LonMaker® Integration Tool Turbo Editions ReadMe
Release 3.24, November 2010

Copyright © 1998 – 2010 Echelon Corporation
All Rights Reserved

1       Introduction

This file contains important information not included in the LonMaker User's Guide and help files.  See Documentation Updates later in this document for documentation updates, including a description of documentation changes due to a change from Visio 2003 to Visio 2010.  Additional information and updates, including critical updates, may be available at www.echelon.com/downloads.  See Echelon’s Knowledge Base at www.echelon.com/support for answers to frequently asked questions.

To be eligible for replacement activations, register your LonMaker software at www.echelon.com/register.

*** WARNINGS ***

2       Contents

1        Introduction. 1

2        Contents. 2

3        Release Identification. 2

4        Requirements. 3

5        Changes. 3

5.1       Changes in LonMaker 3.24. 3

5.2       Changes in LonMaker 3.23. 4

5.3       Changes in LonMaker 3.22. 5

5.4       Changes in LonMaker 3.21. 6

5.5       Changes in LonMaker 3.2 SR-A.. 8

6        Known Problems and Workarounds. 8

6.1       Start-up. 8

6.2       Visio. 10

6.3       LonMaker Design Manager 11

6.4       LonMaker 11

6.5       Device Templates. 11

6.6       Recovery. 11

6.7       LonMaker Browser 11

6.8       LonPoint Plug-in. 11

6.9       Multi-byte Characters. 12

7        Documentation Updates. 12

 

3       Release Identification

This ReadMe file applies to LonMaker Turbo Service Release 4 (SR4) and to earlier versions of the LonMaker Integration Tool Turbo Editions with Service Pack 4 (SP4) applied.  You can verify that you have this release by starting the LonMaker software, clicking the LonMaker icon in the top-left corner of the LonMaker Design Manager, and then clicking About Echelon LonMaker.  The About Echelon LonMaker Design Manager dialog appears.  This dialog displays the version number of your LonMaker software.  For LonMaker Turbo SR4 and earlier versions of LonMaker Turbo with SP4, the version number is 3.24.xx, where xx is the build number of the software. 

4       Requirements

The following list summarizes the minimum hardware and software requirements for installing and using the LonMaker software:

·       32-bit version of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 R2 with MSXML 6.0, Windows Vista with Service Pack (SP) 1, or Windows XP with SP3.

·       500 MHz or faster processor

·       2 GB available disk space

·       512 MB RAM minimum (additional memory may be required depending on the selected version of the Windows Operating System and the number of applications that are running at the same time)

·       1024 MB page file minimum

·       CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

·       1024 x 768 or higher-resolution display with at least 256 colors

·       Mouse or compatible pointing device

For large networks, the LonMaker computer should have at least a 2 GHz processor running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 with at least 1 GB of memory and a 1500 MB minimum page file.  The speed, operating system, and memory size is not as important for commissioning the network; therefore, a slower and smaller laptop with at least 512 MB RAM is suitable for commissioning devices.

To discover, commission, configure, replace, monitor, or control devices with the LonMaker tool you will need a network interface that is compatible with IP or LNS.  Compatible network interfaces include the following:

·       i.LON® 10 Ethernet Adapter

·       i.LON 100 Internet Server

·       i.LON 600 LonWorks/IP Server

·       i.LON SmartServer Energy Manager

·       PCC-10 PC Card Network Interface

·       PCLTA-20 PCI Network Interface

·       PCLTA-21 PCI Network Interface

·       SLTA-10 Serial LonTalk Adapter

·       SmartServer Energy Manager

·       SmartServer 2.0 Energy Manager

·       U10 USB Network Interface

·       U20 USB Network Interface

5       Changes

5.1      Changes in LonMaker 3.24

The following table summarizes problems fixed in LonMaker 3.24.  The EPR column lists Echelon internal problem tracking numbers.                                         

EPR

Description

58399

Opening a copy of a LonMaker drawing from the LonMaker Design Manager failed when using Visio 2010

58346

In some cases, creating a dynamic NV from an existing NV would fail.

