IoT & Connectivity Tips

  After months of development, hours of user interviews and countless coffees, ThingWorx Solution Central is here!   I posted a few weeks ago introducing the new cloud solution management portal, but just as a reminder, ThingWorx Solution Central is a brand-new set of cloud services offered to help you more efficiently manage and deploy your solutions—ow ow!   ThingWorx Solution Central automatically identifies and packages up your dependencies so you can slash your time to deploy. Once you develop your solution in ThingWorx (using the Projects feature), ThingWorx Solution Central will then automatically package up all the artifacts and dependencies required for your solution to run, and then you can publish your “package” up to the cloud, where it will be ready to be deployed to your specified environment(s).     Ready to get started? Request access to ThingWorx Solution Central here and you’ll be on your way to easier solution deployments in no time.  

The RabbitMQ Management plugin provides a web-based interface into the inner workings of the messaging bus behind ThingWorx Flow. It is installed by the Flow installers but is an HTTP service by default and is a totally different web server than the NGINX used to front-end ThingWorx Flow. This will describe how to integrate it into the NGINX on your ThingWorx Flow server. This is necessitated by some recent browser behavior changes that make it very hard to get to the http port once you've used an https service on the same machine from the same browser.   First - let's find the user name and password for the RabbitMQ Management plugin. On a Linux server, the file /etc/rabbitmq/definitions.json will hold the name and password for the plugin's UI:         "users": [{                 "name": "flowuser",             &

Having trouble remembering how to get into Flow? How about make /Flow the URL?   Since the Flow environment uses NGINX to front-end the various components that make up Flow, there is a very sophisticated set of rewrites and proxy_pass directives in the NGINX configuration. All you have to do is add another 'location' fragment to the vhost-flow.conf file that will push /Flow over to /Thingworx/Composer/apps/flow:       location /Flow {       rewrite ^/Flow$ $proxy_scheme://$server_host/Thingworx/Composer/apps/flow permanent;     }   On Linux, the file should be at /etc/nginx/conf.d/vhost-flow.conf   On Windows, the file should be at c:\Program Files\nginx-[version]\conf\conf.d\vhost-flow.conf   Test the updated config file with (nginx may not exist in your normal path): nginx -t   Restart the NGINX service: Linux (one of these will work depending upon your Linux version): systemctl restart nginx service

I'm getting up to speed on all the great new stuff in 8.5, and have found that since the JavaScript engine was upgraded to Rhino 1.7.11, there's some awesome new JavaScript ES6 functionality available. I have tested arrow functions, filter, map, and reduce. Compose does not look like it is supported.   If you're not familiar with this functionality, I highly recommend reading up on them. Filter, map, and reduce are incredibly useful for working with arrays. They can save you a lot of annoying logic.   Here's some resources that I've found helpful for learning: JavaScript Functional Programming - map, filter and reduce Arrow Functions: Fat and Concise Syntax in Javascript If you really want to dive into ES6, Wes Bos has incredible tutorial sessions that are worth every penny: Wes Bos: ES6 for Everyone!   Have you played around with ES6 functionality in ThingWorx 8.5 yet?

Hi,   I launched version 2.1.0 of the ThingWorx GitBackup Extension on Github, in the following repository: https://github.com/vrosu/thingworx-gitbackup-extension This release contains a few UI fixes and experimental support for proxy.   "The GitBackup extension is updated on a best-effort basis and accepts community fixes, that are best done through GitHub. Please report any troubles via GitHub's Issue system.   Important notice: As you might be aware, we have just launched ThingWorx 8.5 and with it a new solution called Solution Central, which is a brand-new cloud-based service to help you package, store, deploy, and manage your ThingWorx applications.   This service is supported by PTC and it contains features that seem to be similar to the GitBackup extension, but they are not. They are different type of tools: Git is a source versioning tool, while Solution Central is an artifact repository. When deploying applications between ThingWorx

Users of ThingWorx Analytics (TWA) may choose to create a predictive model using TWA or import a predictive model that was created using other software. When importing into or exporting out of TWA, this predictive model must be in a PMML (Predictive Model Markup Language) version 4.3+ format. This post describes how to complete the import and export processes. Exporting: The user may create a model in two main ways inside of TWA: using the Builder user interface, or by using ‘Create Job’ service that exists the Training Thing. Whichever method is used, a model Job Id is created automatically by TWA for that model. It is this model Job Id that is used to identify the model inside of TWA, regardless of what is being done with that model.   If a model is trained using Builder, the user may highlight that model, click ‘Job Details’, and then copy the Job ID. This is done as follows:   Next, the user will navigate to Browse --> Things --> …TrainingThing. This is the Trainin

