IoT & Connectivity Tips

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  

In the 8.2 release, we have upgraded our Mashup Runtime to jQuery 3.2.  This will give the platform a much needed upgrade to its core visualization library which will bring bug fixes, better performance, security enhancements, HTML5 compatibility and support for current browsers.  We will continue to upgrade all of our libraries across the platform with each ThingWorx release to ensure we are current and optimized.   We are releasing this functionality in 8.2 as an early preview and to enable regression testing of your ThingWorx applications.  In the Next Gen Composer, simply click on User Preferences and look for this setting:     Enabling jQuery3 runtime   JQuery 3 does introduce some new breaking changes (not from PTC!) that may affect existing apps.  We recommend turning on the JQuery3 option and testing your apps as soon as possible so there is time to fix any issues.  Please let PTC know if you are finding issues through our support site and our support staff will coach you through the upgrade process.  In 8.3, the jQuery 3 library will be our default for the Mashup design and runtime.  This means you will need to address any compatibly issues that jQuery 3 introduces (if any) to your widgets/applications before upgrading to the 8.4 release, where jQuery 3 will be the only available option.  We are hoping this dual mode, early access will help everyone through the transition and produce the best IoT applications possible!   You can also use the guides here for your reference: https://jquery.com/upgrade-guide/3.0/ https://github.com/jquery/jquery-migrate#migrate-older-jquery-code-to-jquery-30 https://blog.jquery.com/2017/03/16/jquery-3-2-0-is-out/

I have put together a small sample of how to get property values from a Windows Powershell command into Thingworx through an agent using the Java SDK. In order to use this you need to import entities from ExampleExport.xml and then run SteamSensorClient.java passing in the parameters shown in run-configuration.txt (URL, port and AppKey must be adapted for your system). ExampleExport.xml is a sample file distributed with the Java SDK which I’ve also included in the zipfile attached to this post. You need to go in Thingworx Composer to Import/Export … Import from File … Entities … Single File … Choose File … Import. Further instructions / details are given in this short video: Video Link : 2181

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.

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.

This is a basic troubleshooting guide for ThingWorx. It goes over the importance, types and levels of logs, getting started on troubleshooting the Composer, Mashup and Remote Connectivity.     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.

Presentation for MFG Apps Tips & Tricks Session #3 - PTC IoT Starter Kit, Presented by Serge Romano 1DEC2017

As many already know, ThingWorx versions 8.0+ now support both Apache Tomcat versions 8.0.44+ and versions of 8.5.13+. For this reason, many will want to consider using the latest Apache version for their ThingWorx instance, even despite the fact that the installation documentation does not seem to provide examples for the 8.5.x versions. This is because much of the configuration between the two versions remains the same. One may question these similarities when looking at the updated documentation from Apache on configuring SSL Connector ports. It would seem like some of the more traditional elements are now unusable, since they are marked for deprecation (including keystoreFile, keystorePass, and clientAuth). However, for now, these elements are still usable because Tomcat will convert whatever is provided in the Connector tag to the brand new SSLHostConfig tag (used primarily by Tomcat going forward). Apache has noted that these configuration options will continue to be usable throughout the next few major versions of Tomcat. PTC is already working on documentation which helps utilize the new configuration options in the future, but it won't be available for some time. In the meantime, for step-by-step instructions and further reading, see our Knowledgebase Article using self-signed certs (this article uses a CA). Happy developing!

Dive back into the mashup builder and learn about advanced widgets and layout options.   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.

Introduction to the mashup builder, mashup types, widget and how to add services to a mashup as well as connecting data from the services to widgets and how to use events in mashups.   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.

An introduction to Java SDK, Java SDK and Eclipse, VirtualThing and ConnectedThingClient classes, how to establish communication, and additional features of the SDK.   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.

Key Functional Highlights Patching & Upgrades Supports upgrading from 8.0.1 using the Manufacturing Apps Installer    Streamlined patch support for customer issues Updated the installer technology to align with ThingWorx platform   App Improvements Fixed bugs with acknowledging alerts Added support for collecting feature data from National Instruments InsightCM product   Controls Advisor Added ability to retrieve KEPServerEX connection information in case the connection is lost or deleted Minor UI improvements   Asset Advisor Updated the UI for anomaly status   Production Advisor Improved the status history widget to align with Asset Advisor Added synchronized zooming to the chart widgets     Compatibility ThingWorx 8.1.0 KEPServerEX 6.2, 6.3 KEPServerEX V6.1 and older as well as different OPC Servers (with Kepware OPC aggregator) Support upgrade from 8.0.1     Documentation ThingWorx Manufacturing Apps Get Started     Download ThingWorx Manufacturing Apps Freemium portal PTC Smart Connected Applications

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

Presentation associated with the November 10, 2107 Tips & Tricks Webinar.

Presentation associated with Recording of the Friday, November 17, 2017 ThingWorx Manufacturing Tips & Tricks Web Session. Agenda: - Overview & Application Demo - Aron Semle - Architecture Overview - Varathan Ranganathan - Q&A