IoT & Connectivity Tips

Axeda Enterprise has long provided a feature to run custom code on the server side in response to end user requests or events triggered by data sent in by remote agents.  Version 6.6 introduced Axeda Artisan - an Apache Maven based tool to add modern best practices to developing Axeda-based solutions, using modern code editors such as Eclipse and IntelliJ, and allowing for the use of source code control tools like Git or Clearcase.  One downside to Artisan, however, is that it has no export tool - no way to take currently existing entities in the Axeda instance, and save them. The attached Groovy script, GetCustomObjects.groovy, solves that problem for custom objects.  It will iterate an Axeda instance and save any found CustomObjects to disk for backup, or to use to bootstrap an Artisan project from an existing instance. { / }  » groovy GetCustomObjects.groovy usage: getCustomObjects -acceptBadSSL          Ignore any TLS validation issues -h                     help -instance <instance>   instance name - directory to store results -password <password>   password -url <url>             url of Axeda Machine Cloud -username <username>   username An example call might look like: { / } groovy GetCustomObjects.groovy -instance prod-instance -url https://prod-instance.example.com -username <uname> -password <pwd> This will save all custom objects in a directory called prod-instance.

Steps 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.

Scoring is the process of making the prediction on the basis of the available data. Scoring is the process of assigning a predicted outcome to an individual record based on running that record’s conditions through the trained model. It allows you to request and retrieve individual record level prediction scores for a defined data set for a set of prediction topics. The accuracy of the score will likely be a direct reflection of the error rate produced by the Trained Model. Why the score value exceeds min or max value range of feature There are a few concepts to address with regards to this: Scoring outputs: It is important to note that when training an analytics model, the method is to create a generalizable model from a relatively small training dataset. By its nature, we expect the training process to see a limited subset and not an exhaustive list of all possible values for many constraints, especially time and practicality. As such, these generalized models will be expected to handle unseen data in the form of new combinations or values outside of previously observed ranges (more on this below). One common way to see scores that exceed the observed ranges in training, under the assumption that the goals are continuous, is to use prescriptive scoring. Prescriptive scoring attempts to find optimal values for lever, meaning tunable, features in order to maximize or minimize score values. Min/Max constraints: these are constraints that are placed upon the inputs for training and expected inputs for scoring. For training: If theses ranges were provided as part of the upload process, then training will raise exceptions regarding invalid data. However, if the ranges are not provided - they will be inferred from the data and, as such, training will not see values outside of observed ranges. For scoring: validation of the ranges will only be performed on the inputs - not the outputs. It is very important to note that the handling of these "constraints" is dependent upon the data type. For categorical (e.g. colors) and ordinal data (e.g. shirt sizes), the constraints are strict and data that was not observed in training will raise exceptions during scoring. However, for continuous values (e.g. temperature ranges) these constraints are more informational in nature. For predictive scoring, our code will accept records with values outside of those ranges. The rule of thumb is that values slightly outside these ranges are acceptable and that as the values stray farther from the ranges, the accuracy of the model degrades very quickly. For prescriptive scoring, these constraints are used to determine the acceptable ranges of values to try when determining the optimal values. Values outside of these constraints will NOT be tried. How to handle goal values while scoring What should be the value for the goal(objective TRUE) column in new data which would be scored using existing prediction model? <Dataset for making prediction model> Independent value goal field -0.65 0 -0.75 0 -0.85 0 0.85 1 0.45 1 ~~~ ~~~ <New data to be scored> Independent value goal field -0.25 ?? 0.35 ?? -0.45 ?? 0.95 ?? 0.15 ?? ~~~ ~~~ Now scoring, by its definition, does not take into consideration the goal column when being run. Seeing as the goal column above is a Boolean, we can populate the yet to be scored records with either a 0 or 1 and it won’t matter when it comes to scoring.

