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Posted to Beckhoff Blog on Aug 10, 2009
When I was an early software programmer, I never changed any of the default options and fonts in the TwinCAT PLC Editor. If you work with the editor for long periods of time, however, you will soon find that it is very useful to use a very legible font. In addition, I have found that the use of a monotype font, where all characters are equal in length, is essential for efficiently developing code.
Default TwinCAT PLC Font
The default font in the TwinCAT PLC development environment is MS Sans Serif 10pt as shown below. This is a pretty legible font, but is not the best chioce for the structured text language.
Changing the Font to Lucida Console
A Beckhoff colleague advised me that this default choice is not ideal, because it is hard to see the semicolons at the end of the structured text programming language. His advice was to use the Lucida Console Font. Below is an example using 8pt. Bold. You can change the font by using the Project > Options menu in the TwinCAT PLC Editor.
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Using the Consolas Font
After becoming a .NET developer, and working in Visual Studio, I really began to like the Consolas Font from Microsoft. This font can be downloaded from Microsoft using the link below. It is a highly legible monotype font.
Download Consolas Font Pack for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or 2008
Below is an example of how the Consolas Font looks in the TwinCAT PLC Editor.
