If I have an older controller with a strategy file on it that I want to pull from the controller to my computer, do I need to have my version of PAC Manager match the firmware version or the version of PAC Control that the strategy was created in?
I haven’t yet gotten to the site so I don’t know what the firmware version on the controller is.
You’ll use PAC Terminal to upload the strategy (if its been archived and downloaded to the controller), not PAC Manager.
You can use just about any version of PAC Terminal to connect to the controller and check if its got an archive and if so, upload it.
But yes. You will need the same version PAC Control on your PC as what the strategy is for the smoothest debug.
That said, you can have a newer version of PAC Control on your PC, pull the archive and open the old version strategy from the controller, but do know that the strategy will be updated in the opening. If you keep the zip file isolated, you can always have it as an original backup.
The only other ‘gotcha’ you need to keep in mind is if your PC has a newer version of PAC Control and you use a new control word that the controller firmware does not know about, you will get an error on dowload and won’t be able to proceed since the controller firmware just does not know what to do with that new command.
If you don’t add any of those new commands, you will be able to download the new strategy and go into debug.
Of course if there is anyone on the site with the old PAC Control, they will not be able to open ‘your’ newer strategy - which may or may not be an issue from the sounds of it.
tl;dr Old to new is generally not an issue if you don’t change too much code.
Old PAC Control can not open new strategys.
Once you go from old to new, you cant go back, so keep backups.
Thanks for the reply, sounds good I only need to see how their current strategy works to see how we will tie in a new piece of equipment. My next question is will the controller continue to run its strategy while I am uploading the project file to my computer?
Yes. It will just keep doing the charts and allow you to upload the archive with out an issue.
Just keep in mind that the previous person had to have checked the ‘save and upload to the controller’ option, or there will be no zip in the controller memory.
This is the section you are looking at in PAC Terminal.
The number of running charts will depend on your strategy.
Clearly, you should not be clicking buttons in this dialog, just using it to see if there is a zip archive of the strategy.
Right click on the controller name and select strategy archive and save it on your PC.
Unzip it and get to work < grin> :
EDIT: Keep in mind that these commands are in reference to the controller, so you are going to upload from the controller, to your PC.
Last question can SNAP PAC brains have any kind of archive on them like an EB2 or a B3000? Or only Controllers like the S2 and R2.
None of the brains, none, have the archive feature. (To be clear and to answer your question, the EB2 and B3000 do not and can not have an archive in them).
The brains are I/O to either native PC code or as configured IO to one of the controllers, be it a PAC R or a PAC S.
Only the controllers have the RAM to hold the zip file and lastly, since the zip archive is of the charts and the brains cant run charts, it just does not make sense to have an archive on a brain.
