State: the reader and index are verified on 292 public SCL files from 16 repositories. The IEC 61850 Station view is modelled (tested on fixtures).
Open the station
- Open the folder with the station's SCL files:
.scd .ssd .icd .iid .cid .sed, in any letter case. - The IEC 61850 Station view in the Explorer lists every SCL file of the workspace with its substations, subnetworks, IEDs and type templates.
- Click a row to open its file at that place.
- A file that cannot be read is listed with the reason and its line.
Refresh IEC 61850 Station reads the files again. The view follows changes on disk by itself.
The module reads each file losslessly: it keeps the offset of every element and attribute, so every edit later changes only what was asked and every other byte stays as it was (see Edit SCL files). It indexes the substation, communication, IEDs, data sets, control blocks, external references (inputs) and type templates, and every other feature of the module reads the files through this index.
Read the station in the status bar
While the workspace has SCL files, the status bar shows the number of SCL files and the errors and warnings the module's checks, schema validation and change record put in Problems for them. The tooltip says how many files could not be read, and that these are the Editor's checks, not a vendor tool's acceptance. A click shows the IEC 61850 Station view.
Files and editions
| Kind | Read |
|---|---|
| SSD, ICD, IID, SCD, CID, SED | Yes |
| Editions | Every edition: the public files read include editions 2003 (Edition 1) to 2007C5, among them 2007B (Edition 2) and 2007B4 (Edition 2.1) |
| Elements of another XML namespace with SCL names | Not read as SCL (vendor extensions stay vendor data) |
| A file without the SCL namespace | Refused as not SCL |
Size
| Measured on Linux, 4-core container | Result |
|---|---|
| Largest public file (2.8 MB) | Read in 41 ms |
| Generated 117-IED station (14.8 MB) | About 0.3 to 0.6 s per open or edit |
| Memory for a parsed 14.1 MB station | 97 MB, about 6.9 times the file |
| After an edit inside one element | Only that element's changed children are read again; the result equals a full read on 12,350 random edits |
Files over 64 MB are refused. Reading runs on the window's main thread, so a very large SCD pauses the window while it is read.
What was verified
On the 292 public files (49.8 MB), among them 22 PCM600 exports and Siemens IEC 61850 System Configurator 7.20.50, 6.60.34 and V5.80 files: every file is read (two without the SCL namespace are refused as not SCL), every element and attribute is at its offsets, the index equals the elements counted from the tree, and writing every value back unchanged keeps the bytes.
Not verified
- Files of DIGSI 5, SEL Architect, Helinks STS and other tools not in the public set; files larger than 2.8 MB and 15 IEDs from a real tool (generated stations of 117 IEDs were measured).
- Encodings other than UTF-8.
- Windows.