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Problem Statement: This knowledge base article describes the guidelines to follow when modifying Aspen InfoPlus.21 definition records.
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Solution: AspenTech does not recommend using standard definition records that have been customized without following certain guidelines. For example, AspenTech would not recommend changing how IP_AnalogDef works without also renaming the record to a different name (e.g., IP_NewAnalogDef)
1. As a general rule Customers should never modify any of the Standard Definition Records that are distributed with the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Real-Time Database.
AspenTech distributes its own set of default Standard Definition Records which are included either in the distributed database snapshot, or in application specific .RLD files.AspenTech distributes the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Definition Editor so that customers and third parties can create their own new custom definition records.
The InfoPlus.21 Definition Editor can also be used to duplicate (clone) another existing definition record. In this case the application developer would subsequently make changes in the newly duplicated definition record, perhaps adding or removing fields. This allows the application developer to save time by first duplicating an existing definition record instead of starting from scratch. The modified record should be renamed so that it does not keep the standard definition record name.
As noted already, the standard definition records should never be modified. The reason why AspenTech strongly advises against doing so is that modifying the standard definition records can and has caused problems when the customer eventually upgrades to a new version of Aspen InfoPlus.21.
Furthermore, some standard definition records should not be duplicated. Applications designed to work with certain kinds of record structures might be unable to work with similar record structures that differ from the original in some significant way. This is especially the case when the same external task processes records defined by the new definition record. Examples are KPIDef and SPC record definitions.
2. Instead of modifying a selected Standard Definition Record, you must first make a copy of the desired Definition Record you wish to change (or build a New one from scratch), and then use the InfoPlus.21 Definition Editor and Redefine Wizard to modify the copy or scratch built record.
If you make changes to the Standard Definition Records rather than modifying a Copy of a standard record or one built from scratch, then the next time you run the upgrade wizard you will lose all the changes you made.
As a Best Practice customers should follow the practice of modifying Copies of the Standard Definition Records or building their own new Custom Definition Records from scratch. Adhering to this Best Practice advice will then allow you to work with a modified record structure as needed, yet still allow you to be able to upgrade successfully and maintain the customized record structure for the modified definition records when it comes time to move to a new software version.
Modifications to the KPI, SPC, and other special record types (if and when required) should be handled by submitting an Enhancement Request to AspenTech Support. The submission should explain the requested change as well as the names of the specific Definition Record and/or record fields to which the change would be made. For example, with respect to the KPIDef and SPC related Definition Records, because of the reasons listed below, AspenTech cannot officially support customer initiated modifications to these records without supplying those record modifications via an enhancement to the product.
Reasons why AspenTech does not support customer modified KPIDef or SPC Family Definition Records
Applications designed explicitly to work with our standard KPI records are not expected to work with customized records that may have been created by 3rd parties.
Other AspenTech Client Applications, like TSK_CIMQ and TSK_KPI are only designed to work with certain kinds of records. For example, TSK_KPI which is the external task that responds to activations of KPI records is not expected to handle activations of SPC records. TSK_KPI only handles activations of Standard KPI records defined by the distributed KPIDef and BatchKPIDef Definition Records. The record customization may prevent the processing from working as expected.
The SPC external task, TSK_CIMQ for example, is designed to handle activations of records defined by the distributed SPC definition records. The user should not, for example, duplicate any of the standard SPC definition records or attempt to make arbitrary changes and then expect TSK_CIMQ to work with records defined by the new customized definition record.
There are some applications like the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator and ENCON that are designed to work with every kind of record that might reside in an Aspen InfoPlus.21 database, but neither the KPIDef Definition Record nor the Definition Records that comprise the Real Time SPC record sets fall into this category of records/applications.
Keywords: BatchKPIDef
Definition Editor
KPIDef
Modifying Aspen InfoPlus.21 Records
Real-Time SPC Records
Record Modification Guidelines
Standard Definition Records
TSK_CIMQ
TSK_KPI
References: None
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Problem Statement: Do I lose its history values if I rename an Aspen InfoPlus.21 tag?
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Solution: No, when changing the name of a tag, you don't lose its history, because the link with history is done via record ID's and not via tag names.
Keywords: lost
tagname
historical values
References: None
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Problem Statement: Physical Address Extension (PAE) X86 is a technology that increases the amount of physical or virtual memory available to user-mode applications. PAE X86 allows servers running Windows Server 2003/2008, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003/2008, Datacenter Edition, on a 32-bit hardware platform to access physical memory beyond 4 GB. To do this, PAE changes the memory addressing from 32-bit addressing mode to 36-bit addressing mode, allowing the operating system and high performance drivers and applications access to the additional physical memory.
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Solution: Aspen InfoPlus.21 is not supported on systems that have Physical Address Extension enabled.
Severe history corruption problems have been reported after enabling PAE on Aspen InfoPlus.21 servers (/PAE switch in the boot.ini file).
IP.21 was not quality checked in conjunction with 36-bit memory addressing and Aspentech strongly advise against enabling this Windows feature on InfoPlus.21 servers.
Keywords: PAE, Physical Address Extension, /PAE, history corruption
Unable to read InfoPlus.21 History. Please run Archive Check(Arcck) on Line 1
Error coping arc.dat file. IoError: 1450
References: None
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Problem Statement: Using a version of InfoPlus.21 prior to V7.2, when running SetArchiveDates.exe on Windows Server 2008 the following error message is produced:
Cannot get a list of repositories - please verify tsk_c21_win_init and tsk_h21_init have run
How can one run SetArchiveDates successfully?
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Solution: Right-click on the executable and choose 'Run as Administrator'. It will then run as expected. The problem no longer occurs in V7.2 of InfoPlus.21.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: How to perform InfoPlus.21 Manager functions from the DOS prompt.
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Solution: To start IP.21, run:
%setcimcode%\tsk_client.exe /start_infoplus21
To stop IP.21, run:
%setcimcode%\tsk_client.exe /stop_infoplus21
To see other available options, run:
%setcimcode%\tsk_client.exe /?
To start the History utilities run:
%h21%\bin\h21mon.exe
To start the Scan/21 monitor run:
%s21%\bin\s21mon.exe
To run DBMT utilities:
In the directory: %setcimcode%, there are several .exe files prefixed with DBMT. Each of these performs some DBMT function.
For example, DBMT_TOOL_MGR.EXE will start the DBMT tool manager screen; DBMT_Record_Mgr.exe will start the record manager.
Keywords: manager functions
dos
References: None
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Problem Statement: I have this pressure driven simulation. A ramp is increasing the pressure in stream 11. At some point the simulation fails to converge. Any idea?
When turning the solver options to display the highest residuals, it seems the highest residuals are nearly at the
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Solution: (e.g. 1e-4 to 1e-5).
Solution
Unfortunately, Aspen Dynamics may fail to converge for all kind of reasons, but it may be worth being on the look out for this problem.
For this specific case, the problem is caused by a limitation of the models when reverse flow is not enabled. As the pressure in stream 11 is increased, one can observe that the flow in stream 7 is going down. Eventually the flow becomes zero. If reverse flow was enabled, one would actually see that the flow in stream 7 reverses. As reverse flow is not enabled, we hit a convergence problem because the equations no longer have aSolution.
In version 2006 and higher, we have added a warning when the simulation is exported as p-driven.
Warning: Connectivity may cause convergence failure if reverse flow is not used
The following blocks must be separated by at least one block
that includes a pressure drop/flow relationship:
Block M-1 and Block F-2
You can correct this by inserting a Valve, Pump, Compr or MCompr between these blocks.
This warning should not be ignored.
In general, when troubleshooting a convergence problem with a dynamic simulation, it is a good idea to check flowrates, as there are various issues related to zero flow. Unfortunately, for a large flowsheet this may not be so easy (use the Variable Find to report all mass flowrates ~.Fm).
Now that we have identified the problem, what can we do about it?
The first option is to correct the flowsheet in Aspen Plus, by inserting a valve at the required location (on stream 7). If the valve is not meant to be used for control, specify a small pressure drop. It may not be a good idea to try using a Compr, Pump, or MCompr. Although the warning does not mention this, you can also use a heater block with some pressure drop and no heat duty.
The reason why inserting a valve helps is because when reverse flow is not enabled, the valve acts as a check valve. When the output pressure is larger than the inlet pressure, the flow is forced to be zero.
If you look in the Valve model you will find equations of a similar form (the order has been modified for clarity).
// pressure drop
Out_P.P = In_F.P - P_drop;
call (Pdropc) = plimit(P_drop, dpmin, dpmax);
// simple pressure/flow relation
F * Mw * 2/C0max = C0max*(PosA/100)^2 * Pdropc * Rhos / (abs(F)+eps);
The first equation is simply the definition of the pressure drop (which can be positive or negative). The second equation is clipping the pressure drop Pdropc to be positive. If P_drop is negative, Pdropc is set to 0. The last equation evaluates the flowrate from this pressure drop. You can see that if Pdropc is zero, then the flow is zero.
The second option is to insert the valve in Aspen Dynamics. Restart the simulation and change the run mode to initialization. Disconnect the stream 7 destination, drag and drop a valve and a material stream from the Dynamics library, connect the streams to the valve, and the new stream to the mixer (where stream 7 was connected). Configure the valve (set Valid Phases to vapor-only, set the value of the valve coefficient to a large value, try for example 100). You can adjust the valve coefficient C0max to get a pressure drop of about 1e-5 bar. For vapor-liquid streams, you may have to initialize more variables in the valve model.
Be careful when changing the flowsheet structure, as some models don't handle connection changes gracefully. For example do not disconnect the feed to a RadFrac block, or in general any stream connected to a RadFrac block. The reason is that there are many parameters that needs to be set correctly, based on the stream name. If you create a new stream, obviously it will have a new name - so you may have to fix those parameters.
In some cases, you may want to use the flowsheet update feature introduced in version 2006. Another trick with older versions is to create a flowsheet with just the new valve in Aspen Plus, export as p-driven to Aspen Dynamics, do an initialization run and create a script (with the Variable Find tool) to record the value of all variables, copy&paste that script in your big simulation and run the script.
Finally, another way of resolving the convergence problem is to enable the reverse flow. In fact, this is the right way as this will give you the correct response. The plot below shows the results for the stream 7. Note that the reserve flow feature increases the complexity of the simulation.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Changing the system clock on an Aspen Watch server computer while InfoPlus.21 is running is a very bad thing. We have encountered two undesirable outcomes.
In the first case, the users set the system clock to some time far in the future (in order to do Y2K testing) and then set it back to the current time. When the time was moved ahead, the historian automatically began timestamping history data with the future timestamp. When the clock was corrected, no history storage could occur until the system clock caught up with the last future timestamp that was stored.
In the second case, the system clock was 15 minutes ahead, so the users moved it back to the current time. Even after 15 minutes had passed, the run status for the DMCplus controllers in Aspen Watch Maker was Old DMCplus Time: Waiting. Rebooting the computer did not solve the problem.
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Solution: The attached SQL script can be used to repair the Aspen Watch database if the system clock is changed while InfoPlus.21 is running.
Installation & Use
FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS in the file header BEFORE RUNNING the query.
This application tool has not been reviewed by Aspen Technology's Quality Assurance group, and it it not part of the Aspen Watch product; therefore, it is not officially supported by AspenTech.
Keywords: AppTool
References: None
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Problem Statement: How are the ProcedureDef records that are used by the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Configuration Excel add-in created?
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Solution: The Aspen InfoPlus21 Configuration Excel add-in requires two ProcedureDef records. These records are created the first time the add-in is used.
How to create the ProcedureDef records used by the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Configuration add-in.
? Open Excel and go to the Aspen Configuration ribbon
Click on Manage records and provide the filtering info to minimize the data returned.
o This will create the ..\Group200\SQL\AtXl_DbSchema.sql query and the AtXl_DbSchema ProcedureDef record.
Click in Update IP.21 and OK to update
o This will create the ..\Group200\SQL\AtXI_UpdateTags.sql query and the AtXI_UpdateTags ProcedureDef record.
Note: To successfully complete this the user must have write permission to the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database.
Keywords: add-in, configuration, ribbon, interface
References: None
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Problem Statement: If one upgrades Aspen InfoPlus.21 the 'Aspen InfoPlus.21 Browser' service may not be listed in the Windows' Services applet (which can be found in Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services). This knowledge base article describes the best way to re-add that service.
