Custom TreeItem Parameters
The ITcSmTreeItem interface is supported by every TwinCAT tree item and has a very generic character. To support the specification of all the devices, boxes and terminals, together with many other different types of tree items, all custom parameters of a tree item are accessible via the XML representation of the tree item. This XML-String can be accessed by the method ITcSmTreeItem::ProduceXml and its counterpart ITcSmTreeItem::ConsumeXml. This function pair has the same functionality as the "Export XML Description ..." and "Import XML Description ..." commands from the main menu of the TwinCAT IDE (see snapshot below).
![Custom TreeItem Parameters 1:](Images/png/242994443__en-US__Web.png)
With this Import/Export functionset, many parts of a script or automation code can be tested and tailored conveniently, before it is developed within the coding language - simply by the process of exporting tree item data, changing its content and re-importing it.
Best practice is to export the XML content first, change its content, importing it within the IDE and then, if everything goes successfully, package it into the programming/script code for handling it via the methods ProduceXml and ConsumeXml.