Industrial Engineer · phase 6 of 16 · noun
Program / Stop Mode
Controller state used for editing or maintenance in which normal user logic and outputs are stopped or inhibited according to platform rules.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- Program mode stops the user logic. Outputs go to their configured off or fault state, the scan stops or idles, and the controller waits to be edited, downloaded to, or put back in run.
- Example
- Before a download the software asks to put the controller in program mode. The line stops, the download goes in, and the controller comes back to run when told to.
- Why it matters
- Program mode is a controlled stop and never a safe state, since outputs on some platforms hold or fail to whatever was configured. A controller in program mode looks like a dead machine to an operator, so tell people before you switch it.
- Hook
- The pause button, with everything it implies.
Word knowledge
How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.
In a sentence
The technician placed the CompactLogix controller in Program mode before replacing the failed output module and checking its field wiring.
How it is built
- pro- prefix before or in front
- -gram root something written
Where it came from
- Origin
- Greek programma, meaning a written public notice, through Latin programma
- Entered the language
- 1630s
- What changed
- It moved from a written notice to an ordered plan, then to coded instructions and the names of controller operating states.
How it is spelled
- Pattern
- The ending -gram preserves the Greek-derived spelling seen in words associated with writing or recording.
- Pattern
- The final m doubles before -ed and -ing in programmed and programming.
- Breaks the pattern
- British English often uses programme for schedules and broadcasts, but computer and controller contexts generally use program.
Spelled like
- diagram
- telegram
- anagram
Broken into chunks
-
pro
- prologue
- proclaim
-
gram
- diagram
- telegram
What it sits beside
Same subject
- Run Mode
- Stop Mode
- Remote Mode
- controller key switch
Same shape
- diagram
- telegram
- anagram
controller operating modes
- Program Mode
- Run Mode
- Remote Mode
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 6: PLC Operating Modes, Safety, and Diagnostics
Run, program and fault: what a controller does when something goes wrong, and the safety functions that decide how much that costs.