Hello Navigate Community -     In case you haven't heard, Navigate 8.5 was released last Thursday, 9/26 and is now available for download! This release includes a lot of exciting functionality:   1. Improvements to View Apps -  Updated ThingView 3D Viewing Component - which is now documented & supported for use in custom mashups;  Support for distributed vaults;  Display of security labels & values. 2. BETA release of the first Reusable Components for rapid application development  3. First Navigate Contribute App for review & approval of Windchill Change Requests Want to learn more? Read on!   Introducing change can result in higher costs if not fully considered.  That’s why collaboration is a necessity across people and processes from the initial state of product ideation through to manufacturing, device connectivity and field service.  There is a need to not just access product and enterprise data easily, but

   Who’s ready for exciting new functionality like smoother integration with Azure, rapid deployment capabilities, flexible KPIs and so much more?   Good news! Yesterday, we released ThingWorx 8.5—equipped with features like a new Azure connector for ThingWorx Flow, new software content management (SCM) capabilities with the Azure IoT Hub Connector, streamlined deployments with Solution Central, flexible KPI calculations with our PTC manufacturing and service apps—just to name a few. Check out the 8.5 release notes to discover all the highlights and goodness of our latest release and hear our CTO of IoT, Joe Biron (who you may recognize from previous Ask Kaya posts) and one of our product experience specialists, Sebastian Bergner, highlight new functionality and share demos in this exciting webcast (please note that we've had a little snafu with the link and the recording should be available later this week).   Play around with our new features by downloading

ThingWorx Foundation Flow Enable customers using Azure to take advantage of Azure services Access hundreds of Azure system connectors by invoking Azure Logic Apps from within ThingWorx Flow Execute Azure functions to leverage Azure dynamic, serverless scaling and pay just for processing power needed Access Azure Cognitive AI services for image recognition, text to voice/voice to text, OCR and more Easily integrate with homegrown and commercial solutions based on SQL databases where explicit APIs or REST services are not exposed Automatically trigger business process flows by subscribing to Windchill object class and instance events Provide visibility to mature PLM content (such as when a part is released) to downstream manufacturing and supply chain roles and systems Easily add new actions by extending functionality from existing connectors to create new actions to facilitate common tasks Inherit or copy functionality from existing actions and change only what is necessary to s

This video shows the steps to install ThingWorx Analytics Server 8.5.1 as well as the ThingWorx Analytics Extension.  

Challenge: Complex Deployments-Today deployment of twx apps is challenging due to manual dependency management; little visibility into apps and environments; complexity and slow speed of deploymentFeature Solution Central:-Automated dependency management-Centralized app management portalValue: Rapid scalable deployments-Accelerate application deployment-Simple UI-based environment and solution management-Site-wide visibility of apps and environmentsSteps involved:-Develop projects locally-Package artifacts and dependencies-Publish App to Cloud-Deliver to your ThingWorx environments->-Update to latest ThingWorx-Connect to Solution Central-Begin Publishing-No additional licensing Q: Does it also package up prerequisite extensions?A: It doesn’t package or build them, but they are identified as dependencies before publish/deployment. Multiple solutions building modular structure through dependenciesQ: Each published project is packaged as an extension?A: That is co

Composer Enhancement: -Improved workflow supportNG Composer challenging to navigate -> Usability challenges with editing and viewing data Feature:-Tab style editing support-Horizontal tabs-New Grids with Resizing-Resizing in Entity Grids-Schedule Editor Problem: Need modernization of platform visualization toolset -> -New Webcomponent widgets-Responsive layout now GA-Theming now GA-Key messaging-New ability to build responsive modern web applications   Theming and Theme editor -Centralized style management-Easily apply to all Mashups of an applications-Bindable, can be changed dynamically-Set Colors Typography, Lines, Borders, States -Set globally or by group of elements (buttons, grids, inputs)-Mashup Preview can be set   New Widgets in 8.5 -Breadcrumb-Dynamic panel-Icon-Image-List Shuttle-Property Display-Slider-Value Display-Advanced Grid now part of platform Functions:-Confirmation-Event Router-Logout -Navigation-Status Message   Responsive Layout-New

