Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue What specification should BACnet MS/TP cable meet? Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment MS/TP BACnet devices Cause Often an incorrect cable type is used when wiring MS/TP devices causing unreliable communications. Resolution The BACnet Controller Technical Reference defines the following cable specification for a MS/TP cable: RS-485 Cable Specifications: Cables used to form the RS-485 network should conform to the following specifications: Wire Size: 22-24 AWG Cable Type: Twisted-pair, copper wire, tinned Shield: Braid Nominal Impedance: 100-120 Ohms Velocity of propagation: 78% Capacitance: <12.5 pF/ft (~ 41pF/M) between conductors and < 22 pF/ft (~72pF/M) between the conductor connected to ground and the next conductor. An example of a cable that meets this specification is Belden 3105A. Also check out the SmartStruxure-RS485-Network Installation Quick-Help video on the Exchange.

Issue There have been questions about how the new EcoStruxure Building Operation 2.0 demo license works with the new scalable pricing structure. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation 2.0 and up All previous builds of SBO 1.9 and below Cause Understanding what the EcoStruxure Building Operation evaluation license will allow to function in the newer versions of the product.  Resolution The EcoStruxure Building Operation Evaluation License is a temporary license used when a database is being brought online before the permanent license has been deployed or on engineering laptops. All authorized Schneider Electric employees and partners can download the file from the Exchange Extranet. The file is updated every quarter as each one has an expiration date. The functionality of the demo license has not changed in version 2.0 and newer. This license file will still allow functionality and engineering of a database to take place as long as the file is valid. The only difference is the new warning banner that will be present until permanent licenses are installed.  Note: With the new scalable pricing starting in version 2.0, once the evaluation license is removed from the site, a license is needed for each Automation Server attached to the Enterprise Server.  More information on the Scalable Pricing structure can be found in EcoStruxure Building Operation Licensing and Scalable Pricing Info. 

Issue After upgrading from EcoStruxure Energy Expert (formerly Power Manager) from version 1.0 to 1.x or newer, the licensing no longer works. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation EcoStruxure Energy Expert Environment Energy Expert (formerly Power Manager) License Administrator Power Monitoring Expert Cause There can be some confusion on what licenses are required to run Energy Expert. There are also differences between version 1.0 and 1.x or newer licensing.  Resolution EcoStruxure Energy Expert License In order to use Energy Expert, an Energy Expert license is needed to be purchased before the previous 90-day trail license expires.  The EcoStruxure temporary license (evaluation) is only for EcoStruxure Building Operation software and does not include Energy Expert   It is important to remember that EcoStruxure Building Operation licenses are needed to work along side Energy Expert (e.g. Workstation, Enterprise Server, etc). The EcoStruxure Building Operation licenses need to be activated separately.  How to activate, release and/or transfer a license in EcoStruxure.   Energy Expert Version 2 and 3 Licensing and Upgrading If upgrading from a previous Power Manager 1.x site to Energy Expert 2.x or 3.x a new license(s) will be required. In order to obtain your new license(s), please follow the procedure found in TPA-EBO-19-0001.00 - EcoStruxure Energy Expert v2.0 License Upgrade. (Full support ends 2022 and limited support ends 2024) Energy Expert Part numbers and Licensing The part numbers for version 1.x or newer are listed below. PSWPMNCZZSPEZZ -  Base Energy Expert license PSWDENCZZNPEZZ -  PME license entry range PSWDMNCZZNPEZZ - PME license mid range  PSWSANCZZSPEZZ -  Standard PME. license For a full list of both current date and obsolete part numbers please download the following spreadsheet https://ecoxpert.se.com/pme-digital-power-launch)   Activating a License Full guidance for activation of your licenses can be found on Page 55 of the Energy Expert 3.0 Solution Guide The Energy Expert 3.0 installer and documentation, can also be found here EE 3.0

