Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue A specification for a power meter states that it provides KYZ pulse outputs. What is a KYZ pulse output? Product Line All Product Lines Environment Utility Meter with KYZ pulse outputs Cause Some meter specification sheets may state that the device outputs KYZ pulses. Resolution KYZ is a designation given to a relay used to create pulses for electrical metering applications. It is commonly a Form C relay (SPDT). The term KYZ refers to the contact designations: K for common, Y for Normally Open, and Z for Normally Closed.

Issue StruxureWare Building Operation WorkStation crashes randomly while working in it. The following error message is displayed. Environment Building Operation WorkStation Cause The "Value cannot be null. Parameter name: d" crash is caused by a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application defect. Resolution To resolve the issue: Go to the following link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2461678. This link will provide additional information on the defect and how to fix the problem.   Apply the hotfix that is provided underneath the section titled "Resolution".

Issue Metric vs. Imperial Units as displayed Using Webstation Regional Settings Any device, will by default, show configured units. Regional settings must be applied to normalize all devices. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Webstation TGML Graphics SNVT values Cause Incorrect Units will appear in webstation if webstation regional settings are not configured correctly. Resolution Log into Webstation Select Settings > Change Regional Settings   Select the desired Language Select the desired Measurement system Click Ok NOTE: Settings are preserved via a cookie stored on the local PC. Any time cookies are deleted this will return to its default setting.

Issue Windows Application logs may be requested by Technical Support to assist with a reported issue. Product Line All Product Lines Environment All Microsoft Windows Operating Systems Cause Unspecified cause. Resolution Press WINDOWS + R on keyboard of the Windows system that the report is to be from. The Windows key is usually located between the CTRL and ALT keys and has a picture of a flag on it. Type Eventvwr.exe and click OK Event Viewer will now start. Expand Windows Logs and then right click on Application. Click on Save All Events As... When prompted save the file as an *.evtx file to an accessible location. Email the *.evtx file to your support representative.

Issue When selecting a list view, last column is always on next page Environment Release 1.2 and 1.3 Beta 3 Cause When Printing a list view, last column is always on next page.  Resolution At the moment only workaround: to add 4th "dummy" column. Then the 3 necessary columns are on the first page and the dummy is on the second.

Issue When creating a FB program and use WDAY, change the date on the AS or ES to Sunday, the WDAY changes the day to 0 (zero). Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment StruxureWare Building Operation and all compatible operating systems including Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and virtual machine environments. Cause Create a FB program and use WDAY, then change the date on the AS or ES to Sunday, the WDAY changes the day to 0 zero. Steps to reproduce problem: Create FB Program in AS or ES Use the WDAY While using the Graphics Viewer in the AS or ES, WDAY shows correct weekday (today is 2) Change the date on the AS or ES to a Sunday i.e. 12-09-16 which is Sunday,September 16, 2012 View FB program in Graphics Viewer, which now shows 0 as if today were now 0  The WDAY FB program should show 7 which is Sunday. Monday=1 Tuesday=2 Wednesday=3 Thursday=4 Friday=5 Saturday=6 Sunday=7 Resolution This will be resolved in a future release. Currently, there is a alternative: with an XPI block, make WDAY 0 = 7.A second alternative would be to add an if-statement: if(output = 0){output = 7}  

Issue When a DELR or DELI block is used with a comparison operator to detect a change of value in the output of a function block, the output of the comparison operator should go ON for one scan when the source output value changes. If the source function block is a PVR or PVI this does not occur. For example: This code does not work This code works Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment StruxureWare Building Operation version 1.3.0 or earlier Function Block Editor Cause There is a defect in StruxureWare Building Operation version 1.3.0 or earlier that causes this behaviour when writing to a public PVR or PVI block in a Function Block Program in the ES or AS directly from the Workstation. Resolution This defect has been logged with Quality Center and will be fixed in SmartStruxure version 1.4.0 Meanwhile, the workaround is to insert any compatible block immediately after the PVR or PVI.  For example: The inserted block could be an operator, an expression block or even another DELR. Although the workaround works, the preferred practice for new applications would be to replace the PVR with a RI and bind the RI to an Analog Value in the ES or AS. This defect does not occur in Menta programs in Xenta controllers, including those written in the SmartStruxure Menta Editor.