58305

The Replicate Settings command on the functional block shortcut menu would fail when using LonMaker 3.23, reporting an unexpected error.

 

5.2      Changes in LonMaker 3.23

The following changes are in LonMaker 3.23:

·       LonMaker Turbo SR3 includes Visio 2010 instead of Visio 2003.  See Documentation Updates later in this document for more information.

·       LonMaker Turbo Editions now support 32-bit versions of the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 Operating Systems.

The following table summarizes problems fixed in LonMaker 3.23.  The EPR column lists Echelon internal problem tracking numbers.                                         

EPR

Description

51201

In some cases, when a dynamic NV is created using the Connection dialog, LonMaker became unresponsive when adding the NV shape to the drawing.

51456

In some cases, importing an XML file which defines a connection to a functional block that is not part of the drawing caused LonMaker to crash.

52253

In some cases, replacing the functional block shape for a functional block that contains turnaround connections caused LonMaker to become unresponsive.

56342

When merging networks, LonMaker sometimes erroneously reported that a Subsystem object was not found in the LNS database.

56688

The LonMaker Browser sometimes crashed when monitoring dynamic NVs that are deleted by another LNS application.

56712

In some cases, when a dynamic NV was deleted by another LNS application, the LonMaker tool did not update the functional block shape on the drawing to reflect the deletion.

 

5.3      Changes in LonMaker 3.22

LonMaker 3.22 added support for 32-bit versions of the Windows Vista Operating System.

The following table summarizes problems fixed in LonMaker 3.22.    

EPR

Description

45359

In some instances, some text on the Design Manager dialog would be truncated, obscuring some fields or buttons.

45871

If a dynamic functional block (FB) was created from an FB type which inherited NVs from a standard FB, LonMaker would not automatically create the inherited NVs.

45888

In some instances, if an NV was created or renamed with more than 16 characters, LonMaker would truncate the NV name and/or report that the drawing was out of sync.

46790

If the same NV name from the two or more FBs on the same device were bound to the same connection, LonMaker would not update the drawing correctly if one of those connections was removed.

46922

In some cases, exporting a network to XML would fail with an LNS #38 error (“An application device object is required”).

46943

In some cases, if a device was copied along with its FBs and reference connections, LonMaker would not update the drawing correctly with the new connections.

47540

In some cases, when a device template was uploaded from a device, the name assigned to the new template was not correct.

47629

In some cases, creating a shape for a remote NSD would fail with LNS error #6 (“Object not found”).

47630

In some cases, an attempt to replace an NSD would fail with LNS error #140 (“Not allowed for permanent device”)

47647

Occasionally, when a device was created and commissioned in the same operation, LonMaker would clear the Neuron ID property assigned to the device.

47726

LonMaker was not correctly setting the polling interval for monitored connections.

47858

LonMaker was preventing FB shapes from being resized, even when auto-sizing was disabled.

48219

If a dynamic FB was removed from a device by an application other than LonMaker, an exception was reported when an attempt was made to resynchronize the drawing.

48252

If an FB was moved into a new subsystem, LonMaker would delete the FB from the old subsystem, but not re-create it in the new subsystem.

48323

In some cases, the LonMaker Browser would not properly display CP values in the LonMaker Browser Details and Table dialogs.

48681

In some cases, an attempt to add a dynamic NV to a static FB would fail.

 

5.4      Changes in LonMaker 3.21

The following table summarizes problems fixed in LonMaker 3.21.    

EPR

Description

42397

The LonMaker tool truncated the right side of some dialog boxes on some versions of Windows.

42357

The LonMaker Browser did not correctly display the values of enumerated values if they were derived from another SNVT, SCPT, UNVT, or UCPT.

42364

The LonMaker Browser edit field did not update the value of an NV or CP when ENTER key was pressed.

42404, 44133

LonMaker did not update the XIF and APB fields in the device shape when they were upgraded.

42406

The LonMaker tool did not properly update the drawing if another application added a root-level subsystem.

42407

The LonMaker tool did not properly update the drawing when a root subsystem was moved to another subsystem.

