Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Transfer SNVT (network variables) between lon devices in a TAC Vista Classic scenario. Can't bind in classic network; how to send SNVTs from one lon device to another? Environment TAC Vista Classic scenario LonWorks devices Cause If you are using TAC Vista in a classic scenario, no real SNVT bindings can be made. Resolution Use object transfer to send the values. Note that the server have to be running for the values to be transferred. For more info on how to set up object transfer, see Chapter 14 in the TAC Vista Technical Manual.

Issue PC was changed - for example because of a PC crash. Restored Vista and log backups. After that, logged data can be read, but no new values are logged. Environment Vista 5.1.7 Cause Vista 5.1.7 was installed and started on the new computer then the time on the computer was set to a future date by the IT department. During the time the PC clock was set to the future date values were logged. Then the time was set back to present time. The problem now is that "Next log time" will be potentially far in the future so no log will be logged until that date.   Resolution Correct the PC time Restore the log backup and Vista backup again Start Vista

Issue Some managed switches have settings that have to be configured to match the communications type and speed of the connected devices. Environment Xenta 511, 527, 527-NPR, 555, 701, 711, 721, 731, 911, 913 Cause Some managed switches have to be configured to match the communications type and speed of the connected devices. Resolution Most switches automatically detect the speed and configuration of the connected devices. However, for those site where these configurations must be manually configured, the specs below should be noted. All Xenta Servers use a standard 10 Base T network port. These ports operate at 10 Mbits/sec. and are half duplex.

Issue When you setup a time event object to run a Vista report and save it to the hard drive on the local PC no file is saved, even though you can run the report manually. Environment Vista Reports Cause In the report the path to where the report needs to be saved is incorrect. The report will not create a new directory if the directory does not exist. A error will be logged in the $log folder of the database in the b0warlog.txt file. The text will look like this Tue Jun 26 10:28:46 2012 report  >>could not be saved Report report-report,  hRes=[-2146827284} Resolution Correct the path to were the report is to be saved or create the folder that matches the report save path.

Issue No alarms when specific users are logged in No alarms from specific Change of State Environment Vista Cause User Group Alarm are used when you want specific users to be able to see specific alarms.  For an example a Alarm control bound to a specific User Group - Alarm will only send its alarm to users added to User Group Alarm. Resolution To create a User group Alarm right click on root and choose add Add object User Group Alarm Add object User Group Add a Vista User Right click on the created User group and add the Vista user Right click on the User Group - Alarm and add the User Group. At Root right click on the Alarm control object and navigate to tab "user" and add the User group Alarm Now only the users added to the User Group - Alarm can see the alarm handled by this Alarm control object.

Issue Many  of our products have Web page functionality, can I test out if my animation plug in's are operating correctly? Environment Web pages, Web Client, Web Server Embedded Pinpoint web pages Silverlight, Flash player, Java and other Web animations. Cause Need to confirm if a web page  Animation plug in operates within the product or just on the Web browser used on the PC.  Resolution See Website: http://bubblemark.com/ for the links to the different animation tests.

Issue Object type "Time Chart - Global" does not update local time schedule in a Xenta programmable controller. Environment Vista 5.1.6 and below Xenta programmable controllers Xenta 281, 282, 301, 302, 401 Cause After changing a "Time Chart - Global," changes are sent out to all time schedules located in the associated Xenta units. If the Xenta is busy when this update occurs, it can take too long for the update to arrive and a time-out happens. This causes the Xentas to not get updated. Resolution Various time chart/time schedule updates have been corrected in Vista 5.1.7 and more are to come in 5.1.8. Please read the latest updates in the TPA

Issue The system is set up to create an alarm file when certain alarms is trigged but no file is created. Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 Cause For a alarm file to be created when an alarm is set a object called "Alarm Receiver - File" must be created that object must be connected to a "Alarm Control" object, then the alarm which should trigger the file must be connected to that  "Alarm Control" object. The alarm was connected to the wrong "Alarm Control" object.   Resolution Make sure the alarm is connected to the correct "Alarm Control" object.

