IoT & Connectivity Tips

Video Author:                     Asia Garrouj Original Post Date:            March 31, 2017 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 7.4 to 8.1   Description: This video will walk you through the first steps on how to set-up Analytics Manager for Real-Time Scoring and demonstrate how to share your predictive model from Analytics Builder into Analytics Manager, as well as to test the shared model.    

Video Author:                     Asia Garrouj Original Post Date:            March 31, 2017 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 7.4 to 8.1   Description: This video will walk you through the first steps on how to set-up Analytics Manager for Real-Time Scoring and demonstrate how to create an Analysis Provider and start the ThingPredictor Agent.     Please Note: In this video, the startup command for the Agent has changed in Release 8.1.  Please refer to the PTC Help center  

Video Author:                     John Greiner Original Post Date:            January 3, 2017 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.0 to 8.0   Description: This video walks you through how to access the ThingWorx Analytics Interactive API Guide.       Get the IP address of the ThingWorx Analytics Server Type:  ip a   Put that IP address into the desired web browser Your IP address may be different from the one in the picture above Add the port number of the server to the end of the IP address The Default  port number is 8080 Make sure to put a colon " : " between the end of the IP address and the start of the port number The port number could be different in some cases, depending if it was configured differently during installation Hit Enter and the main page will load.  

Video Author:                     Asia Garrouj Original Post Date:            December 9, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.0 to 8.1   Description: This video walks you through how to upload data and shows the configuration settings.   Please Note: In this video, the shown configuration settings page is different for ThingWorx Analytics 8.1.  

Video Author:                     Asia Garrouj Original Post Date:            November 29, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.0 to 8.1   Description: Signals indicate the predictive strength or weakness of specific features on the goal variable. Use Signals to explore which features are important to predicting outcomes, and which are not.   Please Note:  In this video, it states that a model needs to be created prior to running Signals.  As of ThingWorx Analytics 8.1, this is no longer the case.    

Video Author:                     Mohammed Amine Chehaibi Original Post Date:            December 2, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52 to 8.0   Description: In this video, we will be using Postman to: Create a dataset Enter the dataset configuration Upload the CSV data file to the ThingWorx Analytics Server  

Video Author:                     Mohammed Amine Chehaibi Original Post Date:            November 28, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52 to 8.0   Description: In this video we will cover how to start your virtual image of ThingWorx Analytics using Oracle Virtual Box.    

Video Author:                     Christophe Morfin Original Post Date:            October 10, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.x and 7.4   Description: In this video we cover the process of installing ThingWorx Analytics Server 52.1.  It is suggested that you first review the first part on prerequisites.      

Video Author:                     Christophe Morfin Original Post Date:            October 10, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.x and 7.4   Description: In this video we review the prerequisites needed prior to installing ThingWorx Analytics Server.  

Video Author:                     Christophe Morfin Original Post Date:            September 13, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.2 to 8.0   Description: In this video we cover the installation of the UploadThing Module.   Useful Links: How to copy files from Windows to Linux  

Video Author:                    Christophe Morfin Original Post Date:            September 13, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.1 to 8.1 Description: In this video we cover the different configuration steps required for ThingWorx Analytics Builder extension.   Please Note: This video uses Classic Composer.  The same operations can be done using the New Composer starting with version 8.0 as illustrated in the Help Center For release 8.1, the Settings menu differs from previous versions, see What's New in ThingWorx Analytics Builder 8.1 between times 00:12 sec to 00:40 sec for an up to date menu selection.  

Video Author:                     Christophe Morfin Original Post Date:            September 13, 2016 Applicable Releases:        ThingWorx Analytics 52.1 to 8.1 ​ Description: A short introduction to ThingWorx Analytics Builder The import of the ThingWorx Analytics Builder Extension  

