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Eric L

FactoryTalk View Studio Conversion Problem

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I have the newest version of FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition. I have two Panelviews I have retrieved the programs from and was trying to put them on my computer. When I use the Application Manager to restore a runtime application I receive this error "This runtime application file was saved in an older format that does not support conversion to a development application.". The machines the Panelviews are on are from a vendor of ours and they have not been helpful on giving us the PLC or Panelview code. Thank you in advance.

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What is the "newest version" number?...these days... 5 or 6 ....Last year aroud this time I beleive ver 5 was released and I did my app in 4.0...The integrator I was working with on a startup had 5.0 and was able to open up my older 4.0 app with no problem....Let us know what you have...

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You can take a whole Application Archive (*.APA) from version 4 and open it in version 5, no problem. The issue is that prior to Version 5, the entire application was not stored in the Runtime (*.MER) file, so you couldn't upload a runtime from the terminal and reverse-compile it into an Application. FTView Studio v5 introduced the saving of all the Application information into the Runtime file, with the options to make the de-compiling operation run always, never, or password-protected. But runtime files that were built with v3, v3.1, v3.2, or v4 software don't contain enough information to be de-compiled, thus the v5 feature doesn't do anything for old projects. You can still recover most of the project (graphics, tags) manually, but you can't get the whole thing (macros, logs, etc). It's best to continue to press for the source material.

