Technical data
Setting Up and Editing the Project
6.6 Setting Up a Project
Programming with STEP 7
164 Manual, 05/2010, A5E02789666-01
Creating a Project Manually
You can also create a new project using the menu command File > New in the SIMATIC Manager.
It already contains the "MPI Subnet" object.
Alternative Procedures
When editing a project, you are flexible as to the order in which you perform most of the tasks.
Once you have created a project, you can choose one of the following methods:
• First configure the hardware and then create the software for it, or
• Start by creating the software independent of any configured hardware.
Alternative 1: Configure the Hardware First
If you want to configure the hardware first, proceed as described in Volume 2 of the Configuring
Hardware with STEP 7 Manual. When you have done this, the "S7 Program" and "M7 Program"
folders required to create software are already inserted. Then continue by inserting the objects
required to create programs. Then create the software for the programmable modules.
Alternative 2: Create Software First
You can also create software without first having to configure the hardware; this can be done later.
The hardware structure of a station does not have to be set for you to enter your programs.
The basic procedure is as follows:
1. Insert the required software folders (S7/M7 Program without a Station or CPU) in your project.
Here you are simply deciding whether the program folder is to contain S7 hardware or M7
hardware.
2. Then create the software for the programmable modules.
3. Configure your hardware.
4. Once you have configured the hardware, you can link the M7 or S7 program to a CPU.