Building a PLCnext Control Function Extension

PLCnext Control Function Extension

A PLCnext Control Function Extension (in the following also called "Function Extension" or "app" for short) is a collection of functionalities bundled into one large file that can be understood and executed by the PLCnext Technology Runtime System. Each app may contain multiple different parts, that provide functionalities to the system in their own way. To tell the Runtime System how to execute each part, we group them into different types, which we will explore later.

App parts

The app container can contain various app parts. This allows different app types to be implemented.

The app parts are entered as optional entries in the app description. If these parts are present, the PLCnext Runtime (AppManager) reacts accordingly.

The app description file must contain the metadata JSON object "plcnextapp" and at least one optional app part.