Not sure where to ask your question?
Use the guidelines below to choose the right support channel. This helps you get answers faster and keeps discussions focused and searchable.
Communication Channels
Github
Use GitHub for concrete, technical topics.
Best for:
- Reporting bugs and regressions
- Requesting or discussing new features
- Component-specific technical questions
- Proposing improvements
Issues and discussions are tracked per component and are the preferred place for technical follow-up and long-term reference.
Project Mailing List
The mailing list is suited for broader or cross-cutting topics.
Best for:
- Design discussions spanning multiple components
- Project-wide questions or announcements
- Topics that benefit from longer-form discussion
Chat
For informal and quick interaction, please use our Matrix chat channels.
Best for:
- Quick questions
- Clarifying small issues
- Getting in touch with other users and contributors
Please note that chat is community-driven and responses may vary in time. For issues that require follow-up or tracking, GitHub is preferred.
Where should I ask my question?
A simple rule of thumb:
- Is it a question or discussion others might benefit from later?
→ Use GitHub Discussions. - Is it a bug or concrete problem that needs tracking?
→ Use GitHub Issues. - You want to discuss an idea or design across components?
→ Use the mailing list. - You just need quick feedback or clarification?
→ Try the chat.
If in doubt, GitHub is usually the safest choice.
Interested in going one step further?
Some support questions lead to small improvements in Eclipse 4diac. If you would like to help, there are many ways to contribute, not only by writing code. → Learn how you can contribute to Eclipse 4diac
Before you ask
A few small steps help others help you more effectively:
- Search existing issues and discussions first
- Mention the Eclipse 4diac version you are using
- Include relevant logs, screenshots, or error messages
- If possible, provide a minimal example to reproduce the problem
- Clearly state what you expected to happen and what happened instead
Well-prepared questions tend to receive faster and more precise answers.
New to Eclipse 4diac?
If you are new to Eclipse 4diac or IEC 61499, we recommend starting with the documentation before asking support questions.
The documentation explains the core concepts, execution semantics, and tooling, which helps you:
- Ask more precise questions
- Better understand answers
- Report issues more effectively
Note: Some parts of the documentation are currently being updated.
If you notice outdated or unclear sections, we would appreciate your feedback or contributions to help improve the documentation. Feedback and improvements can be proposed in the 4diac documentation GitHub repository.
See:
Commercial Support
While the Eclipse 4diac community provides excellent help on a volunteer basis, commercial projects often require shortened response times or tailored solutions. Several organizations and individuals offer professional services to help you succeed with your IEC 61499 projects.
This may include:
- Industrial Support: Shortened response times and expert consulting for production-critical systems.
- Custom Development: Implementation of specialized features, 4diac IDE extensions, and tailored runtime capabilities.
- Hardware Integration: Porting and optimization of the 4diac FORTE for custom hardware platforms and I/O systems.
- Communication Development: Integration of new communication protocols and enhancement of existing ones for specialized industrial requirements.
- Specialized Training: Tailored workshops and training sessions for engineering teams, from beginner to advanced levels.
- Architecture Review: Expert analysis and optimization of application designs, control logic, and distributed automation architectures.
- Migration & Modernization: Transition of existing automation solutions toward IEC 61499-based architectures.
- Research Collaboration: Partnerships for industrial and publicly funded R&D projects involving IEC 61499 and Eclipse 4diac.
- Long-term Maintenance: Maintenance and security updates for specific project versions.
LIT Cyber-Physical Systems Lab, Johannes Kepler University Linz
Research InstitutionLIT Cyber-Physical Systems Lab researches on software engineering methods for control systems and is a long time contributor to Eclipse 4diac. They have a strong focus on tool infrastructures, user experience, control software design patterns and quality assessment, and extensions to IEC 61499.
Martin Jobst
Freelance Computer ScientistMartin Jobst is a freelance computer scientist with long-term experience contributing to Eclipse 4diac. His expertise spans low‑level embedded development, distributed systems, model‑based engineering, compiler design, databases, and network security.
Martin Melik Merkumians
Freelance Automation Engineer & System ArchitectMartin Melik Merkumians is a system architect and long-term Eclipse 4diac contributor specializing in modern automation architectures. He focuses on applying domain-driven SOA principles to industrial software, designing distributed, service-oriented control architectures that bridge complex process logic with embedded systems.
OFFIS - Institute for Information Technology, Oldenburg, Germany
Research InstitutionOFFIS is a research institute associated with the University of Oldenburg, Germany. Its R&D division Manufacturing, research group Distributed Computing and Communication, is experienced in embedded systems design for industrial automation and other application fields. OFFIS is a long-time contributor to Eclipse 4diac, working on 4diac FORTE and being the initial developer of 4diac FBE. Their expertise is in system engineering, development methodology, tool automation, deployment, and deeply embedded hard- and software.
We are looking forward to helping you with your Eclipse 4diac project.