Issue Can the Execution Precedence determine the priority of a program binding to a value? Environment SBO Function Block and Script programs Cause Clarification on the function of Execution Precedence is required. Resolution In both Function Block and Script programs there is an attribute called Execution Precedence, this can be set in the program "Properties", Basic tab. For a Function Block program:    For a Script Program: Execution Precedence determines the order that the programs will be run, the lowest numbers will be run first. In the 2 screenshots above the Function block program (Value 1) will be run before the Script program (Value 20). This can be used for applications where a calculation is done to generate a value, that is then used in a second program e.g. Calculation of a compensated setpoint, that is then used in a PID control program as the reference value. The PID program must have a higher Execution Precedence than the setpoint calculation. Execution Precedence does not affect priority. If the outputs of 2 programs are bound to a single value, both programs will be trying to control the value and give an indeterminate result.   To combine the outputs of 2 programs the programmer must use the appropriate logic to determine how the 2 signals should be combined for the application. So for Binary values use one of the logical operators: AND, OR, XOR etc, For Analog values combine the 2 results with Max, Min, Average etc as required.

Issue The ES crashes during startup   SE.EnterpriseServer.exe - Application Error occurs, and the Building Operation Enterprise Server service cannot be started.  Error contains "The memory could not "written"".   The port fields in software administrator shows a red indication on one or more of the ports Environment Enterprise Server Software Administrator IP ports Cause A program is already using the ports defined for the Enterprise Server     In general   You can check which program it is, by entering the following command in a command prompt, replacing ":port number" with the number you want to check, e.g. "0.0.0.0:80" for port 80: netstat -aonb | find "0.0.0.0:port number"     Now in the task manager, enable the coloumn "PID (Process Identifier)", and look for the process ID you get to the far right when running the command above. That will show what program is taking the port.       Skype   If you are running Skype on the Enterprise Server PC there could be a conflict between the default IP port settings and the IP port settings in Software Administrator. The default ports for SmartStruxure Enterprise Server are 80 and 443. By default, Skype will "use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections" if the configured port is unavailable. When Skype is launched it appears to search for an open IP port. If it cannot find an open port within a period of time it may default to ports 80 and 443 as a backup. This behaviour appears to be intermittent.    TeamViewer In newer versions of TeamViewer this is no longer an issue, but it's good practice to select "Use UDP" in the advanced settings of TeamViewer Resolution In general, you can change the ports used by the Enterprise Server in the Building Operation Software Administrator.   If the issue is Skype do the following: In the Skype tools menu go to “Options…” Expand the “Advanced” settings on the left hand side. Click “Connection” in the Advanced section. Uncheck the setting that says "Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections"