IMPORTANT: Starting with version 2006.0.1 the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Browser service became obsolete. If that service is present it will be deleted when one installs 2006.0.1 or newer. This is normal behavior. This article is designed for those running earlier versions of the product who wish to restore the missing service.
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Solution: To recreate the service:
1. Go to: Start | Run and type: CMD (enter). This brings up the Windows OS prompt (formerly known as the DOS prompt)
2. Type: cd %SETCIMCODE% (enter)
3. Type: ip21serv.exe /remove (enter)
4. Type: ip21serv.exe /create (enter)
5. Go to: Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services
6. Locate the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Browser service and start it.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: What is the maximum number of characters when creating a Public datasource name in the ADSA?
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Solution: You are allowed only 255 characters in ADSA.
Note: After 30 characters you will receive an error or pop up window in screenshot below. Other third party database software may have different requirements so Aspentech recommend 30 characters or less.
Keywords: ADSA
Datasource
Public
References: None
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Problem Statement: Why won't the database expand in my Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator after upgrade to v2006.5?
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Solution: This problem is because the particular server that was upgraded had its original IP.21 software installed with a version that still referenced Net.21 functionality. The files located in
Program Files\Aspentech\InfoPlus21\c21\n21\files folder are not cleaned up on this upgrade.
Follow these steps to correct the problem:
1. Stopped all of the RPC tasks in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager:
TSK_ADMIN_SERVER
TSK_ORIG_SERVER
TSK_BATCH21_SERVER
TSK_DEFAULT_SERVER
TSK_APEX_SERVER
TSK_EXCEL_SERVER
If you are unable to do this from the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager then kill the associated processes manually via the Windows Task Manager. Each process is equivalent to on infoplus21_api_server.exe.
2. Un-check the Auto Restart check box for each of the above tasks.
3. It is also a good idea to go and look at the registry (using REGEDIT) for
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\<version>\RunningTasks.
The <version> for v2006.5 is 10.0. You should save (export) this part of the registry in case the Aspen InfoPlus.21Task Service does not stop and start correctly. Then you will be able to re-populate this portion of the registry to reflect what tasks were running when the problem occurred.
4. Stop the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service. If you are unable to do this then kill the tsk_server.exe process manually via Windows Task Manager.
5. Delete the items in folder Program Files\Aspentech\InfoPlus21\c21\n21\file.
6. Start the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service.
7. Re-start the tasks above in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager and check to see if the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator is functioning properly.
Keywords: database expansion
TSK_ADMIN_SERVER
TSK_ORIG_SERVER
TSK_BATCH21_SERVER
TSK_DEFAULT_SERVER
TSK_APEX_SERVER
TSK_EXCEL_SERVER
Net.21
References: None
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Problem Statement: Can I run the Diskeeper defrag utility while Aspen InfoPlus.21 is running?
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Solution: You should stop InfoPlus.21 before running the Diskeeper defrag utility.
Note about Diskeeper: Diskeeper defragments a system's hard disk automatically in the background.
Keywords: Defragmentation
Third party utilities
Disk keeper
References: None
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Problem Statement: IP_SQLADef records are provided within Aspen InfoPlus.21 to allow a user to display a table of values and times, currently stored in Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle, into Aspen Process Explorer. Knowledge-base article 115051, as well as the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database User's Guide thoroughly explain how the configuration should be performed. However we have seen cases where despite the correct configuration, the user cannot see the trend plot line, even though right clicking to select show data table, does show the value/time pairs.
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Solution: Check the formatting of the Value fields inside the relational database. The above situation could be seen if the Value field is configured as VARCHAR rather than REAL.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: On a Win2008 Server you get
CIMIO_USER_ADDDEV_NOFILE, Device definition file does not exist and fail to create CIMIO device using InfoPlus.21 Administrator, even if the device definition file exists.
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Solution: Start InfoPlus.21 Administrator using Run as Administrator option.
Keywords: CIMIO_USER_ADDDEV_NOFILE
InfoPlus.21 Administrator
Execute as Administrator
References: None
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Problem Statement: Does Aspen InfoPlus.21 have native database redundancy?
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Solution: No ,Aspen InfoPlus.21 does not support native database redundancy
Keywords: Database
Redundancy
Historian
References: None
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Problem Statement: When configuring a tag such as an Analog or Discrete record you need to tell it which history repository to use via a field such as IP_Repository. Why might the list of repositories displayed in the IP_Repository field drop down list contain repositories that are not listed under DiskHistoryDef in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator?
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Solution: The IP_Repository drop down list may contain repositories that do not display under DiskHistoryDef in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator or in the list of repositories listed in the Historian section.
The Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator uses information stored in ...\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\c21\h21\dat\config.dat to display repository information, while fields like IP_Repository in records defined by IP_AnalogDef or IP_DiscreteDef use the definition record DiskHistoryDef as a search key record. Normally contents of config.dat match the records defined against DiskHistoryDef; however these items can get out of sync if you migrate a snapshot from one server to another without copying config.dat from the old server, and then not adding all the repositories that existed in the old Aspen InfoPlus.21 server to the new one.
To avoid confusion the unused repositories may be removed from the database using the following Aspen SQLPlus queries.
Example Queries:
First get a list of all repositories.
Select name from DiskHistoryDef;
Then remove the unwanted repositories from the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database.
Delete from DiskHistoryDef where name = 'unused repository name';
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: How do I remove a record from a folder?
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Solution: Using the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator, go to the folder containing the record that you want to remove, and expand the repeat area #DATA_BASE_RECORDS.
On the right screen select the occurrence you want to remove and R-click. From the drop down menu select ?Delete Occurrence?
Keywords: Delete, tags, remove, folder
References: None
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Problem Statement: When you want to import old data into a new repository in the Infoplus.21 database, you may face the problem that the active fileset of this repository has a start time that is recent. To be able to insert data, you will need an active fileset with a start time that is older than the oldest value that you want to import.
This Knowledge Base Article explains how to have such an active fileset.
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Solution: Below are the detailed steps to have a fileset with a start time in the past.
1. Create the repository and add the filesets* and make them available by an Infoplus.21 database restart. Fileset #1 is active with a recent start date;
2. Perform a manual fileset shift. Fileset#2 should become active;
3. Now you can change the Start Date value of Fileset#1 by using the SetArchiveDates.exe from the ...AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\c21\h21\bin folder;
4. Stop the Infoplus.21 Database;
5. Delete the contents of the folder for Fileset#2 in Windows Explorer (delete arc.key, arc.dat and arc.byte);
6. Start the Infoplus.21 Database;
7. Fileset#1 should be the Active fileset now, with the modified Start date.
By now entering data chronologically, the filesets will shift using the normal fileset shift criteria.
* The number of filesets depend on how much data you have. You can create a certain number of filesets at first, and then add more if you need to. For example, you could create about 50, and see how much time worth of data that is, and then create the rest accordingly.
- When creating the repository, you will need to set the repository's PAST parameter so that you can insert the oldest data (Solution 112998 - What is the maximum value of the PAST parameter for history repositories (version 6.0 through 2004)?).
- You will also need to set the XOLDESTOK setting to a date earlier than the inserted data (Solution 103040 - How to insert data older than creation time of a record; how to use xoldestok).
Keywords: How do I create Archive(s) that go back several years from now with a new installation of Aspen InfoPlus.21?
References: None
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Problem Statement: How do I resolve the message Error number -3 returned from function recload for the .RLD file when using the Snapshot Creation Wizard to load the file gen_apps.rld?
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Solution: gen_apps.rld and ip21_lims.rld require three dependency RLDs:
cimgcs
cimsyscmd
cimvals
Select these 3 rlds from the Known RLD files section, in addition to the regular RLDs. Then, in the Additional RLD files section, you can add gen_apps.rld and ip21_lims.rld.
After loading the three dependency RLDs, you should be able to create the snapshot successfully..
Keywords: Error 3
Create database
IP21
References: None
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Problem Statement: In Aspen InfoPlus.21 Health Monitor, warning messages regarding running in unlicensed mode can be seen as shown below.
A restart of the task or restart of Aspen InfoPlus.21 machine did not resolve the issue. Furthermore, the license server is reachable.
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Solution: This has to do with SLM configuration on the Aspen InfoPlus.21 server. In order to resolve the issue, apart from ensuring that the license server is reachable, perform as follow:
1. Click on Start | Programs | AspenTech | Common Utilities | SLM Configuration Wizard.
2. Ensure that the option selected is Yes on the Welcome to the SLM Configuration Wizard screen which prompt on whether connecting to an SLM server over the network.
3. Click on the Next button.
4. Ensure that the SLM server name is correct on the Servers screen.
5. Click on the Next button.
6. Select Yes on the Configure Advanced Settings screen.
7. Click on the Next button.
8. Click on the Next button on the Project Tracking screen.
9. Untick Enable network broadcasting option on the Advanced Network Settings screen if it is ticked.
10. Click on the Next button.
11. Tick the Register and optimize license type usage registry settings on the Licensing Type screen.
12. Tick only Unified Licensing option and leave the rest unticked.
13. Click on the Next button.
14. Click on the Next button.
15. Click on the Finish button.
16. Restart the task showing the warning message in Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager.
When the health check run at the scheduled time, the warning will be not be seen. Alternatively, look for the record called IP21LicenseTests in Aspen InfoPlus,21 Administrator and activate the record. Then launch Aspen InfoPlus.21 Health Monitor to verify.
Keywords: WARNING: TSK_KPI is running in unlicensed mode
WARNING: TSK_CIMQ is running in unlicensed mode
References: None
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Problem Statement: My Aspen InfoPlus.21 database was started successfully, but when viewed through IP.21 Administrator, all the repositories are not automatically started, and are showing 'RED'. However, they can be started individually by selecting the 'Start' menu through the pop-up menu.
How do I start my repositories automatically to prevent them from being displayed in red in Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator?
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Solution: One possible reason is the TSK_H21_PRIME task is checked for 'Skip during startup' in Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager. TSK_H21_PRIME is an essential task and should not be skipped during startup.
Keywords: tasks, start-up
References: None
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Problem Statement: The ?error 94 resetting freeReocrd count? may occur when upgrading an Aspen InfoPlus.21 snapshot on a new system that does not have the available resources to upgrade the database.
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Solution: To resolve this error reduce the footprint of your Aspen InfoPlus.21 database.
1. Go back to the original system and open the Properties in the Aspen InfoPlu.s21 Administrator.
2. Adjust the Record Utilization down to an acceptable amount. [around 20% undefined]
3. Adjust the Memory Utilization down to an acceptable amount. [around 20% Free Space]
4. Save a snapshot
5. Copy the snapshot to the new system and upgrade it
The smaller footprint will also allow for reduced TSK_DBCLOCK command line arguments. Note: TSK_DBCLOCK argument is in words and the values displayed in the Properties are in Bytes. [2 bytes = 1word].
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Task Loaddb dies with no messages in the OUT and ERR file. However, in Windows Event Log the following message related to the event was found: Exited with error -1073741819.
How to overcome the above error message?
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Solution: Delete the cache.dat files for all repositories and restart your InfoPlus.21 database.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: If a plant only has daily or weekly snapshot backups, and those backups themselves are not in turn being backed up in some other location by another process, you could potentially have a snapshot corruption that goes undetected for more than a week, and be left with no usable snapshot to load.
So it is important to keep copies of the snapshot backups!
It would be ideal to create monthly or even quarterly snapshot backups using DatabaseSaveDef, however the RESCHEDULE_INTERVAL field takes a maximum value of 466 hours. Trying to put a larger value gives a Data out of range error:
So how can a monthly or quarterly snapshot save be configured?
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Solution: TheSolution is to leave the DatabaseSaveDef record with an empty RESCHEDULE_INTERVAL, and just configure the FILE_NAME appropriately:
Note that any path the InfoPlus.21 Task Service account has the right to write to can be specified. If only the filename is specified, then the snapshot copy will save to the Group200 directory.
