The SELINK-software running on the Sentry will add additional functions to the standard Sentry operating system. The software will also 'talk' to the software package running on the PC and control the hardware interface in the Sentry. The software on the PC will take care of the file handling with the server and the Sentry. Because the SELINK networking product is based on PC and Ethernet card, it is possible to use standard networking software to link the PC's to the server. The network software should provide a virtual harddisk or network disk mounted on the PC (e.g. drive D:). This network disk looks like a harddisk to the SE-Link software, but is physically resides on the remote server. Because multiple PC's can have access to that same network disk, a centralized testprogram library is now a reality.
| Note: | It is possible to run the SE-Link package without Ethernet. In that case you are just using the PC's harddisk and/or floppy disk for program storage. This already is a major improvement when compared to the standard 8" Sentry floppy unit. The major advantages of the system are of course only realized when the PC is linked to a network. |
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Typical SE-link Configuration |
Note: The dedicated PC system requires no display. The hard disk can be limited in size as well (only MS-DOS operating system, Networking software and SE-LINK software is required). See the section on "System requirements" for more information. |
- Send and receive any Sentry file from/to the remote system.
- Support (MS-DOS like) file handling functions as delete,dir.cd etc.
- Boot the Sentry over the network (option).
- Disk replacement (option).
- Upload/download program to/from the server database.
- Upload test data (datalogs, summaries etc.) to the server
- Centralized test program and test data management on the server.
- Backup data on the server.
- printing via single printer on the server.
- support (some) MS-DOS instructions.
- Integration of terminal software in the SELINK software is possible to make the Sentry terminal obsolete.
- SELINK can run under Windows 3.1 / 95 / 98 in a DOS window, enabling multitasking possibilities.
The SE-Link hardware consists of an AT-PC I/O card and an SE-Link interface card for Sentry
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AT-PC I/O card
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SE-Link interface card for Sentry
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- By adding a fully equipped PC with Ethernet to this network it is possible to work remotely on each Sentry. This option requires additional software to emulate a Sentry terminal on this PC. If this PC is equipped with a PC based FACTOR compiler and linker, it is possible to develop programs off-line and add them to the server database for try-out on the tester at a later time. It is possible to add as many of these workstations as desired.
- PC based FACTOR compiler and linker.
- Booting from network host. With this option installed the Sentry can boot from a memory dump file that is stored on one of the PC's disks, thus eliminating the need for the standard 8" Sentry floppy drive to boot from.
- Interrupt driven SELINK running under Windows 3.1 / 95 / 98. This option makes the Sentry terminal obsolete. The PC can run the terminal program in another window. The SELINK can run in a multitasking environment.
- HARD DISK and RAMDISK replacement. This option makes the Sentry hard disk and ram disk obsolete. The LOAD, ELMLOAD etc. commands are using the PC hard disk instead of the Sentry hard disk.
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Printer Capture Option The floppy controller decodes the serial data and determines the data destination, either the floppy formatter, parallel IO or parallel printer port. By linking the floppy serial cable to any free COM port on the PC it is possible to capture the printer data and sent the data to a local or network printer. With this configuration it is no longer possible to use the floppy drive, but since the SE-Link offers a boot facility the need for a floppy no longer exists. |
A typical printer caption configuration for floppy based Sentry |
Sentry System Requirements
- M3 Operating System version 4 to 8
- FST-2 CPU
- aprox. 5-10K words available for SE-Link software.
Requirements for IBM AT PC or compatible
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Absolute minimum configuration
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Recommended configuration
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80286, 20Mhz, 640Kb memory |
80386, 33Mhz, 4Mb | |
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no keyboard |
keyboard | |
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no display adapter, no monitor |
monochrome display adapter + monitor | |
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no harddisk |
40 Mb Harddisk, 3.5" HD Floppy Drive | |
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no floppy drive / Ethernetcard with remote boot possibility |
Ethernetcard | |
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(add 3.5" HD floppy drive if remote boot is not possible) |
Notes about the required PC
- Because the SE-Link package runs under MS-DOS environment, only 640Kb of memory is required. In theory a 80286 could also do the job, but this is not recommended.
- A keyboard is not required for SE-Link operation, in this case the keyboard test must be disabled with the CMOS setup and the SE-Link software must be started in autoexec.bat.
- A monitor is also not required. However for trouble shooting and/or monitoring of the SE-Link process we recommend at least a monochrome display card and monitor (SE-Link information is displayed in text mode only).
- A hard disk unit is recommended for a non-networking version. The size of the harddisk depends highly on the size of the testprogram library of the customer. Take notice that one Sentry word requires 3 bytes of diskspace on the PC. So a 40Mb harddisk can store aprox. 13 Mb of Sentry software. Salland Engineering highly recommends the use of a network drive. The PC can boot over the network and the testlibrary is stored on one central harddisk on the remote server only, offering easy maintenance and centralized data collecting. In this case an Ethernet card + networking software is required
- A floppy drive is not required, but recommended for maintenance purposes. Nowadays a 3.5" HD drive is standard equipment.
- The SE-Link system has been developed using a 80486DX, 33Mhz, 8Mb PC with 16 bits SMC Ethernetcard and a Sentry VII with 192K words, running M3 version 7.