Do-more 2.6 Simulator Doesn't Retain Documentation

[Mike Nash]

Well, everything was looking very cool, especially being able to load an actual project into the simulator and have it work. But I have seen two issues.

1) It takes a number of retries to connect to the sim if it has a largish project loaded - but it will load.

2) None of the documentation is still in the simulator after it has been closed and then restarted. The program is there, but no nicknames or descriptions or rung comments. I have not tried a "real" PLC yet.

I cleared the plc memory, restarted, shut down and restarted windows (7 - 64 bit). Same thing.
Put in a clean 3 rung program with only one address documented and it loses that too.

Otherwise, I'm liking what I'm seeing.

[BobO]

The new true sim mode isn't intended to work standalone; not storing the state was by intent. Honestly the program isn't supposed to be saved either, so I don't know how that's happening. If you run it and connect to it, it still works like it used to and will store its state. You have the full project offline though, why do you feel that it should save its state?

[Mike Nash]

The new true sim mode isn't intended to work standalone; not storing the state was by intent. 

Well, can we have the original style sim mode also? Pretty please?

You have the full project offline though, why do you feel that it should save its state?

Because it worked just like the bought PLC would from the standpoint of programming and usage. The physical hardware processor stores documentation and doesn't require downloading every time I connect or having to have the offline copy to connect and have all the docs. Even the nicknames are lost and that kinda makes them useless. This is one of the huge features compared to older and even still current PLCs. Having the sim functionality different makes it more likely to be uncomfortable to use - more likely to get confused when switching between the two.

Honestly, I will really hate to have to fart with the simulator if I have to load the program every time. I have always had some program loaded in it, open DmD, connect to DmSim, decide if I want it to use the matching file (also missing now) and add a few lines to test something without losing, or screwing up my offline file - out and done.

I thought it was a super great feature - never a bug.

[BobO]

It still works like it always did. You run it and connect to it. That was the compromise...give people a click and go sim, but still allow the old mode too. What we haven't done is make it possible to set the standalone to be anything but the original. We may at some point allow you to set it up, it's just time consuming UI development that there was no time for.

[Mike Nash]

It still works like it always did.

Somewhere along the line, we must be doing things differently. I can start DmSim 2.3 from windows start menu, or by double clicking the MySim link after DmD is running 2.3 and the sim will have documentation and DmD will tell me if it seems to match an existing disk-based project and would I like to use it?. Yes/No, either way it has the docs when I connect. This is true even if I DO NOT have a project file.

v2.6 sim has no docs and no matching project prompt regardless of how I start the sim or the program. The only exception being I download to the sim after opening the project file. I was going to say I could get one combination to work, but I just found out I somehow managed to save the undocumented Sim project over the documented project file during one of the save one, both, neither prompts...

[BobO]

If you run the sim from Windows, and then connect via the sim link (not the sim button), it should work exactly like it used to. Testing...

[BobO]

...and somehow it got broken. Outstanding.

[Mike Nash]

...and somehow it got broken. Outstanding.

I'm very sorry you have a whoopsie.
I'm happy I'm not crazier than people already think I am.
I'm rejoicing that we aren't losing a fabulous feature.

Thanks!

[BobO]

I'm rejoicing that we aren't losing a fabulous feature.

The struggle has been that the standalone virtual PLC doesn't seem to fit most users' mental model of a simulator, so we wanted to change it to be useful to a larger group while taking nothing away from those who already use it. The other issue was that the sim has a unique I/O and device signature that prevented simulation of actual PLCs. The compromise was to have two modes, implicitly selected based on how you invoked it. We almost got it right. 

[Controls Guy]

The struggle has been that the standalone virtual PLC doesn't seem to fit most users' mental model of a simulator, so we wanted to change it to be useful to a larger group while taking nothing away from those who already use it. The other issue was that the sim has a unique I/O and device signature that prevented simulation of actual PLCs. The compromise was to have two modes, implicitly selected based on how you invoked it. We almost got it right. 

The standalone virtual PLC fits my model almost exactly, but since I'm not a simulator guy in the first place, that doesn't help you much.  My partner, OTOH.....

[BobO]

Fixed. Will be in the upcoming maintenance release.

[Mike Nash]

Older Thread, but totally pertinent.

I am not understanding how to get Dm-Sim to start in the mode I want with the program I want, without it wanting to change the processor type from H2-DM1E to Dm-Sim.

After a few struggles last night, I somehow got it to work again as a simulated H2-DM1E. This morning, I am back to confused.

What steps get me into the older version of just Dm-Sim?

What steps get me to where I can download an H2-DM1E project file into the simulator asan H2-DM1E being simulated?

In one instance I think it had even retained another H2-DM1E program when I opened it. This simulator allowed me to overwrite with the program I wanted in it and test my code. This morning, after a restart, I am back to floundering. It forces me to change my processor to Dm-Sim, which changes my system configuration, which is not, repeat not, what I want it to do.

I'm probably leaving out that I got it to load in 2.6 last night after finding another program in it and floundering and floundering and suddenly it worked. Then I loaded 2.7 and it did too. Not anymore though.

[BobO]

Unless something is broken...

Old mode
1. Run the Sim directly from it's installed location. You may want to wipe the associated data files in case anything lurks.
2. Connect to it through a link, like any other PLC.
3. Do not ever use the Sim button from DmD.

New mode
1. Hit the Sim button in DmD.
2. If you previously ran the Sim directly, it will prompt you to make sure you want to switch the modes. You probably don't.

[Mike Nash]

That tries to work, just hitting the DmSim button after I have my project loaded, but Dm-Sim crashes (see below) after it pops up with the Power and two Ethernet leds green on the simulator.

In Select PLC Connection

I see MySim  DM-SIM     Ethernet     IP Address:  127.0.0.1 Bad Comm <unknown>

And now, after doing "exacalactly" the same thing for nearly an hour now, it finally decided to work. How Rockwellian.

  exacalactly - I don't even know what I did, but surely I did it the same way each time...


Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
  Application Name:    DmSim.exe
  Application Version:    2.7.1.11
  Application Timestamp:    5e74470b
  Fault Module Name:    DmSim.exe
  Fault Module Version:    2.7.1.11
  Fault Module Timestamp:    5e74470b
  Exception Code:    c0000005
  Exception Offset:    000ba2cc
  OS Version:    6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
  Locale ID:    1033
  Additional Information 1:    0a9e
  Additional Information 2:    0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
  Additional Information 3:    0a9e
  Additional Information 4:    0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

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