Release Modes
CCT offers a Release mode option that allows you to work within and switch between various Release modes. You can change Release modes by selecting Settings > Release Mode. See Changing Release Modes for more information. You can also choose an available Release mode when you open a new CAF. See Selecting a System for more information.
You are required to choose an available Release mode when you first install CCT. If you open a CAF that is at a Release mode incompatible with the Release mode of the tool you are prompted to upgrade. See Opening a Controller Application File for more information. You are also prompted to upgrade a CAF if you change to a newer Release mode using the Settings > Release Mode menu. For further information see Change Release Mode Confirm Dialog Boxes.
The differences between Release modes include available objects, properties, signal types, feature functionality, and device compatibility. In addition, most field controllers are only compatible with a limited set of Release modes, determined by the field controller packages installed.
If you wish to work with a given field controller you must switch to a specific Release mode that supports the field controller before opening or creating a CAF. Release modes correspond to specific hardware or firmware releases. For example, the 10.4 / Firmware 8.0 Release mode corresponds to the firmware and controllers released with Metasys 10.0.
The following is some general information to be considered before changing Release modes:
- For existing installations that require controller upgrades to the latest release, we recommend that you transfer both Main Code and Boot Code to the device before transferring the CAFs.
- In general, all controllers on the site do not need to be set at the same release level. You can use the latest revision of the tool to open and commission any controller applications created at earlier revisions.
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You can mix and match controller revisions on any network engine. This means that you can add Release 10.x based controllers to a Release 6.0 network engine. The only risk from mixed versions is that some enumerations created in the Release 10.x CAFs do not display properly in the engineering tab of the field bus.
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The tool upgrade process works between major and minor revision levels (for example, 2.1 to 2.2 and 2.1 to 10.x). Applications created during Alpha and Beta site releases do not automatically upgrade (for example, 3.0.22 to 3.0.25).
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The tool supports transferring CAFs to controllers that have the same version as the CAF regardless of the version of the software. For example, you can transfer a CAF from a controller to a computer without upgrading the file, make any necessary changes to the parameters during Commissioning, and then transfer the CAF to the controller.
Note: This scenario does not apply when transferring Release 5.3 applications to a device from Release 6.0 configuration tool. -
The CAFs created by the tool are independent of the version of Microsoft SQL Server software (that is, you can open a CAF created on a computer running Microsoft SQL Server Express software on a computer running Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine [MSDE] software).
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The tool only supports transferring Main Code and Boot Code to devices at the 6.x firmware version.
For information on upgrading a CAF to a new Release mode see:
Point Expansion Module Revision Level Compatibility
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When you upgrade field controllers with Point Expansion Modules on the SA bus, you may need to upgrade certain devices to the latest release before you transfer an application to a device. If this workflow is required, an alert appears that indicates which devices require an upgrade.
For more information on specific releases, see the: