FactoryTalk View ME .mer file conversion

mylespetro

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Hey everyone,

Adding another thread into the garbage fire of FTV .mer file conversion threads that already exist. I have an existing .mer file (V5.10) from a PanelView Plus 1000 (firmware V3.023), and I think I've tried just about every method I've found online to get it into FTV Studio.

I've done the partial .med conversion where you load the application into FTV ME Station without running the application and grabbing the .med out of the Temp folder and importing it as a new application, which resulted in the application being created but no displays (.gfx) came over. I then edited the .gfx files using the hex editor in Notepad++ and was able to get most of them imported to the application, but all of the text was changed to "?" and all connections were broken. Additionally, all of the parameter files only contained "쿐놡" as text.

After fighting with that, I tried using the Application Manager to Restore runtime application (I thought I had already done this but apparently I hadn't), and it gets most of the way before erroring out (screenshots below).

Everything I've read online has said that .mer files that are V5.10 and higher should enable me to convert this (at least partially), but it's been a fight the whole time. I'm starting to wonder if the company who created the .mer file disabled conversion when they created the runtime file. Just hoping that someone might have some insight on whether I'm doing something wrong or if it's kind of a hopeless exercise.

Thanks in advance!

RestoreRuntime.png FailedToRestore.png
 
Everything I've read online has said that .mer files that are V5.10 and higher should enable me to convert this (at least partially), but it's been a fight the whole time. I'm starting to wonder if the company who created the .mer file disabled conversion when they created the runtime file. Just hoping that someone might have some insight on whether I'm doing something wrong or if it's kind of a hopeless exercise.

Thanks in advance!

Last I was aware, .mer files of version 6.0 or earlier created in 64-bit installation of Studio cannot be restored directly, period -- the option to allow conversion is greyed out when creating the file. Workarounds such as what you've been trying are the only real possibility of salvaging anything. I've been fortunate enough to not (yet) need to resort to such methods, so I can't comment on the details of what you're trying.


(As of a rollup patch sometime around v9, 5.0, 5.1 and 6.0 .mer files created by a 32-bit installation could be restored, assuming the developer didn't disable conversion).
 
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Last I was aware, .mer files of version 6.0 or earlier created in 64-bit installation of Studio cannot be restored directly, period -- the option to allow conversion is greyed out when creating the file. Workarounds such as what you've been trying are the only real possibility of salvaging anything. I've been fortunate enough to not (yet) need to resort to such methods, so I can't comment on the details of what you're trying.


(As of a rollup patch sometime around v9, 5.0, 5.1 and 6.0 .mer files created by a 32-bit installation could be restored, assuming the developer selected the option when creating them).

Thanks for the info, I'm not exactly positive if the original was created on a 32 or 64-bit installation.

Regarding the rollup patch you mentioned, do these require using a 32-bit to restore the files? Or will a 64-bit work for that? We do have a 32-bit machine that we could try it on. The original file was created in 2010 so I think there's a non-zero chance it was created on a 32-bit installation.

EDIT: I also think there's a decent chance that they disabled conversion anyways, as the OEM is a large German engineering firm, so I wouldn't be surprised if everything is locked down.
 
Yes, version 5.1 32-bit did introduce this capability. I don't recall ever needing a patch to enable this capability. It was part of 5.1 out of the box. But it has been ages so I might be mistaken. If the OEM set it to "not allow", then it would fail immediately with a message telling you conversion was not allowed.

It has been quite some time since I did a conversion the old way. But I don't recall having any of the issues you are experiencing.

What version of Studio are you using? The newer versions make the 32/64-bit issue mostly go away. I'll check if I can use the same version and see if I get the same issues you are seeing.

OG
 
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Yes, version 5.1 32-bit does indeed support conversion if that option was selected when they created the MER. If they set it to not allow, then it would fail immediately with a message telling you conversion was not allowed.

It has been quite some time since I did a conversion the old way. But I don't recall having any of the issues you are experiencing.

What version of Studio are you using? I'll check if I can use the same version and see if I get the same issues you are seeing.