Issue Differences between EcoStruxure Energy Expert and EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert There are some best practices and tips that can be used to save engineering time when setting up a EcoStruxure Energy Expert (Formerly Power Manager) system. To find out the differences between Energy Expert and Power Monitoring Expert (PME) see Differences between EcoStruxure Energy Expert and EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation Workstation EcoStruxure Energy Expert EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert ETL Integration Tool Cause The following topics should be considered before and during the implementation of the EcoStruxure Energy Expert offering to achieve the cleanest and most effective database.    For more information on design considerations including IT considerations, software compatibility, server specification, hard drive space, etc; see Design Guide - EcoStruxure Energy Expert - formerly Power Manager. For more information on integration see Energy Expert with EcoStruxure Building Operation.  For more information regarding Power Monitoring Expert (PME) please visit the Solutions Expert Community. Here you can find documentation, content, and additional help.  Resolution You may get some benefit working thorough some older existing support material under Energy Expert's former name of Power Manager such as the Deploy Power Manager for SmartStruxure Solution in a Day document.  Also check out the Power Manager EWS Alarm Web Configuration Quick-Help video on the Exchange. General Always install the EcoStruxure Energy Expert software with full Windows administrative rights. Just logging in with a user that has admin rights may not be enough. If you are unable to save an ETL job or run as a service; close ETL, right click on ETL and select run as administrator.  Create one folder on the root level of the server that holds all of the extended trend logs you wish to transfer to EE. This folder can even be set up to be visible to only a designated admin account to prevent any changes to be made to the trends. If any other items like trend charts are in this folder, it will only slow down the process.  See StruxureWare ETL tool locks up or takes a long time while loading sources for information on how to improve the scan time of the ETL load sources function.    SQL Server It is not recommended to install EcoStruxure Energy Expert on a machine that has another instance of SQL already installed on it unless you have advanced SQL configuration skills. The default SQL instance name is ION and the system administrator password is ION!Everywhere. This should not be changed.   Selecting Between Architecture 1 and 2 The three items to consider when selecting an Architecture are device type, numbers of registers to be requested, and device location. The device type is the most important item to consider though. In order to get the most out of the high feature, more robust meters, Architecture 2 should be used. Architecture 2 should be used if the following features are present; ION meter, multi-address device, power quality functions, onboard logging, and/or onboard alarming. When low-end power meters, energy meters, or pulse meters are used, there is no difference between the two architectures in fulfilling the energy management requirement. Most of the Schneider Electric meters and circuit breakers are fully supported by EE. This means that EE has built-in drivers to utilize the full function of the device and the required commission time is minimized.   Architecture 1: Logging data in EcoStruxureWare Building Operation (EBO) It is recommended to use interval trend logs to log the raw data coming in from the meters.  The only durations that need to be set up in trend logs for ETL is the standard trend log duration. This is generally going to be 15 minutes as a industry standard. EE Dashboards and Reports have an aggregation mechanism to make use of the data. Thus durations such as day, week, or month do not need to be brought over into EcoStruxure Energy Expert (EE) as it can be calculated later based off of the 15 minute trend log value.  If both Trendlogs and Extended Trendlogs are used, it is recommended to send the data in the Trendlog to EE to avoid the lagging between Extended Trendlogs and Trendlogs.    ETL StruxureWare Building Operation version 1.6 RC EcoStruxure Web Services (EWS) do not support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) URLs. For the ETL Extract task make sure to fill out the web service name (default is admin), web service password (default is admin), and web service URL (replace localhost:8080 with your web server address and port as needed) in the settings. For the ETL Load task make sure that the ION data database connection string and ION network database connection string are correct. Also change the field enable recorder and channel creation to True. The recommended naming convention for the Target Device field is [Group].[DeviceName] with no special characters such as \ * + = | : ; < > _. An example could be BuildingA.SubMeter1 where the building name is used as the group and the meter name is used as the device name. With this naming convention, all values brought in under this particular meter will have the same Target Device name.    The Target Measurement field is very important to set correctly as it will not bring the data over to EE correctly if the right unit has not been chosen. This is a process that will become easier with more experience but you can reference Section 6.9 Measurement mapping for ETL in the Power Manager for SmartStruxure Solution - Integration Manual. This chart can be used to search for the unit type you are dealing with and which corresponding Mapping should be use. 

