Converting ACR9600 Projects to ACR9000 Projects

NOTE: This article is intended to allow users to support existing installations. The ACR9600 family is a legacy line that is not recommended for new applications. The Parker Automation Controller (PAC) offers far superior capabilities. More information is available using the links below.

[Quick link: ACR9600 product page]

[Quick link: PAC product page (North America)]

While the latest version of ACR View (6.4.2.1011) can run on Windows 10, the IEC PLC tools used by ACR View to support the ACR9600 family are only available on Windows XP or Windows 7. As a result, a Windows 10 installation of ACR View will not allow the user to open or create any project with a 9600 series controller in it. Many applications that used the 9600 were written in pure AcroBASIC and did not make use of the IEC PLC. To open and edit one of these projects in Windows 10, some of the project files need to be manually edited to change the controller to a 9000 series controller. A project set up to use a 9000 series controller will still work with a 9600 series controller, just without the IEC PLC. This article shows how to make the necessary edits to open the project in Windows 10.

NOTE: ACR9600 projects can still be opened on a Windows XP or Windows 7 installation of ACR View 6.4.2.1011 with no modification required.

Instructions

Open up the folder for the project that needs to be updated. Find the folder titled IEC_<project name> and delete it.
Open the folder with the name of your controller. It should be the only other folder available and will most likely be titled ACR9600, ACR9630 or ACR9640.
Open Controller.ini.
There are three fields that need to be altered: Name, ID and PartNumber.
For Name and PartNumber, change "96xx" to "90xx". For ID, subtract 4 from the current value. In this example, the old ID is 14 and the new one is 10. Save and close Controller.ini.
Open prog15.8k.
There are two tags in this data file that need to be edited: <PRTNBR> and <CARD>. The best way to locate them is to use Notepad's Find feature (CTRL+F).
Change the "96xx" in <PRTNBR> to "90xx" and change the number in <CARD> to the number that was used for ID in Step 5. Save and close prog15.8k.
Open the project in ACR View. The project should open normally and and show a 9000 series part number in Project Info.