acron - Version 10.1 now available

The next version of the acron plant chronicler is available

The current acron version adds support for the MQTT protocol (with Sparkplug B), DWA and EKVO export, updates the user interface and introduces new functions in the Designer, Report Designer, Graph and Reporter. The export capabilities and security of acron have also been improved.

Here is a detailed description:

General

1. MQTT Protocol (with Sparkplug B) is now supported

The capabilities of acron to receive data keep being expanded. The goal is to make it possible to connect ANY modern device or control system to acron and receive data from it, and we are one step closer to this goal.

In version 10.1, support for the MQTT protocol has been added. The new provider “Sparkplug B MQTT Client 64-Bit” takes data from MQTT Edge Nodes, provided they support the Sparkplug standard. However, a Sparkplug aware MQTT Broker is not mandatory, so that MQTT Brokers that do not support the Sparkplug standard themselves may also be used. Both MQTT versions 5.0 and 3.1.1 are supported.

Acron now has 41 provider types to choose from. This covers almost all popular industry protocols for data exchange that you may need.

2. Export to DWA Betrieb of Baden-Wuerttemberg

A special addon has been added, that allows you to export process variables from acron to the dwa-betrieb.de portal. All the data associated with the performance records, energy check, and rainwater overflow can be saved in PLS format to a CSV file, that can be then uploaded directly to the DWA portal.

3. Data export to EKVO for Hesse

Acron can assist you in preparing an annual report in accordance with § 1 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation, Environmental Protection and Geology’s Self-Monitoring Waste Water Ordinance (EKVO). With a configuration wizard you can assign process variables from acron to the data required for the annual report in accordance with the EKVO. The export creates an XML file that can be then uploaded to the EKVO client.

4. Interface modernized for 4K monitors

A bunch of technical and graphic improvements have been made to ensure convenient work with acron on multi-screen systems with high-resolution monitors. The font has been enlarged, the icons and UI modernized, and many visual and small usability bugs have been fixed.

5. The OPC UA Server now supports up to 7 optional supplementary time intervals

You can now retrieve measurement not only from the main interval (ICV, IPV) but also from up to 7 supplementary time intervals (I2CV to I8CV, I2PV to I8PV) if you need this.

For example, you can use a two-hour main measurement interval to show data from acron in one place and use a 15-minute or 5-minute value calculated in acron to show a detailed diagram in another part of your SCADA system.

6. User login becomes obligatory

For security reasons, user management is now a must and user login to the plant is always required. Old plants that have no users or have deactivated the User Management feature will receive a default user with administrator privileges during the update.

7. Define the timestamp for the interval value that you export

Now you can select which timestamp will be used during the export of the interval value: at the beginning, middle, or end of the interval. This gives you the ability to export data exactly with the time format that other software requires.

acron 10.1 - Interval Export

Designer

1. The Report Designer has been improved

A bunch of improvements were made in Report Designer to make it more convenient:

  1. Zooming is now smoother and utilizes UI elements familiar to Word users;
  2. The Search and Replace feature was added, allowing you to find and replace not only text but also the names of processing variables and their formulas;
  3. Transfer of formatting from one object to another of the same type is now possible;
  4. Color picker is reworked;
  5. You can now cancel closing the window if you press the close button by mistake while having unsaved changes;
  6. Now you can select multiple objects of the same type and edit their properties together;
  7. Report charts are now displayed in the tree structure defined in the Graph module rather than in a flat list;
  8. Report pages that use deprecated features can now be automatically converted to the new format with the “Automatic Repair” button. This may lead to a different visualization; therefore, they need to be checked and potentially adjusted.
acron 10.1 - Reports Designer
2. Write formulas easily with process variable name hints

The Formula editor now shows the Name of the Process variable if you select its ID in the formula. This small improvement frees you from the necessity to search for the Identification in the Configuration to understand what this ID means. Now, you see the result directly in the Formula editor window above the ID.

acron 10.1 - Reports Designer: Formula
3. Highlight important values in the report output by color

Substitute values, non-approved values, overwritten values, and limit value violations can now be marked by color in print report outputs the same way as for monitor outputs. You can choose the corresponding color to make it noticeable after printing by your printer device.

acron 10.1 -  Reports Designer: Marker Colors

Reporter

1. Categorize process variables in Reporter by background color

You can now assign a background color as one of the properties of process variables. This allows you to categorize variables by color. For example, you can color the background of variables for energy consumption red, variables for energy production green and variables for energy recovery yellow.