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When the development project files have been lost, some of the project information can be recovered from the MER (Machine Edition Runtime) file itself. However, the following cannot be recovered: Parameter files Alarm Setup Datalog files Macro files Under some circumstances, the Tag Database cannot be recovered either (described below under “Tag Database recovery”). Recovering RSViewME 3.x 4.0 application files In order to recover the application files, it is assumed that you will be using a Win2K or WinXP machine that is already configured as a development station (ie. RSView Studio 3.x is installed). Run the program RSView ME Station under Start Menu>Programs>Rockwell Software>RSView Enterprise. Open the application MER file that you wish to recover from, but do not run the application, it may display an error but ignore it. Start RSView Studio ME, and begin to create a new application. Type in a new name and click the Import button. Select the MED file type to be imported. Now you need to locate the temporary files created for your running application. They should be located in the “C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\~MER.00” directory. NOTE: “username” will be the user that is currently logged into the computer. Also, “~MER.00” may be named as “~MER.01”, etc. Once the “~MER.00” folder has been located, select the MED file to be imported and follow the remaing prompts. After the import has completed and the application is finished loading into RSView Studio, close RSView Studio and RSView ME Station. At this point, the Parameter, Alarm Setup, Datalog, and Macro files are not useable and will need to be removed (see “Removing unrecoverable files” below). NOTE: While attempting to import the project an error may occur: "Failed to import project, unable to rename file". In order to work around this issue: Create a new project with the same name as the .med file of the ~mer.00 folder. Right-click on the "Displays" in the Applications Explorer (of this new project) and choose "Add component into application...". Add all the gfx files from the "Gfx" folder in the “C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\~MER.00” directory. Copy the rest of the folders from this directory to the new project directory: “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\RSView Enterprise\ME\HMI projects\ProjectName”. <h3 dir="ltr">Removing unrecoverable files</h3> While most of the application can be recovered from the MER file, the following files cannot be recovered: Parameter files Alarm Setup Datalog files Macro files Although the files will be listed within the application, they are not recognizable by RSView Studio and must be removed. Open Windows Explorer and locate the “MachineAlarms.mal” file in the recovered project folder “M_Alarms” (Ex. “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\RSView Enterprise\ME\HMI Projects\MED_ProjectName\M_Alarms\MachineAlarms.mal”). Delete the “MachineAlarms.mal” file. Start RSView Studio and open the recovered application. Locate and delete all of the following files from the Application Explorer window: All Parameter Files All Datalog files All Macro files <h3 dir="ltr">Recovering RSViewME 2.x and earlier project files</h3> In order to recover the project files, it is assumed that you will be using a Win2K or WinXP machine that is already configured as a development station (ie. RSView Studio 2.x is installed). If the Tag Database is to be recovered, the same computer that opened the original MED (Machine Edition Development) file will be required (see below under “Tag Database recovery”). Locate the program “MERuntime.exe” in the “Rockwell Software\RSViewME” directory (default is “C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSViewME”). Run the “MERuntime.exe” program and open the project MER file that you wish to recover from. Press the “Run” button. Once the project is running, leave it running. Now you need to locate the temporary files created for your running project. They should be located in the “C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\~MER.00” directory. NOTE: “username” will be the user that is currently logged into the computer. Also, “~MER.00” may be named as “~MER.01”, etc. Once the “~MER.00” folder has been located, open it and copy all of the folders and files into a new directory (Ex. “C:\Temp\MED_ProjectName”) You should now have a directory (Ex. “C:\Temp\MED_ProjectName”) that contains the: MED file for your project Project folders “Accounts”, “ActivityLog”,…”Startup”, and “Tag”. [*]Once the files have been copied over to the new directory, you can now close the running project. At this point, there is no current Tag Database for the newly recovered project. Also, the Parameter, Alarm Setup, Datalog, and Macro files are not useable and will need to be removed (see “Removing unrecoverable files” in a section above). <h3 dir="ltr">Recovering the Tag Database for an RSViewME 2.x project</h3> The recovered project files so far do not include a Tag Database with them. It is necessary to add a Tag Database back into the project before you can open the project in RSView Studio. It is only possible to recover the original Tag Database if you are using the same Windows2000 workstation that opened the original MED file. The Tag Database cannot be recovered from the MER file itself. However, an ODBC data source should exist on the machine that previously opened the MED project. The Tag Database can be recovered using this data source. If you are not using the same Windows2000 workstation that opened the original MED file, then skip part ‘A’ and proceed to part ‘B’. <h4 dir="ltr">Part A</h4> Open up “Administrative Tools” from “Start Menu\Settings\Control Panel”. Open up “Data Sources (ODBC)”. Under the “User DSN” tab, look at the list of names for the User Data Sources. Verify that the name of your recovered MED file is listed under the “Name” heading (Ex. “MED_ProjectName”). Open up the “Database Import & Export Wizard” for RSView Studio. It should be located in the Programs directory of the Start Menu under “Rockwell Software\RSView Studio Tools\ Database Import & Export Wizard”. Export the Tag database of the recovered MED to a CSV file. Open the newly created CSV file in Microsoft Excel and verify that the Tag Database is listed there correctly. Go back to “Data Sources (ODBC)”. Under the “User DSN” tab, look at the list of names for the User Data Sources. Locate and select the name of your recovered MED file under the “Name” heading (Ex. “MED_ProjectName”). Press the Properties button. In the Data Source Name text box, append “_bak” to the name (Ex. “MED_ProjectName_bak”). Press OK and then OK again. <h4 dir="ltr">Part B</h4> Start up RSView Studio and create a blank project with the exact same name as the MED file you are currently recovering. You will need to do this in a separate directory than the recovered project (Ex. “C:\Projects\MED_ProjectName”). After the project has been created, close the project and shutdown RSView Studio. In Windows Explorer, locate the recovered project files folder (Ex. “C:\Temp\MED_ProjectName”) and copy all of the files in it. Paste the copied files into the project folder of step (10) (Ex. “C:\Projects\MED_ProjectName”). You will be asked if you wish to overwrite files. Click yes to all. Start up RSView Studio and open the recovered MED file from your new project folder. (Ex. C:\Projects\MED_ProjectName\MED_ProjectName.med”) NOTE: If you performed Part A successfully, then proceed on to step 17. If you did not perform Part A, then proceed to “Removing unrecoverable files”. Open up the “Database Import & Export Wizard” for RSView Studio and import the CSV Tag Database from step (5) into your recovered project (Ex. “C:\Projects\MED_ProjectName\ MED_ProjectName-Tags.CSV”) Verify that the Tag Database is correct by looking at the Tag Database Editor in RSView Studio. If it is there, you should be able to recover the Tag Database for your project. Proceed on to step 4. If it is not there, the Tag Database cannot be recovered. Proceed on to part ‘B’.

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