64-bit Operating System and SQL Server Now Required
With the release of System Platform 2020, a 64-bit operating system and SQL Server version are now required for all System Platform core products: Application Server, InTouch OMI, InTouch HMI, and the Historian. Running in a 64-bit environment provides a common environment for all products, and ensure that you get the best performance from your System Platform installation..
Flex Licensing Option
You can now choose between a perpetual license model and the new Flex-licensing subscription option for Application Server. Flex licensing lets you easily acquire and assign licenses to platforms, much more easily and affordably than what was possible with legacy perpetual licensing. Flex licenses are based on AppEngine assignments, rather than having to calculate I/O counts and other system parameters to determine final licensing costs. Other benefits include better cash flow management and a simplified business process.
New Features in Application Server and InTouch OMI 2020
Performance Improvements
A number of enhancements to improve performance have been implemented for this release of System Platform.
· Propagation times for changes to templates and creating instances have been shortened, especially in large systems.
· Deployment times for InTouchViewApp instances have been reduced.
· The startup time for the aaGR process has been improved.
Credential Management for InTouch OMI ViewApps
InTouch OMI ViewApps can use security credentials created in Application Server to gain access to third-party data where Windows OS credentials are not recognized, and/or to provide a method to automatically load a particular data set for specified users. Credential Management is described under "Security" in both the Application Server User Guide and the System Platform 2020 Help.
Support for Additional .NET Controls InTouch OMI ViewApps
InTouch OMI now lets you import, configure, and use .NET WinForm controls in a ViewApp (.NET WPF controls were already supported). See "Importing ArchestrA Apps" in the System Platform 2020 Help for more information.
Responsive Layouts for InTouch OMI ViewApps
The Layout Editor has a new option for creating responsive layouts. This allows the ViewApp to dynamically move and resize content in response to the screen size on which it is being viewed. See "About Responsive Layouts" in the System Platform 2020 Help for more information.
Script Support for InTouch OMI Layouts
Using the same foundation as scripting for Industrial Graphics (formerly ArchestrA Graphics), layout scripting lets you customize run time behaviors for layout content as well as the layout container by adding scripts. As part of layout support, graphic custom properties can be overridden within the layout. A new namespace, "MyContent," is available for addressing content within a single ViewApp, in addition to the MyViewApp global namespace. See "Layout Scripts" in the System Platform 2020 Help for more information.
Event Scripting for InTouch OMI Layouts
You can add event-based scripts to InTouch OMI layouts when the layout include apps that expose public properties, for example "MouseDown." See "Add an Event Handler Script" in the System Platform 2020 Help for more information.
HideContent() Scripting Function and API Call
The HideContent() scripting function and API call can be used in conjunction with ShowContent(), which was introduced in System Platform 2017 Update 2. ShowContent() lets you place symbols or layouts into specific panes within an InTouch OMI layout, either through scripting or programmatically, and now HideContent() provides the additional functionality for more complete control of the content you wish to make available to users at run time. See the Application Server Scripting Guide for more information.
InTouch OMI App Enhancements
The MapApp and Content Presenter App have been enhanced with new features and improved functionality. These apps are described in the System Platform 2020 Help.
· MapApp: Credential management has been improved, with a built-in menu for selecting a named credential.
· ContentPresenterApp: The ContentPresenter app shows graphics from one or more selected nodes of a ViewApp navigation model. The pane in which the ContentPresenter app has been placed shows a set of graphic thumbnails that match the ContentPresenter app filter criteria. Graphics shown by the ContentPresenter app can be filtered by content type, name, and location within the ViewApp navigation model.
Browse Application Server Run-Time Data with OPC UA Clients
AVEVA Application Server now includes OPC UA server functionality. This lets you browse the namespace in a deployed galaxy, and connect to, subscribe to, and retrieve galaxy data, without the need for a gateway or other protocol translation mechanism. See "Configuring and Using the OPC UA Server" in the Application Server User Guide for more information.
AVEVA Connect for Sharing Graphics
AVEVA Connect is a cloud-based resource that lets you easily create and share graphics between locations, galaxies, and applications. See "AVEVA Connect" in the Application Server User Guide for more information.
AVEVA Telemetry Server Enhancements
The Telemetry Server now supports handling data that arrives out-of-sequence via multiple channels. See "Telemetry Server Data References" in the Application Server User Guide for more information.
