Issue Changing readers from ABA to Wiegand and getting card not in database Environment Continuum ACX7xx ACX700 Cause When you change card readers from ABA to Wiegand on a ACX7xx controller you need to make sure you also change the switch and jumper positions also Resolution You will need to remove the cover of the ACX7xx to reveal the dip switches and the resistor like jumpers that you will need to change, please see the attached document for how to make these changes . Link

Issue Site doors are configured for CARD+PIN but they have a short list of people that require the ability to access the door without a PIN Environment CyberStation Cause Documentation Resolution Click HERE for a sample PE program that will allow a list of Card Numbers to change the mode of the door to card only so they can gain access without a PIN, the program will switch the door back to CARD+PIN as soon as the special person goes thru the door.

Issue How to have visibility into what a controller sees in its list of peer controllers and Cyberstations following a tech. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment All CX controllers Cause Documentation Resolution If controller is 9900 you can perform a "dump controller" from Hyper Terminal and see the list of peer controllers and CyberStations the controller has been taught. For Second Generation Continuum controllers that do not have a terminal interface you can put a program in the controller to get information about the list. (You can use the program in the 9900 as well.) Click HERE to see a sample PE program. IMPORTANT UPDATE: If the site has more than just a few (3-5) controllers comment out the line in the program that gets the controller names. Also, comment out the line that gets the security flag if there are first generation (9900, 9640) controllers involved.

Issue A method to create many objects with alarm links using CSV import files. Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause A requirement was presented where many Inputs and Numerics needed to be created with attached alarm links. A quick method to create these similar objects was investigated. Resolution The CSV file was broken down into the minimum attributes that were required to create a numeric with an active alarm link. Attached is a copy of the CSV file that was used and a screencap showing the results. Follow the steps below to take the Workstation offline, import the CSV file, then send the changes to the controller. 0. Set the Workstation to offline. 1. Import the CSV file "alarmlinkexp" into the acx1 controller by right clicking on the controller and selecting "import into...". Note the success result in the distribution window. 2. set the Workstation to online. Refresh the continuumexplorer view, right-click on the new point and select "send to controller". Note in the distribution window that this succeeded without any errors. 3. The value of the object is set to "NotSet", set this to off, apply, then set to "On". 4. Note that the alarm is triggered and comes in to the alarm bar.   CSV Import file structure InfinityNumeric Name,Alias,DeviceId,Format,AlarmLink1,AlarmEnable test2,test2,net1\acx1,###$,Root\testAlarmEnroll,1

Issue How to create a set of manual logs to show the state changes of a digital point with time stamps. Environment CyberStation Any CX Any i2s Cause Documentation Resolution How to create a report for a digital input that shows the input change of state with a time stamp.pdf

Issue The bCX1 Series Technical Reference Manual shows part number 01-2100-299 as lightning protection for Continuum. The cut sheet on iPortal does not specify which model PC642C this is.   Environment Continuum Cause Details on iPortal do not specify which specific model of the PC642 series is supplied with part number 01-2100-299. Resolution The part number 01-2100-299 on iPortal (here) corresponds with the 15V model of that lightning arrestor. This also comes with the base, Emerson part numbers below. PN PC642C 015  Leaded    PN PCB1B BASE Leaded The PDF for the Edco PC642 Series is here.  

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  

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 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 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.

Issue Do I need an X Driver to send simple ASCII strings to a third party system? Environment Plain English Drivers PE Driver, Raw Mode CX Controllers Netcontroller II bCX ACX Cause Require the limitations of Plain English drivers Resolution It is possible to create a Plain English driver to print ASCII data out of a Comm port. Use the Open, Close and Print keywords to develop your program in a CX or bCX controller, if you go to the "Help, Contents" on Cyberstation Explorer you can enter these keywords and get full details on their use including example programs. You can also read responses from the 3rd party system with the "Read" keyword. The Plain English program would be able to print out any information that can be put into an InfinityString. The characters that a PE Driver cannot handle are the FFh (255) and 0H (null) characters, to use these would require the use of an X Driver or another form of gateway to an open protocol. If you have a first generation controller (CX9900, CX9400 etc) there is a Generic ASCII "X Driver Filter" that can be used to print/ read an ASCII string with no character limitations. If the port is X Driver enabled then download software X-Driver Filter The CHR keyword can be used to send "Non printable characters". The other thing is that a Plain English Driver will be dependent on the controller scan time so it would not be suitable for any protocols that are timing critical and the controller scan time must be kept low. As a general rule of thumb, if you can send the required characters out using Hyperterminal and the system accepts it, then a PE program should be able to send them too.  The attached document is an example of a Plain English driver that was written a while ago to communicate with a Video Recorder over an RS232 link, the principles and techniques used in this example show the use of the above keywords as well as some of the string manipulation keywords. Download it here. This also applies to the ACX57xx controllers but they only have a single half duplex RS485 port which may not be suitable for all applications.