Issue For EBO Active Directory (Windows Domain) integration, do EBO support usage of "nested groups"?. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Cause EBO are using Windows API and ask if the user is a member of a certain group.  Resolution Windows API should respond “yes” if the user is part of a group that is part of another group, which is configured in EBO. So this is up to how the Windows AD responds to the Windows API and not on the EBO side.   For more information, please see Integrating Windows Active Directory user accounts with EcoStruxure

Issue TGML Graphic worked without error in EcoStruxure Building Operation 2.0 WebStation. After an upgrade to 3.0, WebStation displays one of the following errors on page load: Script error in DocumentLoadEvent (Component_Name) Refused to evaluate a string as JavaScript because 'unsafe-eval' is not an allowed source of script in the following Content Security Policy directive: "script-src 'self' blob: 'unsafe-inline'". Do you want to continue running this script? This site says... Script error in DocumentLoadEvent (Component_Name) Blocked by Content Security Policy Do you want to continue running this script? Script error in DocumentLoadEvent (Component_Name) call to eval() blocked by CSP Do you want to continue running this script? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation 3.0 TGML Graphics Cause A new security setting in 3.0 disallows eval() statements by default in TGML JavaScripts presented in WebStation. An eval() statement executes a string of characters as code, which can open security vulnerabilities if enabled, something akin to a SQL injection or cross-site scripting attack. If graphics were created in earlier versions and relied on eval() to execute dynamic code, the user will be notified upon opening the graphic in 3.0 WebStation. Resolution Any graphics relying on eval() to execute dynamic code should have their JavaScript functions rewritten to avoid use of eval(). This is the preferred approach with respect to cyber-security. Work-Around It is possible, but not recommended, to disable the new security check in WebStation TGML graphics. Within WorkStation open the Control Panel Go to Security Settings Check the box for "Enable WebStation to use unsafe string evaluated JavaScript methods like 'eval' For more information, see Web Help article: Enabling WebStation to Use Unsafe JavaScript Methods. For the latest solution to this issue please refer to: Cannot Open Graphics in WebStation 

Issue Need to know if various AS-B footprints and their databases are interchangeable.  Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server Bundled Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-24) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-24-L) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-24-H) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-36) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-36-L) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-36-H) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-24-P) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-24H-P) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-36-P) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B-36H-P Cause There are several different footprints and versions of the AS-B hardware. This can cause confusion on whether these servers are interchangeable. Below are a few example scenarios:   Can an AS-B-24 be replaced with an AS-B-24-L? Can a backup from and AS-B-36-L be restored into an AS-B-24? Can a backup from and AS-B-24-L be restored into an AS-B-36-L? Can a backup from an AS-B-24 be restored into an AS-B-24-H or an AS-B-24-P or an AS-B-24H-P? Can a backup from an AS-B-36 be restored into an AS-B-36-H or an AS-B-36-P or an AS-B-36H-P?  Resolution The answer to 1, 2, and 3 of the above scenarios is "No". The various AS-B hardware ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE. Backup sets can only be restored from one AS-B to another AS-B of the EXACT SAME HARDWARE TYPE. If an import of one type of AS-B into an AS-B of a different hardware type is attempted, the error below will be encountered.    The answer to 4 and 5 of the above scenarios is "yes". Whether the AS-P has HOA switches or not or is a scalable type, does not change the backup.  

