Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue There's a need to know what characters the XP Display will show Environment XP Display Cause Many languages use different character sets and not all are supported in the XP Display Resolution The standard ascii character set is supported by the XP Display. This is indicated on Pg. 17 of the XP Display User Guide. Click here to download the XP Display User Guide

Issue Requests for information on a wireless access control solution Environment Continuum Schlage Windows XP Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause Easy access to documentation for the Schlage Wireless Access Control Solution Resolution 09-17-2012 The Security Center of Excellence is pleased to announce the integration between Schlage AD-Series locks and Andover Continuum Netcontroller II and ACX 57XX family of controllers. This integration will provide a cost effective and scalable access control solution. Schlage AD-Series locks combine all of the components typically found around the door such as the door position switch and the request to exit switch into one unit which simplifies installation and saves money. Since they are designed to be modular Schlage AD-Series locks can easily be upgraded in the future to meet changing security and technology requirements. Within Continuum Cyberstation the Schlage locking device will look and function like a normal door and an XDriver at the controller level will provide access to these devices. This solution is ideal for education and healthcare facilities but can also be used in a wide range of other applications. For more information please contact COE@Buildings.Schneider-Electric.com.   Schlage Data Sheet Final.pdf Andover Continuum _ Schlage Integration Offer Final.pdf Andover Continuum _ Schlage Integration Training Final.pdf

Issue Have lost disc to install RoamIO software for the version 1.0 RoamIO Environment Windows XP Continuum RoamIO 1.0 Cause Lost CD or CD broken for RoamIO  Resolution Below is the software / Drivers and install Guide for the RoamIO version 1.0 RoamIO User Guide.pdf RoamIO V1.0 Laptop.zip RoamIO V1.0 PPC.zip RoamIO V1.0 Driver.zip The latest RoamIO2 versions of the software can always be downloaded from The Exchange Download Center.

Issue There's a need for information on the Personnel Import Utility Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Windows XP Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause Finding the information on the Personnel Import Utility may be difficult to locate. Resolution The information for the Personnel Import Utility can be found in the latter part of Chapter 19 on Personnel. There is additional information in Appendix C related to the tables and XSLT file. Click here to download a copy of just the PIU Manual.

Issue Need to connect to an old CX / CMX via hyperterminal but don't know the pin out for the old style CX and CMX cable with  9 way to 25 way D type connectors Environment Continuum Windows Hyperterminal Cause Need to connect to an old CX / CMX via hyperterminal but don't know the pin out for the old style CX and CMX cable with 9 way to 25 way D type connectors Resolution Please see attached .pdf of wiring diagram for pin connections from 9 way to 25 way D type  

Warning Potential for Data Loss: The steps detailed in the resolution of this article may result in a loss of critical data if not performed properly. Before beginning these steps, make sure all important data is backed up in the event of data loss. If you are unsure or unfamiliar with any complex steps detailed in this article, please contact Product Support Services for assistance. Issue Sample programs for carpark access control. Environment Continuum Access Control Carpark Access Carspace Counting Cause Want sample code on how to provide Carpark Access Control. Resolution It is possible to do car park control with Continuum Controllers. There are a number of different ways to do this depending on the sites specific requirements. PSS doesn't provide programming for specific projects but we can provide generic examples. *** Note: This sample code is provided as-is to be used as a sample only.   *** To start off, a very simple solution could be:   To have three Areas defined, Outside, CommonCarPark, and EmployeeCarpark. You then create Door objects for the Entry Readers at the entrance to CommonCarPark and EmployeeCarpark. Use a PE Program to Monitor the CommonEntry Entry Reader for ValidAccess and set a pre-alarm flag (Numeric). Have an AlarmEnrollment attached to the pre-alarm flag and set for a specific amount of time (3 minutes). Have another PE Program that monitors the EmployeeEntry Entry Reader for ValidAccess and then re-sets the pre-alarm flag stopping the alarm from being sent. You could use this sample program, with some modifications, to provide you with this functionality. This is a very simple way of doing it that doesn't take into account having more than one car coming in at the same time though...you could expand on this to include using arrays to store the details of the Personnel that have badged and then have a timer associated with that specific Personnel, set both values into an Array and then have another program monitor that Array and compare the time they entered against the current time...if the difference was more than your alarm time then raise an alarm. When that Personnel badges at the EmployeeEntry Reader you remove their entry from the Array. A sample on how to do this is here. This one is a bit more complex than the previous example but it should give some ideas to start with to mold into a solution. There is a WS program as well as a controller program. The controller program does all of the carpark control which uses arrays to store the number of car spaces currently available for each department group (company/tenant) and allows of disallows new cars from that dept depending on available slots. This solution required both a roller door and a gate inside the roller door to create a "mantrap" for the desired control but the same principle could be applied in a simpler design. The WS program was used to provide a solution to the tenants locking themselves out of the carpark when they didn't badge out properly. It uses an object to search though all Personnel to find a specific card number and then resets that Personnel's current Area so they can badge at the anti-passback enabled Door. From memory, this part of it didn't work as well as the carpark access. The code is good just the method of searching through all Personnel was prone to locking up. Depending on the number of Personnel and size of Database it can take a longtime to do the search ... and the program can time out and go to disabled. So there was human intervention needed at various times.  

