Yes. There are two ways you can do this.
From the Database Builder, select the Pressure point, from the Right-Click menu, open the properties and go to the Alarms tab. Now add an alarm by selecting its checkbox and then go to the detail panel for this alarm to set up the email information.
If you decide to receive Reset or ACK via email as well, you will need to set up the email server connection settings in the Project configuration wizard
This option is user-specific and can be accessed during runtime from the real-time viewer.
Open the real-time viewer. From the Custom views, add a new User notification view. When this view opens, click on the “Add” or right-click on the screen to add a new notification.
Enter all necessary parameters to send an email when the value of the pressure point exceeds your set point.

Open Real-time viewer. In the Custom Views pane, create a group. From the group right-click menu, add a Current Alarm View. Double click on the custom view to open it. Use the Column filter settings to filter alarms for Active and Priority 1 for the first view. Similarly, set up other views with desired filters.

Yes. To acknowledge or reset alarms, you will need to set up Email server connection parameters for the project object in the database builder.
You also can set up an optional password in the Alarm task object to include the password with your email reply. When an alarm is received in the email, the email can be replied to with the code to reset or acknowledge the associated alarm.

Yes. This feature is called the Alarm profile.
You will need to set up a set of CSV files under the offline project Alarm folder and then publish it.
You can set up multiple profiles for different days and times. Containing a specific list of destinations for each profile.
Each profile contains a list of email addresses and phone numbers that the system will call and wait for a response. If no ACK or Rest response comes back, it will proceed to the next call.

There are a few techniques that can be used. You can use Security to limit access to certain points and alarms to specific users and user groups. You can also use the Alarm properties of the Alarm Area, Alarm Group and Alarm Category to filter on in the Alarm Viewer.
To use Sinolta Security configuration to control visibility/Read-Only/Read Write assign to each point.Users with no visibility will not see the alarms; users with Read-Only will see the alarms but will not be able to acknowledge or reset the alarms. Users with Write access can rest to acknowledge the alarms.
Alternatively, alarm viewers can be set up with filtering to display on those alarms that are in the Area of Responsibility for a user by defining an Alarm Area, Alarm Group or Alarm Category for a group of users.

This can be configured in the Sinolta security system.
The default configuration for Sinolta provides full access to all points. This means by default; all users can reset and acknowledge all alarms.
Only Users with Write access can reset or acknowledge alarms. Change Sinolta security configuration to provide Write access to those points with Alarm features so they can acknowledge or reset the alarms.
Users can also be set up as read-only, where they will not be able to acknowledge or reset alarms or change any values in the system.

This can be configured in the Sinolta security system.
The default configuration for Sinolta provides full access to all points. This means by default. All users can reset and acknowledge all alarms.
Only Users with Read or Write access can see the alarms. Change the Sinolta security configuration to prevent visibility access to those points with Alarm features, so they are not visible.
Alternatively, you can set up filters in your viewable customized alarm summary screens to prevent users from seeing specific alarms.

Each Alarm object has a URL field that can point to a standard operating procedure. You will need to set up the URL link to connect to a procedure file that is either on a web site or on a shared drive.
Please note that you add the URL link to an alarm object that is on the server-side. If you right-click on this alarm from the Current Alarm views, you will see an option to open the Operation procedure (this option automatically becomes available in the URL filed for the selected alarm is not blank). If the Real-time viewer is running on a different computer than the Sinolta project server, you must ensure that the real-time viewer can access the Procedure file by putting it in a shared space that is accessible to all viewers.

From the Custom View tree view, right-click on the Custom alarm and go to the Properties to change the font size. The properties popup has many additional properties that can be altered to enhance the look and feel of the Custom alarm page.

How do I see the history of all alarms generated by a single point?
There are a few ways you can do this:
Right, Click on the desired alarm and select Alarm History to see all the alarms that occurred for the selected point. Since a point can have multiple alarm types (e.g. Hi, Lo, HiHi, etc.) all alarms for the point are shown in white; however, alarm the alarms with the same alarm type of the selected alarm will have yellow background.
From Real-time viewer custom views, add an Alarm History or Event History to see the alarm history. Use filter to show only alarms with the same name and type.
Use the Charts application data extraction and choose Log Type “Alarms,” Log Source “Point Log,” and select the point and time period that you are interested in. This will create a CSV output of all the alarm states for that point.

Open HMI Builder.
Create a new HMI screen that will be your Alarm popup page.
Select the HMI screen for your project navigation Header.
Add animation to this HMI screen so when the alarm status for the desired alarm goes to active, it opens the Alarm popup screen in a floating window that is configured to be modal and not resizable.

In the above example, we suggested the header navigation as it is always open.
If your project does not have a Navigation Header or it might not be open at all times, you can use VB script to achieve your objective.
User project script to open the alarm popup screen from a function.
Trigger the VB script function from an animation that is triggered by the Alarm status value.

Automation is primarily used for data processing and non-time-critical automation applications.
Sinolta Automation is a powerful automation tool that can be used for wide area automation.
Sinolta is not a replacement to PLC for time-critical applications.

Drag and drop one of the Automation Script function blocks (VB or C# .Net) function blocks to a module.
Double click on the function block to see the Editing dialog.
Select the reference tab at the top of the dialog box.
You can add a reference to the DLLs that you have received.
While the DLL files can be saved anywhere on the hard drive, we strongly recommend that you save the DLL files under
“C:\Sinolta projects\<>projectname>\\Cofigruation\Online\Autoamtion\DLL” folder.
Saving the DLL files in the above folder will include them in the Archived file, so you will always have a copy of the DLL with your project when arching and restoring.

You cannot create a logic point from Automation. You can create or delete logic points only from the Database Builder.

BWF is primarily designed to transfer large data such as files between the client and the server.
You can set up the real-time viewer to receive various types of files such as reports, images, drawings, etc. by sending a BWF request and ask the server to perform necessary functions to collect and transmit a response.
BWF can be a useful tool to send a database query to a BWF flow, which in turn can forward it to an external SQL server. The result can come back as a large string or a file to be viewed or parsed at the real-time viewer.

The Sinolta License only uses System Points (Digital, Analog, Text, Date, Logic, Timer and Alarm points) that are configurable within the Database builder.
All automation points that are not a System point will not be counted towards your license point count.

