Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Notifications (email or text file) are sent when an alarm is enabled by the shunt variable Environment Notifications Cause The Alarm object has 6 possible states that it can take   Normal - Idle state where the alarm monitors the variable. Alarm - When an alarm is triggered, the state of the alarm changes from the normal state to alarm state. Disabled - You can disable an alarm when the alarm is triggered by faulty reasons, the alarm toggles between the alarm state and reset state, or maintenance will trigger the alarm. A Disabled alarm can be hidden in the Alarms pane or Alarm Views. To reset the alarm, you have to show hidden alarms and then enable it. When you show disabled alarms, enabled alarms are hidden. Alarms are also disabled by using the Shunt Variable in the alarm configuration. Reset - The monitored variable has returned to a value that is within the normal condition of the alarm, but the alarm has to be acknowledged by a user before the alarm returns to normal state. Acknowledged - A user or user group has acknowledged the alarm. Fault - If a BACnet device reports values that it knows are not trustworthy, the monitoring alarm is put in fault state. The notification is triggered by transitioning to any of these states as selected in the "Notify on transition to" portion of the notification configuration This means that if you wish to receive a notification on transition to the Normal state, you can check the Normal box. However, this means that not only are notified when the alarm transitions from Alarm to Normal, but from Disabled to Normal or Fault to Normal.  Some of the scenarios may be undesirable. Resolution There are two ways an alarm can go to Normal: Alarm to normal Disable to normal In the Email notification main filter, you can choose to not get a notification from disarm but you might want to get a email about normal since you want to get a email when an alarm goes to normal. To accomplish this you need to add another filter called "Previous alarm state." (This filter does not work in releases prior to 1.3 SP1.) To add the filter Previous Alarm State: Click on the green + Check the boxes you want: Acknowledge Alarm Normal Reset Make sure Disable is not checked This means that when the previous state was disabled (shunted), a notification will not be sent.   Example1: This object will always trigger a notification on Alarm.  The notification will be triggered regardless of Previous State. If the Alarm is Disabled by a shunt, then enabled, but the Monitored Variable is still out of Range, a notification will be sent.   Example2: This object will only trigger a notification on the Transitions from Alarm to Reset, Alarm to Normal, Acknowledged to Reset or Acknowledged to Normal. This might be desirable for a user that wished to know when an object in Alarm returns to normal operation, but not know when an alarm goes from Disabled to normal operation.

Issue Are there any limits on the number of entries for Path Permissions? Environment AS ES Cause Documentation Resolution There are no hard limits on how many entries can be added in the software permissions, the limit is only determined by the availability of resources such as memory.

Issue Instructions for configuring the enterprise server or automation server for custom views accessible from mobile devices. Environment SmartStruxure iPhone iPad Custom View Cause Instructions for configuring the enterprise server or automation server for custom views accessible form mobile devices. Resolution Creating custom views for iPad or iPhone is done in StruxureWare Building Operation. In Building operation right click on the server object and select New>Folder Name that folder Custom View (the folder must be named this to be recognized by the mobile device) Within the custom view folder you can drag and drop your data that you wish to have in the custom view or you can also create sub folders beneath the custom view folder. See example Below.   Once the configuration steps above are complete, login to the mobile app and click the Custom View button. Everything within the Custom View folder in the AS or ES should be displayed. * In the event these folders do not show up, please logout of the mobile application and log back in.

Issue User names and passwords are not accepted by the AS's. Environment Domain Password Users Cause A new Domain was configured on the ES, this configuration was then exported, the export was then imported to each AS. Resolution Note;- By importing and exporting copies of the Domain, Domains that are not related to each other, are created, which is unlikely to be the operational intent. Exporting/Importing will duplicate user accounts etc. Having multiple accounts with the same name (potentially with different passwords) throughout the system can lead to an overly complex and un-manageable configuration. To create a new Domain configuration, carry out the following. Add the Automation Servers (AS) to the Enterprise Server (ES) in the normal way. With the Workstation connected to the ES, select "Control Panel" and "Domains"     "Add" a new Domain, giving it a suitable name, and then select the AS's that will share this Domain with the ES.       Now Create the Domain. At this stage, if the AS's are reviewed, the New Domain can be seen, (Note - Nothing is shown in the Domain folder on an AS).                           If required, you can choose to set the new Domain as the default Domain,  this is achieved by right-hand mouse clicking on the Domain and selecting the option. This must be done on each Server.                                       Confirm that the ES IP address is correct in all servers.     Finally create the User Groups, Users, and Workspaces required for this Domain. Log off the Workstation, and restart  the ES. Once the ES has restarted, log back on using the new Domain information.   Log on to an AS using the new Domain information.     

Issue Building Operation Menta Editor can normally be opened. But when editing a Function Block Program or a Xenta programmable Xenta controller in Operation Workstation, a Runtime error occurs like the following image and Menta Editor will crash. Environment Building Operation Menta Editor Building Operation Workstation 1.3sp1 Cause The reason is that the formats and language do not match in regional and language options in Windows Operation System. Resolution The selected item in the Standards and Formats of Regional Options must be matched with the selected language in Language for non-Unicode programs of Advanced in Regional and Language Options.  That is like as the red circles of the following image.

Issue Hotfix readme / report asks me to "Confirm the file versions are now build x.x.x.xxxx in explorer" - how is this done? Environment SmartStruxure Hotfix releases. Cause The 'File version' property on some files are not easily found / shown in Windows explorer, so only the 'date modified' can be used to indicate that the file has been updated.  Resolution The easiest method of confirming that files have been updated correctly by the Hotfix is to view them in Windows Explorer.  The paths for this are as shown below: For versions 1.2 and below: C:\Program Files\Schneider Electric\StruxureWare X.X\...(32-bit operating systems) C:\Program Files (x86)\Schneider Electric\StruxureWare X.X\...(64-bit operating systems) For versions 1.3 and above: C:\Program Files\Schneider Electric StruxureWare\Building Operation X.X\...(32-bit operating systems) C:\Program Files (x86)\Schneider Electric StruxureWare\Building Operation X.X\...(64-bit operating systems) Within this path are the folders containing the files for each of the applications such as the Device Administrator, Enterprise Server, Workstation, etc as shown below. For each Hotfix .EXE file that is applied you need to check each of these folders with the files detailed in the Hotfix readme / Hotfix Report provided. To confirm that these files have been updated you can either check the File version shown in the properties of the file or you can display the file version as a column in Windows Explorer. See an example of this below (This is showing Hotfix 1.2.0.2207). For the files that do not display their 'File version' property the only way to check that these have been updated is to look at the 'Date Modified' property. This date should match the date of the Hotfix application (.exe). See image below where these matching dates have been highlighted.

Issue Importing a VisiSat pointslist StruxureWare reports a limit issue and suggests the import is complete. Environment StruxureWare Building Operation 1.3/1.3 SP1 Cause On one of the VisiSat points being import,  the alarm limits have been incorrectly set.   Although StruxureWare Building Operation 1.3/1.3 SP1 reports that the import completed in X minutes and X second, the import would have failed to complete due to the stated issue. Unfortunately the reported limit issue can effect 100 points or just the 1 point.  The specific point or points identity is not highlighted in the trace file.   Resolution Locate the point and check the alarm limits are entered correctly. The example below show the upper limit and lower limit are reversed. Change it so the upper limit is above the lower limit.

