Release Notes

License Agreement	Technical Support Details	Address Specification Help

SPECVIEW.INI	SETTINGS.INI	Error Codes List

Log Space Requirements 	Known Bugs here	  Year 2000

February 2nd 2002 (Build #699):

Versions back to Build #674/32 can load configurations made with this version

Special Note: Bug in Build 693-697, possible recipe corruption See here for details

New features

Build #695/32 User variable type names have changed:

"Float/Real" changed to "Number"

"String" to "Text"

Build #689/32 Technical Info button on Help->About for giving information about version of SpecView components

Build #689/32 Parameter list position remembered

Build #689/32 Faster load time, Logo can be cancelled by clicking on it

Build #689/32 SpecView uses less memory and shows more manufacturers

Build #685/32 OPC Support - A Dongle bit is required to run this, call your SpecView representative

*** See the CD file: \TechNotes\OPC\SVD3100 OPC and SpecView.pdf

Build #677/32 Color Dynamics on Buttons

Build #674/32 Bitmaps and multiline text on buttons *** File Format Change *** See here!

Build #673/32 Parameter list print now asks for Filename using Save-As box

Build #671/32 Text Justification on multiple selection

Build #668/32 Trend chart can now plot "Long" data type

Build #667/32 On-line Parameter list can be saved to file or printed

Build #653/32 Align Left/Top/Right/Bottom, Distribute evenly horiz& vert

Build #653/32 Text font remembered all over the place

Build #652/32 Ctrl-D on multiple allows limited group changes of scan rate, recipe level and format

Build #652/32 Config refresh

Build #650/32 Custom Colors remembered everywhere

Build #650/32 Com Port Swap

Build #646/32 Date / DateTime entry dialogs

Build #644/32 Run external program takes parameters

Build #638/32 Archive/restore & Line Writer

Build #633/32 Tooltips re-enabled.

Build #621/32 Support for COM10 and above

Build #615/32 Preferences Dialog

Build #611/32 Color Dynamics in recipe

Build #607/32 Zoom buttons

Build #605/32 Logfile Conversion uses threads

Build #600/32 Log Purge

Older Features added previously

Fixed Things:

Build #699/32 Historical reply starting bug fixed

Build #698/32 Recipe corruption problem fixed, see important note here

Build #698/32 Runtime Hourglass cursor problem fixed

Build #697/32 Trend chart pens drawing numbers less than 1 fixed

Build #697/32 Log file convert Strings missing fixed

Build #697/32 Memory leak fixed

Build #696/32 Strategy GPF fixed

Build #693/32 OPC changes to support SunWare Servers and shorter Instrument names

Build #692/32 PC3000 Autoscan problem fixed

Build #691/32 Startup grey screen on some machines fixed

Build #690/32 Historical Replay Date problem fixed

Build #690/32 Parameter list wandering values fixed

Build #688/32 Alarm File corruption problem fixed

Build #688/32 Trend Chart HR bug fixed on AMD processors

Build #688/32 Password Setup box anomaly fixed

Build #688/32 Restore from Network Specified paths (e.g. \\Machine\Path\File.SVA) fixed

Build #687/32 Sprint Drive DDE problem fixed

Build #687/32 Screen Swap/Close startup problem fixed

Build #687/32 HR crash with long Enums fixed

Build #687/32 Function-Key on Buttons problem fixed

Build #687/32 Color Dynamics on Comms Error, now goes back to default color if comms error and the explicit "Comms Error" test not specified

Build #686/32 Bitmap Button Browse caused "SwapTo" list to become empty

Build #686/32 Button Attributes List box had blank lines, as did Dynamic Attributes Scan Rate. Fixed.

Build #684/32 Bug causing crash on runtime with certain hardware

Build #683/32 DateTimes no longer updated to current time on LogFileConvert

Build #682/32 Date Input Box anomaly Fixed

Build #682/32 "_" and "-" allowed in config names now

Build #682/32 20 character limit on config names lifted

Build #682/32 Divide By Zero in Strategy now leaves "CopyTo" variable alone

Build #682/32 Historical Replay Control Panel Reset Position in File->Preferences now works as expected

Build #682/32 DateTime variables no longer need to be on an open screen for log reports to work correctly!

Build #681/32 Trend Chart Date now timezone safe & in format shown in File-Preferences

Build #681/32 Date/Time Entry Box fixed

Build #680/32 Some upper/lower case issues on AutoStart / Set as first GDW problems resolved

Build #680/32 Failure to open a COM port could sometimes result in other values on other screens not working-fixed

Build #680/32 Blank Strings from ASCII devices fixed, now correctly return XXX values with no Backoff

Build #680/32 If Window's Default Directory changed during runtime by Save-As from Parameter list print, then GDW Swap would fail - fixed

Build #679/32 Slow response with no Dongle attached fixed

Build #678/32 Default path for Restore is SV32 directory.

Build #674/32 COM port Swap fixed for PC3000

Build #672/32 Line Writer filename from String problem fixed

Build #670/32 Blank Short lists cannot happen any more

Build #670/32 Archive takes .SVA.ZIP as from Web Download

Build #670/32 Driver command "Error: -1" display fixed

Build #669/32 Closing last Run-time GDW sometimes caused crash

Build #668/32 Alarm list 1 hour time difference fixed

Build #667/32 Upside-down bitmaps fixed; COM3/4 for Sprint Drive enabled; recipe Retries loop fixed

Build #664/32 Bar Chart [Font] crash, Align text-misalignment, Strategy Print for non-open screens 'adjusted'

Build #663/32 Bitmap Dragging problem

Build #662/32 Logging Enable on fly fixed, Bar Chart from bools fixed, DDE DP problem fixed

Build #661/32 Log file convert manual start time fixed. & Logging Enable anomaly sorted.

Build #660/32 Restore Invalid Filename bug

Build #659/32 Crash with Long Enums fixed & Bool Bar Charts GPF

Build #658/32 Masked Enum in Strategy DL & recipe send fixed

Build #657/32 Serious memory resource leak fixed & diagonal line drag fixed

Build #655/32 Align undo & bug fixed, Txt flyaway fixed. Trend jump ghost fixed

Build #654/32 Masked Enum on Strat & Color Dynamics

Build #653/32 Align Left/Top/Right/Bottom, Distribute evenly horiz&vert; Paper colour working again;

Build #653/32 Text font remember all over the place

Build #652/32 Ctrl-D on multiple objects allows limited group changes of scan rate, recipe level and format;

Build #652/32 Config refresh button

Build #649/32 Strategy Close & Exits all delayed until OnEndPrinting via AutoPrintBusy

Build #648/32 LineWriter edit button added

Build #647/32 Object->LineColor in sv32.ini

Build #646/32 Date/ DateTime dialogs Line Writer String; IncludeNames stored in settings.ini

Build #645/32 Bug in logfile conversion where auto numbering not working if not in default directory

Build #644/32 Bug fix in LineWriter filename leaving '+';

Build #644/32 LineWriterDP overrides the DPs when Line Writing - it is in settings.ini and preferences;

Build #644/32 Logging Rate 0 now handled without having to set Logging Enabled to N;

Build #644/32 Run external program takes %%

Build #643/32 Trend win98 color prob fixed. Config mode "X" works. Passwd Minimize works

Build #641/32 Scrolling fixed & Trend B/W prob...& HR Replay HFILE prob & PortID Fixed

Build #640/32 Printing Fixed

Build #639/32 Archive/restore buglet

Build #633/32 Tooltips re-enabled.

Build #632/32 Auto Open fixes again, Logging timezone fixed.

Build #631/32 Auto Open First Scr fixed.  res leak?  PST Timezones fixed on HR

Build #630/32 HR Control panel Options button fixed. Logger GPF on convert fixed;

Build #630/32 Trend chart Auto-opem probs fixed again;

Build #630/32 Multiport loss of comms problem / channel swap problem fixed.

Build #629/32 Trend chart Auto-open problems fixed...?

Build #626/32 Div Zero on Var List in New Manual Config

Build #625/32 Prefs SETTINGS.INI bad Channel number stored dependence

Build #624/32 Log file conversion issues.

Build #622/32 Trend Chart local time problem & Prefs Log Rate

Build #620/32 No dongle timed out after 1.5 mins, not 20 mins as required.

Build #619/32 No IDF caused no SVVars in Show New

Build #618/32 Purge Log files now works properly. & Settings changes

Build #617/32 User Var Class bug sorted

Build #615/32 Preferences & speedup & Unique ID Scribble problem.

Build #612/32 IDF crash with recipe strings

Build #611/32 Color Dynamics in recipe & Multiple File Open/swap screens fixed.

Build #610/32 Dynamic Editing conflict Colour Dyn & Updowns fixed

Build #609/32 Printing 'fixed', many file open problems worked around

Build #605/32 Logfile Conversion uses threads, COM port unable to open

Build #603/32 DDE Poke Queue problem

Build #602/32 DDE Mem overwrite problem.

Build #601/32 PC3000 issues Japan & Text/rectangle group bug fixed

Build #599/32 4DP issues in Updown

Build 574 PC3000 DOS Tools Update bug fixed

Older Fixed things


Older Fixes

Build 574 PC3000 DOS Tools Update bug fixed

Build 572 Floating Point Invalid Bug fixed

Build 569 Non-critical Year 2000 file naming issue

Build 569 Replay of History over Midnight problem fixed

Build 569 Trend Chart rescale scaling factor problem fixed.

Build 566 Color Dynamics bug (2) fixed where different values used to alter same object

Build 565 Boolean copy to Real bug fixed

Build 565 Multiple Trend Chart Copy/Paste/Update bug fixed

Build 565 Color Dynamics bug fixed where different values used to alter same object

Build 654 Strategy Copy To on different Booleans Value mixup problem fixed

Build 564 Strategy Setup Event & Action Copy/Paste anomalies fixed

Build 564 Historical Replay GPF fixed

Build 563 Colour Dynamics Deleted User Var GPF fixes

Build 562 Strategy Controller Day of Week bug fixed

Build 561 Integer to Float conversion inconsistency fixed

Build 560 Spurious messages in recipe changed.

Build 559 Strategy 'Copy-To' button PFG fixed

Build 558 Time entry to milliseconds bug fixed

Build 557 Integer based bar Chart Values incorrect

Build 556 Recipe Level Delay of Zero now does not pause

Build 555 Recipe Send To anomalies fixed

Build 554 Variables List "User var" properties GPF fixed

Build 553 Spurious Dialog box on password login removed.

Build 553 Strategy.CSV crash problem if CSV file still open in Excel

Build 552 Changing the scaling of a variable was not always remembered.  Fixed.

Build 550 Log Format Blank Criteria Name bug fixed

Build 549 Color Dynamic screen-click GPF bug fixed

Build 548 DDE shutdown problem fixed

Build 547 Recipe Status Bools Bug fixed

Build 546 Strategy Bugs fixed

Build 545 Historical Replay freezeup fixed

Build 543 Strategy Controller Value Test Bug fixed - some events were not going off.

Build 542 Strategy Scaling bug fixed

Build 541 Password system bug fixed

Build 540 Strategy Event Time based Enable on Boolean true bug fixed

Build 538 Parameter list scroll/flip back to top bug fixed (!)

Build 537 Log Format Delete button now works

Build 537 User variables can now be deleted - see here for details

Build 536 PC3000 Sequence recipe Sequence bug fixed

Build 534 Edit->Copy & Edit->Paste bug fixed

Build 532 PC3000 Strategy Controller Copy Bug Fixed

Build 531 Strategy Controller Copy/Paste Bug fixed

Build 531 Yokogawa Green Value Write GPF bug fixed

Build 526 PC3000 Sequence recipe  < 0% GPF bug fixed

Build 526 "Choose.." button 'Select' GPF fixed

Build 526 Year 2000 Compliant

Build 524 Strategy Controller Variable Based Events with Enums bug fixed

Build 518 Time Based Strategy Events did not respond to Enable on Boolean True

Build 516 Multiple Log file conversion Bug fixed

Build 515 Function Key GPF fixed

Build 513 Historical Replay of deleted variables GPF fixed

Build 512 IDF update bug fixed; 'Choose' var list resize GPF fixed

Build 511 Copy and Math function type conversions documented.

Build 511 Date and DateTime "Changed" Strategy Event Fixed.  See note.

Build 511 Divide by Zero protected against in math functions

Build 511 SpecView DateTime comparisons failed in Strategy Controller

Build 510 PC3000 Bool Senses Bug2 Fixed - Update SIB file required

Build 509 Minimize window with locked controls bug fixed

Build 508 IDF Files automatically updated

Build 508 "Recipe 5 items or less" bug fixed

Build 508 PC3000 Bool Senses Bug Fixed - Update SIB file required

Build 505 Bug Fixes

Build 504 Event Log Conversion GPF fixed

Build 503 Parameter List/ Variables List GPF Fixed

Build 502 Log Report Filenames bug fixed

Build 501 System slowdown fixed

Build 497 Blank string logging bug fixed

Build 493 Historical Replay ("Could not write xxx file") bug fixed

Build 482 Exit Button not working bug fixed

Build 481 Historical Replay Termination GPF fixed.

Build 468 Bug In PC3000 SIB File Update Mechanism fixed.  Important Note!

Build 479 String Recipe Variable "y" bug fixed

Build 479 Password menu bar changes fixed

Build 478 String Recipe Variable GPF fixed

Build 478 String Entry box Auto Close was not working, fixed.

Build 477 Password Resource Leak fixed

Build 476 SpecView Variable confusion fixed.

Build 475 Bar charts driven over their upper range could empty.  Fixed.

Build 475 Recipe mode value edit boxes now Auto-close.

Build 475 Variables list did not remember position & size if not closed before runtime.

Build 474d PC3000 Update bug fixed

Build 474d Very long recipe names could cause a crash - Fixed.

Build 474d Printer problems sometimes caused SpecView to ignore the dongle. - fixed

Build 474d Recipe Save-As box could disappear if mis-clicked - fixed.

Build 474 Log file conversion across Midnight bug fixed

Build 473 Password menu bug fixed

Build 473 Current log file data 'invisible' while logging problem fixed

Build 473 Log File Convert / Historical Replay File List Missing file bug fixed

Build 473 Password Entry Box no longer hides

Build 473 Recipe Read Only allowed altered values to be downloaded - Fixed.

Build 473 Alarm Status non-refresh problem fixed

Build 472 Password level 1 display bug fixed

Build 469 Bug causing intermittent disappearing buttons fixed.

Build 466 Trend Chart Auto Start Decimal Place Bug Fixed

Build 466 Title Bar Screen Corruption Fixed

Build 466 Text Attributes "0pt" font size bug fixed.

Build 463 Password Config Access & Users must be defined before passwords are enabled

Build 463 Auto Start GDW order bug when Passwords enabled is fixed

Build 462 Recipe Bad Values Fix

Build 461 Missing Variable name in recipe mode Variable box fixed

Build 460 Decimal Places in converted Log Files  incorrect

Build 460 Boolean Edit box did not display current value after change.

Build 459 Trend Chart Delete Pen bug fixed

Build 458 Fixes to improve speed of Parameter List Update on Long lists

Build 456 PC3000 SIB file update bugs fixed.

