dialog box that opens, select the "Member of" tab and the click the "Add..." button.
8. In the "Select Groups" dialog, enter the user group "Siemens TIA Engineer" in the "Enter the object names
to select" box and confirm with "OK".
9. Follow the same procedure for the users to be included in the "Network Configuration Operators" user
group.
Creating the global domain user group "Siemens TIA Engineer"
When working in a domain, you have the alternative of creating a global domain user group that is then mapped
to the local user groups "Siemens TIA Engineer" and "Network Configuration Operators".
The following requirements must be met first:
l The domain administrator has created a global domain user group.
l The domain administrator has included the users with whose login "Set PG/PC Interface" can be accessed in
the global domain user group.
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