Release Notes v2.0.7.6

v2.0.7.6
February 15, 2018

New Features

Server

General

  • Alpana website fully responsive. On small devices, widget layout and menu structure is adaptive.
  • New possibility to visualize dashboard content and navigation menus at the same time.

Homepage / Widget Pinning

  • Users are able to Pin any widget from any dashboard.
  • Pinned widgets are assembled into “Homepages” which can be created at will.
  • Homepages layout can be changed on the fly in multiple ways.

Data Alerts

  • Users can subscribe to receive e-mails when values change in a dashboard, filtered by comlpex conditions.
  • Alert e-mail is ediable and contains a dashboard export as image/PDF/Excel

Mobile

  • Native mobile app for Android and iOS
  • can navigate dashboards published on your own Alpana Server
  • demo account allowing to test the Mobile app

Data Sources

  • Configuration is maintained even when connection is lost. Example : my Historian server gets a new IP address, or my SQL user changes password, I can re-open a dashboard and update Connection information without losing any work.
  • Bufferized Connections (Historian, files, Web) now retain their type, and can be edited. Example : a Historian Connection can be re-configured after publication (to update the list of tags for example)
  • Ability to change Connection Type on the fly. Example : I develop an Excel-based dashboard, then I edit the Excel Connection and replace by a SQL Connection. If the field names are the same, the dashboard is migrated.

Buffer

Maintenance

  • Un-used buffer tables don’t have to be retained forever : buffer tables can now be deleted at any time, and they will be re-created automatically on-demand only.
  • Buffer can be changed on the fly. Example : switching from SQL Server1 to Server2 to host the buffer tables.

Refresh

  • All bufferized Connections are now refreshed, including Excel and CSV files : data changes within files are now pushed into live dashboards with no extra step.
  • No more need for an external service (Data Integration Tool) consuming resources to actively refresh data.

Buffer configuration

  • The Buffer is now configurable in a centralized manner. Example : No more need to configure a target database each time a dashboard publishes data from Historian, Excel, CSV, Web
  • Validity duration is configurable in order to optimize data refresh.
  • Buffer can leverage SQL or SQLite backend for Alpana Designer.

Data Source Designer

Stored Procedures

  • Stored Procedure parameters can now be updated live at runtime, thanks to the new concept of Dashboard Parameters.

Data Source filtering

  • Dashboards Parameters can now be bound to Data Source filters, allowing to change Data Source filters at runtime.

Custom Query

  • Write SQL queries directly to generate Custom Query Tables
  • Those Custom Query Tablesare handled as any other tables and can for example be joined with other tables from the same Connection or other Connections
  • The Query can be updated while keeping all the dashboard configuration (as long as the table schema stays the same)
  • The Query can be parametrized using Dashboard Parameters. Example : I paste a SQL query based on Historian InSQL query and I substitute the parameters (tag list, dates, cyclecount, …) by Dashboard Parameters bound to Combobox, and so they can be changed at runtime.

Multi-Connection (multsource) : UNIQUE

  • Tables from different Connections can now be joined together. Examples :
    • Historian table with kWh values, joined with SQL table to bind tagnames to equipments, joined with an Excel sheet where the unit price of €/kWh is referenced. I can then calculate € for each equipment, with no extra effort.
    • Historian table contains values, joined with SQL table containing work orders and start/end dates
  • Expressions can combine columns from all Connections used in the Data Source. In example above, I can calculate for each equipment the total cost with : Value (from Historian) * UnitPrice (from Excel)

Expressions

  • More robust Expression editor. No more issues with data type or wrongly recognized expressions.
  • No need to edit the expression syntax when changing Connection type.

Data Source Import

  • Connections now have a unique identifier. When importing several Data Sources using the same Connection, only one common Connection will be imported (no duplicate)

other

  • can now hide/unhide all fields at once, for each table

Connectors

Historian

  • No need for a separate Web API anymore : greater simplicity (maintainability, install procedure, no need to configure a user)
  • No need to a Data Integration Tool anymore : resource gain, maintainability, no more need to set the Data Integration Tool adress at each publish
  • Refresh configuration was greatly simplified : now only a validity duration is set
  • Historian 2017 compatibility

Excel/CSV

  • Excel Connector can now point to an Excel file on a disk and update the Dashboard contents when the file is updated.
  • If the file is not found, the latest data is retained. It is optionally possible to update the Connection to point the same dashboard to the new correct file location.

Filters / Dashboard Parameters

  • Filter Widgets are now bound to Dashboard Parameters.
  • Multi-source filtering : Filter binding is now de-correlated from Data Sources and column names. A filter Widget can now filter several listener widgets from different Data Sources, independently of column names. Example : a single Range Navigator can be used to select date ranges for all widgets, independently of how the date column is named in their data sources.
  • Dashboard Parameters can be bound to :
    • (input) filter Widget selection events
    • (input) URL parameters
    • (output) listener Widgets for data display (same as v1.1)
    • (output) Data Source filters
    • (output) Stored Procedure paramters
    • (output) Custom Query Table parameters

Widgets

Widget Import

  • Data Sources now have a unique identifier. When importing several Widgets using the same Data Source, only one common Data Source will be imported (no duplicate)

Charts “100% Stacked”

  • Added this new Chart type :
    • 100% Stacked Area
    • 100% Stacked Bar
    • 100% Stacked Column
  • Allows to compare many proportions at the same time. Example : which causes compose (in % of durations) the downtimes for each equipment

Chart

  • cleaned up the trendline editor

Bubble Map

  • bubbles can now have any color

Gauge

  • Min and Max values of Gauge can now be bound to data fields and change dynamically. Example : bind MinEU and MaxEU from Historian

Upgrading Alpana from v1.1 to v2.0

Important

Between the last v1 (v1.1.1.5) and this first v2.0, major changes were made in the core of Alpana. Due to those breaking changes, v1 and v2 will not be compatible.

Please refer to the following guide to help upgrade from v1.1 :

Upgrading Alpana from v1.1 to v2.0