Build 455 Variety of bugs related to loading non-GDW files and empty files fixed.

Build 455 Bug with Config Evaluation mode instrument views fixed.

Build 454 Data Entry box bugs fixed.

Build 453 Variables list Page up/down scrolling problem.

Build 453 PC3000 Microcell new format Sib File reader fixed.

Build 453 PC3000 Shortlist / Full Names toggle fixed

Build 453 Blank Polygon Bug fixed

Build 452 Recipe Bug  Fixed

Build 449 Trend Chart Printing bug  fixed

Build 447 Password Bug Fixes

Build 445 Various Bug Fixes

Build 444 Converted Log File CSV headings altered

Build 442 Added Overwrite Prompt when replacing old Configs

Build 440 Reduced Configuration Save Time (See Important Note)

Build 440 Log Report shows Boolean Values

Build 439 Recipe Strings bug fixed

Build 439 DDE Poke anomaly fixed

Build 439 Button creation GPF fixed

Build 438 TZ Environment variable dependency removed

Build 437 AutoBuild GDW box was greyed on PortProtocol.

Build 437 EI Bisync Driver bug fixed, Timeouts badly handled.

Build 435 Page Printing Scaled Correctly.

Build 435 Bar chart Cancel/Reopen GPF fixed.

Build 433 ShortList/FullNames confusion fixed

Build 433 Incorrect drive bug fixed after object load from alternate drive

Build 432 Status Line updates in recipe mode

Build 431 Divide By Zero after First Install

Build 431 Log Report Format default fixed

Build 431 PC3000 refresh SIB log setting facility

Build 431 Date format of Log Format Setup Dialog fixed

Build 431 Date format inside Excel Sheets not optimal

Build 431 Rename Instrument COM port now shows all ports

Build 429 Serious bug in Trend Re-scale at runtime fixed.

Build 429 Object Text Font Attributes now remembered


Older Features

Build 575 Changes to allow operation with the System Driver under Windows NT and Windows2000

Build 572 Abs / Max / Min Math Functions added

Build 571 Recipe Retry Mechanism implemented

Build 567 Strategy Controller test for Comms Error & Comms OK

Build 550 Alarm Popup Window Disable Facility

Build 550 Variables List Position Reset Facility

Build 542 Log File Conversion Numbering Altered

Build 537 Additional Trend Chart rates.

Build 535 Strategy Controller "Enable on Boolean" enhanced

Build 530 Year 2000 Compliant

Build 524 Color Dynamics added - file formats changed:

Configurations saved with Build 524 and higher will not load into earlier versions of SpecView.

Build 521 PC3000 Microcell Sequence Recipes Supported

Build 517 Dynamic Attribute Variable Change Supported

Build 514 Transparent Bar Charts  - file formats changed:

Build 509 Application Specific Help Hook Removed

Build 507 Countdown Timers

Build 505 F1 help and Help Buttons improved

Build 501 Number of recipes per screen increased from 255 to 1295

Build 500 Alarm List Conversion

Build 499 Strategy Controller   Aids in Debugging Strategy here.

Build 480 Function Key support for Buttons

Build 475 SpecView variables

Build 475 Event Logging

Build 472 Recipe 'Get From File' automated  &  Recipe Send To

Build 471 Trend Chart Cursors  &  Trend chart scale/reassign at runtime.

Build 467 Timeout and Retry-Count Control & Driver Characterization Commands

Build 466 "G" and "U" keys now Group and Ungroup.  Old "G" for grid re-assigned to Ctrl-G

Build 464 Parity Support Note: RKC and ModBus Parity Defaults changed !

Build 462 Instrument and Driver Specific Help

Build 461 Recipe Download Auto Skip

Build 461 Status Bar can be hidden at RunTime. See SETTINGS.INI

Build 460 Historical Replay

Build 455 Important Note Regarding Recipes!

Build 453 PC3000 Microcell & DOS Tools program update  facility

Build 446 Passwords

Build 438 DDE

Build 475 Manufacturer Grouping of Instrument Templates

Build 475 More Button Attributes

Build 475 Log File Conversion Extensions

Build 474 Exit SpecView button Attribute

Build 453 PC3000 DOS Tools  support

Build 453 PC3000 Shortlist & Short Name  Support

Build 453 PC3000 Renaming & GID Changing  In SpecView  Configs

Build 451 Trend Chart Auto Print

Build 449 Recipe Download Skip/Abort on Error

Build 449 Recipe Levels extended

Build 449 Recipe Level Delay

Build 443 Scaling of values

Build 443 Short List Management

Build 443 Properties of parameters can be changed easily

Build 442 Multiple Auto Start GDWs at runtime

Build 441 Remote Customer Updating Enabled

Build 446 Recipe Read Only

Build 444 SpecView-Auto now allows access to Config Mode

Build 436 Config mode lockout at runtime

Build 433 Bar Charts

CommsBackoff mechanism

Alarms including manual PC3000 setup

Variables List Position remembered

Deletion of Instruments from Database

Justification of dynamic text items altered

Trend chart scale/reassign at runtime.

COM Port Tester

Trend Chart facilities

Var List Check Box Logging Options

UpDown Num Buttons Work

Parameter List

Position Dependant Dialogs

Boolean 'Up Down'  (Also Read/Modify/Write)

Instrument View Bitmap Buttons

Single/Double Click for values

Buttons (Also GDW Swap)


Known Bugs

Grading:

FATAL means you will lose something and this must be fixed.

SERIOUS means it should be fixed because it is a major annoyance.

Confusing means that it can be confusing for the user.  Should be fixed.

Trivial means that it might not need to be fixed since it does not affect anything really.

***FATAL***: 	Don't Ctrl-Drag Instrument views around !  Always re-instantiate from VarList.

**SERIOUS**:	Up Down Box does not handle -ve numbers very well.

**SERIOUS**:	Grid behaves oddly if GDW window is scrolled and/or grid size is changed.

**SERIOUS**:	Trend Chart Attributes of color are not correctly saved if edited at run-time. (Build 427)

**SERIOUS**:	Use of DateTime variables to aid with Log File Conversion Start and Stop times will not work correctly unless the DateTime variable is on a GDW somewhere.

**SERIOUS**:	Do not apply scale and offset to SpecView user variables - the scale/offset will be re-applied each time SpecView goes into run-time, altering the value

*Trivial*:	Buttons at Config time tend to stay pushed sometimes.

*Trivial*:	Buttons when grouped behave oddly when moved or resized, but this is only temporary and stops when the move/resize is finished.

Back to Contents page.


Splash Screen

This is just a simple bitmap - it can contain anything you want.  The '3D look'  is just shading using colors, all can be replaced.

You can view the spash on demand from the "Help Menu".

Back to Contents page.


SPECVIEW.INI

Contains several setup items, has been superceded by Preferences Dialog

Click on an item for help on it.

[Settings]

PreviewPages=1

NAValue=XXX

ConfigTimeout=30

SingleClickAlter=1

FullNames =1

ShortList =0

ListFont=Arial

ListFontSize=9

RecipeSelectIsInvert=N

ShowNameOnMove=Y

BlankValue=[  ]

StartMaximized=No

ShowAlmChecks=N

ShowLogChecks=N

DisableInvalidPorts=N

[LOGGING]

Rate=60

Enabled=Y

[ALARM]

Rate=5

Enabled=Y

[CONFIG]

DefaultConfigPath=AUTO

AutoUpdateParamLists=Y

[RUNTIME]

GDWRefreshRateTenths=4

ScanRateLow=100

ScanRateMedium=20

ScanRateHigh=10

ScanRateUltraHigh=5

AutoCloseNumEdit=0

AutoCloseBoolEdit=1

[DDE]

ApplicationName=SpecView

VariableTopic=var

[DONGLE]

PORT=1

TIMING=0

When a config has been defined, some appropriate values appear inside the SETTINGS.INI file for the given config - i.e. Some settings above are the defaults for new configurations.

Back to Contents page.


SETTINGS.INI

This file exists in the individual configuration's directory (because there is a different one for each config).

Superceded by Preferences Dialog

It is initialized from the SPECVIEW.INI file and contains:

[COMMS]

Baud8=9600	- Baud rate for each COM port used, COM8: in this case;

Baud1=38400	- and COM1: here.  These settings can be changed using the

- Port Setup mechanism inside of SpecView

Parity1=Driver	- Parity Settings Left to Driver to determine

Parity2=8N1	- Overrides driver on COM2: to 8 None 1

Parity3=7E1	- Overrides driver on COM3: to 7 Even 1

Parity4=7M2	- Overrides driver on COM4: to 7 Mark 2

Command5=T=2;R=1	- Driver Commands  to Control Timeout and Retries

-  and other driver things on COM5:

[LOGGING]

Rate=60	- Rate that logging occurs at (seconds)

Enabled=Y	- Logging enabled or disabled (N)

LastReportGen=827176468	- Last log report generated

[ALARM]

Rate=5	- Alarm scan rate (seconds)

Enabled=Y	- Alarm system active

EnablePopup=Y	- Alarm Window pops up automatically

[RUNTIME]

GDWRefreshRateTenths=4	- In tenths of a sec, minus one!

ScanRateLow=100	- In Tenths

ScanRateMedium=20	- In Tenths

ScanRateHigh=10	- In Tenths

ScanRateUltraHigh=5	- In Tenths

AutoCloseNumEdit=0

AutoCloseBoolEdit=1

CommsBackoffMultiplier=20

DisableConfigAccess=0	- 0 for no restriction, 1 to Disable Config.

RecipeLevelDelayTenths=5

HideStatusBar=N	- Hides Status Bar at runtime if set to "Y"

RecipeRetries=1	- Sets number of retries on a recipe download

[STARTUP]

LastActiveGDW=xxx.GDW	- Last active GDW

DefaultGDW=xxx.GDW	- GDW set as the First Startup GDW

[Settings]	- Various Window placement settings

[AUTOSTART]	- The names of all the GDW's set to autostart

GDW1=xxx

GDW2=xxx

 [HISTORY]

CPUReplayLoading=8	- CPU Load Factor

AutoPauseShortTrend=N	- Set to Y to cause the shortest trend to Auto-Pause  Historical Replay

AutoPauseLongTrend=N	- Set to Y to cause the longest trend to Auto-Pause Historical Replay

ReplayRate=-1	- Replay Rate, one of:  1, 10, 60, 120, 240, -1  	  -1 Means Max

Back to Contents page.


Runtime / Config Modes

There are now distinct Config and Runtime Modes.  Runtime Mode is the default. See Auto Online

Run Time mode has:

-	A Live Connection

-	No Editing of Objects

-	A Different menu

-	Status Bar indication of what you have clicked on

-	Double Click access to the UpDown box

-	Button swapping between GDWs

-	No Toolbar

Swap between them with "Enter Runtime" and "Configuration..."  from the File Menu.

Back to Contents page.


Buttons

Buttons are now fully functional with respect to drawing, moving, grouping etc.

Double clicking a button in Config Mode alters it's attributes.

Buttons can be: Swap, Recipe, Log,  Alarm, Exit

The only ones that work are Swap and Exit.

 See GDW Swap

Back to Contents page.


GDW Swap via Buttons

Two types of swapping are supported:

1)	Swap without close - this leaves the current GDW running at full speed in the background

2)	Swap with close - this closes down completely the GDW you are swapping FROM.  If you swap back, it has to be re-opened.

Note that the Combo Box for the name of the GDW that you will swap *to* unusual, because although it has the names of existing GDW's in it, you can type in the name of one that does not exist - this allows you to create a 'swap-to', then create the new GDW without having to return to the old one to add the swap in.

Consequently, it's not an auto-drop down box, and is blank by default.

Back to Contents page.


Saving The Config

The config  (i.e. the defined instruments plus some setup stuff) is saved (provided that it has changed) on these occasions:

On saving any GDW

On Entering RunTime Mode

Back to Contents page.


Auto-Online

From the Configs Box, Auto-Online works.  In fact - the only ways to get Config Mode are:

1)	Exit Runtime to Config mode once you are online

2)	Scan Comms for New Config

3)	Create new Config.

4)	Hold down the SHIFT key when pressing the "Go Online now" button.

The GDW that starts up is the one marked as "Set As Startup GDW" from the File Menu, or, if that has not been done, then it is the last GDW that was looked at in Config mode.

Back to Contents page.


Boolean 'Up Down'

The Boolean equivalent of the Up Down box.  The only unusual thing is the "Auto Close" checkbox.  When checked, the Bool Up Down box will close itself when you choose one or other of the new values.  The setting of the "Auto Close" checkbox is 'sticky' - so whatever it is set at one time, it will re-appar the next time like that.  It's actually stored in SPECVIEW.INI

Values are written using Read-Modify-Write methods.

Back to Contents page.


Instrument View Bitmap Buttons

Instrument views now have Bitmapped buttons on them for Auto/Manual, Parameter and Up/Down.

Back to Contents page.


Read Modify Write

Boolean writes (such as the bits of the status word - Auto/Manual) are done using a read-modify-write mechanism inside the lowest level of the Comms  driver.  The r-m-w cycle thus takes precedence over any other pending read or write requests through the driver.


Single/Double click for Values

Control over whether a single or double click is required to modify parameters is now controlled by a setting in SPECVIEW.INI  See 'SingleClickAlter' in that topic for more details.

Back to Contents page.


Settings NAValue

What is shown when comms fails.  Can be an printable or non printable characters, no limits!


Settings Config Timeout

Amount of time that the Configs box stays up before automatically going online.


Settings single click alter

Set to 1 for Single clicks, 2 for double clicks to alter a value on the GDW.  Config mode is always double click.


Config Default Path

The config that will be automatically entered at startup.  This directory should exist !


RunTime AutoClose

Set to 1 for automatic close of Value Edit box when new value is chosen, or 0 for remain open. This setting affects the "Auto Close" checkbox and is re-written by that checkbox.


Dongle Port

Port Specifier for Sentinel Scribe Dongle:

1 = LPT1:

2 = LPT2:

3 = LPT3:

Other values are the actual port address in decimal - for example, 03BC would be 956.


Dongle Timing

0 for Auto-Timing, any other value for fixed timing (1..65535)  The smaller values may cause infrequent read errors from the Dongle.


Dongle Is Checked For

A physical Dongle is now checked for.  There are corresponding control items in SPECVIEW.INI for non-standard port setups.

If a physical dongle is not found, then SpecView will run in evaluation mode for 21 days.

Back to Contents page.


Groups for Instr Views are not editable

Instrument views are not editable by the user (i.e. they cannot be ungrouped or altered)


RAD Only Menu disabled

Only I can use most of the items on the RAD menu.  (My Dongle is setup slightly differently to yours - this triggers the menu items).


Parameter Box

Completed in it's initial phase.

It pops up to the right or left of the instrument, has short or long names and double-click to edit a line.


Position Dependant Dialogs

Some dialog boxes are position dependant - UpDown / BoolUpDown / ParameterList


UpDown number buttons work

Self explanitory!


Settings FullNames

Whether Full Names are to be used by default for VarList and TrendPen.

1 = FullNames, 0 = Mnemonics only


Settings ShortList

Whether Short List View is to be used by default for VarList and TrendPen.

1 = ShortList, 0 = Long List


Settings ListFont

ListFont is the font to use, eg Arial

ListFontSize is the size.

'Normal' size is Arial, 9


Var List Check Box Log Options

In the Var List, each defined instrument & Parameter has a check box by it's side.

For a parameter, this indicates whether the parameter is to be logged.  By default, some items will already be checked due to the EBI files from SVCONFIG having the default log bit set.

Toggling these check boxes will alter the state on a parameter by parameter basis.

The check boxes on the instrument lines indicate:

White (Not checked) - No parameters of this instrument are logged

Checked - All parameters of this instrument are logged

Grey (Not Checked) - Some parameters are logged - expand the level to see them.

Clicking on the instrument check box will similarly check or uncheck all of the parameters of that instrument.

Back to Contents page.


Trend Chart Config mode

All items are setup for Config mode, except these little bugs:

1) If you add a pen, but do not select a variable, and choose OK rather than cancel, then you will likely screw it all up !

2) There is no support for any data types other than Floats and Bools, so do not try to trend the thermocouple parameter (an Enum)

3) There is no checking of the min/max values at present.  You can enter garbage and it will probably bite you later on.

Back to Contents page.


Com Port Tester

If you are having trouble with a COM port, choose "Manual Configuration" from the startup screen and then from the Main SpecView menu, Choose "PC3000"->"Check COM: Port...".  This will tell you the underlying Windows Reason why a comms port cannot be used. (And why it is greyed out on the Ports & Protocols box).

Back to Contents page.


Trend Chart Rescale/Reassign at Run Time

Trend charts may now be edited in Run Time mode.  Click in the upper right corner of the chart to get the same box as used for Config Mode.  All options may be used, including:

Adding and Deleting pens

Editing existing pens to change scale / color

Changing the time-base of the chart

Changing the scale of a pen does not cause the chart to lose it's existing data.

Re-scaling the Time axis may cause slight loss of trend data, depending on the old and new times chosen.

Back to Contents page.


Deletion of Instruments from Database

Instruments may now be deleted from the Configuration Database.

To delete an instrument,  double click on the instrument name in the Variables List and choose the "Delete" button.

Note that items on GDW's, Trends, Recipes and Logs will not be able to be altered or 'used' when the instrument that created them is deleted.  In particular, a stored recipe that includes a deleted item will bring up a warning when it is re-loaded.

Use with caution.

Back to Contents page.


Serious bug in Trend Re-scale at runtime fixed

When using the Trend Chart Re-Scale options at run time, under certain circumstances, it was seen that some other items on the GDW were affected (most often causing a freezing of some values).

This bug has been fixed.


Object Text Font Attributes now remembered

The Text Font attributes set using the Object Menu item are now properly used for all future text items placed on a GDW.

Previously the Font and Italic/Bold settings were not remembered.

Thanks both To and From Russ for that !  :-)


Justification of dynamic text items altered

GDW Dynamic Text items with a name are put down with the name Right justified and the value Left Justified.

GDW Dynamic Text items without a name are put down Right justified.

Previously, value-only items were left justified.


Rename Instrument COM port now shows all ports

When changing the address or COM port of an instrument (via the  Variables List), only ports COM1: thru COM4: were listed.  Now all the available ports are shown.  In an instrument has been assigned to a port that is no longer available, then a warning message is shown to indicate that the port should be changed before the instrument can be used on this computer.


Log Report Format default fixed

When choosing a Log Report Format, the defaut format was not remembered for next time.  Fixed.


More alarms plus minor bug fixes

Alarms are now done except for the historical re-loading.

Bugs fixed are listed in the Bug Section on the contents page.


Variables List Position remembered

The position of the variables list is now remembered from one invocation to another.  Memory for all other Dialog boxes will follow along shortly !


Date Format on Log Report Setup Screen Fixed

The date format on the Log Report Setup Screen was previously fixed to European Standard (D/M/Y).  This has been adjusted to use the Window's International date format for D/M/Y or M/D/Y or Y/M/D.


Date Format in Generated Log Reports not understood by Excel

The previous date format contained in the CSV log reports was:

Mon March 18, 1996 19:18:00

MS Excel interpreted this as a label rather than a date.

The format has been changed to

3/18/96 19:18:00

but it does use the International Date format.

Excel now recognises this field as a date/time field and it's format can be altered after importing by using Excel's Format->Cells menu items.


Alarms

Alarm support has now been added.  For discrete instruments, the alarm setup has been defined already, so the alarms should work without any further user intervention.  For PC3000 installations, the alarm settings must be defined manually.  (See here for details)

When an alarm occurs, the "* NEW ALARMS *" window appears.  It's size and position may be altered and this is remembered.  When alarms are Acknowledged, the list flips into the "Alarm History" mode, showing all alarms in chronological order, most recent first.

The "Alarm History" window may be viewed at any point during Run Time by choosing the Alarms Menu item.

Note: Currently, the Alam History is reset when Run-Time Mode is entered.  Previous alarm activity is lost.  This functionality will be revised later.


PC3000 Log and Alarm saving

Previously, when re-importing a SIB file for the PC3000, the log state information was lost.  Now that Alarms are also similarly 'lost', there is a mechanism for saving this data.  Follow this procedure:

In the OLD config (old SIB file), before you finish using it, choose the "PC3000"->"Save Log + Alarm info" menu item.

This creates a file in the current CONFIG directory called LA.DAT.

When you have created or re-read the new SIB file config, copy this LA.DAT file into the newly updated config directory and choose the "PC3000"->"Load Log + Alarm info" menu item.

This will set the log and alarm states for the same parameters that were in the old SIB file.

Save the config afterwards


Manual Alarm Definition

To add or remove individual items from the Alarm system, Choose "Show Alarm in Variables List" from the "Database" menu.  This will cause the Variables List (if showing) to have check-boxes for the variables to be checked for alarms.  Only Boolean parameters may be selected for alarm checking.

Alarm scan rate may be changed (at present) only by editing SETTINGS.INI.  Also, if you wish to temporarily turn off all alarms, SETTINGS.INI contains a setting for this too.


Divide By Zero after First Install

Using all previous builds (430 and lower) it is (was) possible to get a Divide By Zero Error when entering Run Time mode after a new install on a machine that had not had SpecView on it before.

Build #431 and above will 'deal' with the root cause of the problem, but will not fixup currently busted configs.

The problem is that on the very first install of SpecView on a new machine, SpecView Build 429 and earlier incorrectly initialized some values in SPECVIEW.INI (In the windows directory).  Whenever a new config is created, the values in SPECVIEW.INI are used as 'default defaults' for the SETTINGS.INI. that is in the config directory.  SETTINGS.INI is also therefore incorrectly setup, and it's this that crashes SpecView when entering Run Time mode.

The workaround is two-fold for now:

1)	Take a look in SPECVIEW.INI and replace all the occurences of:

"RAD NULE:7"

with the correct things.

2) 	Visit each SETTINGS.INI in the busted configs and set those values to the correct things.

What are the correct things ?  Take a look in any config on any machine that works, and you will see!

Once SPECVIEW.INI has been setup correctly on any given computer, then all subsequent SETTINGS.INI will be OK.  (Which is why Build #431 fixes it for all new configs, but not for existing busted ones.)

Note that Build #430 also suffers from a partial re-ocurrence of this problem.

Back to Contents page.


Bar Charts

Bar charts may be put down using the Bar Chart tool.

Notes:

Bar Charts can only chart REAL / Float Values

If comms is lost, the Bar Chart unfills and removes any value (if present)

Back to Contents page.


RecipeSelectIsInvert

Y or N

Controls whether recipe items are Bordered by a black border or are totally inverted.

Note that the Invert mode may be difficult to see on some backgrounds...whereas the border mode may be difficult to see in some tables.


ShowNameOnMove

Y or N

Controls whether to show the name of a variable when moving the mouse over the value when in recipe mode.


BlankValue

This setting is used for String types when the String returned from the controller is blank - this allows easy clicking on the blank value to enter a String.  Suggested values are:

[ ]

or

<Empty String>


StartMaximized

Y or N

Controls the maximized state of the initial window and all GDWs inside.


ShowAlmChecks

Y or N

Shows the Alarm Check boxes in the Variables list


ShowLogChecks

Y or N

Shows the Logging Check boxes in the Variables list


DisableInvalidPorts

Y or N

This controls whether individual ports on the Port/Protocol box are disabled if missing.  If this setting is "Y", then unavailable ports will not be allowed for selection.


GDWRefreshRateTenths

This setting controls the rate at which the entire GDW is refreshed.  The value is in 1/10ths of a second and is specified as one LESS than the desired rate.

For example, a setting of 4 (the default) means 5/10ths of a second, or twice a sec.

This setting should always be less than the fastest of any of the Scan rates in use at the time, otherwise the values will not be painted on the screen quickly enough for a fast response.

Minimum value is 0 (Zero).


Scan Rates

These settings control what is meant by the different rates of scanning of values.

Each rate is in 1/10th of a second.

Foe example:

ScanRateLow=100  means 10 seconds

ScanRateMedium=20 means 2 seconds

ScanRateHigh=10 means 1 secons

ScanRateUltraHigh=5 means twice a second.

Minimum value is 1


Technical Support

Technical Support can be obtained by these methods:

Telephone Support in the USA, Canada and other countries not listed below.

Telephone support in the UK.

Telephone support in Europe.

Electronic Support (E-Mail + Web)


USA Contact Numbers

Telephone:  (360) 437-5100

Fax: (360) 437-5112

If dialling from outside the USA & Canada, the country code is (+1)

Timezone details: PST


UK Contact Numbers

Telephone: (01825) 766566

Fax: (01825) 766966

Timezone details: GMT


Europe Contact Numbers

Telephone: (+44) 1825 766566

Fax: (+44) 1825 766966

Timezone details: GMT


Internet Support

Sales and other non-technical Enquiries in the USA:  sales@specview.com

Sales and other non-technical Enquiries in Europe:  sales-europe@specview.com

Technical Support:  support@specview.com

World Wide Web page: http://www.specview.com/


Page printing scaled correctly

Previous to Build 435, attempting to use "File"->"Print" would result in a very small printout on most printers.  This has been fixed.

Note that Buttons do not print out on paper.


Config mode lockout at runtime

Config mode may be disabled by setting the "DisableConfigAccess" setting in the SETTINGS.INI file of the required directory.  The SHIFT-GoOnline mechanism still functions as before.


Comms Backoff Mechanism

This mechanism comes into play when variables stop appearing over comms.  For each variable that comes back in an error state (usually because the instrument as a whole is turned off or missing), this setting is used to slow down the rate of requesting.

The normal rate of scanning is slowed down by the factor given.

By slowing down the requesting of variables that are no longer requested, this means that the Comms Engine is not spending excessive amounts of time re-trying parameters that it will never get.

Setting a Backoff of 1 in SETTINGS.INI will cause no backoff to happen.


DDE

Introduction to SpecView DDE

SpecView DDE Restrictions

Getting data from SpecView DDE  and  Example of getting data

Setting data into SpecView DDE  and  Examples of setting data


Introduction to SpecView DDE

The SpecView DDE Server allows the retrieval and setting of Instrument parameters across the Windows DDE Interface.

The SpecView DDE Interface is somewhat unorthodox in it's implementation due to practical considerations:

Normally, a DDE server would 'register' a whole set of topics and items for which conversations can be transacted.  For SpecView, this would mean that each and every variable in the SpecView Variables List would have to be registered, and furthermore, each one would have to be requested over the comms link to supply any DDE Client that happened along.  This is clearly infeasable.  Consequently:

The SpecView DDE Server registers no variables by default - nor does it request anything from the comms.  When a DDE request comes in from a DDE Client, if it is the name of a variable or parameter that SpecView understands, then that variable begins to be requested over comms.  In the meantime, SpecView must have answered back to the DDE Client to allow the client to continue processing. SpecView can only answer back that the request succeeded - even if the instrument is down or the comms link has failed - this is because it could be up to 3 or 4 seconds before the comms engine knows (due to re-tries etc) that the variable is not online.

Return to DDE help topics


DDE Application Name

This setting defines the name that the SpecView DDE Server registers when SpecView starts.

Although you can choose anything for the application name, it is recommended that this setting be left as " SpecView" because some DDE clients facilitate the starting of the DDE Server by name - in the case of SpecView, this name must be " SpecView" so that SPECVIEW.EXE can be run in these situations.


DDE Topic Name

This setting defines the topic for which SpecView's DDE Server will 'listen' for requests for real time data on.

By default it is set to "Var", meaning "variables".

The fixed "Status" topic is not affected by this setting.


DDE Status Topic

There are 3 items that SpecView registers for DDE under the "Status" topic:

LastError	The last reason for failure of a DDE request.

ErrorItem	The item that caused the above failure

PokeStatus	The running Status of the current (or last) poke command.

Note that the case of the requests is significant (unlike the variables).

Examples:

1)	Suppose a request is made for "Specview|var!ANameThatDoes.NotExist".

This will cause 'LastError' to be set to "Unknown Variable" and

'ErrorItem' to be set to "ANameThatDoes.NotExist".

2)	A DDEPoke request to set a setpoint above the Setpoint High Limit for that particular instrument might result in the final PokeStatus being "Write Error 18023".


SpecView DDE Restrictions

For reasons explained in the Introduction to DDE, SpecView only supports the getting of data using the DDE Advise (or 'Hot' Link method).

DDE Request is not supported for one-off conversations.

Data can be Set into Instruments using the DDEPoke mechanism.

DDEExecute is not supported.

The CF_TEXT format is the only format supported by SpecView.  All data is sent as this 'string' form.

SpecView must be Online and showing a GDW for DDE Server activity.  If the SpecView is taken out of RunTime mode, then all DDE links are terminated.

SpecView DDE can support multiple simultaneous clients, requesting the same data items, and at different speeds.

Return to DDE help topics


Getting data from SpecView DDE

SpecView supports the DDE Advise mechanism for supplying DDE Clients with data.  (See restrictions).

See the DDE Read Example

SpecView listens on the "var" topic (or that setup by the user in SPECVIEW.INI) for an item that is the name of the variable you want to read.  The format of the item is:

Instrument <dot> parameter <comma> rate(optional)

All items are case INsensitive, and the parameter can be either the short or long name of the parameter.

The rate can be omitted, in which case 'medium' is assumed, or can be specified as M,L,H or U, meaning Medium, Low, High, Ultra-High rate.  The actual rate used depends on the settings for the config.

For example:

Zone1.pv	Gets process value at medium rate

Zone1.Process Val	The same

Zone1.PV,m	The same

zOnE1.PROCess VAL,M	Still the same !

Zone1.PV,U	Gets the PV at the Ultra High Rate.

When a request for a new variable comes in via the DDEAdvise mechanism, it is checked by SpecView to see that the variable exists.  If it does exist, then SpecView begins to request that variable over comms and from then on supplies the Client with the data at the given rate (or faster), until the Client signals that data is no longer required.  If the variable does not exist, then the SpecView DDE Status information reflects this.

