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Contact Rockwell Automation

Customer Support Telephone 1.440.646.3434Online Support http://support.rockwellautomation.com

Copyright Notice 2011 Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. 2010 OSISoft, Inc. All rights reserved.

This document and any accompanying Rockwell Software products are copyrighted by Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc. Anyreproduction and/or distribution without prior written consent from Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc. is strictly prohibited. Pleaserefer to the license agreement for details.

Trademark Notices

FactoryTalk, Rockwell Automation, Rockwell Software, the Rockwell Software logo are registered trademarks of Rockwell Automation,Inc.

The following logos and products are trademarks of Rockwell Automation, Inc.:FactoryTalk Historian Site Edition (SE), RSView, FactoryTalk View, RSView Studio, FactoryTalk View Studio, RSView MachineEdition, RSView ME Station, RSLinx Enterprise, FactoryTalk Services Platform, and FactoryTalk Live Data.

The following logos and products are trademarks of OSIsoft, Inc.:PI System, Sequencia, Sigmafine, gRecipe, sRecipe, and RLINK.

Other Trademarks

ActiveX, Microsoft, Microsoft Access, SQL Server, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual SourceSafe, Windows, Windows ME, WindowsNT, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporationin the United States and/or other countries.Adobe, Acrobat, and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/orother countries.

ControlNet is a registered trademark of ControlNet International.

DeviceNet is a trademark of the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association, Inc. (ODVA).

Ethernet is a registered trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel, and Xerox Corporation.

OLE for Process Control (OPC) is a registered trademark of the OPC Foundation.

Oracle, SQL*Net, and SQL*Plus are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

Restricted Rights Legend

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii)of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013

WarrantyThis product is warranted in accordance with the product license. The products performance may be affected by system configuration,the application being performed, operator control, maintenance, and other related factors. Rockwell Automation is not responsible forthese intervening factors. The instructions in this document do not cover all the details or variations in the equipment, procedure, orprocess described, nor do they provide directions for meeting every possible contingency during installation, operation, or maintenance.This products implementation may vary among users.This document is current as of the time of release of the product; however, the accompanying software may have changed since therelease. Rockwell Automation, Inc. reserves the right to change any information contained in this document or the software at anytimewithout prior notice. It is your responsibility to obtain the most current information available from Rockwell when installing or usingthis product.

Version: 9.00.05


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FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView User Guide v

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................1

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Product Contents..........................................................1

For End Users: Viewing Historian Data with FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView .....................1

Content of a Display Document .........................................................................................1Updates to Data in a Display..............................................................................................1Interact with the Display Document....................................................................................1

For Developers: FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Administration..........................................1Flow of Information.............................................................................................................1FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Executable....................................................................1FactoryTalk ActiveView Control .........................................................................................1Expiration of Displays.........................................................................................................1FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Setup ............................................................................1

ActiveX Controls and FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook Add-ins...................................1Create Display Documents ................................................................................................1Work with Element Relative Displays.................................................................................1FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Configuration................................................................1Develop Web Pages...........................................................................................................1

Embed ProcessBook Displays in Other Containers...........................................................1

Troubleshooting .............................................................................................................................1

Browser Security Settings..................................................................................................1FactoryTalk Historian Security ...........................................................................................1Displays and Connection Failure .......................................................................................1Revisions to a Display Don't Appear..................................................................................1Using FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView and Windows Server 2003 .................................1

Installation.......................................................................................................................................1

System Requirements........................................................................................................1Install FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView............................................................................1Uninstall FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView........................................................................1

Technical Support and Resources ...............................................................................................1

Help Desk and Telephone Support ....................................................................................1Knowledgebase..................................................................................................................1 Before You Call or Write for Help.......................................................................................1Find the Version and Build Numbers .................................................................................1View Computer Platform Information.................................................................................1


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Table of Contents

vi

Index ................................................................................................................................................1


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FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView User Guide 1

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView is a tool for viewing live and historical data from a variety

of data sources. It presents displays of live data from the Historian Server as well as

information from ODBC sources (via ADO or VBA). Using Microsoft Internet Explorer you

can view these displays with FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView on the Internet or within a

corporate intranet. You can insert FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView displays as ActiveX

controls in existing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or other reporting tools used in your

environment.

The live data displays, called Display Documents, are prepared from displays built in

FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook.

When you open a Display Document in Internet Explorer, the display automatically updates

with new data from the Historian Server. Dynamic symbolssuch as trends, bars, or

valuesupdate just as they would in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook. Certain VBA

scripting in a display is also available in FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView.

Chapter 1

Introduction


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Introduction

2

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Product Contents

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView includes the following components:

Developer's Kit (page 1)

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView software for end users: includes HistorianSQC, Historian BatchView, VBA, and ADO components

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView ActiveX control: a control with a simple set of

properties that allows viewing of the Display Document

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Executable: a set of files installed on the client

computer that provide data updates and VBA execution services

Documentation:

Comprehensive FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView User Guide in help file format,

installed in the Program Files C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\FactoryTalk

Historian\docs\PIPC\help folder (PIActiveView.chm). To view the FactoryTalkHistorian ActiveView help, right-click on a FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView

display and choose Help.

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView User Guide in PDF format. The User Guide PDF

is located on the CD but not installed by setup.exe. You can also download itfrom the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site.


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FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView allows you to browse displays of live data from the

Historian Server on the Internet or on a corporate intranet or from within a hosting

application.

When you view a Display Document in Internet Explorer, for example, the display

automatically updates every few seconds with new data that reaches the Historian Server.

Dynamic symbols such as trends, bars, or values update just as they would in FactoryTalk

Historian ProcessBook.

You can obtain specific data values from a trend, change the size of a trend, or adjust the time

period being displayed in a trend.

The steps involved in viewing a Display Document on a Web page with FactoryTalk

Historian ActiveView are:

1. Browse to an Internet or corporate intranet Web page that refers to a Display Document.The Web page downloads to your PC unless it is already cached there.

2. The browser loads the ActiveView Control, which starts the FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView executable in the background. FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView presents

the Display Document on the HTML Web page on your screen.

Note: If you need a password to connect to the Historian Server, a dialog box forlogging on appears at this point.

3. FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView (acview.exe) gets the appropriate data from theHistorian Server and loads the data into the Display Document. This data continues to

update as new data becomes available on the Historian Server.

Chapter 2

For End Users: Viewing Historian Data withFactoryTalk Historian ActiveView


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For End Users: Viewing Historian Data with FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView

4

For more details, see Flow of Information (page 1).

Content of a Display Document

A Display Document viewed through FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView can contain both

static and dynamic content. Static content may include bitmaps, schematics, or text. Dynamic

symbols include values, bars, XY plots, and trends that are updated when the data in the

Historian Server changes. A display developer can also include symbols that change colors as

certain values are reached.

Trends are plots of point data over time. A Value is a numeric value for a particular point in

the Historian Server. A value may or may not include a tag (point name) and a time stamp.

Bars are used to show values graphically as a percentage of a rectangle.

Each trend has at least one plot. The various plots and their labels may be displayed in

matching colors. If the trend extends to the current time, a dotted line represents the current

time. Labels may include the point name, description, value, and engineering units.