acron 10.1 - Reporter: Background Color
2. Enter Day Comments for a range of days

Do you need to leave the same Day Comment for several days in a row? Before, you needed to copy and paste your comment to each day separately. Now, you can simply select a date range, and acron will fill each day in this range with the same comment.

acron 10.1 - Reporter: Daily Comments

Graph

1. Compare statistical values at a glance

The statistics window in Graph now shows not only the values of one curve, but all curves at the same time. This gives you the ability not only to know the statistical data of the graphs you see but also to compare the statistical data of the curves.

acron 10.1 - Graph: Statistical Values

Job

1. A user should be assigned to a job folder to have the ability to run jobs

The folder with jobs now has the User property. It specifies the user rights with which the order is executed and is used for filling in the user field in Reports (who has printed the Report).

Previously, you were able to specify a user when calling a job via the command line (using the -u parameter). Now, this parameter is deprecated and no longer in use.
If you had active jobs before, a new Jobs-User will automatically be created during the update of the plant.

2. See a job progress in a log file

The processing progress of a job is now stored in the log file. A console window with the most important log outputs can now be opened to keep an eye on the progress.

acron 10.1 - Job: Console
3. Filter the raw data in export jobs

You can now export not only the process data but also the underlying raw data. You define the desired variables in the filter condition.

acron 10.1 - Job: Raw Data

REST API

1. REST API has been supplemented with new functions

Now you have the ability to retrieve via REST API:

  • Daily, weekly, monthly, annual comments;
  • Weekly, monthly, annual values of Manual-variables of the text type;
  • Service data;
  • Licence information;
  • System information;
  • Various information about acron Configuration;

You can find the full list of available REST API functions in the REST-API-Help

2. Data query is now possible without specifying an exact time stamp

The query of daily, weekly, and monthly data is now possible without specifying times for the desired period. For annual data, the year numbers are sufficient.

3. The “API” option under the “Allocation/Substitute Values” of Process Variable is now ignored

Access to process variables via the REST API is now possible only if a user has been granted the necessary permissions in the User Management section. Through the C-API, users can receive access to all process variables, but this method is now deprecated and will be eliminated in the future. Please use the REST API analog .

Other

1. Select sort order for export

Now you have the choice in which order you would like to see exported process variables:

  • Alphabetically A-Z,
  • In the same order in which you have process variables stored in the plant settings.
acron 10.1 - Export Job
2. acron works faster with large plants

Various measures have been taken to increase the performance of data calculations and data summarization. Furthermore, some special combinations have become significantly more performant. For example, a measurement has shown that the display and filtering of groups with more than 20,000 process variables is now carried out in less than 1 second, whereas in version 10.0 this still took 14 seconds.

Designer and Admin now start about 35% faster compared to version 10.0. A start screen also displays the progress of the programs loading.

3. Easier login to acron modules

Now, in the login window of acron modules, you will see only those users who have rights to access this module. You will not be offered the users who can’t log in anyway, making the use of the Login Window a bit easier for you.

4. Space as thousands separator

You can now use a space as the thousand’s separator (in addition to dot , comma, and apostrophe). The selected configuration will be used in the acron Reporter and in print reports.

acron 10.1 - Thousands Separator
5. The Show Admin Log command displays the latest log file

The log file display now not only retrieves the log file for the current calendar day but generally the most recent file.

6. Provider XP is deprecated

The provider for older Windows versions no longer supports Windows XP but all Windows versions from Windows 7 onwards. You can now find it under “Provider_Legacy”. Under Windows 7, 64-bit, the Provider_Legacy also supports all 64-bit provider drivers.

7. .NET 8 is now our framework for development

We are now using the development environment for .NET 8. This means that acron is up to date and contain the security improvements that .NET 8 offers.

8. Other improvements
  • Additional checks have been added to ensure that the measuring range of the external process variable corresponds to the measuring range of the process variable;
  • Additional checks have been added during the client-server connection to prevent possible errors caused by different versions of the server and client applications;
  • Minor improvements to Internal TCP-IP connection were made;
  • Other changes.

Overall, according to the Bug-Tracking system, 596 development tasks were completed, of which 213 are fixes for bugs of varying degrees of complexity. So, please update to the latest version of acron.

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