Issue How to display custom text and properties of an alarm in the email notification. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Email Notification Substitution Codes Cause There may be certain situations where a specific property of the monitored value needs to listed in the alarm email that is sent out. For example when an alarm is triggered, the value at the time the alarm state changed my need to be documented in the notification email. These are called substitution codes. Resolution The properties of the Email Notification can be set to customize the message that is sent out when an alarm changes states. As seen in the properties window of the Email Notification above, the "Subject" and "Text" can be changed to say whatever is desired. There are special codes that can also be entered into these fields to pull actual properties from the value that went into alarm. Below is a table that lists all of the Codes for the different value properties. This same information can also be found on the EcoStruxure Building Operation WebHelp. Substitution Codes for Notifications Code Description @(AcknowledgedBy) Writes the user that acknowledged the alarm. @(AcknowledgeTime) Writes the time the alarm was acknowledged. @(AckRequired) Writes an indicator if the BACnet alarm requires acknowledgement. @(AlarmState) Writes the present state of the alarm. @(AlarmText) Writes the alarm messages that is added to the alarm. @(AssignedID) Writes the unique ID of the user the alarm is assigned to. @(​AssignedState) Writes the current assigned state the alarm is in. The possible values are Unassigned, Assigned, and Accepted. @(​AssignedTo) Writes the name of the user or group that the alarm is assigned to. @(​AssignedToDomain) Writes the domain of the user or group that the alarm is assigned to. @(BACnetEventType) Writes the BACnet event type for this alarm. @(BACnetNotificationType) Writes whether the BACnet notification was an alarm or event. @(BasicEvaluationState) Writes if the alarm is active or not. @(Category) Writes the category name of the alarm. @(CommandValue) Writes the value which was commanded for a BACnet command failure alarm. @(ConfirmedNotification) Writes an indication whether a BACnet notification was issued as a confirmed or unconfirmed BACnet message. @(Count) Writes the number of times the alarm has toggled between the alarm and reset states. @(Deadband) Writes the value of the deadband used for limit checking for BACnet out of range alarms. @(DeviceName) Writes the name of the I/NET device that generated the event. @(​DisabledCause) Writes the cause of the alarm being disabled. An alarm can be disabled by User, Shunt variable, and System. If the alarm isn't configured correctly it can be disabled by System. @(ErrorLimit) Writes the difference limit that was exceeded for BACnet floating limit alarms. @(EvaluationState) Writes the present evaluation state of the alarm. For example, Upper limit alarm is displayed when the monitored value reaches the upper alarm limit. @(EventFromState) Writes the event state of the object prior to the occurrence of the alarm condition for BACnet alarms. @(CWSid) Writes the EcoStruxure Web Service identification of the alarm on the external system. @(CWSSourceId) Writes the EcoStruxure Web Service identification of the external object that generated the alarm. @(ExceededLimit) Writes the value of the limit that was exceeded for BACnet out of range alarms. @(ExceedingValue) Writes the value that exceeded a limit for BACnet out of range alarms. @(FeedbackValue) Writes the value that differs from the commanded value for a BACnet command failure alarm. @(FirstName) Writes the first name of the individual whose key/card was used at the I/NET door point. @(Hidden) Writes the visible status of an object. False is displayed when the object is shown. @(IndivNdx) Writes the individual number of the individual whose key/card was used at the I/NET door point. @(LastName) Writes the last name of the individual whose key/card was used at the I/NET door point. @(Logging) Writes whether the alarm should be logged or not. @(MessageText) Writes the text of an I/NET action or dispatch message, if there is one. @(MonitoredObject->DESCR) Writes the description property of the monitored object. @(MonitoredObject->NAME) Writes the name property of the monitored object. @(MonitoredObject->NOTE1) Writes the note 1 property of the monitored object. @(MonitoredObject->NOTE2) Writes the note 2 property of the monitored object. @(MonitoredObject->LabelText) Writes the label text of the monitored object. This requires that a MonitoredVariable is configured. @(MonitoredValue) Writes the value depending on the alarm states selected under 'Notify on transition to'. @(​MonitoredVariable) Writes the path of the monitored variable. @(NewMode) Writes the new mode of the monitored object for a BACnet change of value alarm. @(NewState) Writes the new state of the monitored object for a BACnet change of state or change of life safety alarm. @(NewValue) Writes the new value of the monitored property for a BACnet change of value alarm. @(NotificationClass) Writes the distribution information of an alarm notification within a BACnet system. @(OperationExpected) Writes the next operation requested by the monitored object for a BACnet change of life safety alarm. @(OriginalAlarmText) Writes the alarm text from the matched alarm. This substitution code is only available for Alarm Decorators. @(PossibleOperatorActions) Writes the possible actions one can perform on the record, given permissions. @(PreviousAlarmState) Writes the previous alarm state. @(Priority) Writes the current priority level of the alarm state. @(ProcessId) Writes the process identifier configured by the notification for a BACnet alarm. @(ReferencedBitString) Writes the new value of the monitored bitstring property for a BACnet change of bitstring alarm. @ (Report) Writes the name of the report connected to the notification. @(SEQNO) Writes the sequence number of the record. @(SetpointValue) Writes the value of the setpoint when the alarm condition occurred for a BACnet floating limit alarm. @(​Source) Writes the path of the source object. @(SourceName) Writes the name of the source object that generated the alarm. @(SourceObject->DESCR) Writes the description property of the source object. @(SourceObject->NAME) Writes the name property of the source object. @(SourceObject->NOTE1) Writes the note 1 property of the monitored object. @(SourceObject->NOTE2) Writes the note 2 object of the monitored object. @(​SourceServer) Writes the path to the server where the source object is located. @(StatusFlags) Writes the status flag of the object. @(SystemAlarmId) Writes the alarm ID generated by the system. @(TenantNdx) Writes the tenant number of the individual whose key/card was used at the I/NET door point. @(TimeStamp) Writes the time and date when the event was generated. @(TriggeredTimestamp) Writes the time and date of the last state transfer from normal state to alarm state. @(TYPE) Writes the record type.

