Overview
The Solution Settings interface provides a centralized location for configuring various aspects of your solution. Users can adjust parameters related to licensing requirements to run the solution, Python interpreter paths, among others. This page includes Solution Information, Target Platform and License, Solution Options, Modules in Runtime Process, and Python Interpreter.
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About Projects, Settings and Utilities
Projects are the foundation of your automation solutions, encompassing all the necessary components such as tags, screens, scripts, alarms, and more. To help you manage and customize your projects effectively, our platform offers a range of settings and utilities designed to streamline your development experience.
Project settings provide control over essential aspects of your projects, such as communication configurations, user access, and alarm management. These settings allow you to tailor the platform to your specific requirements and ensure seamless integration with external systems.
Utilities further enhance your project management capabilities by offering tools such as the Tag Browser, Database Manager, Event Logger, and Security Manager. These utilities facilitate efficient organization, monitoring, and control of your projects while maintaining a secure and controlled environment.
Together, project settings and utilities in our platform empower you to create robust, scalable, and secure industrial automation solutions to meet the demands of your applications.On this page:
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Solution Settings User Interface
Access the Solution Settings through Solution → Settings to tailor your solutions to specific requirements and ensure seamless integration with external systems. Here, you'll find the configuration options that apply to the entire solution and you can view and change the solution settings that you configured when you created the solution.
Solution Information: Includes solution information (read-only), such name, file size, description, solution path and tag counters for local and external.
Target Platform and License: Includes options to modify the solution's target platform and enables license customization, allowing you to select the best family and product model for your solution. You can also customize the historian license.
Solution Options: Defines runtime behavior, including language settings in "Culture Info," enabling client-side tasks for WPF applications, and activating diagnostic logging for system analysis.
Run Modules inside main Runtime process: Checkboxes allow the use of script-based tasks and enable the primary communication channel utilized for device interactions.
Python Interpreter: Users must specify the location of the Python interpreter when running Python scripts and tasks within the application. There are two options available: "Local," which refers to a Python installation on the user's machine, and "Server," which points to a Python installation on a remote server.
Settings Configuration
The Solution Settings navigation on Solution Explorer has general settings that applies to the entire Solution to assist the creating and maintenance of the solution. It includes:
Solution Information
Includes all the basic information about your solution.
Solution information | |
|---|---|
Description | A description for the solution. |
Solution | |
Key Concepts and Terminology
Target Platform
The target platform refers to the operating system and hardware environment on which your project will be deployed and executed. Our platform supports various target platforms, including Windows, Linux, and real-time operating systems, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with a wide range of industrial automation systems.
By selecting the appropriate target platform, you can optimize your project's performance and ensure seamless integration with your existing infrastructure.
Target License
The platform uses a licensing model to provide different levels of functionality and scalability, depending on the needs of your project. The target license determines the features, modules, and tag limits available within a specific project.
We offer several licensing options, catering to various project sizes and complexity levels. By choosing the right target license for your project, you can ensure access to the necessary tools and features while optimizing costs.
Categories
One interesting feature in the software platform is the ability to use Categories to organize and group items on runtime, such as variables, alarms, and trends.
Plugins
Plugins are additional software components that can be integrated into the platform to extend its functionality and compatibility. These plugins can be developed by third-party vendors or even end-users. They enable you to add custom features, support for specific devices, or integration with other software systems.
Our platform provides an SDK (Software Development Kit) that allows developers to create their own plugins, ensuring maximum flexibility and adaptability to meet unique project requirements. By leveraging plugins, you can tailor the platform to fit your specific needs and create highly customized automation solutions.
How to Use the Project Settings and Utilities
The Project Settings page (Project → Settings) has the configuration options that applies to the entire project.
You can view and change the project settings that you configured when you created the project.
Project information | ||
|---|---|---|
Field | Description | |
Description | A description for the project. | |
Project Path | Read-only path to the projectsolution. | |
Tag Count | How many tags the project solution has. | Communication Points |
Help URL | This feature allows users to integrate additional support for their solution by adding Help URLs for knowledge bases and documentationHow many communication points the project has. | |
Target Platform and License
Provides an overview for understanding the capabilities and limitations of your selected solution.
Target Platform and License | Field | Description|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Target Platform | Shows the target platform selected in the project solution creation procedure. | |||
Product Family | A basic description of the product families is Enterprise — Complete FactoryStudio functionality Edge HMI — Use for smaller applications and embedded systems. Express — Use only for test or demonstration purposes. IIoT Gateway — Create a project to work as an OPC server or Data Acquisition Gateway, providing data to other applications from the native protocol drivers. Changing the family settings may cause some configurations to be invalid. For example, some features are only available in the Enterprise version. | |||
ProductFamily and ProductModel | Go to Product Series for information about the options available. When deployment this solution to product, the Product Family and Model select must match your license. | Product Model | The product model is connected with the maximum number of real-time communication points you are allowed on that project. | |
Canary Historian | Defines how many tags will be used in the project. | |||
Project Options | ||||
Field | Description | |||
Solution Options
Here, the users can fine-tune the following configurations:
Solution Options | |
|---|---|
Culture Info | Select the target language for the runtime application. This setting controls the formatting of dates, numbers, and other information so they are in compliance with the selected language. It is possible to change this setting later. |
Allow Client Tasks (WPF only) | |
This checkbox allows the execution of |
client-side |
Enable Diagnostics Logging
When enabled, the platform will generate detailed diagnostic logs that capture various events, system messages, errors, and performance data throughout the project's runtime.
