File Management

File Management functions provide the ability to:

  • Read machine recipes or other machine operational data into the KAS program from the USB flash drive or a shared directory.
  • Read cam tables into the program from the USB flash drive or a shared directory.
  • Store machine operational data on internal PCMM2G flash memory (retrievable through the Web server), the USB flash drive or a shared directory.

  • A shared directory connection is setup through the Web server.

    • Functions to parse out information from a file using a string format can be found in String Operations.
    • If the file is in a .CSV format, these functions can be used: LogFileCSV, ApplyRecipeColumn - Deprecated.
    • You can create, store, and retrieve recipes and other data using either:
      • the AKI Terminals. For more information see the KVB manual.
      • an external bus connection to the PCMM2G with a supported fieldbus (e.g., UDP or HTTP).

Sequential Read / Write Function Blocks

These function blocks enable sequential read / write operations in disk files:

Name

Description

FileClose

Closes an open file.

FileCopy

Copies a file's contents to a new file.

FileDelete

Removes a file from the file system.

FileEOF

Test if the end of the file is reached in a file that is open for reading.

FileExists

Tests if a file exists.

FileOpenA

Create or open a file in append mode.

FileOpenR

Open a file for reading.

FileOpenW

Create or reset a file and open it for writing.

FileReadBinData

Read binary data from a file.

FileReadLine

Reads a string value from a text file.

FileRename

Renames a file.

FileSeek

Sets the current position in an open file.

FileSize

Gets the size of a file.

FileWriteBinData

Write binary data to a file.

FileWriteLine

Writes a string value to a text file.

SD card Functions

These functions handle mounting of SD cards:

Name

Use

File Management

Verify the USB flash drive is mounted.

File Management

Insert the USB flash drive.

File Management

Unmount the USB flash drive.

Each file is identified in the application by a unique handle manipulated as a DINT value.

  • The file handles are allocated by the target system.
  • Handles are returned by the Open function blocks and used by all other function blocks for identifying the file.

Related Function Blocks

LogFileCSV log values of variables to a CSV file


    • Files are opened and closed directly by the Operating System of the target.
      • Opening some files can be dangerous for system safety and integrity.
      • The number of open files (from FileOpenA, FileOpenR, and FileOpenW) is limited by the resources available on the target system.
    • Verify each file successfully opened using FileOpenA, FileOpenR, and FileOpenW.
      • The FileOpenW has a corresponding FileClose to close the file.
      • Closing the file releases the file ID, making it available for operations on other files.


    • Opening a file with FileOpenA, FileOpenR, and FileOpenW can be unsuccessful (invalid path or file name, too many open files.)
      • Your application must check the file ID for a NULL value.
      • If the file ID is NULL (zero), then file read or write operations will fail.
    • File management may be unavailable on some targets.
    • Memory on the SD card is available in addition to the existing flash memory.
    • Valid paths for storing files depend on the target implementation.
    • Error messages are logged in the Controller log section of KAS Runtime where there is a failure in any related function block.
    • Using the KAS Simulator, all path names are ignored, and files are stored in a reserved directory. Only the file name passed to the Open functions is taken into account.
    • PCMM2G files are little endian.