42512

The LonMaker tool did not save changes to default options that were modified within the Design Manager.

42597

Making a copy of a NodeBuilder® device shape would fail in some cases.

42761

In some cases, when a master shape contained both a functional block and a hub connector, the LonMaker tool would incorrectly update the drawing.

42776

In some cases, there were performance problems when copying a subsystem with a large number of fan-in connections.

42777

In some cases, the LonMaker tool would create multiple reference connector shapes for the same hub NV.

42828

Making a connection descriptor change to a large connection (> 25 targets) would fail with an NS #1 error.

43043

Viewing the details of a structure NV in the LonMaker Browser would cause the browser to crash.

43044

The LonMaker Browser would sometimes show CPs using the Localized format, even when the non-localized format was explicitly requested.

43093

The drawing was not properly updated if you used a functional block master shape to create a functional block, and the shape contained shapes for NVs that do not exist on the device.

43107

In some cases, the option to upload the XIF from the device was disabled when creating a new device.

43143

LonMaker installation would hang on Windows Vista.

43644

If a device master shape specified the requiresVFB option as 0, the LonMaker tool would not display the last defined functional block.

43710

Configuration network variables (CPs implemented as NVs) were not being set to their default values when a new device was created.

43758

Performing an application image download and a replace at the same time would fail under certain conditions.

44139

In some cases, when a subsystem was moved on a remote client, the update to the drawing would fail on other clients.

44256

If a Visio page name was modified, the LonMaker tool would report an error and not update the database.  This problem was also not corrected by resync

44257

In some cases, the LonMaker tool would not properly create connections that were copied along with a supernode.

44279

If you copied a functional block and related reference connections in the same operation, and the functional block creation failed and the LonMaker tool would delete the original connector shapes from the drawing.

44358

When a NodeBuilder device was de-commissioned and then was re-commissioned and an application image load was performed, LonMaker would not use the correct XIF and NXE path.

5.5      Changes in LonMaker 3.2 SR-A

The following table summarizes problems fixed in LonMaker 3.2 SR-A.  Service Release A installed the same version of the LonMaker software as the original LonMaker Turbo Editions, and also included a separate installer for OpenLDV 3.3C.     

EPR

Description

42290

The LonMaker installer did not accept serial numbers from copies of the LonMaker tool included with the NodeBuilder Development Tool.

43028

Some of the datasheets on the LonMaker CD were out-of-date.

N/A

Added the OpenLDV 3.3C installer to the LonMaker CD.

 

6       Known Problems and Workarounds

Following are known problems and workarounds for the LonMaker software.  Please report any additional problems to support@echelon.com.

6.1      Start-up

The Visio macro security settings sometimes become corrupted.  When this happens, Visio may start without the LonMaker software when you attempt to start the LonMaker tool.  Workaround: To restore the link to the LonMaker software, follow these steps (select the procedure for the version of Visio that you are using with the LonMaker tool):

Visio 2010

  1. Open the Windows Start menu, point to Program Folders, and then click Microsoft Visio.  Visio starts.  Open a LonMaker drawing file or a LonMaker Visio template file (e.g.,  C:\LonWorks\LonMaker\Visio\LonWorks.vst).  If you see the LonMaker Network Wizard or the LonMaker menu, skip the rest of this procedure.
  2. From the File tab, click Options.  In the Visio Options dialog, click Trust Center, then click the Trust Center Settings button.
  3. In the left column, click Macro Settings.  Confirm that Disable All Macros Except Digitally Signed Macros is selected.
  4. In the left column, click Add-Ins. Confirm that Disable all Application Add-ins is NOT selected.
  5. If you made any changes, exit and re-start Visio and repeat step 1.  If this did not resolve your problem, proceed with step 6.
  6. From the File tab, click Options.  In the Visio Options dialog, click Advanced, and then scroll down until you see the File Locations button.  Click File Locations.
  7. Write down the LonMaker path shown in the Add-ons box, and then delete it.  By default, the LonMaker path is C:\LonWorks\LonMaker.  The path may be followed by a semicolon if there are any additional paths in the list.
  8. Exit and restart Visio.
  9. From the File tab, click Options.  In the Visio Options dialog, click Advanced, and then scroll down until you see the File Locations button.  Click File Locations.
  10. Enter the LonMaker path you wrote down in step 5 in the Add-ons box.  Include the semicolon if there are additional paths after the LonMaker path.
  11. Exit Visio and then start the LonMaker tool. (39839)

