Uploader request

[xfmrdev]

I have built a custom application that communicates with the PLC to send/retrieve data.  I recently added a feature to allow our clients to upload new PLC software using your uploader program.  Using the shell command, I am able to start your program from my application.  However, this process is somewhat "messy" because the user is now looking at a different application (that has a different look and feel) than my application.  

Two questions:

1) could you modify the uploader application to take command line arguments that would allow it to run without bringing up the user interface?  This may be a small change to your application (one that I think would be quite useful).

2) If your answer to #1 is no, is there a programmatic way that I could upload a new PLC program?  (instead of using the Uploader program).

Best regards,

Doug

[support]

The TL5uploader did not have a command line option at the moment.  It wasn't our intention when we release this program for it to be integrated into other PC software or called from the script. Also since there is a need for user to select the correct COM port number and some of the serial settings so allowing command line option may require quite a few parameters to be entered correctly. We would prefer you let your end user use the TL5Uploader on its own.

[xfmrdev]

If we send our clients the uploader program (and advertise it's use), the client will be able to make unauthorized copies of our product.  I would like to prevent that or at least limit it's visibility.  I have put some protection in my custom application that checks to make sure the PLC already has our software loaded.  This is intended to  prevent the customer from buying more PLCs and creating our product.  

So, if you make the uploader program support command line arguments, I could hide the fact that we are really giving them the ability to make unauthorized copies.

However, if you could provide me instead with an interface (using Host Communication perhaps) or code library to upload the ladder logic, I could prevent them from make copies outside our application altogether.  This would be the ideal situation in my opinion.

It seems to me that most our your customer would want this feature in order to protect their intellectual property.

Best regards,

Doug

[support]

Use of the TL5Uploader protects the OEM from giving the Ladder+BASIC source code to the end customers which is much more important to most OEMs. What the OEM does give to the  customer is a compiled machine code that has no meaning to the user.

Even if you could hide the code in your own program, the fact that you have to somehow give your program to the customer will enable them to make copies of the machine code to a new PLC they buy somewhere else. So it is a bit difficult for us to see the need here.  A better protection scheme may be to design a custom hardware key that communicate with the PLC via serial port to "unlock" certain part of the PLC  program after it is power up so that the PLC can only work with your custom hardware key. Of course designing such a key requires some expertise in embedded microcontroller and C language, but it is the more useful protection IMO.

However, we will still submit your request for command line interface for TL5uploader as a wish list request to the software development team. But I doubt it will be much of a priority since so far there hasn't been any request of the same so far, and hence it may take sometime before that may be implemented. You may like to send your contact information to info@tri-plc.com so that we can keep you in the loop on this issue.

[Joel Moore]

Actually, I've requested this in the past as well (or at least something similar with the same goal in mind) so at least two of us would use it  

Just adding my vote.

[FQ-ONG]

Excuse me, what is TL5uploader?