Note that due to the potentially long startup time of any given request, a blank answer is sent back to the DDE Client first.  Thus, the very first item of data from SpecView should be ignored for each new item that is requested.

In the event of comms errors or missing instruments, no data is sent across DDE.

Return to DDE help topics


Setting data into SpecView DDE

Data can be sent down to the Instrument using the DDEPoke command.

See the DDEPoke Examples

Due to the fact that (A) there can be a significant time delay before the data is sent, and (B) the data may not be accepted by the instrument (over-range etc), the SpecView DDE Server reports back immediate;y that the DDEPoke succeeded.  It is the responsibility of the Client to only make one Poke request at any time.

The Status of the write process is reflected in the SpecView DDE Status Information.  This DDE items can have one of the following values:

•	Idle

•	Writing

•	Written

•	Write Error X

When a Client makes a DDE Poke request, it should monitor the PokeStatus item.  This will be changed as the state changes.  The Client will only know that the Poke request actually gave data to the instrument if the PokeStatus shows "Written".  If "Write Error X" is shown, then the write failed for the reason given.

'Idle' is shown before the very first Poke request is actioned, and never afterwards (because "Written" or "Write Error" is shown after any Poke.

Data is sent to SpecView using the CF_TEXT format, and SpecView formats it to the correct type depending on the variable prior to sending.  This may or may not require more or less decimal places for numbers that is supplied. SpecView will add or truncate  as necessary, so it is always best to send the full resolution to be written.

Return to DDE help topics


DDEPoke Examples

The following example shows just the Poke section of making a DDEPoke request - the client program should include code to monitor the status of the Poke using the Status Hot Links provided by the SpecView DDE Status Information

For Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access, a small piece of BASIC code is required to be written.

For Excel, a Macro (module) can be associated with a button (show me how to do this) and the following code assigned to that macro:

'This example uses 4 cells to define what and where to write to

Set appToPoke = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("B3")

Set topicToPoke = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("C3")

Set itemToPoke = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("D3")

Set valuetopoke = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("E3")

On Error Resume Next

Dim Chan

Chan = DDEInitiate(appToPoke, topicToPoke)

If Err Then

    Exit Sub

End If

DDEPoke Chan, itemToPoke, valuetopoke

If Err Then

    Exit Sub

End If

DDETerminate (Chan)

For Access, a button on a form can be used to cause a similar effect:

'This example assumes a small form with 4 input fields has been defined, and a button to call this.

On Error Resume Next

Dim Chan

Chan = DDEInitiate(Me![App], Me![Topic])

If Err Then

    Exit Sub

End If

DDEPoke Chan, Me![Item], Me![Value]

If Err Then

    Exit Sub

End If

DDETerminateAll

Return to DDE help topics


Setting up an Excel DDE Poke Example

1.	Open a new Sheet inside Excel

2.	Show the "Drawing" Toolbar

3.	Choose the "Button" tool from the Drawing Toolbar

4.	Draw out a button on the sheet

5.	When the "Assign Macro" dialog appears, choose "New Macro"

6.	Type in the example code from the previous help section

7.	Save the Macro

8.	Press your button to do the Poke!

Return to DDE help topics


DDE Read Example

An example of Excel reading some items from an Instrument called "Zone1" follow.

See the important note at the bottom of this section!

Type these formulas into cells on the Spreadsheet:

=SpecView|Status!LastError	To get the Error Reason in case of an error.

=SpecView|Status!ErrorItem	To get the Item for which the last error ocurred.

=SpecView|var!Zone1.pv	Get the Process Val at medium rate

=SpecView|var!Zone1.OP	Get the Output Power at medium rate

=SpecView|var!'Zone1.pv,h'	Get the PV at the high rate.  Note the quotes to allow Excel to not see the comma as part of some strange formula!

=SpecView|var!'Zone1.Output Power'	Get the OP, using it's full name.

Important note!

Since you are typing this into Excel as a formula, there are certain restrictions you must observe.  In particular, where the name of an Instrument or variable contains any character likely to affect Excel's formula engine, then the item must be enclosed in quotes so that Excel does not see it.  For Example, suppose (hypothetically) you had named an instrument  "Zone + 2".  If you just type in:

=SpecView|var!Zone + 2.pv

Then this is a formula that takes "SpecView|var!Zone" and adds two to it!

To get Excel to correctly read the formula, you need to put quotes in:

=SpecView|var!'Zone + 2.pv'

This applies particularly to the following cases:

"Output Power" - has a space.

"Auto/Manual" - has a slash - could be seen as a divide!

"inst.param,RATE" - the comma will confuse - so any time a rate is specified, use the quotes.

Return to DDE help topics


SpecView Write Errors

These error codes can be returned when attempting to write data to a parameter.

18000 Internal IDF Error - Seek advice from SpecView

18001 Address too long - Too many Characters in the address field

18002 Address too short - Not enough typed in

18003 Address is invalid for this Protocol

18004 Incorrect information after the comma

18005 Precision specification is incorrect

18006 Parity Error at Instrument end

18007 Rx Overflow on Instrument

18008 Rx Overrun at Instrument end

18009 Instrument message was corrupted

18010 Tx Buffer overflow at Instrument

18011 Instrument message was corrupted

18012 Parameter value was incorrect for this parameter

18013 Internal IDF Error - Seek advice from SpecView

18014 Rx Buffer overflow at Instrument

18015 Instrument message was corrupted

18016 Write to read only parameter

18017 Internal Instrument Error (Yokogawa) RJC error

18018 Internal Instrument Error A/D Convertor Failure

18019 Parameter value was incorrect for this parameter

18020 Parameter value was incorrect for this parameter

18021 Internal IDF Error - Seek advice from SpecView

18022 Rx Buffer overflow at Instrument

18023 Internal Instrument Error - Controller Busy

18024 Data Over Range

18025 Data Under Range

18026 Internal Instrument Error - Burn Out

18027 Internal Instrument Error - Unknown - Seek Advice

18028 Channel or Loop Number incorrect, or Internal IDF Error - Seek advice from SpecView

18029 CPU Number Invalid

18030 Operator Panel Address Invalid

18031 Invalid Delimiter

18032 Invalid Time To Live

18033 Read To Write Only Parameter

18034 Protocol Type Invalid

18035 Invalid Time


SpecView Error Codes

These are generic Error codes.  There are also Errors that apply specifically to writing variables to instruments.  They are listed here.

3	Timeout

10001	Cannot Open Comms - Port In use

10002	Cannot Open Comms - Port Setup Error

10003	Cannot Open Comms - Port Characteristics Error

10004	Failed Write

10005	Incorrect Baud Rate

10006	Cannot Initialize Windows Comms Subsystem

10007	Cannot Save Config

10008	Cannot Start System Timer

10009	Cannot find Directory

10010	Invalid Parameter

10011	Invalid Function

10012	Address Out of range

10013	Data Out of Range

10014	Parameter Write protected

10022	Cannot Find Required DLL

18000-18199 See this section

18200-18400 Protocol Specific Error Codes, details here

185XX Programmer Error Code for Segment number XX  e.g. 18524 is an error in segment 24


Address Specification

Choose the protocol from those below:

Eurotherm Bisync

Modbus

Yokogawa Green Series

Yokogawa UT15/27/38 Discrete Instruments

Yokogawa UT2400 & UT2800 Controllers

RKC Discrete Instruments

RKC SR Mini

West

FGH

Yokogawa HGM200

ERO TFS - see ModBus

Red Lion

Watlow   Anafaze Modbus - see ModBus

Honeywell UDC 3000 Modbus

Moore Instruments - see Modbus

Advantech Adam Modules

Anafaze/AB Protocol

Back to Contents page.


Anafaze/AB Protocol

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Note: Driver Supports BCC checksum only.  CRC mode is not supported

Format is:

AA,L,P

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal, 01 to 99

L:	Loop Number, 1 to 33 and 0 for the CPU view

P:	Precision, 0=0DP, 1=1DP, 2=2DP, 3=3DP

Examples:

01,1,1	Instrument 1, Loop1, 1DP

04,33,2	Instrument 4, Loop 33, 2DP

Driver Command Support:

This driver supports the following driver commands:

TTL=x	Set Time To Live to x tenths of a second, Eg TTL=5 means half of a second.

ED=y	Set Error Delay to y tenths of a second.

Also supported are the T and R commands for Timeout and Retry, see the Driver Command description for information.


Adam Modules

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal, 00 to 99

Examples:

00

31

The driver automatically determines the checksum status of the modules.

Driver Command Support:

This driver supports the following driver commands:

TTL=x	Set Time To Live to x tenths of a second, Eg TTL=5 means half of a second.

Also supported are the T and R commands for Timeout and Retry, see the Driver Command description for information.


Honeywell UDC 3000 Modbus

This protocol uses the standard ModBus driver, however there is a problem related to writing to this instrument-the instrument issues busy replies to read requests for a short time after a write has occurred.  This means that the ModBus driver command ECR=5 is required for all Honeywell instruments using the SpecView ModBus driver.

Details of the ModBus addressing and driver commands can be found here.


Watlow

Note: Driver defaults to 7 Databits, Odd Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Watlow Controllers must be set to ANSI X3.28 protocol, NOT the XON/XOFF protocol.  See below for details

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal, 00 to 31

Examples:

00

31

Protocol Setup:

For the Series 988 Controllers, refer to page 3.2 of "Data Communications with the Watlow Series 988 Family of Controllers", Document number "W98F-XUMN Rev A02", reproduced below:

Set the Protocol to "FULL".  Do not set "On" or "Mod"


Red Lion

Note: Driver defaults to 7 Databits, Even Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA;D

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal

D: 	Decimal Places, 0, 1 2 or 3 (Default to 0 is not specified)

Examples:

00

01

01;1

02;3


Yokogawa 750 (Green Series) Preliminary

See Yokogawa Green Series


Yokogawa Green Series

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, Even Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Note: Care must be made to use the right checksum mode on the instrument, see the addressing below, but also the Driver Command section later below.

Note, AutoDetect will assume 1 decimal place when detecting instruments.

Format is:

A,D,C

Where:

A:	Address of controller.  0 to 99

D:	Precision of user defined items: 0 / 1 / 2 / 3

C:	Checksum mode (optional). Must be  ", C" if checksum is turned on, or absent if not enabled.

Checksum mode on corresponds to the "PSL" setting in the comms setup.  Setting PSL to 0 on the instrument (the default setting) means no checksum, and setting it to 1 enables the checksum.  See below for an except from the manual.

Examples:

1,2	Instrument 1, Two Decimal Places, No Checksum

2,0,C	Instrument 2, No Decimal Places, Checksum Mode on

Driver Command Support:

This driver supports the following driver commands:

TTL=x	Set Time To Live to x tenths of a second, Eg TTL=5 means half of a second.

CA=y	Set Checksum mode to on (y=1) or off (y=0)  e.g.  CA=1 turns on checksum mode for all instruments on this comms port.

TW=z	Set Write Timeout to z tenths of a second.

TRT=u	Set number of tenths of a sec for Automatic Read/Write Triggers to respond in, Default 40.  This causes writes to fail if the associated Read/Write trigger does not return to "0" before this time.

ED=v	Error Delay in tenths of a sec.  Sets time before driver issues retries in case of errors.

Also supported are the T and R commands for Timeout and Retry, see the Driver Command description for information.

Yokogawa Manual Excerpt:


West

Note: Driver defaults to 7 Databits, Even Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal

Examples:

00

01


FGH

Note: Driver defaults to 7 Databits, Odd  Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal

Examples:

00

01

Driver Commands:

ED=x	-  Set Error Delay to 'x'  tenths of a second.  This causes the driver to wait the specified time before issuing a retry for a parameter.


Yokogawa HGM200

Note: Driver Currently fixed at 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is one of:

AA

AA:TTL	 	(Colon to separate)

AA;Password	(Semicolon to separate)

AA;Password:TTL	(Semicolon first, Colon second)

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of the Unit (Area) in decimal, or 00 for the HGM200 controller

TTL:	Time to Live setting in seconds - See notes below

Password:	A password for this HGM - See notes below

Examples:

00	(The HGM200 controller itself)

01	Unit Area 01 (First Area in HGM200 main unit)

11	Unit Area 11 (First Area in first PEM800 attached)

01:10	Unit Area 01, TTL of 10 seconds

Invalid addresses are 08,09,10,19,20,29,30,39 and above

Notes:

The TTL controls how often the HGM is interrogated.  If left out, the TTL is 90 seconds.  The HGM200 returns ALL it's data in one message, even though SpecView requests each item separately.  The TTL specifies that SpecView gets all it's values from the one request until that request is TTL seconds old, at which point the actual message is re-requested from the HGM200.

Since the TTL can be specified for each UnitArea and the CPU, the lowest of all those supplied is used.

Password:  If a password is used, then all instruments defined in SpecView must have this set to the same thing.  The HGM200 does not check the passwords at the present time (!).


Eurotherm Bisync

Note: Driver defaults to 7 Databits, Even Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal

Examples:

00

01


Modbus

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Note, AutoDetect will assume 0 decimal places when detecting instruments.  This might result in values being 10 times too large on displays.  If this is the case, then simply re-address and rename the instruments from AA,0T to AA,1T (See below for the meaning of this).

Format is:

AA,PT	or:

AA,PT;F

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal.

P:	Precision of user defined items: 0 / 1 / 2 / 3

T:	Type of protocol: M for Modbus, J for J-Bus

F:	Optional offset to be applied to all parameters inside this instrument. See below for details.

Examples:

03,1J	- Address 3, 1 Decimal, J-Bus parameters

10,0M	- Address 10, 0 Decimals, Modbus parameters

02,0J;250	- Address 2, 0 Decimals, J-Bus, offset by 250

Driver Commands:

This driver supports many Driver Commands in addition to the standard T and R command (see here for those details):

U=a	- Unsigned mode control.  Use U=1 to force all words read from ModBus to be unsigned.  This overrides any signed/unsigned command on individual parameters.

RE=b	- Retry Error Delay of 'b' tenths of a second - causes driver to pause before any retry.  Default value 0, causing immediate retries in cases of Parity Error Etc.

ECR=c	- Error Code Retry on code 'c' - causes the driver to retry the parameter if the parameter returns an error code.  This is useful in situations where an instrument may return a busy code. Only one error code retry value may be specified for the driver.

WBV=d	- Whole Bit Value to 'd' - this command instructs the driver to use the value 'd' when writing a true value to a bit defined in a whole word.   By default, the value 1 is used. 'd'  can be any number in the range 0 to 65535 and is specified in decimal.

Example of driver commands:

Command3=U=1;RE=10;ECR=5;WBV=65535

This example shows a driver command for COM3: that sets unsigned mode on, retry error delay to one second, error code retry to the code 5 and the whole bit value to 65535 (FFFF in hex).


Yokogawa Discrete Instruments

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller.

Examples:

01


Yokogawa UT2400 & UT2800 Controllers

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Note, AutoDetect will assume 0 decimal places when detecting instruments.

Format is:

ACP

Where:

A:	Single Digit HEX address of controller as defined by the rotary switch on the back, range is 0 to F

C:	Channel number, 1 to 8  (1 to 4 for UT2400)

P:	Precision of user defined items: 0 / 1 / 2 / 3

The CPU view can be defined on any channel 1-8.