Issue Search of All Forced Variables Environment StruxureWare Building Operation site Cause Desire to search of All Forced Variables without having to visit and physically look at each point. Wanting a Summary page that is not in the Reports Server, but on the AS or ES which shows which points are Forced and which are not Forced. Resolution Forced Values can be found in system tree. Example with screen shot below: ES/Servers/AS/System/Modules/RuntimeDBManager/VariableManager/Variables if you enabled the isForced column.

Issue SmartStruxure and Vista 5.1.8 and later TGML editors have an option to change the grid size whereas earlier versions of TGML were hard coded at 5 pixels. Environment TGML Graphics Editor Cause Being able to change the grid size to a larger value allows for quicker and easier alignment of graphics objects. Being able to change it to a smaller value allows for more precise positioning. Resolution In the TGML Editor, find the "Show Grid" option in the main toolbar There is a small down arrow to the right of this icon that will pull down a menu for selecting the desired grid size Toggle "Show Grid" to display the grid size on the graphic work area Toggle "Snap to Grid" to turn on and off fixed positioning of items on this grid.

Issue tam32 Error: "Max limit if number of in- and outlets is reached, this application cannot be generated." Environment Xenta 7xx Xenta 700 series programmable controller. Cause Too many inputs and/or outputs in a Menta Object will cause generation to fail.  Resolution Reduce the amount of inputs or outputs in the program to < 500 total. This can be accomplished by splitting the faulty program into multiple Menta Objects (programs) in the controller.

Issue Is there a limit to the number of S-Cables which can be used when connecting additional rows of I/O modules? Environment S-Cables I/O modules Rows extending Cause SmartStruxure is being installed into an existing building and the current controllers are split into several rows. Resolution A maximum of 5 cables can be used on an IO back plane. You can serially connect up to 2 S-cables in a row to extend the length. This information was located in StruxureWare Building Operation Help – Installation Instructions - Terminal Base TB-PS-W1

Issue If 3 rd party integration platform wants to use momentary release of door through Modbus, how to realize it? Environment StruxureWare Building Operation I/NET Cause Sometime this kind of application is needed. Resolution Here I/NET and SmartStruxure are used to realize this function. Follow the steps below: Create an I/NET interface in ES, and upload all the I/NET points into ES. Create a Modbus TCP Network, Modbus TCP device for momentary release to connect to 3 rd party integration platform. Create a Modbus point in the Modbus TCP device, named Momentary Release. 3 rd party software can access this point to control the door. Create a Script program, to type the sentence below:   Bind the "ModbusOut" to Value property of the Modbus TCP point, "Out" to the PvControl property of the door point, while bind Value property of the Modbus TCP point to the "Release", shown as the picture below:   Test the effect. When change the value of the Modbus point from "0" to "1", the door will open for five second, and return to lock status. The door lock time can be changed in the script program. Maybe there will be several seconds delay. After the door returns to locked, the Modbus point will return to "0", so there is no need to change the value back to "0" manually.

Issue An AS has failed and there is no backup. Can the SD card from the broken AS be used in a new AS Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Automation Server Cause AS has failed without any backup and there is a need to get the information to the new AS Resolution The SD card in each AS is encoded for that specific AS. The information on the SD card can only be read by that AS. AS's are now replaced by the AS-P, however if an AS can be obtained, then a backup can be recovered as follows:   It is possible to put the SD card from the damaged AS into a non damaged AS and do a backup. Then the backup can be restored into a new AS-P. The AS-P does not use a SD card. Important note: The version of the bad AS / SD card needs to match the donor AS used to make the backup. To remove the memory card push the metal retainer in towards the centre of the PCB The metal retainer will disengage its locking catches The metal retainer is hinged and can then be opened The memory card can then be lifted out for replacement Replacement is the reverse of the removal process.

