Application Server

New Wonderware CPU affinity utilities available

| Greg Dubiel

Wonderware has recently released 2 new utilities that allow some Wonderware software to be load-balanced across multiple processors. The utilities are:

  • ViewAffinityService designed to load-balance InTouch View client sessions running on a Terminal Server. The utilities can be downloaded from WDN website.
  • wwAffinityService designed for both InTouch View and Application Server’s AppEngine (both, regular AppEngine and ViewEngine) running on either a Terminal Server or a workstation. The utility can be downloaded using this link.

Two new Wonderware tech notes on GRAccess Toolkit (Tech Note 727 and Tech Note 728)

| Greg Dubiel

Wonderware recently released two new, inter-related tech notes on topics related to Wonderware GRAccess Toolkit:

Tech Note 727 “Automating Object Configuration Tasks in the GRAccess Toolkit: Configuring Properties for Analog FieldAttribute” – this Tech Note describes configuring following properties for Analog Field Attribute (named AF_001) of a $UserDefined template using a C# console application: Access Mode to Output, Data Type to Float, Description to Adding description for AF_001 Field Attribute

Tech Note 728 “Using GRAccess Toolkit to Determine Values and DataTypes for a Property” – this Tech Note describes the technique of finding Values and DataTypes for the following items:

    • AccessMode property of Analog Field Attribute (AF_001) needs to be set to Output
    • AnalogType property of Analog Field Attribute (AF_001) needs to be set to Float
    • Desc property of Analog Field Attribute (AF_001) needs to be set to Adding description for AF_001 Field Attribute

    The Values and Data Type found after the procedure can be used in your C# code implementation. Using this Tech Note as a guide, you can also find Values and DataTypes for other properties.

    Wonderware Application Server script attributes

    | Greg Dubiel

    The following table describes the scripting attributes available in Wonderware Application Server (aka Wonderware System Platform, aka ArchestrA software) version 3.x for each script defined in the Galaxy:

    Attribute Description Run-Time Access (Supervisory, User, Read-Only, None)
    <Script>.AsyncShutdownCmd If set to TRUE, the currently executing asynchronous script will be requested to shut down. This does not mean that the script actually will shut down. The script must be written to check this flag. Supervisory, User
    <Script>.Disabled If set to TRUE, the calculation of the expression and the execution of the script code will be stopped. Supervisory, User
    <Script>.ErrorCnt The number of errors detected for this script since last reset. Read-Only
    <Script>.ExecutionCnt The number of times this script has executed since the last reset. Only applies to Execute type scripts, both synchronous and asynchronous. Read-Only
    <Script>.ExecutionError.Condition If TRUE, the script engine encountered an error, such as divide-by-zero, .NET error or execution timeout) during last execution. This attribute can be alarmed. If alarmed, the alarm message is ExecutionError.Desc. Read-Only
    <Script>.ExecutionError.Desc The error message associated with the execution error condition. Read-Only
    <Script>.ExecutionTime The amount of time, in milliseconds, the script has been executing for asynchronous scripts. For synchronous scripts, this attribute reflects the time of the last execute. When the script has finished executing, the value remains at the final elapsed time for the script. When the script is restarted, this value is reset to zero (0). Read-Only
    <Script>.ExecutionTimeAvg The average per scan execution time, in milliseconds, since the script was last reset. Read-Only
    <Script>.ExecutionTimeStamp The last time the script executed. Read-Only
    <Script>.State Indicates the state the object’s script is in: Initializing, Error, Disabled, Busy, Ready.

    • Initializing indicates at least one of the script’s external references in the script expression is still initializing.
    • Error indicates an error occurred since the last time the script was triggered.
    • Disabled indicates the script execution was disabled.
    • Busy indicates that the script is currently executing (only applies to asynchronous scripts).
    • Ready indicates that an asynchronous script is not currently executing or that a synchronous script is not in an error or disabled state.
    		 Read-Only
    <Script>.StatsReset If set to TRUE, all statistics will be set to zero. Supervisory, User

    Wonderware PacWest Tech Note 93 “Brief Overview of New ArchestrA Graphic Features in Wonderware InTouch 10.1” is available

    | Greg Dubiel

    Wonderware PacWest Tech Note 93 “Brief Overview of New ArchestrA Graphic Features in Wonderware InTouch 10.1” is available.

