PEAK-System Forum

I have just started using PeakCAN and imported my first dbc file using the Symbol Editor 6.0 and dbc import tool.

When I use this too, I can convert a dbc file to a sym file with Symbols, variables ... but NO SIGNALS.

When I import this new sym file (with variables and no signals) into Explorer 6.0, it AUTOMAGICALLY creates symbols for all of the variables that exist in the sym file.
These symbols have the same names as the variables, but do not exist anywhere in the sym file. Project Explorer just created them by iteslf.

Is this behaviour documented somehwere?
What are the rules for Explorer 6.0 just creating signals that do not exist anywhere in the sym file?
In which file are these new (virtual???) signals defined/stored?

At this point, I have no idea what variables (as opposed to signals) are actually good for. You can't use them for anything, they have exactly the same attributes and even PCAN-Explorer seems to invent signals as an internal hack becasue it can't use variables for anything either.
Why do variables (as opposed to signals) even exist? Why not just add a global/local attribute to signals and be done with it?

Given that variables seem uesless, is there a way just to import signals using the dbc import tool?

Or is there way to mass-convert all "variables" to "signals" in a given sym file?

Hello

to help you with your problem, please send us an email with your license ID of your PCAN-Explorer 6 software and the dbc file to our support email address. Thank you.

regards

Michael

Good morning,

First of all, a CANdb file has no separate section that defines the signals you would usually see under the Signals node when opening the file in Vector CANdb++ Editor. The signals listed there are only a summary of all signals in each of the messages. And that is exactly what the CANdb Import in PCAN Symbol Editor does, it imports the messages (as Symbols) and the their signals (as Variables). Its just another terminology.

The Signals node you can see in PCAN Symbol Editor when you have a Symbols file with format 6.0 open represents a feature of especially this file format that has nothing to do with CANdb and is also not supported in CANdb databases. In Symbols file format 6.0 you can define a series of individual signals, which can then be assigned/mapped to different Symbols. And this list of signals is stored in the separate {SIGNALS} section in the Symbols file. This is a different approach than how CANdb stores its data. Additionally, all signals that are not assigned to any Symbol are in PCAN-Explorer available as virtual signals.
In previous formats of Symbols files (5.0 and earlier), you would define variables instead of signals. Variables are still supported in Symbols file format 6, but only for compatibility reasons.

Perhaps you should start PCAN Symbol Editor without immediately creating a new file, and import the CANdb file from the Start Page. This creates a Symbols file with format 5.0, which has no Signals node, and which somehow better reflects how the data is stored in the CANdb file. If you prefer to have a file with a filled Signals node you can convert the file to format 6.0, and in the conversion process you can choose to convert Variables to Signals. To convert the file, select the Symbols node in the Item Navigator, then click on "Convert..." next to the Symbols File Format drop-down list.

What happens when you load and activate a Symbols file in PCAN-Explorer is documented in the PCAN-Explorer 6 online help under

PCAN-Explorer Environment > Working with Symbols > Signals (in German: PCAN-Explorer Umgebung > Arbeiten mit Symbolen > Signale)

Here it is described how Variables in Symbols files are made available as signals in PCAN-Explorer, because a signal in the PCAN-Explorer environment is not exactly the same as a signal/variable in a Symbols file. You can read more information about Signals and Variables in the PCAN-Explorer 6 help under

Reference > Symbols Files > Signals and Variables (in German: Referenz > Symboldateien > Signale und Variablen).

Thank you for the clear explanation.
I also found that if I import a sym file with symbols (and not variables), PCAN Explorer creates variables, so "... a signal in the PCAN-Explorer environment is not exactly the same as a signal/variable in a Symbols file" is quite a good summary.