You can use Sinolta Automation API to exchange real-time data with an external application.
Set up an external application and include Sinolta Automation lib within your application. Now you can use Automation APIs (similar to what you would use inside a script function block) to subscribe, read/read and query various information.

The start-up module is used to initialize all variables before executing other modules. The Start-up modules can be used to read or write to external databases or files to retrieve necessary information that all other modules can use during the runtime.

Logic points are event-triggered modules that are defined as database points. They are created and removed as a database point whereas the Event-Triggered modules are entirely managed by the Automation Engine.
Logic points can be used to create easily reusable logic, primarily when used as part of a Class. Logic points that are part of a Class can use relative class names to handle dedicated logic for various members of their own class. This capability allows system integrators to create highly intelligent Classes with built-in automation that can be replicated by copying the Class objects.

Both modules are triggered by an event. Event Trigger modules are triggered by their configured Triggered points or called up from other modules.
The business workflow is triggered by the arrival of a Business workflow requisition message. When a message arrives, the Business workflow module is triggered and uses the incoming message to process and then send a response. The Business Workflow module can be triggered from outside of Automation, such as from an HMI screen, Excel or a webpage.

There are two ways that this can be achieved:
Use the Event Modules and add the points that are used to calculate the logic as trigger points. Note that if you have multiple trigger point, any one of them will result in the execution of the module.
Set up a Data Simulation task. Add a dedicated point with a sub-second pulse (square wave) simulation. Use this point as a sub-second trigger point.
We strongly recommend the first option as it is much quicker and also does not use any CPU when there is no change in your points. Using this method, you can build very large logic routines that are only triggered when needed resulting in a more efficient system.

After making changes to an automation module, right-click on the editing area of the module and select Set Online. The edits of that module will be published to the Automation engine and will begin executing without restarting all the modules.
Using Module update by publishing the current module, suspends only the current module, transfers the existing module to the server and resumes the execution of this module. The whole process takes a few milliseconds without interrupting the operation of other modules.

You can use .Net VB or C# function blocks to construct request messages and then open an IP socket to send the request messages. Keep the IP port open to receive the response. As the responses come through, decode the incoming messages and map the results to the system points.

If the device vendor has a set of C, C++ or C# library for connection to their device, use Automation C# or VB .Net scripting function block to reference these libraries and call up the necessary functions to connect to the device.

Sinolta can send emails to your cellphone number. When emails come to a cell phone number, they are received as a text with the address 999-9999.
Alternatively, Sinolta can send an email that your cellphone receives and can reply back.
In order for Sinolta to receive emails, you will need to set up an Email Server. You also need to set up the email server connection parameters in the Sinolta project object.

Sinolta Web Interface provides a set of web interfaces that can be built into Webpages. The interfaces allow requests, both real-time and historical data.
Please refer to the Sinolta EWI Users’ Guide for more details.

Allen Bradley Ethernet/IP is scheduled for a formal release in Q2 of 2020. Until this protocol is available, please use Sinolta OPC Client to connect to an AB OPC server such as RSLinx or any third-party OPC server applications available from a number of OPC vendors.

Siemens ProfiNet protocol is scheduled for a formal release in Q4 of 2020. Until this protocol is available, please use Sinolta OPC Client to connect to a Siemens OPC server available by a number of OPC vendors

Modbus RTU is a serial protocol and requires communication over a serial port. Modbus RTU over TCP provides Modbus serial packets that are encapsulated within a TCP/IP message.
Modbus RTU over TCP allows you to use an Ethernet port to communicate with the serial Modbus devices by adding a terminal server box at each remote device.
Modbus RTU over TCP has a different packet structure than Modbus TCP. They should be considered two entirely different protocols as they are not interchangeable.
Sinolta supports all three.

Sinolta has a set of native protocols that can be used to connect to a wide range of devices. If your controller does not support protocols that Sinolta Native protocols support, then the easiest option is to use an OPC server that supports your controller protocol. Sinolta can connect to your controller via an OPC interface.
If the controller has a proprietary interface that is published and provides proper documentation describing the protocol, we can quickly develop this protocol for you.
If the controller protocol is relatively simple, you can construct request messages within Automation .Net C# or VB function blocks to communication with the controller by opening an IP socket and exchange messages with the controller.

Sinolta Link (formerly known as EVENTA M2M) provides a highly secured bi-directional communication link between two Sinolta servers over the Internet.
Sinolta link is a subscription-based many to many IP interface.
This protocol is designed to transfer a large volume of data securely over a narrow bandwidth such as radio, cell or satellite. Its data compression is capable of compressing data up to 600 times compared to other protocols.
Please refer to the Sinolta Link Tutorials for more details.

Restore option converts an archived configuration file to a viewable project and save/upgrade it under the current version of Sinolta. Restore is the opposite of archiving.
Retrieve uploads (read) a copy of the online configuration from the online folder to the Offline folder. Retrieve is the opposite of Publishing.

Definition:
Absolute è Classname.DeviceName.PointName.SubobjectName.PropertyName
ThisClass è ThisClass.DeviceName.PointName.SubobjectName.PropertyName
ThisPoint è ThisPoint.SubobjectName.PropertyName
ThisDevice è ThisDevice.PointName.SubobjectName.PropertyName
Aliasing è ClassName.DeviceName.Pointname.SubobjectName.PropertyName
DeviceName.PointName.SubobjectName.PropertyName
ClassName.PointName.SubobjectName.PropertyName
PointName.SubobjectName.PropertyName
Anyobject.Subobject.Properties
Anyobject.Properties

HMI Builder:
Supports %xxxxx% for Substitutions
Supports Absolute and Aliasing

Automation Builder Regular Modules:
Supports Absolute and Aliasing

Automation Builder Logic Point Modules:
Supports Absolute and Aliasing
Supports “ThisClass” for Point Logic Trigger Schedule and inside the Logic Point Modules
Supports “ThisPoint” to the trigger field

Timer Object Trigger fields in Database Builder:
Supports Use Absolute and Aliasing
Supports “ThisClass”
Link Objects in database builder:
Supports Absolute and Aliasing
Alarm Message Substitution (%xxxxx%):
Supports Absolute and Aliasing
Supports “ThisPoint”
Supports ‘ThisClass”
Supports “ThisDevice”
Alarm Message Shortcuts

SINOLTA Tag names can
be up to 256 characters
be any combination of alphanumeric characters
have any one of these characters: ` ~ @ # $ and . ! _ ^ + = – [ ] : < > |
Contain spaces
SINOLTA Tag names can NOT
Contain any of these characters: % * , ; “ ‘ { } / \ ? ( )
Start or end with spaces (leading and trailing spaces are automatically trimmed from Tag name )
Be only numeric
Begin with these characters = + –
Use it at your own risk!
When SINOLTA’s “Relax Tag name Validation” option is set, you can use ( ) characters as part of the tag name.
What are the differences between tag name and Point name?
They are referring to the same thing. Historically some systems use the point name, and some systems use Tag name.