Visio 2003

  1. Open the Windows Start menu, point to Program Folders, and then click Microsoft Visio.  Visio starts.  Open a LonMaker drawing file or a LonMaker Visio template file (e.g.,  C:\LonWorks\LonMaker\Visio\LonWorks.vst).  If you see the LonMaker Network Wizard or the LonMaker menu, skip the rest of this procedure.
  2. Open the Tools menu, point to Options, and then click Security.
  3. If any of the check boxes under Macro Security are not selected, select them, click OK, and then exit and restart the LonMaker tool.  If you restart the LonMaker tool and you see the LonMaker menu, skip the rest of this procedure.
  4. Open the Tools menu, point to Options, point to Advanced, and then click File Paths.
  5. Write down the LonMaker path shown in the Add-ons box, and then delete it.  By default, the LonMaker path is C:\LonWorks\LonMaker.  The path may be followed by a semicolon if there are any additional paths in the list.
  6. Exit and restart Visio.
  7. Open the Tools menu, point to Options, point to Advanced, and then click File Paths.
  8. Enter the LonMaker path you wrote down in step 5 in the Add-ons box.  Include the semicolon if there are additional paths after the LonMaker path.
  9. Exit Visio and then start the LonMaker tool. (39839)

If you open a LonMaker drawing created with an earlier version of the LonMaker tool, Visio may display a message starting with the following text: “Macros in this document are disabled because the security level is high…”  If you click OK, the drawing opens, but most of the LonMaker functionality is disabled.  Workaround: To enable the LonMaker software to work with a drawing created with an earlier version of the LonMaker tool, use the following steps to decrease Visio's macro security.

  1. Open the Tools menu.
  2. Click Options, select the Security tab, and then click Macro Security.  A dialog appears allowing you to select Low, Medium, High, or Very High security.
  3. Select Low or Medium security.  If you select Low security, you will be able to open the drawing without a prompt.  If you select Medium security, you will be prompted to enable macros for unsigned network drawings or network drawings signed by companies that have not been added to the trusted signatures list.  

Visio's security level is persistent.  When you change Visio's security level, it will be the security level for Visio every time it is started until you change it again.   Alternatively, you can apply your own company's digital signature to any LonMaker drawings to disable macro warnings for those drawings.  For detailed instruction on how to do this, see the following page on Microsoft's Web site (you may need to concatenate this URL, 40186):

msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/odeopg/html/deovrusingdigitalcertificatestoproducetrustedsolutions.asp

6.2      Visio

The first time you run Visio 2010, either standalone or as part of the LonMaker software, you will be prompted to activate the Visio software.  If you run Visio as part of the LonMaker software prior to completing activation of the LonMaker software, you will be prompted to activate both the Visio software and the LonMaker software.  If you attempt to activate the Visio software while the LonMaker Product Activation dialog is showing, you may not be able to activate the LonMaker software.  Workaround: Follow the installation procedure described in Documentation Updates.  If you don’t do this, use the Windows task manager to end the Visio task, and restart the LonMaker software. (58750)

When you open a LonMaker document, more than one instance of the document may open in Visio, or additional documents may be opened at the same time.  Workaround: To prevent opening the extra drawing or drawings, follow these steps:

1.   On the LonMaker menu, click Synchronization/Resynchronize.

2.   Select Reset Visio Workspaces.

3.   Click Next.

4.   Select either Only the Current Drawing to update the workspace for the current drawing only, or All Drawing Files in the Network to update the workspace for all drawing files. (40066)

When you close a LonMaker document, on rare occasions Windows may report that Visio has stopped responding after closing the LonMaker drawing.  Workaround: This problem occurs after the LonMaker add-in has properly closed the LNS database and the Visio drawings and terminated.  As a result, there is no risk of corruption to either the drawing or database.  You can safely close and ignore the error message. (56976)

If you use the Visio function to align many shapes, Visio may stop functioning and terminate.  Workaround: If Visio terminates when you align many shapes, restart the LonMaker software and select fewer shapes to align. (58798)

If you use the LNS Text Box control in your LonMaker drawings and you have multiple documents open when you exit Visio, you may be prompted to choose whether or not to save each drawing which contains the LNS Text Box control.  Workaround: Use the LonMaker Data Point shape instead of the LNS Text Box control.

