DBDOC 10.7 -- Download Your DBDOC Update Today!

We are delighted to announce the release of DBDOC 10.7, with a variety of upgrades, bug fixes, and new features.  A few of the major improvements are noted below.  For more information, please see What's New and the Release Notes.

Built-In PDF Files

If your system contains PDF file documentation, you will be happy to learn that PDFs are now first-class citizens in DBDOC, built directly into the M14 like other document types.  They can be viewed right inside of Hyperview, links to blocks and tag references are made automatically, and they can be searched like other documents.

Links to external PDF documentation are still supported, too.

See Built-In PDF Files and More! PDF File Support in DBDOC 10.7 for more information.

Configuration Change History Support

DBDOC 10.6.1 introduced the creation of DMPCFG files for both the .CFG files and the CLD and CAD sheets automatically when you do a DBDOC build.   DBDOC 10.7 introduces automatic archiving of the files from both the CLD / CAD sheets and the compiled or saved CFG files. When you do your DBDOC build, your DMPCFG files will now be archived with the error files. Also, the last build you did before installing 10.7 will be archived. Thus, you will start with a base for comparison of the last build you did with DBDOC 10.6.1 and the first with DBDOC 10.7.

See Configuration Change History Support in DBDOC 10.7 for more information.

Improved S+ and 800xA PG2 Graphics and MicroStation Drawings.

Display of S+ graphics has been significantly improved. Symphony Plus graphics rendering has been greatly improved. Splines, background colors, lines, etc. which previously were not drawn, now appear, and previously handled elements are now drawn more accurately.  The user can now also specify the path to their Symphony Plus image files in Wizard so that Hyperlink can find and use the correct image specified in a graphic. S+ and 800xA live data display sizing has also been improved. MicroStation drawings have improved text display, rendering and remove duplicate search hits.

Improved Error Detection

Processing has been extended to check more blocks for continuous exception reports.  The use of PID and APID blocks with derivative gain combined with inputs from discontinuous input blocks is reported.

See examples of these errors and the problems they cause here.

"Lost Project" Recovery

DBDOC 10.7 can recover "lost" projects. A feature to recover "lost" projects has been added to BuildPlus, allowing project recovery if are inadvertently "lost" due to a change in UAC level on a machine or a user's privilege level.

There's more...

For more information, please see What's New and the Release Notes, or follow this blog, where we will be illustrating new features and DBDOC capabilities regularly.

Click here to get your DBDOC 10.7 Update now!

Configuration Change History Support in DBDOC 10.7

Archived Text File Dumps of Configuration and CLD / CAD Source

DBDOC now reports the specifications that make up the configuration of an INFI 90 system in text files we termed "DMPCFG".  We use these dumps to cross-check DBDOC handling of the CLD and CAD files, verifying that we handle the CLDs and CAD sheets the same as the ABB compilers Composer and WinCAD (and DOS CADEWS and SLAD).

DBDOC 10.6.1 introduced the creation of DMPCFG files for both the .CFG files and the CLD and CAD sheets automatically when you do a DBDOC build.  Read about them here.

DBDOC 10.7 introduces automatic archiving of the files from both the CLD / CAD sheets and the compiled or saved CFG files. When you do your DBDOC build, your DMPCFG files will now be archived with the error files. Also, the last build you did before installing 10.7 will be archived. Thus, you will start with a base for comparison of the last build you did with DBDOC 10.6.1 and the first with DBDOC 10.7.

Changes from Date to Date

The simple application of the DMPCFG file archives is comparison and documentation of changes in blocks and specifications from any DBDOC build dates. The following examples show how any differences will be clear.

This example shows the changes made in a module in the space of three months. Having them available like this will allow them to be cross-checked against the management of change documentation. The symbol "<" indicates the old value, with ">" showing the new blocks and specs.

Comparison of May 8 to Sept 14, 2016 - Module 6,50,05

< Block 531 FC80 S1=3646 S2=5 S3=3493 S4=5 S5=0 S6=5 S7=6.0 S8=0.4 S9=1.0 ...
> Block 531 FC80 S1=3646 S2=5 S3=3493 S4=5 S5=0 S6=5 S7=6.0 S8=5.0 S9=1.0 ...