Issue When previously offline BACnet devices go back online, will the Xenta 913 try to poll them again? How does Xenta 913 poll BACnet devices that have been offline? The Xenta 913 doesn't poll all the BACnet objects when previously offline BACnet devices go back online Environment Xenta 913 BACnet Cause All objects the BACnet objects that can't be polled (are offline) during a poll are moved to a "failed queue". " Every 30 seconds a task moves one input and one output object from the "failed queue" to a different queue so that they will be retried next poll. This is all hardcoded and the 30 seconds timer cannot be changed.   Resolution If you wait long enough, all of the BACnet objects will be polled again. If many devices have been offline, this will take a while though.

Issue "Not set" shown in the name column after upgrading to database layout version 2. Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 or newer SQL taclogdata database layout version 2.0 Cause The "Name" column is a new column introduced in Vista 5.1.7 with the new database layout, so when a database is upgraded no name is added as there is no contact with Vista. Once Vista is running and a value is logged to the trendlog the name will be updated in the "Name" column to the same name as shown in Vista. Resolution No resolution required as the name will be updated once a log value is logged to the log database.

Issue What operation modes should be used in zone control then the area is not being used? Environment Xenta 121 FC Xenta 121 HP Cause The TAC Xenta 120 device does not have any internal clock. The actual operation modes has to be sent from another device such as a Xenta 401. The following values could be sent to the nviManOccCmd SNVT: 0=OC_OCCUPIED 1=OC_UNOCCUPIED 2=OC_BYPASS 3=OC_STANDBY other values=OC_NUL 255=OC_NUL Resolution Normally, OCCUPIED mode is used when there are people in the zone. During night time, or short periods without people in the zone STANDBY may be used. If someone enters the area and triggers a motion detector or presses the Bypass button, the mode changes to BYPASS. UNOCCUPIED mode is most appropriate if the area is no longer rented or during some other long period without anyone in the area.

Issue Does TAC Vista Support for trending based on the COV (Change of Value)? Environment TAC Vista Cause Other BMS systems support COV for trending. Does TAC Vista support the same? Resolution No, TAC Vista do not have any provision to trend based on COV. It is only possible based on time interval.

Issue When were the different TAC Vista Server versions released? When was Vista Server version 4.X.X or 5.X.X released? Need a list of release dates for TAC Vista Server Need to know approximately how old a Vista site installation is Environment TAC Vista Server Cause It would be interesting to know the release date of the different Vista Server versions Resolution All the Vista release note documents are available on the The Exchange Download Center. TAC Vista 3.11 - 1998-10-21 TAC Vista 3.21 Service Pack 1 - 2000-02-04 TAC Vista 2000 Server and Workstation 3.31 Service Pack 1 - 2001-07-04 TAC Vista 2000 Server and Workstation 3.32 - 2001-09-10 TAC Vista 2000 Server and Workstation 3.33 - 2001-12-20 TAC Vista 2000 Server and Workstation 3.33 SP2 - 2002-11-15 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.01 - 2003-02-21 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.10 - 2003-10-24 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.2 - 2004-03-10 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.2.1 - 2004-04-19 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.2.2 - 2004-06-24 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.2.3 - 2004-11-30 TAC Vista IV Server/Workstation/Menta 4.2.5 - 2005-03-21 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.3.0 - 2005-04-29 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.3.0 SP1 - 2005-05-25 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.3.1 - 2005-07-15 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.3.1 SP1 - 2005-10-31 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.4.0 - 2005-12-16 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.4.1 - 2006-03-13 TAC Vista Server and Workstation 4.4.2 - 2006-05-29 TAC Vista 4.5.0 - 2006-07-05 TAC Vista 5.0.0 - 2006-11-15 TAC Vista 5.0.1 - 2007-04-26 TAC Vista 5.0.2 - 2007-09-28 (first version to support Xenta 700) TAC Vista 5.0.3 - 2008-01-21 TAC Vista 5.1.0 - 2008-06-03 TAC Vista 5.1.1 - 2008-10-27 TAC Vista 5.1.2 - 2009-04-15 TAC Vista 5.1.3 - 2009-09-24 TAC Vista 5.1.4 - 2010-03-31 TAC Vista 5.1.5 - 2011-01-25 TAC Vista 5.1.6 - 2011-07-04 TAC Vista 5.1.7 - 2012-01-03 Note: All dates are in the form [year]-[month]-[date]  