Examples:

011	- Address 0, Channel 1, 1 Decimal

F80	- Address F, Channel 8, 0 Decimals

Driver Command Support:

This driver supports the following driver commands:

TTL=x	Set Time To Live to x tenths of a second, Eg TTL=5 means half of a second.


RKC Discrete Insruments
RKC Discrete Instruments

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AA

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal

Examples:

00

01


RKC SR Mini

Note: Driver defaults to 8 Databits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit

Format is:

AACC  when talking directly to a PCP or:

PPAACC  when talking through an Operator Panel

Where:

AA:	Two digit address of controller in decimal, as set by rotary switch on PCP module, range is 00 to 15 (according to 0-F on switch)

CC:	Channel number of desired channel (See note below)

PP:	Two digit address of operator panel in decimal, as set by panel setup screens, range is 00 to 31.

Examples:

0001	- PCP 00, Channel 1

1513	- PCP 15 (rotary F), Channel 13

010203	- Panel 01, PCP 02, Channel 3

Note that the channel number given above refers to the logical channel number of the desired channel and may NOT reflect the position of the channel inside the module, or of the module in the rack.


Build 440 Important Note

Configurations built with Build #440 can be read by older versions of SpecView, but older versions of SpecView should not be used to edit configurations created with Build #440 and above.  To do so could result in unpredictable behaviour of some on-screen items.

Also, the Configuration data is now stored in two files in each directory:

CONFIG.CFG and CONFIG.CDG

Both files are required when making backups.


Protocol Specific Error Codes

Error codes in the range 18200 to 18500 are reserved for Protocol Specific errors returned by the equipment connected.  Subtract 18200 to get the error code and then consult the Protocol or Instrument manual for details.

For example, a ModBus Instrument could return Error Code 18208.  Thus, the Modbus error is 8, which is "Parameter to be modified is write protected".


Multiple Auto Start GDWs at runtime

SpecView now allows multiple GDWs to be opened when runtime mode is started.  This allows for GDWs with Trend Charts on to be running right from the start (in the background).

To set a GDW to be auto-started, use the "Auto-open on Runtime" menu item to set (or un-set) this attribute for the GDW that you currently have open.

The previous menu item ("Set as Startup GDW") has been re-named as "Set As First GDW".  This GDW is the one that will be showing first when runtime mode is started.

Using the "Set As First GDW" automatically checks the "Auto-open on Runtime" option because the first GDW must be loaded at startup!

Back to Contents page.


Remote Customer Updating

Certain options inside SpecView may not be available, depending on the version of SpecView that was purchased.

If more options are required, please contact your SpecView representative  for assistance.  In most cases, the upgrade can be performed over the 'phone using a code mechanism.

Your SpecView representative  can supply you with details about this process.


Scaling Values

SpecView can apply scale (or gain) and offset to values read from the attached instruments.

Once scaling is setup, the scaled value is displayed on any screens, is logged to the log-files and is sent across DDE - i.e. once scaling is applied, the original value cannot be seen, unless the scaling is removed.

To setup Scaling:

Enter the Configuration Mode of SpecView.

Get the variables list on the screen.

Choose the variable or parameter that you wish to scale

Press the "Properties" button just above the list

Fill in the scale and offset value as appropriate

Back to Contents page.


Short List Management

Using the properties dialog, the short list attribute of any variable can be changed.  It is possible to change the attribute for all variables of the same type using this dialog box - for example, if the variable Zone1.OP (a parameter of an '808' controller) is taken out of the short list, the system can alter all other '808' instruments to also have OP out of the short list.

Back to Contents page.


Properties of variables

The properties dialog allows for:

Renaming of variables - for example, to replace things like "Alarm 1 Status" with meaningful alarm messages

Short List attribute adjustment - to allow the 'hiding' of parameters at run-time and during configuration mode.

Scaling of values

Easy adjustments to Logging and Alarm - across multiple instruments of the same type.

Properties can be altered from the Variables list.  To access the properties of an object, select the object and press the "Properties" button.  Alternatively, single-click with the Right Mouse Button on the item you want to view and edit the properties for.

Back to Contents page.


SV-Auto now allows access to Config Mode

When run without a "Dongle" (Software Protection Key), SpecView Auto would not allow access to configuration mode.

It now does - BUT:

Saving of any changes to GDWs is inhibited.

Saving of GDO's (Graphical Display Objects) is allowed, so any graphical drawings that have been created can be saved for later use.

Back to Contents page.


Converted Log File CSV headings altered

When a comma is used as part of the name of an instrument or parameter, the converted Log Files in CSV format will get confused when being read into a spreadsheet.

This has been changed so that the names of all the variables on the log report have been included in quotes.

E.g: - suppose two parameters (PV and SP) are logged for an instrument whose name is "Line,01"

This would previously have resulted in the following appearing in the CSV file:

Line,01.PV,Line,01.SP

This is 4 column's worth because of the extra commas.

Now, the same variables will be output as:

'Line,01.PV','Line,01.SP'

This should not have any effect on spreadsheets, since the quote marks are the normal indicator for a text label in a cell.

Back to Contents page.


Recipe Read Only

There is a new type of Attribute for buttons -  The Recipe button can be marked as 'Read Only'.  This prevents any recipe changes from being saved at run-time.


Passwords

The password Scheme is made up of 3 entities:

1)	Setup of access rights  of Users of the system

2)	Setup of Items  to be protected or to be made available

3)	Logging In  and Out

By default, there is no password scheme in operation.  The password scheme must be turned on (in Step 2 above) - but note that when the system is turned on, you MUST have defined a password, otherwise you will not be able to get back into configuration mode - although your SpecView representative can give you a special code to get in, if you have not setup - or have forgotten - your password.

The main features of the password system are:

Each screen (GDW) can have any items on it protected from access

Exit SpecView may be inhibited

Passwords can have a time-limit, after which auto-log out occurs

Log-out may be to the last level or to the fully locked level

Any number of users with no restrictions on the names or passwords

Click on one of the topics above for details of setup


Passwords - User Setup

Click on parts of the box below for details of each item:


Passwords - GDW Setup

When in password mode, the box below is shown on the screen and the cursor changes to an unlocked padlock.  This cursor can be used to select or de-select items from the password scheme. (Similar to recipe mode).

Items that can be clicked on with the padlock-cursor are:

Dynamic attributes, Instrument views, Trend Charts, Buttons, Bar Charts.

Click on parts of the box below for details of each item:


Passwords - Logging in and out

Click on parts of the box below for details of each item:


Level Select

Changing this box allows the display of the items for each of the different levels.  When this item is changed, the GDW items selected can change and also some of the check-boxes will change, depending on how things have been setup.

You cannot select levels 0 or 5 from here, because level 0 is always locked and level 5 is always available.


Select All or Select None

These buttons highlight (or not) all the items on the current screen.


No Passwords Checkbox

Turns on or off the whole password system.  If users and GDW access levels have been setup, then they are remembered even if the password system is shut off, so that turning the password system back on will keep the old settings.


Full Screen At This Level

This setting applies to each level individually and controls whether the menu items and exit buttons work at this level.  This setting is only partly complete.


Allow Configuration Mode

This setting applies to each level individually and controls whether the user is allowed to exit Run-Time mode and go to Configuration mode.


Short List Only

This setting applies to each level individually and controls whether parameter lists are fixed to be short list only.


Hierarchical Behaviour

This setting controls whether the password system is Hierarchical in nature.  If the system IS hierarchical, then giving access to an item at level X also gives access to all levels above X.  Similarly, dis-allowing access at level Y also dis-allows access at all levels below Y.

If the system is NON-hierarchical, then each level is treated separately.  This allows (for example) a level 1 operator to have access to something that a level 4 configurator does not.


Hide Ths Box
Hide This Box

This button hides this box until either the Menu item is used again or the right mouse button is pressed to recall the box.


Timeout Options

These options control how the password Timeout operates.  The Timeout can be none, or a variety of values ranging from 1 minute to 1 hour.

When a password is entered, it remains active for the time given, at which point the system can return to the fully locked state or to the last logged in state.


User List

Shows all the users in alphabetical order.  The password is not shown in this box, but can be seen by using the Edit button on any given user.


Add User

Adds a new user to the list. The GDW should be saved after this operation.


Delete User

Deletes the selected user from the list.  The GDW should be saved after this operation.


Edit User

This edits the name, level and password of the selected user.  This is the only way to see the password of any given user.

The GDW should be saved after this operation.


Current Settings

Shows the current user and level of the password system.


New User Selection

Allows the selection of the new user.  You can also type into this box for quicker selections.


Password Entry

Type the required password in this box, the password is NOT case sensitive, but spaces and other special characters must be entered as they were originally set up.  The Keyboard button allows the use of a touch screen.

The password is not shown (unless the Keyboard button is used).


Log In

Checks the password and then logs the user in.  If a Timeout is if effect, then the Timeout starts counting from this point on, and can be seen at the bottom of the screen.


Log Out To Locked

Logs out to level 0, the fully locked state, or to Level 1 ,depending on the radio button selected (the graphic shows only the one radio button)

Note that if log out to level 1 is selected, then at RunTime, for this to actually work, then someone must be logged in at level 1 at some point in order fro it to work.  For example:

System starts at level 0.

User at level 3 logs in - Time-out will go back to level 0 even though 'time-out to level 1' is selected.  This  is because there has been no user at level 1 yet.  The correct sequence is:

System starts at level 0

User logs in at level 1 (time-out has no effect, since user is at level 1)

User logs in at level 3 - Time out back to level 1 operates correctly.


Log Out to Last

Logs out the current users and reverts to the user and level that were in effect before this user logged in.  This type of log-out is multi-level, for example:

System starts at level 0.

User at level 1 logs in.

User at level 2 logs in.

User at level 4 logs in.

User at 4 logs out to previous, which was level 2.

User at Level 2 logs out, which was level 1


Trend Chart Auto Print

The Trend Chart "Page Print" checkbox is now functional.  Every time the Trend chart fills up, the chart is automatically printed to the default printer (as setup by "File"->"Print Setup").

Note that:

-	Some printer drivers can take a significant time to spool the file into the print spooler for printing.  This may or may not interfere with the operation of the Trend Chart.  Factors affecting the impact are: Speed of Computer; Make of Printer; Type of Printer Spooler; Quality Settings in Printer Driver; Size of Screen etc.

-	Because of the previous observation, it is not recommended that charts of 1 minute to 10 minutes are set to auto-print - indeed, it may take the printer itself more than 1 minute to actually print the page (some color inkjets) and so this would get further and further behind, filling up the print spooler and eventually exhausting the computer's hard disk space with spool files.

-	You may have more than one Trend Chart set to Auto-print.  In this case, the charts will come out as and when they fill up (and hence may be interleaved on separate pages).  If there is more than one Trend Chart with the same time-span, then the order of printing is not guaranteed from print to print…for example, if two charts (A and B) are set with a 1 hour interval, then the order  might be: ABAB  or BAAB or ABBA etc.

-	On Windows 95, you may find that changing the spooler settings for your printer from "RAW" to "EMF" speeds up output.  To do this, open the properties for the desired printer, click the "Details" tab, press the "Spool Settings" button and then change the "Spool Data Format" to "EMF".

-	If Auto-print does not appear to be working, try using "File"->"Print" when running a GDW.  If this does not work, then there may be a printer setup problem.


Bug: Trend Charts printed incorrectly

A bug has been fixed where Trend charts would be printed incorrectly at Run Time.  This bug was known to affect various printers in various ways.  Two of the more obvious modes of failure are a GPF when printing (HP660C) and a TV-type snow effect inside the Trend chart (Epson Stylus Color).  This bug has been fixed and tested with the above named printers.


Recipe levels altered

The previous 5 levels have been replaced by 100.  This is to allow the setting up of many segments in a recipe.

The previous 5 levels are assigned to levels 1 to 5.


Recipe level Delay

A Delay has been introduced between Recipe Level Downloads.  This is to allow any connected controller time to react to things sent down.  This delay is set up as half a second by default, but may be changed by modifying a SETTINGS.INI  value.


Recipe download Skip/Abort on Error

During recipe download, if an error occurs (maybe due to writing a parameter out of range), then the download box changes to allow the Abort of the whole download, or to Skip the error and continue with the rest of the download.


452 Recipe Bug Fixed

A GPF could occur in SPECVIEW.EXE when the following sequence was done:

1) Put a variable on a GDW.

2) Mark it as being in Recipe.

3) Give the variable a value in recipe mode at run-time and save it in a recipe file.

4) Go back to config mode and delete the variable entirely from the GDW.

5) Go into run-time and attempt to Snapshot or Download the previously saved recipe.

A warning is now issued that this scenario has happened, and the item in recipe that no longer relates to the screen is deleted.


PC3000 DOS Tools support

PC3000 configurations generated with the Eurotherm PC3000 Offline DOS Tools are now supported.

DOS Tools V3.14 or later is required for this.

Programs loaded into SpecView can now be updated  if the program changes.

Back to Contents page.


PC3000 Shortlist & Short Name Support

Configurations loaded using Microcell V??? or Dos Tools V3.14 or greater now support the import of the short name and short list management features of these packages.  The import is automatic.

Once imported, the short list and short name information may be changed from SpecView.

Note that once imported, the short list and short name information will NOT be updated if the SIB file is re-read from Microcell or the DOS tools.  This is to keep any changes made inside SpecView.

Back to Contents page.


PC3000 Microcell & DOS Tools program update facility

When a PC3000 program is changed inside of Microcell or the DOS Tools, the addresses of the variables inside the PC3000 program can change.  This caused SpecView a problem in that the SIB files generated could only be read in once at the beginning of the config process.

Now, the SIB file can be read into an existing configuration with the intention that the addresses that have changed are updated.  The update procedure is started by using the "PC3000" menu's

"Read  .SIB file to Update existing PC3000..." item.

You will be prompted for the filename of the new SIB file.

If your SpecView configuration already has more than one PC3000 defined, then you will also be asked which one is to be updated.

The update process then reads the new SIB file in and attempts to match it up with the one that already exists.  When it has finished, a list of the changes is shown.  The process cannot be undone, except to re-reading the original file.

The process involves the following:

-	Automatically changing the addresses of the SpecView config to match the addresses now in the new SIB file.

-	Adding to the SpecView config any Function Blocks that did not exist in the original SpecView config.

-	Deleting FB's in the SpecView config that no longer appear in the new SIB file.  This will result in values on the screen showing as "XXX" if they are not removed from GDWs.

In addition, for SIB files generated by Microcell, the name of an instance might have been re-named by Microcell, in which case the name change is reflected in the SpecView config (but not for any labels that might already be on existing GDWs).

Note that for the DOS Tools, a rename of a FB cannot correctly be detected by the SpecView import process.  In this case, what will happen is that the old named FB will be thought of as having been deleted, and the new named FB will be thought of as having been created.  This will affect any variables used on GDWs that refer to these FBs.  It is strongly recommended that you do not rename FBs inside of the DOS Tools because of this 'feature'.