You can control the Tracking Indicator that is used to mark the ThingMark position. The Tracking Indicator is a green hexagon, in the screenshot below the red arrow points to it. You can control the display of this tracking indicator via the Display Tracking Indicator property of the ThingMark widget: But you can also get fancier. Here is an exmaple that shows the tracking indicator for 3 seconds when the tracking has started and then hides it automatically. To achieve such a behavior you'll have to use a bit of Javascript. We'll first create a function hideIn3Sec() in the javascript section of our view and then add it to the javascript handler of the Tracking Acquired event of the ThingMark widget. Step 1: Here is the code for copy/paste convenience: $scope.hideIn3Sec=function(){   // The $timeout function has two arguments: the function to execute (defined inline here)   // and the time in msec after which the function is invoked.   $timeout( function hide(){     // you may have to change 'thingMark-1' by the id of the ThingMark in your own experience     $scope.app.view['Home'].wdg['thingMark-1']['trackingIndicator']=false;   },   3000); } Step 2: That's it. Have fun!

This has been moved to its new home in the Augmented Reality Category in the PTC Community.

ThingWorx Analytics Interactive API Guide is a great way for users to familiarize themselves with ThingWorx Analytics APIs calls.  It even gives users the ability to run jobs through its interface.  This blog post will cover how to access the ThingWorx Analytics Interactive API Guide installed on a Virtual Machine or Standalone Server. Steps 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.

This has been moved to its new home in the Augmented Reality Category in the PTC Community.

Introduction Oracle 12c release introduced the concept of multi-tenant architecture for housing several databases running as service under a single database, I'll try to address the connectivity and required configuration to connect to one of the Pluggable database running in the multi-tenant architecture. Multi-tenant database architecture in scope of ThingWorx External Data Source What is multi-tenant Database architecture ? Running multiple databases under a single database installation. Oracle 12c allows user to create one database called Container Database (CDB) and then spawn several databases called Pluggable Databases (PDB) running as services under it. Why use multi-tenant architecture? Such a setup allows users to spawn a new PDB as and when needed with limited resource requirements, easily administer several PDBs just by administering the container database - since all the PDBs are contained within a single database's tablespace structure, start and stop individual PDB leading to low cost on maintaining different databases - as the resource management is limited to one CDB. When to use multi-tenant architecture? In scenarios like creating PoCs, different test environments requiring external data storage, maintaining different versions of dataset, having this run in the multi-tenant architecture could help save time, money and effort. Create Container Database (CDB) Creation of a Container Database (CDB) is not very different from creating a non Container Database use the attached guide Installing Oracle Database Software and Creating a Database.pdf same is accessible online. Create Pluggable Database (PDB) Use the attached Multitenant : Create and Configure a Pluggable Database (PDB) in Oracle Database 12c PDF guide to create and plug a Pluggable Database into the Container Database created in previous step, same is accessible online Using above guide I have bunch of pluggable databases as can be seen below. I'll be using TW724 for connecting to ThingWorx server as an external datasource for following example Connect to a Pluggable Database(PDB) as external data source for ThingWorx Download and unzip the Relational Databases Connectors Extension from ThingWorx Marketplace and extract Oracle12Connector_Extension Import Oracle12Connector_Extension to the ThingWorx using Extension -> Import Create a Thing using OracleDBServer12 Thing Template , e.g. TW724_PDB_Thing Navigate to the Configurations for TW724_PDB_Thing to update the default configuration: JDBC Driver Class Name : oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver JDBC Connection String : jdbc:oracle:thin:@//oravm.ptcnet.ptc.com:1521/tw724.ptcnet.ptc.com Database Username : <UserName> Database Password : <password>   5. Once done save the entity Note: A PDB in a container database can be reached only as a service and not using the CDB's SID. In the above configuration TW724 is a PDB which can be connected to via it's service name i.e. TW724.PTCNET.PTC.COM Let's head to the Services tab for TW724_PDB_Thing to query and access the PDB data Creating Services to access the PDB as external database source for ThingWorx Once the configuration is done the TW724_PDB_Thing is ready for use. The queries remain the same as any other SQL query needed to access the data from Oracle. Service for creating a Table Once on the Services tab for the TW724_PDB_Thing click on Add My Service select the service handler as SQL Command to use following script to create a testTable1 in the PDB create table testTable1 (     id NUMBER GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY primary key,     col1 varchar2(100),     col2 number ) Note: GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY option is Oracle 12c specific and I included it here for the reason that with Oracle 12c the possibility to auto generate is now built in with that option simplifying the sequence generation when compared with older Oracle versions such as Oracle 11g. User creating table will need access right on creating table and sequence checkout the Oracle documentation on Identity for more on this. Service for getting all the data from the table Add another service with script Select * from testTable1 for getting all the data from the table Service for inserting data into the table Adding another service with script insert into testTable1 (col1, col2) values ('TextValue', 123)  will insert the data into the table created above Service for getting all tables from the PDB i.e. TW724 Using Select * from tab lists all the available tables in the TW724 PDB Summary Just a quick wrap up on how this would look visually refer to the following image. Since this is a scalable setup - given the platform having enough resources it's possible to create upto 252 PDBs under a CDB therefore 252 PDBs could be created and configured to as many things extending the OracleDBServer12 Thing. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Edit: Common Connection Troubleshooting If you observe the error something like this Unable to Invoke Service GetAllPDBTables on TW724_PDB_Thing : ORA-01033: ORACLE initialization or shutdown in progress Ensure that the pluggable database, in this error TW724 (since this is what I created and used above in my services) is opened and accessible. If it's not opened use the command after logging in as sys/system (with admin rights) in CDB, which is ORCL in via SQL*Plus or SQL Developer or any SQL utility of your choice capable of connecting to Oracle DB and open the pluggable database using the command : alter pluggable database tw724 open;

