Save and Fsave

When using the Turbo PMAC "Save" and "Fsave" did very different things (in my opinion) than in the Power PMAC. This is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact I like some of the changes, but I want to be sure I am understanding what I think I am seeing.

 

First it appears that ANY variable I woudl want saved with a "Save" or "FSave" command needs to be listed in the "pp_custom_save.tpl" file, is this correct?

 

It also appears that if a variable is removed from here and it had a value saved before the value woudl be reset to zero on restart or $$$, is this correct? For example if P100 was in the file and when saved had a value of 1234 the value would be retained on restart, but if it was removed and the controller restarted it would be reset to zero.

 

I actually really like this feature because previously I would find myself creating a long list of variables to reset and frankly it was easy to forget to include one. I find it much easier to track what I do NOT want to be reset.

 

Finally, it is a bit unclear to me what the difference between using "Save" and "FSave" is on the Power PMAC. In the Turbo "Save" saved everything and took some time to execute (a couple of seconds), whereas "FSave" was fast (a few mSec) but only saved something around 100 variables. I don't know that I have a way to see any difference in the Power PMAC in save times (although I assume there is), and I don't see any restrictions on the number or variables to "FSave".

 

Am I missing something on the speed of saving and the restrictions on how many variables I can "FSave" and am I misunderstanding how the Power PMAC saves in general?

 

Thanks

I will respod to your questions in-line:

 

"First it appears that ANY variable I woudl want saved with a "Save" or "FSave" command needs to be listed in the "pp_custom_save.tpl" file, is this correct?"

 

Yes - this is correct.

 

 

"It also appears that if a variable is removed from here and it had a value saved before the value woudl be reset to zero on restart or $$$, is this correct? For example if P100 was in the file and when saved had a value of 1234 the value would be retained on restart, but if it was removed and the controller restarted it would be reset to zero."

 

Yes - this is correct.

 

 

"Finally, it is a bit unclear to me what the difference between using "Save" and "FSave" is on the Power PMAC. In the Turbo "Save" saved everything and took some time to execute (a couple of seconds), whereas "FSave" was fast (a few mSec) but only saved something around 100 variables. I don't know that I have a way to see any difference in the Power PMAC in save times (although I assume there is), and I don't see any restrictions on the number or variables to "FSave"."

 

 

Both the "save" and "fsave" command will populate the "pp_custom_save.cfg" using the contents of "pp_custom_save.tpl". The "fsave" is significantly faster than a complete save as long as the number of variable saved is less than a "regular save. There is no limit to the number of variables you can use in "pp_custom_save.tpl".

So how does one designate which items are "saved" and which items are "fsaved"? in other words, how do create the shorter list of "fsave" variables vs creating the longer list of "save" variables since both are taken from the "pp_custom_save.tpl" file?

The "save" command will always do both . The "fsave" command will only do what is in "pp_custom_save.tpl".

I thought that a little more explanation might help. In Power PMAC, the Save and FSave commands both take what is in pp_custom_save.tpl and add it to pp_custom_save.cfg. The difference is that the Save command also gathers all "saved setup elements" that are not at default settings and adds that to pp_save.cfg. So, like Steve said, FSave uses pp_custom_save.tpl, and Save uses both that and all non-default saved setup elements.

Greg

Thanks, I thought that was what Steve meant but now I am certain!

You're welcome, but I have one correction. Apparently all saved setup elements go into pp_save.cfg, at default or not. I guess I was confusing this with the Generate Configuration function.