Back to Contents page.


PC3000 Renaming & GID Changing in SV Configs

The name of the PC3000 program may now be changed in the same was as any other SpecView instrument.

In addition, the GID of the PC3000 program may be changed from within SpecView in the same way that an instrument address is changed.

This allows a single PC3000 program to be read in and allocated to multiple physical PC3000's without re-compiling the program several times to generate a new GID.

Back to Contents page.


Variables list Page up/down scrolling problem

When paging up or down in the Variables list, the list would scroll too far in each direction, missing out a few lines.  The list is now fixed so that it scrolls in such a way that the last line at the top or the bottom is still visible when the list has scrolled.

This applies to both the "new" and the "defined" sides of the Variables list.

Back to Contents page.


PC3000 Microcell new format Sib File reader fixed.

SIB files generated with Version V??? of Microcell could not communicate with their PC3000's.  This format SIB file is now fully supported by Microcell, but you will have to re-read the entire file from scratch and not use the update facility, because the existing data inside of SpecView is too badly damaged from the old format.

Back to Contents page.


PC3000 Shortlist / Full Names toggle fixed.

PC3000 programs loaded into SpecView were not able to display their short list or short name information.  This build of SpecView allows these displays to function correctly, even with older configurations.

Back to Contents page.


Blank Polygon Bug fixed

If the polygon tool was selected for use, but the right mouse button was pressed before any points had been placed on the screen, then SpecView would GPF.  This has been fixed.

Back to Contents page.


Build 454 Data Entry box bugs fixed

With the Numeric Entry box set to Auto-close, strange behaviour could be seen when using this box in quick succession from a number of parameter lists off instrument views.  This would result in values of some items being mis-reported randomly.

Also, use of the "X" to close the Data entry box under Windows 95, or the System-menu Close command on Windows 3.x would cause a GPF in SpecView.

Back to Contents page.


Important Note Regarding Recipes!

A bug in previous builds of SpecView resulted in the decimal place precision of saved recipe values to be lost when the recipe file was saved.  For some drivers and some instruments, this was a problem because the driver or the instrument could not accept the data being written from the recipe system because the decimal place precision was undefined when the recipe was re-loaded.

This bug has been fixed, HOWEVER:

For all recipes saved prior to Build 455, the recipe files themselves are not correct.  When re-loaded, they will be brought into line, and provided that they are saved, the problem will go away for the future…HOWEVER:

Since the decimal place precision has been lost already, SpecView has to make up a new precision when the recipe file is re-loaded.  Depending on the driver and instruments, this precision could be one of many - so a default value supplied by SpecView would not work for all occasions.  To cope with this,  the following scheme has been implemented:

The decimal places will be set to Zero (No DP) for all recipe files created prior to Build 455 upon re-loading.

If this is not a sensible default for a particular application, proceed as follows:

-	Exit the Recipe system.

-	Using a Text Editor, add the following two lines to the bottom of the SPECVIEW.INI file that is found in your main WINDOWS directory:

[RECIPE]

OldDP=1

-	You can use any of 0,1,2 or 3 set force the re-loaded decimal places to be set, for example, use "OldDP=2" to set two decimals.

-	You will then have to load and re-save ALL of the recipes you have for ALL of the GDWs you have to make the change permanent.

Back to Contents page.


Application Specific Help Hook

The help menu inside SpecView NO LONGER has an "Application Help" item.

To do Application Specific Help, use a SpecView button to run an external program, and get it to call Winhelp.exe with the name of your help file.

Back to Contents page.


Test


Recipe Download Auto Skip

When downloading a recipe, any comms or value errors will cause the process to stop with an Abort and Continue button.

In some cases, such as Instrument recipe setup, there are values that are OK to be out of range or un-writeable.  In these cases, the "Auto Continue" box may be checked and any further values downloaded will not cause the recipe to halt dowloading.

This option must be re-set each time a recipe item fails to download.

Back to Contents page.


Historical Replay

Concept:

SpecView Historical Replay opens a second copy of a GDW to replay historical data into.  This means that any real-time trend chart data is not lost when replay is active.

Once open, the Historical GDW can be started at any time and at a variety of rates.

Replay can be paused manually, or when a trend chart fills up.

When historical replay is no longer required, the historical GDW is closed and the normal real time GDWs are visible again.

Operation:

Preparing for Historical Replay

Starting Historical Replay

Controlling Historical Replay

Notes about CPU loading during historical replay.

Miscellaneous notes  regarding Historical Replay, Log files and Trend Charts

Back to Contents page.


Preparing for Historical Replay

To replay data Historically, you must first have logged the data you require to replay !

By default, SpecView logs the PV, SP and OP of instruments once per minute.  Therefore you will always be able to view these parameters historically.

To add other items to the logging, you should look at the Variables List and the "Database" menu.  These will show you how to set items to be logged.  Also look at SETTINGS.INI  for control of the logging rate.

A quick way of guaranteeing that all items on a given GDW will be logged is to use the "Database" menu's "Set all items on this GDW as logged".  This will turn on the logging attribute for all variables on the screen, including those in instrument views, bar charts and trend charts.

Note however that if a trend chart has some of it's pens re-assigned during run-time, then these new pens will not be logged, unless those parameters are already part of the logging system.  I.e. do not expect all pen changes to be able to be replayed later.

Back to Historical Replay Overview.


Starting Historical Replay

To start historical replay, either use the "History" menu, or define a button on the GDW to be "Historical".

When either of these methods is used, the currently active GDW is re-loaded ready for replay, but playback does not start automatically.

A "History Control Panel" is shown, from where the playback can be started:

Click on any of the buttons below for details of their operation…

Back to Historical Replay Overview.


Controlling Historical Replay

Replay can be Paused and Restarted 'on the fly'.

Also, the rate of replay can be adjusted whilst replaying.

It is not necessary to stop replay to 'go back further' - simply select a new start time using the Quick Rewind buttons or the other time button.

Back to Historical Replay Overview.


Notes about CPU loading during historical replay.

If your computer becomes unresponsive during playback, you should reduce the CPU Load that Historical Replay is putting on the system.  Look here for details

Back to Historical Replay Overview.


History Control Panel: Time

The current playback time is displayed in this section.  If the playback has reached the end of the logged data, then "End of Data" is shown.

If the playback has been paused because a trend chart Auto-pause option has come into effect, then "Auto Pause at:" is shown, together with the time at the point of pausing.


History Control Panel: Quick Back Buttons

These buttons allow you to quickly go back by the set number of hours from the current Real-Time.  Playback starts immediately at the required rate.


History Control Panel: Any Start Time Button

If you require to start replay at a time that is not near any of the Quick Rewind  buttons, then this button allows you to type in the exact time that you wish replay to start from.

The entry for this data is very similar to the Log Report Setup box, in that it allows a time to be filled in from a list of the available log files, or to be typed in manually.

Playback begins as soon as the time is entered from the box.


History Control Panel: Options Button

The options for Historical Replay allow the setting of the CPU loading Factor and the Auto-Pause of Trend charts.

For Auto-Pause, two options are available - one options enables auto-pause on the longest trend chart, the other enables auto-pause on the shortest.

If you have only one trend chart on the GDW, then both options are effectively the same.  If you have two or more trend charts with different time-spans, then these options control which one causes the replay to Auto-Pause.  If the Longest Trend option is chosen, then any shorter trend charts may scroll several times until the long one stops, and conversely, if the Shortest Trend is chosen to Auto-Pause, then longer timebase charts may not paint fully before Auto-Pause.

The CPU load factor controls how much CPU time Historical replay uses.  The value can be from 0 to 200 with 0 being almost no load imposed and 200 being a very high load being imposed.  The higher the loading, the more unresponsive your system will become during high rates of replay.

The actual effect varies depending on all of these factors:

1.	How fast your CPU is  (e.g. Pentium/200 can have a higher number than a 486/33)

2.	How many items you have on the GDW and on Trend Charts (More items impose more load, so a lower number might be required).

3.	How often you logged your data (Data logged once per minute and replayed at 60x means only one update of the screen per second - very little load, so the CPU load number is irrelevant.  Data logged once every 5 seconds and replayed at 240x normal speed might chew up a lot of time, and hence lower CPU load numbers might help keep the system responsive)

4.	How quick your video display card is.

For the "Max" rate, the CPU load factor also has this effect:  It controls the number of 'blobs' of data that are replayed per second.  For example, with a CPU load factor of 0, about 9 sets (timestamps) of data are replayed to the trend charts each second.  This could mean 9 minute's worth (of data logged at once per minute), or 9 second's worth (of data logged once per second), or any other amount depending on the log rate.  This gives a replay rate of 540x down to 9x depending on the logged rate.  With a CPU factor of 20, you get about 9 times 20 sets of data replayed per second, giving replay rates ranging from 10,800x down to 180x in this example.


History Control Panel: Rate Selection

This drop-list box allows the selection of the replay rate.  There are several rates to choose from:

1x, 10x,  60x, 120x, 240x, Max.

The numbered rates drive the replay at the required multiple of the original real-time speed, updating ALL GDW items as they change.  This includes values, instrument views, bar charts, trend charts etc.

The "Max" Rate allows quick filling of trend charts where the other data is less critical.  When in Max rate, the trend charts are filled as fast as possible, and any other screen items (e.g. instrument views, bar charts etc) are updated periodically when time permits.  If playback is paused, then all items are updated at the time of the pause, so all items on the GDW show the most up-to-time values at the point of pausing.

Depending of the CPU Load Factor, trend charts can fill in and scroll very quickly - use of the Auto-Pause feature can be useful here.


History Control Panel: Pause and Close Buttons

These buttons allow you to close the Historical GDW (thus finishing replay), or to Pause and Resume the playback.

The topmost button will be labeled as:

Start - If replay is not yet started

Pause - If replay is running, allowing you to pause it

Play - If replay is paused, allowing you to resume playback


Log Space Requirements

The amount of space taken up by log files depends on how often you log data and how much data is logged!

The SpecView logging system uses 3 files per day:  a LOG file, an IDX file and a LNM file.

The IDX and LNM files contain duplicates of some of the data in the LOG file, BUT:

For Log file conversion, the LNM file is used, and for Historical replay, the IDX and LNM files are also used.

The IDX and LNM files are typically quite small, so there is little to be gained by deleting them!

The figures below give the space requirements per variable etc, so you will have to work out the total amounts for your particular application using some of the figures below:

Each new TimeStamp (there is one per log interval, see SETTINGS.INI) causes:

8 Bytes to be written to the IDX file

8 Bytes to be written to the LOG file

Each item of data consumes in the LOG file:

Floating point type: 14 bytes per value

BOOLean & Enum types:   12 bytes per value

Other Integer types: 10 bytes per value

String types: 10 bytes plus the length of the String

Additionally, each variable logged consumes approximately 20 bytes plus the length of it's full name doubled each time SpecView starts logging and at least once per day if continuously logging.  This is written to both the LOG file and the LNM file.

Example:

The SpecView default is to log once per minute.  Assume one instrument with PV,SP and OP logged (again, the default), this will be 3 * 14 + 8 to the LOG file and 8 to the IDX file, making 58 bytes per minute, or 83,520 bytes per day for the LOG file and 11,520 bytes for the IDX file.  Each additional float type will consume an extra 20,160 bytes per day in the LOG file and nothing in the IDX file.

In addition, the name overhead (assume "Zone1.Setpoint" is a typical name) will cause 20 + 2 * (namelength)  each, in this case, about 48 bytes per variable each time SpecView starts to log, adding at least 144 bytes to the LOG file and to the LNM file in the example above.

Back to Contents page.


Historical Replay, Log Files and Trend Charts

The following are some notes on some apparently odd behaviour of the Historical Replay system with respect to Trend Charts and their logged data:

Prior to Build 460 of SpecView, the log files suffered from two flaws:

A)	The number of decimal places was not stored in the log files and

B)	There was no indication of when SpecView was not running.

Point (A) means that when replaying data into Historical GDWs, you might find that the number of decimal places shown is not the same as the number that should be there - in fact, all numbers will be shown with 1 decimal place, even if they had none to start with.  This might cause some instrument views to overflow their displays during playback.  The same is also true of converted log files.  From Build 460 and onwards, the decimal places have been logged and will replay correctly on the screen and in converted log files.

Point (B) means that the Historical replay system is unable to distinguish between a large gap in data due to SpecView not running and a large log interval.  Therefore, on Trend charts, the replay mechanism will draw an interpolated line over any periods where the is no data logged - possibly resulting in a misleading trace.  From build 460 onwards, the log files contain information about when SpecView was stopped an re-started, and historical replay will leave gaps in the logged data during replay on trend charts.

In both cases, older copies of SpecView will convert both new and old log files, and newer versions of SpecView will convert and replay old log files - although subject to the points above.

Back to Contents page.


Instrument and Driver Specific Help

SpecView now has the ability to refer a user to help on a specific instrument, or to a class of instruments.  This facility is not yet available for all instruments or instrument types, however, where appropriate, the following new help items are available:

At Run-Time, from the Parameter List, the Help button at the bottom will call up either help on the instrument that is being displayed in the parameter list, or help on the class of instrument - for example, suppose Manufacturer X has a set of instruments, one of which is the "Y Controller".  When a user presses the help button, a help page will be displayed for Y if there is any very specific help, or for X if there is help available for the whole range.

At Config Mode, The Instrument Specific help is available from the "Add/Rename Instrument Dialog".  This is the Dialog that is displayed whenever a new instrument is created or re-named.  Once again, the help could be specific to a particular instrument, or more general to a range.

Also at config mode, a help panel on the specification of the Instrument Address is available at the point the address is typed in.

Proprietary help systems may be inserted into this scheme if required, contact SpecView for details.

Back to Contents page.


Recipe bad values fix

On a recipe GDW that has items on it that do not come back from the instruments (usually because the recipe itself defined certain states where some values are undefined from the controller), the unknown values  - usually XXX - would overwrite valid recipe values when editing the Recipe at run-time.  This no longer happens.

Back to Contents page.


Parity Support

Previous to Build 464, the parity settings of the SpecView Drivers was fixed in the driver.  It can now be overridden if required.

This can be done in three places:

1) Just before Auto-Detect, by using the "Settings. . . " button on the Ports & Protocols box

2) Any time during Configurations mode, by choosing "Settings"->"Port Setup" from the Menus.

3) By Editing SETTINGS.INI  for the configuration.

If no alterations to parity are done, the driver still uses it's own defaults, which, for most cases, are the right values.  For more information regarding parity and other settings, choose the Address Specific Help buttons on the Ports & Protocols box or on the Add-Instrument dialog box.

Back to Contents page.


RKC and ModBus Parity Defaults changed !

Note that with SVRKC.DLL and SVMODBUS.DLL drivers supplied with or after Build 646, the default parity settings of these two drivers have been changed to be 8N1

Previously, the RKC Instrument driver was 7E1 and the ModBus driver was 8E1

These changes were made to cater for the majority of factory preset rates for these controllers.

Note that any configurations currently using RKC Instruments or Modbus drivers will need to have their settings changed, since the drivers now DEFAULT to the new settings.

See: Parity Settings for more information about how to change the settings.

