Importing from PanelBuilder32 Databases

Note: This wizard is sold as an add-on and requires a license to be enabled. Consult your software for further information.

This wizard allows you to import not only the tags, but also the screens, alarm configuration and communication interface from a text file (report) exported by the PanelBuilder32™ software. Using this wizard, you can convert PanelView™ program (developed with PanelBuilder32™) into the IWS format and run them under any platform supported by IWS.

Figure 1.

Import Screens: Check this option to import the graphical screens (including their objects and animations) to IWS.
Import Comm. Configuration: Check this option to import the communication interface (tags linked to PLC addresses) to IWS.
Report File: Press the Browse button to select the name of the text file exported from PanelBuilder32™ (report printed to a text file).
ControlLogix Only: When importing a program that was configured to exchange data with ControlLogix PLCs, IWS can convert the communication interface to Ethernet/IP (ABCIP driver). To do so, type the IP Address of the PLC and its slot number. This information will be used to create the communication interface for the imported program. If the original program was already configured to use the Ethernet/IP interface, these fields can be left blank, because the IP Address and CPU Slot Number are retrieved from the program file itself.

In the grid displayed in Step 3 for this Data Source Type, there is an additional field with the label Address, which displays the tag addresses from the PanelBuilder project.

Tip: Please consult the documentation for this import wizard for detailed information about how to export an program from the *.PBA format to the text (*.TXT) format, using PanelBuilder32™, and import it into IWS.

Note: See Steps 1, 2 and 3 of Import Wizard for the settings and fields that are common for all Source Types.

Note: IWS does not support some special characters (e.g., [ ] . –) in tag names. When you import your PaneBuilder database into IWS, these special characters will be converted into underscores ( _ ).