The UPS service monitors an attached UPS system and can shutdown and restart projects on a server based on defined power reserve levels.
From Tools pulldown menu options, select the UPS service configuration to set up the necessary thresholds. Note that you want the system to have enough power and time to gracefully shutdown the projects and store all in-memory data before the computer goes to sleep mode.
You also need to connect your UPS to the computer (via USB) and set up the thresholds for your computer to go to sleep mode after the project shutdown.

Each Task has its own set of generic alarms that are updated and controlled (can not be removed) by their owners. These alarms are created automatically without any user intervention; however, users can modify their behaviour and presentation for a more logical use that is suitable for their project.

Generic Alarms are very similar to digital limit alarms; however, they have a few unique characteristics that are designed for speciation situations.
Generic Alarms are meant to have their messages and setpoints change quite more frequently. This allows users to use a single generic alarm point to handle a large number of alarms by having a different message.
Generic alarms are meant to be used in association with Logic points in the automation. So you can create alarms that are driven from a more complex logic.
Please note that from automation API, you can create and remove Generic Runtime alarms that they are created and removed during the runtime without any footprint in the database configuration.

Each device has its own set of generic alarms that are updated and controlled (can not be removed) by their owners. These alarms are created automatically without any user intervention; however, users can modify their behaviour and presentation for a more logical use that is suitable for their project.

Create a template out of your database class. Templates contain the entire Class configuration inside a single template file. You can then copy the template files to all your projects. As soon as they are copied to their corresponding folders, database builder for each project will recognize them as a template.
You can then create instances of the template to create new classes for all your projects.
I have created 20 Classes by creating instances from one of my templates. Now I need to add a new point to all 20 instances. How do I do this?
Add the new point to your template and refresh the template. The new point will automatically be added to all template instances.
I want to update all of my template instances. When refreshing all instances, the system overwrote some of the properties that need to be unique to each class. How can I prevent the system from overwriting those properties?
There are certain properties that Template refresh will overwrite. When clicking on refresh, you are presented with a list of properties that are not mandatory, but you can select them to be forced to get new values from the Template.
If this does not work for you, you may want to create a new Template with different values and link new instances to this new template.
The last option is don’t use Template. Have classes not instances of classes but use Search and replace to change all similar properties.

Sinolta has a unique feature to allow users to set up personalized user notifications during the runtime without any need to change the database. User notifications can be sending large number of notifications at certain hours of the day or weekends. User profile provides the information necessary for the User notifications to send email messages and also to know when to send the messages. For example, I would like to receive user notifications only from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday to Friday. You can set up someone else to receive the user notifications outside of those periods.
User profiles can also be used for resetting passwords via emails.

Mapping tables are the means to identify which device or Class the points belong to.
Sinolta allows each point to be mapped to the data collection (Masters/Client) applications only once but can be mapped to multiple data reporting (Servers, Slaves) applications multiple times.
When a point is mapped to a Master or Client device, the point becomes the child of that device, and the device becomes the parent. All points that are mapped to a Master/Client device are considered mapped points. Other points that may be mapped to reporting applications are considered orphan (with no parents) until they are mapped to a Master/Client application.
When mapping points to a Class, we are using mapping tables to link the points with Classes.

Open the Link Object table. From the Tree view, drag and drop various objects to the source or destination columns.
You can also use copy and paste from an excel file.

From Database Builder, go to the File menu and “Save As” your current project. When prompted for the new project name, enter a name for your new project.
Note that when using “SaveAs,” the Historian primary and secondary logging folders will automatically change to reflect the new project name.

You can do this in four different ways:
You can select multiple objects from the tree view and drag them to the main window. From the Column chooser, you can expose any number of columns and then edit the content of the main grid by copying and pasting large selections.
You can use the advanced search to select a set of points that meet your search criteria. A temporary window shows the result of the search. You can copy and paste these objects into the main grid and edit the grid in bulk.
From the Right-click menu on each branch, export the branch into a CSV file. Make the necessary changes and then from “File” menu options, import the CSV file back. All changes are highlighted in orange and ready for validation.
From “File” pulldown menu options, select “Export” to export the entire database into an excel or a CSV file and make bulk changes. You can then use the “Import” option from the “File” pulldown menu to import your changes.
Please note that for the above items a and b, you can increase the number of rows in the main grid from the pulldown menu options.

Care must be taken when deleting a point in any one of the three builder applications (HMI, Database and Automation) as they share the system points.
You can remove points from the point right-click menu option.
After deleting a point, run validation to detect if any point was used in Automation or other parts of the database.
You also need to check HMI screens to ensure the deleted points are not used in the HMI builder.
If you have unused points in the Automation Builder, during the validation, Automation Editor will inform you and gives you an option to delete the remaining points.
I have deleted and recreated the same point in the database builder, but I still get a validation error that the point does not exist in the Automation Builder. Why?
You most likely have created a new point with a different data type. Automation is still referring to the old point with the original data type.
Why do I have to always save and then publish a configuration?
The Database, HMI and Automation builders save their configuration in the offline (or staging) configuration folders.
The runtime server uses the configuration that is stored on the online folders.
We use Publish to copy the offline configuration files to the online folders. This allows the server to continue running while making configuration changes.
When I am publishing a configuration, I am asked if I want to merge databases. What is the purpose of merging when?
Sinolta uses Online or runtime database files during the runtime. If users make changes to the database configuration or when the system is reading real-time values form the field devices, these real-time and configuration values are also stored in the online database files.
When system integrators make changes to the offline database, and at the same time, users make changes to the online database, merging allows the two databases to be synchronized so we don’t lose any data.
When publishing offline to the online database, the Database builder compares online and offline databases and grabs all the changes from the offline and apply them to the online database.

