HMI and SCADA Toolkit
Interactive Editor & GIS
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The new GLG family product, GLG Data Gateway, is a data and message distribution library for SCADA and HMI projects. It is a high-performance light-weight solution for distributing data from a central server to multiple C/C++, C#, or Java clients. It ensures reliable, secure communication with automatic fault recovery and built-in data serialization/deserialization for efficient network messaging. With optional CURVE-based encryption, comprehensive configuration, logging, statistics and troubleshooting tools, it is ideal for secure, real-time, cross-platform data exchange.
The updated SCADAViewer and SimpleViewer source code examples demonstrate how to integrate the Data Gateway into an HMI application and include options for using a remote data server. They cover how to configure a remote server connections, retrieve real-time data, and execute commands -- such as write operations and alarm acknowledgments —- directly from user input.
The GLG installation provides C, C++, C#, and Java versions of the examples, along with standalone samples for using the Data Gateway independently of the GLG Toolkit.
More Details on Data Gateway Functionality
All new charts now default to multi-plot tooltips, displaying data from every plot at the cursor's X-axis position. This makes it easier to perform side-by-side comparisons. You can toggle between multi-plot and single-plot views using the chart's TooltipMode attribute.
As you move the crosshair cursor across a chart, the nearest data points are also automatically highlighted. Depending on the TooltipMode setting, this will highlight either a single plot point or the corresponding points across all active plots simultaneously.
Functions that set resource or tags values (i.e. all variants of the SetTags and SetResource functions) now support * and ? wildcards for pattern matching. The asterisk (*) matches any sequence of characters, and the question mark (?) matches any single character.
To enable wildcard matching, prefix the resource or tag name with "$!". For example, "$!Clear*" will target all tags with names beginning with "Clear".
When using wildcards in resource paths, the wildcards prefix must be
added to each level of resource hierarchy where pattern matching is
required. For example, the following string targets all nested elements
with names beginning with "Element" inside parent objects with names
beginning with "Group":
NOTE: Wildcards can only be used for matching named object resources; they cannot be used for matching default attribute names (e.g. LineWidth, FillColor).
Previously, the Hierarchy callback was used to initialize instances of subdrawing and subwindow templates during loading (as seen in the SCADAViewer example). While effective for processing custom widgets and other special objects within sub-templates, this callback did not handle the special objects loaded directly into the main viewport.
To provide a unified approach for handling special objects, the Hierarchy callback is now triggered for the main viewport as well. This creates a unified initialization process, eliminating the need for conditional logic and allowing developers to use a single, consistent process for all drawings regardless of their destination.
When the Hierarchy callback is invoked for the main viewport, the GlgHierarchyCBStruct structure passed to the callback will have reference_type set to GLG_UNDEFINED_REF_TYPE and subobject set to NULL. A new object_type field will be set to either GLG_VIEWPORT or GLG_REFERENCE, depending on the type of object being processed.
Because Hierarchy callback logic typically depends on the reference_type setting, most existing code will function correctly after a simple recompilation. For backward compatibility, the GlgCompatibilityMode global configuration resource can be set to GLG_PRE_4_6 to disable callback invocation for the main viewport.
The SCADAViewer example source code has been refactored to utilize a new Hierarchy callback logic to reduce code complexity and improve maintainability.
When an object contains multiple actions in its action list, later actions often depend on the results of previous ones. Previously, if a subsequent action used a transformation, it might use outdated values unless GlgSetupHierarchy was called manually. In the new release, actions are automatically set up before execution, ensuring that any changes to transformation parameters from previous actions are immediately available to all following actions.
The Input Action Object dialog now includes a field for the InputSubaction attribute. This new attribute allows for more precise control over complex input actions.
To improve XY Scatter Chart support, programmatic annotations are now trimmed in sync with data samples based on the chart's BufferSize. For scrolling charts, trimming is also managed by the BufferXSpan attribute. The GlgClearDataBuffer function has been updated to flush both data and annotations simultaneously.
The new add_alias script command can be used to add an alias object. Additional consistency checks have been added for both add_alias and add_custom_property commands.
The Qt and MFC versions of the SimpleViewer and SCADAViewer examples are included in this release. These examples share the majority of their code with the straight C/C++ versions, but provide Qt- and MFC-specific wrappers to integrate the viewers into their respective environments.
The new WPF integration example demonstrates how to host a GLG drawing within a WPF environment using the WindowsFormsHost element and the GLG C# library.
Two data browser examples are now available: a new simplified version that displays tags in a flat list (loaded from a file or queried from a database), and the original hierarchical version that groups tags by category. These browsers make it easier to populate data tag sources within the Graphics Builder and HMI Configurator.
Starting with release 4.6, all new List transformations created in the Graphics Builder include the NumListItems auto-sizing attribute by default. This attribute allows users to control the number of items in a list by entering a new attribute value.
For the Enterprise Edition, you can modify this default behavior through the Options, Enable List NumItems menu option, or the EnableListNumItems setting in the glg_config file. The Edit, Xform List NumItems menu option can be used to convert existing transformations by adding or removing the auto-sizing attribute as needed.
The presence of this attribute changes how you interact with the list. When auto-sizing is active, the list length is determined strictly by the attribute value. If the attribute is removed, you gain manual control to add, remove, or reorder individual list elements.
Users can now adjust the drawing span in the HMI Configurator via the Screen's SpanX and SpanY properties. Additionally, the KeepEditRatio attribute is now editable; a drawing reset is required for this change to take effect.
Depending on the KeepEditRatio setting, the HMI Configurator may adjust a drawing's span to maintain its aspect ratio. Use the new File, Show Drawing Span menu option to view the real, unadjusted span of the drawing.
A new setting, MakeWidgetViewportsTransparent, has been added to the configuration files for both the GLG Graphics Builder and the GLG HMI Configurator. It provides a configurable default state for the Palettes, Make Widget Viewports Transparent menu option of the GLG editors.