Release Notes

The Equipment Details page has been renamed to Details Page, to better indicate that you can access details of any instance type, not just equipment.

Types and Instances

• Types Tab: When looking at the attributes of a sub-type - a type that is a specialization of a base type - all attributes added by the sub-type are noted by a link-with-slash icon:
• Instance Tab: When looking at the attributes of an instance, Maverick attributes are indicated by a link- with-slash icon.

General

• In the Model Tree, there is now a 'house' icon on the base organization and a tooltip that identifies the instance as the base organization:This helps identify where connectors can be created. See Connectors

Smart Equipment Library

• New equipment types continue to be added, and many equipment types now come with a pre-coded is_feeding() method. The is_feeding() method is required for any piece of equipment to actively participate in a feed-chain. The feed-chain is the piece of code that calculates material movements, which populates the Material Ledger.
• The feed-chain has been improved to allow by-passing equipment in the can-feed relationship that doesn't have an is_feeding() method. Previously, this equipment would prevent the feed-chain from progressing.
• The Movement Reasoning logic has been updated and now detects and reports what caused a flow path close - what piece of equipment is no longer 'feeding'.
• You can now automatically create content articles on instances based on their type definition. Links to the articles are auto-created on the instance Overview tab.

Back-fill

• In the Backfill dialog, the 'play' button has been removed. The backfill dates gets set as soon as the user makes a date change (no need to push a play button).
• Selecting single tags using the checkbox and the single 'Move Selected' button now works correctly.

Creating Connectors

• Currently, Gateways can only be added under the 'Base(root) Organization'. There is now a 'house' icon on the base organization and a tooltip that identifies the instance as the base organization.
• Currently, the Gateway-Connector relationship is one to one: you can only create one connector per gateway. This is now enforced in the UI.
• The (+) button on a connector has been removed: you cannot 'add' anything to a connector.

Creating Connectors

• Currently, Gateways can only be added under the 'Base(root) Organization'. There is now a 'house' icon on the base organization and a tooltip that identifies the instance as the base organization.
• Currently, the Gateway-Connector relationship is one to one: you can only create one connector per gateway. This is now enforced in the UI.
• The (+) button on a connector has been removed: you cannot 'add' anything to a connector.

The following GraphQL types were added to the schema

• type_to_child_types (composites on a type level)
• scripts
• current_vsts
• enumeration_types

The following traversals where added to the schema

• type <-> type_to_attribute_type - traverse between attribute definitions and types
• type <-> type_to_child_type - traverse between child objects and types
• attribute -> current_vsts - get current value of attributes
• tag -> current_vsts - get current value of tags
• objects <-> attribute - traverse between instance objects and attributes
• parentObject <- objects -> childObjects - recursively traverse the instance tree
• superType <- type -> subTypes - recursively traverse the type tree
• attributes -> referencedAttributes - resolve referenced attributes
• attributes -> referencedObjects - resolve referenced instance objects
• libraries <-> scripts - traverse between libraries and scripts
• types <-> scripts - traverse between types and scripts
• objects <-> scripts - traverse between instance objects and scripts
• attributes <-> enumerationTypes - traverse between attributes and enum types
• typeToAttributeTypes to enumerationTypes - traverse between attributes on types and enum types

Note: we are not improving many of the traditional entrance points, such as equipment, equipmentType, organization, area, place, material. All these are now covered through our general type and instance trees - the same way a user would through the platform UI.

Types and Instances

• The label for ordering attributes was not consistent between the Attribute grid and the Edit dialog. Now they are both labeled 'Order'.

Access Control

• Users in the User Group 'Registered' only have 'View' access to all Model elements, including scripts, libraries, etc.
• Users in the User Group 'SiteAdmin' only have 'View' access to Model elements, including scripts, libraries, etc.
• In the Admin Console, clearing non-used scripts and log and output files should only be an option for users in the DevAdmin User Group. Previously SiteAdmins had access to this page.