Visualize Externally-Detected Alarms
Alarm conditions that have been detected within a PLC can now be visualized in, for example, the Historical Trend App or the Alarm App. To accomplish this, the ability to configure a Boolean attribute within the Object Editor as an alarm input for a State Alarm has been added. This allows the trend tools to properly visualize alarms that have been detected externally. See "Using the State Alarm Feature" in the Application Server User Guide for more information.
New Features in InTouch HMI 2020
InTouch HMI 2020 includes a number of new features, hot fixes, and provides support for the latest versions of Microsoft products. Refer to the GCS Technology Matrix for the list of supported Microsoft products. The following section summarizes the major features introduced in this release.
New and Improved InTouch HMI Application Manager
The new InTouch HMI Application Manager presents with a modern user interface with simplified workflow tasks and easier access to features.
Integration with AVEVA Connect
You can upload, download and manage Industrial Graphics in AVEVA Connect via the Graphic Toolbox.
HTML5 Widget
In this release we have introduced the framework of using HTML5 widgets within InTouch HMI. The Carousel widget from the graphic toolbox will allow you to configure and view a HTML5 widget in WindowViewer and Web Client.
Standalone Applications with Support for Industrial Graphics
The new standalone application now supports Industrial Graphics.
· You can create application and frame windows, drag and drop graphics on the window and view them in WindowViewer.
· It does not have any dependency on a GR and can be used without the IDE installed.
· Standalone applications can be viewed on the Web Client. The application windows must be converted to Industrial Graphics before being viewed on the web client.
Other Major InTouch HMI Features
· ArchestrA symbols or ArchestrA graphics will now be referred to as Industrial Graphics.
· InTouch HMI tags can be configured to directly store tag information to AVEVA Historian via WindowMaker.
· The cross reference utility now displays tags used in Industrial Graphics present in the Graphic toolbox, but not placed on any window.
· InTouch tags will be displayed without having to type "InTouch:" for standalone InTouch applications in the Graphic Editor. The scripting engine will display the tags from the default namespace without requiring the user to type "<namespace>:".
· Enhanced security and performance improvements to various components of InTouch HMI.
· The ChangePassword() function has been enhanced to support longer passwords allowing better security.
Web Client
There are many improvements to the Web Client:
· Improvements to the security, availability and performance of the web server.
· Web Client now supports write operations. In this release, a new license that supports read/write operations has been introduced.
· You can now acknowledge alarms on the embedded alarm client from the Web Client
· Web Client now display Standalone applications with multiple symbols.
· Web client now supports Windows controls like checkbox, combobox, etc.
· New license that allows for unlimited sessions for reading and writing data from the web client.
· Web Client now supports user-specific InTouch System Tags on a per-user basis within a web browser session.
Web Client now available as a Mobile App
The Web Client interface is now available as a Mobile App. For more information see the Viewing Application Graphics in a Web Browser guide.
Using the Historical Trend Control for Viewing Historian Data
Using the Historical Trend Control from the Drawing toolbar you can configure the IndustrialSQL Server History Provider (Historian Server), to visualize historical trend data. This functionality requires the storage of database credentials in local files. To prevent unauthorized access to Historian and other SQL databases, we recommend using the ArchestrA Trend Client, with a Windows Integrated or Windows Account authentication mode.
New Features in Historian 2020
Multi-Tier Replication Support
The Historian supports multi-tier replication. Data originating at tier 1 can be replicated to tier 2, then again to tier 3, and so on. Replication from tier 1 to tier two can be simple or summary replication. Replication beyond tier 2 is simple replication.
Support for AVEVA Flex Licensing
Enhanced Excel add-in
Support for tag selection using search, tag metadata in headings, wide/narrow output formatting, flexible column selection, and native formats for numbers/dates.
AVEVA Historian Client Web (previously known as Historian Insight) supports white labeling for OEMs
New Features in Historian Client 2020
Trend automatically sets scale precision
Added auto precision option (enabled by default) to tag trend options. When enabled, the number of decimal places is set automatically based on the value range.
Trend XY plot "start/end" marker changes
Added options to show end markers only, show start markers only, not show any markers or time labels, and to change start/end marker sizes.
Dashboards can be accessed by URL, so they can be shared
Support for AVEVA Flex Licensing