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Updates to Data in a Display


Updates to Data in a Display

Every few seconds, FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView updates the open displays with all the

new values for tags. The trends, bars, other symbols, and values from FactoryTalk Historian

calculations in each Display update to reflect the new information.

The FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView developer can alter this update scan rate.

Interact with the Display Document

The user interface is similar to that of a FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook Display in view-

only mode. You can interact with dynamic symbols in a Display Document in several ways:

Expand a trend(page 1)

Use trend cursors (page 1) to see values

Change the time range (page 1) forward or back

Change the time zone (page 1) shown to Client or Server time

For a display with layers, choose which layers to show and hide (page 1)

View the status of displays (page 1)

Use the Time Range toolbar(page 1) to modify time range

Configure the trend scale to switch to another type of value range (Autorange, Database,

Absolute)

If there is a VBA script in the Display Document, you can initiate other functionality, such as

selecting from a list of Display Documents or switching data points or servers being viewed.

You cannot perform analysis operations that call a dialog or new window (such as a TrendDisplay window or Point Attributes dialog). You cannot change the display, save it

separately, or resize display documents. No other menus or toolbars are available.

After you finish viewing a document and close the page, any interactive features that you

used revert to their original configuration.


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6

Expand a Trend

To expand a trend or XY plot to fill the Display Document, double-click it. To restore the

original dimensions, double-click the plot again.

Trend Cursors

Use trend cursors to determine values at particular points on a trend or XY plots.

To initiate a cursor, point with the mouse at the value axis of the plot until the cursor pointer

appears and then drag toward the opposite axis. As you drag the cursor across the plot, the

value shown corresponds to the point on the plot where the cursor is. When you release the

mouse button, the line and value remain on the display. You can drag multiple cursors onto

the plot. When you close the page, the cursors disappear.

If a plot has multiple traces, the value box shows the value of each trace.In the following illustration, a trend cursor has a value of 2.1095 and a time stamp of

6/27/2006 9:23:02.83055 AM.

To remove a trend cursor without closing the page, drag it off the plot.

Configure Trend Scale

The Trend Scale dialog provides easy access to the value scale settings for each tag in a

trend, SQC chart or XYPlot. If the plot uses a data set, only the Autorange and Absolute

options are available for the Maximum and Minimum scale settings.


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1. In Run mode, double-click the plot's value scale to open the Trend Scale dialog.

Note: In FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook you can also click View > Trend Scale.This menu object is not available in FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView.

2. Select the Single Scale or Multiple Scales radio button.

3. If you are using multiple scales, then select the tag for which to set the scale options fromthe Tags drop-down list.

4. Select Autorange, Database, or Absolute options for the Maximum and Minimumvalues of the scale.

Autorange: sets the value scale using the minimum and maximum tag values

between the trend start time and end time.

Database: sets the value scale using the tag attribute values in the Point Database.Zero is the minimum. Zero + Span is the maximum. See the Historian Server

Reference Guide for more information on tag attributes.

Absolute: allows you to enter a custom value for the value scale of a tag. Enter the

value in the adjacent box.

5. If you have selected the Absolute option, then type in the Maximum and Minimumvalues of the scale in the adjacent boxes.

6. ClickOK.

Modifications made to a trend through use of this dialog do not affect the stored settings of

the trend.

Note: To return the trend scale to its original settings, click Revert on the context menu.

View Layers

Layers can be created in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook displays. Layers allow you to

treat related graphical elements as a group. You can hide or show a layer at run time. There is


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8

an interface for showing and hiding layers this in both FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook

and FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView.

To view or hide layers in a display, right-click the display and choose Layers in the View

dialog, select the Visible check box for any layer you want to show, and clear the check box

for any layer you want to hide.

The Index column shows the layer's order in the collection. The Count column shows the

number of symbols on the layer.

Show or Hide Traces

Trend traces can be temporarily hidden at Run time so that other data on a trend is easier to

view.

1. Click on a legend item to hide or show the associate trace on the plot,

-or-

If viewing a trend, right-click on a trend symbol.

2. On the Trend symbol submenu, select Trend Traces. A sub-menu appears allowing youto:

Show All

Hide All

Show/Hide individual traces


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3. Select an option to hide or show the trace on the plot. If the trace has a regression lineconfigured, the regression line is also hidden. When a trace is hidden:

the trace name is dimmed in the legend and the description, value, and engineeringunits are hidden (if they were shown before).

the space reserved on the legend for the description, value, and engineering units

collapses so that the trace under the hidden trace is moved. This clearly shows the

visible traces on the legend, especially on a trend with many traces.

on a multi-scale trend, the value scale associated with the hidden trace is hidden.

on a single scale trend, the minimum and maximum values shown on the scale may

be adjusted.

You can show hidden traces by clicking their names a second time in the legend, or

by clicking the Revert button.

View a Status Report

The appearance of the Status button on the ActiveView toolbar indicates the current state of

dynamic symbols on the display:

State Description

No errors


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10

State Description

A dynamic symbol in the display contains a warning

A symbol is reporting bad data or shutdown status

A symbol shows questionable data

A symbol shows annotated data

A symbol shows substituted data

To view a status report for all of the symbols in a display, click the Status button on the

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView toolbar.

To view a log of system messages, clickMessage Log...

To save the status report, clickSave to File.

XYPlot Statistics

The XYPlot Statistics dialog allows you to view and export raw data values and statistics,such as the mean and standard deviation of each tags data.

You can also view these statistics in the Details Window in FactoryTalk Historian

ProcessBook.

To open the XYPlot Statistics dialog:

1. In Run mode, double-click the XYPlot symbol. The Statistics dialog appears.

2. In the Options drop-down list, select Raw Data or Statistics.


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To save this data to a text file:

1. Click the Save Data to File button. The Save As dialog appears.

2. Enter a file name in the Save As dialog. The data is saved to the file in the followingformat:

Tag,


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12

Start Time,

End Time,

Count, < number of points paired>

Mean, STDEV,

Data Type,

Index, Time, Value, Status

, , ,

, , ,

Tag,

Start Time,

End Time,

Count, < number of points paired>

Mean,

STDEV,

Correlation,

Slope,

Intercept,

Data Type,

Index, Time, Value, Status

, , ,

, , ,

Etc.

Time and Time Ranges

The following example is a trend displaying data through the current time. The right border

of the trend is dotted, signifying current time, rather than solid, signifying a specific time inthe past or future. The value scale may also change if the trend is formatted to have

Autorange scaling.


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Depending on your configuration, the time zone represented on a display is either the client

machine time or the time relative to the Historian Server. For details, see Change Time Zone

(page 1).

Time Range Formats

All trends have beginning and ending time values that define the span of time for which data

is plotted. These values can be expressed in absolute or relative time.

Other symbols on a display are also affected by time ranges.

FactoryTalk Historian Time

FactoryTalk Historian Time abbreviations and FactoryTalk Historian Time expressions allow

you to specify times and time ranges for data using constants, variables, and shortexpressions.

