Element reference formats

Use these formats for referencing an element.
Fully qualified name of the element
Using the fully qualified name tells
FactoryTalk Design Studio
explicitly which element to resolve to, which saves the effort of performing the scope search. The fully qualified name starts at the top of the owning relationship and specifies the path all the way to the actual element. The segments of a fully qualified name are separated by a dot.
  • For elements defined within a controller application, the fully qualified name starts with the Controller Application name.
    For example: LogixApp_crl.mainProgram.main
  • For elements defined within a Smart Object, the fully qualified name starts with the system model.
    For example: Area.soInst1.soChildInst2.soGrandChildInst2.mainProgram.programParameter
Partially qualified name of the element
Using the partially qualified name provides
FactoryTalk Design Studio
a partial hint to what element to resolve to.
FactoryTalk Design Studio
performs a scope search with the first segment of the partially qualified name. For each found candidate, the other segments of the partially qualified name must also match.
For example: soChildInst2.soGrandChildInst2.mainProgram.programParameter
From the source of the reference,
FactoryTalk Design Studio
searches through the available scopes for soChildInst2. For each found candidate, it ensures the candidate also has a child Smart Object named soGrandChildInst2, and program called mainProgram with a parameter called programParmeter.
Name of the element
This reference format does not include any fully or partially qualified name. A common instance of this usage is an argument value within a routine instruction. For example, a routine instruction argument might be
ctrlTag
.
FactoryTalk Design Studio
performs a scope search to find an element that has the name ctrlTag. In this case,
FactoryTalk Design Studio
checks the routine first, then the owning program, and finally the program’s owner.
Owner scope operators
Owner
is a keyword that instructs
FactoryTalk Design Studio
to perform the scope search by examining only the parent of the element. You can chain owner keywords.
For example, for a routine instruction’s argument containing ctrlTag, with a routine defined within a controller application:
  • Owner.ctrlTag instructs
    FactoryTalk Design Studio
    to look only in the owning program of the routine.
  • Owner.owner.ctrlTag instructs FTDS to look only in the owning program’s controller application. For routines defined within a Smart Object, you cannot enter
    Owner.Owner
    because Smart Objects to not contain tags.
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