Technical data

Programming with STEP 7
Manual, 05/2010, A5E02789666-01 325
15 Checking Block Consistency and Time Stamps as
a Block Property
15.1 Checking Block Consistency
Introduction
If the interfaces or the code of individual objects have to be adapted or extended, this can lead to
time stamp conflicts. Time stamp conflicts can in turn cause block inconsistencies between calling
objects and called objects or reference blocks and thus to a high amount correction work.
The "Check block consistency" function eliminates a lot of this correction work. The "Check block
consistency" function removes a large part of all the time stamp conflicts and block inconsistencies.
In the case of objects whose block inconsistencies could not be eliminated automatically, the
function places you at the position to be changed in the corresponding editor, where you can carry
out the required changes. All the block inconsistencies are eliminated and the objects are compiled
step-by-step.
Requirements
It is only possible to check block consistency for projects created from STEP 7 V5.0, Service Pack
3. For older projects, you must first compile everything when starting the block consistency check
(menu command Program > Compile All).
For objects created with an options package, the options package must be installed for the
consistency check.
Starting the Block Consistency Check
At the start of the block consistency check, the time stamps of the block interfaces are checked,
and objects that could cause block inconsistencies are highlighted in the tree view (Dependency
Tree: References / Call Tree).
1. In the SIMATIC Manager, go to the project window, select the required block folder and then
initiate the block consistency via menu command Edit > Check Block Consistency.
2. In "Check Block Consistency" select the menu command Program > Compile
STEP 7 automatically recognizes the programming language for the relevant objects and calls
the corresponding editor. As far as possible, the time stamp conflicts and block inconsistencies
are corrected automatically and the objects are compiled. If the time stamp conflict or the
inconsistency in an object cannot be eliminated automatically, an error message appears in the
output window (refer to Step 3 for further procedures). This process is repeated automatically
for all the objects in the tree view.