Issue How to change the IP address in the EC/ES software when it is grayed out. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Central (EC) and Enterprise Server (ES) Building Operation WorkStation Cause The EC/ES IP address is grayed out in the Network Tab of the Server Properties and cannot be changed.  This setting is only used to view the IP address that the server is currently using - typically the IP of the network interface card of the PC running this.  To change this setting it must be done through the Communications TAB of the server as detailed in the resolution.  Resolution EcoStruxure Building Operation 2.0 and above EBO 2.0 and above now supports multiple NIC configurations, see 2.0.1 Release Notes for details, in particular, the following note.   Note: That from 2.0 the server will still listen for incoming requests on all network adapters so this setting is only used for choosing which communication settings that the server will use to communicate with child servers. This allows other IP protocols on different networks, e.g. BACnet, Modbus, etc. to communicate with the Server.    It is now possible to select which network adapter the Enterprise Central and the Enterprise Server use.  See the following WebHelp Topic Configuring Network Interface Card for an Enterprise Server or for an Enterprise Central StruxureWare Building Operation 1.9 and below  When the IP address of the computer changes the ES will automatically update the "IP/DNS Address" in the Properties, Network tab. If your computer has multiple network connections, ensure that the Network Interface Card (NIC) to be used for the SmartStruxure network is set to be at the top of the list in the Adapters and Bindings. Go to the computer's Control Panel > Network Connections Select "Advanced, Advanced Settings... " from the menu. In the "Connections:" section, select the Network Connection to be used and press the up arrow to move it to the top of the list. For Windows 7 / Server 2008 See the following link on how to change the order of protocol bindings: How to change the network connection priority in Windows 7 For Windows 8 and beyond, please refer to Adapter priority setting unavailable in Windows 10 In addition to the ES Network Properties, there is also the Communication tab in the ES that lists all of the Server IP addresses in the system. If these need to be changed this can be done by selecting the server and clicking on the "Show/ Hide Communication settings" button circled in red below.

Issue Various webstation or TGML issues Environment StruxureWare Web Station Vista Web Station Cause Java script may be causing problems with Webstation.  Resolution   How to turn on Java Debugging: Open Control Panel Select Java Chose the advanced tab Expand Debugging and check all boxes Expand Java console and select Show console When future errors occur you can capture the errors from the java console If you do not wish to have the console pop up, you can change the Java console back to Hide console and access the logs at this location:  C:\Users\CURRENTUSER\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\log

Issue When binding using templates at Release 1.1 the user is presented with the number of objects that were found, this count was missing in Release 1.2 and 1.3 Environment Site with official release 1.2 and 1.3 versions Cause When binding using templates at Release 1.1 the user is presented with the number of objects that were found:      this count was missing in Release 1.2: Resolution The Count feature will be available in upcoming release.   

Issue The values from a script program are not showing up in Workstation in the correct format. For example, the values are Integers instead of a floating format that provides numbers down to the decimal. A second issue is that the data type icons are incorrect. The values used by the script program are not functioning because they are being calculated using the wrong units. The screen shot below shows a section of a binding page where the "Blr 1Failed" icon shows the correct data type (digital), but "Blr 2Failed and Blr 3Failed" do not. Environment Workstation Script Editor Cause The type of point and the units can be set inside the script program. This may cause a different format to be displayed in Workstation other than what is expected. When comparing values in a script program it may be required to set units to ensure that proper comparison is done. Resolution Check the settings of the points within the Script program.   Open up the Script program by right clicking on it in Workstation and going to Edit. With the script program open, look at the point and unit types in the Variables window at the bottom. Make sure that these are the desired settings and save the program.

Issue An Enterprise Server or Automation Server is unsuccessful at sending email notifications to a Gmail recipient.  Email messages from ES are marked as spam by Gmail SMTP service. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server (AS-P, AS-B or AS) Building Operation Workstation Gmail Cause Unable to successfully configure the ES to send an Alarm Notification to a Gmail recipient. Resolution The following describes how the ES can be set up to use Gmail for Email delivery. 1. Log into the ES; designate the Sender E-mail address and E-mail Host properties. 2. Create a notification on the ES; set the destination E-mail address and type of alarms to be included. 3. Log into destination E-mail account; notice there don’t appear to be any E-mails received. Select the “More” dropdown. 4. Select the “SPAM” folder. 5. Navigate to the E-mail Selection Tab and choose all E-mails from the correct sender. 6. Select the “Not Spam” button and from now on all email notifications will be sent to your inbox! 1. Log into the ES; designate the Sender E-mail address and E-mail Host properties. 2. Create a notification on the ES; set the destination E-mail address and type of alarms to be included. 3. Log into destination E-mail account; notice there don’t appear to be any E-mails received. Select the “More” dropdown. 4. Select the “SPAM” folder. 5. Navigate to the E-mail Selection Tab and choose all E-mails from the correct sender (SxW). 6. Select the “Not Spam” button and from now on all email notifications will be sent to your inbox!

