Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Can Microsoft Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) be used with Cyberstation? Environment Cyberstation linking to Excel using the OLE Toolkit. OLE, replacing the old DDE connections. Cause Live data is often required outside Cyberstation. Resolution The Continuum OLE Toolkit can be downloaded from The Exchange Download Center - download Continuum OLE Toolkit

Issue WebClient installs and runs normally until the client session is terminated.  On the next client session WebClient goes through an install process as if WebClient had never been installed. Environment WebClient WebPinpoint Cause WebPinpoint appears to uninstall at the end of each client session.  Deleting WebPinpoint folders and registry keys do not resolve this issue. Resolution This issue was resolved by uninstalling WebClient on the webserver, including deleting the folder structure and associated registry keys and then reinstalling WebClient.

Issue What is the accuracy of the I/A Series MN-SX S-Link wall sensors? This information is required for submittal purposes. Environment MN-SX MN-S1 MN-S2 MN-S3 MN-S4 MN-S4-FCS MN-S5 S-Link Cause Published sensor accuracy information required for project submittal Resolution TPA-RKFD-09-0021.00 details sensor accuracy and stability as shipped from the factory and states:- Element Type: Precision Thermistor Operating Temperature Range: 0 – 50 °C (32 to 122 °F) Stability: < 0.02 °C (< 0.04 °F) per year, typical Accuracy Temperature °C Accuracy Temperature °F Accuracy 24 °C ± 0.6 °C 75 °F ± 1.0 °F 0 to 50 °C ± 1.7 °C 32 to 122 °F ± 3.0 °F

Issue CZU4201 not controlling. Always in cooling mode. Environment CZU4201 CZU DRT3451 STR611 STR612 STR Cause The CZU controller is not controlling. Resolution A DRT3451, STR611 or a STR612 is used as both temperature sensor and setpoint adjust. Check that the internal setpoint adjust within the controller is set 10'C. If not, set it to 10'C, then the internal setpoint is ignored and the remote setpoint is used.

Issue Attempting to modify the station program in a ENC on a jobsite and cannot connect to the ENC because of the License Brand Mismatch error. Environment Niagara AX WorkBench software and TAC branded ENC or I/A Series G3 Workbench and customer's third party branded AX Jace Cause I/A Series ENCs and Tridium JACEs are usually closed branded unless ordered with an open license. The branding on  the G3 / AX workbench software is always closed.  This procedure was defined by Tridium to protect the customer investment by allowing only authorized partner channel members to access the installed system at a customer site. Resolution I/A Series ENCs and  Tridium AX JACEs are normally supplied with a brand specific license that allows access only by the specific branded copy of the WorkBench software. A customer ordering a JACE or ENC can request that it be licensed as open branded.  This will allow the customer to access the JACE or ENC with their brand specific version of the Workbench software and will allow the Schneider Electric Buildings partner office to access the JACE or ENC with their TAC branded copy of Workbench.

Issue Deleting an object that does not have a matching Index entry. Environment BAS2800+ Sigma Deleting Object Point No index entry Cause Although an object is shown in the Pntfle.rec, a matching entry is not present in the Index. Resolution If an object exists in the Pntfle.rec, and the Index entry for this object is missing, then the object cannot be deleted. The following describes the easiest way of correcting the problem. Using an appropriate tool review the Pntfle.rec file and make a note of the object details. These would include the complete mnemonic, the object type, the object number, and the controller number. Using Windows explorer navigate to the correct controller folder. Rename the existing Pntfle.rec to OLDPntfle.rec Rename the existing Pointer.bin to OLDPointer.bin Add a new object in the correct location within the Index to match the Mnemonic structure, that uses the recorded object number, controller number and object type. Using Windows explorer navigate to the correct controller folder. Delete Pntfle.rec Delete Pointer.bin Rename OLDPntfle.rec to Pntfle.rec Rename OLDPointer.bin to Pointer.bin The object can now be deleted as normal.

Issue Does Vista Support  Extensible Markup Language (XML)? Environment TAC Vista 5.1.x Extensible Markup Language (XML) Cause Need to support this language to provide building information to be displayed (or calculated) from third party software to be available on customers web clients.  Resolution Currently TAC Vista does not provide integration to this language with third party web clients at this point.

