RSView Enterprise File Viewer Utility

How do I read and save ME, SE Datalog files, ME Alarm Log files, RecipePlus files and dBASE files with the RSView Enterprise File Viewer Utility?

Note: With this Viewer, once the log file is open the file can be saved as a CSV file. You can only access the datalog files if they are closed, as a result you must stop a running RSView ME application or RSView SE Datalog in order to be able to access the file.
This utility is used on Win32 (desktop) only. To read ME files from PanelView Plus CE or PanelView Plus terminals, copy the files to a compact flash card or SD card and move them to the desktop where the utility resides. These log files are in a non-standard format.
The RSView Enterprise File Viewer utility can be used to read and save the following files:

• SE Datalog file (*.DAT, *.OBF)
  
• ME Datalog file (*.LOG)
  
• ME Alarm Log file (HISTORY.ALM)
  
• dBASE file (*.DBF)
  
• ME RecipePlus file (*.RPP)

The SE Datalog files, ME Datalog files, RecipePlus files and ME Alarm Log file can be saved as CSV or DBF files.

---

SE Datalog File

1. Pick SE Datalog file in Files of Type
   
2. Select the DAT or OBF file to open in the Viewer.

---

ME Datalog File (ME Station)

1. Pick ME Datalog File in Files of Type.
   
2. Select the LOG file to open in the Viewer.
   
3. In the Set Time Zone dialog, select the time zone you would like the file to be converted in.

---

ME Alarm Log File 

Note: During runtime, four .ALM files are generated from an ME application with alarms: embedded.alm, history.alm, reset.alm and status.alm. Of these files only the history.alm can be opened by the File Viewer. The history.alm file is the main data table for alarm information, some additional information is saved to other .ALM files. If information is needed from the other files, such as embedded variable information, the File Viewer will automatically open the required files after opening the history.alm file. Any attempt to open the other .ALM files results in This ME Alarm File cannot be open and Convert log file error error messages.

1. Pick ME Alarm Log File in Files of type.
   
2. Select the HISTORY.ALM file to open in the Viewer.
   
3. In the Select RSView ME Alarm Setup File dialog, select the ME version and the alarm setup file (*.mal).

The File Viewer utility uses two (2) files in distinct, separate directories on both ME Station and on PanelView Plus. The first being History.Alm (reference the capture below) located in :
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\(Shared) Documents\RSView Enterprise\ME\Logs\Alarms\M_Alarms on ME Station and
\storage card\rockwell software\rsviewme\logs\YOUR_APP_NAME\M_Alarms\ on PanelView Plus v3.2-v5.10 and
\Windows\Logs\YOUR_APP_NAME/M_Alarms on PanelView Plus 6 (v6.xx)/
NOTE: Only the History.Alm file will be viewable and useable by the utility.

The second (2nd) file required by the File Viewer utility is MachineAlarms.mal. Reference the capture below located in: C:\Documents and Setting\Your User Login Name/local Settings\Temp\~MER.00\M_Alarms on ME Station and
\Temp\~MER.00\M_Alarms\ on PanelView Plus v3.2-v5.10
NOTE: This folder and file will only be available when ME Station has successfully loaded the MER file.

1. Launch the File Viewer utility and set the Files of Type dialog box to ME Alarm Log File (*.ALM).
   
2. If the Viewer does not automatically open the correct directory containing the History.alm file then navigate to the path in the capture below ( Capture History.alm ) under the RSView ME alarm log file:.
   
3. Click the proper format of  where the alarm files were copied from.
   (See the text in red below for more information on the platform types).
   
4. Click the Ellipses ("...") and browse to the path in the capture below ( Capture MachineAlarms.mal ) under RSView ME alarm setup file:.

A display similar to the one below ( Capture List View - history.alm.jpg ) should appear. The TrigIdx column corresponds to the order of your Triggers, on the Triggers Tab in the Alarm Setup within Studio, reference ( Capture Alarm Setup - Triggers Tab.jpg ). The count (of alarm triggers) starts at 0.
TrigIdx column, Rows 1 - 9, - All Alarm triggers tied to {::[AlarmIt]N7:0,L3}. Only 9 Triggers were used for this bit array, but it has the possibility of using all 16 bits x 3 words or 48 entries/triggers in TrigIdx 0 column and 48 entries in the Messages Tab of the Alarm Setup within Studio. Total count = 9 triggers..

TrigIdx column, Row 10, All Alarm Triggers tied to {::[AlarmIt]N13:20}. Total count = 1 trigger.

TrigIdx column, Row 11 - 17, All Alarm Triggers tied to {[clgx]test}. Total count = 7 triggers.

Alarm Trigger {::[AlarmIt]B70:0/0} was not triggered for this example. Its TrigIdx value would = 2.

Total Count = 0, if triggered 1.

The Alarm Messages tab has been provided for study. Reference Capture Alarm Setup - Messages Tab.jpg.

---

dBASE File

1. Pick dBASE File in Files of type.
   
2. Select the DBF file to open in the Viewer.

Command Line Parameter Capability

Command line parameter capabilities are supported to allow generating automatic reports.

Switches
SE Datalog file:	/sd
ME Datalog file:	/md
ME Alarm log file (Default for CE terminal log file):	/ma
ME Alarm log file generated by CE terminal:	/ma / ce
ME Alarm log file generated by Win32 (3.xx):	/ma /3xx
ME Alarm log file generated by Win32 (4.xx):	/ma /4xx
dBASE file:	/dbf
Adjust time zone:	/tz<Number in hours -12 to 13>
Show help dialog:	/?

Examples:

To convert to a CSV file: RSView Enterprise File Viewer.exe /md process.log process.csv /tz8
To open a file when the Viewer is launched: RSView Enterprise File Viewer.exe /sd datalog.dat

---

Installation

The attached zip file provides RSView Enterprise File Viewer v1.6.0.3 with support for FactoryTalk View 5.0 alarm files dated August 22, 2008.

1. Unzip the attached file.
2. Put RSTXViewCmn.ocx file under: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Rockwell\
3. Run RSView Enterprise File Viewer.exe.

---

Version History

v1.8.0.0 added support for Machine Edition version 6.x Alarm Log files
v1.7.0.0 added support for additional command line options, see the RSView Enterprise File Viewer version Help for details.
v1.6.0.3 added the following:

1. Show tag name in Trend.
   
2. Support to show Trend for ME datalog.
   
3. Change SE Datalog list view to show a tag name instead of tag index when xxx(Tagname).dat exist.
   
4. Fixed a problem with ME alarm on date/time format and alarm Ack date/time introduced in 1.5.0.0

File Attachments

• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1500.zip (309.76 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1603.zip (313.68 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1700.zip (314.05 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1401.zip (309.18 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1402.zip (309.37 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1403.zip (308.86 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1404.zip (309.31 KB)
• RSView Enterprise File Viewer 1800.zip (53.01 KB)

Source : http://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/33924