BASEstartm Classic DAS
for Allen-Bradley
INTERCHANGEtm Software
Installation and User's Guide


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3.5 Supporting Utilities

Three utilities are provided with BASEstar Classic DAS for Allen-Bradley INTERCHANGE software. These utilities provide logistical and maintenance support for the DAS. These utilities are:

These utilities will be discussed in the following sections.

3.5.1 Stop Server Utility

This utility is used to stop one or more of the INTERCHANGE server process if that should be come necessary.

There are some instances where anomalies outside of the control of the DAS for AB INTERCHANGE software cause a INTERCHANGE server process to no longer function properly. In most cases, this is cleared up by shutting down the server process and starting it up again.

Stopping a server is done by sending a shutdown message. It should be noted that if the server is not in a state where it can process messages, it may be necessary to kill the process in some other way ($STOP/ID=).

Example 3-10 provides an example of how to use the stop INTERCHANGE Server utility.

Example 3-10 Stop Server Utility

$ DTLSRV_STOP:==$BCC$SYSTEM:DCM_DTL$SRV_STOP
$ DTLSRV_STOP srv_id
Where:

srv_id is the number of the server or *.

The number of the server for a particular device can be obtained by looking at the BASEstar Classic history file or by doing a DCM> READ STATUS on the device. The INTERCHANGE server logs a message correlating the server with the Ethernet interface it is connecting to.

An asterisk (*) will send a shutdown message to all known servers.

3.5.2 Supporting Utilities for Allen-Bradley 6200 Series Software

Allen-Bradley 6200 Series Programming Software for the PLC-5 family provides online and off line programming of PLC-5, as well as upload, download, and compare operations. Allen-Bradley supports this software on both OpenVMS and DOS operating systems. 6200 software also supports the transfer of files between VAX systems and DOS-based T50 programming terminals using KERMIT.

Allen-Bradley 6200 programming software organizes and manipulates a PLC-5's memory image in multiple files. BASEstar Classic device connection management software performs uploads, downloads, and compares using only a single file.

Because of this incompatibility, the DAS for AB INTERCHANGE software provides two utilities to transfer compatible files between the Allen-Bradley 6200 programming software and the DAS for AB INTERCHANGE software environments. The following sections describe how to use these utilities.

3.5.2.1 Import 6200 File Utility

The Import 6200 File Utility copies a PLC-5 memory image from a 6200 Programming software environment into a DAS for AB INTERCHANGE software downloadable file.

Example 3-11 provides an example of how to use the Import 6200 File utility.

Example 3-11 Import 6200 File Utility

$ IMPORT6200:==$BCC$SYSTEM:DCM_DTL$IMPORT_6200
$ IMPORT6200 6200_file dcm_file
Where:

6200_file is the file name of the files produced in the set up.
dcm_file is the name of the BASEstar Classic downloadable file. By convention, use the file extension .LOGIC_PROGRAM

Three 6200 files are required. They must have the same file name and their extensions must be .AF5, .D1$, and .P1$. If these files are not in the same directory, or one or more is missing, the import utility will fail.

3.5.2.2 Export 6200 File Utility

The Export 6200 File Utility creates the necessary 6200 Programming Software files from a DAS for AB INTERCHANGE software downloadable file.

Example 3-12 Export 6200 File Utility

$ EXPORT6200:==$BCC$SYSTEM:DCM_DTL$EXPORT_6200
$ EXPORT6200 dcm_file 6200_file
Where:

dcm_file is the name of a file that was uploaded from BASEstar Classic software.
6200_file is the file name for the 6200 compatible files.

Three files will be created by the export utility. The utility provides the directory and file names, as well as file extensions of .AF5, .D1$, AND .P1$.


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