Now make a new record based on ScheduleActDef, called something like Monthly_Activate, and add MONTH_SAVE to its repeat area and schedule it:
Repeat Area of Monthly_Activate:
Note that (1) to load balance the system, the SCHEDULE_TIME is not right on the hour (that would send occasional requests to do two simultaneous snapshot saves, since your monthly save would happen at the same time as the standard hourly save, thus keeping your snapshot locked for copy longer), (2) the RESCHEDULE_INTERVAL of 720 hours is 30 days, which is an approximation of a month. To do an actual calendar-based save would require writing a SQLplus script to activate the record based on calendar dates, and (3) by putting a past time parameter in SCHEDULE_TIME you provoke an immediate activation of the record, which tests your configuration (you can check the Group200 directory and see that a new Quarterly snapshot was immediately saved.)
Keywords: snapshot save
save snapshot
References: None
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Problem Statement: If a tag is currently pointing to Repository A (as indicated by its IP_REPOSITORY setting), and there is a need to point the tag to Repository B, is it possible to see the data for the tag from both Repository A and Repository B?
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Solution: Once the tag is no longer pointing to Repository A, and now pointing to Repository B, it is not possible to see the data from Repository A. In order to capture all of the data from both repositories, the data needs to be pulled out of Repository A into a text file using SQLplus or a custom program - while the tag is still pointing to Repository A. Then point the tag to Repository B. Next, use SQLplus or a program to read the text file and insert the data into the tag's history. A fileset or series of filesets must exist in the new repository to hold the data for the period of time in question. In addition, the Past Time parameter for Repository B must be set large enough to accommodate the period of time for the data being inserted.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Aspen InfoPlus.21 startup fails in Tsk_Dbclock.
TSK_DBCLOCK.ERR file has something like NetShareGetInfo error 2310 (path //ABCD123/IP21g200His/arc1) error.
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Solution: The most likely cause is that the 'share-name' (in this example IP21g200his) is missing from the directory holding all of the archive directories.
Use Windows Explorer to find the directory that contains the arc1 directory. Check the sharing properties and make sure it is set to the share-name seen in the error message
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: With the advent of software such as VMWare and Microsoft Virtual PC allowing the use of virtual PC's running on real PC's, the question often asked is: Does AspenTech support the use of this virtual PC software?
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Solution: Versions before aspenONE V7:
While it may work, AspenTech does not officially support the operation of IP.21 in a virtual machine environment, and it's not one of the supported configurations described in the installation manual. AspenTech recommends against running a production IP.21 system on a virtual machine.
Versions aspenONE V7 and above:
In version V7, AspenTech has introduced support for virtual machines, as described inSolution 126620.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Is it possible to move or delete (just the link) records in a folder?
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Solution: To move the records follow the steps below:
a) Select the folder that contains the tags you want to move. (PlantB)
b) Select all the records you want to move to a different folder. (B1 to B10)
c) Drag and drop them into the desired folder. (PlantA)
To delete records from a folder follow the steps below:
Let?s say you want to remove it from one of the folders.YouI do not want to delete the record.
Ok, as you can see in the image below I have B1 and B2 in two folders (PlantB and PlantC)
a) Go to the folder where the tags that you want to remove are (PlantC) and then select #DATA_BASE_RECORDS
b) On the right screen select the occurrence you want to remove and R-click.
c) From the dropdown menu select ?Delete Occurrence?
Keywords: Reorder
Folder
References: None
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Problem Statement: There are problems that arise if you have installed and uninstalled InfoPlus.21 3.1 a couple of times during an installaltion. The problem is that IP.21 3.1, APR (Aspen Process Recipe) and ATM (Aspen Transition Manager) need to be the last Aspentech products installed on the machine. If you have installed and uninstalled several things, then there are probably some .DLL''s that are of the wrong vintage - causing the IP.21 installation to fail. If you don''t install IP.21 and its products last, the APR client will not start correctly and a GPF fault will appear.
The error comes from installing previous versions of software on top of EIS 3.x/Plantelligence. This is a documented incompatibility, and there is not going to be a fix for the older install programs. What that means is that the older products need to be installed before the newest ones go on the machine, or you will run into installation problems.
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Solution: TheSolution is to load all other Aspen products first: DMC, IQ, MIMI, etc., and then load IP.21 and its layered products last. IP.21 has newer .DLL''s that seem to work with the older Aspen products. To clean up the registry, you need to delete all the registry keys for Aspentech in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASPENTECH and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ASPENTECH. To save time, you can delete the entire Aspentech trees for both of these, and reinstall all the Aspentech software including License Manager. You don''t need to reinstall the Microsoft products and service patches or any other software. Simply deleting and properly reinstalling the Aspen software usually does the trick. You also need to manually delete the files under the Program Files\Aspentech directory (or wherever you installed the program files). If you try to use Aspen''s uninstall and it fails, this manual removal method is sufficient. Once all the cleanup has been done, the order to install everything is: License Manager, ACS products, any other Aspen software, then IP.21 and its Layered Products.
Keywords: Installation
IP21 install
Aspen Process Recipe
References: None
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Problem Statement: In v2.5,1, the pd_server is required only if you are using Batch.21, Event.21, SCAN21, and/or SQLA Tags. In v2.5.1 through 5.0.1, the pd_server is required only if you are using Event.21 and/or SQLA Tags. In v2.5.1 through 6.0.1 the pd_server is required only if you are using SLQA Tags.
TSK_PD_SERVER will not stay running (starts and shortly dies) and the following error message is found in Aspentech//InfoPlus.21/c21/k21/log/pd_server.out file:
Elapsed time (seconds) == 0
Total number of point_variables: 0
queue opened
The following is a database error code. Consult your
database administrator for help in resolving this problem.
See your database documentation for more details.
Msg 208, Level 16, State 1
Server '<servername>', Line 1
Invalid object name 'event_db..event21'.
The following is a database error code. Consult your
database administrator for help in resolving this problem.
See your database documentation for more details.
DB-Library error: 10007
General SQL Server error: Check messages from the SQL Server.
r21_open_cursor: error in call to dbsqlexec
r21_open_cursor: Select eventid from event_db..event21 where eventid >= 1 order by eventid desc
E21 ERROR: Could not get last eventid! 1001
E21 ERROR: Aborting e21_init_server!
E21 ERROR: Check $CIM21_CONFIG file for proper E21 values.
