Object kinds¶

Working catalog of CODESYS object kinds for the per-object sync (C# agent, IObjectManager): what each kind holds, how it goes to disk, and whether it can be read, replaced and created object by object. One row per kind; details per kind below the table. Sources: live runtime-reflection probes and per-object exports of a 1.5k-object customer project (2026-10-10); type and member names only, no vendor code.

Disk form (target): st = text file with cts pragmas for the fields that are not part of the text; csv = table; xml = CompactXml archive only (no text form). Status columns: ok proven live, ? not checked yet, no fails.

Rows with Seen 0 come from the runtime metadata of CODESYS 3.5.22.30 (classes with a TypeGuid that implement IObject), not from a project yet. Export ok: CompactXml per-object export equals the object's entry in export_native (1509/1509 on the bench). The two hidden kinds are not in export_native and are skipped. Text embedded: the visualization carries generated text inside its element tree, not a user document.

Implementations (embedded in POU, method, action, transition)¶

The body of a text-bearing kind is an embedded implementation object; its kind decides whether the body can be text.

A POU with a graphical body keeps its declaration as text; the body stays xml.

Object properties (meta Properties, outside the text)¶

Attached to the meta object, not to the object itself; candidates for cts pragmas on text kinds.

Full scan of the bench (2026-10-10, all 669 text objects: 310 DUT, 203 POU, 60 method, 45 GVL, 34 accessor, 17 property): apart from the text and the folder, the only non-default values are ExcludeFromBuild=True (41 POUs) and LinkAlways=True (2 GVLs). IsGet of an accessor follows from its name, the other object fields (POULevel, SpecialFunc, AddAttributeSubsequent, ParameterList, NetVarProperties) keep their defaults everywhere. So a text kind on disk needs only its text, its path and the BuildProperty pragmas.

API (proven 2026-10-10)¶

• Export: IObjectManager2.ExportObject(handle, guid, metaStream, objectStream, writer), writer CompactXmlArchiveWriter {47B44770-18B8-4f47-92CC-AD8DD6B5B1B9}.
• Read into an object without placing it: IObjectManager2.ImportObject(meta, object, reader, out parent, out guid, out obj, out name, out properties), reader CompactXmlArchiveReader {6F129F88-6420-403f-B776-7752427BD61F}.
• Replace: GetObjectToModify(handle, guid) -> IMetaObject2.ReplaceObject(obj) -> SetObject(meta, true, null). A MetaObject property travels separately: IMetaObject.RemoveProperty(typeGuid), then AddProperty(property) with the one ImportObject read from the file (a property's key is the TypeGuid attribute of its class). The Library Manager writes its placeholder resolutions back as properties after its libraries change (persisted on save). The agent's objects.replace reads the documents from the disk .xml entry (its MetaObject/Object members re-rooted): the reader takes the export's canonical form (Timestamp dropped, entry indentation) unchanged, live on a visualization and a device (~0.1 s each).
• Write text: GetObjectToModify(handle, guid) -> Object.Interface.TextDocument.Text = s and/or Object.Implementation.TextDocument.Text = s -> SetObject(meta, true, null). Every text kind exposes Interface as IVarDeclObject and Implementation as IImplementationObject (action: body only; accessor: body, declaration VAR END_VAR). 50-170 ms. The text is stored verbatim: LF stays LF (only the archive writer emits CRLF), non-ASCII and pragmas survive, the compiler sees the change. A write bumps TimeStamp and UniqueIdGenerator, so writing the old text back is not a byte-equal undo. Unreferenced POUs are not compiled: a build does not prove their text.
• Create: AddObject(handle, parent, guid, obj, name, -1); the caller chooses the guid. Without an XML template, the way the IDE's "Add Object" does it (proven live): IObjectManager.ObjectFactoryManager.Factories (80 factories; no system instance of the manager) -> factory Create(string[] batchArguments) -> AddObject -> factory ObjectCreated(handle, guid, batchArguments) (the 3-argument form when present, once: it adds children such as property accessors). AcceptsParentObject(IObject parent) answers the parent constraint. 100-550 ms per object on the bench.
• Batch arguments: build the factory's wizard page (WizardPage, or IObjectFactory3.GetWizardPage(handle, parent) for methods), call Control.CreateControl() so the page loads its language list, then CreateBatchArgumentsFromWizardPage(page) returns the defaults. The declaration argument becomes the Interface text verbatim; the body starts as empty ST. The language guid is the TypeGuid of the implementation factory (public metadata); the page's SelectLanguage(name) does not switch it:

Per kind¶

POUObject¶

• Text: Interface.TextDocument (declaration), Implementation.TextDocument (body).
• Non-text, user-settable (pragma candidates): Level (POULevel, Standard everywhere on the bench), KindOfCheckFunction (xml SpecialFunc, None), AddAttributeSubsequent (False), plus BuildProperty.
• Volatile: LineInfoPersistence (<guid>_Impl_LineIds/_Decl_LineIds), UniqueIdGenerator.
• Replace: ok, 30-80 ms, round trip byte-identical. Create: ok from an XML template and through POUObjectFactory (PROGRAM, FUNCTION_BLOCK, FUNCTION with return type; the kind follows from the declaration text).
• Members: method (POUMethodObjectFactory, under FB or PROGRAM), action (ActionObjectFactory, under PROGRAM), property (PropertyObjectFactory, under FB; Get/Set accessors are created by ObjectCreated from the arguments).