    Many users of InTouch managed or published applications have been utilizing the new ArchestrA graphics introduced with the release of Wonderware Application Server 3.0 and Wonderware InTouch 10.0. Recently Wonderware released new versions of each product as Wonderware Application Server 3.1 and Wonderware InTouch 10.1. As well as resolving a number of known issues (for more information please refer to the Application Server 3.1 and InTouch 10.1 ReadMe documents) they also introduced some new features in regards to working with ArchestrA graphics.

    This document, written by Nick Edgett, is to help users understand and take advantage of the new features in order to get the most out of these new product releases. Click here to review the tech note.

    Three Wonderware Tech Notes on deploying custom script function libraries in Wonderware Application Server are available

    | Greg Dubiel

    Wonderware Application Server provides you the ability to leverage the .NET development language for custom and advanced functionality made available through the ArchestrA Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

    Custom Script Function Libraries are integrated with Wonderware Application Server by

    • Importing multiple, independent DLLs, or;
    • Importing multiple DLLs that have dependencies into the Galaxy.

    Wonderware Application Server accommodates importing of multiple DLLs and DLLs with dependencies through the use of aaSLIB files. aaSLIB files make managing multiple DLLs and their dependencies easier by eliminating the need to track multiple DLLs.

    Wonderware recently released three new Tech Notes on deploying custom script function libraries in Wonderware Application Server:

    Wonderware customers from outside of the Wonderware PacWest distribution area can access the Tech Notes on the Wonderware Support Website.

    Wonderware Tech Note 564 “Removing an Undeployed or Deleted Application Server’s Galaxy Erroneously Listed in Wonderware SMC”

    | Greg Dubiel

    Wonderware Tech Note 564 “Removing an Undeployed or Deleted Wonderware Application Server’s Galaxy Erroneously Listed in the Wonderware System Management Console, DAServer Manager and Log Viewer” is available.

    In some instances when an Application Server’s Platform is undeployed or a Galaxy is deleted, the Galaxy information is not properly cleaned up on all of the Platforms in the Galaxy. When this occurrs a Galaxy may appear in the SMC in DAServer Manager and Log Viewer on a node that no longer has a platform deployed to it from this Galaxy. Unlike Node Groups, Galaxies in the SMC are read-only and cannot be deleted from the SMC.
    This Tech Note explains how to remove a Galaxy listed in the SMC DAServer Manager and Log Viewer that should no longer appear.

    Click here to review the tech note.

    Wonderware PacWest Tech Note 80 “How to use the $PingNode Object Template in Wonderware Application Server” is available

    | Greg Dubiel

    Wonderware PacWest Tech Note 80 “How to use the $PingNode Object Template in Wonderware Application Server“, written by Mark Boisvert, is available on the Wonderware PacWest website.

    This tech note describes how to use a custom $PingNode object template created for Wonderware Application Server. Object based on that template provides ping status for a given machine (node). The $PingNode object template includes the Ping script that can be customized to provide additional features. By default the enabled object will ping the configured node every 10 seconds and report general status and reply time. It also can be configured to alarm if a ping timeout is incurred. This type of information should be useful for monitoring system health of network hardware and other machines that are not part of the galaxy.
    Click here to review the tech note.

    Wonderware PacWest Tech Note 79 “How to install Microsoft Loopback Adapter on different operating systems” is available

    | Greg Dubiel

    Wonderware PacWest Tech Note 79 “How to install Microsoft Loopback Adapter on different operating systems”, written by Kurk Kembel, is available on the Wonderware PacWest website.
    Wonderware Industrial Application Server uses the Suitelink protocol (a proprietary TCP/IP wrapper) and the NMX protocol (Network Message Exchange) to communicate with I/O devices and platforms/objects in the application galaxy. The Archestra Integrated Development Environment (IDE) uses the NMX protocol to communicate with and deploy objects to platforms in the galaxy (this requires a valid network connection for development and testing operations). In the absence of a network adapter or valid network connection, Microsoft’s Loopback Adapter may be installed to satisfy the Archestra IDE’s requirement for a valid network connection.
    The Microsoft Loopback Adapter will prevent the Archestra IDE from closing in the event the development computer is using a wireless network connection that has intermittent connectivity losses.
    Click here to review the tech note.

    Wonderware Application Server 3.0 Service Pack 2 is released

    | Greg Dubiel

    Wonderware Application Server 3.0 SP2 is released. The service pack addresses several issues related to multi-user edits, ArchestrA symbol functionality, and more.

    Download the Service Pack and the related ReadMe file using the links below:

    Wonderware customers from outside of the Wonderware PacWest distribution area can access the Service Pack on the Wonderware Support Website.