E21 ERROR: Possibly disable Event System ([E21] N).
|
Solution: Found that the task crashed because Event.21, Batch.21, and the BCU were turned on first, before an event_db was created in the MS SQLserver database. To create the event_db database, follow the steps below:
Edit c21_config, and turn off Event.21, Batch.21 and the BCU
Execute \b21\demo\b21sqlcfg.bat (this batch script creates the table structures in the MS SQLServer database)
Edit c21_config, and turn on Event.21, Batch.21 and the BCU
Restart InfoPlus.21
Keywords: invalid object name
pd_server
References: None
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Problem Statement: The HEATX block in Aspen Plus Dynamics has the option LMTDmethod on the Configure table to provide alternate methods for calculating LMTD if the standard method fails. The available options are PreventT-Crossover and AllowT-Crossover. What do these options do?
|
Solution: LMTDmethod
Note: LMTDmethod is a proprietary algorithm in Aspen Plus Dynamics.
PreventT-Crossover (default): This method performs a procedural calculation of LMTD to prevent a physically impossible temperature crossover condition. It basically monitors all inlet and outlet stream temperatures in the heat exchanger and evaluates a LMTD accordingly.
AllowT-Crossover: This is an alternative method when PreventT-Crossover method is failing. This method calculates two LMTDs at each side of the heat exchanger and determines the average LMTD. This is a valid approach only when LMTDFlowDir is Countercurrent.
Note: PreventT-Crossover should work for most dynamic simulations. However, AllowT-Crossover is merely an alternative option only if PreventT-Crossover is found to keep failing, especially when a step change event is introduced to the heat exchanger. Other than such special occasions, PreventT-Crossover should be employed.
Keywords: HEATX, LMTDmethod, temperature crossover, temperature approach, LMTDFlowDir
References: None
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Problem Statement: Why do Aspen InfoPlus.21 database upgrades take a long time when upgrading from V7.2 or earlier to V7.3 or later?
|
Solution: In Aspen InfoPlus.21 V7.3, AspenTech increased the maximum number of allowable characters in a tag name from 24 to 256 characters. To accommodate this change, record names reside in a separate table rather than in the records themselves to prevent increasing the size of each record in the database.
When upgrading snapshots from versions prior to 7.3 to V7.3 or later, the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Upgrade Wizard moves record names from data records to the name table and then collapses the data records to recover the space formerly allocated to the record names. The record compression can take an hour or more for large databases.
Database snapshots upgraded from V7.3 or later to subsequent versions of Aspen InfoPlus.21 should not see this delay.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: Is it possible to find and extract the tasks and scripts from a DYNF file without opening Aspen Dynamics? Also, is there a way to put those extracted scripts/tasks into another Aspen Dynamics session?
|
Solution: The dynf file is a text file, so you can open it with a text editor like Notepad. Here is a summary of steps:
Take a backup copy of the dynf file (just in case you do something wrong)
Do a right mouse click on the dynf file and select Edit
Make sure that the option Wrap lines is off in the Format menu Note: should you leave line Wrap option ON in Notepad the acmf/dynf file can be corrupted beyond repair.
The scripts are starting with the line:
TYPE sssss ROLE SCRIPT TEXT ...
ENDTEXT
where sssss is the name of the script. You need to copy from the character after the TEXT keyword to the ENDTEXT keyword (excluded), then paste the script in your other simulation directly in Aspen Dynamics. Alternatively, you can copy from the TYPE keyword (included) to the keyword ENDTEXT (included) and paste it directly in the other simulation file opened with Notepad. You need to paste it in the flowsheet section: search for the keyword CONSTRAINTS, then you can paste a few line below:
FLOWSHEET
B2 as Lag_1;
B1 as Lag_1bis;
CONSTRAINTS
// Flowsheet variables and equations...
END
//SYSTEM SECTION - WARNING: DO NOT EDIT
<--- you can paste here --->
SystemData : Text
(obviously you won't see the <--- you can paste here ---> which I've added to show you where you can paste.)
to copy a task, you need to locate the first line of the task, which is just below the CONSTRAINTS section, after its END Statement
FLOWSHEET
B2 as Lag_1;
B1 as Lag_1bis;
CONSTRAINTS
// Flowsheet variables and equations...
END
Task test // <Trigger>
// task statements...
End
//SYSTEM SECTION - WARNING: DO NOT EDIT
You need to copy from the Task keyword (included) to the END statement (included), and paste that into the new task you create in Aspen Dynamics GUI. Make sure to use the same task name. Alternatively, you can paste the task directly in the dynf file you would have opened with Notepad (paste just after the END keyword of the CONSTRAINTS section).
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: A task does not execute, even though the system conditions have changed beyond the trigger point. For example, a task set to execute when the vessel pressure exceeds 14.7 psi, does not execute even when vessel pressure exceeds 30 psi.
|
Solution: Tasks always operate in METCBAR dimensional unit set, regardless of the Units of Measurement setting. The task manager passes numbers directly to the solver which works in the base units of measure (i.e., the units in which the model has been written). For Aspen Dynamics system models and properties, the units are always METRIC with Celcius for temperature and Bar for pressure.
If a task is not executing, check the dimensional units. In the above example, English dimensional units were chosen globally for the flowsheet, and the task code was set to be triggered at 14.7. Since inside the Task routines all dimensional units are METRIC, 14.7 is 14.7 bar. Since the system never exceeds 14.7 bar, the task never executes. A conversion of 14.7 psi to bar is necessary, and the trigger point in the task should be specified as 1.01 (bar).
For additional reference, please find a sample
Fixed in Release:
No current plans to change this functionality
Keywords: units, Metric, tasks,
References: None
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Problem Statement: After installing and configuring the Aspen SLM Server and Tools and Aspen manufacturing products receive the message:
when using the Aspen Process Explorer product or other AspenONE client tools.- Clicking the Details button shows lines like:
The licensing system is unable to provide licenses to a standalone machine while running a Citrix or Terminal server application.
8001006 All licensing tokens with the server for this feature are already in use.
|
Solution: The message may appear under different conditions:
The client system is not able to access the SLM license server.
The client system has not been configured to point to the correct SLM license server.
The message indicates that there are no license tokens available.
Examining the different Aspen products installed found that the Aspen Production Record Manager product was installed and the Aspen Production Record Manager Services service was running, this product uses 7 license tokens while running, and had exhausted the license tokens available for Aspen products.