Issue Support for OPC or DDE integration with EcoStruxure Building Operation Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Cause The OPC Server is a software program that converts hardware communication protocol into the OPC protocol. The OPC client software is any program that needs to connect to the hardware. The OPC client uses the OPC server to get data from or send commands to the hardware. Resolution Neither the OPC server nor the DDE configuration is supported at this time. There is not currently a roadmap for direct OPC client or server capability within the EcoStruxure Building Operation. To avoid problems with OPC Integration (and lose a project), there are two options for OPC integeration: It is possibe to use a converter to convert OPC to/from one of EBO supported protocols.  For example, use a 3rd party software to translate all the OPC points into BACnet Objects, “OPC Server -> BACnet Server”, or translate all EBO BACnet points to OPC. Perhaps one of the software programs below will be of benefit. Take into consideration what specifically will the ES be doing. If it is exchanging point values then it should work fine. Kepware Matrikon SCADA engine Note: These are 3rd party products that are not supported by Shneider Electric.    Use a SmartConnector Extension to be a middleware between EBO and OPC cilent or server. Check available extenstions at Exchange shop and SmartConnector Server and refer to EBO SmartDriver and Smart Connector KB article for more information.

  Issue Is it possible to use the RP-C relays to control LED Light?  The specification sheet does not specify the maximum inrush current. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Room Controller (RPC) 24 V Building Operation Room Controller (RPC) 230 V Cause RP-C is not designed for switching light loads, and especially not LED loads. LED loads will result in a very high inrush current and require relays that are designed for that. Furthermore, the light application often requires relays that keep the light on in case of power failures which is not the case for RP-C. Resolution The CRS light modules and the Hotel Relay modules have that type of relays and can handle peak currents up to 800A, which is typical for LED loads. If using the CRS modules is not an option for the customer another possibility is to use a contactor connected to the RP-C.

Issue How to add Basic Authentication header to SendWebRequest function in Script RESTful Web Services Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Enterprise Central Building Operation Automation Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Building Operation Automation Server Bundled Cause A 3rd party web service requires basic authentication for HTTP requests to ensure that data is requested securely, otherwise, the request will be rejected with an "Authorization Error".   Resolution Basic Authentication is a type of Authorization Request Headers, which transmits credentials as user-id/ password pairs, encoded using Base64, as defined in RFC 7617 - The 'Basic' HTTP Authentication Scheme (ietf.org).  Follow the below steps to create a Basic Authentication header in Script RESTful Web Services: Combine the User ID and the Password with a colon ex. "aladdin:opensesame". Encode the resulting string in base64 using script function to base64 encode a string posted in the Community or using the online encoder as Base64 Encode and Decode - Online, ex.  "aladdin:opensesame" will be "YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l" after Base64 encoding. Construct SendWebRequest header in the following format:  Authorization: Basic <credentials>, as below example:  Headers= "Authorization: Basic YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l"'User ID=alaadin Password=opensesame Resultstring= SendWebRequest(BaseUrl,Method,ContentType,Headers,Message) Note: Basic Authentication is not a secure method of user authentication unless used in conjunction with HTTPS/TLS, as the user ID and password are transmitted as clear text. User ID and Password are Base64 encoded but Base64 can be easily decoded.  For more information refer to Script RESTful Web Services WebHelp and Authorization - HTTP | MDN (mozilla.org)

Issue Trend charts don't display any data in Advanced Display v3 (ADv3) although the data can be seen in a trend log list  The trend charts display data normally on other WorkStation and WebStation clients. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Advanced Display V3 Cause The ADv3 date is incorrect, therefore the trend chart when opening shows an interval that doesn't include any data. Resolution Set the correct date and time in the ADv3:   Exit the SmartX HMI Kiosk app - Short press the power button (less than 3 seconds) Enter the password to exit the app and return to SmartX HMI Kiosk To Exit the Kiosk mode repeat the previous 2 steps. In the Home screen mode slide up and tap Settings Tap the System option Tap the option Date and Time and adjust accordingly or enable the option Automatic date and time.  