Issue How to enable the “Disable Card if Not Used In” feature that shows on the Privileges tab of the Personnel Editor object? The option is greyed out and no values can be entered. Environment Continuum Personnel Editor Cause The feature has not been enabled and there are currently no plans to implement this feature.   Resolution The feature is not implemented. At the time of writing this, the documentation and online help had not been updated to reflect this and are misleading. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although, it is possible to create this functionality through a Plain English program that looks for cards that haven't been used in a certain amount of time and then disables those cards. See these sample programs below. They are not an exact solution but provide the methodology to be used. Dead Report Expire Disable Cards   Depending on how large your Personnel list is will determine how much success you will have with this PE solution. The OpenList command can have issues and lock up if the list being searched takes too much time to go through.  

Issue Not able to find information on the DO-20, DIO-20, or DM-20 IOU modules. Environment DM-20 DIO-20 DO-20 Relay Cause Unable to find documentation. Resolution Below are documents that have information on the DM-20 IOU module, DO-20 board, and DIO-20 Eclipse board. DO-20 -> Here.  DIO-20 Eclipse Module Datasheet -> Here. Continuum I/O Modules Datasheet Continuum I/O Installation Guide Continuum I/O System Reference (start pg.80) DIO-20 Installation Guide   Note: The Eclipse product line is now discontinued, but the DIO-20 is available for the DM-20. The part number is 01-9000-DIO20.

Issue Schlage step by step configuration. Environment Windows Xp, 7,  2008, 2008R2 Continuum 1.94 Cause Single Door set Up examples. Resolution Schlage Door setup examples attached.   Download here

Issue At times it's necessary to only display an alarm at certain times of the day based on a schedule. Environment Continuum Windows XP Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause An input alarm cannot be directly assigned to a schedule, another method is needed to evaluate when to send the alarm. Resolution Click here to download instructions

Issue When was the AC256 product discontinued? Environment AC256 Cause Discontinuation notices only seem to go back to 2007, at which time the AC256 had been discontinued for quite some time. Unable to find any reference to this products discontinuation. Resolution The AC256 was discontinued in 1998. A reference to this can be found in the Andover Controls Network News from February 1998. On page 2 on the right hand column, there is reference to discontinued products as of May 1, 1998. You find the bulletin here.

Issue A Siemens  power meter with a Modbus TCP/IP interface will not allow setting of the Device ID - only the IP parameters. Continuum Modbus TCP/IP Xdriver Remote Device Status Point (aka Comms Point] does not work if the Device ID is set to 0.   Environment Modbus TCP/IP Xdriver Cause Continuum Xdriver Modbus TCP/IP Remote Device Status Point does not work if the Device ID is set to 0.   Resolution Set the Device ID = 1 when configuring the Modbus TCP/IP Xdriver Comms Point For more information refer to page 12 of the Modbus TCP/IP Xdriver User Guide linked here.

