Why can't you open Vijeo Designer .vdz files via Machine Expert?

[Yelper85]

Hi there,

Can somebody explain why I can't open .vdz (Vijeo Designer) files through Machine Expert and instead must spend another  £500 on a dedicated Vijeo Designer (VD) license yet I can create HMI code via the VD container for use with a PLC?

Regards

Mitch

[Bastian_Schmitz]

There are different Version of Vijeo Designers available. 

A standalone and the integrated version . They are mostly identical. But not complete. 

The Standalone ist mostly a little bit more acutal then the integrated version. And the standalone offers a few more possilities. If you create a project with standalone and want use it in the integrated version you could get an problem. In the other direction is not so a big problem. 

In general in my personal opinion I would not prefer to use Vijeo Designer for new projects. The software is more or less end of life an more for maintenance. All new HMI hardware is designed for Operator Terminal Expert. 

[Yelper85]

Hi @Bastian_Schmitz ,

So you can open Machine Expert integrated files in the standalone version but not vice-versa? Does the integrated version not use .vdz files or is it simply that Schneider don't allow you to open standalone projects in the integrated version even if all the functionality in the standalone project would work fine?

As for Vijeo Designer being end of life, do you have any more information on this? Can VD be imported into OTE for direct conversion? How does this work if the default integrated software for Machine Expert is VD, or will OTE replace the default within Machine Expert at some point in the future?