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Agrajag

RS logix 500 - No comments online / upload use file

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Hi folks, I ran into an issue today with RS logix 500 where another technician could not get the program comments to appear in the logic viewer when he went online. The program comments were present in offline mode, but as soon as we went online, the comments would disappear. I accessed the comm -> upload menu which launches the "Going to Online Programming State" (GtOPS) window with selections for "SELECT FILE to merge for documentation (names, symbols, descriptions, etc)". I used the browse button to find the folder and then the file was listed in the "GtOPS" window. Once I selected the file and used "Upload Use File", the comments all appeared. I showed the other technician how to do it, but he is frustrated and wants me to show him how it worked directly. Now, the file will not list itself after we select the folder that contains the program using the browse operation. It will automatically load the file that is contained in the folder (only 1 file in folder). Even if we start a new program file and upload to it, the file that was selected will simply be opened and the original file has no more apparent bearing on the situation. Now, my questions: What causes the comments to disappear? What would have to be done to recreate the problem? Why does the "GtOPS" window list the program in one circumstance and not list it otherwise? Thank you kindly! -Russ

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Greetings Russ ... in spite of all the excellent detail that you included, there isn’t quite enough in your post to nail this down EXACTLY – but here’s my “best guess” (I’m thinking about 95% chance of reliability) ... when you try to go online with the processor, the RSLogix500 software makes an “educated guess” as to which .RSS file needs to be opened for documentation purposes ... most people assume (gosh I hate that word) that the .RSS file which matches the processor’s NAME is always the one which the software will choose - and that’s normally the way it works ... (example: if the processor is named WINDER, then the appropriate file is usually WINDER.RSS ... but – here’s the tricky part ... the software actually snoops around INSIDE all of the .RSS files located in the “default path” directory – and looks for the processor’s name hidden INSIDE those files ... so – we might certainly have a file named JUNK.RSS which has the name WINDER included somewhere within the file ... oops! ... the RSLogix500 software (may – or may not) decide to use that “junk” file instead of the correct file ... game plan: try moving the “I-don’t-want-to-use-this-one” file into another directory and then go online again ... usually this will take care of things ... trivia department: if you open an .RSS file with Wordpad, etc. you can actually see the processor’s name stored in plain text somewhere within the file ... WARNING! ... if you try this, don’t “save” the file when you’re through digging around in it ... hope this helps ...

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AWESOME INFO! THANK YOU! "when you try to go online with the processor, the RSLogix500 software makes an “educated guess” as to which .RSS file needs to be opened for documentation purposes ... most people assume (gosh I hate that word) that the .RSS file which matches the processor’s NAME is always the one which the software will choose - and that’s normally the way it works ..." Does this have anything to do with the "Files with matching processor name/password" list (within the 'GtOPS' window) that showed the .RSS file and allowed me to select "Upload use file" (also in 'GtOPS') ? Thinking about this further, I realize that understanding why the 'Upload Use File' option was available would shed a lot of light onto our situation. I found this entry in the help content of RSLogix 500 (I hope this is OK to post - not from knowledge base): Going to On/Offline programming state dialog This dialog appears when attempting to go online if RSLogix 500 cannot find an offline file with a matching name/password from which it can merge the documentation database. If this happens you have several options: Apply documentation from a listed file If files are listed at the bottom of the dialog, select the file listed that has the appropriate documentation database that you want applied to your online project. RSLogix 500 searches the last locations in which you saved files and builds this list. The files listed may include backup files or .RSS files with the same name as the online file, or the list may be empty. When you have selected the appropriate file, click Upload Use File. This is the most convenient method for ensuring that the appropriate database documentation is included with your online project. Apply documentation from a file you Browse for If there are no files listed at the bottom of the dialog, you can choose to browse a directory on your hard drive or network for the location of the offline file with a matching name. Click Browse and then click the directory that contains the file. The file name will not actually be displayed in the browse list, instead RSLogix 500 will search the directory for the file when you click OK. If it finds a file with a matching name/password, an upload will occur automatically and the mode will change to online. This method allows you to search directories for the appropriate file from which the documentation can be merged. Create new file without documentation If no files are shown, and you cannot locate a matching file by browsing, you can Create a New File. Creating a new file, however, means that there will be no documentation to apply to the online ladder file. RSLogix 500 - Copyright Rockwell Software 2000, 2001, 2002 It looks like the processor name had no matches in the default folder (as you suggested), and, consequently, going online disregarded all comments from the offline file that we started with. The only question remaining is why didn't the program automatically load once we identified the folder that contained the .RSS file? (Instead of loading automatically, it showed it in the matching files list and I had to select 'Upload Use File') Processor name mismatch that was corrected after the merge??? [no passwords were used] Edited by Agrajag

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If the processor name (within the file) matches AND the program checksum matches, it will go online immediately. If there was a difference in the checksum, it will list the file(s) with matching processor names and let you choose/browse. Something that newbies often do by mistake is "Create New File" when going online, which will of course have no documentation. Then, when they are done with what they were doing, they close RSLogix and it prompts them to save the file. If they save a new file with no documentation, the next poor soul who uses that same machine to go online will get online right away with the dud file (no comments) simply because the processor name and checksum will match. To get around that, delete the dud file(s) and then go online, merging with a known good database if possible, and then save it so that your checksum will match next time... If you're in an environment where multiple persons may edit the programs with different PCs, then you should arrange a common location for backups so that you can all share in the latest and greatest changes without the mis-match hassle. Hope this helps, Paul Edited by OkiePC

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What Paul (OkiePC) said. How we do it: We keep each machine's program in its own subdirectory within the main "machines" directory. RSLogix defaults to the main "machines" directory, so when we try to go online, we have to select the appropriate subdirectory every time. I would suggest that you look at each .RSS file that goes with that machine offline and determine which has the correct documentation. Move all the other files to another directory. When you go online, it should list the remaining file, which you can select and click "Upload Use File." Once it's online, with the current logic and documentation, go to "File->Save As" and save the current ladder as a new filename. We generally use the name of the machine followed by the rev date as the filename. This helps us keep track of revisions and makes it fairly easy to roll back to a known good program if we make a mistake. There are some machines that we've made a LOT of changes to over the years, some minor, others not so much. We've found this to be a pretty good system for tracking these changes. One advantage we have is that, though we have several people who maintain the code and make changes, we're on different shifts so we all use the same laptop to go online and we don't have to worry too much about multiple versions.

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