  Hi everyone,   Today I’m here with a very exciting guest—Janie! Janie recently joined PTC after spending the last two years at a global professional services firm where she held many roles including that of a lead ThingWorx developer. While Janie did do some font-end development work and UI creation, the bulk of her time was spent on the backend writing services that enabled the application’s functionality. In this role, she not only wrote code herself, she also played a large part in the in-platform architectural decisions, determining the best way to utilize the platform in order to satisfy complex business requirements.   Throughout her last two years, she worked on various IIoT projects in the manufacturing industry developing a real-time asset health monitoring and OEE/production tracking application to monitor key metrics like downtime and output. For each customer engagement an assessment of IoT platforms was often undertaken in order to assess strengths and we

​​​There are four types of Analytics:                                                                Prescriptive analytics: What should I do about it?Prescriptive analytics is about using data and analytics to improve decisions and therefore the effectiveness of actions.Prescriptive analytics is related to both Descriptive and Predictive analytics. While Descriptive analytics aims to provide insight into what has happened and Predictive analytics helps model and forecast what might happen, Prescriptive analytics seeks to determine the best solution or outcome among various choices, given the known parameters.“Any combination of analytics, math, experiments, simulation, and/or

Anomaly Detection (also known as Outlier Detection) is a set of techniques that identify unusual occurrences in data. The premise is that such occurrences may be early indicators of future negative events (e.g. failure of assets or production lines).  Data Science algorithms for Anomaly Detection include both Supervised and Unsupervised methods. In Unsupervised Anomaly Detection, the algorithms make the assumption that most of the data points are "normal" (e.g. normal operation of the asset) and are looking for data points that are most dissimilar to the remainder of the dataset. Supervised Anomaly Detection requires a labeled set of Anomalies, in which case predictive algorithms can be applied directly on this data.   Thingworx employs a number of algorithms in support of Anomaly Detection: Simple threshold alerts. These are easy to setup on Thing properties but require a domain expert to provide such thresholds. Then, the alert will automatically fire when the value of the

  The scenario: Your company has settled on Azure as a cloud platform and you are currently using Azure IoT Edge as your connectivity strategy. You need a quick way to build IoT applications with your Azure devices. You’re looking for industry-proven and time-saving features like Mashup visualization, built-in connectivity to enterprise systems (like SAP or Oracle) with ThingWorx Flow, secure and scalable file transfer to your Azure-connected devices and the ability to create augmented reality (AR) experiences with Vuforia Studio. All of these options are available to you thanks to the ThingWorx-Azure IoT Hub Connector; it’s like the ice cream truck driving by on a hot summer day.   (If you’re wondering why we selected Azure as our preferred infrastructure, check out my previous interview with Neal, a Worldwide ThingWorx Center of Excellence Principal Lead here at PTC.)   I sat down with Ankit, a ThingWorx Product Manager, this week to learn more about the ThingWorx-Azu

  When it’s time to make pizza, most of us head to the fridge for our bag of dough; we don’t head for the flour and yeast to start from scratch. So, why would your ThingWorx apps be any different? Start with pre-built solutions like Asset Advisor to rapidly create health monitoring apps and dramatically reduce your development time.   We previously introduced Asset Advisor on Episode 04 of “ThingWorx on Air.” Today, we dive deeper into Asset Advisor with Greg Huet, Asset Advisor’s technical product manager (aka product owner). Listen to Ep. 06: Rapidly Build IIoT Apps for Service & Monitoring with Asset Advisor to hear Greg share our strategy of studying existing use cases and finding similarities that we can pre-build into solutions so that you don’t have to build them from scratch. Hear how you can use Asset Advisor out-of-the-box with tweaks for your company’s configurations or as an accelerated starting point where you can add as much customization as your use case d

Underneath video walks through how to Publish a Model from Analytics Builder into Analytics Manager using the connector named TW.AnalysisServices.AnalyticsServer.AnalyticsServerConnector.

