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FabyaVision Convert · Conversion

TIA Portal HMI converter

Convert reads the WinCC HMI devices in your TIA Portal project (classic Basic / Comfort / Advanced, WinCC Unified and WinCC Professional). TIA Portal V17, V18, V19 or V20 must be installed; projects older than the installed version are upgraded in a temporary copy first. It turns screens, tags and connections into a FabyaVision project (.fvs), which you open and edit in Studio.

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Usage

Five-step wizard

Each HMI device becomes its own .fvs project.

  1. Source

    You choose where the project is read from.

  2. Selection

    You choose the devices, screens and data types to convert.

  3. Settings

    You set the project name and folder, the text-size scale, the text-language priority, WinCC symbol mapping, the pre-analysis, OPC UA mapping and whether the export package is kept.

  4. Convert

    The data is exported and converted in memory. Before the project is written, the pre-analysis panel shows the PLC communication (PUT/GET, OPC UA server, license) and the tags whose address could not be resolved. The Stop button stops before writing; no half-written project is saved.

  5. Result

    Counts, PLC addresses, warnings and a page preview appear. An HTML conversion report and a CSV list of address problems are written next to the .fvs file. “Open in Studio” opens the project directly.

The four source cards and the environment panel. On a computer without TIA Portal the two cards that connect to TIA are disabled and state why; the export package and the project folder can be used.
Convert: choosing the source
Package devices shown as cards; the HMIs to convert are chosen with check boxes, and the PLC is always read as the address source.
Convert: selection
Project name and file for each HMI device; options for font scale, text language, symbol mapping, pre-analysis, OPC UA mapping and keeping the export package.
Convert: settings
Pre-analysis before the project is written: project summary, PLC address problems and the PLC card (PUT/GET, OPC UA server, port, security, license). An OPC UA connection is chosen for the tags in optimized data blocks.
Convert: pre-analysis
The converted screen previewed with the same drawing engine as Studio and Live.
Converted screen preview

Scope

Supported HMI families

Convert uses a separate reader for each family.

Family Converts Does not convert, or approximates
Classic HMIBasic, Comfort and Advanced panels
  • Screens, pop-up windows and templates
  • Text, I/O field, symbolic I/O, graphic I/O, button, switch, bar, clock and basic shapes
  • Visibility, color and blink dynamization
  • Events: set bit and tag, open screen and pop-up, session actions
  • Tags, text and graphic lists, cycles, connections and scripts
  • Alarm definitions, recipes, users and archives (cannot be read through Openness)
  • Symbol library, faceplates, function keys and screen events
  • Property animations (PropertyAnimation)
WinCC UnifiedUnified panels and PC
  • Screen objects: shapes, text, I/O, button, switch, slider, bar, gauge, clock, screen window, alarm and trend views
  • Tag dynamizations and event scripts
  • Tags, connections and text lists
  • Alarm classes, discrete and analog alarms
  • JavaScript modules (as source)
  • Graphic lists and the graphic library (colors are estimated)
  • Script or expression dynamization, multi-bit mapping, fill level, trend curves
  • Faceplates and custom controls
  • JavaScript modules are not executed; reading can take 6–12 minutes
WinCC ProfessionalPC / SCADA stations
  • All object types of PDL screens
  • Symbol library objects (valve, motor, pump, tank…) become Studio equipment objects; a selection panel opens for those with no match
  • Tag dynamics, button VBS events and VBS modules
  • Tags (absolute address, symbolic DB member, PLC tag table), connections, text lists, images
  • Alarm definitions are not transferred (only the alarm view becomes a placeholder)
  • The input / output mode of I/O fields is a heuristic, and some object positions cannot be read
  • WMF is not supported: only EMF → SVG

Input

Source options

Connect to a running TIA Portal

Reads the project that is open. TIA may ask you to approve the connection.

  • Needs TIA Portal V17 – V20

Open from a project file

Opens the project file (.ap20, .ap15_1…) in an invisible TIA instance in the background; this can take a few minutes. A project older than the installed TIA is first upgraded in a temporary copy and the original stays unchanged; large projects can take close to ten minutes. If the project is open in another TIA, close it first.

