Unable to Link SIM Block Output in I/A Series R2 UNC – NullPointerException Error

[Product_Support]

Issue

In an I/A Series R2 (Niagara) UNC station, attempting to link to the output of a SIM block results in the error:
java.lang.NullPointerException.

Product Line

TAC IA Series

Environment

• I/A Series R2  UNC with the GCM driver
• Network 8000 SIM-CCN, containing SIM blocks with TYPE = 44

Cause

SIM-CCN blocks with TYPE = 44 can be highly customized. Their inputs and outputs may use “data species” that the GCM driver in the UNC does not recognize.
The GCM driver has not been tested with any SIM variants (SIM-CCN, SIM-MTECH, SIM-TRANE, SIM-YORK, LNC-100).

Resolution

1. Use appropriate Shadow Objects such as:
   • GcmAvParam
   • GcmDateParam
   • GcmDvParam
   • GcmEnumParam
   • GcmIntParam
   • GcmStringParam
   • GcmTimeParam
2. Add APT or DPT blocks to the SIM-CCN database to correctly interpret SIM block outputs for the GCM driver in the UNC.