IDE & Tooling

The ZPLC Integrated Development Environment (IDE) provides a complete engineering workflow for creating, simulating, and deploying IEC 61131-3 automation logic.

Core Capabilities

The IDE serves as the central orchestration layer for your automation projects. Its main responsibilities include:

• Project Management: Editing zplc.json configurations, organizing source files, and managing tasks.
• Language Workflows: Seamless authoring in Structured Text (ST), Instruction List (IL), Ladder Diagram (LD), Function Block Diagram (FBD), and Sequential Function Chart (SFC).
• Compilation: Transpiling visual models to ST and compiling them to compact .zplc bytecode.
• Simulation: Testing logic natively on your PC without needing physical hardware.
• Deployment & Debugging: Flashing bytecode to targets via Serial, managing breakpoints, forcing variables, and inspecting runtime state.

End-to-End Workflow

Project Model

The ZPLC project model is file-based and transparent. All your project configurations—including target CPU, networking, I/O mapping, Modbus/MQTT communications, and task execution rates—are cleanly stored in a transparent zplc.json manifest.

This makes ZPLC projects inherently source-control friendly (Git), portable, and easily scriptable.

Runtime Environments

When you start a debugging session, the IDE automatically routes your logic to the correct execution runtime:

Execution Path	Purpose	Behavior
Native Desktop Simulation	Preferred simulation path	Runs logic on a host POSIX SoftPLC natively. Full support for breakpoints and pause/resume.
Hardware Execution	Real-world deployment	Runs on Zephyr RTOS over a physical Serial connection. The IDE acts as an online monitor.

Advanced Debugging

The IDE includes a comprehensive debugging suite for both simulation and live hardware workflows:

• Watch Tables: Monitor variable state in real-time.
• Breakpoints: Pause logic execution precisely at a line of code.
• Step Execution: Step over and step into operations.
• Forced Values: Override live sensor data or internal states directly from the IDE to simulate edge cases.