I have a problem at my building and I would love some suggestions from the group.
We have around 50 PV+ HMIs at this location, about a 3rd of them are pre v 6.0 (firmware) currently running MERs created on a x32 bit station, a 3rd of them are pre v 6.0 x64 bit, and a 3rd of them are POST 6.0 x64 bit.
So the main problem is that some of the engineers will upload an .MER file from a PV, make changes, download the new .MER, and then forget to put a new .APA on the server. When this happens on a PV+ that is pre 6.0 firmware and the .MER was created on a x64 bit station, we have a problem. You can't reconstruct a program from an MER that is both pre 6.0 AND x64 bit. So we keep having situations where our engineers are blowing away changes others have made when they forget to put an APA on the server.
So, to my question, short of pulling people's fingernails off if they forget to put an APA on the server, what can I do to alleviate the issue?
Current ideas:
1. Upgrade the logic modules of all the older PV+s so that we are on firmware 6.0+ and can use .MERs for everything. Problem with this is cost, obviously.
2. Force all engineers to use a VMware x32 bit environment for FTView Studio changes so that we don't have any x64 bit MERs out there. This seems counter to the advancement of tech, however.
3. I know there is a package offered by rockwell to organize CLX files, audit changes, and make sure no one steps on anyone else's toes. Does this work with PanelView programs as well?
Anyone have any other suggestions?
We have around 50 PV+ HMIs at this location, about a 3rd of them are pre v 6.0 (firmware) currently running MERs created on a x32 bit station, a 3rd of them are pre v 6.0 x64 bit, and a 3rd of them are POST 6.0 x64 bit.
So the main problem is that some of the engineers will upload an .MER file from a PV, make changes, download the new .MER, and then forget to put a new .APA on the server. When this happens on a PV+ that is pre 6.0 firmware and the .MER was created on a x64 bit station, we have a problem. You can't reconstruct a program from an MER that is both pre 6.0 AND x64 bit. So we keep having situations where our engineers are blowing away changes others have made when they forget to put an APA on the server.
So, to my question, short of pulling people's fingernails off if they forget to put an APA on the server, what can I do to alleviate the issue?
Current ideas:
1. Upgrade the logic modules of all the older PV+s so that we are on firmware 6.0+ and can use .MERs for everything. Problem with this is cost, obviously.
2. Force all engineers to use a VMware x32 bit environment for FTView Studio changes so that we don't have any x64 bit MERs out there. This seems counter to the advancement of tech, however.
3. I know there is a package offered by rockwell to organize CLX files, audit changes, and make sure no one steps on anyone else's toes. Does this work with PanelView programs as well?
Anyone have any other suggestions?