IFS OI Explorer version 4.20 adds the following enhancements:
Categories in Commentary, with updates to:
- Comments and Comments Button components
- Point details, Info zone, and Trend
- Named List
OPC DA adaptor improvements
Note: Before upgrading, always make sure your Environment has met Explorer minimum hardware requirements. These are constantly evolving as additional capabilities are added.
Categories in Commentary
Wherever you see comments in Explorer, you will now also see categories.
When adding a new comment, you will be able to choose the category to which the comment applies. Only one category can be chosen.
When you are looking at comments, you will now be able to filter the list of comments to one or more categories. This makes it easier to find comments relevant to you.
You can also choose to view “all categories”, or select no categories.
If you select no categories, the filter will show “No Filter Applied” and only comments which have no associated categories will be shown.
The Comments component on Explorer pages will now allow you to use categories when adding a comment or viewing them.
When adding a category, the page designer can specify which category is chosen by default. This can be changed when you are adding the comment, before saving the comment.
The page designer can also pre-filter the comments list to specific categories. When viewing comments, you can choose to show more, or fewer, categories.
Comments component in v4.20:
Comments component in v4.19
In Design Mode:
The Comments component in Explorer Studio has been updated to include two new options:
Category Filter: Select one or more categories to restrict the list of comments when the page is initially loaded. The user can then choose to select or unselect the categories they want, so they can see more or fewer comments.
Default Category: Select a category which will be chosen as the default category for users when adding a comment. Users can still select a different category at run time, if required.
The Comments Button component on Explorer pages will also allow you to use categories when adding a comment or viewing them.
When adding a category, the page designer can specify which category is chosen by default, as well as pre-filter the comments list. These can both be changed when you are adding or viewing comments.
Comments Button component in v4.20:
Comments Button component in v4.19
In Design Mode:
The Comments Button component in Explorer Studio has been updated to include the same two new options as the Comments component.
When you click a comment triangle in the trend, the comments panel on the right will now also show categories. The default category for adding comments will be the first category in the list, and no filters will be applied to the initial list of comments.
When you click the Info icon for a page or trend, the Explore panel on the right will now also show categories. The default category for adding comments will be the first category in the list, and no filters will be applied to the initial list of comments.
When you open Point Details for a tag or attribute value, the commentary panel on the right will now also show categories. The default category for adding comments will be the first category in the list, and no filters will be applied to the initial list of comments.
A new system-defined named list has been added, called “CommentCategory”. This list contains the categories that will appear in the categories lists for comments.
The list has been seeded with default values: General, HSE, Maintenance, and Production. Adminstartors may update the list items as they see fit, and it will appear for all comment categories.
Note that you cannot rename or delete the list itself.
For Merrick users, the Merrick Sync will also sync this list if it is used by a Merrick navigator.
An option has been added to the OPC Adaptor to configure the read source for OPC DA requests. Options are: OPC_DS_CACHE, OPC_DS_DEVICE.
In previous versions of the adaptor, only DA Cache mode was supported. This new option allows Explorer to communicate with OPC for sites that use DA Direct mode.
The following changes have been made to the ServerConfig.xml file, located at:
C:\Program Files\P2 Energy Solutions\P2 Explorer\Configuration\
The group Security.Auth0 contains the following updated configuration settings:
New:
Setting
Description
UserDisplayNameFormat
Indicates the user display name format to use during auto provisioning for the Auth0 user. Valid values are: NickName, FirstLastName, or LastFirstName. Default: NickName
CentralIntegrationOrg
The IFS Central organization name to validate against. This is mandatory if IFS OI Explorer is integrated with IFS Central. Default: p2es
CentralIntegrationGroup
The Authenticated User needs to be a member of the configured group to access IFS OI Explorer. This is mandatory if IFS OI Explorer is integrated with IFS Central.
Removed:
Setting
Description
AppClientSecret
The registered IFS OI Explorer Application Client Secret for WPF applications. This is no longer needed.
Elasticsearch Resourcing Requirements
We have clarified some of the wording in the Explorer Installation Guide regarding the resourcing required for Elasticsearch to function optimally.
If Elasticsearch is used, allow a minimum of an additional 8 GB of RAM for allocation to Elasticsearch.
For large Shift Log installations, an additional 16 GB or greater is recommended.
For example: You could allocate the machine with 56 GB RAM, of which 24 GB is specifically allocated to Elasticsearch and the remaining 32 GB will be available for Explorer applications on the machine.
Caveat:
However, for optimal performance:
Do not allocate more than 30 GB RAM to Elasticsearch.
Do not allocate more than 50% of total system memory to Elasticsearch.
Examples:
If you have a system with 60 GB RAM, you could:
Allocate 24 GB to Elasticsearch.
Total memory available for other applications (including Explorer): 36 GB.
If you have a system with 1 TB RAM available, you could:
Allocate 30 GB to Elasticsearch.
Total memory available for other applications (including Explorer): 98 GB.
Explorer Release 4.20
ON THIS PAGE:
- Comments and Comments Button components
- Point details, Info zone, and Trend
- Named List
Note: Before upgrading, always make sure your Environment has met Explorer minimum hardware requirements. These are constantly evolving as additional capabilities are added.
Categories in Commentary
Wherever you see comments in Explorer, you will now also see categories.
Read more: Using Comments for Collaboration
Comments Page Component
The Comments component on Explorer pages will now allow you to use categories when adding a comment or viewing them.
When adding a category, the page designer can specify which category is chosen by default. This can be changed when you are adding the comment, before saving the comment.
The page designer can also pre-filter the comments list to specific categories. When viewing comments, you can choose to show more, or fewer, categories.
In Design Mode:
The Comments component in Explorer Studio has been updated to include two new options:
Read more: Comments component
Comments Button Page Component
The Comments Button component on Explorer pages will also allow you to use categories when adding a comment or viewing them.
When adding a category, the page designer can specify which category is chosen by default, as well as pre-filter the comments list. These can both be changed when you are adding or viewing comments.
In Design Mode:
The Comments Button component in Explorer Studio has been updated to include the same two new options as the Comments component.
Read more: Comments Button
Trend Comments
When you click a comment triangle in the trend, the comments panel on the right will now also show categories. The default category for adding comments will be the first category in the list, and no filters will be applied to the initial list of comments.
Read more: Trends
Info Zone
When you click the Info
icon for a page or trend, the Explore panel on the right will now also show categories. The default category for adding comments will be the first category in the list, and no filters will be applied to the initial list of comments.
Read more: Info Zone
Point Details
When you open Point Details for a tag or attribute value, the commentary panel on the right will now also show categories. The default category for adding comments will be the first category in the list, and no filters will be applied to the initial list of comments.
Read more: Point Details
Server Management
A new system-defined named list has been added, called “CommentCategory”. This list contains the categories that will appear in the categories lists for comments.
The list has been seeded with default values: General, HSE, Maintenance, and Production. Adminstartors may update the list items as they see fit, and it will appear for all comment categories.
Note that you cannot rename or delete the list itself.
For Merrick users, the Merrick Sync will also sync this list if it is used by a Merrick navigator.
Read more: Named Lists
OPC Adaptor
An option has been added to the OPC Adaptor to configure the read source for OPC DA requests. Options are: OPC_DS_CACHE, OPC_DS_DEVICE.
In previous versions of the adaptor, only DA Cache mode was supported. This new option allows Explorer to communicate with OPC for sites that use DA Direct mode.
Read more: OPC Adaptor
Configuration File Changes
The following changes have been made to the ServerConfig.xml file, located at:
C:\Program Files\P2 Energy Solutions\P2 Explorer\Configuration\
The group Security.Auth0 contains the following updated configuration settings:
New:
Removed:
Elasticsearch Resourcing Requirements
We have clarified some of the wording in the Explorer Installation Guide regarding the resourcing required for Elasticsearch to function optimally.
For example: You could allocate the machine with 56 GB RAM, of which 24 GB is specifically allocated to Elasticsearch and the remaining 32 GB will be available for Explorer applications on the machine.
Caveat:
However, for optimal performance:
Examples: