You don't write timers and PID loops from scratch — Control Expert ships them as EFBs (Elementary Function Blocks): pre-built, tested, certified blocks for timing, counting, comms, maths and control. They live in the Library Manager, versioned, alongside your own DFBs. Browse the toolbox, then drive a real TON timer.
The Library Manager palette is on the left, grouped like the real thing. Click any EFB to read what it does — and the TON timer is fully live: toggle its IN and watch the elapsed time ramp to the preset, then Q go true. This is the on-delay timer behind half the logic you'll ever write.
Every EFB instance gets its own private data (just like a DFB) — so you can have fifty TONs all timing independently. The Library Manager tracks each block's version, so you upgrade the standard library deliberately, not by accident (more in the deep dives).
🧰 EFB — Schneider's, written in C, certified and fast. Timers, counters, comms (READ_VAR/WRITE_VAR), PID, maths. You can't edit them; you trust them.
🧠 DFB — yours, written in any IEC language (Track 04). Your machine's reusable logic. Both sit in the Library Manager side by side and both get private per-instance memory.
The discipline: build a project library of your vetted DFBs, version it, and every machine pulls from that one source. The same idea the CODESYS and Siemens academies call "library types" — one blessed copy, controlled updates.
You need to keep a fan running for 30 seconds after its start signal drops (a run-on timer). Which EFB?