Sinolta configuration files are stored under
\\Sinolta Projects\\configuration\\….
The version number corresponds to the version of Sinolta at the time of saving the project configuration. This basically means that when Sinolta saves its configuration, it keeps it under a folder that is specific to that version.
After upgrading Sinolta, the older version of configuration will remain in the old subfolder, and when you upgrade the project, it copies the old configuration into the new folder under the current version dn then performs the conversion.
Every time you upgrade Sinolta, you will leave a copy of the project configuration for the old version of Sinolta.
When you try to delete a project, Database Builder is showing you a list of all versions of your selected project.

Like the Sample projects, Tutorial projects provide clear examples of how to use Sinolta tools. They are more structured and cover Sinolta tools in a more systematic order.

Sample projects provide clear examples of how to set up a project using basic or advanced configuration tools performing similar functionalities.
They are included as part of the Trial Installation.

Each project configuration is stored based on the version of the Sinolta used at the time of saving or archiving the configuration.
When you upgrade Sinolta, the old configuration files remain intact on the hard drive under the old version. After Upgrade is completed, the system only shows the list of the projects that are saved in the current version.
So, after installing a new Sinolta version, you may see the sample projects but will not see the other projects.
In order to use the projects that were saved or achieved with the older version of Sinolta, we use Upgrade to convert the older version to the new versions.
After the upgrade process has completed, the project configuration will be listed in the list of available projects for the current version.

Restore is the opposite of Archive. You can use the Restore function to recover an archive file.

When making changes to the database or automation configuration, you can see an orange icon highlighting all objects that are modified. You can save and publish these changes, but the changes cannot be published until they are validated. Once the changes are validated, the orange mark will be removed from the modified objects.

Similar to most of the office applications, when making changes in the database builder, Automation or HMI builder, all changes are kept in memory. You must click on save to store the configuration changes on the hard drive.

Quite often, it is helpful to copy specific object properties to another object.
Link Object table provides a means to map the values of certain objects or properties to other points.
While this feature can be achieved by using Set function block in the automation, it can translate to a large number of functions blocks and modules just to transfer values from one object to another.
“Link Object” allows you to do this by simply putting the object and property names in the source and destination columns.
For example, in order to log certain properties of non-point objects or other point properties of point beside the CurrentValue, you can use Link Object to map the desired property to the current value property of a different point. You can now add data logging or alarming to this point to store this information.

Right-click on a class.
Select the Mapping tab in the Class configuration Wizard dialog.
From Tree view, expand Points branches and browse through to find your target points.
Drag and drop the points from the Tree view to the Class mapping tab.
Validate and Save.

Timer points are part of the database and can be used to trigger other processes based on an event. For example, when you send a control command, you may want to reset a Timer point to wait for a response. You can then build logic in the Automation Logic to check for the expected feedback to evaluate the control command success.
For simple configurations, one can use Timers and Control feedback points within the automation to trigger other automation modules; however, this approach required a periodic module to constantly check when a timer has expired.
Using Timer objects, there is no need to set up period modules to examine timers to evaluate returned feedback values.
In a more complex system, using times and logic points as part of a Class or template helps us creating portable and self-contained data structures (Classes) of points that mimic both points and behaviour of a device or an equipment

What is the difference between offline and online configurations?
The offline configuration is used by the Sinolta database, HMI and Automation Builder applications offline.
The Sinolta Servers use the online database folders to run from.
In order to make offline changes and use them during runtime, save your offline configuration and then publish it to the Local server. The publish function copies the offline configuration files to the online folders.

HMI changes do not require restarting the system. Just publish the HMI configuration and either restart the real-time viewer or click on the refresh button to get the latest HMI changes
Automation logic changes can be published module by module from the module top menu options or right-click menu options.
Downloading a module replaces the module and continues the execution of the module while all other modules are running.
Automation also allows you to republish the entire Automaton logic to the server and will go through an automation restart after publishing the automation logic.
Some of the database configuration changes can be done from the real-time tabular views while online with a running system. Some of the changes take effect immediately, and some require a restart of the system. For example, user password, protocol polling intervals, scaling, simulation, object descriptions, units, and alarm properties can be changed during runtime without any need to restart the system.
Other properties such as Historian logging properties can be changed during the runtime but will not take effect until restarting the Historian task or the entire system.
You cannot create or remove objects during the runtime.
An exception to the above are:
You can use Automation API to create, update and remove runtime alarm objects without restarting the system.
How do I backup my entire configuration?
From the Database Builder “File” pulldown menu, sect Archive to store the entire copy of the project (both offline and online folders) onto a single file.
How do I make sure all my automation data and report templates are saved in the Archived file?
Sinolta stores all configuration files in their correct space.
Some sensitive datasets that are required to be used as part of the project operation such as excel files, reports templates, etc. should be stored under the offline Automation\Data subfolder so they are kept with the Archived files.
The Historical data should be kept in separate folders; otherwise, they will make the size of the archived file unreasonably large and challenging to manage.
I am getting a warning for assigning too many points to a Data logging group. What does it mean and how do I get rid of it?
When configuration historian, each point can be configured to be stored in a Data logging group.
You can think of the Data logging groups as tables.
Sinolta Historian creates a separate Historian database file for each data logging group until it reaches the configured maximum size or period specified in the Historian task configuration.
For example, setting up the maximum number of records for the Historical Trend database to 100,000 records causes the Historian to create a separate file for every 100,000 records.
Now, if you have 100 points that are configured to log every 5 seconds, it will take Sinolta Historian to store 100,000 records in a single file within 5000 seconds (or roughly about 83 minutes).
Generally, the larger the data logging files get, the slower the query results may be. On the other hand, the smaller the files are, the more frequently they have to be logged, which will make both hard drive and Historian very busy and also slows down the system.
Based on our experience, on average, we should try to configure our logging groups that can store 100,000 records and are not being filled any faster than one hour.
To calculate how fast each data logging group fills up, multiply the number of points by their logging interval for that group. This calculation works when the dead band is 0. If dead-band has a value, the amount of stored data for each logging file will dramatically drop. The actual number of records will depend on the frequency and the size of each change for each point. You can only calculate this by examining the frequency of the creation of each logging file that is stored in the Historian primary logging folder.