Issue How to have Continuum automatically lock a Windows workstation when the person leaves his/her office. Environment CyberStation Windows 7 Windows XP Cause Documentation Resolution Click here for a procedure to set up a mechanism for programmatically locking a Windows workstation based on the person's current area as obtained from the Continuum physical access control system. 

Issue Getting error cannot create ACWPPServerProxy application on the remote server when trying to use Web Pinpoint. Environment WebClient Cause Configuration issue Resolution Get the web.config file Download and place it in the Webservers. Do not edit this file with Notepad (Use Textpad ot Notepad++, etc.) 64-bit systems directory: C:\Program Files (86)\Continuum\DNWACServerfactory (delete the old one) 32-bit systems directory: C:\Program Files \Continuum\DNWACServerfactory (delete the old one) Reboot the Webserver. Start Continuum and edit any Graphic. Once the graphic is opened, select View / Options and set the Web locations. There shouldn't be any red X's Check the following file: 64 bit systems:.C:\Program Files (86)\Continuum\DNWACServerfactory\ web.config   32 bit systems: C:\Program Files\Continuum\DNWACServerfactory\web.config The server  name should be correct.  It should match you Webservers name. Now test Webclient on the webserver first before any client systems. Make sure you run RegIIS and Caspol.exe  C:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -i C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\caspol.exe -m -addgroup Internet_Zone -zone InterNet FullTrust -name FullTrust C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\caspol.exe -m -addgroup Trusted_Zone -zone Trusted FullTrust -name FullTrust Please note that the above may be case sensitive.

Issue After receiving the CyberStations Who Is broadcast  via the BCX4040 the third party device responds with an I Am packet.  However, the BCX is not passing the information back to Cyberstation.  Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Cyberstation BACnet Who is I Am 3rd Party Find Bacnet device Learn Cause In the attached mstp capture images, neither of the responses from the Automated Logic device at packets 1713 and 5379 have the necessary information that would cause the bCX or any BACnet router to send the message to another network. 3rd Party device responds with an I Am Looking at the NPDU layer of either message, you’ll notice a destination network (DNET) is not indicated. If you compare these messages with those from the b3 (at packet 1716 or 5382), you’ll see a DNET of 1 indicated, which is why the I-Am’s from the b3 reach Cyber, as Cyber belongs to Network 1. BACnet end devices are expected to dynamically detect the presence of SNET/SADDR information in the NPDU and reply with a message that includes the matching values for the DNET/DADDR. b3 responds with an I Am In the preceding Who-is packets you can see that the network number has been communicated to the third party device Resolution BACnet routers or BACnet Building Controllers do not cache or otherwise correlate requests and responses. BACnet end devices are expected to dynamically detect the presence of SNET/SADDR information in the NPDU and reply with a message that includes the matching values for the DNET/DADDR. The role of the BACnet router is to remove the DNET/DADDR information and add the SNET/SADDR information when they route messages from one network to another.  

Issue Internet Explorer 9 not supported Environment Internet Explorer 9 IE9 IE 9 webClient Continuum webClient Cause Internet Explorer 9 ( IE 9) is not supported in webClient 1.94 Resolution Please click HERE to see attachment for details on uninstalling Internet Explorer 9 This procedure will remove IE 9 and IE 8 will be available on the machine.

Issue Showing a list of doors in a web browser using a custom web page in the controller. Environment CX9900 CX9702 CX9680 ACX5720 ACX5740 Cause Documentation Resolution Click here to see sample PE code to show web page that can be accessed from the controller's 'Custom Reports and Services' link.

Issue Report objects being emailed using the ReportCmdLine.exe application do not get sent properly. The emailed attachment is unable to be opened as a PDF or Web object. When the same report is being saved to file, the resulting file is readable. When the same report is being email from the Report objects Email button, the resulting attached file is readable. Only when the ReportCmdLine.exe program is used to send an email attachment of the report does this fail.  Environment Continuum Cyberstation v1.81 Microsoft Outlook Cause This is a defect in the original Continuum v1.81 Hotfix that this BETA hotfix resolves. Resolution Install this new BETA patch (now included a new Util.dll and Reportviewer.exe files) into your Continuum folder using the below method for both files. Find the patch here. Shut down CyberStation(s) Copy the existing file reportviewer.exe in the Continuum directory to another file so you now have a new file named "copy of reportviewer.exe". Delete the original reportviewer.exe. Copy the new reportviewer.exe file from the hotfix archive to the Continuum directory. Copy the existing file Util.dll in the Continuum directory to another file so you now have a new file named "copy of Util.dll". Delete the original Util.dll. Copy the new Util.dll file from the hotfix archive to the Continuum directory. Restart the CyberStation(s) You should now be able to view the email attachments both in PDF and Web format.  

