Adding other screens/project to an existing Ignition system

I work for a systems integrator and I have to make an Ignition HMI that will be added to an already existing server on-site. How would I go about doing this to make the integration as painless as possible?Up until now, I have only developed 1 Ignition Edge project.

Welcome!

You can be brave and do it live, use the staging feature if it is enabled on the server.

The safer way would be to get a backup (GWBK) of the live system, load it up in a test environment, make the changes, then export them from that and import it into the live designer and publish once fully tested.

if its only a few extra screens you can also just export/import the windows/views just make sure they follow the same folder structure as those will be kept after importing

It’s basically another process on the line so it’s more than just a couple of screens.

With the job being 2 months out, I would run the risk of them making changes on-site while developing on the backup file, correct? It’s too big of a task to try and do it right before startup.

i mean i guess the amount doesnt matter aslong if they are gonna be completely independed of the other views and are sure not to have any overlapping folder structure/names

Make a separate project (or multiple projects). Try to keep all gateway tags in a separate folder. Make notes on other global resources (like additional device connections).

Import into the target gateway. (You’ll probably have to do devices by hand.) After testing the imports, use the “Send to” option in the imported project to push windows/templates/views/etc to the intended final locations. When everything is running there, delete the temporary project(s).

No staging in v8 FYI

I’m not sure what version they have already. Do I have to develop in the same version?

Yes, same goes for any SCADA application really, although Ignition is fairly lenient between minor versions. v7 to v8 is a big change and deving in v8 is impossible to restore in v7. Always safest to dev in the correct version though

You definintely need to be on the same major version. If your client is a few minor releases ahead, it is not likely to be a problem. If they are behind, you won’t be able to import to their system. The tricks that some do to make backward imports work are not safe in production.

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Ok. Thank you. I just confirmed they have 8.1.7 and I have 8.1.10

Pssst! Use VMs or Docker containers to exactly match your client.

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