Sinolta has its own built-in Big Data Historian. It does not require any external database or historian.

Yes. There are two steps:
Set up a Modbus scan-interval to your desired frequency (Windows time resolution is about 20 milliseconds so you may not get 1-millisecond accuracy. To be tested).
From point configuration wizard, go to the Data logging tab and enable the data logging feature.
Ensure the Advanced properties are checked. Enable SOE Logging. This feature allows you to log all point changes to the SOE log database as fast as the Modbus can read the values.

Open the HMI Builder.
Select Library pane at the bottom of the HMI Explorer window.
Select the Advanced Objects tab. You can drag the XY Chart object from this tab and drop it on your screen.
From right-click menu options, select custom properties to set up pens and chart properties.
Sinolta Tutorial –HMI basic features and HMI scripts projects provide good examples on how to set up these charts with or without VB scripts.

Yes. You can use the SQL function block from Automation to connect and send SQL queries to any external SQL server.

Yes. Use Sinolta Historian SQL function block to send an SQL statement to Sinotla Historian.

Snapshot data logging is the only database that allows users to read and update old values.
First, from the Database builder, enable the Snapshot logging for the desired points.
The Snapshot read and write functions are only accessible from the Automation Snapshot function blocks.
Use the automation function block for snapshot logging to write a set of points with a specific time (in the past) to the Sinolta Historian database.
Using a snapshot custom view, you can view or edit stored data. Furthermore, you can add a comment for every cell value that you changed.
Sinolta Snapshot Audit Trail prebuilt view allows you to see the history of changes, username for the users that change the values and any comments that they may have added.

Historical Trend is a periodic data logging feature that can be configured with specific logging parameters for each point. Users can not change the content of the Historical Trend database.
Snapshot logging is designed to store a set of data with a current timestamp or a timestamp in the past. For example, you can build logic to create previous day average and total values for a set of points at 10:00 AM , but store this information in the database for 8:00 AM timestamp.
You can use Automation to collect and convert data to create the final dataset. You can then use the Automation Snapshot Write function block to store this information for 8:00 AM.
You can repeat writing the same dataset multiple times. Snapshot database stores all instances of the values you sent to it and use the latest entry as the value to show unless you want to see the previous values from the Snapshot Audit Trail page.

Sinolta can log all its alarms, Sequence of events, Periodic Trend logging, Periodic Report logging, Audit Trail, online configuration changes and system error messages to its own built-in historian. Please refer to the EVENTA Historian task properties to specify the location of the Sinolta historian files.

Red is bad. When you see the red box, it means that the real-time viewer could not subscribe to all tags that are configured on the HMI screen.
This typically happens when an HMI screen is moved from one project to another, and now the new screen is trying to subscribe to the tags that are configured in the screen but the tag names are different in the new server.
This could be caused by errors or misspelling or removal of tags from the database. You can see the list of missing tags by moving your mouse of the red box or you can click on Ctrl F3 to see a subscription list for the active window. The subscription window shows all subscribed points in green and all failed subscription points in red. A good configuration should not have any red line in the Ctrl F3 window or show the red box.

Layers are another way of grouping shapes to control their visibility as a group. They work identically to the layers used in typical drafting or drawing software. The visibility of all shapes on a screen follows the visibility of the layer that they belong to. Making a layer invisible, all shapes that belong to that layer become invisible.
Each layer has a number of parameters that can be used to control its visibility. The most important parameters for the layer visibility are the zoom levels. By setting zoom level visibility parameters, you can control at what zoom levels a layer can be visible or invisible.
The result is an ability to clutter and declutter a screen based on the zoom level.
Using animation, you can also set up buttons to control the visibility of a group of objects based on their layers without needing to group the shapes together or set their visibilities one by one.

Yes. Open the HMI Builder and go to the source project. Use Export from the “File” menu option to export the HMI files.
Now close the source project and open the destination project. From the destination project, import the exported file.
Alternatively, you can import directly from your source project by pointing to the source project. This option works if both he source and destination projects are on the same computer.

Yes. All HMI templates are stored in a file with the same name as the template groups inside the HMI builder. You can copy and paste the template files or you can use import from your project and point it to the source HMI project. You will be presented with the list of all HMI screens and templates. Select templates to import.

From HMI Builder, first, you need to publish or publish All.
If Real-time viewer is open, click on Refresh icon at the top or close and reopen the Real-time viewer to see the changes.

No. Just publish HMI screens from the HMI builder and Refresh or reopen real-time viewer to see the changes.

No. HMI screens for each SCADA system typically follow specific structures that are not common with another system.

Object libraries are included with the Sinolta system as part of the delivered software.
Custom Object Library is a library of shapes that are developed by each customer for their own projects. Custom Object libraries can be transferred (Shared) between different projects.

Library shapes are standalone shapes that are not linked to any other object. Users can make changes to each shape without affecting other shapes.
Templates are Master shapes that control the configuration of all their instances. By dragging and dropping a Master Template shape onto the canvas, you create an instance of the Master Template shape. All instances are linked to the Master Template.
In order to change the shape properties of the instances, you must edit the Master Template Shape. When saving all your edits to the Master template shape, all instances of that template will be automatically updated.
Templates are used when you want to have many shapes that are identical but are mapped to different points. Using the Templates, you can update hundreds or thousands of shapes with one edit to the Master Templates. This is very useful when you have created a large number of shapes in your project and want to make a change to all instances.

From the shape properties dialog, go to the Position and Size tab and deselect the Visible check box.

From the shape properties dialog, go to the Protection tab and select the options to protect the X Position and Y Position.
When I create a grouped object, my Mouse Click animation for an object that is not at the front does not work. What am I doing wrong?
Your top shape must pass through the mouse event.
Select all the shapes that are on the top of the shape with the mouse event and then go to the protection tab in the properties dialog to enable the Mouse Pass-Through option on those shapes to pass through mouse events.