Issue Upgrading site from Continuum v1.8x to v1.9x. with Elevator Control software. Continuum v1.91 and above now supports the Elevator Floor Module directly from within the Personnel Manager. Information on this new feature and how to implement is required. Environment Continuum Cyberstation v1.91 and above Elevator Control Software Personnel Editor Elevator Floor Module Cause Elevator floor selection is now done through the new Elevator Floor Module selected from a button within the Personnel Manager, thus removing the requirement to use the external Elevator PIM application for floor selection. Resolution The Elevator Floor Module is a free add-on for Elevator Control V2.6x.  It allows you to open the Elevator Floor selection window directly from the Continuum V1.91 (and above) Personnel Manager.  There is now no need to run the external Elevator PIM for Elevator Template or floor assignment.  Another added feature with the new Module is that Personnel objects can now reside in any folder. You can see more information on the features available and how to configure the Module at the link below. Elevator Floor Module Configuration For the Floor Module to work, it does require the Elevator Software to be installed and configured on the Continuum Workstation as well as the Continuum Security Key to be enabled with the Elevator option.

Issue Continuum and Mantrap or Interlock Interval Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum site with Access Control Cause Site needing to setup a Mantrap or Interlock Interval for higher security of an area Resolution What is a mantrap? A mantrap is a security device that monitors and controls two or more interlocking doors to a small room that separates a non-secured area from a secured area. These interlocking doors allow only one door to be open at any time. What are interlocking doors? “Interlocking doors” is a security term used to describe how two or more doors are interfaced with each other and locked. Doors that are interlocked cannot be open at the same time. Either door can be unlocked and opened as long as the other door is locked and closed, and no other alarm condition exists. What types of locations require a mantrap? Mantraps are used at high value or critical security areas where only authorized persons are allowed to enter. Typical areas include sensitive data processing areas, cash handling areas, critical research labs, security control rooms, and automated airline passenger entry portals. Why would my company consider a mantrap? Typically, security personnel are posted in high security locations to control access into the area. An automatic mantrap used in this same location would control the access to the area, allowing security personnel resources to be available for other tasks. What is the difference between a mantrap and an interlocking door control system? When speaking of controlling two doors within a vestibule, “mantrap” and “interlocking door controller” can be used interchangeably. Once the number of doors controlled by a single controller exceeds two then the term interlocking door controller should be used. Continuum Mantraps are accomplished by a PE Program. Interlock Interval is available at the bottom of this article. Here is a simple mantrap program written as a sample. ManTrap_A and ManTrap_B are the doors that make up the man trap ------------- 'This program implements a Man Trap that allows one person at a time in the man trap. 'Once a person is in the man trap no access is allowed until the occupant leaves the man trap via the REX. ' The occupant is allowed to exit at either door but once they have activated the REX at one door 'they are required to leave via that door. 'If occupant stays in the trap longer than TrapMaxOccTime and alarm can be sent via ManTrapStuck 'TrapMaxOccTime and ManTrapStuck are InfinityNumeric objects in the controller. 'Program is Looping and AutoStart TRAP_READY: ManTrap_A DisRdrKpAccess = False ManTrap_B DisRdrKpAccess = False ManTrap_A OpenOnExitReqst = True ManTrap_B OpenOnExitReqst = True If ManTrap_A ValidAccess or ManTrap_B ValidAccess then Goto TRAP_OCCUPIED TRAP_OCCUPIED: ManTrap_A DisRdrKpAccess = True ManTrap_B DisRdrKpAccess = True  If ManTrap_B ExitRequest then ManTrap_A OpenOnExitReqst = False Goto WAIT_EXIT_B Endif If ManTrap_A ExitRequest then ManTrap_B OpenOnExitReqst = False Goto WAIT_EXIT_A Endif WAIT_EXIT_A: If ManTrap_A DoorSwitch = Opened then Goto TRAP_READY If TS > TrapMaxOccTime then ManTrapStuck = On WAIT_EXIT_B: If ManTrap_B DoorSwitch = Opened then Goto TRAP_READY If TS > TrapMaxOccTime then ManTrapStuck = On 'Keep program from disabling due to run time errors E: if ts > 30 then goto TRAP_READY   For Interlock Interval please use this PDF. Interlock is hardware controlled, not through a PE.