THank you for taking the time out to reply.
Yes... I need to spend more time reading through the forum... there is indeed a lot of information to be gained from that.
I sometimes struggle to find specific answers to what I am looking for - eg How to communicate with Siemens S7-1200 PLCs from AHMI - I have seen the comments about Snap7 and some other comments about libnodave, but I'm afraid my knowledge and experience with VB is pitiful, and I am trying to "swat up" and get on top of that. But occasionally I might post a question which has been asked (and answered) already - for that, I apologise.
But overall, I think AHMI is awesome ! - and I appreciate the time taken by everyone involved - including those posting answers to questions from noobs like myself..
Thanks,
Steve