Issue A change is made to a public signal in TAC Vista Workstation, which was created in a Xenta Server XBuilder project, changed back to the initial value after performing a download to this Xenta Server. Environment Xenta Servers (Xenta 511, Xenta 515, Xenta 555, Xenta 527, Xenta 701, Xenta 711, Xenta 721, Xenta 731, Xenta 913) XBuilder Tested with Windows Server 2003, Window XP SP3 Cause If a path name is changed of a signal, for example, change the "the site name" folder name to another name, Vista consider this change as a major change, and Workstation will not be able to find the new path of the signal. Therefore, the signal will return to the initial value which is initialized in the Menta object. Resolution Suggestion is making all the infrastructure change at the beginning if you can. If there is a need to change the path, make sure all the initial values are reflect to the current values in Workstation. Then, make the download to the Xenta Server.

Issue Some users are unable to see I/NET values on a graphics page displayed in a 527 Environment Xenta 527 TGML Cause User permissions on the 527 must allow the user to access the I/NET links that are being displayed Resolution Log out of the 527 Log in as the root user In the Configuration folder, select User administration Modify the user that was having issues. Click on the ".." link at the top of the folder list till you are in the root folder Click on the "inet" link to modify permissions of the I/NET folder Give the user read and read/write access Save changes

Issue How do TAC Vista server trend logs affect the performance of the server and LON network? Environment TAC Vista server LON Network Cause The bandwidth of the LON network is for all communication on the LON wires to share. This includes all graphics, object transfers, etc. Resolution The bottleneck is the communication to the lon network. Depending on what interface (LTA) you are using Vista can handle about 15-40 read/writes per second. Many Vista Server trend logs would increase the amount of information being sent out on the wire and if there is a sufficient number of them, you may see some delays on other forms off communication: i.e., graphics, object transfers, etc.

Issue How many characters can a comment field in TAC Menta have? Environment TAC  Menta Cause How many characters can a comment field in TAC Menta have? If you exceed this length, the application may not work as expected. Resolution There can be 30,000 characters.

Issue Is it possible to send the reports by email based on time schedule. Environment TAC Vista Reports Cause Vista does not provide any email functionality for sending Reports.  Some third party applications may exist to do this but have not been tested. Resolution There is no provision in Vista to send reports by email, it is only possible to generate the reports manually or based on schedule which is available within the Vista Reports function.

Issue When creating a Xenta 102-AX in Vista 5.1.6 the UCPTprogramversn and UCPTapplicVersn is ignored and all SNVT/SCPT PROPERTY_OFFSET values have incorrect values causing incorrect value readings and incorrect default values.  The PROPERTY_OFFSET value is offset by 12. Xenta 102-AX devices that are in LNS networks display correct values in LonMaker or NL-220 and only display incorrectly in Vista. Environment Vista Workstation LonMaker NL-220 102-AX Cause A change in the way Vista handles XIFs in Vista 5.1.6 inadvertently caused it to display incorrect values. Resolution Hotfix 12 for TAC Vista 5.1.6 should be downloaded from the Extranet and installed. From the Buildings Business Extranet Navigate to Products > TAC Vista > Vista Software > TAC Vista 5.1.6 > Hotfixes. Hotfix 12 can be applied following the steps below: Before installing the hotfix, Vista Workstation and Server should be shut down. Double-click the hotfix executable file to install. Once the hotfix is installed rebrowse the 102-AX XIF file into any devices that were experiencing the issue by right-clicking the 102-AX device in Vista Workstation and selecting Properties. Then select the XIF File tab and click the ellipses next to the source file. Reselect the 102-AX XIF file and click OK. It may be necessary to refresh the screen to begin seeing correct values.

Issue When you get a replacement dongle for a lost NL220 dongle, NL220 will not let you confirm that dongle with the PC. You get an error message that indicates "Only one key can be confirmed and that the key confirmation will be canceled" Product Line Other, TAC IA Series, TAC Vista Environment NL220 Cause There is a NLS credit conflict that prevents the replacement dongle from confirming with the PC. Resolution You can force a confirmation by following these steps. You run NL220 and wait the error message to appear When you have the error message press Ctrl+shift+n This will then let you confirm the new dongle on your computer.