Creating multiple logical devices

You can create multiple logical devices by:

  • Exporting a logical device configuration to a comma-separated values (CSV) file.
  • Modifying the CSV file to add multiple logical device configurations based on the original logical device configuration.
  • Importing the CSV file in Management Console to add the logical devices to the system.

Export a logical device configuration

Complete the following steps to export one or more logical device configurations to a CSV file.

  1. Use the Logical Device Editor to create at least one logical device in the Devices area of Management Console.

  2. Select one or more logical devices, right-click and select Export to open the Export Status dialog.

    Note that if you choose to export the registers for the logical device, delays in the export process can occur for logical devices with a large volume of configured registers.

  3. Click the browse button on the right of the Selected File field to open the Save As dialog.

  4. Navigate to the location where you want to save the file and enter a name for the file in the File name field.

    Text files (*.csv) is pre-selected in the Save as type field.

  5. Click Save to return to the Export Status dialog.

    The Selected File field is populated with the location and file name that you specified.

  6. Click Export.

    The Status column in the grid area of the dialog indicates Exported for a completed export operation. If the export operation is not successful, for example if the input registers cannot be retrieved for the logical device being exported, it is indicated in the Status column. Click the link to open the log file to view additional information.

    Configuration information for all of the selected logical devices is exported to the CSV file.

Create multiple entries in the CSV file

Use Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet editor to open the CSV file. The column headings in the spreadsheet are labeled as follows:

  • Logical device name
  • Logical device type
  • Physical device name
  • Physical device type
  • Input register
  • Output measurement
  • Handle - this column heading is required but the entries are not required unless there are duplicate labels, that is, input registers with the same name but with a different ION handle. In this case the ION handle is required. You can view the ION handles by exporting the input measurements from the Logical Device Type Editor.

NOTE: The column headings remain in English for localized versions of the product. This is required for CSV file-processing purposes.

To create multiple entries for the logical device configuration, use the copy and paste function in Excel. It is recommended that only users with supervisor-level access create multiple entries.

  1. Select the rows that you want to duplicate and press Ctrl+C to copy them.
  2. Place the cursor in the left-most cell of the first blank row and press Ctrl+V to paste copies of the selected rows.
  3. Continue the paste operation for as many logical device configurations that you want to create.
  4. After completing the paste operation, be sure that you use unique device names to avoid duplicates.

You can also export all of the register names of a physical device as well as all of the measurement names of a logical device type. This gives you the ability to use these additional CSV files to copy and paste additional register names and measurement names into the CSV file you are using to create the multiple logical devices.

To export all of the register names of a physical device:

  1. Open the Logical Device Editor and select a physical device.
  2. Right-click anywhere in the register list in the Input Device Registers area to open a menu and select Export Device Input Registers.
  3. Enter a name for the file and click OK.

To export all of the measurement names of a logical device type:

  1. Open Management Console and select Tools > System > Logical Device Type Editor.
  2. Select a logical device type in the logical device types area of the editor.
  3. Click the Measurements tab.
  4. Right-click anywhere in the grid under Measurements For and select Export Measurements.
  5. Enter a name for the file and click OK.

Import multiple logical device configurations

Complete the following steps to import the CSV file with the multiple logical device configurations. It is recommended that only users with supervisor-level access import logical device configurations.

  1. Open Management Console and select Tools > Import Logical Device in the Devices panel of Management Console to open the Logical Device Import Form window.

    Logical Device Import Form is available only when you are in the Devices panel of Management Console,

  2. Use the Browse button to navigate to and select the CSV file to import.

  3. Select Overwrite Existing Devices if you want overwrite logical devices with the same name that were previously created.

    Logical devices with the same name can occur as a result of a previous import operation.

  4. Click Import to add the multiple logical devices to the Devices area of Management Console.

    The system performs a validation of the configuration data during the import operation. If an error occurs during the import operation:

    • The Status column in the grid area indicates Failed for any logical device that is not imported. Click Failed to view details about the cause of the unsuccessful import.
    • Logical devices are created for all correct entries in the CSV file. Logical device entries that are incorrect are not created in Management Console.