Issue No Lon interfaces are shown under the Device discovery tab Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment WorkStation LConfig Cause One reason can be that there is a NIC-IP/RNI that are enabled but not defined   The easiest way to check for this is to look in the registry, HKEY_LOKAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LonWorks\DeviceDrivers See if there are any "extra" NIC_IP entries. Resolution Go to Start and type in regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LonWorks\DeviceDrivers See if there are any "extra" NIC_IP entries. Don't change anything! Just note the name of the extra entry. Open LConfig, click on the NCI-IP/RNI tab Select the extra device in the drop down list Uncheck Enable device Select the active device Make sure the active device has a device name Click OK Now your real devices should show up in the list

Issue Menta editor crashes when performing a copy/paste Function block editor crashes when performing a copy/paste Environment TAC Menta Function block editor Cause This happens if there are HFB IOs that are not connected to a HFB Resolution Delete any HFB IO that are not coming from an HFB

Issue Configuring a BACnet Analog Value (Continuum) object as a Setpoint. Environment BACnet Setpoint Retain Level Cause Setpoints do not maintain their value when downloaded. Resolution The process of creating a BACnet Setpoint is as follows; Create a BACnet Analog Value (Continuum) as appropriate. Once created select the object in the system tree and review the "Basic tab". Set the Setpoint as "True" and select to "Save" the object. Select the "Configure" symbol which is located in the "Status Information" section of the "Basic" tab.  Confirm that the "Retain Level" is set to "Coldstart" (This is automatically set when "True" is selected for the Setpoint. General information about the Retain Level.

Issue Extended Trend Logs Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium (AS-P) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B) Cause When configuring extended logging in the BACnet application folder, these objects are not available when performing a device discovery from the AS or ES. Prepare one AS with a BACnet point Create a trend log on the BACnet point Create an Extended log for that BACnet trend log From a second AS, the BACnet objects are available after a Device Discovery except for the Extended log object. StruxureWare Building Operation online help for “Configuring Extended Logging for a BACnet Trend Log” states:    ***Key Concept: Extended trend logs are not BACnet objects. These are StruxureWare Building Operation exclusive. The term "BACnet Extended Trend Log" does not exist and is a misnomer. Resolution The main reason is that extended logs are not defined in the BACnet standard; they are proprietary to EcoStruxure.  Everything that is proprietary to EcoStruxure Building Operation is not exposed to BACnet including graphics, script & function block programs and central IO points are not directly exposed, but have to be bound to BACnet I/O objects. The extended log serves the purpose of expanding a log on a larger capacity server.  A trend log on an AS would be more appropriate to extend on an ES. If you have a trend log in an external BACnet device (like a b3 or a 3rd party device/system) then you would want an extended log in the AS, to collect from that device (and then maybe a larger extended trend on a parent ES). If there is a local BACnet trend log in an AS (in the BACnet interface application folder) that is required to be larger, consider increasing the buffer size property of the one log that is needed (the default size of 10 may be too small, and increasing to 1000 up to 5000 (extended log size) may be an option). That would be most interoperable with other (3rd party) BACnet clients that need access to the trend log data.

Issue Getting the following error when trying to add a license. System error message: A value for property SalesContactEmail is required. Environment License Administrator Cause Incomplete or incorrect registration details Resolution Make sure all fields in the registration details are filled. Any field with a red border has not been correctly entered.

Issue Values only appear to update in Workstation when performing an upload. Environment I/NET Seven 2.43 and above StruxureWare Building Operation 1.3.0.978 and above Cause I/NET Interface Global scan rates are set to 0 (disabled) Resolution The Global scan rates defined within the properties of the I/NET Interface should be set to a value greater than 0 to display and automatically update values and controller status from the I/NET system.  The default settings are set to 60 seconds and 5 seconds for the device updates and point updates respectively. Image below shows the location of these settings within Workstation: