Codesys PLC / SoftPLC Programming.
Codesys is a SoftPLC Programming system used by many different vendors. If you have a Wago, Festo, Phoenix Contact, Schneider PLC (to name a few), it is more than likely running Codesys.
There are two different versions of Codesys, both are still supported and have recent patches. Codesys 2.3 is the original and Codesys 3.5 the latest generation.
A problem I often come across on-site with Codesys PLC's is that the OEM has not downloaded the source code to the PLC. This means that when you want to perform a modification to the equipment it is difficult.
If no source code is available, the only way is to start the program from scratch. This problem can be dealt with by implementing a good version control and change management system on-site and also specifying that if an OEM is using Codesys that the source code is provided at the end of the project.
As I've pointed out some of the negatives it is only fair to point out that Codesys is my favourite control system. It is feature rich, has some powerful extensions to the standard PLC programming languages and is, in my opinion the best choice for any kind of data handling applications. It can run on a plethora of devices from the Raspberry pi, to a virtual machine on a server in the cloud.
Please contact msi@controlmotive.com if you need any support with a Codesys project.