DASTEC Corporation's

Off-Line Batch Recipe Task

Thank you for your interest in DASTEC's Off-Line Batch Recipe Task. This page is will give you a summary of the task's benefits and advantages over the standard Batch Recipe Task as well as some unique uses for the task.

OFF-LINE

The title "Off-Line" gives an indication of the main benefit of the task verses the standard Batch Recipe task. "Off-Line" refers to the capability for system integrators and end users to modify and create recipe data files using a non-FactoryLink system. The data files are in ASCII text. Each line in the file is one recipe value and consists of the Source/Destination Tag Name and the recipe value. See Figure 1 for an example recipe.

The files can be easily created and modified on any computer with a text editor (Window's Notepad, OS/2's System Editor, UNIX vi, etc.). The format is some what self documenting since the tag names are given for each value. If additional comments are desired, the data file format allows for this using a special comment character. Comments can be on lines by themselves and/or at the end of a recipe value line. (Note: Comments are not written out if the recipe data file is generated or modified by the task).

SUB-RECIPE CAPABILITY

This unique feature is the capability to load from disk, recipe data files that do not match one for one with the tables configured within the Off-Line Batch Recipe configuration tables! A recipe need not contain an entry for all tags listed in the configuration table.

This allows the end user the capability of loading sub-recipes or partial recipes and becomes very useful if doing batch processing. Another benefit: Have you or your customers ever generated piles of recipe data files already and then decided to add another item to the recipe? If you did this and you were using the standard recipe task than all of your previous recipe data files would be worthless. They could not be loaded under the new recipe configuration because the data no longer matches the recipe one to one. The sub-recipe capability of the Off-Line Batch Recipe task means that you can still load all of the old recipes. Without modification! Or better yet, you can easily modify them - their ASCII text remember!

NON LISTED TAG INPUT

The Off-Line Batch Recipe task can be configured to read in recipes containing tags that are not listed as part of the task's configuration. When the task is loading a recipe and finds a tag name it does not recognize as one listed in its configuration table, it will look up the tag name in the system to verify that it is valid and then (if found) loads it anyway! (Note: this feature can be disable if it is not desired).

Note to System Integrators: This is a great back door debug/test feature useful for loading in a set of values to tags when you do not know at development time what those tags might be. You can ship the customer an ASCII recipe file and then have them click on a pre-defined load trigger and bingo - you've loaded a set of tag values. It is similar to what you might do in your office using RTMON->Watch->Load_Data but you do not have to talk the customer through starting and using RTMON.

LARGE CAPACITY

Extremely large capacity as far as the number of tags per recipe. How large is large ? UNLIMITED. The code is designed to handle more tags than could normally fit into single blocks of allocated memory. Of coarse the number of recipe files that can be handled is limited by the amount of disk space available. By the way - network drives, variable path names, and environmental variables are all supported by the driver.

OTHER-USES

• CREATING INITIAL RECIPES
  When a new system is being installed and the end user has existing recipes that must be setup in the new system this task makes the job easy. The user can create the initial recipes themselves without the application engineer having to design a special screen for this purpose.
  
• LANGUAGE and TOKEN TRANSLATION
  Integrators have in the past delivered systems to end customers that use message tags to label graphic screens. By changing the contents of the messages, the screens adapt to various situations and/or languages. Many different takes on this same idea have been used over the years. This task allows the you to create translation files quickly and easily - or to let your customer do the translation for you. See Figure 2.

MULTI-PACKS and SITE LICENSES

In addition to DASTEC's normal Cumulative Discount policy, multi-pack options and site license options are being offered for this task. The software is protected via a software authorization scheme - no parallel port hardware key to worry about. With a multi-pack agreement you purchase a fixed quantity up front at substantial savings and call to receive authorization when the code is installed. Once the number of copies in the multi-pack have been registered, no more authorization numbers will be given out without purchasing another license. A site licenses work similarly except that unlimited copies can be authorized. Please call to discuss your needs and the options available.

E-mail any questions to Sales at our domain DASTEC.COM. Also, please send any comments on feedback, experiences and performance if you are a current user or if you tried the demo.

For complete specifications view the Off-Line Batch Recipe data sheet. Click here Product Download to down load a demo version of the task for your version of FactoryLink.

Thank you for your interest in this product. Please feel free to present any questions you might have to any DASTEC representative.

NOTICE: COPYRIGHTS & TRADEMARKS: Tecnomatix and FactoryLink - USG. All other copyrights and trademards are the property of their respective owners. This notice applies to all documents linked to this page.

Rev. 10/09/02