Lots of improvements in Reliance 4.7

May 25, 2015 | Reliance SCADA

The previous official version of the Reliance SCADA/HMI system (version 4.6.3) was released on September 1, 2014. Reliance 4.7.1 brings a large number of new features and improvements. The major changes are summarized below.

New compiler

Reliance, version 4.7 and higher, will be compiled using a new version of the Delphi development environment (Delphi XE5). In addition to the compiler, we have updated the user interface library (VCL), network communication library (Indy), report generator (FastReport), and other parts. Thanks to this, users can expect improved security, better support for new versions of Windows, and other enhancements.

Improved support for dBASE tables

Beginning with version 4.7, Reliance uses TDBF, i.e., built-in support for dBASE file-based database tables. In most cases, this allows us to avoid using the BDE (Borland Database Engine), which is no longer being developed and maintained. Support for TDBF is optional (see the picture below), but will be activated for both new and existing projects. Using the BDE in the Reliance system only makes sense for projects that, for historical reasons, use Paradox database tables (not recommended), or for custom reports that use the BDEDatabase, BDEQuery, or BDETable objects (in such cases, SQL-based databases should be used instead of file-based ones).

Digifort 7: New support for IP cameras

The IP camera market is full of manufacturers introducing thousands of camera models. To be able to connect IP cameras to the Reliance system, we had developed software support (components) for a particular manufacturer. However, it is a lengthy and inflexible process. By interconnecting Reliance and the Digifort IP surveillance system, we get the possibility to integrate an unlimited number of both IP cameras and analog cameras from different manufacturers into a single whole and working with them in the same way. The list of supported cameras is incredibly long – more than 4,500 device models by 220 manufacturers! The Digifort component, which was introduced in Reliance 4.7, allows integrating any Digifort camera into the Reliance system.

Beginning with Reliance 4.7.1, the component allows you to:

• Place a video into a visualization window
• Control the connection using a tag
• Control the camera from remote locations (PTZ)
• Place the so-called Screen View into a visualization window (i.e., multiple cameras arranged in the matrix)

In some of the future versions, we plan to implement the following features: video recording, external inputs/outputs, and motion detection.

Custom alarm/event type

Up to version 4.6.3, the list of alarm/event types had been fixed (alert, command, system message). Beginning with version 4.7, you can add as many alarm/event types as you wish, name them as needed, and specify their alias. It may be one of the criteria used for filtering alarms/events in the runtime software.

Quick searching in alarm/event viewers

The Quick Filter command, which was added to the Reliance Design development environment's managers and selection dialog boxes in version 4.6.2, became very popular among users. This function is now also available in the runtime software's alarm/event viewers.

Web Client: Redundancy, profiles on the server, BACnet – Time Program

Beginning with version 4.7.1, Reliance 4 Web Client saves user settings (e.g., trend appearance settings) to a user profile on the server. If the user of the Web client works on multiple computers, the user settings will always be the same.

Reliance 4 Web Client supports redundancy. If two redundant data servers are defined within the project and a primary server failure occurs (the secondary server assumes the active role), Web clients automatically connect to the secondary server.

We have added support for the BACnet – Time Program component to the Web client.

Smart Client: App Mode, trend viewer improvement

Touch devices with iOS or Android allow you to run Reliance 4 Smart Client in full screen mode (the so-called app mode). The browser toolbars are hidden in this mode. Therefore, more space is available to display the visualization itself. This mode is available in Safari for iOS (beginning with iOS 6) and in Chrome (beginning with version M31) for Android.

We have improved the trend viewer by adding support for separate axes and zooming and by allowing vertical axes to be positioned above each other (see the picture below).

Reliance 4 Smart Client now has support for component rotation and for embedding trends, current alarms/events, and historical alarms/events into the visualization window using the Container component.

Language support

French and Spanish have been added to the runtime software and Reliance 4 Web Client as program languages.

We have updated support for the Russian language.

Many other new features, enhancements, and minor error fixes

Other new features in version 4.7.1 include:

• Support for Omni 3000 and Omni 6000 devices
• The possibility to store log files in the project directory
• Support for automatic user log-on in the runtime software and thin clients
• Saving data of real-time trends at runtime and after project termination in the runtime software

The full change log is available here.

We heartily recommend that you switch to the new version.