< Block 796 FC30 S1=5    S2=0  S3=0.0 S4=250.0 S5=300.0 S6=-10.0 S7=0.1
> Block 796 FC30 S1=4706 S2=17 S3=0.0 S4=6.0   S5=10.0  S6=-1.0  S7=1.0

< Block 797 FC30 S1=5    S2=0  S3=0.0 S4=11.0   S5=100.0  S6=-10.0 S7=1.0
> Block 797 FC30 S1=4708 S2=18 S3=0.0 S4=1E+006 S5=1E+006 S6=0.0   S7=1.0

< Block 3546 FC6 S1=5    S2=11.0 S3=-1.0
> Block 3546 FC6 S1=2003 S2=2.0  S3=0.0

< Block 3886 FC37 S1=1    S2=1
> Block 3886 FC37 S1=4714 S2=4719

< Block 4049 FC2 S1=961.0
> Block 4049 FC2 S1=1565

< Block 4050 FC15 S1=4048 S2=4049 S3=1.0 S4=-1.0
> Block 4050 FC15 S1=4710 S2=4056 S3=1.0 S4=-1.0

< Block 4051 FC2 S1=274.4
> Block 4051 FC2 S1=1000

< Block 4052 FC17 S1=4050 S2=4051 S3=1.0
> Block 4052 FC17 S1=4721 S2=7    S3=1.0

< Block 4053 FC2 S1=0.0
> Block 4053 FC2 S1=1.065

< Block 4055 FC9 S1=4052 S2=4120 S3=4054 S4=0.0 S5=0.0
> Block 4055 FC9 S1=5    S2=5    S3=0    S4=0.0 S5=0.0

< Block 4056 FC16 S1=2003 S2=4055 S3=2.0
> Block 4056 FC16 S1=4722 S2=4049 S3=1.0

< Block 4062 FC80 S1=4057 S2=4056 S3=4058 S4=4060 S5=4059 S6=5 ...
> Block 4062 FC80 S1=4057 S2=4713 S3=4058 S4=4060 S5=4059 S6=5 ...

< Block 4075 FC80 S1=4069 S2=5    S3=4070 ... S28=3061 S29=0    S30=0 S31=60.0
> Block 4075 FC80 S1=4069 S2=4053 S3=4070 ... S28=3061 S29=4716 S30=0 S31=60.0

< Block 4120 FC68 S1=0 S2=1.26 S3=0.74 S4=0.84 S5=0 S6=5
> Block 4120 FC68 S1=0 S2=21.5 S3=12.5 S4=12.5 S5=0 S6=5

< Block 4581 FC16 S1=4580 S2=6 S3=1.0
> Block 4581 FC16 S1=4580 S2=6 S3=0.05

< Block 4582 FC6 S1=4581 S2=200.0 S3=-5.0
> Block 4582 FC6 S1=4581 S2=10.2  S3=4.2

New blocks added:

> Block 4706 FC7 S1=4707 S2=0.115
> Block 4707 FC6 S1=1063 S2=2800 S3=0.0
> Block 4708 FC166 S1=796 S2=2 S3=5 S4=1 S5=9.223E+018 S6=-9.223E+018 S7=1.0 S8=1
> Block 4710 FC17 S1=4056 S2=4052 S3=0.5
> Block 4711 FC17 S1=4050 S2=4051 S3=1.0
> Block 4712 FC15 S1=5 S2=5 S3=1.0 S4=-1.0
> Block 4713 FC30 S1=4711 S2=117 S3=0.0 S4=5.0 S5=9999 S6=-9999 S7=0.5
> Block 4714 FC12 S1=4076 S2=1.07 S3=-9999
> Block 4716 FC35 S1=3886 S2=0 S3=2.0
> Block 4717 FC2 S1=21.5
> Block 4718 FC2 S1=12.5
> Block 4719 FC62 S1=0 S2=1 S3=0 S4=0 S5=0 S6=4719 S7=0 S8=2
> Block 4720 FC9 S1=4717 S2=4718 S3=4719 S4=0.0 S5=0.0
> Block 4721 FC30 S1=4720 S2=43 S3=10.0 S4=25.0 S5=-9999 S6=9999 S7=0.5
> Block 4722 FC3 S1=3546 S2=1 S3=0.0 S4=2.0

What Next?