Yes. Open the HMI builder and create, remove or modify shapes while the system is running, once finished, save and publish the configuration.
Opening or refreshing the real-time viewer will show the new shape.

Yes

You must perform the following steps:
Create an animation event to trigger a script on screen open
Use VB script to establish to send a query to the Automation business workflow
Build logic in the Automation Business Work modules to query the database and send the result back to the HMI screen
Add code to the VB script to parse the response and create necessary objects on the screen. If objects have intelligence in them, create sample shapes with full animation in them hidden on the page and have the VB script to create copies and modify their properties on opening the page.

Green is a good thing. It means the page was able to subscribe to all its configured tags successfully. You can right-click on the header to hide the toolbar. You can also choose to hide the toolbar by right-clicking the HMI screen in the Realtime viewer’s Custom view list, select the properties item and selecting the Hide toolbar option.

On-premise means a local license that is tied to the computer hardware. An on-premise license cannot be used in a VM.
A Cloud license is not tied to the hardware of a computer. It can run on any computer or VM; however, it needs to be authenticated with Sinolta Cloud licensing server over the internet.
Enterprise licensing allows corporations to set up a redundant Licensing server within their corporate network and have multiple Sinolta projects run on various computers or VMs within their corporate network. The enterprise licensing servers authenticate and control the number of Sinolta projects that can run within the corporate network.

Contact www.mrcsi.com and ask for an upgraded License. A new Licence file will be sent to you. The Registration Wizard will be able to take this new file and upgrade your license.

To run a Trial license, your computer must be connected to the internet. Please ensure that your computer is connected to the internet and firewalls are not blocking any traffic on port 80 and 443.

That is one way of doing it. Alternatively, you can purchase an enterprise license with a pool of points. You can have an unlimited number of servers that can authenticate with your enterprise licensing server and run as long as the total number of configured points in your system does not exceed the Enterprise point count.

There is no limit on the number of simultaneous users who can connect to the Sinolta project.
Every user uses a finite amount of CPU on the server-side while they are logged in. It is the responsibility of the system integrators to ensure the project server has an adequate number of cores to handle the required number of users or limit access via the Sinolta security model.

Unlimited.

The standard Licensing option does not allow system Integrators to offer Data services to their customers.
MR Control Systems offer a much better licensing option to the Data providers

From the Tools pulldown menu, select “Viewers Properties.” You can change various properties including the font size from this dialog.

To set up a Dual language system, system integrators must set up the primary and auxiliary languages in the Project object wizard and populate all Auxiliary fields with the translation of the content of their corresponding main fields.

Sinolta allows one user to connect to Sinolta in one language while a second user connects to Sinolta in another language.

Sinolta supports English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
If you require another language, Sinolta has the provisions to support other languages as well.

Enter all visible fields such as HMI captions, Tag descriptions, units, alarm messages, etc. in the desired language.
From the database builder, open the Project Object wizard and set both Primary and Auxiliary languages to the desired language.
During runtime, open the Real-time viewer, and select Options from the Tools pulldown menu to select your language. Each user needs to do this step only once and the setting will be remembered.

Each project configuration is validated and stored for a particular version. Simply open the Database builder and select “Upgrade projects,” browse through to your project and click on upgrade.
The upgrade process does not make any changes to our older version. It copies the older version and creates a new copy for the latest version. After the upgrade process is completed, your computer has the configurations for both versions. In a situation that you will need to revert back to the old version, you will find the old project configuration version sitting untouched and ready to run.

The update interval is a configurable parameter in Real-time viewer to a maximum of 1 second for TCP/IP and 5 seconds for HTTP/HTTPS.

There are two options for this:
Opton#1: user IP address, followed by the port number. This is the IP address that Sinlolta Watchdog service is configured to listen to. Your Project has a secondary port that all viewers will use to connect to the project. So you need to ensure two ports are open between your client and server. By default, ports 49300 and 1234 are open on your computer firewall.
Option#2: use HTTP/HTTPS. Sinolta runs on Windows, and all windows computers are equipped with built-in IIS web services. On the server-side, you just need to configure the IIS server to connect to the locally installed Sinolta web services. On the client-side, you will need to enter the HTTP address of your IIS server.
The Sinolta web services are configured to use port 49300 to connect to the local Sinolta Watchdog service. The port number and IP address for the server is stored in a CSV file under C:\Program Data\Sinolta folder.

Express views run from a single predefined file. They don’t check against the server for any updates. They also can be configured to bypass the username and password dialog box and use a preconfigured credential.

From the Windows Pulldown menu, select “Custom Views.
Right-click on the first line of the Tree view and select Add a View and then select HMI view. From the dialog, click on the button with 3 dots “…” to choose the desired HMI screen.
You can use the same name or type in a new name for your custom view.
Double click and drag this view to one of the docking hotspots.

From the Tools pulldown menu, select “Viewers Properties.” You can change various properties including the font size from this dialog.

Viewing HMI screens is not included in the Gateway license. Use Tabular views to view and control points from the Real-time viewer.

HMI Dynamic subscription is specifically designed to do this.
Checkout the Sinolta Advanced sample projects. They demonstrate how to use Dynamic substitution along with Classes

From the HMI Builder, go to the Library tab and select Advance Shapes and select a real-time table.
From right-click menu options, select Custom properties to import the list of tags from a CSV file.
There is a large amount of customization available for this table that you can set. Please see “Sinolta Tutorials – HMI Advanced Features” and “Sinolta Tutorials – HMI Scripting” projects for comprehensive examples on how to use this table.

You can create a Realtime viewer Tabular view. In the Windows menu item, click on the Custom Views and the Object List items. This will show the Custom View tree and the Object List tree. In the Object List tree, browse to the points that you are interested in viewing and select them. Once selected, right-click on the and choose New Custom View. The next dialog will allow you to rename the view if desired. When you click OK on the dialog a new Custom View will be created, and the points can be viewed

From the Real-time viewer, set up views in a layout that you would like other users to use as default workspace. Then from the real-time “File” menu option, click on “Create Default Views.”