Relationships

• When items in the Relationship grid have the same name - like 'Inlet Valve' -, it is difficult to know what instance the item referred to when looking at the Relationship grid. Now the items are uniquely identified by appending their parent(can feed) name in the display.

Back-fill

• Backfilling Data: The Arrow button to move a single tag from Historized Tags to Back-fill Tags did not work when selecting only one tag. This has been fixed.

Creating Connector

• The 'Generate Code' button was throwing a console error. This has been fixed.

User Login Experience

• Fixed Incorrect messages when using incorrect password
• Fixed 'Empty solution not allowed' error message when using 'Forgot your username?'/ 'Forgot your password?'
• Fixed no email received when using the 'Forgot your username?'/ 'Forgot your password?' features

Types and Instances

• The layout for configuring time intervals, for work shifts, for example, has been improved to be more intuitive and easy to use.
• Work Shifts are no longer displayed in the Trend time picker Range: Custom Time dropdown if they have not occurred yet: for example, a future night shift is not selectable.
• When Types are edited - an attribute is added, for example - the change is now reflected in any instance of the type.

Types and Instances

• The Tree Explorer now scrolls correctly to an instance when Search is used.
• The Order set on Gateways and Connectors is now respected by the Tree Explorer.
• After expanding an instance in the Tree Explorer, the tree now focuses on the instance, not it's parent.
• The description content of an instance in the Overview tab no longer displays beyond the container.
• The Add/Edit Script dialog now retains the user preference to 'Show More/Hide More' setting.
• The detail link on a Type's 'Composed of' dialog now correctly opens the Details page.

General

• 'Model Editor' has been updated to 'Model Explorer' in the Admin Console under the Components menu.

Types and Instances

• The text at the top of the Add / Edit dialogs has been updated to improve understanding.

Types and Instances

• Equipment and Places could not be added under an Object - this is now fixed.
• The Value column in the attributes list now properly displays JSON data.
• When data types integer and float are in the attribute list, the value pill now shows '--' when there is no data to display.
• There was a POST network call error when creating data types of type 'Reference': this has been fixed.
• Display scripts on Types that were not Equipment were not working correctly - this has been fixed.

Enumerations

• Updating enumeration values on an instance attribute was not working. This is now fixed.

Event Objects

• Attributes with 'event object' type selected with a Data Storage type of Static using a 'Config Value' caused a network error. This has been fixed. Note: this is an example of using a simple object as a simple object and not a Time Series event object.

General

• Console errors were being constantly generated, slowing down the UI. This has been fixed.

Types and Instances

• You can now control the order of the list of attributes using the new column Order. Use the Show More link at the top right of the dialog box to set the Order field. This order is also used when displaying data in the Material Flow diagram event objects.
• Design documents as PDFs can be uploaded into an article. See how here.

Types and Instances

• Instances of the same type without an explicit description were adopting the description of another instance of the same type. This has been fixed.
• Type and Instance descriptions can now be edited.
• Changing an instance type failed if the new type had an attribute that was an Enumeration. This has been fixed.
• JSON data in the value column of an attribute was poorly formatted and bled over into the adjacent column. Now, only the first key/value pair will show with a link to a dialog for viewing the complete JSON structure.
• Deleting an Instance will cause the tree component to refresh and focus on the instance immediately above the deleted item. Previously, the tree re-rooted to the top level item.
• Duplicate Types can coexist and will display in the Types tab as long as they belong to different Libraries.
• Unexpected connector data (OPC UA object types) on 'Instances' tab caused the UI to not load correctly. This has been corrected.
• Changing an instance Type was causing an erroneous database error and would not complete. This has been fixed.
• 'Config Value' for data types 'interval' did not always display correctly in the Edit dialog, although it was correct in the attribute list for the instance. This has been corrected.
• Enumeration attributes that with long text values were stretching into the next column. This has been corrected.
• When adding a new instance, the Type field did not always show in the Add Instance dialog, even though it would be saved. This has been corrected.
• The Audit Log link was missing on the Type Overview page. This has been corrected.
• The Type Overview page had a gap between links in the Additional links section on the right side of the page. This has been corrected.
• The Limits column in the attribute list is now optional, although the default setting is to Show Limits.
• Integer attributes with a Value of 0 (zero) were sometimes incorrectly displayed as a red 'pill', instead of showing the value of '0'. This has been corrected.