FactoryTalk Historian Time Abbreviations

An interval is a unit of time that can be used in time entries. Intervals that support fractional

values are listed below. For intervals where the Fractions column indicates No, fractional

amounts cannot be used in time strings.

Name Short name Plural name Member names Fractions

second s seconds no yes

minute m minutes no yes

hour h hours no yes

day d days no no

month mo months yes (for example, December) no

year y years no no

week w weeks no no

weekday wd weekdays yes (for example, Tuesday) no


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14

Name Short name Plural name Member names Fractions

yearday yd yeardays no no

You can spell out month and weekday names, or enter the first three letters (for example,

Dec, Tue).

FactoryTalk Historian Times can also be expressed using certain constants:

Constant Result

* The current time.

Today or t 12:00 am of the current day.

Yesterday or y 12:00 am of the previous day.

Sunday or sun 00:00:00 (midnight) on the most recent past Sunday (in referenceto the Historian Server).

FactoryTalk Historian Time Expressions

FactoryTalk Historian allows three types of time expressions: relative time, combined time,and absolute time. These time expression types are defined in the following table.

Expression Description Examples

Relative Time Relative time expressions specify a number of days,hours, minutes, or seconds with either a leading plussign or a leading minus sign.

The reference time, or starting time, for the relative timeexpression is the current time if both start and end timesare relative.

+1d

-24h

-3m

+24s

CombinedTime

A combined time expression is a specific reference timefollowed by a relative time expression.

*+8h

18-dec-02 -3m

t+32s

Absolute Time An absolute time expression is any time expression thatis neither a relative nor a combined time expression.

*

14-Dec-97

11-Nov-962:00:00.0001

t

y

When using FactoryTalk Historian times, follow these guidelines:

Use absolute or combined time expressions. Avoid using relative time expressions.

Multiple relative time expressions in a time range may cause an incorrect start time or an

error message, depending on the context of the expression.

Relative and combined time expressions contain only a single operator: either a single

plus sign (+) or a single minus sign (-). Additional operators can lead to unpredictable

results. For example, the following are not valid time expressions:

*+1d+4hT-1d+12h

The name or short name for an interval used to denote FactoryTalk Historian time is not

case-sensitive.


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FactoryTalk Historian Time String Examples

Time Syntax Examples

FactoryTalk Historian Time String Meaning

06-dec-91 15:00:00 3:00:00 pm on December 6, 1991

* Current time (now)

25 00:00:00 (midnight) on the 25th of the currentmonth

25-aug-92 00:00:00 (midnight) on August 25th, 1992

8: 08:00:00 on the current date

25 8: 08:00:00 on the 25th of the current month

t 00:00:00 on the current date (today)

y 00:00:00 on the previous date (yesterday)

sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat 00:00:00 on the most recent Sunday, Monday, ...Saturday

*-1h One hour ago

t+8h 8:00:00 am today

y-8h 4:00:00 pm on the day before yesterday

mon+14.5h 2:30:00 pm last Monday

sat-1m 11:59:00 pm last Friday

Time Interval Examples

In interval expressions, a positive or unmarked interval is based on the starttime, and a

negative interval is based on the endtime of a time expression.

For example, if starttime isy, endtime is t, and interval is +5h for a Sampled Data function,

then interpolated values are generated aty, y+5h, y+10h, y+15h, and y+20h. If the interval is

-5h, the interpolated values are generated aty+4h, y+9h, y+14h, y+19h and t.

FactoryTalk HistorianTime String

Meaning

1.5h One and one-half hours

32m Thirty-two minutes

49s Forty-nine seconds

+5h Five hours added to the time

beginning with the starttime

-5h Five hours subtracted from the timebeginning with the endtime


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16

Change Time Range

To change the time range represented by a dynamic symbol:

1. Scroll time ranges directly on a trend by using the Step Forward or Backward buttons

on the time scale. These time changes are not saved with the symbol.

-or-

Click to select the symbol you want to change. To select multiple symbols, hold down the

Shift key while selecting symbols. To change the time range for every symbol in the

display, click on an unused area of the display.

2. Right-click and choose Time Range.

3. In the Change Time Range dialog box that appears, select a range from the two drop-down lists or enter a range. You can enter time ranges in relative time, absolute time, or a

combination of the two. For details, see Time Range Formats (page 1).

4. ClickOK. The new values for the selected dynamic symbols appear.


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Note: You can also use the scroll bar in the FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView toolbar tochange the time range.

Trends with Future Time Ranges

Trends with time ranges that extend into the future update normally if the end time uses an

asterisk (*). Use an asterisk plus a time interval (for example, *+4h) to display updatingfuture time. The asterisk and plus sign are necessary; this feature does not work if you input

the time in a format such as 10-Jan-00 or T+10H.

Change Time Zone

You can show times in the Client or Server time zone for each FactoryTalk Historian

ActiveView display. To see or change the time zone in use, right-click the display and chooseTime Zone, then choose either Client or Server. The current selection is shown with a check

mark.

If you choose Client time, all the times displayed are in your client machine's time zone. If

you select Server time, all times appear with respect to the time zone of each Historian

Server from which the tag data is retrieved.

Any times that are input by the user (such as in changing the time range) are interpreted in the

selected time zone.

The FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Toolbar

To display a toolbar, right-click the display and choose Tool Bar.


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18

The toolbar options are:

Tool Description

Time Range scroll bar. To adjust the time range, select adynamic symbol. (To select multiple symbols, hold down the

Shift key. To change all the symbols in a display, click in anunused area of the display.) Move the slider or click thearrow buttons to change the time range being displayed.

Return to the configured time range of a selected symbol. Ifno symbols are selected, every symbol in the display returnsto its original time range.

Displays the Layers (page 1) dialog.

Indicates the presence and nature of status information. Theappearance of the Status button indicates a display's currentstate:

State

Description

No errors

A dynamic symbol in the display contains awarning

A symbol is reporting bad data or shutdown status

A symbol shows questionable data

A symbol shows annotated data

A symbol shows substituted data

Click this button to view the Status Report (page 1) dialog.

Displays the FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView help

Displays the About FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView dialog,which includes the FactoryTalk Historian ActiveViewexecutable version number and ActiveX control information.

To hide the toolbar, right-click the display (not the toolbar) and choose Tool Bar.

Trend Interactions

Trend Zoom 2x In or Out

Click the Zoom In or Out button at the bottom of a trend to reduce or expand the time range

of that trend by a factor of 2. In other words, if your time range is 8 hours, Trend Zoom 2x


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In divides the time range by 2 and displays the trend for a 4 hour time period. Trend Zoom

2x Out multiplies the time range by 2 and displays the trend for a 16 hour time period.

You can remove changes to the time range by clicking the Revert button .

Note: If a trend is too small these buttons may not appear. Double-click a trend toexpand its size and display hidden buttons.

If there are no trend cursors, the Trend Zoom 2x command zooms in or out of the last

portion of the time period. For example, if the initial time range is 60 minutes and you select

Trend Zoom 2x In, the trend displays the last 30 minutes. Trend Zoom 2x Out displays 120

minutes adding 60 minutes to the beginning of the trend.

When a trend cursor is displayed, the command uses the trend cursor as the center of the

zoomed trend. If several cursors are used, the last one set is used as the center of the zoomed

trend. See Trend Cursor, for more information on trend cursors.

Back and Forward Trend Buttons

Click the Back and Forward buttons on the trend time scale to scroll the time forward or

backward one increment. Each click adjusts the time scale by the current time range.

For example, if a trend shows 4 hours of data, clicking the Back button shows the previous 4

hours and clicking the Forward button shows the next 4 hours.

Browser Interactions

Back and Forward Browser Buttons

Click the Back and Forward buttons to switch to the previous or next Web page.

Refresh Button

Data is refreshed automatically. You can click the Refresh button on the Internet Explorer

toolbar to download a new HTML Web page, but it does not obtain either new data or a new

Display Document. Display Documents are stored in your cache until they expire.


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Flow of Information

When you open a Web page with FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView content, the flow of

information occurs as follows:

1. Open Internet Explorer and browse to an Internet or intranet address (URL) for a storedHTML Web page. The Web page downloads from the Web server unless it is alreadycached on your PC. The PC's Internet settings determine how long an existing page is

stored before it is discarded.

2. The Web page instructs the browser to create an instance of the ActiveView Control(pbdctrl.ocx) on your PC.

3. The Web page sets the DisplayURL property of the ActiveView Control. This propertytells where the Display Document (.pdi) is stored. The Control downloads the display(.pdi), which may be stored separately from the HTML page. The Control then opensacview.exe. See also Expiration of Displays.

4.Acview.exe connects to the Historian Server through the PI-SDK and retrieves actualdata for the display. You can see the data on the display within the HTML page.

Chapter 3

For Developers: FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView Administration


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For Developers: FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Administration

22

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Executable

The FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView executable, acview.exe, displays data in theDisplay file. If you open additional Display Documents, the same instance ofacview.execontinues to be used as the ActiveX (OLE) server; it is not necessary to log in to the Historian

Server again.

To improve performance, acview.exe caches the five most recently viewed displays onyour PC. To maintain the cache of recently viewed displays as well as to preserve the

necessary Historian Server connections, acview.exe continues to run, by default, for fiveminutes after the last instance ofpbdctrl.ocx is closed.

To maintain the server connection and prevent repeated logins, the acview.exe processruns for the length of the timeout setting after the last instance of the ActiveView Control isdestroyed. For example, if you navigate from one Web page to another and both use the

ActiveView Control, acview.exe continues to run. The default timeout period is fiveminutes.

In order to operate, acview.exe requires several supporting .dlls, ADO corecomponents, and VBA core components.

acview.exe Timeout

You can change the acview.exe timeout duration by resetting the registry key value:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{576EFBE0-77F3-11D2-A05B-00105A07D444}\TimeOut

Where TimeOutis the number of seconds, rounded up to the next minute, after which

acview.exe stops running after all the open instances of the control are closed.


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FactoryTalk ActiveView Control


FactoryTalk ActiveView Control

The ActiveView Control, pbdctrl.ocx, is an ActiveX control. It enables DisplayDocuments to be viewed inside ActiveX containers, including Web browsers. The

ActiveView Control relies on an ActiveX server for much of its functionality. The

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView executable, acview.exe, provides this support. Thecontrol is marked Safe for Initialization.

The control is embedded in Web pages using the OBJECT tag in an HTML document.

The ActiveView Control provides a read-write property (DisplayURL) that points to a

Display Document (.pdi file) for viewing. The control provides a read-only property(Display) that permits access to the Display Object's automation interface so that you can

manipulate the display from browser scripts. For details, see Automation in the online help.

Expiration of Displays

There are two kinds of caching of the PDI files.

Both HTML and PDI displays are cached when downloaded from a website to the local

machine. This is managed in part by Internet Explorer and the files are stored as

temporary internet files, also called browser cache. This type of file expires exactly 24

hours from the time it is loaded.

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView caches the last 5 displays within its memory. Once a

display is downloaded, the ActiveView Control uses it without further downloading,

unless the display has expired. This allows for fast loading of the display if you switch to

a different display and then switch back. These files drop off the last five list as other

files are used.

Data updates to cached files occur dynamically through FactoryTalk Historian SE. It is notnecessary to refresh the display to receive data updates.

You must reload a display to receive content updates. For example, you will not see a new

symbol that is added to a display that is already in your cache until you clear the cache so that

ActiveView can reload it the next time you view the display.

To remove a file from the cache in Internet Explorer:

1. ClickTools > Internet Options > General tab > Temporary Internet Files.

2. ClickDelete Files.

3. ClickOK.

You can change the default for expiration of displays within FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView by setting the PDI time (PDITTL)to a live value. You must be using the HTTP

protocol when you set the DisplayURL property of the control. The new setting applies to

displays that are added to the cache after the setting is changed.

1. Open the Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the CurrentVersion key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PISystem\PI-ActiveView\CurrentVersion


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3. Right-click in the right-hand pane and select New/String Value.

4. Enter PDITTL as the name of the value.

5. Right-clickPDITTL, select Modify, and enter the value in seconds.

6. ClickOK.This image shows an expiration value of 600 seconds.

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Setup

The Developer's Role

In FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView, the developer's role is to provide an environment for

the end user to view real-time data from the Historian Server and other data.

In providing the software to end users, the developer must:

Make sure FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView is installed on end users' machines

Provide Historian Server information to end users

Customize FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView settings (page 1) (optional)

Install any custom components used in your displays that are not installed by FactoryTalk

Historian ActiveView. For example, if you purchased a third-party chart to view data

within a display, you must distribute this chart to all FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView

machines so that users can view the chart in FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView.

You can create an environment using Web pages, Excel spreadsheets, or any other ActiveX

container. This documentation focuses primarily on the Web environment.

ProvideDisplay Documents (page 1) Create Web pages (page 1)

Use theExport utility (page 1)

Support environments other than the Web (page 1)


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ActiveX Controls and FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook Add-ins


Developer's Kit

Use theDeveloper's Installation (page 1) method to install the Developer's Kit. Development

tools are installed in the \pipc\acview\webdev directory.

The Developer's Kit helps you incorporate FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView into new orexisting Web pages. It includes:

sample.htm: a sample HTML page

export.pdi: an export utility for converting existing ProcessBooks (PIW files) toDisplay Documents with web pages

PIAPIConnections.exe: a tool for configuring Historian Servers

Security

Internet Explorer security settings can determine whether users can view Display Documents.

To view these settings, choose Tools > Internet Options > Security.For HTML pages distributed through a corporate Intranet, you may want to use a different

security zone with different settings than for external sites.

The security levels that are available for Internet Explorer are:

Setting Response

High Does not download or run ActiveX Controls, either signed or unsigned.FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView does not run.

Medium The user is prompted to download digitally signed components. Unsignedcomponents are not allowed to download. FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView doesnot run if unsigned components are required.

Medium-low The user is prompted to download digitally signed ActiveX controls and plugins.Unsigned components are not allowed to download. FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView does not run if unsigned components are required.

Low Signed components are downloaded without any user interaction. The user isprompted to download unsigned components.

Custom Allows you to configure every security setting, rather than groups of settings. Forusers who define custom security levels, we recommend that you set RunActiveX controls and plug-ins and Script ActiveX controls marked as safefor scripting to Enable.

DEP Security

Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a setting in newer operating systems, such as Vista, that

prevents malicious code attacks. FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView works correctly when

this setting is enabled.

ActiveX Controls and FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook Add-ins

Third party add-ins or ActiveX controls can provide additional functionality and visual

symbols in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook.


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To use these add-ins with FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView, review the information in the

Rockwell Automation Technical Support article,FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook Add-ins

and FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView, Making them work together (KB Article #RA

254378). FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook Add-ins that attempt to open a docking windowor a toolbar fail in FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView. This article provides details about the

limitations.

If you have a 3rd party ActiveX control you want to use, you must distribute it to all your

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView users, just as you would to any FactoryTalk Historian

ProcessBook users. Consult the documentation that came with the control to learn how best to

deploy it throughout your organization.

Close FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView and verify in Task Manager that acview.exe is not

running before you install and register an add-in.

Create Display Documents

You can create Display Documents using FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook. You can also

convert them from existing displays within ProcessBooks (PIW files) used in your facility.

Display Documents are saved as individual files with a .pdi extension.

In designing Display Documents either within a ProcessBook or as independent displays,

consider the following content guidelines.

Historian BatchView Symbols and Historian SQC Chart

You can include Historian BatchView symbols (trends, Gantt charts, results tables, and

runtime searches) and Historian SQC charts in a display if you have these ProcessBook

symbols installed in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook when the display is created.Historian BatchView and Historian SQC are both installed with FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView for viewing displays with those symbols.

Historian BatchView licenses are required for developers using FactoryTalk Historian

ProcessBook but not for FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView users.

VBA Programming

Display Documents may include additional functionality through VBA scripting. The Save,

Save As, and Print Preview Methods of the Display object may not be used in VBA script.

Size the ActiveView Control and the Display Document

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView does not permit scrolling through a Display Document.

For best results, design the display to fill a maximum of one screen.

The aspect ratio of the Display Document is maintained when the ActiveView Control

displays it. That is, the entire Display Document appears, no matter how small the space

provided.


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Create Display Documents


For best results, develop your displays using a lower screen resolution (such as 800 x 600).

Otherwise, if a Display Document is created on a high resolution display and viewed on a low

resolution display, the text inside the controls may truncate.

Guidelines for Building Displays

Abide by the following practices when building a display:

If you know the size of the ActiveView Control ahead of time, design the display to keep

scaling to a minimum. To accomplish this, restore the display window in FactoryTalk

Historian ProcessBook and then size the window to match the size of the ActiveView

Control's window. Very large displays that are viewed in small ActiveView Controls

usually do not show as well as smaller displays.

You can host more than one control on a page. Consider dividing dense content into a set

of displays.

For a display to scale well, keep each of the elements within the display scalable. In

particular, use TrueType fonts for PIValues, PIButtons, PIText, and any ActiveXcontrols, because they scale well.

When working with ActiveX controls, text elements on those controls may not scale

exactly. Allow extra space for disproportionately scaled text by sizing controls to give

room for text to grow beyond the bounds of the original design. For example, make a

command button larger and use a shorter caption string instead of sizing the button to

match the caption's size.

Select fonts for the Display Document that are likely to be available on each user's PC.

TrueType fonts are preferred because of their scalability. Your organization may have

standards for font use.

Any embedded ActiveX controls within a Display Document must be installed separatelyon every user's PC.

Embedded ActiveX controls, such as drop-down lists, usually do not resize well when the

Display Document resizes to fit the ActiveView Control.

If you include ADO data through PI Data Sets in the Display Document, ensure that the

ODBC data source is configured on each user's PC. If you use custom data sets from a

FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook add-in, that add-in must also be installed on the

user's PC.

Export Displays from FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView recognizes Display Documents (.pdi files) but notdisplays within ProcessBooks (.piw files). There are several ways to convert existingdisplays in ProcessBooks, either individually or a whole book at a time, to Display

Documents.

To convert an individual display within a ProcessBook:

1. Open the FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook application, the ProcessBook you wish toexport, and the display you wish to export.


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2. ClickFile > Save As. The Save As dialog appears.

3. Navigate to the folder where you want to save your display.

4. Enter a filename in the File name box.

5. In the Save as type box, choose Display Files (.pdi).6. ClickSave.

To convert all of the displays in an existing ProcessBook and store them in a single directory,

use the export.pdi file in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook. This utility also createsWeb pages referencing the resulting PDI files, although you are not required to use the pages.

1. In FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook, open the ProcessBook you want to export.

2. Open export.pdi (located in the acview\webdev directory).

3. In the Export Path box, enter the destination folder path. You can export the resultsdirectly to a web server.

4. ClickOK. The Export Status dialog opens so you can follow the export progress. Eachof the displays opens and the connections to the Historian Server are verified. You may

need to log in during the process. If any button links in the display fail, a message

appears in the dialog box.

5. Scroll down as the messages appear until you see "Export Successful."

6. If you want to save a log file, clickSave Log As and enter a path and filename for thelog file.

7. ClickClose to exit the Export Status dialog.

8. Close the export.pdiwindow.

9. Close FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook.

10.Browse to the destination folder and open pbhome.htm to view the displays.

How the Export Utility Works

The export utility, export.pdi, allows you to specify a ProcessBook to convert intoDisplay Documents (.pdi files) and builds Web pages for viewing the displays.

Once you identify a ProcessBook for conversion and an output directory, export.pdiopens each display in the ProcessBook, verifies Historian Server connections, and then saves

each display as a Display Document. It creates the following files:

Pbhome.htm: Users point to this page with their browsers

Pbmenu.htm: Menu of available displays shown on pbhome.htm Pbdsply.htm: Where the ActiveView Control is instantiated and displays are shown

external_script.js: Used to activate the ActiveView Control in the Web page

Next, export.pdi connects all the existing links in the displays and puts the icon,disp.bmp, in the destination directory. Links between displays within the originalProcessBook continue to work; other links may not. For more information, see Create Links

Between Displays or Applications (page 1).


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Work with Element Relative Displays


Once export.pdi is completed processing, you can move the contents of the exportdirectory to other locations, such as your corporate Web sites. Links continue to work

because they are relative.

The export.pdi utility is written in VBA. You can adapt the code to your specific needs.

Create Links Between Displays or Applications

Use caution when including buttons that link to other displays in your Display Document,

because these buttons may look for specific or relative paths in the file system and the paths

may differ among PCs.

One approach to avoid this problem is to assemble all your displays within one ProcessBook

in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook, link them, and then export the ProcessBook to

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView using the export.pdi utility.

Another approach is to include buttons in the HTML page that open other displays by

resetting the DisplayURL property of the ActiveView Control.

When you create a link, it stores both the relative and absolute paths. In the PI ProcessBookDefine Button dialog, when the Use relative path before absolute path box is checked, the

program checks the relative path first. When this option is not checked, the program checks

the absolute path first. If you are moving files around for two kinds of users then you may

prefer the relative path (check the box). On the other hand, if the files move individually and

the directory structure might change, it is better to prefer absolute paths (uncheck the box).

When End-Users See Updates

When you change or replace a Display Document on your Web site, users do not see this

change until the previously downloaded Display Document expires in their cache. SeeExpiration of Displays (page 1) for details. There is no automated way for a developer to

refresh the displays that are cached on each user's PC.

Work with Element Relative Displays

Displays can reference points that vary based on their context, as defined using element

Relative Displays. In FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView, the window used to select a

different element in FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook is not available. Use other

programmatic means to change the context.

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Configuration

The acview.ini file contains configuration and preference settings for FactoryTalkHistorian ActiveView (similar to the procbook.ini used for FactoryTalk HistorianProcessBook, and identical in format). This file resides in the pipc\Dat directory. Thesignificant keywords are:


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30

Keyword Section(s) Description

ToolbarVisibility Startup Specifies whether the toolbar is visible. When set to 1, thetoolbar is visible, when set to 0 (zero), it is hidden. Whena user turns the toolbar on or off, this setting updatesautomatically.

Show Value

Attributes

Startup Specifies whether value attribute flag icons appear. Whenset to 1, (the default) value attributes appear. When set to0, value attribute flags do not appear. Note that thiskeyword contains spaces.

EnableXPThemes Startup When set to 1, XP themes are supported in place of theVBA color palette.

ConnectUsingAPI Startup This option is useful if you have VBA code orProcessBook add-ins that use the PI API to retrieve datafrom the Historian Server. When set to 0 (the default),FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView makes connections toservers using only PI-SDK. When set to 1, FactoryTalkHistorian ActiveView makes connections to each serverusing both the PI-SDK and PI API.

UpdateTimeRange TrendDefinition,XYPlotDefinition

The maximum time range, in seconds, under which atrend or XY plot symbol updates. The default value is604800 seconds (7 days). If the time range is greater thanthis value, the symbol does not refresh automatically evenwhen the end time is "*". This value is different from theupdate rate (Timer), which is the frequency with whichnew data from the Historian Server is added to the display(by default, every 5 seconds).

Timer DataManager

Sets the poll timer, in milliseconds, for FactoryTalkHistorian ActiveView to update the display with any dataupdates and then updates the display. These updatesinclude event pipe data from the Historian Server and anynew data source re-queries. The maximum value is60,000; the default is 5000.

Collective Name CollectivePreference

Overrides the default FactoryTalk Historian ActiveViewsetting for connecting to the named Historian Servercollective. Note that this keyword contains spaces.

Any specifies that FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView canconnect to any Historian Server in the collective. This isthe default.

PreferPrimary specifies that FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView can connect to any Historian Server in thecollective but tries to connect to the primary HistorianServer in the collective. In addition, if a secondary serveris connected but the primary server becomes available,FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView reverts to the primaryserver.

RequirePrimary specifies that FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView only connects to the primary server in thecollective.


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FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Configuration


Keyword Section(s) Description

PB2TagResolution DataManager

Specifies how tags are resolved.

When set to 0, the default value, FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView uses the saved Point ID over the saved tagname. Use PB2TagResolution = 0, when renaming

Historian tags to resolve the tags using the Point ID.

When set to 1, FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView uses thesaved tag name over the Point ID. usePB2TagResolution = 1, when you want to use thesame tag but the tag has been moved from one HistorianServer (R&D) to another Historian Server (Production)

EnableXPThemes Startup When set to 0, XP themes are not supported. This settingallows viewing the VBA color palette from the Propertieswindow.

The values in the following example are not necessarily the default values.

[Startup]ToolbarVisibility = 0Show Value Attributes = 1ConnectUsingAPI = 0

[Trend Definition]MarkerWarning = 1UpdateTimeRange = 604800

[XYPlot Definition]UpdateTimeRange = 604800

[Data Manager]

TIMER = 5000

Migrate Displays to Another Historian Server

When you want to use an existing tag with a different Historian Server, FactoryTalk HistorianActiveView attempts to locate the correct tags. Beginning with PI SDK 1.3.6, when you use a

ProcessBook symbol with a Historian Server other than the one for which it was created, the

Historian Server is added automatically if it is discoverable on the network.

If the Historian Server is not discoverable, then FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView prompts

you to select a new Historian Server. Once the new Historian Server is selected, FactoryTalk

Historian ActiveView searches the database for a matching tag ID.

If a match is found, FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView retrieves the tag name associatedwith the tag ID and compares the tag name with the saved tag name.

If the tag names are the same, the value is shown in the entry.

If the tag names are different, FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView searches the database

for the tag ID of the saved tag name. If a match is found, the value is shown in the entry.

If a match is not found, FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView uses the tag ID saved with the

ActiveView regardless of the different tag names.


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If no tag ID or tag name is found in the database, FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView

displays a message informing you of the missing tag.

This behavior is governed by the value ofPB2TagResolution, located in the DataManager section ofacview.ini (page 1). PB2TagResolution can take the following values:

0[default] the Point ID is used to match a missing tag before the stored point name

1uses the tag name before checking Point ID. This mimics the behavior of older versions

of FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView that are based on the PI API.

Develop Web Pages

To develop a Web page with FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView content:

1. Create an HTML Web page.

2. Incorporate the ActiveView Control, pbdctrl.ocx, in the HTML page and set the

control's DisplayURL property to the intended location of the Display file.

Note: The Display file may be placed in a separate location from the Web page.However, the DisplayURL property of the ActiveView Control, pbdctrl.ocx,that you set in this step must point to the exact location of the Display file.Remember, if you want to have the displays automatically expire from thecache, the DisplayURL property must use an HTTP address.

3. Copy files as follows:

Copy the Display file into the location designated by the DisplayURL property ofpbdctrl.ocx

Put the Web page on the serverIf you are unsure how to create an HTML page incorporating a control, you may adapt the

sample.htm in the webdev directory. It is a Web page with an embedded ActiveViewControl using VBScript. To use this file, provide the location of the .pdi file.

Alternately, you can use a software tool, such as Microsoft FrontPageTM. For details, see

Embed a Display into an HTML Page (page 1).

Display Sizing

Browser windows may vary from one user to another. To make a display resize appropriately

as the browser window size changes, set the HTML OBJECT tag's Height and Widthproperties using either pixels or percentages. With pixels, the display size remains constant,

regardless of the browser window size. With percentages, the display size adjusts when a user

resizes the browser window.

Examples:

With pixels:


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Develop Web Pages


height = "191"classid = "CLSID:4F26B906-2854-11D1-9597-00A0C931BFC8">

With percentages:

Add a Component with an .inf File

Any additional components (such as ActiveX controls) necessary to view a display can also

be downloaded automatically through the Web.

If the additional component is installed with an .inf file, you can add code similar to thefollowing to your HTML file before the ActiveView Control OBJECT tag:

If the additional component is a stand-alone ocx that is registered on the system, you can addcode similar to the following to your HTML file before the ActiveView Control OBJECT

tag. The ClassID refers to the component you are installing. The version, which is optional,

also refers to the component you are installing.

