SIMATIC S7 S7-1200 Programmable controller

"Any" pointer data type

"Any" pointer data type

The pointer data type ANY ("Any") points to the beginning of a data area and specifies its length.
The ANY pointer uses 10 bytes in memory and can include the following information:
• Data type: Data type of the data elements

• Repeat factor: Number of data elements

• DB Number: Data block in which data elements are stored

• Storage area: Memory area of the CPU, in which the data elements are stored

• Start address: "Byte.Bit" starting address of the data

The following image shows the structure of the ANY pointer:

A pointer can not detect ANY structures. It can only be assigned to local variables.

Table 1 Format and examples of the ANY pointer:

Format Entry example Description

P#Data_block.Memory_area P#DB 11.DBX 20.0 INT 10 10 words in global DB 11 starting

Data_address Type Number from DBB 20.0

P#Memory_area Data_address P#M 20.0 BYTE 10 10 bytes starting from MB 20.0

Type Number
P#I 1.0 BOOL 1 Input I1.0

Table 2 Data type encoding in the ANY pointer

Hexadecimal code Data type Description

b#16#00 Null Null pointer

b#16#01 Bool Bits

b#16#02 Byte Bytes, 8 Bits

b#16#03 Char 8-bit character

This document constitutes a free excerpt compiled by the user himself/herself from the documentation provided by Siemens for this product. Siemens disclaims all
liability for the completeness of this document. It shall only be used for the user's own internal purposes. It shall not be passed on to third parties.
5/11/2025
SIMATIC S7 S7-1200 Programmable controller
"Any" pointer data type

Hexadecimal code Data type Description

b#16#04 Word 16-bit-word

b#16#05 Int 16-bit-integer

b#16#37 SInt 8-bit-integer

b#16#35 UInt 16-bit unsigned integer

b#16#34 USInt 8-bit unsigned integer

b#16#06 DWord 32-bit double word

b#16#07 DInt 32-bit double integer

b#16#36 UDInt 32-bit-unsigned double integer

b#16#08 Real 32-Bit floating point

b#16#0B Time Time

b#16#13 String Character string

Table 3 Memory area encoding in the ANY pointer:

Hexadecimal code Memory area Description

b#16#81 I Input memory area

b#16#82 Q Output memory area

b#16#83 M Marker memory area

b#16#84 DBX Data block

b#16#85 DIX Instance data block

b#16#86 L Local data

b#16#87 V Previous local data

This document constitutes a free excerpt compiled by the user himself/herself from the documentation provided by Siemens for this product. Siemens disclaims all
liability for the completeness of this document. It shall only be used for the user's own internal purposes. It shall not be passed on to third parties.
5/11/2025