Issue Some graphics are not visible from specific WorkStations but are visible in other WorkStations or WebStation. The graphic has an orange exclamation point overlay in the system tree and the graphic has an INVALID OBJECT error with the following error description: "An unexpected error occurred when fetching type udt <alpha numeric string>. The type cannot be decoded." No Showing graph in WorkStation Product Line  EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation WorkStation Cause This issue is due to corruption in the WorkStation cache. Note that the WorkStation cache is NOT cleared when WorkStation is uninstalled, it needs to be manually removed. Resolution Uninstall ALL versions of WorkStation on the PC Navigate to: %AppData%\Schneider Electric EcoStruxure\Building Operation\ Delete the WorkStation folder Re-install WorkStation and open the graphics again.          

Issue “Invalid certificate for https communication” alarm pops up after upgrading to EBO 4.0     Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation Cause "Invalid certificate settings for Server to Server communication" is set to enabled (Generate Alarm) by default for new installations/upgrades. This function was deliberately designed to alert existing installations that their sites might be subject to security-related issues, and necessary action needs to be taken. Resolution If users want to get rid of this alarm, they need to: Suppress the alarm by unchecking the “Generate alarm” under Security Settings/ Invalid certificate settings for server to server communication   Or Replace the server certificates with one that can be validated against a CA certificate.   Note: Please refer to the following web pages for more information. CA Certificate Management Security Settings – Control Panel  SSL Certificates 

Issue Unable to login to Webstation when it is embedded in an iframe on a webpage even though the security setting Enable WebStation to be embedded into another website is set. Clicking Log on after entering credentials just makes the login page reload. Security Setting "Enable WebStation to be embedded into another website" security setting   Webstation login page in iframe Webstation might even go into a login loop if the Guest account is activated and Webstation logs in automatically to this account: Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Enterprise Central Building Operation Webstation Building Operation Automation Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Building Operation Automation Server Bundled Cause The Webstation login functionality relies on HTTPS redirect to function properly when it is embedded in an iframe. Error message in the browser developer tool console says: Blocked autofocusing on a <input> element in a cross-origin subframe. Resolution Webstation needs to redirect web clients to HTTPS. There is a setting in Security Manager that controls this. Follow the steps below to activate the redirect: Login to Workstation and go to Control Panel and then Security Settings. Check Redirect web clients to HTTPS and save the change.

Issue WorkStation will play audible alarms but the same alarms will not play in WebStation Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation WebStation   Cause Alarms can be viewed in WebStation but they do not have audible alarm sounds.  Resolution Audible alarms are available in WebStation from 3.2 onward.   See online help topic: WebStation and WorkStation Differences - EcoStruxure WebHelp

Issue Users or engineers may be unsure of how to access the best support for issues with EBO Smart Connectors, especially where site specific Smart Connectors have been developed, or believe the issue is with the underlying framework. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Integration Cause Unlike EBO, which is a standard EcoStruxure product that falls under normal R&D, the Smart Connector (formerly known as Mongoose) was developed by Schneider Electric Buildings Labs and a separate R&D Team.   Resolution If using a Smart Connector developed specifically for a project by a separate Integration Team within Schneider-Electric, then it is always best to go back to that team with your technical issues. In all other cases, the Smart Connector Framework is now supported via normal Product Support channels by raising a support case with your local Customer Care Centre, just as you would for any other EcoStruxure Issue.   The  SmartConnector Developer Forum: can still also still be found on the community.  