Embed a Display into an HTML Page

To embed a display into an HTML page using Microsoft FrontPage:

1. Create a new page using Microsoft FrontPage.

2. To insert the ActiveView Control, select Insert > Web Component.

3. In the Insert Web Component dialog, select Advanced Controls > ActiveX Control,and clickNext.

4. Select the PI ActiveView Control from the list and clickFinish. If the PI ActiveViewControl is not visible, clickCustomize and select from the Customize ActiveX Control

List dialog.


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5. In FrontPage, the message Display URL is empty appears. The control itself is invisible.Right-click the message and choose ActiveX Control Properties from the menu. The

ActiveX Control Properties dialog box appears.

6. Optional: In the Server Ini page, enter the path to the .ini file for the list of HistorianServers required for the display, if the user does not have that server configured.

7. Click the Display URL tab. Enter the path to the display file.


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Develop Web Pages


8. Click the Object Tag tab. Enter a name for this instance of the Control. (You can addmultiple instances of the Control to your page, each pointing to a different displaydocument.) Use this Name property to add a script to the Web page that accesses the

ActiveView Control, if needed.

9. Set the other values on the dialog as needed to adjust appearance attributes. To allow easyviewing of the Display Document file, set Width to at least 550 and Height to at least

350 (pixels).

10.ClickOK to apply the Properties.

11. In FrontPage, clickSave. The .pdi file appears in the Front Page Preview window. TheHTML code window displays code similar to the following sample code:


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New Page 1

12.Place the .htm file on your Web site.

Embed ProcessBook Displays in Other Containers

In addition to HTML pages, you can use the ActiveView Control in other containers capableof supporting ActiveX controls, such as Microsoft Excel, Visual Basic or VBA forms. The

Control is essentially a container for a Display Document object. The Control starts the

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView application, which is used as a local server for the

Display. The user can interact with the display from the Control's window.

This means, for example, that you can view a dynamic display of Historian data inside an

Excel spreadsheet. After you load Excel and FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView on a PC, the

ActiveView Control is available to be inserted into Excel. For details, seeEmbed a Display in

a Spreadsheet(page 1); you would use similar procedures to embed a Display Document in

other containers.

Embed a Display in a Spreadsheet

To create and embed a Display Document in Microsoft Excel:

1. Create a Display Document(page 1).

2. Open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, right-click on the Toolbars, and choose ControlToolbox.

3. In the Control toolbox, choose > PI-ActiveView Control.

4. Position the ActiveView Control on the spreadsheet and adjust the size as appropriate.

5. Right-click the ActiveView Control and choose Control Object > Properties. The PIActiveView Control Properties dialog box appears. This field is optional and may be

left blank.

6. Click the Display URL tab.


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Embed ProcessBook Displays in Other Containers


7. Enter the path to the .pdi file that you want to view in the spreadsheet.

In VBA terminology, you are setting the ServerIniURL and DisplayURL Properties of

the Control. The DisplayURL is required.

8. ClickOK.

9. In the spreadsheet, click the Design Mode button to switch from VBA Design Modeto Run Mode. This allows the ActiveView Control to load acview.exe and show theDisplay Document file.


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Once you establish a Display Document in a spreadsheet, you can alter the document's size or

position by clicking the Design Mode button on the VBA Toolbar or Controls Toolbox and

moving or resizing the display.


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Browser Security Settings

To use FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView, users need to be able to run ActiveX controls on

the HTML page. This ability may be prohibited if the user's PC has excessively restrictive

security settings.

To view security settings in Internet Explorer:

1. Choose Tools > Internet Options

2. In the Internet Options dialog, click the Security tab.

3. ClickCustom Level... In the Security Settings dialog, you can set a general level, fromLow to High, or adjust the custom settings. In general:

If security settings are High, you may get a message stating that ActiveX controls are not

allowed and the FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView content on the page does not appear.

If security settings are Medium, the page and ActiveX controls appear.

FactoryTalk Historian Security

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView is designed to support whatever FactoryTalk Historian

Security is configured on the FactoryTalk Historian Server.

When FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView attempts to connect to a FactoryTalk Historian

Server, the application first attempts to pass your FactoryTalk Security/Windows log in

credentials. The PI SDK will try to use them directly or find a Trust for the user, domain,

application or machine (per Trust configurations).

If all attempts to login to the FactoryTalk Historian Server using FactoryTalk

Security/Windows credentials or other machine-related information fail, then you must

have a FactoryTalk Historian ME native security user account (not FactoryTalk

Security/Windows security-based). In this case, the PI SDK attempts to use the native FactoryTalk Historian ME user

account configured for the Server.

If the default native FactoryTalk Historian ME user account does not require a password,

then you are automatically logged in. If the default account does require a password, a

login dialog box appears, which expects the native FactoryTalk Historian ME user

account and password.

Appendix A

Troubleshooting


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Troubleshooting

40

Note: For more detailed information on FactoryTalk Historian Server security, see theHistorian SE Introduction to PI System Management Guide, Historian SE PIServer Reference Guide, Historian SE PI Server System Management Guide,Historian SE Auditing the PI Server Guide, and the Historian SE PI ServerApplication User's Guide, shipped with the FactoryTalk Historian Server.

Displays and Connection Failure

If the connection to your data is not successful, the display is still drawn, but data in dynamic

elements are replaced with indicators signifying that no data is available.

Trends are labeled Invalid and no information is plotted.

Values are replaced with pound signs (###) and the message Disconnected appears.

Bar graphs are drawn using hash marks (//////).

Multi-State symbols show the configured color for bad data.

If a server has been disconnected, and/or cannot be reached, the Select New Node dialog

appears.

ClickConnections to launch the PI Connection Manager dialog. From there you can

choose a new server from the drop-down list of connected servers.

Revisions to a Display Don't Appear

Data values refresh automatically. If you choose View > Refresh on the Internet Explorer

main menu, the Web page, but not the Display Document, refreshes. The Display Documentrefreshes after it expires according to a timer, which defaults to 24 hours.

You can refresh the display by deleting all the temporary files in Microsoft Internet Explorer:

choose Tools > Internet Options, then in the Internet Options dialog clickDelete Files.

For instructions on setting the expiration timer, seeExpiration of Displays (page 1).


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Using FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView and Windows Server 2003


Using FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView and Windows Server 2003

Windows 2003 is shipped with higher security than its predecessors. Not all file types are

served to clients by IIS. By default, *.HTM files are considered safe but *.PDI files are not.

Therefore you may see error messages when running ActiveView from the client machine,even though the NTFS permissions are the same on the HTML and the PDI files.

To fix this, add a MIME type to the IIS for the site directories from which ActiveView opens

the PDI file. MIME types can be defined globally for IIS, and additional MIME types can be

defined at the Web site, Web site directory, and Web site virtual directory level.

To add .PDI files as "ok to serve:"

1. In IIS Manager, right-click on the level of hierarchy for which to change the setting andselect Properties.

2. Go to the tab HTTP Headers and click the MIME Types button.

3. Select New and enter the following information

for Extension: .PDIfor MIME type: application/octet-stream

4. You should now see the .PDI under the Registered MIME Types list.

5. ClickOK.

6. Stop and restart your IIS service for the changes to take effect.


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System Requirements

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView is distributed as a complete package for a developer to use

in preparing Web pages with content from the Historian Server. The runtime version for users

is derived from the complete package and may be installed either by automated distribution,

or by the use ofsetup.exe. See the KB articles (page 1).

