Mike_RH said:
...So you get the tag database and that's its no?
Mike,
If you mean...
"So you just get the tag database 'file or folder from the project folder on the 64-bit OS' and that's it no?"
Then no, not quite.
The statement you've quoted is just to inform you that the export/conversion (<<< I'll get to the confusing terminology later) process only affects the tag database within the project
you have selected.
In other words, you must select a project's development file within the Tool before it can process its referenced tag database.
The Conversion Tool looks for project files, such as MED for ME projects and SED for SE projects.
MED stands for "Machine Edition Development". For ME applications, this file contains, among many other things, the reference links to the WATCOM SQL tag database, which is stored in the Tags folder inside the project folder. Without the MED file, the Tool has no way to directly reference or export the tag database to the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format.
Also, it is this very access of the WATCOM SQL tag database format which must be performed under the 32-bit OS as this legacy WATCOM SQL format is not supported under a 64-bit OS.
You must have the development and tag database files within their correct and expected directory structure.
Now, whether you could just copy the project folder with only the development file and Tags folder inside, I'm not sure? It might be enough for the Tool to do its job? While that might be interesting to try, I would say why bother?
Unless you're in some kind of weird predicament where you only have some of the project's structure intact, like corruption, or whatnot, I would always advise that you copy, not move, the entire project folder for conversion.
Again, this manual copying procedure is only recommended for users that do not have FactoryTalk View Studio/Application Manager installed on the 32-bit OS. If you do, then it is recommended or preferred to use the Application Manager/APA method to transfer projects between the two OS. This is simply because there is less room for error using the single APA file over manually copying several files and folders. Once done correctly, the manual copying method is fine,
for the conversion.
I also made that distinction earlier.
Why only fine for the conversion?
If you have a project on one workstation, which is accessible in FT View Studio, and you want to transfer it to another workstation, where it must also be accessible in FT View Studio, then the manual copying method is not so straight forward.
When you use the Application Manager on the first workstation to Backup the application, it automatically packs up the entire project into an APA file. When you then Restore the application on the other workstation, which has never used this application before, it automatically unpacks the entire project into the FactoryTalk system. That is, it adds the HMI Server for the project into the FactoryTalk Directory and so it's communications shortcut is successfully retained. It also now becomes available on the Existing Application list that you are presented with when you open FT View Studio.
When you manually copy an entire project folder, and its contents, from one workstation's <HMI projects> folder to another, FactoryTalk knows nothing of this application project, yet. When you open FT View Studio, it will not be listed in the Existing Application window.
You would now need to perform an Import of the project.
You Create a new application in FT View Studio, but select Import instead of Create. Point it to the new MED file in the project folder and it will import all the components of the project, except the communications shortcut and any extra languages it may have. The HMI Server is created for the project and it is now available on the Existing Application window.
You would then have to recreate any communications shortcuts again and likewise for languages.
This is why the Application Manager is the recommended and preferred method for transferring projects between workstations, where you want the transferred project to be fully usable in FT View Studio.
For the purposes if this conversion, the manual copying method is fine when you are only looking to export the tag database on the 32-bit OS without wanting or having to install FT View Studio.
I would also advise that you make a backup copy of the original project folder before doing any conversion. An APA archive file is ideal for this and many to most usually already have these archives for safe keeping.
It's more for when you copy back to the project folder on the 64-bit OS and then perform the second part of the conversion. If something goes wrong or gets corrupted you can Restore the original project from the APA again.
More on the confusing terminology to come...
