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Library Management

The Project Library stores reusable items (Master Copies and Types) that can be shared across the project. Open the TIA Portal view container from the Activity Bar and use the Project Explorer in the Side Bar — the Project Library appears as its own branch of the tree (with its Master Copies and Types folders). Library operations are reached by right-clicking a node in the Project Explorer and opening the Library submenu; for a type they are also in the toolbar of the Library Type view.

Available Operations

1. Copy to Library (Create Master Copy)

  1. Right-click a block in the Project Explorer
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "Copy to Library"
  3. Creates a Master Copy of the selected block in the Project Library
  4. The copy can later be instantiated in any PLC

2. Instantiate from Library

  1. Right-click a Master Copy under the Project Library node
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "Instantiate to Project"
  3. Creates a new block in the PLC from the Master Copy
  4. The original Master Copy remains unchanged

3. Types and their versions

Under Project Library, the Types folder shows every type of the project library with its kind as its description, Faceplate, Script module, Block type or Unified type, and below it one row per version with its state, In work or Committed, and default on the default version.

Double-click a type or a version to open the Library Type view. It shows the fields of the type, among them the namespace, author, comment, consistency, the minimum device version and the document formats, and a table of the versions with state, default, author, comment, the date of the last change and the types a version depends on or is used by. The toolbar of the view offers the same actions as the Library submenu, plus Reload, which reads the type from the project again; the actions that work on a single version stay disabled until you select a version row.

4. Type documents (export and import)

  • Export Type Documents, on a type or a version: pick a document format and a folder, and Studio names the files it wrote
  • Import Type Version from Documents, on a type: give the folder, the file name without its extension, and whether existing content is overridden; the documents come back as a version of that type
  • Import Type from Documents, on the Types folder: optionally with the HMI device the type is read for, and the documents come back as a new type

On TIA Portal V21 a faceplate type names no document format, so only block types and script module types are exported and imported as documents there.

5. Show Instances

Run Show Instances on a type or a version to see where it is used: in the PLCs, on the classic HMI devices and on the screens of the WinCC Unified devices. Click an entry of a Unified screen to open that screen with the object selected; an empty list names where it looked.

6. Version lifecycle

On a type or one of its versions the Library submenu offers:

  • New Version (Edit): creates a new in-work version from the selected one
  • Release: releases an in-work version with a version number, an author and a comment
  • Discard: drops an in-work version
  • Set as Default: makes the version the one a new instance takes
  • Delete Version: removes the version from the library

Each of these asks first and names the type, the version and the effect. A released version cannot be changed any more, and the screen content of a faceplate type is not edited in Studio.

7. Export Type Version

  1. Right-click a Library Type
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "Export Type Version"
  3. Exports the latest committed version to an XML file

Note: Only committed versions can be exported this way; a version that is still in work cannot.

Export several types at once: From the Import / Export view you can export library types in bulk — via the Library selection chip (Export Selected for the selected type or folder, Export All for the whole library), or by dragging types or a Types folder from the Project Explorer onto the export-folder tree. The types are written as XML into a Library subfolder of your export folder (latest version of each type).

8. New Folder

  1. Right-click the Master Copies folder, Types folder, or any library sub-folder
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "New Folder"
  3. Creates a new organizational folder

9. Rename

  1. Right-click a Master Copy, Library Type, or folder
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "Rename"
  3. Allows changing the name of the selected item

10. Delete

  1. Right-click a library item
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "Delete"
  3. Permanently removes the item from the library (with confirmation)

11. Clean Up Library

  1. Right-click the Project Library node
  2. Open the Library submenu and select "Clean Up Library"
  3. Opens a prompt with two choices — Clean Up (compacts the library and removes unused versions) or Clean Up and Delete Unused Types (additionally removes unused types) — to keep the library organized

Known Limitations

  • Master Copies cannot be exported to XML files (Siemens API limitation)
  • Only committed Library Type versions can be exported as XML (not versions that are still in work)
  • A released version cannot be changed any more, and the screen content of a faceplate type is not edited in Studio
  • A script module type has no instances, so Show Instances does not apply to it

AI Assistant Support

You can work with the types of the project library from the chat as well. The assistant lists the types with their kind, their folder, their default version and how many versions they carry, reads one type with all its fields and its versions, writes the documents of a version out and reads documents back as a new type or as a new version, finds where a type is used, and runs the version lifecycle for you: a new in-work version, releasing it, discarding it, setting the default version and deleting a version. For example: "Which faceplate types does this project carry?", "Where is Motor_FP used?" or "Release version 0.0.2 of Motor_FP as 1.0.0".

Anything that writes is shown to you first and runs only after you approve it, an export and an import of documents included. Master Copies stay with the menu: creating one, instantiating it, renaming or deleting a library item and cleaning up the library are actions you run in the Project Explorer.

Reading the types is part of your TIA Portal connection. Every other library operation, in Studio as well as from the chat, needs a Pro plan or higher. For how the AI chat reaches tools, see AI Integration.

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