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bwhinch

RSLogix 500 RSS file size difference when backing up?

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I'm attempting to make a backup of a program, complete with comments.

I go connect to the PLC over Ethernet, and select Use Upload File to merge the comments from an original copy of the program.

After that, I go file-saveas to backup the program. However the new saved file, complete with comments is only 134 KB, and the very original copy of the program is 230 KB, from 2003.

Is there a reason for this, the program hasn't shrunk in size, only minor tweaking of some span calibration numbers.

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Upload and save to a new name and then compare the two projects so see differences?

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7 minutes ago, pcmccartney1 said:

Upload and save to a new name and then compare the two projects so see differences?

I've done a cursory glance, it is a fairly large program. Same number of LAD files and approximate length as far as I can tell.

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Data Files sizes?

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Data file word count is still the same. It's not a big deal, more of a curiosity. Thanks.

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If the original file is that old, it's entirely possible you're using a newer version of RSLogix 500 that makes the files larger.

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I just did a quick experiment and opened a file from 2009, then did a save-as. The original was 422kB, the re-saved one is 176kB. I have no idea what version of RSLogix the original file was saved in but the new one is v8.40.00 (CPR 9).

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16 hours ago, Joe E. said:

I just did a quick experiment and opened a file from 2009, then did a save-as. The original was 422kB, the re-saved one is 176kB. I have no idea what version of RSLogix the original file was saved in but the new one is v8.40.00 (CPR 9).

Ok, so the newer software does a better job at creating a small save file. Thanks,

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No, the file size difference is not software version related. I have noticed this differences for long time but since the compare tool shows no differences between files I have simply ignored them.

I made this test: I copied a file from one location to another, edited it, made couple changes and reverted them (mostly bits from zero to one and back to zero), saved the file and got a saved file with a different size. I have always used RSLogix 500 V9.00.00 Finally I compared both files using the compare tool and the result showed no difference between both different sized files.

Now, the reason why the software changes the file size when it saves it is not of my knowledge. My guess is that it has something to do with changes tracking.
 

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Purely a guess, the original file had a lot of temp files (the RSS is actually a full directory structure - open it with 7zip). On uploading it cleans out the temp files.

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Depending on how the file was lasted saved, online or offline, the .rss file may have an online and offline copy of the ladder file thus accounting for the difference in various file sizes.

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When the file is downloaded to the PLC, any comments, descriptions, etc. are stripped off, thus when you upload you get a smaller file than the original.

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