Issue Created new Alarm Enrollment, attach to point and put point in alarm but no alarm is received and the points alarm value does not show the point is going in alarm. No problem when using an existing Alarm Enrollment created in the past when the total number of Alarm Enrollment objects was much less. Environment CyberStation CX9900 CX9640 CX9702 CX9680 ACX5720 ACX5740 Cause Controller's handle id limit on Alarm Enrollment objects has been exceeded. Resolution Click here to download this article as a PDF: Continuum Alarm Enrollment Handle ID Limits Continuum Alarm Enrollment Handle Ids Limit. (Note the information presented here applies only to non BACnet alarms) In Continuum there is a limit on the number of Alarm Enrollment objects that can be sent to the controller, the limit is 4000. Unlike the BACnet alarms, the Continuum alarm enrollments are meant to be re-usable, the system was designed for the Alarm Enrollment to be reused hence the limit, when the system is used as designed is very unlikely if not impossible to exceed the 4000 Alarm Enrollment objects limit. There have been cases where this limit has been exceeded due to site requirements that do not conform to the Continuum design, further more as of version 1.94 Continuum does not provided any feedback when the limit is exceeded, the alarm simply won’t work since the controller does not accept the alarm enrollment objects sent by the CyberStation. Guidelines to avoid exceeding the alarm enrollment handle id limit. Re-use, re-use, re-use. The Continuum system was designed for the Alarm Enrollments to be reused. If for some reason the number of alarm enrollment object is approaching the limit, do not delete Alarm Enrollment objects, if you have an alarm enrollment that is no longer needed rename it and re-purpose it instead of deleting it and creating a new one, the reason for this is that the handle ids once assigned are never re-assigned, so if you delete an alarm enrollment its handle id is lost forever. How to clean up if the limit is ever exceeded. If there are any Alarm Enrollment objects with handle ids out of range in the database they should be deleted to avoid confusion but before they are deleted all links to the enrollments have to be identified and the links removed. To find any links to alarm enrollment objects with id out of range run the following query against the ContinuumDB Select * from EventEnroll where AlarmRefLo > 562041735 If you get any results look at the uiName column, the uiName will consist of the point’s number and the AlarmEnrollment’s name separated by a period. Example: Num1.TempTooHigh Now From the Continuum explorer, find the point named ‘Num1’ that has a link to ‘TempTooHigh’ and remove the link. After all the links have been removed run the following query to find all the Alarm Enrollment objects with handle ids out of range. Select * from AlarmEnroll where ObjectIdLo > 562041735 Note the name in the uiName column, from the Continuum explorer delete the AlarmEnrollment objects.

Issue On an upgrade or other circumstances, the Continuum.mnu points to C:\program Files instead of C:\program files (x86) on a 64 bit PC. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Windows 7 64 bit Windows 2008 64 bit Cause On an upgrade or other circumstances, the Continuum.mnu file points to C:\program Files instead of C:\program files (x86) and doesn't find the files being used. Resolution Under certain circumstances the Continuum.mnu file doesn't point to the correct folder. All of the buttons in the file point to C:\program Files instead of  C:\program files (x86). Use the following file to copy to each of the PCs that the menus are not working. The path of the Continuum.mnu is c:\program files\continuum\userprofile\continuum.mnu . This can be changed per Cyber by editing the Workstation in Cyberstation then clicking the preferences tab. The path for the entry can be edited. The Continuum.mnu that can be download from the web site has the default  (x86) paths in it. Continuum x86 Mnu file download Make a copy of the existing Continuum.mnu (Copy of Continuum.mnu) Delete the existing Continuum.mnu Download the file from the link above to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Continuum\UserProfile\continuum.mnu Restart cyber *** The path within the Continuum.mnu files must be correct and the path to the Continuum.mnu must reference the .mnu file with the path that you need

Issue The XML Automation Server application on the WebClient Server does not open when a remote WebClient browser tries to access WebClient. WebClient does work from the browser on the WebClient server itself but can't be accessed from another PC. The XM Automation Server keeps closing by itself. Environment WebClient Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 Cause DCOM Permissions have not been set properly to allow access to these WebClient components. Resolution Confirm that DCOM permissions have been set properly. Follow the steps detailed in the section "Configuring DCOM Default Security Settings" starting on page 100 in the WebClient Installation Guide, paying particular attention to the NETWORK SERVICE account. Please see the link below for the relevant section from the WebClient v1.94 Installation Guide. DCOM Permissions excerpt from 30-3001-835 webClient Planning and Installation Guide

Issue How does the import/export (IE) system work in the Continuum controllers? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation All CXs All i2s, Infinet Controllers Cause Continuum controllers implement an Import/Export strategy in order to minimize network traffic when accessing the value of a point in a remote controller. The principle is that the value of a controller point that is referenced by other controllers on the network only needs to be sent out when it changes, much like the BACnet COV which stands for Change Of Value. The two parties involved in the IE transaction are the controller that owns the point (the owner) and the controller(s) referencing the point's value (the subscribers), a second CX controller may also be involved and acting as a router when a value is imported/exported from/to a remote field device under a remote CX. Resolution Read more in the attached document, Understanding Continuum IE System.  See how to correct Import Export tables KBA

