Welcome to Citect for Windows Version 5.30

What's New

See the What's New in the Online Help system for details of new features for this version.

For a detailed listing of problems that have been fixed in this release, see Relnotes.doc (found in the Citect 'bin' directory).

 

What's in this Document

Upgrading Issues

  • Long File Names
  • Remote I/O Devices
  • Alarm Server Compatibility
  • Modifying Citect.ini
  • Updating your Protection Key

Known Problems

  • Upgrading Citect Version 3 or 4 projects may fail
  • Description field not available for graphic objects on Windows 95/98/ME
  • Goto Error may fail for compile errors in objects on a graphics page
  • Citect Runtime fails to start correctly on Windows 95
  • The ActiveX 'DB Grid Control' is not compatible with Graphics Builder
  • Auto-Starting of the WinRT Service
  • ODBC Errors

 

Upgrading Issues

  • Long File Names

Citect Version 5.30 has the ability to take advantage of long file names and long directory names. The Citect help contains details on the limitations on naming lengths and allowed characters.

Long file name compatibility can be disabled with the Citect.ini setting.

[General]

LongFileName=0

If you want to disable long file name compatibility set the parameter before starting Citect Explorer for the first time. DO NOT alter this parameter if Citect is installed to a directory that uses long file names. (eg C:\Program Files)

  • Remote I/O Devices

The Remote I/O feature no longer requires that all Remote I/O devices on a given server share the same data frame specification, allowing any combination of RTUs or PLCs in the remote network.

A new "Modems Database" has been added, and can be accessed from the Communications | Modems menu in Project Editor. The Modems Database allows users to specify which modems are to be used by Citect, and what function they are to be used for: dial-out, dial-in, dial-back, or a combination of dial-out and dial-in. If you need to reserve a modem for non-Citect use, for example RAS, simply set FALSE for all of the functions for that modem.

The ability to now specify a dial-back modem maximises flexibility for handling dial-ins from remote I/O Devices with different speed and data frame combinations. If only one dial-in modem is to be used, the remote I/O Device dialling in will have to be called back on a compatible line. Dial-back modems may be used as an advanced option to dedicate certain modems to respond to remote I/O Devices dialling in, if for example contacting the unit is a high priority. Dial-back modems are not used for normal dial-out operations.

Existing projects using the remote I/O feature will continue to function without requiring any reconfiguration.

Persistent data caching is now supported for any number of standby I/O servers.

  • Alarm Server Compatibility

Where possible Citect Version 5.30 has been designed for compatibility with previous versions of Citect, in order to support staggered upgrading. Some areas of communication have been disabled where maintaining compatibility has not been possible. Specifically, Version 5.30 display clients will connect to Version 5.21 servers however alarm information will not be displayed on the client due to differences between the two versions.

A Version 5.21 display client will be able to successfully display alarm information sent from a Version 5.30 server.

  • Modifying Citect.ini

The Citect Version 5.30 installation program will modify an existing Citect.ini file, instead of completely overwriting it. When Citect Version 5.30 is installed, any existing [DATA] and [USER] paths will remain unchanged.

Users upgrading projects are advised to check the [DATA] and [USER] paths after the installation.

  • Updating your Protection Key

Citect requires an update to the Protection Key used for Citect licensing. Upon starting Citect Runtime for the first time, you will be presented with a series of dialogs regarding the updating of your key. To update your Citect Protection Key, an Authorisation Code is required. To obtain this Authorisation Code, you should visit www.cit.com.au <http://www.cit.com.au>.

A program for updating your Citect Protection Key can also be found in the KeyUpdat directory of the Citect Version 5.30 CD.

 

 

The Following Known Problems Exist with this Version

 

  • Upgrading Citect Version 3 or 4 projects may fail

When upgrading a Citect Version 3 or 4 project to Version 5.30 Graphics Builder may crash when updating the format of graphics pages.

According to our records most users that were upgrading to v5.x have already done so due to Y2K Compliance, however we are researching this problem, and will make a fix available when a solution is found. If you need to upgrade a v3/4 project, as a workaround first restore and upgrade the project to Version 5.21, then backup and restore into Version 5.30.