Issue Danish Ø alphabet character in I/NET 2.42 build 2316 while upgrade from StruxureWare Building Operation 1.3.0.724 Beta 1 to 1.3.0.802 Beta 2 Environment Windows operating system, I/NET 2.42 build 2316 loaded, StruxureWare Building Operation 1.3.0.724 Beta 1 wanting to upgrade to I/NET 2.42 build 2325 with 1.3.0.802 Beta 2 Cause Danish Ø character is not considered intelligent text. Upgrade from I/NET 2.42 build 2316 StruxureWare Building Operation 1.3.0.724 Beta 1 to 1.3.0.802 Beta 2 renders a empty database. StruxureWare Building Operation views the Danish character as unintelligent text and a filler such as a block, triangle or other symbol.   Resolution Workaround is to edit the names or characters used and replace characters not in the English alphabet. In the example below I have replaced any ambiguous characters with an X. The upgrade performs without issue. A second alternative is to upgrade I/NET to 2.42 build 2325 and StruxureWare Building Operation software to 1.3.0.802 Beta 2, which understands characters not in the English alphabet. Here I have placed Danish and Deutsch characters which upgrade without issue.

Issue Extended logs are not retrieving new values after an automation server (AS) has been restored underneath the enterprise server (ES). The problem occurs when there is an enterprise server extended log referencing an automation server extended log that is referencing a Xenta log.  Environment Workstation Extended Logs StruxureWare Building Operation Cause If an AS extended log with historical data is restored (for example after the Xenta controller that contains the Xenta log comes back online) the AS extended log can become locked up and will not record new data. When the Xenta controller goes offline and then comes back online the following sequence of events occur (Note: some values in this scenario are entered for example purposes only like the Xenta LogSize): After a restart of any kind the Xenta log will set its LastSeqNo to LastSeqNo+LogSize. This is to tell the AS extended log to do a read since it doesn't know if there are any new records; it should assume everything is new. (A key problem here is that the Xenta log will not increase its LastSeqNo until something reads from it. Normally when there is just an AS extended log and a Xenta log, the AS extended log reads and gets 3 records back. This makes everything go back to normal). The ES extended log notices that the AS extended log has been restored. The ES extended log sends a command to the AS extended log to clear the entire log and set the Last WrittenSeqNo to 101. This changes the scenario in event one from allowing the AS extended log to begin working properly. The AS extended log is only interested in new records now so it requests the LastSeqNo from the Xenta log. This value is used as the Last TransferredSeqNo in the AS extended log. When the AS extended log requests new records from the Xenta log, it answers 150 which is actually the LastSeqNo+LogSize. The Xenta log will not perform a real read to the external log to find out the actual LastSeqNo until something reads it and will not move beyond 150 because of the restart state it is in. Summary: The AS extended log won't read until the Xenta log tells the AS extended log that it has a new record and the Xenta log won't check for a new record until something reads it. Resolution Use a Trend Chart with Live Update The Xenta log can be opened in a trend chart with live update on. The chart will read every few seconds from the Xenta log causing the Xenta log to set its LastSeqNo to the value it should be. Given enough time the Xenta log will have reached the LastSeqNo where the AS extended log will start logging again. To speed this process up, the interval on the Xenta log can be set to the fastest possible scan time (10 seconds). Once the AS extended log begins collecting values again, the Xenta log can be changed back to the original settings. Note: The Xenta log will be cleared when changing the interval.   Create a New Extended Log A new AS extended log that monitors the Xenta log can also be created to correct the problem (disconnecting the old extended log). The new extended log will start reading from the beginning and start working immediately.

