Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Vista appears to run normally, but when creating a backup using the $backup_VDB object no backup is created. The message "Unable to copy $thisdb\*.*" appears in b0cfglog.txt in the $log folder, but there are no other indications that the backup has failed. Environment TAC Vista 5 Cause An additional folder has been placed in the $thisdb folder, possibly while manually copying or moving the database.  The folder name is not important, but any change in the internal structure of $thisdb prevents Vista from taking a backup.  Additional files in $thisdb do not have this problem. Resolution Delete any sub-folders from the $thisdb folder.

Issue Regarding the purchase of NL220 credits for devices that have previously been commissioned in LonMaker: Do the devices need to be recommissioned in NL220 once the conversion is complete? Environment NL220 LonMaker Vista Cause Conversion of LonMaker database to NL220 Resolution It is NOT necessary to purchase NL220 credits for the purpose of converting from an existing Lonmaker database to NL220 if the devices are already commissioned in LonMaker.  All of the nodes will show up in NL220 as commissioned as long as the devices are still commissioned in LonMaker when you begin the conversion.   *Note: When an original LonMaker Credit is replaced with an NL Credit, the LM credit will be lost.

Issue Where to find information on how to set up SSL for webstation Environment TAC Vista Webstation Cause Can not find the documentation on how to set up SSL in Webstation Resolution This is documented in chapter 4.3 of the TAC Vista Software Installation Manual.

Issue Over the years, a few dongles (both LPT and USB) has broken for various reasons. Sometimes its internally, other issues has been that they have been exposed to violence (dropped laptops...) and to be able to run the Vista software, the dongles needs to be replaced. Environment Vista IV LPT dongle Enduser 000878560 USB dongle Enduser 000878570 LPT dongle Inhouse, Engineering 000879310 USB dongle Inhouse, Engineering 000879320 Cause Broken dongle (PSU) hardware.  Resolution The Vista IV product portfolio was withdrawn in 2011-12-31, and support is now very limited. It is strongly recommended to upgrade the Vista system to latest possible version in order to secure support possibilities onwards.

Issue When re-entering the Neuron ID of a controller, an  error appears indicating that this Neuron ID already in use. Environment Vista 4.4.2 Cause If the System Plug-In fails at the time a Xenta controller is being worked on sometimes a default controller is created using the Neuron ID of the controller you were working on. Resolution In the Network management tool look for a device that has a name that does not make sense or follow the site naming convention. When you find this device check the neuron ID to ensure this is the device that has been assigned the Neuron ID of the Xenta device you were working on. When this is confirmed delete this device from the LNS network. Then refresh the LNS side of the System Plug-in and assign the Neuron ID to the Xenta controller you were working on at the time of the crash.

Issue This alarm is trigged every day "trendlog object...log point can not be read" how do I get rid of it? The trendlog is a Vista server trendlog logging a point in a Xenta 400 Environment Vista 5.1.6 Cause When a Vista server trendlog is started Vista reads the chosen value according to the log interval, if one reading is missed you will see this alarm. The missed reading could have several reasons but the most common is a bad Lon network or high traffic on the Lon network.  Resolution Investigate why the logged value can't be read, check the Lon network with a analyzer.  

Issue After the rehost process, is it possible to use both the old and new licenses (PCs) at the same time? Environment TAC Vista 5 Cause After rehosting a license, nothing prevents you from using both the original and new license file at the same time, since there is no feedback from the system that synchronizes the usage of licenses from the same Entitlement. Resolution It is strictly against the license agreement, and should not be used at any time. If a temporary license is required, use the existing demo license files or contact PSS for other temporary solution. 

Issue The customer have some rooms with consumption logs. The customer wants to easily select from and to date, and then be presented with the total consumption in this period. Is this possible in Vista? Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 Cause You can't do any programming in any objects in Vista(except java script) which you need here. There is no standard object in Vista doing what the customer want.   Resolution It would be possible to do using a report but then the customer need to create a new report where the trendlog and the input dates is specified every time he need the energy consumption for a certain period. This is not really what the customer requests so no this is not possible in Vista today.  