  • Description field not available for graphic objects on Windows 95/98/ME

The description field on the Access | General tab of the object properties dialog in Graphics Builder is intended for documenting the layout of a page, and the contents of the field is not used by Citect Runtime. The description field is available on Windows NT and 2000, but is not available on Windows 95, 98 or ME.

We are researching this problem, and will make a fix available when a solution is found.

  • Goto Error may fail for compile errors in objects on a graphics page

The Goto button on the Compile Errors form may not function correctly for errors in objects on a graphics page. This fault occurs if the name of the graphics page is greater than 8 characters.

We are researching this problem, and will make a fix available when a solution is found. To manually view an error on the graphics page, use the process below:

  1. Open the page indicated by the Name field on the Compile Errors form
  2. Go to the object indicated in the Record field on the Compile Errors form by using the Tools | Goto Object menu of Graphics Builder
  • Citect Runtime fails to start correctly on Windows 95

In some cases Citect Runtime will fail to start correctly on Windows 95.

The problem is the result of an incompatibility between Windows 95 and the version of Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) that Citect 5.30 runs on.

The solution is to either install Internet Explorer 4.01sp1 (or later), or to upgrade to Windows 98 (or later).

  • The ActiveX 'DB Grid Control' is not compatible with Graphics Builder

After you insert the ActiveX control 'DB Grid Control' (filename DBGRID32.OCX) into a page in Graphics Builder, you will receive error messages or faults accessing some of the tabs on the 'Appearance' properties page.

The ActiveX control 'DB Grid Control' (filename DBGRID32.OCX) works in a manner that is not compatible with Citect Graphics Builder. You should use an alternative control such as 'Microsoft DataGrid Control, Version 6.0' (filename MSDATAGRD.OCX) in your application.

  • Auto-Starting of the WinRT Service

Citect configures the WinRT service to automatically start when Windows NT boots up. This can cause communication problems for other software (e.g. - PLC software) which also uses hardware configured in Citect, e.g. - Allen Bradley KT cards with RSLogix. This problem can be worked around by manually stopping and starting the WinRT service inside Windows NT.

To do this,

1. Open the Control Panel in Windows NT.

2. Double Click on the Devices icon.

3. Find the WinRT service in the list and click the Stop button.

4. Run your software.

5. Once your software is running, start the WinRT Service again to allow Citect to work.

· ODBC Errors

If you experience ODBC errors after installing Citect, you should manually verify the setup of the Data Source Names on your machine.

To view the ODBC configuration of your computer, follow the steps below.

Windows 95/98/ME:

  1. Click Start | Settings | Control Panel
  2. Double click on the "ODBC Data Sources (32 bit)" icon
  3. Select the System DSN tab
  4. Select the DSN you want to view the configuration for, then click Configure
  5. Click Options >> to view the options that have been set for that DSN

Windows NT 4.0:

  1. Log in as a user with Administrator privileges (or as a member of the Administrators group)
  2. Click Start | Settings | Control Panel
  3. Double click on the "Data Sources (ODBC)" icon
  4. Select the System DSN tab
  5. Select the DSN you want to view the configuration for, then click Configure
  6. Click Options >> to view the options that have been set for that DSN

Windows 2000:

  1. Log in as a user with Administrator privileges (or as a member of the Administrators group)
  2. Click Start | Settings | Control Panel
  3. Double click on the "Administrative Tools" icon
  4. Double click on the "Data Sources (ODBC)" icon
  5. Select the System DSN tab
  6. Select the DSN you want to view the configuration for, then click Configure
  7. Click Options >> to view the options that have been set for that DSN

 

For all operating systems you should have the following System DSNs configured:

DSN Driver Name Options

Citect_DBF Microsoft dBase Driver dBase IV

Use Current Directory

Show Deleted Rows OFF

Citect Server Citect Driver

NOTE: The Citect Server DSN is only required if you intend to use Citect as an ODBC Server.

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