The real-time viewer only lists projects that recognize the entered username and password. Projects with different usernames and passwords will be invisible to users with wrong or different credentials.
Re-enter a username and password that exists in your target project and you will see your project on the list. Note that the user name and password are both case sensitive.

From the Real-time viewer’s “File” pulldown menu options, click on “Export” to select and export views that you would like to share. O
Other users can import this exported file and add your views to their Real-time viewer.
Please note that other users should have access to the same HMI screens that you have access, and they can use the Custom Views to add an HMI screen. Sharing views is more applicable to Tabular and prebuilt views that have a high degree of customization.

In HMI Screen open animation, set up the screen to open as dockable floating windows. During the run time, these windows open as floating windows which can be dragged and dropped on docking hotspots.

If your HMI screen is trying to subscribe to a tag that does not exist on the server, this red box shows up. This issue typically occurs when an HMI screen is reused from other projects or tags are mistyped.
Move your mouse over the red box and note the tags listed in the window. Try to find these tags in your HMI screen and correct the tag names or add the missing tags to the server.
Please also note that while the Real-time viewer is running, click on Ctrl-F3 to see a window with a list of all tags that the current screen is using. Any tag that cannot be subscribed is highlighted in red.

There are three ways that you can do this:
Use Automation to create logic to perform the following functions:
Collect data from the field devices or from a Historian database.
Convert the data to a CSV file using Automation
Use Automation to convert CSV to an Excel file ( Automation Excel data merge)
Use Email Function block to send the file as an attachment to the destination
Alternatively,
Set up an Automation Business Workflow to execute steps a, b and c in the above steps.
From the HMI screen create an Express view for the accounting staff.
Set up a vb script in a button animation to trigger the above Automation Business workflow.
Configured the business workflow to send the content of the CSV file to the string
In the HMI screen vb script, parse the incoming string and write it to HMI real-time table to show this information in a tabular form
Alternatively,
From the Automation engine, collect the data and write the values to a set of system points.
Create an HMI screen and map all these points to different tags or use a real-time table to show the value of these tags in a table.
Create an Express view for the Accounting staff.

Yes. Use Automation to collect the daily field data from various field devices and write these values to a CSV file.
Use the Automation File function blocks to save, FTP, or email the CSV file to the desired destination.

Yes. Field Data Capture is nothing but a set of calculated monthly data.
Use Automation to collect data from the field, from its Historian or from an external SQL database stored periodic or daily data.
Use Automation to convert the collected data to monthly data.
Store the monthly data in a set of CSV files.
Use Automation to create an Excel, HTML or a PDF file to display reports.
The automation logic can be set up to periodically or by a trigger to collect, process and report the desired data.

This feature is not available in the Trial version!
Form the Sinolta ReportTemplate Builder create a PDF report layout.
Use Automation to:
Collect data and stored each required data source t to a separate CSV file.
Apply necessary data cleansing or processing by using various function blocks.
Create a PDF file by merging the PDF template and CSV data sets.
Send the result to the desired destination via email or FTP or File copy function blocks.

Use automation function blocks to create a CSV file.
There are a number of function blocks that allow the user to save real-time data or historical data to CSV files.

A report has a different meaning for different people. A report could be a screen displaying required data,Setting up Historical Trend
Generating tabular data by querying the historical database
Setting up a customized PDF looking report with various calculated data.
Sinolta is able to provide all of the above.
The real-time viewer can provide historical raw data reports from any of the Sinolta historical databases
Charts can generate tabular historical data using the Data Log Viewer Wizard from its File menu options
Charts can create multiple real-time and historical Charts and Trends that can be stored as images.
Using the Sinolta Automation Builder, users can collect data, process and then convert to CSV or Excel files
Using Sinolta Report layout Template builder and Automation, users can create PDF type reports

Use Automation Send Email function block and send the report file as an attachment.
This functionality is also available using the Report viewer application.

Sinolta can send files in multiple ways.
Use Automation function blocks to “Send Email,” “FTP Send” or “Copy” file.

Sinolta comes with one default Admin username with a blank password. If you have changed the password and do not remember it, please contact support@sinolta.com for help.
There is no way that we can extract your password in the field. You will have to send a copy of your project archived file to our support team.

Your password is stored in the Sinolta database. Please contact your system administrator to reset your password for you.
Systems that are set up to connect to an email server allow users to authenticate them via emails and reset their passwords automatically.

Yes, the Sinolta security system allows you to set up your system so specific users can have No Visibility, Read-only and Read/Write access levels for different points in the system.
The security model is controlled through Security Groups. You first have to define the User Group security level and then assign each user to one or multiple User Groups.
At the same time, each point has a user Access level parameter. By default, all users are set up to have Read/Write access level by all users.
Please consult Security Tutorial martial before you start changing your system security configuration.

Sinolta Security model allows you to set up the system for each user to have no visibility, read-only and Read/Write access.
Alarms follow the same security access level as their corresponding point. This means that when a point is configured as a Read-only point to a user, all its corresponding alarms (e.g. Hi, HiHi) are Read-only, meaning that the user can see the alarms but cannot reset or acknowledge the alarms for this point.

Right-click on an HMI screen and note the Security Access level field.
Now go to the database Builder and open the HMI Access branch from the Security section.
User Groups that have the same string used in both HMI Access Object in the database and the HMI screen security access field will have access to the HMI screen.
These fields are left blank to provide full access to all screens by all users.

By default, all users will have access to all prebuilt views.
From the Security branch in the database builder, security prebuilt Views Access Level and enter the….??????

Yes. You must add the Sinolta User Groups to your Domain Server Active Directory database. All users that belong to these User groups in the Domain server Active Directory database will be able to connect to the Sinolta without entering any username and password. Their security access level is controlled by Sinolta user Groups that they are a member of.

Please review the Tutorial materials that are available on the Sinolta support website.

The Sinolta connection over the Internet is one of the most secure interfaces for the following reasons:
The Client is not a web browser, so users can not easily hack into the client code.
A secured interface is based on HTTPS, which is an encrypted interface.
User name and password are transferred as binary data structures that are internally encrypted in addition to the HTTPS encryption. So even if someone manages to decrypt an HTTPS encryption, they still need to decrypt and reverse engineer the encrypted binary data.
All subsequent communication exchanges are also double encrypted binary dynamic data objects that are managed by a session management algorithm that is encrypted as well.

