Everything you see in the modules and content area of Kickdrive is defined in a Kickdrive template or project file. The following file formats are used:
A Kickdrive .kickpro file defines everything you can see in the Modules and Content area of Kickdrive: CAN Interfaces, CANopen Drive units, Scope modules, a.s.o.
The .kickpro file is a standard XML file that can be edited by experienced users to build specific applications (e.g. work with three drive units instead of one, modify the user levels required for each module, create additional HTML documentation).
|
Notice
When manually editing .kickpro files, make sure you keep a copy of the original files. Check carefully that your modified file is a valid .xml file. A good XML editor can help validate the XML format and prevent invalid changes that could break the structure.
|
The .kickpro file is often accompanied by additional files that are necessary to run the project's predefined tasks. These files can include:
•.css files for documentation formatting.
•.py files for Python script code that is executed by Kickdrive or is compiled and loaded into a drive unit.
•.bin firmware files for updating drive unit application firmware. |
.kickzip files are compressed file archives that contain:
•One .kickpro file of the same name as the .kickzip archive.
•Additional helper files (.css, .py, .bin, ...) as described above.
When opening a .kickzip project, Kickdrive creates a temporary folder and extracts all files to this location.
When saving a .kickzip project, Kickdrive first creates an updated .kickpro file in the temporary folder, and then creates the compressed .kickzip file containing all files from the temporary folder, including sub-directories.
|
Notice
You can extract the .kickpro file and all helper files by using menu File >  Save As... and choosing Kickdrive Uncompressed Project (.kickpro) instead of the default .kickzip file format.
|
|
|
Notice
To create a .kickzip compressed file archive, first create a standard .zip file archive that contains the .kickpro file and all required helper files. Then change the file extension from .zip to .kickzip.
|
A Kickdrive installation comes with a number of predefined projects for specific tasks, stored as .kicktpl template files. The Project Selector and the projects defined in Getting Started are examples for such templates.
Opening a .kicktpl file is the same as opening a .kickzip file, except that no file name for saving the project is chosen. If you are saving the project for the first time using  Save Project, you are prompted to provide a location and name of the new project - which will be saved as a .kickzip file.
|
Notice
You can create your own templates by using a .kickzip file and simply changing its extension to .kicktpl.
|
|