Found that the Aspen InfoPlus.21 system was configured with a large number of license points, and reducing this number resolved the problem.- SeeSolution 123811 for details on how to adjust the number of license points in Aspen InfoPlus.21.
Keywords: unable acquire RN_PME_PRCEXPL_TK
References: None
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Problem Statement: How do I start Aspen InfoPlus.21 external tasks from the command line?
|
Solution: Aspen InfoPlus.21 external tasks may be started from the command line by using the following command:
tsk_client \start_task_by_name TSK_SQL_SERVER
with the TSK_SQL_SERVER as just an example, replace with any of the external tasks.
This will start up the task when it is down, but it fails if it is already running. The tsk_client can be found in the C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code directory and has many other options. Just run tsk_client without any further arguments to find the range of options and syntax.
Keywords: command line, prompt
References: None
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Problem Statement: Aspentech databases are licensed to our customers based on the number of tags or records which will contain historical data, within History Repeat areas. The entire database (all records and tags) resides in memory, or RAM, with a disk extension for storing longterm history. To be able to allocate sufficient RAM, and to load the database into memory, there are a couple of places where memory allocation needs to be configured. This
|
Solution: attempts to explain how to configure memory when running InfoPlus.21.Solution
The first place to look is inside the InfoPlus.21 Manager. Look in the top left box of 'Defined Tasks' for TSK_DBCLOCK. Double click on TSK_DBCLOCK so that the fields on the right hand side are filled in. Looking at the bottom Command Line Parameters you should see DOUBLE 'nnnnnnn', where nnnnnnn is a large number. For example you may see DOUBLE 500000
We will discuss the need for the 'DOUBLE' parameter in a moment. The 500000 in the command line parameter tells TSK_DBCLOCK to allocate 500000 words (1,000,000 bytes) of RAM, or memory. Then when loaddb runs, it will read the snapshot from disk and load the database into that allocated memory. Obviously if in this example the snapshot file is greater than 500,000 words, then loaddb will fail with an error. -
Now let's go to the Administration tool and right click on Group 200 on 'xxxxx'. Choose Properties and the Memory Utilization tab. This window displays information about the usage and allocation of memory for the currently running database. At the bottom you will see a row entitled TOTAL with three numbers next to it. You should be aware there is a slight inconsistency, in that the TSK_DBCLOCK parameter is in words, and this display is in bytes. Remember there are 2 bytes to a word.
The number on the far right is the maximum amount of memory allocated for this database, therefore it is the same amount as in TSK_DBCLOCK, only in bytes instead of words. In our example, TSK_DBCLOCK used 500,000 words, so you would expect to see 1,000,000 bytes in this box. This is going to be the maximum size this database can grow to.
The number in the middle will represent actual amount of RAM currently being used, based on all currently existing records.
The number on the far left side is the size (in bytes) of the snapshot read by loaddb. So if the snapshot was 350,000 words then that box will show 700,000 bytes. This represents total RAM currently being used, and any free space available. This is the only number that is user modifiable. This number can be changed dynamically, while a database is running, to increase or decrease the amount of free space available in RAM. -
As explained inSolution 103824 (Free Space errors - Usually seen when creating new records), the value in the left hand side can be increased up to but not exceeding the number on the right. Why would you not always set the number on the left equal the number on the right?
The recommendation is that for a stable configuration of your database (meaning that in the near future you do not expect to be adding or deleting a large number of records), the number on the left is set so that Free Space is about 10-15%. Making that left number too big means that the snapshot saved to disk is larger than necessary. -
Finally back to the DOUBLE in the TSK_DBCLOCK parameter. Saving a snapshot means locking the database and copying the in-memory database to disk. The 'DOUBLE' means that actually twice as much memory is allocated by TSK_DBCLOCK, so that initially after locking, a memory to memory copy is made, then the lock can be released, before finally doing a memory to disk copy. Since memory to memory writes are much faster than memory to disk, this drastically reduces the lock time of the database. The only prerequisite for using this feature is that there needs to be enough physical RAM on the server to pre-allocate twice the amount of memory needed for the database.
Keywords: Memory
dbclock
loaddb
memory utilization
double
References: None
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Problem Statement: You want to use the Replication feature within Aspen InfoPlus.21, but you cannot find any of the Replication Definition records such as RepSubscriberDef and/or RepPublisherDef.
|
Solution: Even though you chose Replication as a sub-component of Aspen InfoPlus.21 during install, the Replication records do not automatically get loaded to the Database Snapshot..
The easy workaround is to right click on the Server from within the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator and choose Load Records. From there browse to the ...AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\etc directory and select Replication.Rld and click OK.
Doing a refresh from within the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator should now allow you to see and use the required records,
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: You are trying to start the InfoPlus.21 database from the InfoPlus.21 Manager, but it hangs during startup. When you try to stop the entire database or one of the tasks that were running, you get the error:
Cannot perform the requested action since InfoPlus.21 start is in progress.
This message is preventing you from starting or stopping the database.
|
Solution: To solve this issue, restart the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service from the Services Control Panel. Then, stop each of the tasks that were left hanging in the InfoPlus.21 Manager.
Now, you should be able to start the InfoPlus.21 database successfully.
Keywords: IP.21 hangs
IP.21 dies
can't start IP.21 database
IP21
References: None
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Problem Statement:
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Solution: 104933 discusses a problem with the InfoPlus.21 Task Service for Group200 not starting due to the Computer Browser service not running. You may encounter this error when trying to start the Computer Browser Service:
Error 2550: Browser Service was configured with MaintainServerList=NoSolution
If you receive this error, run regedit to go into the Windows registry and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System> ControlSet001> Services>Browser>Parameters. Change the key, MaintainServerList, from NO to AUTO. Exit the registry. You should now be able to start the Computer Browser service.
Keywords: Computer Browser
2550
MaintainServerList
References: None
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Problem Statement: It may be difficult or time consuming to delete multiple occurrences from InfoPlus.21. The InfoPlus.21 Administrator allows only a single deletion at one time. As a result, the process can be tedious when deleting multiple occurrences. The InfoPlus.21 API has a function called DELOCCS to delete all occurrences between 2 existing occurence numbers. This knowledge base article provides an example of how to use the DELOCCS API routine.