Hello, There have been some inquires about how can one use AngularJS for developing custom parts that can run in the ThingWorx environment. To address these inquires I have created a document that describes the process of integrating AngularJS with ThingWorx. The document attached comes with the source code for the examples presented throughout the document and an extension for AngularJS 1.5.8 and angular-material components. Feedback is appreciated. Thank you.

The system user can become a vital point for properly yet conveniently securing your application. From the ThingWorx helpcenter: The system user is a system object in ThingWorx. With the System User, if a service is called from within a service or subscription (a wrapped service call), and the System User is permitted to execute the service, the service will be permitted to execute regardless of the User who initially triggered the sequence of events, scripts, or services. http://support.ptc.com/cs/help/thingworx_hc/thingworx_7.0_hc/index.jspx?id=SystemUser&action=show A few important notes to remember: It is not possible to log in as a system user Adding a system user to the Administrators group will not grant it the administrator permissions Adding a system user to the Everyone organization will not grant it the same visibility As an option, one of the posts on our community provides a script to assign all of the permissions to the system user for a one time set up: https://community.thingworx.com/community/developers/blog/2016/10/28/assigning-the-system-user-through-script Example: 1. Create a new template T1, several things Thing1, Thing2, Thing3 2. Create a new thing NewThing and a new user BlankUser 3. Create a service within NewThing that uses ThingTemplates[“T1"].GetImplementingThings() and give all the permissions to the new non-admin user, BlankUser Now the service on the template T1 can be accessed through the NewThing without explicit permissions for the BlankUser but rather through the system user. When manipulating with data (involving read/write and access to persistence provider), the BlankUser would require more than  just visibility permissions. For example, for a Stream, the following permissions would need to be set up: 1. Visibility on Stream template,StreamProcessingSubsystem, PersistenceProvider 2. Read/write permission on the Stream thing in the use case, created with the Stream template. Similarly, for other sources of data, things, templates and resources involved need visibility and, depending on the scenario, read/write permissions on the specific template.

Metrics for Model evaluation used in ThingWorx Analytics In ThingWorx Analytics, we consider different kinds of metrics to evaluate our models. The choice of metric completely depends on the type of model and the implementation plan of the model. After you are finished building your model, these 3 metrics will help you in evaluating your model accuracy. Here are below further explanations about the 3 metrics used. 1-The ROC Curve: To understand what is ROC (Receiver operating characteristic) curve, let's look at the confusion matrix below. We observe that for a probabilistic model, we get a different value for each metric. Hence, for each sensitivity, we get a different specificity. The two vary as follows: The ROC curve is the plot between sensitivity and (1- specificity). (1- specificity) is also known as false positive rate and sensitivity is also known as True Positive rate. Following is the ROC curve for the case in hand Let’s take an example of threshold = 0.5 (refer to confusion matrix). Here is the confusion matrix: As you can see, the sensitivity at this threshold is 99.6% and the (1-specificity) is ~60%. This coordinate becomes on point in our ROC curve. To bring this curve down to a single number, we find the area under this curve (AUC). Note that the area of the entire square is 1*1 = 1. Hence AUC itself is the ratio under the curve and the total area. For the case in hand, we get AUC ROC as 96.4%. Following are a few thumb rules: .90-1 = excellent (A) .80-.90 = good (B) .70-.80 = fair (C) .60-.70 = poor (D) .50-.60 = fail (F) We see that we fall under the excellent band for the current model. But this might simply be over-fitting. In such cases, it becomes very important to have in-time and out-of-time validations. Points to Remember: For a model which gives a class as an output, it will be represented as a single point in ROC plot. Such models cannot be compared with each other as the judgment needs to be taken on a single metric and not using multiple metrics. For instance, a model with parameters (0.2,0.8) and model with parameter (0.8,0.2) can be coming out of the same model, hence these metrics should not be directly compared. 2-Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) RMSE is the most popular evaluation metric used in regression problems. It follows an assumption that error are unbiased and follow a normal distribution. Here are the key points to consider on RMSE: The power of ‘square root’ empowers this metric to show large number deviations. The ‘squared’ nature of this metric helps to deliver more robust results which prevent canceling the positive and negative error values. In other words, this metric aptly displays the plausible magnitude of the error term. It avoids the use of absolute error values which is highly undesirable in mathematical calculations. When we have more samples, reconstructing the error distribution using RMSE is considered to be more reliable. RMSE is highly affected by outlier values. Hence, make sure you’ve removed outliers from your data set prior to using this metric. As compared to mean absolute error, RMSE gives higher weighting and punishes large errors. 3-Pearson Correlation Coefficient This metric measures how highly correlated are two variables and is measured from -1 to +1. A Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 1 indicates that the data objects are perfectly correlated but in this case, a score of -1 means that the data objects are not correlated. In other words, the Pearson Correlation score quantifies how well two data objects fit a line. There are several benefits to using this type of metric. The first is that the accuracy of the score increases when data is not normalized. As a result, this metric can be used when quantities (i.e. scores) varies. Another benefit is that the Pearson Correlation score can correct for any scaling within an attribute, while the final score is still being tabulated. Thus, objects that describe the same data but use different values can still be used. The below figure demonstrates how the Pearson Correlation score may appear if graphed. The chart demonstrates the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. The axes are the scores given by the labeled critics and the similarity of the scores given by both critics in regards to certain an_items. In essence, the Pearson Correlation score finds the ratio between the covariance and the standard deviation of both objects. In the mathematical form, the score can be described as: In this equation, (x,y) refers to the data objects and N is the total number of attributes

