Ever run into an issue where you have an older Automation Studio project, but not too sure what Automation Studio version was used during its development? Look no further! This guide will help you in figuring out what version of Automation Studio was used last within your projects.
Software Requirements:
- Automation Studio Project
- (Option 1) Automation Studio
- i.e. Automation Studio 4, Automation Studio 6, etc.
- (Option 2) Text editor
- i.e. notpad, notpad++,etc.
Why should I know this?
A lot of times someone ends up with a project from years ago and need to make slight modifications without wanting to upgrade the project to the latest Automation Studio version. In situations like this, it can be troublesome to find which Automation Studio version the project used last.
How to:
Theres two different ways to go about identifying the Automation Studio version last used within an Automation Studio project.
1) Automation Studio Mismatch Popup
When opening an existing Automation Studio project on your PC, Automation Studio automatically detects if there is a version mismatch. This results in a popup stating next steps that can be done. While this discussion isn’t related to “how to upgrade your project” this popup does indicate what version the original project was using. To prevent any unnecessary files from generating, go ahead and select the “Cancel” button to close the popup, and it’s as if we never had touched the project in the first place.
In this example, I had a project developed in Automation Studio 6.3, but when attempting to open the project in Automation Studio 4.12, I get the version mismatch popup. Notice the text stating, “been edited with Automation Studio V6.3”. This indicates the Automation Studio version I should use the project with should be at least Automation Studio 6.3.
Let look at another example. This time, I have a project developed in Automation Studio 4.2, and I attempt to open it in Automation Studio 4.12. Notice the text stating, “been edited with Automation Studio V4.2” indicating that the Automation Studio version I should use to open the project is Automation Studio 4.2. We can select, “Cancel” to close the popup, and begin downloading the needed Automation Studio version from the B&R website.
2) Text Editor
What’s nice about this method is the fact that you don’t even need to have Automation Studio installed to figure out the last Automation Studio version used for the project. You only need to use a text editor to read certain files. There are a few files to choose from, to get this information. Whichever option you choose, open the selected file with the text editor of your choosing. within the file, locate the section stating:
Here you can see what the last version of Automation Studio was used when working on the project, giving you the necessary information as to what Automation Studio you may want to use/install to work with your project. Below example of each file type opened in notepad, and where to locate the mentioned text.
- .apj file
This is the primary file used when opening a project in Automation Studio.
- <PC_name>.set
This .set file is generated when a user opens a project for the first time. For example, when I open a project the file, “hitchcockn.set” gets generated.
- LastUser.set
When a project already contains a <PC_name>.set file, another file gets generated alongside your <PC_name>.set file, called, “LastUser.set”.
FAQs:
Q: Is this exclusive to certain Automation Studio versions?
A: From personal experience, this method works for all Automation Studio versions.
