How to Export AutomationView Sequences to Siemens TIA Portal via XML

---
title: AutomationView to TIA Portal Workflow
---
flowchart LR
    classDef av fill:#3b82f6,stroke:#2563eb,color:#ffffff
    classDef tia fill:#10b981,stroke:#059669,color:#ffffff
    classDef xml fill:#f59e0b,stroke:#d97706,color:#ffffff
    A["AutomationView SFC"]:::av -->|Export| B["PLCopen XML"]:::xml
    B -->|Import| C["Siemens TIA Portal"]:::tia
    C --> D["Compiled S7-1500 Logic"]

One of the most persistent bottlenecks in PLC engineering is translating a process sequence from a specification document into hardware-specific code. With AutomationView, you design your logic in a high-level, hardware-agnostic SFC/Python environment. But how do you get that logic into a Siemens S7-1500 controller? The answer lies in our native PLCopen XML export engine, designed specifically for seamless integration with Siemens TIA Portal.

Key Takeaways

• Hardware Agnosticism: Design sequences once, deploy anywhere.
• PLCopen XML: The standard format for migrating logic between IEC 61131-3 platforms.
• TIA Portal Integration: Import SFC and Structured Text directly without manual translation.
• Data Block Generation: Automatic mapping of Python variables to Siemens DBs.

The Translation Bottleneck

Historically, an engineer would design a state machine on a whiteboard or in Visio, and then spend days manually coding it in TIA Portal using Graph or SCL. This process is highly prone to translation errors. Furthermore, if the client later decides to use a different PLC brand, that manual coding effort is entirely lost.

AutomationView eliminates this bottleneck. By acting as the single source of truth for sequence logic, it allows teams to simulate and validate the process before a single line of Siemens code is written.

---
title: Engineering Time Comparison
---
pie
    "Manual TIA Portal Coding" : 60
    "AutomationView XML Export" : 10
    "Logic Design & Testing" : 30

How the PLCopen XML Export Works

PLCopen XML is an industry-standard format that describes IEC 61131-3 logic in a structured, vendor-neutral way. When you hit “Export to TIA Portal” in AutomationView, the engine performs the following translations:

Step-by-Step Import Process

Once you generate the XML file from AutomationView, importing it into TIA Portal is straightforward:

1. Open your TIA Portal project and navigate to the External Source Files folder under your target PLC.
2. Right-click and select Add new external file, choosing the generated `.xml` file.
3. Right-click the imported file and select Generate blocks from source.

TIA Portal will automatically compile the XML into native function blocks (FBs) and data blocks (DBs). The resulting code is not a locked black box; it is fully readable and editable SCL or Graph code, allowing for final hardware-specific tweaks if necessary.

Handling Vendor-Specific I/O

AutomationView sequences focus on the logical process. When exporting to TIA Portal, the generated function blocks expose standard inputs and outputs. You simply map your Siemens hardware tags (e.g., %I0.0) to the block interface within your Main (OB1) routine. This strict separation of process logic from hardware I/O ensures your AutomationView sequences remain portable across different projects.

Conclusion

By leveraging AutomationView’s PLCopen XML export capabilities, engineering teams can bridge the gap between high-level sequence design and hardware execution. This workflow drastically reduces commissioning time, eliminates manual transcription errors, and future-proofs your logic against hardware changes.

Download the latest version and try the XML export yourself at the AutomationView Store.

FAQ

Does the export support older Siemens PLCs like the S7-300?

The XML export is optimized for TIA Portal and the S7-1200/S7-1500 series. While S7-300 is supported in TIA Portal, some newer SCL instructions may require manual adjustment.

What happens to my Python libraries during export?

Standard AutomationView Python control structures are converted to SCL. However, external Python libraries (e.g., NumPy) cannot be translated to PLC code and will flag an export warning.