The device protection is used to protect a device so that the associated functions / planning objects and thus the corresponding predefined data are not changed unintentionally through graphic actions. This protection mainly applies to those parts that have been assigned to a function, but it also prevents functions from being deleted. It is also possible to protect only individual functions, connections or planning objects.

Protected devices provide the possibility of carrying out pre-planning and managing plant sections that have already been completed. For example, those parts of a plant that have already been completed can be marked.

The information whether an object (function, connection, planning object) is protected correspondingly is stored and displayed in the Device protection (ID 20475) property. This property serves only for display purposes and cannot be edited manually. In the tree view of the navigators protected functions are indicated by an additional icon .

The device protection has the following effects:

• The functions of a protected device can no longer be removed from the project through graphical editing functions such as "Delete pages". They are retained as unplaced functions and continue to be displayed in the navigators and reports (such as the parts list). All the device information is thus retained.
• The assigned parts cannot be changed at a device / planning object with device protection. This means that a device selection or part selection or actions such as "Exchange part", "Edit part" and "Add part" cannot be carried out. All the properties that are assigned through the part (and the function templates stored at the function) are thus protected. However, it remains possible to change the remaining device properties (such as the function text). This thus allows devices to be predefined, whose definition still has to be completed when used in the schematic.
• The DT of protected functions and thus the device association is not changed at actions in the graphical editor, such as moving or inserting further functions, where adopting a DT would be possible.

Protected devices in macros and copies

If you create a macro or a copy in the schematic of a protected device, then the Device protection property is stored with the main function in the macro or copy.

The device protection is completed by the Manage unplaced auxiliary functions at the main function property. If this property is activated at the main function of a protected device, all the functions of the device (including the auxiliary functions not yet placed) are stored in the macro or in the copy when the main function is copied or when a macro is generated from the main function. The unplaced auxiliary functions are also re-added into the project as unplaced functions when the macro or the copy is added.

This means that it is possible to specify data at auxiliary functions of a device that surpass those of a function template and to copy these together with the main functions as if they were templates. It is, in particular, then possible to work in single-line mode, and also manage data in multi-line mode in the background. To do so you place a connection definition point in the single-line mode and can there interconnect the devices in multi-line mode.

See also

Using Protected Devices

Managing Unplaced Auxiliary Functions at the Main Function

Protecting Devices

Defining Multi-Line Connections on a Single-Line Connection Definition Point