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uploading controller

We are at Version 11.3.1.  We just uploaded our controllers in preparation for a possible hurricane strike.  After we did the uploads, we decided we also should have also uploaded the setpoints of the PID's.  Is there a way to force an upload of specific parameters such as setpoints only?  

3 Replies

  • Not in version 11.3.1 That functionality to select which parameters are "uploadable" is coming in V15 I believe.
  • In reply to Jason.Brumfield:

    This functionality was actually added in v14 under parameter security with the interface shown below

    Modifying the parameter (or adding) will have an "Allow Upload" check box to determine if that parameter name should be able to be uploaded along with the traditional setting of the associated Lock. 

  • No. The DeltaV Upload utility does not actually retrieve data from the controller. There are hundreds of parameters in modules so early in development, the upload feature was designed around online changes which are made from DeltaV Workstation. Online changes made by control modules are defined by the logic that drives them, and these are not captured.

    When you make an online change to a parameter(i.e. SP of PID), that action is stored in the pro Plus, along with user name. The Upload utility presents the last value change for each parameter, which should represent the current value in the controller. If you select the value for upload, it is written to the database. If not it will be discarded. If you cancel the upload, the parameters remain for consideration next time.

    The work around would be to go to each SP of interest and write its current value into it. This will create the Upload record and thus allow you to upload this into the database.

    The other approach would be to use an Excel Spreadsheet with DeltaV Add in and create the list of parameters you are interested in. You would then run this file to read data and save it to a Bulk Edit format file. Then you would import the data into the database. But you will be setting the blue triangle and have to download to get the values into the Power up directory (they are already in the controller).

    In v14, the upload utility shows you the last online change value, but also lets you read the current value from the controller and compare them. This can help avoid uploading a value that really does not reflect what you want.

    I'd personally like to see the ability to define upload behavior of module parameters, such that, for typical tuning parameters, one could select "Upload from Controller" and it would read the current online values of these specific values. Then it would compare them to the database values and flag those that are different. Then the user would be able to select/deselect those that they want to import. The Online change upload identifies who made the change (though this is also recorded in the Event Chronicle). It would be useful to also list the last user change to these and other parameters.

    Note that if you make an online change and then upload, but you do not select the parameter, it is purged and there is no way to upload that change. You can manually change it in the database but that sets the change flag and requires a download to get the value into the Power up directory, used by standby and cold restart. The Upload works some magic to get the value in the database and the Power up directory without a Blue triangle. So changing the value again online lets you do an upload.

    v14 upload utility is an improvement, but it only shows parameters that have been captured and not discarded. It does not let you specify what parameter you would like to upload.

    Andre Dicaire