Back to Contents page.


Timeout and Retry-Count Control

See the "T" and "R" commands in Driver Commands  for more information.


Driver Commands

Commands may now be sent to the drivers to affect their operation.  The exact list of commands depends on the driver itself, however all drivers support altering of timeout and retries.

The driver commands are currently set in SETTINGS.INI  as follows:

In the section:

    [COMMS]

entries of the form:

    Command1=string

are entered for each port.

The string command is made of one or more sets of key and value pairs separated by a semicolon.  For example, a key of "T " and a value of " 3 " would be written as:

T=3

 Where more than one pair is specified, the semicolon is used, for example:

T=3;R=2

Note: there must be no spaces in the command.

Common Commands.

T controls timeout length in 1/10 of a second.  For example, T=3 would set the timeout to 300ms.

R controls the number of retries in the event of an error. For example, R=2 would instruct the driver to make two more tries to get a parameter, in addition to the original request.

Actual example:

[COMMS]

Command1=T=3;R=2

Command2=T=6;R=1

In this example, the driver on COM1: has a shorter timeout and a larger retry count than the driver on COM2:

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Bug in PC3000 SIB Update

The bug affects SIB file Update from Microcell configurations.  If you have used the SIB file update mechanism to update your PC3000 program since SpecView Build 453, then your configuration may be damaged - please call your SpecView representative for further help regarding this problem.

Phone Numbers to Call.

Back to Contents page.


Trend Chart Cursors

Click once to set one cursor - Label values change to show last known value at that point;

Click twice (Double-click) to show a second cursor - Label values change to the difference and the bottom line shows the interval between the cursors;

Click in the lower (time) part of the chart to remove the cursor or cursors from the chart.

Back to Contents page.


Recipe Send To

This allows a recipe defined on one instrument to be sent to the corresponding parameters in one or more other instruments.

For example - a SpecView recipe screen with Zone1.Setpoint can be made to download the same value to Zone2.Setpoint and Zone3.Setpoint etc.

To invoke Recipe Send-To, define a recipe button and choose the 'Send To' facility for the recipe in the Button Attributes.

When the recipe is sent, a Routing box will appear allowing the user to choose which other instrument(s) to download to.

Back to Contents page.


Recipe 'Get From File' automated

Previously, to load a recipe, it had to be selected in the recipe list and then the "Get From File" button had to be pressed.  This button is no longer present because the act of clicking on the recipe name loads the recipe in immediately.

Back to Contents page.


Exit SpecView Button attribute

A button attribute that causes SpecView to exit has been added.  This kind of button will always exit SpecView, regardless of the password settings for disabled menus.  Therefore, if passwords are enabled, special care must be taken to protect this kind of button.

Back to Contents page.


SpecView Variables

SpecView variables are parameters that exist inside SpecView, not inside an instrument.  Several variables are declared in every configuration: time, date, password information and alarm information are always available.

In addition to the predefined variables mentioned above, User Variables of various types may be created by the user to allow various intermediate results to be stored and logged.  An example of this is a String User Variable that is used to store a batch number.  This string variable may be logged and appear on logged reports with other variables.

Also defined are some variables that keep track of recipe activity across all the screens with recipe capability.

Choose one of these topics to get more information on each type of variable:

SpecView Owned Variables

User Variables

Recipe Variables

Back to Contents page.


SpecView Owned Variables

These variables are: time, date, password user, password level, password timeout and alarm status information.

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User Variables

The user variables list only appears if there are user variables defined.  New user variables are defined in a similar way to new instruments - from the "Show New" side of the variables list. A variety of types of variable may be created.  These variables can then be put on screens and may be logged if desired.

Some user variables may be used to control aspects of log file conversion, see here.

Back to Contents page.


Recipe Variables

The recipe variables list only appears if there are screens that have recipe functions on them.  For each screen with recipe functions, that screen will appear in the recipe variables list, showing the name, time, user and destination of the last recipe to be downloaded from that screen.

In addition, a separate entry in the recipe variables list shows the above details for the last recipe downloaded from any screen.

Back to Contents page.


Event Log

The Event Log system records most of the user-instigated operations performed in SpecView.  The operations logged include: downloading values (for example: changing a Setpoint), downloading a recipe, recording user Login actions and several other operations.

By default, SpecView records all events, however this can be customized to only include a subset of the events.  This is achieved from the "Setup" menu in Configuration Mode.

The current event log can be viewed in Runtime Mode from the "Alarms/Events" menu.  The event log can also be converted into a CSV file when a log file is converted.  This can be achieved by setting the "Include Event Log" check-box in the log format setup box.  The events are converted into a file whose name is the same as the logged report, but with the extension ".CSE". The events listed will be for the same time period has the logged data.

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More Button Attributes

Further attributes for buttons have been implemented:

Recipe: Download Specific Recipe - This button allows the user to download a specific recipe from a specific GDW without having that GDW open and without having the Recipe manager open.  This could be useful where an overview recipe screen is desired, allowing the sending on various recipes to various places.

Logging: Convert Specific Log File Format - This button allows the conversion of a specific Log File Format without showing the Log File Convert menu.  This button is intended to be used with the facility for taking log file start and stop times from SpecView variables (See here) to control the range over which the log file is converted.

SpecView: Run External Program - This button allows SpecView to start an external program, with optional parameters.  Note: SpecView cannot tell if the program is finished.

Parameters: Show Full Parameter List - This button allows a specific instrument's parameter list to be shown.  This could be useful in the construction of alternative 'Instrument Views'.  This button is identical in behaviour to the "PAR" button that appears on many SpecView Instrument Views.

Parameters: Alter Value Interactively - This button allows the user to interactively alter the value of a given parameter.  This button is identical in behaviour to the Up/Down button that appears on many SpecView Instrument Views.

Parameters: Download Specific Value - This button allows the downloading of a specific (fixed) value to a given parameter.  This button downloads the value immediately, without asking for confirmation.

Parameters: Copy Value - This button allows copying of one value to another.  This button downloads the value immediately, without asking for confirmation.  The types of variable used should generally be the same type, although some type-conversion is allowed.  See here for details

Parameters: Math Function - This button implements a limited set of mathematical and other functions. For details on the math functions, see here. This button downloads the value immediately, without asking for confirmation.

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Log File Conversion Extensions

The log file conversion Format Setup now includes some extra options:

8 Character Filename support - In addition to the normal 6 characters plus 00 to 99, an 8-character (fixed) name may be used where more letters are required.

SpecView variable derived filenames -  The name of the log report may be derived from a SpecView String User Variable.  This allows (for example) the name to be taken from a batch number entered from a GDW, or set over DDE.  Names taken from SpecView String variables do not have 00 to 99 added to the end - it is the user's responsibility to make sure that the SpecView String User Variable is changed before the next report is created.

PathName support -  A fixed path may be specified for the log reports to be placed into.  This may be a Network drive (provided that the network drive is accessible via a standard Drive Letter known to 'the system').

SpecView variable pathname -  The Path can be specified from a SpecView String User variable if required.

Start and stop time variable support -  This allows the use of two SpecView DateDime User variables to specify the start and stop times for this format's conversion.  This is particularly useful in conjunction with the Button Attribute for converting a specific Log file.

Note :  Currently, the Stop time will always be the current time.  The soon to be released Strategy Controller will allow the setting of alternative stop times.  In addition, the Start time will always be set to the last stop time used for this particular report format.  Again, the Strategy Controller will allow the setting of start times according to more useful criteria (e.g. Start and End of a batch).

Event Log -  The Event log may be converted at the same time, over the same time period by setting this option.

Alarm Log - Ditto.

Back to Contents page.


Function Key support for Buttons

Buttons may now have function keys tied to them.  This allows the button to be pressed with a function key.

Function Keys <F2> to <F9>, and <F11> and <F12> may be used.

<F1> is reserved for Help,

<F10> is reserved for accessing the menu bar on system without keyboards.

Currently, there is no protection against assigning the same function key to more than one button on the same GDW.  If this is done, ALL of the buttons tied to the same function key will be actioned, however, SpecView does not guarantee the order in which the buttons will be actioned in this case.  There is also no way to find out which order will be used.  Use with caution !  To correctly make a single function key do multiple actions, use the Strategy Controller.

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Strategy Controller

The Strategy Controller help can be found in the Main SpecView help file.  There is however an important note about support for the Strategy Controller here.


Important notes about how the Strategy Controller works

Why does it not work correctly?

The Strategy Controller events and actions can become quite complicated, especially when many things are happening simultaneously, or when the sequence is linked by the "Enable Boolean" mechanism.  To help see what is going on, there are two aids to debugging your Strategy Controller definitions.  Only when you have thoroughly checked your Strategy Controller setup using both aids to debugging will any SpecView representative offer any help in trying to find out what is going on!

The first aid is a complete list of all the events and actions.  This can be done from the Strategy Controller Engine Setyup bos by using the "List" button.  This exports the events and actions into a spreadsheet format ".CSV" file.  It is recommended that this be done first.  The format should enable you to see multiple events based on the same criteria and other obvious errors.

The second aid is the Event Log mechanism.  All operations within the Strategy Controller can be logged to the Event Log.  The Event Log setup allows you to record All actions, some actions, or no actions.  When debugging, it is recommended that you choose "Record All Actions" so that you can see the events being triggered and the actions being executed in the order that the Strategy Controller sees them. Only when you have thoroughly checked your Strategy Controller setup using both aids to debugging will any SpecView representative offer any help in trying to find out what is going on.

When do events go off?

Strategy Controller events are "edge triggered" rather than "level triggered".  This means that for an event to go off, the opposite 'state' must exist first - e.g. for a value based event of "PV = 1200", this will only go off when the value changes from something else to the value 1200.  It will then not go off again until the value has gone away from 1200 and back again.  The exception to this rule is the "Changed" test, where any change of the correct size will cause the event to go off.  In the case of time based events with wildcards ("Any" fields), the event only goes off according to the non-wildcard criteria.  E.g. for a time based event of 08 hours and "Any" minutes, the event will first go off when the time changes from 07:59 to 08:00, but will not go off at 08:01 through to 08:59.  The event would however go off if SpecView was started at (say) 08:45, because the first time the Strategy Controller looks, '45' matches to "Any" and the event will go off.

How often does the Strategy Controller check?

The Strategy Controller requests variables at the default "Medium" rate over comms (unless they are requested faster because they are on a GDW somewhere).  Since comms can be saturated at times, the Strategy Controller actually looks at the values of these variables at the GDWRefreshRate or faster.


Alarm List Conversion

The Alarm List can be converted at the same time as a Log File conversion.  To do this, Define a Log Format using the Log Format Setup Box, and check the "Include Alarm Log" box.  This produces a ".CSA" file, which can be read into a spreadsheet.


Countdown Timers

A new kind of SpecView variable is available - the Countdown timer.  Countdown Timers count down until they reach 00:00:00 and then stop.

They are ideal for use with the Strategy Controller, to allow an event to go off at a specific time in the future:  Simply load the Countdown Timer with the required duration and set an Event to go off when the Timer reaches 00:00:00.

Countdown timers do not count when SpecView is not in Runtime mode, but they do remember where they had got to when SpecView runtime is closed.


IDF Files automatically updated

When a SpecView configuration is loaded, the instrument lists for instruments defined in the config are checked against the SpecView supplied instrument template files.  Any changes are reflected in the existing configuration.

The most likely scenario is that new parameters will appear in the instruments you have defined.  Occasionally, it is necessary to delete parameters and in this case, if these parameters are on a screen, they will become inactive.

If this behavior is not required, or causes problems, it may be turned off using a setting in SPECVIEW.INI's [CONFIG] section.


autoUpdateParamLists

When set to "Y", this updates parameter lists each time the SpecView configuration is loaded.


Copy Value Notes

The Copy Value Button attribute (or Strategy Controller action) will copy a value from one parameter to another.  In general, the source and destination of the copy should be the same type, but some type conversions are allowed, as below:

Copy From Type	Copy To Type	Result
Float (Real)	Int	Decimals are truncated
Time	Float	Number of seconds is used, e.g. copying 00:01:02 gives 62.0
Float	Time	Number of seconds is used, opposite of above
Any Type	String	The String is setup with what would normally be displayed on a GDW for the "from" type.  For example, copying a time might give a string with the contents "00:01:02".  Copying a Bool type might result in "Manual" in a string.  A DateTime might give "Sunday, July 8, 1997 08:00:00"
String	Float	The first number found in the string is used.  For example, if the String contains "66.1", then 66.1 is used.  If the string contains "4 5", then 4.0 is taken.  If  the string has "1.2Fred", then 1.2 is taken.
String	Integer	See above, but no decimals are used.

Other type conversions not listed above will not work as expected.


Math Function Notes

The Math Function Button attribute (or Strategy Controller action) allows limited amounts of mathematical and other operations to be performed on Parameters.

Math functions always take the form of:

 "Copy From Parameter" <Math Function> "Operator Parameter" -> "Copy To Parameter"

For example, to add parameter A to parameter B and put the result in parameter C, we have:

A + B -> C, or: Copy From A, Add B, Copy To C.

The parameters chosen for the 'From', 'Operator' and 'To' fields should usually be of the same type, for example, you cannot take a Date, divide it by a Boolean and put the result in a String! There are however some exceptions, listed in the table below. If you must do maths on items of different types not listed below, then use the appropriate Copy Facilities to copy the value(s) to the correct type first.

Copy From Type	Math Function	Operator Type	Copy To Type	Comments
Time	Any	Float	Time	Appropriate maths is done on the time, e.g Multiply a time by 2.0
String	Add	String	String	Concatenation.  Use to add 2 strings together.
String	Subtract	Integer	String	Left or Right function.  If the Integer is positive, the Left-most 'x' characters are taken.  If the integer is negative, the Right-most 'x' characters are taken. Examples: "ABCDE" Subtract 2  ->  "AB" "ABCDE" Subtract -2  ->  "DE"
String	Divide	Integer	String	Mid function.  The characters from the 'x'th position onward are taken, until the end of the string (First position is 0). Example: "ABCDE" Divide 2  ->  "CDE"
String	Multiply	String	Integer	Find function.  The integer is setup with the position of the first occurrence of 'Operator String' in the 'Copy From String'.  If the string is not found, -1 is used. Example: "ABCDE" Multiply "BC"  ->  1 "ABCDE" Multiply "FRED" -> -1
Bool	Add	Bool	Bool	AND function.
Bool	Subtract	Bool	Bool	NOT function.  Note that the Operator Parameter is not used, but must be specified!  Use the same parameter for the Copy From and the Operator.  The 'Copy To' Bool is setup with the opposite state of the 'Copy From' Bool.
Bool	Multiply	Bool	Bool	OR function.
Bool	Divide	Bool	Bool	XOR function

Doing maths on types not listed above or not of the same type will usually result in no action being performed.  Occasionally however, unpredictable results may occur.  To avoid confusion, only perform maths on items of the same type, or those listed above.


Date and DateTime "Changed" Strategy Event Fixed

When a Strategy Event is defined as "Changed", a value is supplied which is used to determine how large a change is required to signal the change to the event.  E.g., for a PV, you might say change by 1.0 to avoid small amounts of noise in the value causing too many events to go off.

