Update Notes - Version 3.18

Before upgrading a project a full backup is recommended!

When you install a WinCC OA 3.20 patch, the data of the DemoApplication is reset. Back up your data before installing a patch.

Projects of the versions 3.5 and 3.6 cannot be updated to the Version 3.20 under Linux. Update your project under Windows (see chapter Update or patch project) and then start it under Linux.

In projects older than 3.1, the project must be updated to 3.1 before it can be updated to 3.20.

For a description of how to upgrade a redundant project see: WinCC OAUpgrade of a redundant project.

Note also that the WinCC OA user "root" has to be enabled when updating a project. Otherwise the project cannot be updated.

For upgrading a WinCC OA project from version 3.1 to 3.20 it is necessary to change the system number to a value below 128. If the system number cannot be changed (e.g. plant project without the possibility for further configuration) additional WinCC OA tools can be used. They can be obtained through the WinCC OA Support.

With version 3.17 the config entries "[eip] aliveTimeout", "[mod] aliveTimeout" as well as "[iec61850] aliveTimeout" have been renamed. If they are used within your project they must be replaced with the entries [mod] aliveInterval, [eip] aliveInterval respectively [iec61850] aliveTimeout61850.

Upgrading a project to 3.20 may move some manager options to the corresponding entries in the config file to facilitate the correct usage.

If you upgrade a project which contains the config entry "paramLang", you have to delete this entry manually from the config file before starting the project.

If the powerconfig file is present in the WinCC OA project directory under /config, it has to be merged with the current version from the WinCC OA installation directory under /config.

When upgrading WinCC OA version 3.8 or below to version 3.20, the options for the config entries "vScrollBarMode" and "hScrollBarMode" change their state from "AlwaysOff" to "ScrollBarAsNeeded" due to a change of available options.

When updating a project that contains nonexistent or inaccessible subprojects, these must be commented out in the config file before the project is updated.

It is necessary to adapt custom scripts due to changes to the "dpQueryConnect" functions in WinCC OA Version 3.11. With Version 3.11 the string parameter "identifier" has been changed to the anytype parameter "userData" which can cause problems when calling the corresponding callback function of the dpQueryConnect. So the callback functions must be adapted manually to the new anytype parameter when upgrading a project to WinCC OA Version 3.20.

Incorrect CTRL extensions, which are loaded in the UI or CTRL manager and are stored outside of the /bin WinCC OA directory, may cause a crash of the corresponding manager. The information of the affected CTRL extension is shown in the WinCC OA log viewer. This must be corrected accordingly. With the new command line option -noUserCtrlExt, the loading of CTRL extensions (which is stored outside of the /bin directory) can be blocked. This option is also used for WCCOAtoolConvertDb.

With version 3.20 some new control keywords are reserved (e.g. new or delete, refer to Variables and constants for further information) or used (e.g. struct or class, refer to Control++) by WinCC OA and cannot be used e.g. as variable names anymore. When updating older projects to 3.20, there may be problems if you have defined one of these keywords as a variable name. In this case you have to replace the now invalid names in the respective scripts and panels.

When updating an older WinCC OA project to 3.20, adjust the project-specific CTRL extensions manually.

Scripts using the formerly allowed malpractice in return values for classes need to be corrected, with a given class hierarchy of Base - Derived and a function Base foo() { return Derived(); } up to now an object of the Derived class was returned. From 3.20 onwards the correct return value of a Base class object is used.

Note that before an old WinCC OA project can be updated, any modified standard libraries (especially pt.ctl) have to be synchronized with the current libraries or moved temporary. This also applies to sub projects. For the generation of the panel topology sum alert data points, the updated library pt.ctl from the WinCC OA version is used. If the library is already available in the project, the library is taken from the project and the changes in the pt.ctl from the new version are not considered. Therefore, you have to synchronize the project specific pt.ctl with that of the version or move it from the project.

To upgrade a remote UI project the corresponding upgrade version must be available on the system and the installation path and version number must be adjusted inside of the projects config file.

When upgrading an older project (< 3.12) to WinCC OA Version 3.20 consider that the Multiplexing Proxy manager must be added manually to the project. Note also that the Multiplexing Proxy must be added to the list of managers after the Process Monitor (PMON)! To use the security feature, the multiplexing proxy manager must be configured accordingly (see Multiplexing Proxy).

If you update a 3.8 project (or an older project) to the WinCC OA version 3.20, note that RAIMA archiving is not default anymore. (for more details see: History DB).

If you update a 3.8 project (or an older project) to the WinCC OA version 3.20, the system modifies all historic RAIMA file sets that are online. The file sets are modified due to

• The new alarm reduction (sum alerts in sum alerts)
• The possibility to have more than 255 WinCC OA systems
• The discrete alert handling
• The new data buffering of the RDB manager in the event of a failed database connection

Some errors may occur during a project update if the standard data point types were modified (e.g. data point type ANALOG1 was deleted). Therefore, it's recommended to do an ASCII export before the update and import the data after the update.

When upgrading WinCC OA version 3.8 or below to version 3.20, all Modbus connections (from projects of version 3.8 or below) are deactivated automatically. They must be manually activated again after upgrading the project.

The OPC DA/HDA and UA server now support multiple CNS Views. This requires a change of the default behavior for showing the CNS-View name in the OPC address space. In previous versions the server was not showing the view name per default, but this might now lead to conflicts if more than one view is configured.

So for projects, which are upgraded to 3.17 and higher and must not show CNS-View names in OPC address space, the config entry cnShowViewInPI = 0 in the corresponding config file section of the server is now required.

Due to enhancements to the WinCC OA Layout Management feature the existing behavior and default values have changed. This must be considered when upgrading your WinCC OA project. It may be necessary to adjust your existing layout settings to get the previous visuals representation of your panels.

Note that following warning message at project start indicates that a picture used inside of the project is not conform to the rules of the latest "libpng" library.

 "WCCOAui (1), <DATE and TIME>, SYS, WARNING, 54, Unexpected state, Qt, libpng warning: iCCP: profile 'ICC Profile': 'CMYK': invalid ICC profile color space"

To remove this warning please update/remove the outdated ICC Profile of your picture. One option for this purpose may be the pngcrush tool.#

Note that an old project, which uses the panel topology feature, has to contain the panel files when updating the project. For the generation of the Panel Topology sum alert data points, project panels are required. Without these, the panel topology sum alert data points cannot be created correctly. Therefore, the project panels have to exist when updating the project. Otherwise the sum alert data points will be deleted or generated wrong.

WinCC OA 3.15 installs the vimacc version 2.2.2.2 which enables IPC sockets encryption for all vimacc services. Unencrypted WinCC OA components cannot communicate with the encrypted vimacc services anymore. This means that:

• A video server with this vimacc version cannot be operated with video clients lower or equal to 3.14, since you cannot enable encryption for them.
• The vimacc version of an existing video server is also updated.
• After installing WinCC OA higher or equal to 3.15, it is not possible to communicate with encrypted vimacc services in an existing WinCC OA project lower or equal to 3.14. This also applies if the services are running locally.

Since version 3.11 also supports 64-bit operating systems (please refer to software requirements), a WinCC OA project which is created for 32-bit needs to be adapted to 64-bit. In particular any customer-developed 32-bit API-Manager, CONTROL Extensions and Error-Handling must be changed to 64-bit.

To upgrade a 32bit WinCC OA project to a 64bit WinCC OA 3.20 Project it is necessary to copy the 32bit registry entry of the project from:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ETM\PVSS II\Configs\<project name>]

to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ETM\PVSS II\Configs\<project name>]

To copy the registry entry right-click on the entry <project name> and select export. Remove the entry "Wow6432Node" manually (between "Software" and "ETM") in the exported .reg file. Afterwords re-import the entry with a double click on the .reg file.

Panels that contain 32bit ActiveX objects cannot be successfully upgraded as the objects are not supported anymore.