Project324 is missing in v4.3.1 build 15032

[shaswin]

The Project324 tool v3 to v4 conversion tool has been silently removed in the v4.3.x Ple4Win installation files.
According to the latest version helpfile the Project324 tool should be available. Helpfile Ref: Getting Started > Design Process > Create/Open a Project > Converting PLE3 project / ID: Converting_PLE3_project

We have checked the installation MSI file and indeed the Project324 was missing in the MSI file. We have extracted the Project324 executable with a MSI extractor from Ple4Win v4.2.3 (latest version where this tool was available), but the tool did not work in Ple4Win v4.3.1.
Mark did send us also the Project423 executable; this was the same version we had extracted from the old Ple4Win v4.2.3 version. It did not work. So we have had to install the old Ple4Win v4.2.3 back in another PC to convert the database.

The removal of the Project324 tool was not explicitly mentioned in the changelogs of Ple4Win v4.3.x on the Ple4Win website. Okay I can understand that this tool has been removed from the v4.3.x, but due to legacy reasons this tool should be available online (as a standalone version on the Ple4Win website like the old PLE3 v3 technical software notices; the helpfile should be updated then) to convert a old PLE v3 project file to a v4.2.3 project file. The tool should work standalone without a hardware license key to make it compatible for all future Ple4Win versions. So after a user has converted a project file with the Project324 tool to a v4.2.3 Ple4Win database it can be runned in a v4.3.x Ple4win version and will be converted internally to the latest v4 database standards during loading of the project file.

[P Herwig MSc]

Hi Shaswin,

The Project324 utility for converting PLE MicroCad projects (PLE3) to Ple4Win projects (PLE4). The utility is not stand-alone as it relies on the accompanying Ple4Win software (and hence is not interchangeable with different versions of Ple4Win).

It was decided to stop the co-development of the Project324 utility as we were aware that the number of still unconverted PLE3 (potential) reference projects would only get smaller and the used frequency of the utility would likewise go down. The latest version including the Project324 utility is indeed Ple4Win version 4.2.3.

As a service to our clients we are happy to convert PLE3 projects into Ple4Win projects. Please send an email including the PLE3 project (rst) file to info@eds-ple.nl.

Nevertheless you are right that we need to update the help file according the above information.

[shaswin]

Yes, updating the helpfile will make it less confusing.

The frequency of processing PLE3 projects is not very high, but thanks for supporting it by e-mail in the future.