TopView® version 6.32 Release

TopView® version 6.32 Release

April 17, 2019

OPC/SCADA ● OPC A&E ● PI ● SQL Events ● SQL Lookup ● MQTT ● PerfMon

See the release notes for a full list of changes included in this version

Web Configurator: initial release

The TopView Web Configurator is a web-based configuration tool designed to address some of the shortcomings of the desktop configuration tools and to provide a modern experience for TopView administrators and users involved in configuration tasks.

In this initial release, the Web Configurator can be used to view and configure:

  • TopView Contacts
  • TopView Schedules
  • TopView Global Notification Groups (Email-SMS, Voice, …)

New Product: TopView for MQTT

TopView for MQTT allows TopView to directly monitor MQTT message data commonly coming from remote sensors and devices.

MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight publish/subscribe message protocol designed for constrained devices with low-bandwidth. It has become a popular protocol for “Internet of Things” applications and devices. For SCADA and Automation users, MQTT is commonly used to receive published data from (sensor) devices.

The TopView MQTT Event Generator allows TopView to act as a subscriber to MQTT messages from one or more MQTT Brokers. TopView can receive MQTT messages and parse the message payload for monitoring of value or event information contained within the payload. Message payload parsing is supported for JSON, XML, and CSV content.

Publish MQTT messages: available for all TopView data sources

Regardless of TopView data source (OPC, PI, SQL, …) all versions of TopView can now publish MQTT messages.

TopView as Publisher: TopView can publish MQTT messages for events of the tags in the monitored tag list.

The following events are supported:

  • Alarm: when the alarm for a monitored tag/row becomes active. Use this event to publish new alarm information.
  • Acknowledge: when the alarm for a monitored tag/row is acknowledged. Use this event to publish alarm acknowledge information. 
  • Return-to-normal: when the alarm for a monitored tag/row becomes inactive. Use this event to publish end-of-alarm information. 
  • Refresh: during each refresh of the TopView Engine (see “Refresh rate”). Use this event to publish information about the tag/row including the tag/row value, status, timestamp, alarm state, acknowledge state, …

TopView installs an MQTT Broker (with included simulator) to allow users to test both publishing and subscribing to MQTT messages

Inhibit tag

The existing Inhibit row (previously named “AND Gate Row” allows the suppression of one or more alarms based on the alarm state of another monitored tag/row in TopView. This feature is often implemented to suppress multiple alarms from one inhibit tag.

The new Inhibit tag allows suppression of an alarm based on the current value of another tag not in the monitored tag list. This new feature is recommended if each alarm has a separate inhibit tag (e.g. alarm shelved tag).

See the release notes for a full list of changes included in this version