Using the PLCnext Technology Toolchain and the PLCnext CLI

What is the PLCnext CLI

The PLCnext Command Line Interface (PLCnext CLI) provides an entire toolchain for C++ programming on the PLCnext Technology platform as well as a template system for creating projects.

• Based on the C++ specific templates, you can develop your applications.
• You can use the PLCnext CLI to unpack and manage the SDKs.
• CMake is contained as the build environment, and each SDK brings its own configuration.
• A parser integrated in PLCnext CLI creates the metadata required for PLCnext Engineer to inform it about data types, components, programs and ports.
• The LibraryBuilder contained in PLCnext CLI creates a PLCnext Engineer library from the project.

If you are working with Eclipse® or Visual Studio® and installed the PLCnext IDE tools, the PLCnext CLI is called by means of that IDE user interface to perform some steps.

How to use the PLCnext CLI

Example workflow

The following example shows an option of how to configure a project up to the complete PLCnext library using the PLCnext CLI:

• Open a project folder of your choice:
  e.g., C:\Users\<username>\Documents\CLI Projects.


• Generate a new project with the project name Project1:
  plcncli new project –n Project1


• Go to the Project1 project folder:
  cd Project1


• Select the desired controller for the project (e.g., AXC F 2152):
  plcncli set target --add -n AXCF2152


• Generate metafiles and code files:
  plcncli generate all
  Generating metafiles and code files separatelyGenerating metafiles and code files separately...

  Use the following command to generate only the necessary metafiles for the project:
  plcncli generate config

  Use the following command to generate only the necessary code files for the project:
  plcncli generate code

• Compile the project.:
  plcncli build


• Generate a library for PLCnext Engineer:
  plcncli deploy
  ↪ The library and the .so files are located in the bin folder of the project.
•  Import the generated library into PLCnext Engineer.

PLCnext CLI command structure

• Use the Command Line Interface to call functions by means of simple commands.
• Activate the PLCnext CLI by calling the plcncli.exe via the shell, e.g.:
  C:\Program Files\Phoenix Contact\PLCnCLI 2020.0 LTS\plcncli.exe.

If you added the plcncli.exe to your PATH environment variables during installation (see PLCnext toolchain installation), you can simply use plcncli as a command in the console. There is a long and a short form for the commands, which you can use as you like:

Long form for the commands

To add long-form parameters, use -- as the prefix, e.g.:

C:\Workspace>plcncli new project --name MyProject1
Successfully created template 'project' in C:\Workspace\MyProject1

Short form for the commands

To add short-form parameters, use prefix - as the prefix, e.g.:

C:\Workspace>plcncli new project -n MyProject1
Successfully created template 'project' in C:\Workspace\MyProject1

Command details

The functions are structured hierarchically. For each command, there is another level of commands that specifies the desired function in more detail. Use the --help command to call a description of the individual functions. E.g.: plcncli new project --help.

If you do not specify all the parameters, the system will also display the help or use default parameters. The values will be displayed after the command was executed. For example, if you do not specify a directory path via the --output option for a new project, a subfolder is created and used in the current directory.

PLCnext CLI command overview

The PLCnext CLI provides the following commands, which you can use to execute the corresponding functions.

Each command can be specified using additional parameters. Commands consist of the fol­lowing:

If you require information on parameters or additional command levels, you can request them for each level by means of the --help command.

PLCnext CLI template system

With the plcncli new command it is possible to add new files or start new projects. These are based on templates, and they are adapted to the current project or pre-configured by additional parameters.

First, there is the PLM program project template (via plcncli new project) which can be extended by additional programs (via plcncli new program) and components (via plcncli new component). For more information about the PLM program project type, refer to the Structure of a C++ program.

A second option is the ACF project template (via plcncli new acfproject), and additional ACF components can be added via plcncli new acfcomponents. To distinguish the core differences between PLM and ACF projects, refer to their PLM and ACF delimitation.

From firmware releases 2021.0 LTS or newer, the third option is a template for a Shared library (via plcncli new consumablelibrary) which can be used in other PLCnext C++ projects. For more on this useful template type, see the Consumable library description.