Controller Key Enhancement

[keithbritton]

I would like to suggest a change to the Controller Key feature found in Telepace Studio 5.4.2.  I originally submitted this as a bug but because the Controller Key feature prevents writes to the PLC ladder program it was referred to this forum.  In summary, changes can be saved to the project when the Telepace editor is exited, which could (under certain circumstances) lead to corruption.

It is true that the ladder program will not be sent to the PLC if the “WRITE” button is not pressed but I suggest two failure scenarios here.  Maybe a bit unlikely but I present them for review nonetheless:

First, unexpected changes could be saved to the project by a bad person; if the project is ever opened by an authorised user who actually needs to modify the project, and if all sheets are not checked thoroughly before writing/saving, the legit user could inadvertently commit the hacked changes along with the intended modifications.

Second, the “Controller Lock” tends to imply that the project is secure, at least in my mind.  I would prefer that project changes were “bundled” into the controller lock as well as the WRITE commits.

I respectfully suggest that edits to the project are discarded if the Controller Lock is enabled and the "Save changes?" dialog not displayed so that the hacker is not sure what is happening.  This would indicate that the Controller Lock feature not only controls the written PLC ladder program but the project as well, which is the same thing just in un-committed form.

I am recommending these two changes to the next possible release of the Telepace editor.  The changes would make the editing environment more secure than it already is.  Thank you for providing this forum to submit these types of ideas.

[MartinChartrand]

Hi Keith,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments and interest in improving our products, they're much appreciated!

I have added them to the agenda for the next SCADAPack product development meeting which will be happening in the next couple of weeks. I will have an update for you at that time.

Regards,

Martin Chartrand

[MartinChartrand]

Hello again Keith,

Our way forward for the SCADAPack product line is the 47x/57x Smart RTUs and the RemoteConnect configuration application, and as such it was decided to not further develop/enhance/improve Telepace Studio; the hardware products that use this application are coming to their end-of-life cycle, as is Telepace Studio.

Please note that RemoteConnect’s logic editor includes a very similar feature to the one you requested.

I'm sorry we could not accommodate your request at this time but we appreciate your taking the time to submit your ideas.

Regards,

Martin Chartrand