Use Case: You’ve published a model from Analytics Builder to Analytics Manager, and then used service CreateOrUpdateThingTemplateForModel on resource TW.AnalysisServices.ModelManagementServicesAPI. A thing created from the resulting template will have an infotable called “data” which needs to be populated in order to trigger an Analysis Event & Job. For example you might have been following the online documentation for Analytics Manager > Working with Thing Predictor > Demo: Using Thing Predictor, link here. This script makes it easy to create a line of test data into field "data" on your thing to trigger the analysis event & job. Also fields causalTechnique, goalName and importantFieldCount are set programmatically, these are needed for the analysis event & job. Also this script might be useful as a general example of how to write to an infotable property on a thing. The JavaScript code is shown here and also attached as a text file to this post: me.causalTechnique = 'FULL_RANGE' me.goalName = 'predict_Compressor_failure' me.importantFieldCount = 3 // ThingPredictor.test_3f1a6a31-e388-4232-9e47-284572658a4a.InputParamsdataDataShape entry object //var newEntry = new Object(); var params = { infoTableName : "InfoTable", dataShapeName : "ThingPredictor.test-integer_afebaef3-b2cf-4347-824c-a39c11ddbb4a.InputParamsdataDataShape" }; // CreateInfoTableFromDataShape(infoTableName:STRING("InfoTable"), dataShapeName:STRING):INFOTABLE(ThingPredictor.test_3f1a6a31-e388-4232-9e47-284572658a4a.InputParamsdataDataShape) var myInfoTable = Resources["InfoTableFunctions"].CreateInfoTableFromDataShape(params); // 2 - CREATE INFOTABLE ROW USING object var newEntry = new Object(); newEntry._Pressure = 10.5; // NUMBER newEntry._Temperature = 45.1; // NUMBER newEntry._VibrationX = 81; // NUMBER newEntry._VibrationY = 65; // NUMBER //newEntry.key = 4; // STRING - isPrimaryKey = true // 3 - ADD INFOTABLE ROW USING TO INFOTABLE myInfoTable.AddRow(newEntry); // 3 – PERSIST INFOTABLE TO THE THING PROPERTY ‘data’ me.data = myInfoTable;

Pushbullet is a lightweight notifications platform and can be a way to explore Alerts and Subscriptions Basically create an an Alert on a property and Subscribe to that Alert Adding Alert to Property Humidity Adding Subscription The PTC-PushBulletHelper is just a generic Thing with a service called PushNotification var json = {     "body": Message,     "title":"Temperature fault",     "type":"note" }; var accessHeader = {     "Access-Token": "o.Hnm2DeiABcmbwuc7FSDmfWjfadiLXx2M" }; var params = {      proxyScheme: undefined /* STRING */,     headers: accessHeader /* JSON */,      ignoreSSLErrors: undefined /* BOOLEAN */,      useNTLM: undefined /* BOOLEAN */,      workstation: undefined /* STRING */,      useProxy: undefined /* BOOLEAN */,      withCookies: undefined /* BOOLEAN */,      proxyHost: undefined /* STRING */,      url: 'https://api.pushbullet.com/v2/pushes' /* STRING */,      content: json /* JSON */,      timeout: undefined /* NUMBER */,      proxyPort: undefined /* INTEGER */,      password: undefined /* STRING */,      domain: undefined /* STRING */,      username: undefined /* STRING */ }; // result: JSON var result = Resources["ContentLoaderFunctions"].PostJSON(params); You can test the Helper PushNotification service Next you can test the subscription

I have implemented an Edge Nano Server that offers the following advantages: Easy to setup Not limited to HTML protocol.  For example, an edge device can be implemented that connects to devices via Bluetooth Code can be found here: GitHub - cschellberg/EdgeGateway Code contains EdgeNanoServer, docker installation scripts(for installing Thingworx Platform), and a test client done in python. Don Schellberg Consultant

The Metadata for the 8.1 release has been updated from that of the previous releases as part of the architecture update that is new in 8.1.  The goal of this blog post is to inform you of these changes to the metadata, and where you can find more information on both the new metadata format, as well as all the other changes that are new for the 8.1 release. New Structure The image below provides an excerpt of what the metadata file itself will look like in practice. The table below provides a definition for what each field in the metadata is and how it should be populated in your metadata file. Parameter Description Required/Optional fieldName The exact name of the field as it appears in the data file. Required values A list of the acceptable values for the field. Note: For Ordinal opTypes, the values must be presented in the correct order. Required if the opType is Ordinal Optional for Categorical opType Do not use for Boolean and Continuous range For a Continuous field, defines the minimum and maximum values the field can accept. For informational purposes only. Optional dataType Describes what type of data the field contains. Options include: Long, Integer, Short, Byte, Double, Boolean, String, Other. Note: Select the most accurate dataType. Selecting the String dataType for numeric data can lead to undesirable results. Required opType Describes how the data in the field can be used. Options include: Categorical, Boolean, Ordinal, Continuous, Informational, Temporal, Entity_ID Required timeSamplingInterval An integer representing the time between observations in a temporal field. Required if the opType is Temporal Do not use for other opTypes isStatic A flag indicating whether or not the value in a temporal field can change over time. Marking a field as static reduces training time by removing redundant data points for fields that do not change. Optional Things to Remember Remember that the Metadata file that you create will need to match the data file that you have; furthermore, all of the columns that you have in your dataset will need to be represented in the metadata file. The metadata file needs to be a JSON file. Setting the opType parameter incorrectly can have a severe impact on system performance.  For example, setting a numerical field that has thousands of different values as categorical instead of continuous will cause the system to handle each value as an independent category, instead of just a number, which will result in significantly longer processing time. Additional References For more information on all the other changes that are new in the 8.1 release please follow this link for the complete reference document. Feel free to use the blank example metadata file attached to this post to help you get started on your own.

Sometimes you need to do something on a schedule. Axeda Platform is primarily focused on processing events as they happen. But in the case where some action needs to take place periodically, there are Rule Timers. A Rule Timer has a schedule to run, and a list of rules its associated with. Rule Timer Schedules A schedule is defined by a string using the cron syntax. This syntax is extremely flexible and powerful, but can be hard to understand. The fields are as follows: Seconds (0-59) Minutes (0-59) Hours (0-23) Day-of-Month (1-31) Month (1-12) OR jan,feb,mar, apr ... Day-of-Week (0-7) (Sunday is 0 or 7) OR sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat Year (optional field) Some examples "0 0 12 ? * WED" - which means "every Wednesday at 12:00 pm" "0 0/5 * * * ?" - means Fire every 5 minutes "0 0 2 * * ?" - means Fire at 2am every day Note: Rule Timer schedules are in GMT/UTC. Associated Expression Rules The Rule timer has no other purpose but to run Expression Rules. These rules can be System or Asset. SystemTimer means an Expression Rule with type set to SystemTimer. This rule will be run once per scheduled time. A system timer can run a script to export data every day, or enable some rules at the end of a beta program. The other type is an Expression Rule with type AssetTimer. This rule will be run for all associated assets at the scheduled time. Say you want to save the max speed every day for a fleet of vehicles. You have an Expression Rule that's associated with the model Vehicle. The rule  A Rule Timer is set to run every day. Rule SetMax Type Data If: Speed > MaxSpeed Then: SetDataItem("MaxSpeed", Speed) Rule DailyMax Type AssetTimer If MaxSpeed > 0 Then: SetDataItem("DailyMax", MaxSpeed) && SetDataItem("MaxSpeed", 0) Associated to Vehicles RuleTimer NightlyUpdate Schedule "0 0 9 * * * ?" Associated rule: DailyMax The SetMax rule stores the max speed in a dataitem for each Vehicle asset. The NightlyUpdate timer runs at 9am UTC (which is 3am Eastern US, and midnight PST.) It writes the max into a DailyMax dataitem and clears the MaxSpeed to get ready for another day. The effect of the timer is that each Vehicle asset will process an event and run any rules that apply to it. Note! If you create the MaxSpeed dataitem through the model wizard, it doesn't have an initial value! So the rule IF Speed > MaxSpeed will not do the comparison until the first day when the timer sets its value to be 0.

In this post we will take a look at using an existing JavaScript Library. The library will we will use is agGrid  which provides a very extensive Grid UI component. The objectives are To see how to add the library Use an external source to populate the grid Provide a click action when a user selects a row (Part 2) (see attachments - import AAGridExtensionExample as an extension and import as File PTC-ExternalSources-Entities ) Previous Posts for reference Widget Extensions Introduction Widget Extensions Click Event Widget Extensions Date Picker Widget Extensions Google Bounce We will not worry about CSS - I'm working on a post for that using Thingworx 8.2 CustomClass (CSS) feature. Also I will assume you have worked through the Widget Extensions Introduction The image below image below shows the resulting UI after grid population and a user clicked a row The following provides the high level areas of interest Steps 1. Create a Working Folder for example  AGGrid as in previous posts setup your ui folder and metadata file 2. Think of a name for the Extension - we will use aggrid and add a folder with this name under ui folder 3. create the required files as per previous posts - Note the jslibrary folder is where aagrid resides     Below shows the jslibrary folder the main file we care about is the ag-grid (we could use the min file but initially have the full makes debugging easier) 4. Setup the metadata file 5. Understand some of the agGrid requirements To create a grid we need to use the function agGrid which comes from the ag-grid.js       myGrid = new agGrid.Grid(gridContainer, gridOptions ); The gridContainer is where the grid will be placed in the DOM and the gridOptions is a definition object that holds all the settings for the grid before it is created. Using a init function inside the runtime.js (see previous posts for runtime)  we can get the gridContainer  by using a snippet like this document.getElementById(gridElementId); The gridOptions takes the form of a json object - note there are many options please refer to the agGrid documentation for more info. Our focus will be  columnDefs , rowData to start with. These 2 define the layout and the contents of the grid The columnsDefs takes the form of an Array of JSON basically headerName: and field The image below shows a hard-coded approach I took initially To make this more generic I created a Thingworx datashape and used a service script GetColumndefs to populate and output the columnDefs service script example uses a PTC-ExternalSourcesHelper thing below is the GetColumnsDefs service The next point of focus will be the gridOptions and the rowData (JSON  array of data ) based on the same definition as the columnDefs Both the columnDefs and the GridDataAsJSON (which turns into rowData)  shown below are setup in the ide.js file (see previous posts for ide) Returning back to the services we need to get some Grid data from an external source. For that we will create a GetRSSFeed and use that inside GetRSSAsJSON The GetRSSFeed  looks like this and uses the url input More Top Stories - Google News The GetRSSAsJSON looks like this looking back at the code maybe I should changed to result.rows when returning the GridData  but for now it works. The last thing is getting the data from the services and we use the updateProperty ( previous posts for ide ). Here we check for the property and set and pass the RawData to the drawaggrid function The drawaggrid takes in the rowData and uses the columnDefs to understand the format. Also the last thing the drawaggrid  function is create the actual grid. (Finally!) 5. lat but not least - Wire it all up in a Mashup! The first set is to zip up the Extension and Import  (see previous posts) The next is to create a Mashup and add the PTC-ExternalSourcesHelper entity and wire up the GetColumsDefs and the GetRSSAsJSON to the agGrid widget and then preview and hopefully it all works - I will upload the Extension and Entities shortly See you in Part 2 not yet created! (see attachments - import AAGridExtensionExample as an extension and import as File PTC-ExternalSources-Entities )

Sometimes the following error is seen filling up the application log: "HTTP header: referrer". It does not cause noticeable issues, but does fill up the log. This article has been updated to reflect the workaround: https://www.ptc.com/en/support/article?n=CS223714 To clear the error, locate the validation.properties ​inside the ThingworxStorage\esapi directory. Then  change the values of both Validator.HTTPHeaderValue_cookie and Validator.HTTPHeaderValue_referer to: Validator.HTTPHeaderValue_cookie= ^.*$ Validator.HTTPHeaderValue_referer= ^.*$

This expert session focuses on overviewing the patch and upgrade process of the Thingworx platform. It provides information on how to perform a patch upgrade for the platform as well as extensions upgrade, and when an in-place upgrade is applicable. It can be viewed as a quick reference note for upgrading your system.     For full-sized viewing, click on the YouTube link in the player controls.   Visit the Online Success Guide to access our Expert Session videos at any time as well as additional information about ThingWorx training and services.

This expert session goes over some basic backup and recovery principles, and provides details on how these principles can be applied to backing up a ThingWorx Server. Backup methods for the ThingWorx PostgreSQL, Neo4J and H2 releases are discussed.     For full-sized viewing, click on the YouTube link in the player controls.   Visit the Online Success Guide to access our Expert Session videos at any time as well as additional information about ThingWorx training and services.