For Users

Windows XP, Windows 7, or newer operating systems

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with Service Pack 1, or higher

A software license for each user

Administrator privileges on the PC are required to install FactoryTalk Historian

ActiveView, regardless of the installation method

For Developers

A version of FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook that matches the version of FactoryTalk

Historian ActiveView (if they are to be installed on the same machine). If you need to use

a different version of FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook, install it on a separatemachine.

Historian BatchView is necessary to build displays with BatchView symbols.

Tools for creating Web pages

Windows XP, Windows 7, or newer operating systems

A minimum of 175 MB of disk space

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 with Service Pack 2, or higher

Install FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView You can install FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView by running the setup.exe file. You

can install FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView without removing previous versions.

However, note that if you have accessed the software within the previous five minutes,

the acview.exe process may still be running. You must stop it using the TaskManager before you start installation.

Appendix B

Installation


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Installation

44

Developer Installation

You can install and run FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView and FactoryTalk Historian

ProcessBook on the same PC if they are the same version number. When both applications

are present, acview.exe, rather than ProcBook.exe, becomes the automation server for

the ActiveView Control. The Historian BatchView symbol is installed with the FactoryTalkHistorian ActiveView installation, but you must install the FactoryTalk Historian

ProcessBook add-in separately to create or modify those symbols in FactoryTalk Historian

ProcessBook.

The only difference between a developer installation and a user installation is that the

developer installation installs the directory pipc\acview\webdev.

Use the default installation of FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView provided by Rockwell

Automation to develop FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Web sites.

Run setup.exe. The setup asks for a target directory. The default target directory isC:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\FactoryTalkHistorian\Server\PIPC, the default location for FactoryTalk Historian clientproducts. If you have other FactoryTalk Historian software installed, the setup defaults to the

location of the existing pipc directory.

If there is no FactoryTalk Historian product already installed in the target directory, setup

asks for Historian Server connection information.

Depending on the target operating system and existing software, setup may install several

required system components. You may be required to reboot your system one or more times

during the setup process.

The installation process creates diagnostic files that are useful for troubleshooting.

User Installation

Users can configure FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView manually using setup.exe if theyhave administrative privileges on their computer. For details on security options and other

planning decisions for user installation, see FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView Setup (page 1).

Installation on a User's PC

Log on to a user's PC with an account that has administrative privileges. Run setup.exe.

Upon completing the setup, the installation log files,ActiveViewmaster.log and,SetupActiveView.log are installed in the directory pipc\dat.

Uninstall FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView

Use the Add/Remove Programs utility on the Windows Control Panel to remove

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView. Prerequisite components, such as VBA and the PI SDK

are not removed.


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Rockwell provides dedicated technical support internationally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can read complete information about technical support options, and access all of the

following resources at the Rockwell Automation Support Web site:

http://www.rockwellautomation.com/support/

Help Desk and Telephone Support

Telephone support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

North America: 1-440-646-3434

Outside of North America: http://www.rockwellautomation.com/locations/

Knowledgebase

The KnowledgeBase provides a searchable library of documentation and technical data, as

well as a special collection of resources for system managers.

http://www.rockwellautomation.com/knowledgebase/

Before You Call or Write for Help

When you contact Rockwell Technical Support, please provide:

Product name, version, and/or build numbers

Computer platform (CPU type, operating system, and version number)

The time that the difficulty started

The message log(s) at that time

Find the Version and Build Numbers

To find version and build numbers for each Historian Server subsystem (which vary

depending on installed upgrades, updates or patches) use either of the following methods:

If you have System Management Tools (SMT) installed, choose Start > Programs > Rockwell

Software > FactoryTalk Historian SE > System Management Tools. In SMT, select the server

Appendix C

Technical Support and Resources


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Technical Support and Resources

46

name, then under System Management Plug-Ins, open Operation > PI Version. The Version

tree lists all versions.

If you do not have SMT installed, open a command prompt, change to the pi\admdirectory, and enter piversion -v. To see individual version numbers for each

subsystem, change to the pi\bin directory and type the subsystem name followed by theoption -v (for example, piarchss.exe v).

View Computer Platform Information

To view platform specifications, right-clickMy Computer and choose Properties. For more

detailed information, choose Start > Run, and entermsinfo32.exe


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A

ActiveX control 26, 37

accessing pages with 41

distributing additional 26

Properties dialog 34

acview.exe 22

acview.ini 30

administrative privileges 46

automation interface 23

B

Back button 20

browsersecurity 41

window size 33

C

cache 22

components, distributing 34

configuration 30

D

data 5

dynamic updating of 5Internet Explorer Refresh button 5

scan rate 5

set refresh rate 24

updates 5

data set

dynamic updating of 5

developer responsibilities 24

developer's kit 25

Display Documents

altering 30

contents 4

creating 26

embedding 34, 37

exporting 28, 29

interacting with 5

sizing 27

Display property 23

displays

altering 30

creating 26, 27

embedding 34, 37

expiration of 23

exporting 28

independent display files 26

linking to 29

sizing 33

user interaction with 21

DisplayURL property 21, 23, 33, 34

download

browser security 41

dynamic elements 4

E

embeddingdisplay in a spreadsheet 37

display in other containers 37

display into an HTML page 34

Excel spreadsheet 37

export.pdi 28, 29

F

FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView 1

administration 21

components 2

configuration 30

developers 21end users 4

executable 22

flow of information 21

installation 45, 46

previous versions 46

setup 24

toolbar 17

uninstalling 47

Historian BatchView 27

FactoryTalk Historian data

connection to 46

FactoryTalk Historian ProcessBook 1, 3

add-ins 26

FactoryTalk Historian SE administration 24

firewall 46

Forward button 20

FrontPage 33, 34

H

Historian data 21

Index


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Index

connection to 24

Historian Server 4, 21

security 25

static content 4

Historian SQC 27

HTML pagedeveloping 33

I

INF file 34

installation 45, 46

developer 46

requirements 45

users 47

Internet Explorer

security 25, 41

intranet 1, 25

L

layers, viewing 8

license requirements 27

M

Microsoft Excel 37

Microsoft FrontPage 33

Module Relative Displays 30

O

OBJECT tag 23, 33, 34ODBC 22

P

password 25

pbdctrl.ocx 33

pdi file 26, 28

ActiveView Control 23, 33, 34

sizing 27

pilogin.ini 46

procbook.ini 5

R

Refresh 42

button 5, 20

data 20

di l 20 23

S

sample.htm 33

scan rate 5

security 1, 25, 46

Web sites 25, 41

setup.exe 46

status report, viewing 9

T

technical support 49

time range

changing 16

formats 13

future 17

viewing 12

time zones 12, 17

toolbar 17trends 4

cursors 6

expanding 6

future time range and 17

troubleshooting 41

U

uninstalling FactoryTalk Historian ActiveView 47

V

VBA

core components 22programming restrictions 27

W

Web pages, developing 33