OG

I'm using FTView V11.00, and I definitely don't recall seeing any messages about conversion not being allowed. I can .zip and share the .mer file to see if anyone else gets the same errors.
 
Yes, version 5.1 32-bit did introduce this capability. I don't recall ever needing a patch to enable this capability. It was part of 5.1 out of the box.
I may have been (mis)remembering this knowledgebase article: "[The patch] allows 5.00, 5.10, and 6.00 MER files created on a 32-bit OS to be restored on a 64-bit OS, no longer requiring the use of the Legacy Tag Database Conversion Utility."

Operaghost said:
What version of Studio are you using? The newer versions make the 32/64-bit issue mostly go away. I'll check if I can use the same version and see if I get the same issues you are seeing.

OG

May be worth mentioning that if I create a 5.1 file with my 64-bit v11 Studio (I hear v12 can't even create 5.1 files), the option to allow conversion is (still) greyed out. Attempting to convert the resulting .mer yields an immediate error "The runtime application file was saved in a protected format that does not allow conversion to a development application"

The lack of such a message here is what concerns me most. Whether it was created in 64-bit or the developer chose not to allow conversion back, I'd expect that message to be the resulting error.
 
The lack of such a message here is what concerns me most. Whether it was created in 64-bit or the developer chose not to allow conversion back, I'd expect that message to show up.

Yeah, I don't know if the .mer file is corrupted or something, I had to resort to opening the PVP1000 and pulling the .mer file off of the CompactFlash card. I don't know if doing it that way could be causing the issue, but I don't think so.
 
Just an update, I was in touch with the OEM and they said that they do not put any sort of protection or encryption on any of their project code. That would lead me to think that perhaps there's an issue with how I retrieved the file from the PVP1000 or something like that.
 
Aww, I'm good for some FTView self torture, today. If you want to send me the .mer file I'll play around with it.

I've successfully converted some old 32 bit .mer's but its been awhile. I keep a Windows XP (32 bit) VM around just for that reason.
 
Aww, I'm good for some FTView self torture, today. If you want to send me the .mer file I'll play around with it.

I've successfully converted some old 32 bit .mer's but its been awhile. I keep a Windows XP (32 bit) VM around just for that reason.

Sorry I missed your reply yesterday, I'll DM it to you now. Really appreciate it!
 
Hey everyone,

I was able to restore the .apa from the runtime file using a 32-bit Windows XP machine running V5.10 of FTV Studio. Restored the .apa on my Win10 machine and everything opened up fine.

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in or offered to help!
 
Hey everyone,

I was able to restore the .apa from the runtime file using a 32-bit Windows XP machine running V5.10 of FTV Studio. Restored the .apa on my Win10 machine and everything opened up fine.

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in or offered to help!

Would you be willing to do this again? I have the same problem, but I'm currently working on a corporate laptop that has the Local Settings folder locked out due to some active directory settings. So I'm unable to access the temp folder to grab the partial .MED data when I load my app on ME Station.
 
Would you be willing to do this again? I have the same problem, but I'm currently working on a corporate laptop that has the Local Settings folder locked out due to some active directory settings. So I'm unable to access the temp folder to grab the partial .MED data when I load my app on ME Station.

I can give it a try, I'll have to get our 32-bit machine set up to give it a try. If you want to DM the file to me I can let you know when I get a chance to do so (probably during my lunch hour).
 
If you have TechConnect article QA611 shows how to at least get the screens from an old mer. Basically you run the mer and go to the temp folder it creates and copy out the gfx files.
Although I have tried it on a on 5.1 and could not get it to work.
 
If you have TechConnect article QA611 shows how to at least get the screens from an old mer. Basically you run the mer and go to the temp folder it creates and copy out the gfx files.
Although I have tried it on a on 5.1 and could not get it to work.

Yes I have tried that, but my issue is that my IT department has locked out my access to the LocalSettings folder which is where the temp folder resides, so I can't access the partial .MED file at the moment.
 

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