Issue Straight S-Cable and angle (L-shaped) S-Cable difference Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Automation Server Automation Server Power Supply Automation Server I/O Modules Cause The description in the datasheets / installation instructions may not be sufficient to understand the difference(s) between the two types of S-Cables. Resolution January 2013 Update - The straight connector S-Cable has been discontinued. Refer to Product Announcement PA-00238 for details. The straight S-Cable (part number SXWSCABLE10001) and the angle or L-shaped S-Cable (part number SXWSCABLE10002) works the same in terms of functionality. Both are 1.5 meters in length. The difference is whether the connectors is a straight out type or an angled type. This will probably affect the installation. See the images below Straight type Angle or L-shaped * Note: The straight S-Cable is currently not available and all existing and coming orders for straight S-cable (SXWSCABLE10001) will be replaced with the L-shaped S-cable (SXWSCABLE10002) until further notice. Refer to TPA-SBO-12-0004 01 for details.

Issue Looping script programs continuously loop around the code, but a fallthrough needs a trigger to start it running and will stop at the end. How is this configured. Environment Script programs set as Fallthrough in an AS or ES Up to Release 1.3 Cause Plain English used Triggers in points to start a program, these do not exist in an AS or ES Binary value, so what is used to start the program running? Resolution Once a script program has been written, checked and  saved as a Flow Type "Fallthru", you can then edit the bindings. In the bindings use the variable called "Restart" a binary value to bind to the triggering point/ value which should also be Binary. This object can then be triggered on the required event to start the program, which will then execute the code and stop at the end awaiting the next restart. When you Bind a Digital Value to a Scrip program, you may get an error message like the one here: By Default, a Digital Value has no Configuration Settings defined. Enter 0 and 1 for the binary states and then performing your binding to the Program alleviates the error message.  Note: This functionality operates for versions up to Release 1.3. From Release 1.4 the Restart attribute is read only showing the restart status from the program and does not allow a point / value to be bound to this flag. In Release 1.4 a looping program will need to be used checking the state of the trigger point and action accordingly.   Note: in newer releases e.g. 1.7, 1.8 and above, triggers are now supported and you can bind directly to the Trigger attribute of the program, each change of the bound point will trigger the script to run.

Issue How to put in multiple email addresses for emailing from Email Notification Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment StruxureWare Building Operation Site with at least one ES or AS Cause A good example of when multiple email addresses are required for alarm notifications is a facilities staff. You may need critical alarms to go to several people at once to make sure they are handled in a timely fashion. Note: Consider configuring Building Operation to email a distribution list as opposed to several email addresses. That way the IT department can handle making changes without having to access the building control system. Resolution in the email address field of the Email Notification, addresses should be separated with only a semicolon. No space is permitted between the addresses. Note: This will not work from Webstation, only from Workstation. Example: user1@gmail.com;user2@gmail.com;user3@gmail.com

Issue How to install a language pack on Enterprise Server (ES) Webstation. Environment StruxureWare Building Operations Enterprise Server Webstation 1.1.0.362 Cause This functionality needs to be activated via StruxureWare Building Operation Workstation. In the Automation server (AS) webstation an "Add Language" menu item is used but this needs to be activated in ES webstation. AS Add or Remove language settings. ES (default) Add or Remove language settings. Settings for the default administrator group that don't allow a language pack to be added in ES webstation Resolution Create a new StruxureWare Building Operation User group 1. In ES workstation go to the Control Panel and select User Accounts -> Account Management. 2. Select the appropriate domain and then select User Account Groups -> Add. 3. The settings can then either be set via the Create Object wizard or can be done later. Choose the preferred method and add the users/Groups that are to be granted authority to add language packs. Set the policies for the new user group 1. Go to .../Domains/Local/Groups/Your new group in the menu tree and select the tab Policies. 2. Select the check box AS web configuration - May access web user interface. 3. Save the changes. Add the language pack in webstation 1. Go to ES webstation and log in. 2. Click on the settings menu and then select Add or Remove Language. 3. Click on add and browse in the language pack zip-file. Click on OK. Check that the installation was successful 1. Click on Settings -> Change language. 2. The newly installed Language pack should appear in the drop-down menu. 3. Select the language and click on OK. The language should change straight away.