Race to the finish line of IoT app development with ThingWorx Edge!     Hi everyone,   Today’s post comes fully packed with an intro to our ThingWorx Edge strategy. Learn how to connect your machine data to ThingWorx, how our SDKs work, why you’d want to use them and how you can deploy agents.   To learn more about the Edge with ThingWorx, I spoke with Shravan. When Shravan’s not following Formula 1, learning about the latest trends in AI or playing cricket, he’s leading our development teams as the PM for the Edge. Check out what he had to say:   Kaya: How can I connect my machine data to ThingWorx through a protocol that the platform does not natively support?  Shravan: If you’re looking to connect your machine data to ThingWorx through a proprietary protocol and you require a 1:1 connection with the platform, we have two paths you can take. You can either: Utilize PTC’s Edge MicroServer (EMS) out-of-the-box solution. This is a stand-alone application

Style theming is a Beta feature that allows you to customize the look of your mashups and widgets.   A style theme is a set of styling properties for elements such as text, colors, and lines that you can apply to a mashup. You can manage styles for multiple mashups more easily by using style themes. Style theme apply on a mashup level, unlike style definitions, which apply on a widget level. When you apply a style theme to a mashup, all embedded widgets and mashups will derive styling properties from the style theme for the top level mashup. You can perform the following tasks:   • Create and modify style themes. • Apply a style theme to one or more mashups. • Reuse a style theme by using Import/Export. • Define custom CSS for a style theme. CSS rules are applied to all mashups that use the style theme.   Style theme support is limited to the following types widgets: • New widgets — You can only apply a style theme to these widgets.

Please find here an Labview implementation to connect to Thingworx via RestCalls. Have Fun using it. Any Feedback is appreciated. https://github.com/Seppel1985/LabVIEW_TWX_RestAPI

Javascript, everyone knows it, at least a little bit. What if I told you that you could do serious data acquisition with just a little bit of Javascript and you may already have the tools to do it, right now on your "Off the Shelf" device. Node.js is a command line implementation of Javascript that can be run on common, credit card sized devices like the Raspberry PI or the Intel Edison.I suspect that if you already know about Node.js, you may have encountered its non-blocking asynchronous, "Call back", style of programming which can be a little different that most other languages which block or wait for commands to complete. While this can be a benefit for increasing performance, it can also be a barrier to entry for new users.This is the problem that Node Red really solves. Node Red is a web based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that turns the "Call Back" style Javascript programming of Node.js into a series of interconnected Nodes, each Node of which represents a Javascript

OpenDJ is a directory server which is also the base for WindchillDS. It can be used for centralized user management and ThingWorx can be configured to login with users from this Directory Service.   Before we start Pre-requisiste Docker on Ubuntu JKS keystore with a valid certificate JKS keystore is stored in /docker/certificates - on the machine that runs the Docker environments Certificate is generated with a Subject Alternative Name (SAN) extension for hostname, fully qualified hostname and IP address of the opendj (Docker) server Change the blue phrases to the correct passwords, machine names, etc. when following the instructions If possible, use a more secure password than "Password123456"... the one I use is really bad   Related Links https://hub.docker.com/r/openidentityplatform/opendj/ https://backstage.forgerock.com/docs/opendj/2.6/admin-guide/#chap-change-certs https://backstage.forgerock.com/knowledge/kb/article/a43576900   Configuration Generate

A user can make a direct REST call to Thingworx platform, but when it comes to a website trying to make a REST call. The platform server blocks the request as it is a Cross-Origin request. To enable this feature, the platform server needs to allow Cross-Origin request from all/specific websites. Enabling Cross-Origin request can be done by adding CORS filter to the server.CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) specification enables the cross-origin requests from other websites deployed in a different server. By enabling CORS filter, a 3rd party tool or a website can retrieve the data from Thingworx instance. Follow the below steps inorder to update the CORS filter:Update web.xml file (located in $CATALINA_HOME/conf/web.xml)For Minimal Configurations, add the below code:<filter><filter-name>CorsFilter</filter-name>  <filter-class>org.apache.catalina.filters.CorsFilter</filter-class></filter><filter-mapping>  <filter-name>CorsFilter

Setting Up the Azure Load Balancer with a ThingWorx High Availability Deployment Purpose In this post, one of PTC’s most experienced ThingWorx deployment architects, Desheng Xu, explains the steps to configure Azure Load Balancer with ThingWorx when deployed in a High Availability architectural model.   This approach has been used successfully on customer implementations for several ThingWorx 7.x and 8.x versions. However, with some of the improvements planned for ThingWorx High Availability architecture in the next major release, this best practice will likely change (so keep an eye out for updates to come).   Azure Load Balancer The overview article What is Azure Load Balancer? from Microsoft will give you a high-level understanding of load balancers in general, as well as the capabilities and limitations of Azure Load Balancer itself. For our purposes, we will leverage Azure Load Balancer's capability to manage incoming internet traffic to ThingWorx Platform virtual machi