Issue Cannot being AAON bacnet device online in Continuum Environment Continuum Bacnet AAON Cause The baud rate wasn't being detected by the AAON device Resolution Set the baud rate in the AAON device to auto detect

Issue Unable to add second Workstation to Single-user (SU) installation. Receive SQL error "SQL Server PC_Name\SQLEXPRESS does not exist or access denied" Environment Continuum Cyberstation SQL Express Cause SQL Server was not configured properly for remote connections. Resolution Follow the steps in the Microsoft article on how to enable the correct protocols and open the firewall to allow these connections. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345343.aspx

Issue Eaton IP BACnet Lighting Panels are successfully discovered via the Find BACnet Devices but then go offline with error "Communications failure due to routing device not available" Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Cause IP BACnet level Eaton devices configured with network number other than zero Resolution Set the network number to zero for all Eaton lighting panels. Then they will stay online.

Issue Upgrading a 779703 bin file from a pre-I/NET Seven release to current. Station conflict errors occur after upgrading a 779703 ICI Environment 7797ICI I/NET Seven I/NET ICI Configurator Cause The 779703 ICI can be configured to use up to 4 channels using the DCU address feature HHC.  This information is then stored on the Save file. We have found that this information can be corrupted when upgrading a save file from a very old build to a very new build. The Controller will reserve the same number of addresses as configured in the MXL Panel Address. Resolution   Verify with the customer that it is safe to take the ICI offline Direct Connect to the ICI and perform a station save Disconnect the ICI from the controller LAN Verify that the ICI is configured as the correct type using Edit>Controller>Configuration If needed, save the controller in Network Configuration Download the bin file While the file downloads, verify it is a 779703 build Once the download is complete connect to the controller and perform a station restore Open the ICI Editor Confirm with the Fire alarm contractor that all points are monitoring correct variables Select Edit>Configuration Note the current configuration Set the ICI Port as Enabled Set the Baud Rate as 9600 – Confirm this is correct with the Fire Alarm Contractor Set the Data Bits to 7 Set the Stop Bits to 1 Set the Parity to Even Set the Inter message delay to .05 Set the Response time out to 2 Set the MXL Panel Address to 1 (this is set incorrectly intentionally on the first download after a major upgrade) Disconnect from the controller in the ICI editor In I/NET perform a station Save In I/NET perform a station restore Reconnect to the controller in the ICI Editor Change the MXL Panel Address to the correct address of the panel. This number will have to be provided by the fire alarm contractor. Use the Handheld to verify that the DPU address is correct. If the panel is 0358 this should read 005858. If 000058 then the bin file is incorrect, if 0058xx then repeat steps 20-25 In I/NET perform a station Save In I/NET perform a station restore Test a point with the fire alarm system. Copy the save file to disk and save it for future reference

Issue Instead of logging a value on a set time interval, can I only log the value when it changes? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Logging - all controller types. Time Interval = 0 Log value on change. Semi Automatic logging. Cause When working with strings, date times or Plain English comms drivers, it is often required to only log a value on change. How can this be achieved? Resolution Create the point in the usual way. On the "Logs" tab, enter the number of log entries required. Select "Log Instantaneous." Leave all of the Time intervals at 0. The controller will now log a new value every time the point value changes and all log entries move down 1 position. This is often called Semi Automatic logging. Note: This logging method is not related to time in any way, however creating an Infinity DateTime point and writing to that with the Date system variable when the point is updated would allow the time / date of the change to be recorded.

Issue When columns are hidden in the Alarm View and the view is printed, the column headers are printed correctly but column data is printed as if no columns are hidden.  Therefore, column headers following a hidden column are printed with the wrong data beneath them. Environment Vista 5.1.3 Vista 5.1.4 Vista 5.1.5 Vista 5.1.6 Vista 5.1.7 Workstation Cause The Alarm View in Vista Workstation can be customised to hide selected columns (right-click in Alarm View and select 'Customize...').  The Customization dialog shows a list of the nine available columns, all selected by default.  Columns can be hidden by deselecting their checkbox, and the display order can be changed by moving columns up or down the list. On screen, this has the desired result.  However, when the customized Alarm View is printed (right-click in Alarm View and select 'Print'), the results are very different. For example, the full alarm list contains these columns:- State     Count     Priority     Last Change     Object ID     Text     Linked Object     Tripped     User Now hide every column except:  State     Count     Priority     Object ID     Text The on-screen results are as expected: State             Count             Priority             Object ID           Text StateData    CountData     PriorityData    ObjectIDdata    TextData   When the Alarm View is printed, this is the result: State             Count             Priority             Object ID                  Text StateData    CountData     PriorityData    LastChangedata    ObjectIDdata   The column headers are printed correctly, but the column data are printed as if the 'Last Change' column is not hidden., although the correct number of columns is printed. Reordering the columns using the 'Move Up' and 'Move Down' buttons does not help.  The column data are always printed in the default column order. Resolution Only hide columns at the end of the default column list.  Hidden columns in the middle of displayed columns will cause the printout to be incorrect. This error has been around since Vista 5.1.3  up to the current version 5.1.7.  It may be fixed in a future version.

