Things to mind when registering device description files

After the device description file registration, browse the communications tree once more in the

Communication Setup

editor. This retrieves the latest

Available Devices

list in the

Add Device Selection

dialog box. Otherwise, the newly registered hardware devices may not show correctly in the

Available Devices

list when adding a device in the FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console.

If a device's device description file is registered in the Device Description File Installation Tool before installing

FactoryTalk Linx

,

FactoryTalk Linx

may not recognize this device. You need to register the device's device description file again after the

FactoryTalk Linx

software installation.

If you upgrade

FactoryTalk Linx

by installing a new version, the device description files that are previously registered in the Device Description File Installation Tool are lost after the upgrade process. You need to register the device's device description file again after the

FactoryTalk Linx

software upgrading.

The Device Description File Installation Tool only updates the hardware information on a single computer. To support a new device on several computers, you must register the hardware device's device description file on each target computer respectively.

For existing hardware devices with some major revisions, after you register the device description files in the Device Description File Installation Tool, the newly registered hardware devices may show under the existing catalogs.

Some hardware devices, such as PCCC devices, do not have device description files and therefore do not support manual registration in the Device Description File Installation Tool.

Some hardware devices, such as Micro800 series devices and PanelView Plus terminals, require a patch or a new release of

FactoryTalk Linx

that adds support for the new hardware devices. These devices cannot communicate with

FactoryTalk Linx

merely by manual registration in the Device Description File Installation Tool.

If a newly registered device is supported on the desktop, you can configure shortcuts and create FactoryTalk View ME runtime applications (.mer files) for it, and then download the runtime application to target terminals. For more details, see How to communicate with a new hardware device on terminals.

FactoryTalk Linx

is able to create a Symbolic shortcut for a hardware that has tags or a Symbolic defined device (for example, 1426 PowerMonitor 5000 or Micro800 series devices). However, if this device is manually registered in the Device Description File Installation Tool, the Symbolic shortcuts can be created but may not work in

FactoryTalk Linx

. It requires a patch or a release of

FactoryTalk Linx

that officially adds support for the specific hardware device.