6.3      LonMaker Design Manager

If you press the ENTER key on the LonMaker Default Options tab, the displayed options will disappear. Workaround: Either re-select the category or switch to another tab and then reselect the LonMaker Default Options tab. (41369)

If you use the LonMaker tool from a different user account than you used to install the LonMaker software you may encounter an error the first time you attempt to open or create a network.  The error will state “Cannot start LonMaker.  If you have run Visio directly, please instead run LonMaker Design Manager…”.  Workaround: Exit Visio, exit and restart the LonMaker Design Manager, and then re-open (or re-create) the network.  If the problem persists, reset the Visio workspaces as described in section 10.2. (23900)

When running under the Windows Vista Operating System, the system menu cannot be accessed by right-clicking in the title bar. Workaround: Left or right-click on the icon in the left corner of the title bar. (48981)

6.4          LonMaker

If you move a reference connection in one instance of LonMaker, other instances of LonMaker will not be updated with the new location of the reference shape. Workaround: Replicate the drawing update in all instances of LonMaker, or use the auto-alignment feature.

6.5          Device Templates

If you set the Self-doc Consistency option for a device template to the Identical on All Devices setting, you may receive an NS #59 error when setting the option, or you may receive the same error when you set this option and try to commission more than one device with identical self-documentation information.  Workaround: If you see this error, do not set the Self-doc Consistency option to Identical on All Devices—select one of the other settings. (41664)

6.6          Recovery

If you recover a network, some of the devices in the top-level subsystem may be recovered to a subsystem named “Subsystem 5”, which will not be the top-level subsystem.  Workaround: If you see this error, move the devices and functional blocks to the top-level subsystem as described in Changing the Subsystem for a LonMaker Shape in the LonMaker User’s Guide. (41815)

6.7          LonMaker Browser

If you have the LonMaker help file open at the same time that the LonMaker Browser is active, and then you close the LonMaker Browser, the LonMaker help file also closes. Workaround: Do not close the LonMaker Browser if you wish to continue using the LonMaker help file, or re-open the LonMaker help window after closing the LonMaker Browser. (39570)

6.8          LonPoint Plug-in

A security warning dialog may be displayed when opening a drawing that includes the LonPoint stencil.  Workaround: You can safely close and ignore the warning.

6.9          Multi-byte Characters

The LonMaker tool and some plug-ins may fail if devices, functional blocks, or network variables have multi-byte character names.  Workaround: If you see this error, try changing the name in the LonMaker drawing and then restarting the plug-in.  If that does not correct the problem, do not use a multi-byte character name. (41701)

7       Documentation Updates

The software and hardware requirements for installing and using the LonMaker software have changed from the requirements listed in the LonMaker User’s Guide.  See Requirements earlier in this document for details.

LonMaker Turbo SR3 includes Visio 2010.  Earlier versions of the LonMaker Turbo Editions included Visio 2003.  The LonMaker User’s Guide states that Visio 2003 is included and shows screen shots for Visio 2003.  These are correct for versions of the LonMaker Turbo Editions released before LonMaker Turbo SR3.  Visio 2010 has a number of user interface changes from Visio 2003.  See the Visio documentation for details.  LonMaker Release 3.23 supports both Visio 2003 and Visio 2010 so that earlier versions of LonMaker Turbo that included Visio 2003 and that are updated with LonMaker Turbo SP3 will continue to work with Visio 2003, or can optionally be upgraded to Visio 2010.  The Visio 2010 and Visio 2003 file formats are compatible, so drawings opened and modified with versions of the LonMaker Turbo Editions that use Visio 2010 can be opened and modified with versions of the LonMaker Turbo Editions that use Visio 2003 as long as no Visio 2010 unique features are used (no new features are required for LonMaker use).