For Date and DateTime types, this value is ignored, so any change of any kind will signal a change.

This also applies to Bool, Enum and String types.


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The Agreement, including all of Licensee's right to use the Software, will terminate automatically and immediately if Licensee fails to comply with the limitations described above.  Upon termination, Licensee must immediately stop using the Software and Licensee must return to SpecView or destroy all copies of the Software.

VI      EXPORT LAW ASSURANCES

Licensee agrees not to export the Software outside of the United States except as permitted by the laws and regulations of the United States.  If  Licensee has rightfully obtained the Software outside of the United Sates, Licensee agrees not to re-export the Software except as permitted by the laws and regulations of the United States and the laws and regulations of the jurisdiction in which Licensee obtained the Software.

VII     GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND

If Licensee is acquiring the Software on behalf of any part of the United States Government, the following provisions apply.  The Software and accompanying documentation are deemed to be "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation", respectively, pursuant to DFAR Section 227.7202 and FAR 12.212(b), as applicable.  Any use, modification, reproduction, release, performance, display or disclosure of the Software and/or the accompanying documentation by the U.S. Government or any of its agencies shall be governed solely by the terms of this Agreement and shall be prohibited except to the extent expressly permitted by the terms of this Agreement.

VIII    MISCELLANEOUS

This Agreement represents the complete agreement between Licensee and SpecView concerning the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and representations between them.  It may be amended only by a writing executed by both parties.  THE ACCEPTANCE OF ANY PURCHASE ORDER PLACED BY LICENSEE IS EXPRESSLY MADE CONDITIONAL ON LICENSEE'S ASSENT TO THE TERMS SET FORTH HEREIN, AND NOT THOSE CONTAINED IN LICENSEE'S PURCHASE ORDER.  If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.  This Agreement cannot be amended, modified, or waived, unless the change is written and signed by an authorized SpecView representative.  This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of California, without reference to its conflict of law principles.  Should Licensee have any questions concerning this Agreement, please contact in writing:

SpecView LLC,

41 Canyon Green Court,

San Ramon,

CA 94583


Transparent Bar Charts

Bar Charts may now have transparent Backgrounds.  This can be useful for making objects 'appear and disappear' on a screen.  Put the object you want behind a transparent bar chart.  The colour of the bar should be the same as the paper colour.  When the bar is fully filled, the object will be obscured, and when the bar chart is empty, the object behind will show through.


Dynamic Attribute Variable Change

When editing a dynamic attribute from the "Edit"->"Dynamic Attributes" box, the variable referred to may be changed by typing in it's new name as text.

This allows a screen to be quickly altered from one set of variables to another without deleteing the old ones and putting the new ones down - you may now simple alter the variables name in the dynamic attributues.

Tip: The name of the variable is shown in the status bar at the bottom of the screen if you single-click on the "XXX" part of the variable on the screen.


Year 2000

SpecView is Year 2000 Compliant with one exception:

SpecView relies heavily on your computer's own Real-Time Clock to control it's activities (such as logging and historical replay).  If your computer is not Year 2000 compliant, then the date on the computer may behave oddly at or in the Year 2000. As a result, SpecView may begin logging data incorrectly in this situation because the computer is instructing SpecView that the date is changed (wrongly in this case).  To protect against this, there are some utilities available on the World Wide Web that automatically detect and correct this problem if the computer is running into Jan 1st 2000, but not necessarily if the computer is switched on or re-booted afterwards.  If in doubt, have your PC checked with one of the many Year 2000 testing programs available on the WWW.

SpecView's Year 2000 compliance includes:

•	The ability to log and replay data recorded on and after 1st January 2000 as well as data already recorded before this date.

•	The ability to display and log data continuously from 31st December 1999 into 1st January 2000.

•	The ability to historically replay from dates in 1999 through to dates in and after 2000.

•	The ability to convert logged data into CSV files over the 1999/2000 boundary and after.

•	The ability to correctly log, replay and convert data on Tuesday February 29th 2000 (a leap year).

•	Dates are entered into SpecView using all 4 digits.

•	Dates in the converted log files are given with the full 4 digit date.  Note that programs such as MS Excel will (by default) still display only 2 digits in cells with a SpecView generated date.  This is only a display attribute and can be changed within MS Excel.

The current version of SpecView will function correctly until some time in the year 2034.  An upgrade to SpecView32 [or SpecView64  ;-)  ] will address this problem in good time !

Note that SpecView's log files are of the form YY_DDD.LOG.  This format will still be used, so from January 1st 2000, the first log file will be called 00_000.LOG (Jan 1st).  This may cause programs such as Windows Explorer (Win95/98/NT) and File Manager (Win3.1) to sort these later files before the ones beginning 98_ddd and 99_ddd.  This does not and will not have any effect on SpecView's use of these files.  Do not re-name these files to be 2000_000.LOG etc because this will break SpecView's ability to replay or convert logged data.

Back to Contents page.


Strategy Controller "Enable on Boolean" enhanced

The old "Enable On Boolean True" Strategy Controller facility has been enhanced to allow the Boolan variable to be false as well as true and also to be any Boolean value known to SpecView (previously it was limited to User Vars only).

Back to Contents page.


User variables can now be deleted

To delete a SpecView user variable, Select the variable by clicking once in the Variables List, then choose the [Properties] button.  (Alternatively, Right-click the item)

The Properties sheet for the variable has a [Delete] Button on it.

Back to Contents page.


Log File Conversion Numbering Altered

When using Log File Generate option where SpecView appends a number to the file, the length of the 'base name' is taken into account when appending a number.  If the Base name is 6 characters long, then 2 digits are appended (00 to 99).  If the base name is 5 characters long, then 3 digits are appended (000 to 999) and so on.

Back to Contents page.


Variables List Position Reset Facility

When re-sizing screens to show on smaller resolution screens, the Variables List position can sometime be left too far to the right.  Now, when the "View"->"Resize Screen" options are used, the Variables List Position is reset to the default.

Note however that if you are re-sizing smaller, the variables list position is reset, but your current screen size is still large enough to display the Variables list on the far right - if you bring up the variables list, then it's new (still too far to the right on a smaller screen) position will be saved.  So, Re-size the screen but do NOT look at the variables list afterwards!  Alternatively, on the new smaller screen machine, resize up and back down again to reset the position.

Back to Contents page.


Alarm Popup Window Disable Facility

The Pop-up nature of the Alarm Window can be disabled by using the SETTINGS.INI section:

[ALARM]

PopupEnabled=N

The default is "Y", so the alarm window pops up as normal.  Setting "N" (as shown above) disables the automatic popup facility.  The Alarm window can be viewed from the "Alarm/Event" menu when desired.

Note that with the Alarm Window set to not popup, there is no other indication from SpecView that the alarm has occurred.  Use the SpecView.NewAlarm variable or  your own variables to warn the user by some other means.

Back to Contents page.


Recipe Retry Mechanism

SpecView can now automatically retry recipe value downloads.

A new SETTINGS.INI item has been added to manage this:

[RUNTIME]

RecipeRetries=x

Back to Contents page.


Abs Max Min Math Functions added

3 new Math Functions have been added:

Abs:  Takes the Absolute value of the first variable  and puts the result in the last variable.  The 2nd variable is ignored, but must be specified - set it the same as the first variable.

Max:  Takes the larger of the first and second variables and puts this into the last variable

Min Takes the smaller first and second variables and puts this into the last variable

Back to Contents page.


Masked Enum on Strat & Color Dynamics

Now Works!


Align Left/Top/Right/Bottom, Distribute evenly horiz&vert

If a number of object on the screen are selected (but NOT grouped), then these menu items will align or distribute the objects evenly.

For align, all objects are aligned with the one furthest in the direction specified, for example, if a number of object are Aligned Left, then it it the left-most one to start with that all the others are aligned to.

For Distribute, all the selected objects are distributed between the outermost two objects in the selection.


Ctrl-D on multiple objects allows limited group changes of scan rate, recipe level and format

The Edit Dynamic Attributes now allows for the setting of attributes from many objects in a selection (not a group).

This allows quick changes of recipe level or scan rate for a number of items.


Config refresh button

This button on the "Configs Found" screen allows for the list to be refreshed to take into account any new configs that might have been manually created after SpecView has been started.


Com Port Swap

This dialog, on the Setup menu allows the COM ports for multiple instruments to be re-assigned without manually editing each instrument.


Run external program takes parameters

The command line for the "Run External Program" command now has the ability to accept the name of variables in the line.  Each variable should be enclosed in double-percents, like this, showing an example of using SpecView.Time:

%%SpecView.Time%%

Another example, run the program "C:\TEST.EXE" passing in the number contained in "Zone1.PV":

C:\TEST.EXE  %%Zone1.PV%%

You can have multiple variables, as long as they are always enclosed in the double-%%


Archive/restore

From the "Configurations Found" front Screen of SpecView, you can now Archive or restore entire configurations.  This can be used for backup purposes, for sending configurations from one computer to another, or for technical support purposes.

Archives automatically span multiple floppy disks if required and compress the data to save space.


Line Writer

This Button or Strategy Controller Action allows the writing of fixed text strings and SpecView variables into files.  Files can be appended to or recreated each time.

Further details here…


Line Writer Details

The Line Writer writes out a line to a file.

In it's current implementation, the first part of the line is taken as the filename, the rest is written out to that file:

For example: This command:

DATA.DAT Hello World

Will cause Hello World to be written to the file called DATA.DAT, overwriting the previous one. See below to get the values of parameters into the line.

The line written always has a <CR> & <LF> added to the end.

Printing direct to a printer.

The filename can be the name of a printer, such as:

LPT1: Hello World.

Note that not all printers can take a raw line of text like this. If you get nothing, or a line of weird characters, then maybe the printer cannot take it.

Appending to a file.

To append to the end of a file rather than replace the file each time, put a "+" sign at the beginning of the filename:  For example, these two Line Writer Commands:

+DATA.DAT Hello World

and

+DATA.DAT Hello World Again

will cause the file DATA.DAT to have

Hello World

Hello World Again

in it.

Getting Parameter Values into the line.

Put the FULL name of any SpecView parameter inside two pairs of percent signs, as shown below:

DATA.DAT The time is %%SpecView.Time%% and the date is %%SpecView.Date%%.

This will give a line in DATA.DAT like:

The time is 11:57:01 and the date is Monday, March 3 2001.

Each double-%% item is replaced with the current value of that parameter before the line is written to the file.  You can have as many values as you can type into the line.. Be very careful with the double %% - if one is missed off, the line will be incorrectly written.

****VERY IMPORTANT NOTE****

This initial release of the Line Writer requires that the parameters you include in the %% items are on a screen (GDW) that is always open.  If you fail to put the values on a screen, then they will probably not appear in the file.  The reason for this is that the last known data for the parameters must be available at the time the line writer wants to write the line.  The line writer cannot go out over comms to get the value because this may take several seconds or minutes in cases of timeouts with bad comms. By putting the values on a screen, SpecView will usually have the values available.


Getting Special Characters in the line.

If you need to force a special character out, such as a form-feed or a tab character to a printer, you can put it's decimal ASCII code into double-%%, for example, this line puts a tab character (9) between the two words and a <FF> character (12) at the end to throw the page out of the printer:

LPT1: First%%9%%Second%%12%%

Gives

First	Second

And a <FF> to eject the page.

Filenames with Spaces

If the file you wish to create has spaces in it, enclose the filename inside double_quotes, as shown here:

"C:\My Documents\My Line File.txt" Hello World

or to append to the file, put:

+"C:\My Documents\My Line File.txt" Hello World

These commands will cause

Hello World

To be written or appended to the file: C:\My Documents\My Line File.txt

Making your own 'Log Files'.

Making a kind-of .CSV file is easy with the line writer:

These three line writer commands illustrate the concept - note the commas between the %% to cause commas to be output in the file.

+LOG.CSV Time,Zone1,Zone2

+LOG.CSV %%SpecView.Time%%,%%Zone1.pv%%,%%Zone2.Pv%%

+LOG.CSV %%SpecView.Time%%,%%Zone1.pv%%,%%Zone2.Pv%%

Provided that the last 2 lines are done independently by the Strategy controller, you might get a file that looks like this as a CSV:

Time,Zone1,Zone2

12:10:34,560.1,580.0

12:11:34,560.2,579.9

Printing to Network Printers

This line will print a message to a printer connected to another PC on a network and is accessible by enclosing the network address in quotes.

"\\print server\epson" HELLO WORLD%%12%%

The interface to the Line Writer has been overhauled to be more user friendly.

Back to Contents page.


Preferences Dialog

File -> Preferences and   "Setup"->"Com Ports" eliminate the need to edit Setting.ini any more.


Support for COM10 and above

By using the SETTINGS.INI command:

[COMMS}

MaxPorts=??    Where "??" is a number up to 40, you can allow the use of com ports from COM1: to COM40:


Color Dynamics in recipe

When recipe mode is switched on in RunTime, those items in recipe will do color dynamics based on the recipe value.  Note that this can cause confusion in some cases if the colour dynamic has some parts driven from items in recipe and some items driven from item not in recipe.


Logfile Conversion uses threads

The logfile conversion process is now fully multi-threaded, allowing many simultaneous conversions to be performed without seriously affecting the operation of SpecView.  The priority for the Thread can be controlled from the Preferences Box


Log Purge

A new Strategy Action to purge Log files is available. This will delete files older than a certain number of days.  These files cannot be recovered, so backup any data properly to avoid data loss.


On-line Parameter list

The parameter list can now be saved to a file or printed. At the bottom of the list is a [Print…] button, which asks for a filename. This filename can be the name of a printer port, such as: LPT1:

The printout is a simple list, <TAB> separated. This kind of list can easily be imported into a word processor such as MS Word for better formatting.


Bitmaps and multiline text on buttons

Buttons can now have multiline text, different fonts, different colors.

Buttons can also have bitmaps on them.

Note that the file format of the SpecView configuration files has changed, see here.


File Format Change

The file format of the SpecView configuration files has changed, so configurations having the new features will not load back into earlier version of SpecView.  In some cases, even looking, but not saving will cause the files to be converted.


RecipeCorrupt
Recipe Corruption

Build 693 - 697 Duplicate Recipe Entries. If variables are added to

a GDW after SV32 has been exited and restarted and the variables

are then added to the GDW's recipe, SpecView sometimes duplicates a value

to two variables. The manifestation of this is to get the error

message "Note: Loaded recipe has fewer values than GDW - new

recipe items are set to current values" every time a recipe is

selected. In build 698 on, when this happens a second dialog box

will appear with the message:

 "Warning! This GDW has duplicate recipe references. Please go to Configuration Mode on this screen to correct the problem. Recipe Save/Download disabled".

Upon entering the configuration mode SpecView will automatically

remove all variables from recipe on that GDW. It is then necessary for the user to

re-select those variables to be included recipe.

It is recommended that existing recipes are deleted and new ones

saved. However, if an existing recipe is selected after the above

procedure, the warning box will appear. After editing and checking

all the values for the recipe it may be saved. It will behave normally

from this point on.