Good morning Daniel,

Thanks for your questions.

Question: Restoring and editing .MERs

Restoring and editing a .MER project is not always possible, and therefore it's not listed in the course description as it's not covered in this course.

Instead, what is covered is the importance of having a project archive file (.APA) if you need to backup or edit a project on a different PC, as it is the only guaranteed way to do so.

That said, for those who go out into the field and find they have not been given the .APA files, in Appendix D I have added a detailed description of how and when you can restore existing .MER files into editable projects.

Question: Uploading MER files over USB

I don't currently cover using the USB port to upload or download MER files because strangely this feature requires a USB driver which is only available to customers with an active Tech Connect.

Note: If you have an active tech connect contract with Rockwell, you can get the drivers here: https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/115608

However, if you can get the PanelView Plus 7's configuration menu you can copy the files to a USB Memory Stick or CF/SD card as shown in Lesson 30.

Another more advanced option is to use a USB autorun script, which I discuss on my blog here:

How To Automatically Run A USB Flash Drive Script On The PanelView Plus

Hope this helps,

Shawn Tierney,
Instructor at The Automation School