The GEM Test Tool is an application included in TransSECS installations which can be used to run a tool on port 5010 Device ID 1. It is designed as a simple test tool to run against the sample TransSECS host projects or the SECS Tester. This application was developed using TransSECS and MIStudio and has a runtime license that expires at the end of each year. Please ask for a license renewal or link to update the software if your license has expired.

When you build an equipment (process tool) application in TransSECS, a tool simulator will also be generated. The simulator will be located in your project directory, in a ToolNameSimulator directory, where “ToolName” is the name of your tool project, for example, GEMToolSimulator.

To run the simulator use the ToolSimulator executable for your platform. The tool will start up listening for a host connection on the port and device id configured in your project.

Normally the tool simulator starts up running on the port and device id set up in the project. The configuration can be changed so that the tool runs on any port (including SECSI ports) and any device id. This configuration is in the Simulator.config file in the generated simulator directory.

To change the port or device id for the simulator, open the Simulator.config file in a text editor such as wordpad or notepad++. Find the section which has the application parameters, which looks like this as a default:

# Application parameters.  Add parameters as needed starting from 1
# To specify a port, uncomment out parameters .4 and .5 and change the port from 5010
# to use a tool characterization (json), uncomment out parameters 8 and 9 and change the name of the ToolName.json file
wrapper.app.parameter.1=com.ergotech.transsecs.secs.EquipmentSimulator
wrapper.app.parameter.2=deploy.TransferStations
wrapper.app.parameter.3=-g
#wrapper.app.parameter.4=-p
#wrapper.app.parameter.5=5010
#wrapper.app.parameter.6=-deviceid
#wrapper.app.parameter.7=1
#wrapper.app.parameter.8=-j
#wrapper.app.parameter.9=GEMTool.json

The wrapper.app.parameters must be uncommented by removing the # at the beginning of the line. The parameter numbers must be in order. In other words, if you want to change just the deviceid, uncomment the line wrapper.app.parameter.6 and wrapper.app.parameter.7 lines but renumber them to .4 and .5, or uncomment all the parameters .4,.5,.6, and .7.

The TransSECS Host sofwware can go online with a process tool and “characterize” it - obtain existing vids, ceids, and rptids, as well as alids. This “characterization” is encapsulated in a JSON file, with the name ToolName.json, where ToolName is the name of the host project. After characterization this file will be in the userfiles of the project.

This JSON file can be loaded into a bare simulator and used as a basis to reproduce the behavior of the tool. To improve the simulator you will probably need to add some of the tool's host commands and other special messages such as those for recipe handling.

To use a pre-defined ToolName.json for the simulator, prepare a TransSECS tool project with any number of messages (such as host commands and/or recipe messages), and include only two VIDs (OnlineOfflineState and LocalRemoteState) if not already defined by these names in the JSON file. These two parameters are needed for the base simulator software to be able to enable online/remote.