Commissioning equipment using Field Assistant

PREREQUISITES  Your controllers have v4.x or later drivers.
 

To start up and commission a piece of equipment or a controller, you can run Field Assistant on:

• A laptop connected to a controller's or sensor's Local Access port.
• A laptop or computer connected to an IP network if your controllers are communicating on the network. 

See Field Assistant Help for information on using Field Assistant.

Providing source files to Field Assistant

Field Assistant requires a controller's source files. Source files include:

• Control programs (.equipment)
• Drivers (.driver)
• Graphics (.view)
• Touchscreen files (.touch)
• BACview® files (.bacview)
   

To provide Field Assistant with source files, do one of the following:

• Download source files from the i-Vu® application to the controller so that they can be uploaded in Field Assistant.
  NOTES
  • All Open PIC's arrive from the factory containing all their source files. They will no longer have the source files if they have been optimized for download in the i-Vu® application and then downloaded.  
  • To make sure the controller has the source files in it, verify that in the System Options > General tab > Download section that Optimize download for Open PIC controllers is unchecked (the default) before downloading from the i-Vu® application.
• Export the source files from the i-Vu® application to a zip file so that they can be imported in Field Assistant. This option exports all source files for all controllers in the system.

TIP  If you download source files to a controller, you may still want to export files from the i-Vu® application. Importing the files in Field Assistant reduces the time required to upload the controllers.

If the technician using Field Assistant changes or adds source files, he can get the new source files back to the i-Vu® application by doing one of the following:

• Download the source files to the controller in Field Assistant so that you can upload the files in the i-Vu® application.

• Export the source files from Field Assistant to a zip file so that you can import the files in the i-Vu® application.
  This option exports the source files for all controllers in the system to the zip file.
   

See Field Assistant Help for instructions on uploading, downloading, importing, or exporting source files in Field Assistant.

To download source files from the i-Vu® application

1. Click , then select System Options > General tab > Download section and verify that Optimize download for Open PIC controllers is unchecked (the default setting).
2. Select the site level or a router on the navigation tree.
3.  On the Devices page, select the controller that you want to download.

   NOTE  Shift+click or Ctrl+click to select multiple controllers to download.

4. Select All Content in the Download drop-down list, then click the Download button.

NOTE  If a programmable controller does not have enough memory for the files, the download will fail and an error message displays. You must remove or edit the control programs.

To export source files from the i-Vu® application

Export the source files from the i-Vu® application to a zip file so that they can be imported in Field Assistant. This option exports all source files for all controllers in the system.

1. Click , then select System Options > General tab > Source Files section and click the Export button.
2. Save to your desired location.

To import source files in the i-Vu® application

1. Click , then select System Options > General tab > Source Files section and click the Import button.
2. Browse to the *sourcefiles.zip file.
3. Click Continue.
4. Click Close.

NOTE If the import detects a difference between a database file and an import file with the same name, import does not overwrite the database file. A message lists any file differences so that you can resolve them.

To upload source files in the i-Vu® application

1. Select a router in the navigation tree.
2. On the Devices page, select the controller whose files you want to upload.

   NOTE  Shift+click or Ctrl+click to select multiple controllers to upload.

3. Select All Content in the Upload drop-down list, then click the Upload button.