This is part of the continuing series of Blog posts regarding Troubleshooting the Application, this article will discuss more advance issues that some clients and customer have encountered while building or using ThingWorx Analytics. Packer Script Error – Unable to Download CentOS Image As the application is developed and built inside a CentOS image, the ThingWorx Analytics Packer Script tool for Virtual Machine Appliance creation utilizes the CentOS mirror repository in the creation process. When the end user is attempting to build the Virtual Machine Appliance with the Packer Script media creation tool, part of the process is to download the CentOS 7 ISO image file as the basis for the operating system that the ThingWorx Analytics Server software will be installed to. If CentOS updates or changes their mirror links for the source file ISO, you may encounter the following error: ==> virtualbox-iso: Downloading or copying Guest additions virtualbox-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso ==> virtualbox-iso: Downloading or copying ISO virtualbox-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///local-file-repo/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso virtualbox-iso: Error downloading: open local-file-repo/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso: The system cannot find the path specified. virtualbox-iso: Downloading or copying: http://mirror.spro.net/centos/7/isos/x86_64/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso virtualbox-iso: Error downloading: checksums didn't match expected: 88c0437f0a14c6e2c94426df9d43cd67 ==> virtualbox-iso: ISO download failed. Build 'virtualbox-iso' errored: ISO download failed. ==> Some builds didn't complete successfully and had errors: --> virtualbox-iso: ISO download failed. ==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created. Solution Method 1: Configuration File Replacement We have created a custom JSON configuration file that resolves the mirror issue for CentOS 7 v1611. You can download the JSON file here; you may have to right-click and “save link as” a JSON extension file. Also note, you will have to save/rename this JSON file as neuron-solo-variables.json. Using this file, navigate to your Packer Script builder directory, usually this is found in the following path: <PATH>\ThingWorx-Analytics-Server-Standalone\components\vm-builder\neuron-vm-builder Copy the new JSON file into this directory, and replace the current existing copy. You can now re-run the Packer Script for your desired Virtual Machine Appliance output. Method 2: Manual Configuration File Adjustment You will have to locate an active mirror for CentOS 7. A list of current active mirrors can be found here. When selecting a mirror, you will need to select the Minimal ISO install, as this is the base image that is used for the VM creation. Next, you will have to open the current neuron-solo-variables.json configuration file located in the <PATH>\ThingWorx-Analytics-Server-Standalone\components\vm-builder\neuron-vm-builder directory. You will have to replace the os_image_download_url value with an active Mirror URL from the list above. Next, for the os_iso_md5_checksum variable, you will need to replace the entry with the new SHA256 checksum from CentOS, which can be located here. Default Settings: New Settings: Save changes and close the neuron-solo-variables.json configuration file. CentOS has switched over from MD5 to SHA256 checksums. Even though in the following the variable name has “MD5” in the string, we will be modifying a second JSON configuration file to address this. In the same directory that we are currently working in, open the neuron-solo.json configuration file. You will need to modify the attribute iso_checksum_type to sha256 Default Settings: New Settings: Save changes and close the neuron-solo.json configuration file. You can now re-run the Packer Script for your desired Virtual Machine Appliance output.

This document is a general reference/help with configuring and troubleshooting google email account with the ThingWorx mail extension. To start with the configuration: SMTP: smtp.gmail.com 587, TLS checked.  If SSL is being used, the port should be 465. POP3: pop.gmail.com 995 To test, go to "Services" and click on "test" for the SendMessage service. Successful request will show an empty screen with green "result" at the top. Possible errors: Could not connect to SMTP host: smtp.gmail.com, port: 587 with nothing else in the logs. Check your Internet connection to ensure it's not being blocked. <hostname:port>/Thingworx/Common/locales/en-US/translation-login.json 404 (Not Found) Check your gmail folders for incoming messages regarding a sign-in from unknown device. The subject will be "Someone has your password", and the email  content will include the device, location, and timestamp of when the incident occurred. Ensure to check the "this was me" option to prevent from further blocking. This may or may not be sufficient, sometimes this leads to another error - "Please log in via your web browser and 534-5.7.14 then try again. 534-5.7.14 Learn more at 534 5.7.14..." The error can be resolved by: Turning off “less secure”  feature in your Gmail settings. You have to be logged in to your gmail account to follow the link: https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps​ Changing your gmail password afterwards. I don't have a valid explanation as to why, but this is a required step, and the error doesn't clear without changing the password.

Since it's somewhat unclear on how to set up the reset password feature through the login form, these steps might be a little more helpful. Assuming the mail extension has already been imported into the Thingworx platform and properly configured - say, PassReset - (test with SendMessage service to verify), let's go ahead and create a new user - Blank, and a new organization that will have that user assigned as a member - Test. Let's open the configuration tab for the organization, assign the PassReset mail thing as the mail server, assign login image, style, prompt (optional), check the Allow Password Reset, then the rest looks like this: Onto the Email content part, it is not possible to save the organization as is at the moment: Clicking on the question mark for the Email content will provide the following requirements: Now this is when it might not be too clear. The tokens [[:user:]], [[:organization:]], [[:url:]] can be used in the email body and at the runtime will be replaced with the actual Usernames, organization, and the reset password url. Out of those fiels, only [[:url:]] token is required. So, it is sufficient to place only [[:url:]] in the body and save the organization: Then, when going to the FormLogin, at <your thingworx host:port>/Thingworx/FormLogin/<organization name>, a password reset button is available: Filling out the User information in the reset field, the email gets sent to the user address specified and the proper message appears: Since in this example only the [[:url:]]  token has been used in the email content, the email received will look like this: To troubleshoot any errors that might be seen in the process of retrieving the password reset link, it's helpful to check your browser developer tools and Thingworx application log for details.

ThingWorx Analytics Builder - Upload Data   This video walks you through how to upload data and shows the configuration settings. Please be aware that shown configuration settings page is different for version 8.1.   Updated Link for access to this video:  ThingWorx Analytics Builder: Upload Data

This is the Second Part of Getting Started wth ThingWorx Analytics. In this video,we would be using Postman.   During this video you will learn:   -Creating a Dataset -Entering the Dataset configuration -Uploading the CSV data File to TWA Server   Updated Link for access to this video:  Getting Started with ThingWorx Analytics Part-2

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. Note: Please be aware that the video states that a model has to be created before Signals can run, but this is no longer the case for version 8.1.   Updated Link for access to this video:  Create Signals In ThingWorx Analytics Builder

In this video you would see how to start to use your already created Virtual Image of ThingWorx Analytics using Oracle Virtual Box. This Video is Part-1 of the Series Getting Started with ThingWorx Analytics.   Updated Link for access to this video:  Getting Started with ThingWorx Analytics: Part 1 of 2

Steps to to navigate to different mashups on double click of different google map markers in ThingWorx Create a DataShape with two fields Location MashupName Create a DataTable using the DataShape Add required Location data and corresponding MashupName to be opened in the DataTable Create a mashup Add GoogleMap and Navigate widget to the mashup Bind All Data from QueryDataTableEntries service of the DataTable in the mashup to the GoogleMap widget by dragging and dropping that item onto the GoogleMap and selecting the Data option In GoogleMap widget properties select LocationField as Location Bind MashupName from Selected Row(s) in QueryDataTableEntries service of the DataTable in the mashup to the Navigate widget by dragging and dropping that item onto the Mashup Link and selecting the MashupName option Bind the DoubleClick event of GoogleMap widget properties in the mashup to Navigate widget by dragging and dropping that item onto the Mashup Link and selecting the Navigate option Save and view mashup Copy of my article as blog post: https://support.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS249997&lang=en_US

The term ‘Extension’ or ‘Plugin’ often has many different meanings. For example, from the point of view of a Product Manager it often means an ‘easy’ way to add additional functionality to an existing piece of software. In contrast, from the point of view of a Software Developer it often means new syntax to memorize, extensive amounts of API documentation to read and very often weeks or even months of trial and error to make this ‘easy’ addition of functionality.  We at ThingWorx recognized that in order to be a true Platform we need to take action to make the creation of Extensions easier at all phases of the process. Our development team took on the challenge of understanding what it is that normally makes this such a difficult process, and try and find solutions. We took to the open source community looking for a Platform that could offer our Extension developers a wide array of functionality that was easily accessible and familiar. This is where the Eclipse IDE comes in. We were able to create a Plugin of our own for the Eclipse IDE that makes it easy for an Extension Developer to create an Extension Project, generate ThingWorx specific code, manage all the project configuration and build files and also package the Extension. We can do all of this without having a developer read any API documentation or manually write any code, leaving the Extension Developer to focus on what they are best at, which is adding that additional functionality we mentioned earlier. Extensibility and the true nature of a Platform Extensibility is a core aspect of any true Platform as it allows users to add functionality at any time to meet new and changing requirements. The capabilities of extensions are almost endless but here are a few examples: Adding new UI Widgets to be used to visualize data Adding any custom third party Libraries to be used seamlessly in ThingWorx Easily accessing REST APIs outside of ThingWorx Creating helper Resources to be used across the entire platform Add custom Entities easily to multiple ThingWorx instances Provide custom Authenticators and Directory Services As you can see, it is possible to do practically anything that you or our community might find useful for the Internet of Things. This is the nature of a true ‘Platform’. How do I get started developing an extension? There are three steps that will help you dive into Extension Development quickly. First, an instance of ThingWorx Foundation and the ability to navigate the UI, called Composer. Second, a basic understanding of the ThingWorx Model, or “Thing Model”, is necessary. Finally, you will need an installation of the Eclipse IDE with the ThingWorx Eclipse Plugin installed to get started developing your extension. 1)  Getting familiar with ThingWorx Foundation The easiest way to get started playing with the ThingWorx platform is to head over to the Developer Portal and spin up a hosted ThingWorx Foundation server. This is as easy as clicking the ‘Create Foundation Server’ button and a 30-day hosted instance will be created for you to start using as your own personal development playground. If you prefer to set up and work in your own environment, you can also download a Developer Trial Edition to host on your own machine. In order to get familiar with ThingWorx Foundation, I recommend going through our ThingWorx Foundation Quickstart Guide that introduces you to the core building blocks of the platform as well as guide you through a typical scenario of creating a simple IoT application. 2)  Understanding the Thing Model Basics If you are already familiar with the Thing Model and know the basics of using the ThingWorx Platform, then you can probably skip over this section. If you aren’t, or just want a refresher, I’ll go over the basics here. The Thing Model is a collection of Entities that define your solution or business model in ThingWorx. You need a Thing Model for a few reasons.  For those in software development, the Thing Model and its benefits are very similar to those of the Object Oriented programming model.  A good model allows you to maximize reusability, maintainability, and encapsulation.  Having a sound Thing Model means that the future of your IIoT solution will be minimally affected by things like migration, iterative changes, permission changes and security vulnerabilities. The three most commonly used and most important Entities within your model are Things, Thing Templates, and Thing Shapes. These entity types will be the main building blocks for your Thing Model. These are only a few of the Entity Types provided by ThingWorx. It is not necessary but definitely recommended, to have a more comprehensive understanding of the Thing Model, and to work with the entire collection of Entity Types within the ThingWorx Platform by going through the ThingWorx Foundation Quickstart Guide on the Developer Portal. 3)  Dive into the Eclipse Plugin and develop your own extension Lastly, if you don’t have Eclipse IDE installed, head over to the eclipse.org download page and get one installed on your machine. Once you have that, you can find the Eclipse Plugin on our Marketplace here. In a next step, you will want to create a new Extension Project. We added a ThingWorx Extension perspective that enables all of the custom functionality.   Once in the correct perspective, we tried to make our plugin as intuitive as possible. We did this by following as many of the Eclipse usability standards as we could, which means that if you are familiar with the Eclipse IDE you should be able to find most of the ThingWorx functionality on your own. For Example, a simple ‘File’ >> ‘New’ will show you all the options for creating a Project. Creating a new ThingWorx Extension project requires a Name and a ThingWorx Extension SDK (found on the ThingWorx Marketplace) of the version of ThingWorx that you are building your extension for.   By utilizing the capabilities of the Eclipse IDE, we were able to automate the creation of many of the artifacts that had slowed extension developers down. The wizard allows the plugin to handle creating and managing a build file and a metadata.xml as well as manage all of the project dependencies. Once you have an Extension Project, you can use the ThingWorx menus to create your Entities. These actions will create the necessary Java files and manage their applicable entry within the metadata.xml of your project.   After creating your Entity, you can right click the applicable java file which will show you the ‘ThingWorx Source’ menu. This houses the options to generate the code for additional characteristics (Services, Properties, etc.) making the need to learn all of the custom annotations and method signatures a much less daunting process.   Once you have generated some code with the Plugin, it is time to get started implementing your solution - This is the point where my expertise ends and yours begins! If you are interested in getting some more in-depth information on this topic, check out these additional resources: Tutorial: We have created a tutorial that guides you step-by-step through the entire process of developing a ThingWorx extension. Webcast: Watch this 60-minute, interactive deep-dive into IIoT development and learn how to use the Eclipse Plugin to rapidly create a custom ThingWorx extension. Head over to the Developer Portal and start bringing all of your great ideas to life!

Thingworx actually provides some services for this, but it exports them to an XML file. I'm pretty sure that there are people who will be able to turn this into something easily legible in a mashup. There are two services in CollectionFunctions ExportUserPermissions ImportUserPermissions