Installation overview

About this section

This section describes how to install FlexPendant SDK. When the installation is complete, you can program, compile and test FlexPendant applications for the IRC5 controller.

Supported platforms

The following software requirements have to be met:

Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP + SP2, Windows Vista +SP2 or Windows 7
Microsoft Visual Studio: VS 2005 (Standard Edition or better) or VS 2008 (Professional Edition or better ).
.NET Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 or 2

The following hardware requirement have to be met:

50 MB free disk-space on the installation disk

Both FlexPendant generations are supported:

SxTPU-1, which executes with .NET CF 2.0 and WinCE 4.2.
SxTPU-2, which executes with .NET CF 2.0 and WinCE 5.0.
SxTPU3, which executes with NET CF 3.5 and Windows CE 6.0.

Note
The controller system must have the RobotWare option FlexPendant Interface.

Note
FlexPendant SDK is developed and tested for the English version of Visual Studio. If you are running Visual Studio in another language you are recommended to switch to the English version.

Requirements for installing and using FlexPendant SDK

FlexPendant SDK is installed while you install RobotStudio. For more information on installing RobotStudio, see Installing and Licensing RobotStudio in Operating manual -RobotStudio .To use FlexPendant SDK, the following requirements have to be met. Also make sure that you have administrator permissions on the computer that you are using.

Before...	you must...
installing RobotStudio	install Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or 2008.
debugging using a virtual IRC5	learn how to run the virtual IRC5 in RobotStudio.
debugging using the real FlexPendant device	install the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 or 2 , which can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com. The User Forum of RobotStudio Community of has information on how to attach the Visual Studio debugger to the device. For more information, see also Debugging the FlexPendant device. .
executing the application targeting a real IRC5 system	check that the robot system has the controller option FlexPendant Interface (for FlexPendant applications). Set up a connection between your PC and the robot controller. For more information, see How to set up your PC to communicate with robot for details about how this is done.

Note
The Visual Studio installation installs .NET and Compact Framework 2.0.

About the FlexPendant SDK installation

Previously FlexPendant SDK was a part of Robot Application Builder (RAB) which also included PC SDK. RAB 5.12 was the last release of Robot Application Builder. Starting wtih RobotStudio 5.13, both FlexPendant SDK and PC SDK are included in the RobotStudio installation. RobotStudio installs FlexPendant SDK 5.13, side by side with previously installed versions of FlexPendant SDK.

RAB 5.11 to 5.12

RAB 5.11 and later installs PC SDK and FlexPendant SDK side by side with any previously installed versions.

RAB 5.10

RAB 5.10 upgraded any previously installed PC SDK to 5.10 and installed FlexPendant SDK 5.08, 5.09 and 5.10 side-by-side. The reason for the side-by-side installation of several FlexPendant SDK versions was to make it easier for FlexPendant SDK users to work on FlexPendant SDK applications targeting different RobotWare versions. Earlier RAB releases can be downloaded from Earlier RAB releases can be downloaded from RobotStudioCommunity >Developer Tools > FlexPendant SDK Overview

What is installed?

The installation generates the following features on your PC:

SDK assemblies and resources
Application manual FlexPendant SDK
FlexPendant Style Guide
Reference Manual FlexPendant SDK

Working with several versions

A FlexPendant SDK application normally targets a specific RobotWare release. Assuming you are developing a FlexPendant SDK application for a new customer who uses RobotWare 5.12 and simultaneously you are maintaining an existing FlexPendant SDK application for a customer with robot system using RobotWare 5.09, then you will need to work with two different FlexPendant SDK releases on your PC. For more information about releases and compatibility, see Release upgrades and compatibility.

FlexPendant applications

If you install FlexPendant SDK 5.13 and previous versions of FlexPendant SDK which came along with PC SDK as Robot Application Builder, the previous versions will exist on your PC. You choose which FlexPendant SDK version to use when you set up your application project in Visual Studio. For more information, see Using the project template in Visual Studio.

You should make sure that the FlexPendant SDK GUI controls the Visual Studio Designer uses is of the same version. If you have worked with another FlexPendant SDK version before, you will need to remove the GUI controls that you have added to the Visual Studio Toolbox and then add them again, pointing to the correct version in the browser. For more information, see Setting up design support for FlexPendant controls.

Installation procedure

The installation procedure is very simple. By default FlexPendant SDK is installed when you install RobotStudio. For more information, see Installing RobotStudio, in Operating Manual-Getting started, IRC5 and RobotStudio. An installation wizard will guide you through the installation. If you would like to install RobotStudio without installing FlexPendant SDK, or remove FlexPendant SDK from RobotStudio select Custom in the RobotStudio installation wizard and select or unselect the feature FlexPendant SDK.

Note
You are also strongly advised to read the Release Notes that you will find on the RobotWare DVD and on the RobotStudio Community web site, as these hold the most up-to-date information, including new features and any known limitations of the release.