Relationships

• The Relationship Tab of an instance sometimes loaded incorrectly and did not display all Relationships. This has been fixed.
• 'Can Consume' relationships now display materials on the left side of equipment, and the "+" to Add a material also displays on the left side.

Tags

• A new column has been added to show the Connector associated with the tag. The option to view or not view the column is controlled with the View Columns control.
• Tags with data type of Int (Integer) no longer display with a decimal point.

Enumerations

• Enumeration configuration columns are now singular instead of plural (e.g. colors → color)
• When aspects of Enumerations were left empty, for example the Color codes, the system was defaulted the parameter to 'null'. Now empty parameters default to empty strings, or, in the case of color codes, {#000000, #000000, #000000}.
• Enumerations were unable to reference other integer attributes by the use of an Expression. This has been corrected.
• Adding an additional definition(without a description) to an Enumeration type in use by an Instance was breaking the instance Edit Dialog. This has been fixed.
• Using a comma in the Description in one enumeration put following text as the Description in the following enumeration. This has been fixed.

Measurement Units

• Double-clicking on a measurement unit in the picker dialog to select and enter it into the Edit Attribute dialog now works. Previously you had to highlight the measurement unit and use the ‘Select’ button to enter it into the Add/Edit Attribute dialog.

General

• When a dialog box is open and the user clicks outside the dialog box without closing it, the UI could get 'stuck' and be inaccessible without a page reload. This has been fixed.

Types and Instances

• The tooltip for adding a new Type has been changed to “Add sub type”

Enumerations

• Deleting an Enumeration Type that is in use by an Instance is not allowed. A list of Instances using the Enumeration is provided, with links to the Instance/Attribute list. User will need to update or delete all occurrences of the Enumeration attribute in all Instances before the Enumeration Type can be deleted.

Types and Instances

• Instances derived from Types that have a Class Script associated with them are labeled ‘Smart’ in the Instance Overview Tab.

A Tree Explorer component has been added that provides a tool to create navigation for a custom page in the platform.

A Time-in-State component has been added that allows for visualization of how long a data value remained in a certain timespan. This component has been integrated into the 'Last Hour' column in the Attributes grid.

The Duration Picker can now read information from a 'Work Shift Object' and display the work shifts in the duration dropdown in Trend and wherever the duration picker is used.

Access Control Changes

The User Group TIQAdmin has been retired and replaced with DevAdmin. The purpose of the DevAdmin group is to provide complete system access to individual users while a system is still under development and the Model is being built out. The DevAdmin group can be used by Customers, ThinkIQ, and Integrators. As a system matures and a natural division of responsibilities ensues, the role of SiteAdmin can be assigned to users as needed.

• DevAdmin users can enable new users on the platform and place them into the appropriate User Groups.
• DevAdmins have full access to the Model Explorer and can perform technical duties such as building Types, creating Instances, creating Connectors, doing data backfills, etc.

Admin Console

• The Model Explorer has access levels that are set in the Admin Console under Components->Model Editor->Model Editor. A View access level has been added which can be configured restrict who can view content in the Model. The default setting is Registered, which means all Registered users - all users - can view all content in the Model.
• There is now an ability to Clear Non-Used Script Files and Clear All Log And Output Files from the Admin Console. These capabilities can be found under Components->Model Editor->Clear Scripts and Logs.

Importing a Library with a "/" in the name is not supported by the system. Trying to import an improper file name will now generate an error.

• Previously, the process failed, but did not generate an error message.

Using the Export All button on the toolbar, it is now possible to export all Libraries at once.

Type System

• Attributes added to a Parent type were not propagating to child types unless the Parent base type was Equipment. Now, attributes added to Parent types that are Objects, or other base types, will propagate to child types..

Instances

Attributes

• Attempting to add an attribute where the data type does not match the value now generates an appropriate front end error message. Previously, the message instructed the user to contact ThinkIQ Support.
• When editing attributes, the dialog remembers the previous Show More setting.

Tags

• The Historized column on the Tags page had a pagination issue and was reporting incorrect values until the page was scrolled. This has been fixed.

Model Editor -> Model Explorer

• The Model Editor has been rebranded to Model Explorer. This component is where users manage many aspects of their system including Type and Instance management, model creation and editing, Materials modeling, and more.
• The Material Model menu has been superseded by the Model Explorer. Materials will now be created, tracked and managed from within the Model Explorer.
• The interface for the new Model Explorer has been updated!
  • Like the Types tab, introduced a few months ago, the Instance Tab presents items in the Model in a tree format in the left pane, with details and configuration options in the right pane.
  • Tree Structure
    • The tree structure can be searched using the Search box
    • The tree can be rooted on any item in the Model by clicking the Set Root icon next to the item in the tree.
    • Editing a Model item, or adding a new instance of an item can be triggered by clicking the Add Instance or Edit icon next to the item in the tree.
  • Details Pane
    • Attributes, Relationships, scripts and more are all configured in the right pane of the Explorer.
    • The Overview tab editor allows for adding rich text and images to provide details about the item with focus in the tree.
    • The Attributes tab shows existing attributes and their current values - if wired. Attributes are added and edited here. The order of the display of the attributes can be changed by editing an attribute - use the Show More option in the Edit Attribute dialog.
    • The Relationships tab displays existing relationships in a graphical form and allows adding and deleting relationships.
    • The Scripts tab provides a way to create and edit scripts for an item.
    • From the Details Pane you can browse directly to Trend, the item Details Page, view the Audit log, and more.

Type System - 'Object' has been renamed to 'Generic Object' to better support new object types in the system. 'Generic Object' is the base type for all types in the system.

• Type System - OPC UA Core Library has been moved under the Generic Object type and is hidden (filtered) by default.

More

• The More tab has dropdowns to pages for managing Enumerations, Libraries, Scripts, and other relatively static system data, like Measurement Units and Relationship Types. All interfaces for these pages have been updated, replacing the previous grid structure.

Type System

• Contents in the type system can now be filtered by Library using the funnel icon on the Types tree.

Relationships

• It is now possible to create a Can Feed relationship between two equipment items even if the second item is under a parent item: Equipment in a hierarchy now is displayed and selectable as a target for a Can-Feed relationship. Previously this effort would fail.

Model Editor

• The 'Show Data' feature for attributes was failing to show tag data. This is now fixed.

Model Editor

• The form for creating a Geo Location on a Place/Organization has been simplified and made more intuitive.

Type System

Limits can be created for Types

• Previously there was an error that prevented successful creation of Limits on attributes of Types. Now, limits can be set and instances inherit the limits when they are created.

Instances

Child instances show up on the instance picker even if they don't have attributes

• Previously, child instances without attributes were hidden.

Attributes

Attributes are now sorted by importance on data tables, according to the Order column.

Objects are now properly imported with a Library.

• Previously Object types were ignored during library imports.

Scripting 'Run on Instance' Dropdown can be ambiguous.

• Previously, the instances shown could be duplicates due to a path ambiguity problem. Now only discrete instances are shown in the dropdown.

User Login Experience

• Fixed Incorrect messages when using incorrect password
• Fixed 'Empty solution not allowed' error message when using 'Forgot your username?'/ 'Forgot your password?'
• Fixed no email received when using the 'Forgot your username?'/ 'Forgot your password?' features

Improved Trend Download feature

• Added a 'downloading' indicator
• Improved Error messaging when download fails

Material Flow Diagram

• Recent update prevented navigation up or down a material flow. This is fixed.

GraphQL

Basic GraphQL Queries Failing after CMS update

• After a major CMS update GraphQL queries were failing: the routing has been updated and queries now execute as expected.

Engineering Units and Quantity Kinds

• The platform now leverages the ability to automatically convert measurement units to the desired unit based on common Quantity Kinds

Model Editor

1. Removed the Places, Equipment Types and Equipment tabs in the Model Browser. In the place of these tabs Types and Instances have been added. This allows adding and referencing and leveraging a wider range of 'things' in the platform. Types now introduce Material, Organization, Person and Object Types along with Place and Equipment. Introducing Objects to the platform will allow for a lot of freedom in creating and leveraging the Model.

2. The new Instances tab not only replaces the Equipment tab, but provides a location to create Places, Materials, Objects, etc., in one place, and leverages the rich model objects to their fullest. The reorganization provides for a full class structure with inheritance of properties and behavior from Types, including propagation rules that maintain data integrity and symmetry.

3. Enumeration Types tab has been added to the Model Editor. See Added for details.

Enumeration Types

Added the new data type of Enumerations to allow for permutations of state, or classification, that an item assumes.

• Users can use pre-existing Enumeration Types or add their own enumerations under the Enumeration Types tab in the Model Editor
• Enumerations are used by adding them as Attributes to:
  • another Type, for example, The Enumeration Type of 'Motor Type' (a list of 6 types of motors) can be an attribute of the Equipment Type 'Motor'
  • an Instance, for example, the enumeration type Run State('Running', 'Stopped') can be added to directly to an equipment item
• Enumerations present human-readable text to the end user: if the state is 0, the display name could read 'Running', not true/false or 1/0.
• Enumerations can leverage different Data Sources:
  • Tags
  • Internal (scripts, etc.)
  • Expressions
  • Static, or Config
• Enumerations can have color-coding for use in displays
  • each choice in the enumeration list can be represented by a user-defined color
  • this color can enhance data display in Trends, Process Layouts, and more

Model Editor

A multi-select combo-box has been added to the Libraries tag to allow scoping the list of items shown to one or more libraries.

Removed the Places and Equipment tabs in the Model Editor: see Changed

Removed the Attribute Types tab in the Model Editor.

Material Process Analyzer

• The Interpolation method used when displaying Material Process Analyzer trend charts now matches the interpolation method set on the selected attribute in the Physical Model.
• Both charts fully fill a 1080 sized monitor with the Scale and layout set to 100%.

OPC/UA

• Tag measurement units and min/max values are updated when they are are available from the source, eliminating manual work to configure tag measurement units and data ranges.

Engineering Units and Quantity Kinds

• Added all relevant UNECE and OPC UA Measurement Units to system. There were several reasons to implement these new units:
  • Creates consistency in handling of engineering units
  • Minimizes the need to add custom measurement units
  • Creates standardization of measurement units across multiple standards (This covers OPC UA, UNECE, Azure IoT Central, and QUDT)

OPC UA

• Improved the measurement units in the base library and updated the OPC UA connector to allow importing UNECE common measurement units

Model Browser

• Improve the UI by moving the set as root functionality to each leaf

General

• Added an Overview page to describe

Model Browser

• Added scrolling pagination which allows the Model Browser to load quickly
• Added fronted and backend sort and search
• Better formatting and visibility of the FQN information using hovering
• New Deep Search discovers hidden attributes

Bug Fixes:

• Material Types and/or their attributes can now be deleted even if the attribute(s) has limits
• Quantity Kinds Library now updates correctly after libraries are added or deleted
• Updating Relationship Type's subject or object type pair no longer deletes all relationships with the same pairing
• Model Editor users can now unlink the internal name from the display name
• Expressions: Evenly averaged sample function under some situations would return NULL as the last value

Model Browser

• The Model Browser has been extended to allow exploring the OPC/UA namespace. Only branches and leafs that have selectable tags are shown.

Attribute List

• The Attribute List tree component now has a vertical scroll bar.
• Searching and/or sorting of the Attribute List is now possible
• The Attribute List can now be used from the Correlation Analysis application.

Line Chart

• The Line Chart now includes attribute ranges and limits automatically. The range is used to scale the Y axis, while the limits are displayed in X axis of the chart. This provides immediate information when looking at a chart.