Database Management
Reference Manual
Output Syntax
Output Syntax
The OUTPUT command is used to scan specified parts of the Project DBs and to output, in the form of a structured list, the data held there. The output is presented in such a way that it is both easy to interpret and suitable for reinput as design data to appropriate AVEVA E3D™ modules.
Output takes the form of macro files whose contents precisely recreate the hierarchical structure of the elements currently listed in the selected DBs, including the settings of all of their attributes. Facilities are provided for controlling the precise layout of the output files and the amount of information presented. Element cross-referencing (indexing) is also available, to assist in interpreting the data. The macro is sent to a file by using the standard ALPHA FILE or ALPHA LOG commands.
You may view the output lists directly on your screen, or you may send them to text files for subsequent inspection or printing. The latter files can be read back as input to say a different constructor module form that from which the data was derived, either in the same or in a different project. You can include only the elements which have been changed since a specified time (i.e. those elements which would be listed by the DIFFERENCE command).
The macro files created can be used for the following purposes:
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To copy part of a design.
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To modify part of a design. The output macro file containing the relevant design data can be edited using operating system facilities and can then be reinput to the appropriate DB. You could use this method, for example, to change Nozzle Catalogue References in a pipework subsection.
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To transfer part of a design from one DB to another or from one project to another.
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To archive all or part of the Project DB. Listings may be read in at any future revision of AVEVA E3D™, making such as archive more secure in some respects than the Project DB itself.
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To give you a quick-reference listing of the DB contents to provide a rapid answer to a specific question (such as where a particular element is stored in the hierarchy).
The output is generated in three stages:
1.
Any elements which were originally locked are unlocked. Element deletions, name changes and type changes are output. Note that reordering or insertion of elements in their owner’s members list is treated as deletion followed by creation, so that Refno attribute settings may be changed.
2.
Newly created elements and all standard attribute settings are output.
3.
Reference attribute settings and rules are output. Elements which were originally locked are relocked and GADD commands are included if any elements were included in Groups.
1974 to current year.
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