This is a respectable first step, but of course these are text files, generated during a DBDOC build, and not nearly as accessible as they could be.  We would like to see support for interactive viewing and browsing of Management of Change information from right inside the Hyperview browser.

Andrew McKeown of Oji Fibre Solutions in New Zealand suggested:

• My biggest need is around Management of Change. Knowing what has changed between each snap-shot build is an important part of managing and reconciling or even tracing changes between successive builds or across a period of time.  My contention was always that if you have the information about what is there then we should do something about seeing what has changed in detail.
• My contention now is that you could build this into the M14 by changing the file contents so that the differences could be seen in the MoC list [showing] the change and also the hyperlink to the CAD sheet and Block.

As far as comparing from version to version arbitrarily, Andrew also sets the bar very high:

• The trick then becomes what do you choose as the previous version to compare to [with] CFG and EWS CFG as sources plus the previous versions of the same.
• Archiving files for comparisons to previous versions for an ad-hoc datetime difference is all well and good but you need to make this interface easy for the user.

We concur, and are starting on this and more now. The ideas of our clients will help us.  There was a time when the errors DBDOC found during builds were available only via build-level log files, but now the Hyperview Error Browser makes this information highly accessible, and links it effortlessly into graphics and configuration.  There isn't any reason why Management of Change information, changed specs and so on, couldn't be presented in Hyperview in an analogous fashion.

Would this be useful to you?

Text File Dumps of Configuration and Source -- A Useful New Tool

Since Version 10.6.1, DBDOC has reported the specifications that make up the configuration of an INFI 90 system in "DMPCFG" text files. We use these files to cross-check DBDOC handling of the CLD and CAD files, verifying that we are handling the CLDs and CAD sheets the same as the ABB compilers Composer and WinCAD (and DOS CADEWS and SLAD).

An offshoot of this work was that we were able to make DBDOC generate the same values as ABB compilers in the cases where we found the CFG files do not have the documented default values. Two examples are S28 of FC80 and S2 of FC 225. The documentation says each has a default value 2, but Composer and WinCAD compile a value of 0.

At the moment, you need to compare and interpret these text files manually, but look for DDBOC to do more automatically in the future.

The following example occurred this past week, and was something of a mystery to track down. DMPCFG proved its value as part of the solution.

Example 1: Mismatch Between CLD/CAD Files and the Module Load File.

A client was concerned at the failure of the blocks shown here (8120, 9498) to display live data in Hyperview.  As you can see, other blocks on the same sheet were showing live data without incident.  They speculated that the cause might have something to do with the fact that one of the blocks was an AOLDB, a new block type. 

DBDOC Analysis:

In fact, the block type issue was a red herring.  DBDOC does in fact support the newest block types added to Composer.   The fact that the values of the specifications were shown correctly was evidence for that.

The actual problem was almost certainly that the configuration in the module did not match the CLD, and the CLD is of course what is used to generated DBDOC's graphical representation of the CLD diagram.  We expected that most likely, for some reason, blocks 8120 and 9498 did not exist in the module, but that they were present in the CLD.

In order to verify this, we had a look at the DMPCFG files from the CFG (loaded into the module), and the CLD (used by DBDOC).  Surprisingly, they showed the exact opposite of what we were expecting!

CFG DMPCFG File -- 8120 and 9498 are present!

Block 8120 FC48 S1=9498 S2=16 S3=0.0 S4=50.0 S5=20.4 S6=-99.0 S7=1.0 S8=2.0 S9=2.0  

Block 9498 FC96 S1=5 S2=1254 S3=9497 S4=9.223E+018 S5=9.223E+018 S6=9.223E+018

And in the CLD DMPCFG file, 8120 and 9498 were absent. 

So then, how did 8120 and 9498 get into the CLD diagram displayed in Hyperview?  And why weren't they in the module at the time when live data was being requested and the screenshot taken?

DMPCFG File Comparison

It's clear from the contents of the DMPCFG files provided by the client, that at the point the DMPCFG files were created, the CFG did have blocks 8120 and 9498, while the CLD did not.