Issue Workstation crashes when executing a search for “Graphic – TGML” with search property set to “Bindings”. Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 Cause The binding column (and any other column too,) in the search window has an limit of 259 characters. If text is longer then 259 workstation will crash. Resolution This problem is fixed i TAC Vista version 5.1.8. If the text is longer then 259 it will be truncated down to 259 characters.  

Issue Cyberstation locks up and becomes unresponsive. Environment CyberStation WebClient Cause Problem with OS or computer hardware. Resolution Reformat the workstations hard drive and or install a new operating system that is supported by the current version of Cyberstation. Backup the Continuum Database. Reinstall Cyberstation. Run Continuum Database Initialization an initialize the workstation. 

Issue Getting "nan" is the history data table from the Chart Builder. 22-Jan-12 12:45:06 AM CST 85.1 °F nan °F 22-Jan-12 1:00:06 AM CST 86.1 °F nan °F 22-Jan-12 1:15:06 AM CST 86.0 °F nan °F Environment IA Series G3 (niagara) Cause The history table data is displayed in the table with the date and time stamp and then the data for the individual objects being compared in the chart builder.  The time is displayed in HH:MM:SS format however the actual sample time has a millisecond component as well.  If the time stamps for each object don't match exactly (including the millisecond value) the actual values for the objects that don't match will be displayed as "nan".   Resolution The way to make the History table data show values for each object for every timestamp is to change the "rollup" to something other than none.  If you change the rollup to match the sample time in the history data the report will look best.  

Issue TGML bindings and links are missing and can not be modified. Environment Vista 5.1.6 Non-English Windows OS Cause  The Vista database was created with non-English regional settings and then these settings were changed to US/English. This means that the special regional characters are not recognised in the Vista database. Resolution Change the regional settings back to the original settings used to create the Vista database.

Issue Link to the website hosting Project Builder Environment Project Builder Visio Cause Project Builder 2.4 is hosted on the Engineering Tools website along with common issues you may have with a PB installation. Resolution Project Builder can no longer be downloaded and instead Design360 should be used.

Issue When adding multiple cards to a user where does the number go. Environment All versions of I/Net Seven Cause When adding multiple cards to a user, depending on which format is being used, the adjacent field is automatically updated. Resolution When adding multiple cards to an individual, depending on which format is being used it automatically put the adjacent number in that field. 1. For big card numbers or HEX numbers, those have to be entered in the HEX field and would automatically populate the decimal field. 2. For card number equals individuals, the card number must be entered in the decimal field which will automatically populate the HEX field.

Issue After a valid door unlock, Continuum, by default, turns off the door lock output one second after the door opens when a door switch is used. How can this sequence be modified? Environment ACX AC1 Cause Due to the locking hardware used, sometimes it is necessary to make sure the door is closed before energizing the maglock. Resolution Use a Plain English program as follows: ' File Name: LONGLOCK.TXT ' Program name: LongLockProgram ' '   This program keeps the door strike energized until after the door '   closes. This is needed for certain types of door hardware. Normally, '   the door strike is de-energized 1 second after the door is physically '   opened. ' ' Flowtype: Looping, Autostart 1:   If Door1 ValidAccess is On then Goto 3   If Door1 ExitRequest is On then Goto 2 2:   If Door1 DoorSwitch is Opened then Goto 3   If TS > Door1 DoorStrikeTime then Goto 1    ' in case the door doesn't get opened 3:   Door1 = UnLocked   If Door1 DoorSwitch is Closed then Goto 4   If TS > 60 then Goto 4    ' safety 4:   If TS >=1 then    Door1 = Locked    Goto 1   Endif