APPLICATION FOLDERS AND DATA FOLDERS
By default, ECT’s installation folder is C:\ECT, and the data folders (DEVICE and USER) containing the data files are subfolders of the C:\ECT folder. Since the data can be modified by the user, if you decide to install ECT in a different folder, you must ensure that the Windows user who will be using ECT has write access to the installation folder. Starting with version 4.12.678, it is possible to install ECT in a non-writable folder and specify the “C:\ProgramData\EFI Technology\ECT” folder in the ECT settings as the data folder.
DEVICE DIRECTORY
The Device directory contains several other directories with the *.DEV extension; i.e. DEVICE1.DEV contains the database in XML format for the device ‘Device1’. The name of the database is the same as the name of the directory.
Do not attempt to manually modify the database files.
INSTALLING NEW DEVICE DATABASE
Device databases can be modified or even created by scratch by an experienced user but they are usually supplied by EFI.
When you start using a new device or you need to upgrade the database of the device you are already using, you are sent a new database release (*.XML) .
Start the ECT program. From the main menu select DEVICE MANAGER and select LOAD NEW. Click on LOOK IN and specify the drive and directory where the new database file is located.
After the loading procedure is complete, a new line will appear showing that the new device is available.
USER DIRECTORY
PROFILE DEFINITION
A profile is a custom environment that allows user to save under an identification name a collection of display screens together with a set of data stored in a database file [profile_name].PDBX.
Each profile corresponds to a subdirectory of the directory USER which has the same name as the profile and extension USR. The folder contains a PDBX database that has the same name as the profile and a variable number of .WIN folders. Each .WIN folder contains a WDB database that has the same name as the WIN folder. Each WDB database describes a data display screen.
A profile can be used to manage a specific type of ECU with a specific programming software, but it could also be used to collect windows for a specific use of a ECU or to a group of devices that operate on one vehicle.
INSTALLING NEW PROFILE
From the main menu select Profiles/Profiles management then use ‘Import profile‘ command. In the dialogue window you can choose from two types of file: .PDBX and .XIP
A .PDBX file is a file where ECT saves the settings of the corresponding profile. By selecting a .PDBX file in a source directory you let ECT copy the file and all the .WIN sub-directories of the source directory to the USER directory. It is basically a copy wizard.
A .XIP file is a compressed file created by the ECT command called ‘Export profile‘. The Export profile command is much more than a copy because it scans all the dependencies among the files of the profile to determine which display screen WDB file and related device database XML file to include in the compressed XIP file. By selecting a .XIP file you let ECT copy all the files contained in the compressed file to the right sub-directories of ECT. The XIP format is by far the best to use because it assures that all necessary files will be available in the target PC.