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<h1 style="text-align: center;">Solutions Manager</h1>
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Introduction to the Solutions Manager
The platform is designed for creating real-time data applications, structured into solutions. A solution includes configurations for various functional Modules, such as tag definitions, alarms, communication, and displays.
The Solutions Manager is the central hub for organizing and managing your solutions.
It enables you to create, open, and edit solutions from your computer or remote devices, facilitating efficient workflow and productivity.
On this page:
Key Concepts and Terms
Solution File / Solution Name The configuration of an application (solution) is saved is a file with extension .dbSln. All modules settings are stored in that file. The solution name matches the name of the configuration file. |
Project File In order to facilitate distinction with legacy product versions, Project File, refer to files with extension .tProj, a legacy configuration. |
Understanding the Solutions Manager
The Solutions Manager interface is the main hub for managing and organizing your Solutions.
Some very unique and powerful features include:
The platform creates a file for each Solution. All configuration, including tag definition, displays drawing, images and report templates is stored in a single file — an encrypted SQL database with extension .dbsln — for easy management.
You can open multiple Solutions at the same time or allow multiple engineers to work on each Solution.
- You can access Solution files located in your computer, or remote devices with the Platform Services enabled.
- When accessing remote devices, you can from a pure HTML5 interface, without the needing of any location installation.
To enable multiple users to work concurrently on the same solution, follow the procedure described in the section Multi-User Collaboration.
Navigating the User Interface
The User Interface is composed by the following sections:
- The Right side is Help only information, you can close that section, if you want.
The middle box, called the Solution List, shows a list of Solutions on your computer or a previously set remote computer.
- The Left side, has summary information and allows Navigation for the children pages with additional contents.
- Server Information Page: select folders, view and manage connected server (or local computer).
- Licensing And Activation: show and modify the license on the connected server (or local computer).
- Product Information: show current version and list of installed drivers.
Selecting a Solution
The main area on the Solution Manager is where you can select a solution and execute commands on the selected solution, or create a new solution.
The middle box is called Solution List and shows a list of solutions on your computer or on a remote computer set previously. Click Refresh to update the solutions list is case external applications or uses modify the contents of folders.
Each item in the solution list is a complete configuration for an application, each image is an independent solution. The image used for the solution preview is the contents of the display named MainPage in that solution.
On the top right corner, you can select List, Cards or Table view.
List View
Card View
Table View
Working with Solutions
Create, Edit or Run Solutions
The buttons on the top of Solutions List allow to manage the select solution, or to create a new one.
Got to Creating and Managing Solutions for information on those commands.
Solution Configuration File
The configuration for the entire solution, is stored in single file with the extension .dbsln. That file is an encrypted embedded SQL database, with the configuration tables of the various modules, like Tags, Alarms, Scripts and Displays.
You can move, rename, duplicate, backup and restore the Solution files, working directly on the computer folders, as you'd do with any other file. When moving files directly on the computer folders, you need to press the Refresh button to update the list content.
Other files extension for Solutions are created, when using the Publish feature, as described in the chapter Runtime Build and Publish.
Be extreme careful when renaming solution files (or solution Names). There are macros and properties with the solution Nema that may have been to create Database files, configuration files, or any other application specific implementation. When renaming a Solution that is already in production, it is necessary to address any specific configuration, or external connections, that might have been created using that specific name. |
Upgrade from Legacy Projects
When a file with extension .tProj is found, it shows on the Solution List, with the prefix Project. Only projects from versions 9.1 and 9.2 can be upgraded directly. For older project files, first use the 9.1 or 9.2 product to upgrade to those versions.
When a legacy project is selected, the Upgrade Version command button is enabled.
In order to Edit a legacy Project, you need to use the tools for the specific version of that Project. The Solutions Manager will only handle upgrades for that project to the current Solution features. |
For further details on the Upgrade process to to page Migrating Legacy Projects
Access Solutions on Remote Computers
Requirements
The Solutions Manager can access configuration files from other Computer and Devices. There are two ways to accomplish that, connecting to a Remote Server at Server Information, or using a url to open an open UI.
Both methods require that the connected server has the TWebServices running on the remote computer, and the necessary firewall ports open. In Windows computer, you can setup the TWebServices to run, opening a local instance of the Solutions Manager at the target server, and setup the TWebServices in the ServerInformation page. For Linux and other operating system, you need to setup the TWebServices to run on power-up using the tools of the OS. The TWebServices by default uses port 10108.
When multiple users open the same solution from the Server, it allows Multi-User Collaboration on the solution development.
Connecting to a Remote Solution Server
At the page Server Information, just put the IP, or computer domain name, of the server you want and press the Connect button.
→ Read more about the Server Information page.
Using the Solution Manager Web UI
It is possible to access the Solutions on a remote server, without even installing the product in your local computer.
Just open browser and use the url: http://<Server IP or Name>:10108/solutions. Example: http://192.169.1.1:10108/solutions
The requirements are the remote device has the TWebServices running, If the device has an security AccessKey defined, the URL shall be:
http://<ServerIPorName>:10108/solutions?accesskey=<key>
Using the Designer in Click-Once Mode
When you are using the Solutions Manager WebUI and you open a Solution for editing, its not necessary to have the Designer pre-installed in your computer, the system will use the click-once technology (if the browser supports it) and open a Designer window, getting the necessary files from the remote computer. Most common browser allow click-once, check the compliance on the browser technical information, querying for Click-Once compatibility.
Reference Information
Executables Installation Folder
Using the Microsoft App standard, the MSIX installer creates a folder under \Program Files\WindowsApps\ for the product. That folder shouldn't not be accessed directly by the users, and the installation should be added or removed, using the Windows Add/Remove apps utility.
In order to comply with same FactoryFloor or DataCenter requirements, it's also to install the product using the traditional setup.exe, which give further control on the installation folder. Read about custom installation at Deployment ? Managing Installations.
Documents Product Folders
The first time the product is executed in the computer, it automatically various Folders under MyDocuments special folder, using the product name and the initial node for the folders.
| Product Folders under MyDocuments | |
|---|---|
| Folder name | Usage |
| Demos | Default location for Demo solutions included in the installer |
| Solutions | Default location when creating new solutions. |
| Templates | Contains the templates available to use when creating new solutions. |
| ThirdParty | Default folder to add third-party extension libraries for server side execution. |
| ToolsSettings | Contains configuration files for the product tools |
| TraceLogs | Folder used by product diagnostics to report exceptions and configured traces. |
| Transfers | Folder used ny Download, Upload, export and Import operations. |
| Utilities | Folder with command-lie product utilities. |
| Installed Command-line Utilities | |
|---|---|
| Name | Usage |
| AutoStartClient.exe | Service to automatically start WebPages or ThinClients in stations according its server status. Read more on Remote Clients Setup. |
| CertificateConverter.exe | Converts Security Certificates with extension pem to .pfx, in order to be used on the MQTT communication drivers. The syntax to execute is: CertificateConverter.exe /certificate:<.pem CertificateFilePath> /key:<.pem CertificateKeyFilePath> /password:<Password for .pfx certificate> |
| DisableTaskSwitchProtection.bat | RichClients only, disables the operator to force Windows to switch the Displays module to other applications. |
| EnableTaskSwitchProtection.bat | RichClients only, enables the operator to force Windows to switch the Displays module to other applications. |
| StartRichClient.bat | Starts the RichClient in the local computer |
| StartRuntime.bat | Starts the execution a solution in the local computer. |
In this section: