Fully upgraded Connectors, introducing the new (beta version) Profile Import & Export feature, and system upgrades.
New Features
Major New Features in this Release
Our latest release introduces new features that advance the capabilities and expand the way the ThinkIQ platform is used.
Connectors
The connectors have under-gone a major revision beginning with an update to the .NET Core library, and following that, each connector has been completely reworked. The installation program has also been updated to match internal changes and connector names have been updated to clarify their purpose and category.
- The Custom Connector has been renamed to Simulator. The Simulator connector can be installed locally and simulated tags will be created that can be historized, used in Trend, and added to instance attributes.
- The OPC UA connector has been renamed to OPC UA Live Data. The dialog box for the OPC UA Server Information has been updated to help users build the Server URL, and tooltips help explain and nudge the user in filling them in.
- The OPC DA connector has been renamed to OPC Classic DA. This connector must be installed locally, that is, on the machine the data source resides on.
- The OPC HDA connector has been renamed to OPC Classic HDA. This connector must be installed locally, that is, on the machine the data source resides on.
- The Wonderware Historian connector has been renamed to Aveva (Wonderware) Historian. This connector can be installed using a Local System Account, or, using a specific user account along with Windows or Server Authentication.
- The OSI Historian connector will be renamed to Aveva (OSISoft) Historian. This connector will be available in a future release.
- The installed Gateway and Connector can be cleanly deleted by selecting Gateway under Add/Remove Programs.
Documents in Connectivity category have been updated to reflect the above and provide specific guidence.
Profile Import/Export
In ThinkIQ, the terms ‘profile’ and ‘type’ are essentially the same thing. A ThinkIQ library represents a collection of types, and all associated attributes and scripts – or methods – on the types. With our latest release, ThinkIQ enables users to export ThinkIQ libraries into JSON or XML files, which can be consumed by the CESMII cloud library, or imported into a different ThinkIQ system. This makes sharing libraries between systems efficient and useful.
This feature is still in beta testing and is enabled on specific platforms. You will see the cloud icon on the Library grid if this feature is available for your system. Contact your ThinkIQ rep if you would like to have access to this feature.
Also with this release, the profile importer supports importing units of measurement from an OPC UA nodeset file. We are utilizing the OPC-UA-Nodeset-WebAPI package to extract these values.
Read more about Profile Import/Export
Php Version Upgrade
The ThinkIQ application has been upgraded to Php 8.4. This upgrade:
- Brings new features and improvements to developers of scripts:
- Improvements like readonly properties, enhanced array handling (e.g., array spread in array expressions)
- Better string functions
- Improved method chaining and new array helper functions
- Performance improvements
- Enhanced security
CMS Version Upgrade
Along with the Php upgrade, the CMS that the platform is built on has also received a major version upgrade. This upgrade:
- Provides improved compatibility with Php 8+ and Bootstrap 5+
- Speed advancements and optimization
- Better website caching
- Enhanced security
Model Explorer
- When viewing the attributes list of an , the sparkline in the History column was not updating correctly over time. Attributes could have data coming in every minute but the sparkline range was shrinking over time. This has been corrected.
- Types and Instances now have the same label for the ordering field: they both are called 'Order' now.
- When using the instance picker - to select the Type or Parent of the instance, for example - the UI included add and edit icons which did nothing. These icons were confusing and not needed: they have been removed.
- When deleting a root item in the Tree, the UI was not redirected to the correct page. This has been fixed.
Process Layout
- The hover-over data on values in the KPI display panel were not updating. This has been fixed.
- The default Layout Ranking (a Diagram Control - visible to Engineers and Configuration access groups) is now Tight Tree and the option of 'None' has been removed.
- The color box that displays in the popup when clicking on a node/instance is now centered alongside its title, 'Color'.
- The Search box, Area Tree and KPI Display can now be hidden from the page using the expand and contract caret icons.
- People in the Engineers and Configuration access groups can click the Edit Settings link (on the Layout Ranking panel) to open the Admin Console to edit the diagram settings.
- When the default Layout Ranking is changed (by and Engineer or Configurator), the change is saved and used for the Layout until it is changed again.
Trend
- The trend application was freezing on the loading indicator when string data contained a curly brace. This issue has now been resolved.
Connectors
- Gateways can now be deleted even when the connector below has tags.
- The connector Types have been renamed for more accuracy:
| Old Name | New Name |
| OSI Historian | Aveva (OSISoft) Historian |
| Wonderware Historian | Aveva (Wonderware) HIstorian |
| OPC DA | OPC Classic DA |
| OPC HDA | OPC Classic HDA |
| OPC UA | OPC UA Live Data |
| Custom Connector | Simulator |
ADDED:
- A link to the Help documentation has been added to the installer to assist with questions during installation.
Applications
- The Raw Data Report now displays data for event objects correctly. Previously, if part of the key-value pair of the data set was missing, the data would be misaligned in the columns.
- Downloading event object data was putting incorrect data into the Value field when the Separate Files option was selected. This has been corrected.