Left: CFG (with block 8120), Right: Source CLD (without 8120) 

Left: CFG (with block 9498), Right: Source CLD (without 9498, and with new blocks 9499 and 9501) 

What Actually Happened

This is what the sequence of events turned out to be:

1. By October, a CLD with block 8120 FC 48 and block 9498 FC 96 had been compiled into a CFG that was loaded into the module.
2. This same CLD was built by DBDOC into the October M14 file shown, where blocks 8120 and 9498 are present.
3. The CLD was changed to have blocks 8120 and 9498 removed, and blocks 9499 (a new DAANG block) and 9501 added.
4. A new M14 file was built in November, which was not being used when the problem was noticed.  However, it was this DBDOC build that generated the DMPCFG files in the comparison above, since at that moment, the CLD no longer had blocks 8120 and 9498. It had not yet been recompiled, so the CFG file remained unchanged as shown blocks 8120 and 9498.
5. Later, the CLD without blocks 8120 and 9498 was compiled, and the resulting CFG loaded into the module.
6. Finally, the October M14 was accidentally viewed in Hyperview, instead of the newest November one, leading to the CLD "NO CONN" screenshot first noted, as Hyperview attempted to fetch live data for blocks that no longer existed in the module.

Of course, one might ask, what caused the client to accidentally view the second most recent DBDOC M14 file, instead of the most recent one?

It turns out, when Hyperview opens an M14 specified with '*' (most users do this, because it's supposed to allow the most recent build to be opened automatically), it checks the File Creation date, which can be changed to the current date by copying the file.  This is what happened with the M14s in question -- they were copied, and the less recent of them received a newer File Creation timestamp, and thus was erroneously opened by Hyperview as the most recent M14.

We are changing Hyperview to instead look at the File Modified time for this purpose, and this modification will be seen in DBDOC 10.7.  Hopefully this will protect clients from this problem in the future.

DBDOC 10.6.1— Ready for Download

DBDOC 10.6.1 is now available. Download it here.  There are major improvements to usability in a couple of areas, new features, new error checking and a variety of minor fixes and additional conveniences for users.

Read on for a quick overview of some of the highlights of DBDOC 10.6.1, or see the complete release notes here.

Watch Window Performance & Usability

As we gain experience with Watch Window use patterns, we are honing this tool to better meet the needs of the most prolific users.  There are some important improvements in this release that greatly improve Watch Window performance and responsiveness in highly loaded situations with groups containing large numbers of blocks.  In addition, the ability to hide and restore entire Watch Window groups has been added.  This allows you to define and configure a group, and set it aside so that it doesn't clutter up the interface when it's not needed.  It can be restored (with all of its setup) at any time.  Last, but not least, there is now a command line switch for specifying default date format in the Watch Window, so that if you are DDMM, you don't have to look at MMDD.

 

 

HTML Support (Available in the International Version)

We have been moving the Hyperview browser toward full Unicode support in all documents for some time now.  Unicode characters are supported on graphics and most Hyperview tools. The last step in the journey is the complete implementation of HTML-based Hyperview text display.  This support is substantially enhanced in DBDOC 10.6.1: documents are more faster, scroll better, behave better, and there have been numerous small improvements. HTML support will continue to be expanded in upcoming releases.

New Feature: Detect Module Load Changes

A major new feature involves the creation of .dmpcfg files, text dumps of CFG files from the project and the same information from the DBDOC compile. They allow comparison of current and historical module load images. If you archive the files, you will be able to analyze specification and logic changes over whatever time intervals you choose. This feature applies both the the CLD / CAD logic and the compiled CFG files.

New Errors Detected

Some new error types are now detected by DBDOC, and viewable in the Error Browser.  Errors are reported for non-functioning lead/lag, rate limiter and integrator blocks. Duplicate local OREFs are also now flagged, as they can cause a problem for Composer and WinCAD. Segment control blocks are checked for violations. The most important checking involves reports on numerous violations of the limits on specifications. Fully two-thirds of sites we checked had such errors.

And More...

• Numerous improvements have been made in handling S+ and 800xA graphics, including support for the Welcome_dall graphic and for the SetFont function.
• Support for AutoCAD 2016 is now included.
• Support for the 2015 single­ volume function code manual and other two volume versions has been added.
• Top level symbol locations are now shown in the Audit Window for Conductor NT and PPB.

See the 10.6.1 Release Notes for information on the many upgrades and improvements in DBDOC 10.6.1

Download DBDOC 10.6.1