All system login activity is in Sinolta. From Charts application, open the Historical Data Extraction from the file menu options.
Select Audit Trail (or security) and then select the period that you are interested in.
This process can also be accessed from Automation using the Sinolta automation Database query function block.

The System Manager can be used to see what users are currently connected to the project. This can be accessed on the Security Tab.
From the security system, Sinolta can be set up for Intrusion detection. You can set up the system to generate an alarm when a login attempt is made too frequently over a specified period of time (example, 3 or more failed attempts in 1 minute).
The system can generate an alarm for the operators to see and you can also set up logic to send an email when this situation occurs.

The automation query function block can periodically check for the history of all login attempts and email a connection activity report.

In addition to the Remember User and Remember password settings available on all the login screens , unique views can be set up to allow direct access without requiring user logins.
Create an Express view from Real-time viewer and specify to login with the current credentials. When this type of view is opened, the user will not need to login..

Data simulation task is used to modify the current values of the points that are configured for simulation. Data simulation supports a number of simulation patterns that can be configured for each point.
Simulation is quite helpful for testing a wide range of configuration functions such as mapping, alarming, data logging, automation logic, and system performance.

Yes. Analog points can be configured to follow a sine or a saw-tooth or a square wave.

Yes, however, you can also use the Automaton Engine to build custom logic to mimic your process behaviour and can better simulate the cause and effect logic better.
Our Process Control Sample projects are using automation logic to emulate their processes.

Embedded Windows are customized to support specific features. Since we don’t have the information and control over third party embedded images, we cannot tell if Sinolta will run or not. It takes minimal effort to install the Sinolta Trial version and try some of the sample projects. Check the error log. If the system runs and there are no error messages, you will have an excellent chance of success.

Sinolta HMI builder supports VB Script
Sinolta Automation supports .Net VB and .Net C#
Sinolta will support Java scripting in HMI Builder in Q2 2020
Sinolta Automaton will support Java and Python in Q2 2020

Yes, the System Manager is used to start and stop projects as well as monitor their execution, but once a project has been started, it will continue to run in the background, even if the system manager is not running.

EVENTA and Rocket were code names for Sinolta that were used for a short period. The official commercial name of the product is Sinolta.

After downloading the new version of Sinolta, run the installation wizard. If your license requires registration, go through the registration process. If not, then open the Database Builder and select “Upgrade Projects” to upgrade your old configuration to the current version.
Alternatively, if you have an archived file for your project, from the database builder, select “Restore projects” to restore the archived file. The Restore Archive process will automatically upgrade your configuration. Once the project is upgraded, you can start running your project with the new version of Sinolta.

Check the error log for error messages. Usually, the error message provides some indication of what the issue is.
Depending on the task, you may have to make some adjustments to your configuration to address the issue.

Check the Task’s start-up sequence and ensure its start-up sequence is set up properly
Check the error log to see if the task has reported any error messages.

From System Manager, right-click on a project and set its Autostart property for Auto Start.
It takes a few minutes for Sinolta Services to start, and then your projects go through full start-up processes.
To start your real-time viewer without prompting you for username and password, from Real-time viewer File menu, create an Express View and select no login option.
Close your current real-time viewer session and start the Express View file that you just created. You will notice that this file does not prompt you for username and password.
Add this file in your start-up folder to start-up on computer start; however, since the Real-time viewer can only connect to the projects that are fully executing, you must apply some delays on start-up to ensure your project is running before real-time viewer automatically start.

Sinolta has a built-in UPS service to interact with a smart UPS and coordinate a graceful shutdown and restart of the system during power failures. If you run your computer with an intelligent UPC that has a digital communication, you can set up your system as follows to handle both short term and long term power failures:
Set up the computer to go to sleep mode after the battery level reaches a low threshold to give your computer enough time to close all applications and go to sleep mode gracefully. This setting is a function of the size of your computer and the UPS battery capacity.
From the Database Builder, go to the Tools menu and Set up, Sinolta UPS service, to gracefully shutdown Sinolta processes well before the computer goes to sleep mode.
Set up the Recovery threshold high enough that the system comes back when the power is stable. For example, set up the recovery level to something like 60% battery capacity. Sinolta UPS service automatically starts the system once the battery level reaches to the recovery level.
Using Sinolta UPS service, your system will ride through short term power outages and will go through a graceful automated shutdown and restart for long term power outages.

Open your configuration from the Database Builder and use Archive to archive your configuration into a single archived file. You can store this configuration on a different computer as a backup configuration.
You can either use the redundant data logging to log all your historical data on a separate computer (must map the drive), or you can use standard backup utilities that can synchronize your historian folder with its mirrored folder on a different computer.

You can run Sinolta on either desktop or server.

No. Sinolta is a 64-bit platform. 32-Bit Operating Systems have memory restrictions that will interfere with the operation of Sinolta.

Sinolta can run on any supported Windows operating system. This includes Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 2012 server, Windows 2016 server, and Windows 2019 server.

Yes, but we cannot guarantee the future versions of Sinolta can run on Windows 7 after Windows 7 is discontinued.

No.

No.

The CPU requirements are a direct function of the dynamics of your system. Sinolta is a highly multi-thread system. While the faster, the better, it is the number of cores that makes a difference.
We recommend using a system with 4 cores (8 logical processors) or better. If you are planning to have intensive data logging and several simultaneous users, we would recommend using more cores. As a general term, the faster the computer, the quicker the system will respond. The other factor that plays an important role is the future growth for this system. You can start small and upgrade your computer later or set up a large server that will be good for the next 10 years.

Memory requirements depend heavily on your project size and configuration. The smallest Sinolta project will require 1 GB (in addition to the OS). The biggest user of memory is the Sinolta Historian. You will need to perform some bench tests to decide how much memory you need. As a general guideline, plan for 4GB RAM for systems with up to 5,000 points. 8GB RAM for systems with up to 20,000 points and so on.

Yes. However, you will have to use either cloud or enterprise license as the standard server license will not accept VM environment.

You can use remote desktop to download your configuration to the remote sever. Sinolta will be able to publish its configuration and new versions of the platform to remote servers in Q2 2020.