There’s a lot that goes into getting a new software version developed and released. Ask anyone involved in such an endeavor what it’s like, and they’d nod their heads smiling and say, “Long hours, but well worth it.” Hard work pays off. As technology continues to evolve, ICONICS strives to ensure it leads the pack with advances in automation software and digital transformation technology to continue to deliver value to our customers and partners. As a global automation software provider of advanced web-enabled OPC UA and BACnet certified visualization, analytics, and mobile software solutions for manufacturing, industrial, and smart building applications, it’s what we do, and it’s what we actually love to do.

So, let me walk you through some of the exciting advances we’ve made in our 10.97.1 release: 

  • Hyper Alarm Logger – A brand new alarm logger to pair with Hyper Alarm Server, using all new technology for better performance, more control, and native integration with ICONICS’ asset-based organization. (AlarmWorX64 Logger remains available for backwards compatibility.)
  • MQTT Sparkplug Connectivity – New connectivity capability to subscribe to devices that support the MQTT Sparkplug B protocol.
  • BACnet with Secure Connect Technical Preview – An all new BACnet Point Manager that supports the new Secure Connect BACnet technology.
  • HTML5 3D Technical Preview – New preview capability to publish displays with a 3D Viewport to HTML5 and view 3D information in your HTML5-compliant browser. 

In our comprehensive “What’s New” overview, you’ll find the technical nitty gritty explanation about the 10.97.1 improvements. However, below is a simpler overview of some of the new features: 

Hyper Alarm Logger 

Our new alarm logger replaces the AlarmWorX64 Logger and has been completely revamped. It's faster too. It was built with the idea of redundancy from the beginning, and it features multi-threaded processing and logs to a SQLite database. 

MQTT Sparkplug Connectivity 

We’ve had the ability to talk to MQTT devices for some time now, but users had to set up a custom decoder to teach it what language the device was speaking. That was a problem in the industry since all MQTT devices basically spoke different languages. A nice way to understand this is to think of MQTT as a kind of an envelope to send letters in, but the different letters inside the envelope are written in different languages - letters might be in English, in Japanese, in German, so the recipient had to know how to read that particular language to understand the letter inside. Sparkplug B standardizes the format, so all “letters” are now in one common language. 

BACnet with Secure Connect Technical Preview 

This is a technical preview, meaning we’d like people to try it out to let us know what works well and what could be improved to better meet their needs. Of course, the BACnet protocol has been around for a while, and it came out with a new standard, ASHRAE 135-2020, that includes a feature called Secure Connect. And that's what our new BACnet point manager supports. Many of the current new devices support the new secure connect standard, so in order to connect to these, ICONICS recognized the importance of supporting that standard as well. Look for the new BACnet with SC point manager to try it out for yourself. 

HTML5 3D Technical Preview 

This technical preview opens up a lot of exciting possibilities for client applications. Until now, users could only leverage true 3D elements using the desktop application or by running it in Internet Explorer. However, with Internet Explorer on its way out, this won’t be a viable solution for much longer. ICONICS has been trying to move away from any dependency on Internet Explorer because of this, while at the same time, closing the technology gap between any features previously only available on a thick client and what’s possible in HTML5. For a while, we've had the HTML5 client type which can run in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and other emerging browsers, but it hasn't had 3D. Now it does. 

Another Feature of 10.97.1 to Be Excited About 

One thing people might be really excited about is that we’re giving you even more ways to avoid the use of scripting within your applications. Scripting is basically somebody writing some code to get the display to do something that it can't necessarily do natively. We've replaced that with commands. With commands, users can click a button to tell the application to talk to a certain part of the display and send information to it. It's kind of like a script, except there's no code. In other words, commands protect our customers from security vulnerabilities they might have inadvertently introduced by attempting to script certain functionality themselves. There was one gap though between scripts and commands - scripts could be executed on an event. If a new data value got downloaded to a certain tag on the screen, a script could be executed when that happened, but there was no way to execute a command. Until now. One of the new 10.97.1 features lets users execute commands on a GraphWorX64 event. As a result, ICONICS is hoping this feature will help more people move from Internet Explorer and scripting over to HTML5 and commanding.

A Few Adjectives That Describe the Benefits of 10.97.1 

Better. Faster. Wider support. More secure. More native integration. Users get software that supports the latest protocols and many new types of devices. And they get enhanced security which is paramount these days.

Upgraded Automation Software & Digital Transformation Technology 

There are plenty of other additions and improvements to version 10.97.1, and you can be sure these were all designed to better help you with automating your processes along your digital transformation journey. Iterations of software versions are labors of love – for sure hard work, but with an end result that is well worth it.

ICONICS - Always Committed to Helping Our Customers Gain a Competitive Edge 

ICONICS is committed to helping our customers, through our dedication to continuous improvement and knowledge sharing. So, to better understand how ICONICS can help you and your company, you have a couple of options. The first option: You can sign up for our Transform 360 webcast series and regional workshops. Aimed at different industries, we are hosting these highly relevant and informative events to provide insight into specific operational and digital transformational challenges that are unique to each field. Top subject matter experts will present case studies, best practices, and customer stories along with their own knowledge and experiences. No worries if you cannot attend on the day of each event as these webcasts will be recorded and available to watch on demand after the live airing.

And that brings us to the second option: You can have a look at the many sessions from our ICONICS Connect 2021 event which was held in September 2021. The use cases and demonstrations alone will get you psyched about how you and your company can envision and plan for a more productive, energy efficient, and sustainable future. It's a wealth of knowledge at your finger tips.