Run Modules inside main Runtime process
Field
Description
Script Tasks
When selected, script tasks will be executed within the main Runtime process, sharing resources and memory with other core processes. This can improve performance but may impact the stability of the entire system in case of script errors or issues.
First Device Channel
When selected, the first device channel will run within the main Runtime process. This can enhance communication performance between the first device and the platform but may also affect overall system stability if the device communication encounters issues.
Python Interpreter
Field
Description
Local
Allows you to enter the path to the Python interpreter installed on the local machine.
Server
Allows you to enter the path to the Python interpreter installed on the server where the project will be deployed and run.
Verify the Target Platform
Customize Settings, if needed
Define Categories on large applications
Import Tag Definitions , when applicable
Manage Project Plugins, when applicable
Export the Project Configuration
Access the Project History
Configuring Project Settings
Configuring Categories
Using Import Wizards
Managing PlugIns
Exporting Project Contens
Utilizing the Project History
Working with Project Categories
Create a Category
To create a category, go to the Project Explorer, right-click on the Categories folder, and select "Add Category". Give the category a name and description, then click OK.
Assign Items to Categories
To assign items to a category, select the item in the Project Explorer, go to the Properties window, and select the Category tab. From there, you can select the category you want to assign the item to.
Display Categories on the runtime
To display categories on the runtime, you can use the Category Navigator widget. To add the Category Navigator widget, go to the Toolbox, select the Category Navigator widget, and drag and drop it onto the runtime screen.
Organize the Display of Categories
You can customize the display of categories on the runtime by adjusting the properties of the Category Navigator widget. For example, you can set the width and height of the widget, change the font size and color, and specify the order in which categories are displayed.
By using Categories you can organize and group items on runtime, making it easier to manage and navigate through large and complex projects.
You can create a dictionary of Categories to allow classification of engineering objects. Most configuration tables have the Category column, where you can apply one or more categories to that object.
Create user-defined categories labels that you can use as tag metadata. Categories are useful for filtering when creating the project and during runtime.
- Go to Project → Categories.
- Add and edit the desired categories for this project.
In order to apply a Category to a Tag or any other object:
- Open the DataGrid Configuration Table for that object.
- Set the column Category to be visible.
- Edit the contents of that column. It is possible to select multiple rows.
Using Categories on Runtime
The object categories can also be accessed during runtime for filtering and other custom applications from Category.
A list of all the categories that are defined in the project during runtime is available in the property Server.Categories.
Troubleshooting and Best Practices
Common Issues and Solutions
Best Practices and Recommendations
tasks in WPF. | |
Diagnostics Log Files Location | This dropdown let's you define the location of diagnostic data, aiding in system analysis and troubleshooting. |
Retentive Database Settings
In the Solution Option, click on the gear icon next to the Retentive Database to open the Edit Database Connection popup window.
Edit Database Connection Popup window | |
|---|---|
Name | Defines the database connection name. |
Description | A brief overview informing the purpose or specifications of the database connection. |
Provider | Data providers serve as bridges between applications and specific types of databases. While some providers like ODBC and OleDb offer multi-database support, others like OracleClient, SQLClient, SQLite, and PostgreSQL are specialized for their respective databases. |
Database | The databases you can connect to will vary depending on the selected Provider. |
ServerIP | If the database you want to connect to isn't on the local computer, the ServerIP should be the IP address or network name of the computer with the database. If a tunneling service is required to access the remote computer, the TWebServices utility must be enabled and running on the remote computer. |
Test button | To test the connection. |
DataSource | Displays the configuration string used to connect to the SQLite database. This string specifies the file path and name of the database file, directing the system to the correct database location. The format typically follows "Data Source =ExecutionPathAndName.dbRetentive". |
Password | The security key to authenticate and access the database. |
Run Modules Inside Main Runtime Process
Here, the users configure the solution settings related to module executions.
Solution Options | |
|---|---|
Script Tasks | Enables script-based tasks on the solution. |
First Device Channel | Selects the primary route for communication between a software application and connected devices, ensuring a stable and reliable exchange of data and commands. |
Python Interpreter
Specifies the folder where the Python interpreter is installed.
Python Interpreter | |
|---|---|
Local | Defines the path for Python installation folder on the local machine. |
Server | Defines the path for Python installation folder on the remote server. |
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