Convert an ACD project to L5X
L5X is the XML form of a Logix Designer project. Version control, code generators and HMI tag
imports work with L5X, but only Logix Designer can save one from an .ACD file. Upload the ACD
here and the L5X comes with the download, next to a printout of the project.
What the L5X holds
- The controller with its settings.
- Data types: user-defined types with their members and member descriptions.
- Modules: the I/O tree with ports, parent modules and catalog numbers where the project records them.
- Tags: controller and program tags with data type, dimensions, external access, description, member comments and alias targets.
- Add-On Instructions with parameters, local tags and routines.
- Programs and routines: ladder rungs with their comments in the neutral text form
(
XIC(Start)OTE(Motor);), structured text line by line, function block sheets with blocks, references and wires, and SFC charts. - Tasks with their type, rate, priority and scheduled programs.
Checked against real exports
Where the authors of a project also published the L5X that Logix Designer saved (versions 32, 34, 36 and 37), the converted file was compared with it: rung text, rung comments, structured text, tags, descriptions, data type members, Add-On Instruction parameters, modules and tasks. Projects from versions 16, 19, 20 and 28 to 37 were converted in testing.
Where the L5X can differ
- Routines whose function block wiring or SFC branches could not be decoded completely keep their name and type but no body. The result page lists them, and the PDF printout still draws them.
- Source-protected routines stay encrypted in the ACD; they are listed, without their logic.
- Stored tag values are not read from the ACD. The tags are there with their types and descriptions; where the L5X needs a data block, it holds zeros.
- Module catalog numbers are filled in only where the project file records them clearly.
The ACD files saved with version 24 that we have seen keep their database in an encoded form and are not converted; the tool tells you when that is the case.
Also in the download
The printout as PDF, the offline HTML viewer, CSV tables and an Excel workbook. Upload an L5X or a second ACD under "Second version to compare" to see what changed between two versions.
More about what this tool reads and writes: Rockwell PLC Program Viewer (ACD, RSS, L5X to PDF).