  • Needs TIA Portal V17 – V20

A ready-made export package

Opens a package folder that was exported earlier. The package may have been prepared on another computer: on a computer with TIA Portal, Convert can keep the package next to the .fvs file while converting.

  • No TIA Portal needed

From the project folder, without opening TIA

A compiled station is read straight from the project folder. Without PLC data, symbolic tag addresses cannot be resolved. If the WinCC database (SQL) cannot be reached, screens still come across but the tag and connection lists stay empty.

  • No TIA Portal needed
  • Professional only

Access and requirements

Access to the TIA project

Convert opens the TIA project read-only and does not write to it: it attaches to a running TIA, or opens the project in an invisible instance and closes it without saving.

TIA Portal project

Convert

.fvs project

Requirements

  • Reading directly from TIA Portal needs TIA Portal V17, V18, V19 or V20 installed. Projects older than the installed version (back to V15) are upgraded and opened in a temporary copy; projects newer than the installed version cannot be opened. WinCC Unified needs V18 or newer.
  • The Windows user must be in the local “Siemens TIA Openness” group.
  • The Siemens components are not shipped; Convert loads them from the TIA Portal installation on the computer.
  • For WinCC Professional the station must have been compiled in TIA.
  • On a computer without TIA Portal, the cards that connect to TIA are disabled and state why; the export package and the project folder can be used.

Result

Conversion report

Every object is marked in the report with one of three states.

Exact

A counterpart exists: the object was converted to its equivalent in the Studio library.

Approximate

Some properties were not transferred or were estimated.

Placeholder

No counterpart: it appears in Studio as a box with a dashed red outline, and you put an object in its place by hand.

The Warnings list

Everything that could not be transferred is listed with its reason.

How addresses are resolved

Symbolic tag addresses are converted to absolute addresses from the offset information of the data block (standard-layout blocks only). In optimized blocks there is no absolute address, so the tag stays without an address and Studio warns “Address not entered”. Indirect addressing is not supported.

The fix: the “Connect optimized DB tags via OPC UA” option in the Settings step (S7-1200 / S7-1500) moves these tags to an OPC UA connection for each PLC. Or you turn off “Optimized block access” on the block and convert again. The PLC addresses tab of the Result step lists the unresolved tags with their reasons and where they are used.

Counts of pages, objects, tags and connections, the exact / approximate / placeholder split, the tags bound over OPC UA and the warning for tags without a PLC address.
Conversion result

Limits

After the conversion

The conversion is a starting point; you review the result in Studio and finish it there.

Appearance

  • Text size and pixel positions are not carried over exactly; you set the scale in the Settings step.
  • Objects are mapped to the FabyaVision library, so the look differs from TIA.
  • The preview is a design view: tag values, animations and events do not run.

Scripts

  • Scripts are transferred as source.
  • FabyaVision’s script engines cover a subset of the WinCC environment, so compile and check them in Studio.

Convert

Convert in detail

Sources and versions

Four sources, TIA Portal V17 – V20 requirements, computers without TIA and projects saved in older versions.

Open page

Selection and settings

The five steps of the wizard, device and content selection, conversion options and the conversion.

Open page

Pre-analysis and PLC addresses

PLC communication and address problems before writing; an OPC UA connection for optimized data blocks.

Open page

Classic HMI

Screens, tags, lists and scripts of Basic, Comfort and Advanced panels.

Open page

WinCC Unified

Unified screens, tag dynamizations, event scripts, alarms and connections; what is not converted.

Open page

WinCC Professional

PDL screens, tags, VBS scripts and symbols of WinCC Professional (SCADA) stations.

Open page

Conversion report

Objects reported as exact, approximate or placeholder, the Warnings list and the preview.

Open page

Tags and addresses

How tags and PLC addresses are carried over, symbolic address resolution, optimized blocks and connections.

Open page

Try Convert with your own project

The trial installs Convert together with Studio and Live; convert a TIA Portal project and open the result in Studio.

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