Storing and Loading PML Files

Software Customisation Guide

General Features of PML : Storing and Loading PML Files

PML Files must be stored in directories pointed to by the PMLLIB environment variable.

When an AVEVA product is started up, PML scans each directory in the PMLLIB search path and creates a file named pml.index in each directory.

This index file contains a list of all the PML Files in all the directories under the directory given in the PMLLIB search path. All the PML Files listed in the pml.index files are loaded automatically when the product is started up.

When the user is working on PML Files, they should store them in their own PML working directory, and add the path of their PML working directory as the first entry in their PMLLIB search path. Then, when the user adds a new PML File (after they have started up an AVEVA product), the user will need to tell PML to rebuild its file index by giving the command:

pml rehash

This command scans all the files under the first directory in the users PMLLIB path, and updates the pml.index file.

If other users have added PML Files and updated the appropriate pml.index files, the user can access the new files by giving the command:

pml index

This command re-reads all the pml.index files in the user search path without rebuilding them.

When the user is not running an AVEVA product, they can update the pml.index file in a given directory by giving the command:

pmlscan directory_name

This command runs a utility supplied with AVEVA products.

Note:

The commands pml rehash and pml index are a type of command known as PML directives: they are used outside PML Files to direct PML itself to take certain actions. More information about using PML directives with form definitions is given in PML Directives