The installation instructions for Visio 2010 have changed.  You no longer have to enter a Visio Product ID as described in the LonMaker User’s Guide.  The Visio 2010 Product ID is now automatically entered when you install Visio 2010 from the LonMaker CD, and the Visio Product ID is no longer printed on the back of the LonMaker CD case.  The first time you run Visio 2010, either standalone or as part of the LonMaker software, you will be prompted to activate the Visio software.  If you have completed activation of the LonMaker software, or if you are running Visio standalone, complete the Visio Activation Wizard as prompted by the Visio software.  If you have not yet activated the LonMaker software and you are starting Visio as part of the LonMaker software, follow these steps:

1.     The first time the LonMaker software starts, it displays a warning that Visio must be initialized to work with LonMaker and provides instructions for enabling macros in Visio.  Click OK to close this dialog.

2.     When the Visio software starts, it displays an activation dialog.  Don’t respond to this dialog until you complete the remaining steps.

3.     Visio displays a dialog with the following message: “Note: The digital signature is valid, but the signature is from a publisher whom you have not yet chosen to trust.”  Click the Trust All from Publisher button to choose to trust all macros from Echelon Corporation.  The LonMaker software will not function with Echelon macros being disabled.  This dialog will be displayed every time you start Visio from the LonMaker software while macros are not enabled.

4.     The LonMaker software displays the LonMaker Product Activation dialog.  If you are ready to activate the LonMaker software, click the Run Activation Wizard button to complete the LonMaker activation as described in Activating the LonMaker Tool in the LonMaker User’s Guide.  If you are not ready to activate the LonMaker software, click the Continue button to use the LonMaker demo mode as described in the LonMaker User’s Guide.

5.     Complete the LonMaker Network Wizard as prompted by the LonMaker software.

6.     Visio displays the first page of the Visio Activation Wizard.  If you have an Internet connection, select the option to activate the Visio software over the Internet and then click Next.  If you don’t have an Internet connection, click the option to activate the Visio software by telephone and then click Next.

7.     Complete the Visio Activation Wizard as prompted by Visio.

The location of the LonMaker menu items has changed with Visio 2010.  Visio 2010 supports the new Microsoft Fluent user interface that is used by other Office 2010 applications, and places the menu and toolbar items for Visio add-ons like LonMaker in a separate Add-Ins tab.  You can use this tab to access all of the LonMaker menu items, which in prior versions of Visio had been merged with the existing Visio menus.

All releases of the LonMaker Turbo Editions are based on the LNS Turbo Edition Network Operating System, and therefore have compatible LNS databases.  All releases can be updated to the latest version of the LNS Turbo Edition Network Operating System.  LonMaker Turbo SR3 includes LNS Turbo Release 3.27.  You can install LNS Turbo Service Pack 7 to update an earlier LNS Turbo release to Release 3.27.

The LonMaker User’s Guide incorrectly states that Visio Service Pack 2 is included on the LonMaker CD and that it should be installed as part of the LonMaker tool installation.  There are no Visio service packs on the LonMaker CD.

The LonMaker User’s Guide incorrectly states that the maximum number of subnet IDs is 127.  The correct number is 255. (43625)

When using multiple LonMaker clients for the same network, if a connection reference shape is moved on one client, the reference shape is not moved on the other clients. (44162)

The LonMaker Software License Agreement included in Appendix E of the LonMaker User’s Guide has been updated.  The updated agreement is displayed when you install the LonMaker Turbo Edition SR3 software.  The updated agreement is also available in the License.htm file in the LonMaker folder on the LonMaker CD, and is installed in the License.htm file in the LonMaker program directory.

Printed manuals are no longer included with the LonMaker Integration Tool.  Online versions of the documentation are installed with the LonMaker software in the Echelon LonMaker program folder.  The latest versions of all the documentation and data sheets are available at www.echelon.com/docs.