DUTObject, GVLObject¶

• Text: Interface.TextDocument only. Non-text: BuildProperty (1 DUT on the bench). Volatile: LineInfoPersistence, UniqueIdGenerator.

FolderObject¶

• Folders sit at the project root (Parent = Guid.Empty, all 155 on the bench). Where a folder or object appears in the tree is the SVFoldersProperty dictionary ParentObjects {structured view guid -> parent folder or Application}; the bench has one view, d9b2b2cc-ea99-4c3b-aa42-1e5c49e65b84.
• Create in the tree (proven): GetStructuredView(handle, sv).GetNode(parent) .AddObject(guid, factoryObject, name, -1), then the factory's ObjectCreated. The new guid is found by name among GetNode(parent).Children. A folder stays a root object with SVFoldersProperty {sv -> Application or outer folder}; a POU added to a folder node gets ParentObjectGuid = Application and SVFoldersProperty {sv -> folder}, the same shape as the bench objects.
• Move: ISVNode.MoveObject(newParentNode, -1), 30-55 ms; only SVFoldersProperty changes. Moving straight under Application removes the property entry.

DeviceObject (IO mapping)¶

• The device stays xml, but its IO mapping is a table: under ConnectorList.InnerList[c].HostParameterSet.Params[p].DalaElement (and its SubElements.elements[e], BaseType) sits IoMapping {Mappings.Mappings[k] {Id, Variable}, IecAddress, AutomaticAddress}. Variable is the mapped variable (Application.PN41.CMD_...); writing it through the field path works. Candidate disk form: one csv per device with channel, variable, address.
• Volatile: PositionId, EditorPositionId on the parameter elements; an element saved without them gets them when a later session opens the device. PlaceholderResolution (placeholder -> library, rebuilt from the PC's installed libraries) is not compared either, and the export writes it as <Null>: the IDE fills it again as soon as the device is replaced from the file (measured on a device resolving IoDrvEthernet; the build is unchanged).

TaskObject¶

• Fields: Kindoftask (Cyclic, Freewheeling, …), Priority, Interval {Time, Unit}, Watchdog {Enabled, Time {Time, Unit}, Sensitivity}, Event, ExternalEvent, PouList [{Name, Comment}], Core2, TaskGroup, WithinSPSTimeSlicing, SynchTask, parameter lists (IntervalParameters, …).
• Volatile: TaskGuid, EventPOUGuid (generated code).
• Field writes reach the code generator: Task Configuration's language model shows the new nPriority/KindOf/bWatchdog, and an enabled watchdog without a time becomes {error '<task>: The watchdog time is invalid.'}.
• Create: TaskObjectFactory args [] under Task Configuration (wizard has no batch overload); starts as Cyclic, priority 1, t#4ms, empty PouList. A new task with one call shows up as CallTask__<task> in the generated code.

TextListObject, GlobalTextListObject¶

• Fields: Languages [string], TextList [TextListRow {TextID, TextDefault, LanguageTexts [string, one per language]}]: a table with the columns ID, Default, then one per language.
• Property: TextListPropertiesObject {DownloadForVisu, DownloadForApplication, Internal}.
• Volatile: GuidInit, GuidReInit, GuidExitX, UniqueIdGenerator.
• Create: TextListObjectFactory args [] under Application, ~2 s; starts with one empty row and no languages. GlobalTextListObjectFactory is a different factory (one per project, root only): pick factories by exact class name, a substring match picks the Global one.

ImagePoolObject¶

• Fields: BitmapPool [ImagePoolItem {BitmapID, FileID, ItemID}]; FileID names an EmbeddedFileObject (<guid>|<original path>), whose Data holds the bytes.
• Create: ImagePoolObjectFactory args [] under Application.

AlarmGroupObject, AlarmClassObject¶

• Group: Alarms {key -> Alarm {ID, ObservationType (e.g. DigitalObservation {Expression, Comparison, ExpressionToCompare}), AlarmClass {Name, Guid}, LatchVariable1.., MinPendingTime, Deactivation}}, TextListReference, Deactivation, AlarmStorage.
• Class: Priority, AcknowledgeMethod, Archiving, NotificationActions, DisplayOptions, ReAlarmTime.
• Volatile: LanguageModelData (generated-code guids), InternalID.
• Create: AlarmGroupObjectFactory args [] under the Alarm Configuration object, ~3.6 s. ObjectCreated adds a second node with the same name, which TextListReference points to: most likely the group's own text list (type not checked).

TraceObject¶

• Fields: TraceSettings, Record {TaskName, BufferEntries, Trigger*, VariableList [TraceVariable {VariableName, GraphColor, …}]}.

Hidden kinds¶

• TaskPOUCallObject and __VisualizationStyle get new guids in every IDE session, and the style carries a per-session temp path: never sync them. The application's own copy of the style is exported; its default bitmaps sit under the session's temp directory and take a new ItemID in every session, so the normal form ignores both.

VisualObject¶

• Replace: ok, but key/value lists come back in another order (ieccodeconversion_array/DefaultArraySize, conditionalshow/ DisplayFrameReferencesConfiguration): the normal form sorts these lists by key, keeping each pair together.
• Once, between IDE sessions, six table-control visualizations differed without an edit: LibraryId visuelemswincontrols 4.5.0.0 vs 4.10.0.0 and extra ''NORMAL__COMMENT entries. A later session (3.5.22.30) compared all of a large project's visualizations unchanged, so the normal form keeps both.