Issue Can a BS5308 part 1 type 1, 2 pair individually screened cable be used for M-Bus communications? Environment M-Bus Communication Cables Cause A BS5308 part 1 type 1 cable was installed for Modbus communications, but it was then found that the communications were M-Bus Resolution The correct cable to use for M-Bus is J-Y(ST)Y.  These indoor telephone cables transmit analogue or digital signals; Aluminium-laminated plastic foil static screen with tin-plated drain wire minimises the interference of high frequency, electromagnetic field;TP structure minimises crosstalk. For the datasheet please click HERE. The BS5308 part 1 type 1 cable can be used, and the chart below shows the calculations used to establish this. For the cable datasheet, please click HERE. For the Excel spreadsheet please click HERE.

Issue Do extended logs have accurate entries for the spring and fall time change periods?   Environment CyberStation, all Continuum controllers, extended logs, controller logs. Cause What happens to extended log data during time changes? Resolution When the clocks are turned back, log data in the controllers will not be updated for the time interval of the change and therefore that data will not be collected by the extended logs. When the clocks are turned forward, log data in the controllers is logged twice for the time interval of the change and therefore that data is collected twice by the extended logs.   This occurs due to the fact that each log entry in the controller does not consist of a value and a timestamp. The timestamp we see in a report is calculated by the time of the last log entry (LastLogTime) in conjunction with the configured logging interval (LogIntervalSecs). This mathematical calculation saves memory in the controllers. Extended logging is the mechanism most sites use to store, and report on data that is in excess of the amount of data stored in a controller. The extended log engine automatically collects the controller log data before it is overwritten. An added benefit of using extended logging is that the data can be easily backed up via several strategies such as database backups and/or running extended log archiving applications. In the controllers, not only is the memory limited, but the data is stored in volatile RAM, so extended logging is a more robust and long term strategy of collecting and storing the data. Extended logs can be set up on any of the automatic log types (LogInstantaneous, LogAverage, LogMinimum, LogMaximum).  During a period when the clock is moved forward, (for example, 2:00am Sunday March 11, 2012 on the east coast of the US), reports may display timestamps that essentially never existed (in this example 2:00am to 2:59:59am). It is recommended that these entries are simply ignored or crossed out. The period when the clock is moved backward is more difficult, if it is critical that data be captured for the duplicated time. An example is Sunday November 4, 2012. At 2:00am on the east coast of the US the clock is set back one hour. This means that the times from 1:00am to 2:00am occur twice. However, extended log reports will only show one set of data for the reason described above. The reports will show the first 1:00am to 2:00am data; the second 1:00am to 2:00am data needs to be captured separately.  If point log data must be captured for the duplicated timeframe, additional point configuration and Plain English (PE) programming must be used to capture and timestamp the realtime data values for the duplicated timeframe. This involves creating a numeric with a manual log  for each critical point which mirrors the live data value of the affected InfinityInputs, InfinityOutputs and InfinityNumerics. In addition, an InfinityDatetime point with a manual log must be created, one in each controller for each different loginterval of the points being mirrored in that controller. The PE program(s) capturing the point values will write the controller's date system variable to this InfinityDatetime at the same time it writes the live point value, thereby creating a timestamp that will be used for reporting. The last step will be writing the mirrored points and their corresponding timestamps to a file on disk and then printing and/or backing up that file for redundancy.  Click here to download a zip file containing sample dump files and a readme. This is an example of one way to accomplish the above data capture. 

Issue Is there a list of activity action codes? Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause Listview action code filters Resolution Click Here for the list of Activity Codes

Issue Under different circumstances, the comm port on infinet or bacnet devices will not be assigned and will show blank in their editor. The controllers may be controlling the equipment correctly, but they can't be reloaded and communication doesn't work to and from the device. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Webclient Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 10 Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016 Cause This issue can happen on an upgrade where a send to database is used if the controller didn't exist previously or under other unknown database circumstances Resolution 1. Click the link to download the following TPA1498  NOTE: the TPA indicates the following at the bottom Save the new .dmp file Right click the NetController to reattach the Infinet controllers to -> select Import Into Right click the NetController to reattach the Infinet controllers to -> select Send to Database Commports will be reattached.  (THIS SHOULD BE SEND TO CONTROLLER) (The previous line, Import into, brings the corrected comm ports into the db) 2. It may be necessary to make changes to the database in order to reassign the ports to the controllers. Backup the database and send a copy to PSS for assistance The objects can be reassigned, but the queries should be tested prior to updating in the field.