Hello,

I have the following questions that I have not been able to find answers to in the manual, FAQ, or forum:

1. When unloading from a DT80(series 2) to an existing file, is the file overwritten or appended?
2. If appended, is only new data since the last unload added or can the file end up with duplicate records?

Thanks for your help,
Jason

Good morning Jason,

It depend on what software you are using and how you are unloading the data. If you could supply us with more details I'm sure we can answer your questions.

Cheers,
Roger

Sure, my plan is to have it automatically unload via FTP, using code something like this:

RF1D    'automatic unloading to network
29SV=0    'reset FTP status system variable
DO{UA ftp://username:password@host-ip/pathname}

RG15M
IF(29SV<0)"Unloading Error"{XF}
ALARM(SV29>.5)"FTP Unload Successful"

Thanks,
Jason

My IT guys just got my FTP account set up so I've been able to play with it -- seems to nearly work but I have a syntax error:

dataTaker 80 E120 - Destination URI not correct at column 149 [ /test.csv'<err> ]

Doesn't seem to like that quotation mark at the end of my path name. What am I missing?

Cheers,
Jason

Good morning Bodson,

1. Over write or append
   The FTP will over write existing files. Appending data with FTP depends on the capability of the server receiving the data. Most FTP sites don't have the capability of appending data to files and there is no way for DT80 to test if the FTP site has the capability.

2. New data
   You can end up with duplicate data. The way you are using the unload command you will always unload the entire file.

   You can use the time and date unload U(9:05;23,2010/03/30)(End) to unload from a specific times and date. You can also use channel variables in the time and date to keep track of the time / date of the last unload and use that in as the start in the next unload, e.g:

   BEGIN
   RB1H
   2CV=1CV        '2CV = Time of last unload
   T(=1CV)         '1CV = Time of this unload
   DO{U(2CV,0)}  'Unload data since last unload
   END
   

3. Syntax error, the format is:

   UC "ftp://harryp:snitch@ftp.hsww.edu/transfig/my_data.csv"
   

Please check the syntax is correct and that you have a space at the start. If you can wait about a month we will have version 8 firmware available for general release (mid April).

This new firmware has a lot of new features including a new unload command COPYD. This command can track the last unload of up to 40 users, specify the output format (CSV, Fixed or DBD), FTP data, merging files, archiving and a whole lot more.

Cheers,
Roger

Thanks for your help Roger. We got the FTP working. What's the status on the v8 firmware? I'm looking forward to trying out the new features you mentioned.

Another question:
If I were to connect an external hard drive to the dataTaker's USB port, would it recognize and be able to unload to it, or will it work strictly with thumb drives?

Regards,
Jason

Good morning Jason,

I don't have a general release data for Version 8 firmware yet but it's not very far off.

Yes you can attach other mass storage devices but don't use very large storage devices as the will greatly slow down DT80 and they will need to be externally powered.

Cheers,
Roger