Issue Numbers are rounded. Why two values of nearly equal magnitude are subtracted, significant digits are lost.  This occurs in a variety of places within EcoStruxure Buildings Operation, and explained using a script program in the example below. Product Line Ecostruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Cause In a string program and the NumToStr function, if a number (example 5.7) is entered and Save is selected, then the Value in the Variables window at the bottom shows 5.6999998. The value is altered from the original. Resolution When looking at a value in the watch window or variables view, there is no rounding so you are going to see the full length of the float number which suffers from a thing called “loss of significance” More information on float numbers can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_of_significance This phenomenon happens everywhere. An alternative would be to add a formatting feature to do the rounding. Script handles numbers as IEEE754 single precision floats, so the accuracy is limited to (IIRC) seven significant digits. The accuracy loss starts around 1.677E7. On www.binaryconvert.com/convert_float.html?decimal site, a decimal number can be converted to binary and then back to decimal in order to see how the decimal number will be handled in Script. Script handles numbers as IEEE754 single precision floats, so the accuracy is limited to (IIRC) seven significant digits.   The accuracy loss starts around 1.677E7.   On this site you can convert a decimal number to binary and then back to decimal in order to see how the decimal number will be handled in Script. http://www.binaryconvert.com/convert_float.html?decimal

Issue Site upgrading ES from 3.2.1.630 to 3.2.3.59. After the upgrade, some graphics and custom types are missing Before Upgrade: EBO 3.2.1.630   After upgrading to EBO 3.2.3.59   Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Building Operation Enterprise Server Cause Error "is not defined in the target version, discarding object ~ " is found in the upgrade log. Resolution This video demonstrates the steps to upgrade ES successfully displaying all Graphics and Custom types Upgraded ES from 3.2.1.630 to 3.2.3.59 Graphics and custom types were missing Used CP11 3.2.3.1300 to upgrade Successful upgrade showing all Graphics and Custom Types When upgrading within the same version (from 3.2.1 to 3.2.3) we must use a hotfix. We shouldn’t be using the Full installer since the work folder and original folder is the same.

Issue If an application hangs or crashes, Windows systems are sluggish or have problems, or new software fails to install properly one of the first places to look for information on what may be happening is the Windows Event Log. Product Support personnel may ask to see a copy of the Windows Event Log. Product Line TAC INET, TAC Vista, Andover Continuum, Satchwell MicroNet, Satchwell Sigma, TAC IA Series, Field Devices, EcoStruxure Building Operation, Other, EcoStruxure Building Expert, Access Expert, Security Expert Environment Windows Operating System Cause If an application hangs or crashes, Windows systems are sluggish or have problems, or new software fails to install properly one of the first places to look for information on what may be happening is the Windows Event Log. Resolution   Open the Event viewer by one of the ways below: Start Event Viewer by pressing Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box and type eventvwr. Right-Click on "This PC" and select "Manage" then navigate to Computer Management (Local) > System Tools > Event Viewer. Select the type of logs the need to be exported. Application, Security, and System logs in the Windows Logs and Schneider Electric Security Expert logs under Applications and Services Logs (for Security Expert cases) are required.  For each log, view recent messages then click the "Action" menu and select "Save All Events As". Enter the log name, include the log type (Application, Security, or System) in the log name, and location the click "Save". For non-English Windows, make sure to select English (United States) in "Display information" then click OK. 

Issue The WorkPlace Tech application drawing contains a hardware tag that is outlined in red and displays this error message when viewing the right-click Display Errors option for the tag Product Line TAC IA Series, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment I/A Series WorkPlace Tech Building Operation Workstation (WorkPlace Tech Editor) Microsoft Visio Cause The issue may be caused by incorrect copying and pasting of objects inside or between drawings.  An absolute cause has not been determined  Resolution Open the application in WorkPlace Tech or Editor.  Don't open the .vsd or .vsdx file in Visio alone. Enable the Developer in the Visio ribbon. File/Options/Customize Ribbon/check "Developer"  The Developer must be enabled to have the Show ShapeSheet option available  Right-click the Input object and select Show ShapeSheet In the ShapeSheet:  Step 1. Select the corrupted string for the Connection Points Step 2. Delete the string Step 3. Click the green check mark to save Unlink and Relink the connector between the previously corrupt object, UI01 in this case, and the Analog Input object.  Note, that this could be a Binary Input object as well.  This will add the correct string to the Connection Points.