TopView® version 6.37.1 Release

TopView® version 6.37.1 Release

May 31, 2022

OPC/SCADA ● OPC A&E ● PI ● SQL Events ● SQL Lookup ● MQTT ● PerfMon

See the release notes for a full list of changes included in this version

TopView for OPC UA release

TopView for OPC UA adds support for OPC Unified Architecture (“UA”), a standard for OPC communication that can run on multiple platforms leveraging various modern transports and authentication methods. OPC UA is the successor to OPC Classic (which is COM-based).

OPC UA support is licensed for customers with a TopView OPC license.

SMS: Support for SIP Instant Messaging added

Many VOIP/SIP providers support instant messaging (IM) in addition to phone calls. The recipient of the IM is a SIP client that supports IM which is typically software on a desktop or mobile device.

This version of TopView supports SIP IM for sending notifications and to receive messages for alarm acknowledge and information query. The SIP Server for IM may be the same SIP Server used for TopView Voice Notification (VOIP). Not all SIP servers support IM so you should check with your provider to verify IM support.

SMS: Support for Yeastar TG Series devices

The Yeastar TG Series VOIP GSM Gateway is a networked cellular device that supports both SMS and VOIP phone calls.

The Yeastar TG device is an LTE device that supports multiple SIMs to provide multiple cellular trunks for SMS and Voice calls. The device is given a static IP address on the TopView network and can provide both SMS and Voice calls to secure environments as long as a cellular signal exists.

SMS: Incoming SMS for Twilio

Twilio is a hosted SMS provider. Previous versions of TopView support Twilio for outgoing SMS only.

Incoming SMS is now supported for Twilio to allow SMS notification recipients to acknowledge alarms and request information

Engine Health: Automatic Engine Warnings and Health report

A common question for TopView users is “How do I know if there are any issues with my running TopView Engine(s)?”. TopView users can view logs, send notifications for major issues (e.g., email me upon lost server connection), and they can monitor internal status tags for specific issues (e.g., last SMS notification failed) but these require the user to perform manual steps or to pre-configure TopView to recognize specific issues.

Engine Health was developed to provide automatic health monitoring of running TopView Engines for a wide range of potential issues and to make these issues visible to the user. In addition to warnings, Engine Health provides a health report that details the various items that TopView is monitoring to determine the health warnings.

Watchdog TCP For Engine Monitoring and Redundancy

Watchdog TCP was added to address the challenges with remote Engine Monitoring when using Windows performance counters. The TopView performance counter information is now available through a TCP Watchdog server and client.

To use the new Watchdog TCP feature:

  • Watchdog Server:
    • Each monitored Engine must enable its Watchdog TCP Server and specify the Watchdog Server listen port
    • When the Engine starts it will listen for Watchdog Engine client connections on the configured port
  • Watchdog Engine Client:
    • Any TopView Engine, local or remote, can monitor this Engine’s health information
    • Watchdog tags can be added to the monitored tag list and alarms can be configured
    • The Watchdog tags include all of the existing TopView performance counters plus a new tag named “topview_engine_ok”

Mobile Web App (MWA): Windows User/Group security

Previous versions of the Mobile Web App allow security configured through MWA accounts (user/password). Security can now be configured for Windows Users and Windows Groups

Access to the MWA, as well as acknowledgment authorization, can be granted to Windows Users or Groups. Access is similar to the Remote Viewer: Users or Groups can be allowed access to the application and acknowledge permissions can be specified for each entry.

SCADA Connect Tag Importer release

The previous release of TopView (v6.36) included a preview of the SCADA Connect Tag Importer which allows users to import SCADA alarm tags and settings while remaining in the TopView Configurator.
The SCADA Connect Tag Importer is now released.

Manual Tags (new feature)

Manual Tags can be used to trigger events in TopView or to simulate/test specific tag behavior without requiring the user to create these types of tags within the data server.

TopView now allows the user to create one or more Manual Tags. TopView Manual Tags are global and can be added to any TopView configuration.

Message Placeholders: show example resolved values

Placeholders in TopView notification messages are used to include dynamic information in the message such as tag values and tag properties. While constructing the message the user is able to include placeholders but was previously unable to a see a resolved placeholder until a notification was sent that included placeholders.

The following screens allow the user to view placeholders or example values for placeholders:

  • Notification message templates
  • FCN operations (operation editor)
  • Custom Alarm, Return-to-normal, and Acknowledge notification message (message editor)

See the release notes for a full list of changes included in this version