Issue When changing name of a trendlog in Vista will the name of the trendlog in the SQL server also change? This is when using Vista 5.1.7 and have upgraded the SQL database. Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 Cause The name of the trendlog in the SQL database will change when the next value for that trendlog is written in to the SQL database. Resolution The name of the trendlog in the SQL database will change when the next value for that trendlog is written in to the SQL database

Issue Vista Workstation crashes when the content of a column in any View (Alarms, Events, Search Results etc.) exceeds 259 characters. Environment Vista 5.1.7 Cause In the unlikely event that the content of a column in a Vista View exceeds a limit of 259 characters, Vista Workstation crashes and must be restarted.  Vista Server is not affected. The problem was discovered while doing a search for TGML graphics, with the property "Bindings" selected.  The search returns one graphic on each row and all the bindings for that graphic are displayed in the property column on that row.  Resolution Upgrade to Vista 5.1.8, when available.  The issue is fixed by truncating the contents of any View column to 259 characters. The issue is highly unlikely to occur in normal use.  In the case of the Bindings search, the workaround is to use the "Change Reference" tool instead

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 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 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 points in 3 rd party OPC client from Vista OPC server for the 1 st time, the response speed is very slow. For example, for about 1000 points, there will be about 20 minutes to finish the 1 st time insertion. The LTA is Xenta server. Environment Vista OPC Server Xenta Server Cause A Xenta server can only read maximum 10 to 15 values per second on the Lonworks side. And for Vista OPC server, it will poll all the points for their values from controller when these points are added in 3 rd party OPC client for the first time. So the communication load will be very high for this process, especially for huge amount of points added simultaneously, which exceeds the LonWorks communication capability of Xenta server. Resolution To solve this issue, the OPC server computer can be disconnected from the LonWorks network first. Then add these points in OPC client when the OPC server is offline. The speed will increase greatly. Then connect the OPC server to the LonWorks network, and the fresh interval of the first will also be very quick.

Issue Are the trendlogs in the Xenta deleted when downloading a Menta application? Environment Vista 5.1.7 Menta 5.1.7 Xenta programmable controllers Cause When performing system updates to the either the logic of a Xenta programmable controller, or the firmware, it is important to know which of these actions will affect the stored Xenta trend log information inside the controller. Resolution Downloading a Menta application to a Xenta does not affect the trendlogs. They are saved in the Xenta. Downloading a Xenta firmware revision will delete all trend log data.  

Issue Is there any information available regarding reference sites within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industries? Environment Vista 5.1.X Cause Customers will often require information about reference sites before committing to installing a new BMS or replacing an existing BMS. With the strict regulations within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry it's important to know that our products are approved.  Resolution There are a number of references as well as other useful information on the download website at https://ecobuilding.schneider-electric.com.

Issue Is SysManSMS Server and VISTA 5.1.7 tested on Windows 2008 R2 running in a Marathon EverRun Level 3 Solution? Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 SysManSMS Server Cause  The Server software is running on any Windows platform and release, including Embedded Windows.. Resolution The SysManSMS Server is written is C and has no special requirements for the Windows platform. The Server software is running on any Windows platform and release, including Embedded Windows. The software has been certified by Microsoft for Windows 7, and tested for Windows 2008 R2.It will run in both 32-bits and 64-bits (compatibility mode) environments. The compatibility with TAC/Vista is no issue at all. The clean interface between Vista (writing Alert Files) and SysMan picking up the files to process will always work, We have more than 500 TAC/Schneider installations used with Vista. No reported problems. Marathon EverRun Level 3 we do not know at all. As long as this software does not alter the above environments, it will for sure run.

Issue Can TAC Vista group devices to work as one, if one device is changed all the devices in the group is changed.  Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 Cause No this function does not exist in TAC Vista Resolution Every device has to be edited separately.