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Project Management

New Project Wizard

The New Project Wizard creates a complete TIA Portal project — with CPU, optional modules and network — without leaving AnyAutomation Studio.

Open the wizard:

  • From the Welcome tab, click New TIA Project… in the Quick-Start column.
  • The wizard opens directly. You do not need to be connected to TIA Portal beforehand — pick the version on Step 1 and the matching TIA Portal instance is started for you when you leave Step 1 by clicking Next. The wizard shows a "Starting TIA Portal V…" overlay while the instance comes up; the catalog search on Step 2 works as soon as the overlay disappears.

Step 1 — Project info:

  1. Pick the TIA Portal version (V15…V21) — pre-filled with the currently connected version when applicable.
  2. Enter a Project name (up to 60 characters; the usual filesystem characters \ / : * ? " < > | are not allowed).
  3. Click Browse… to choose a Target directory (must be an absolute path on a local drive — UNC paths are rejected).
  4. Optionally enter an Author and a Comment.

If you are already connected to a different TIA Portal version when you click Next, the wizard asks for confirmation before disconnecting the current session and starting the version you picked.

Step 2 — CPU:

  1. Type a search term in the Hardware catalog field (for example 1516 or S7-1500).
  2. Pick the CPU you want from the result list. F-CPUs are listed but cannot be selected — Safety configuration is not supported by the wizard and must be done manually in TIA Portal.
  3. Enter a Device name (defaults to PLC_1).

Step 3 — Modules (optional):

Add I/O modules, communication processors or other rack-pluggable items:

  1. Click Add module, search the catalog and pick the module.
  2. Enter a Slot number.
  3. Repeat for additional modules. Names within the list must be unique.
  4. If you go back to Step 2 and change the CPU, the modules list is cleared because the previously chosen modules may no longer fit the new rack.

Step 4 — Network (optional):

Configure a single Ethernet subnet:

  1. Enter a Subnet name (for example PN/IE_1).
  2. Enter the Interface path of the CPU's PROFINET interface inside the device tree (for example Rack_0/PROFINET interface_1).
  3. Enter the IPv4 address in four numeric fields (each 0–255).

PROFIBUS, MPI and AS-i subnets are not supported by the wizard.

Step 5 — Review and create:

  1. Review the summary (project name, target directory, CPU, modules, network).
  2. Click Create project.
  3. Progress is shown at the bottom of the wizard. The wizard runs the entire creation as one atomic operation in TIA Portal — if any step fails, the whole project is rolled back.
  4. After success the wizard closes and the new project is opened automatically in the application.

Note: F-CPU + Safety configuration, multiple CPUs in one project, and PROFIBUS/MPI/AS-i networks are not supported by the wizard. Use TIA Portal directly for these scenarios.

Connect to TIA Portal

Run Connect to start a session. You can reach it three ways: click the Connect link shown in the Project Explorer when no project is connected, click the TIA status-bar entry at the bottom of the window, or run Connect from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P). Connect opens a picker with two choices — Attach to Running Instance or Open Project File.

Attach to a Running Instance

  1. Open your project in TIA Portal first
  2. Run Connect and choose Attach to Running Instance
  3. The picker lists every running TIA Portal instance (version, project name)
  4. Select the desired instance — the session attaches automatically

Advantages of Attach Mode:

  • Faster connection (no project loading)
  • You can work in TIA Portal simultaneously
  • Changes are immediately visible

Open a Project File

  1. Run Connect and choose Open Project File
  2. Browse to the project file (.ap15 through .ap21) in the file picker
  3. Select the file — connection starts automatically (the TIA Portal version is taken from the file extension)

This starts TIA Portal in the background (headless mode) without a visible user interface. This is faster for pure export/import operations.

Recent Projects: The picker remembers your recently opened projects (up to ten, newest first) for quick access. Entries pointing to projects that have been moved or deleted are hidden automatically.

Note: For large bulk operations (25+ files), the application automatically uses ExclusiveAccess for better stability.

Archive Project

Creates a compressed archive (.zap file) of the current project:

  1. Click the Archive Project button in the Project Explorer view title (or run Archive Project from the Command Palette)
  2. Confirm the destination in the save dialog
  3. The project is archived with all associated files

Note: The project must be saved before archiving. The archive file extension (.zap20, .zap21, …) automatically matches the running TIA Portal version so the archive can be reopened in TIA Portal.

Naming the archive file

The suggested file name in the Save Archive dialog is built from the project name plus a configurable suffix and an optional timestamp. Open Settings (Ctrl+,) and search for tiaPortal.archive to adjust:

  • Suffix — text appended to the project name (default _Archive). Leave empty to skip the suffix.
  • Append timestamp — when enabled, a timestamp is added to the file name.
  • Timestamp Format — a dropdown with eight date/time formats that controls how the timestamp looks (default e.g. 20260611_173205). It only takes effect when Append timestamp is enabled.

Characters that are not allowed in Windows file names (such as /, :, spaces) are automatically replaced with - so the suggested name is always valid.

Safety Printout

Generates a safety documentation printout for F-blocks:

  1. Ensure you are logged in with Safety credentials (click the Safety Login button in the Project Explorer view title first)
  2. Right-click a safety node in the Project Explorer and choose Safety Printout
  3. Select a destination folder
  4. A PDF is generated with all safety-relevant documentation

Note: This feature requires an active Safety login and is only available for projects with F-blocks.

Disconnect

Run Disconnect from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) to close the connection. In Headless Mode, TIA Portal will be terminated.

Multi-User Local Sessions (Planned)

Working against a TIA Portal Multi-User local session — attaching to a session, saving and committing changes back to the Multi-User server from inside AnyAutomation Studio — is planned. It is not yet available; for now, use TIA Portal directly for Multi-User local-session work.

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