A detailed calling convention of this API function can be found in InfoPlus.21 Database API manual.
|
Solution: You can write a simple utility to make use of this function either with C or Fortran. The following sample is provided to illustrate use of DELOCCS function.
#include <setcim.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <math.h>
main ()
{
long recid, ftid, occnum;
float value;
char *recname, *recfield, tmpname[24], tmpfield[24];
short lengthofname, lengthoffield, occsdeleted, numoccs;
ERRBLOCK err;
ERRARRAY errbuff;
short errsz;
if (!INISETC())
{
printf(IP21 is down.);
exit(0);
}
else
{
printf(Please enter the record name (up to 24 characters): \n );
scanf(%s, &tmpname);
printf(Please enter the field name (up to 24 characters): \n );
scanf(%s, &tmpfield);
printf(Please enter the occurrence number to start deleting : \n );
scanf(%d, &occnum);
printf(Enter the number of occurrences to delete. \n);
scanf(%d, &numoccs);
numoccs = (short)abs(numoccs);
lengthofname = strlen(tmpname);
recname = tmpname;
lengthoffield = strlen(tmpfield);
recfield = tmpfield;
DECODNAM(recname, lengthofname, &recid, &err);
if (err.ERRCODE == SUCCESS)
{
printf(record id = %d \n, recid);
}
else
{
printf(DECODNAM() failure!\n);
printf(errcode = %ld\n, err.ERRCODE);
ERRMESS (&err, errbuff, &errsz);
printf(%.*s \n, errsz, errbuff);
}
DECODFT(recfield, lengthoffield, &ftid, &err);
if (err.ERRCODE == SUCCESS)
{
printf(field id = ox%x \n , ftid);
}
else
{
printf(DECODFT() failure!\n);
printf(errcode = %ld\n, err.ERRCODE);
ERRMESS (&err, errbuff, &errsz);
printf(%.*s \n, errsz, errbuff);
}
DELOCCS(recid, ftid+1, numoccs, occnum, &occsdeleted, &err);
if (err.ERRCODE == SUCCESS)
{
printf(Number of occurrences deleted = %d, occsdeleted);
}
else
{
printf(DELOCCS() failure!\n);
printf(errcode = %ld\n, err.ERRCODE);
ERRMESS (&err, errbuff, &errsz);
printf(%.*s \n, errsz, errbuff);
}
};
ENDSETC();
} /* main */
To run the sample, use the following steps.
Copy the code directly form theSolution, compile it and link it in Visual C.
Run it against the database.
After selecting the occurrences to delete, refresh the InfoPlus.21 Administrator (Press F5).
After deleting occurrences in the middle of a long list, blank lines will not remain. The occurrences shift up to fill in those deleted occurrences.
NOTE: The script cannot be run against a history repeat area. It is not possible to delete history occurrences in InfoPlus.21.
You may receive the following message when using DELOCCS.
DELOCCS() failure!
errcode = -16
Invalid occurrence number
If the error is encountered, please note that the calling program has to pass the field tag of a field in the repeat area. The InfoPlus.21 Database API Manual states, To be a valid field the occurrence number needs to be specified, normally set to one.
Try specifying a field in the repeat area, not the the repeat count field.. For example, to specify the occurrence number in the IO_#TAGS repeat area, the use 1 IO_TAGNAME instead of IO_#TAGS.
Keywords: delete
occurrence
repeat area
API
References: None
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Problem Statement: What does the message in the error.log for a repository shows 'No space left on device'?
Here is an an example of what would be seen in the error.log file for a particular repository:
05 Apr 11 09:44:09 - ARCHIVE: successful program startup
05 Apr 11 09:44:09 - ARCHIVE: create_record() allocate failure: No space left on device
05 Apr 11 09:44:09 - ARCHIVE: program shutdown
|
Solution: Although the drive where the history is being stored for this repository showed that there was about 85% free space, the actual folder for each repository had been locked down to a certain size and this repository was indeed out of space. Increase the amount of space allocated for the problem repository.
Keywords: repository
no space left on device
References: None
|
Problem Statement: The following message may appear when starting Aspen InfoPlus.21:
Error Creating Event Object, Error Code = 183''
|
Solution: This message can appear when the account used to start the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service is not a member of the local Administrators group on the Aspen InfoPlus.21 server. If necessary, modify the log on as account of the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service to one in the local Administrators group on the Aspen InfoPlus.21 server, restart the service, and then try starting Aspen InfoPlus.21.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: You've installed the Aspen License Manager and the license keys that you received with the software. However, now when trying to install the AMS software, you get an error message indicating no licenses are available for the software.
|
Solution: Don't let the Install Wizard select the License Manager for you. Type in the node name of the computer you installed the License Manager and keys on and the installation should proceed correctly.
Keywords: key
license
install
References: None
|
Problem Statement: If the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Access Service is not running, showing references for a point using the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator fails. What prevents the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Access Service from starting?
|
Solution: The Aspen InfoPlus.21 Access Service requires Aspen InfoPlus.21 to be running. Otherwise, the service dies.
When Aspen InfoPlus.21 starts, the task TSK_ACCESS_SVC activates the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Access Service.
First verify the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager starts TSK_ACCESS_SVC. The name of the executable is ip21ServiceHost.exe.
Next, because the Aspen InfoPlus.21 task service requires InfoPlus.21 to be running, and Aspen InfoPlus.21 starts the service, make sure the Startup Type of the service is Manual and not Automatic.
Setting the startup type to Manual prevents the following scenario:
Aspen InfoPlus.21 is configured to start when the server boots. Before InfoPlus.21 can start, Windows tries to activate the service Aspen InfoPlus.21 Access Service, and the service fails because Aspen InfoPlus.21 is not running. While the service is dying, TSK_ACCESS_SVC tries to run the service, but the service cannot respond to the start request because the service is failing.
Keywords: Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service
TSK_ACCESS_SVC
Windows Services
References: None
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Problem Statement: How can I load a different baseline for my Aspen Watch KPIs when a feed change or other event occurs?
|
Solution: Products: Aspen Watch Performance Monitor
Versions: 2006.5 and later
ThisSolution requires knowledge of SQLplus, QueryDef records and Miscellaneous Tags in Aspen Watch.
The simplest method to schedule baseline changes is to create a Miscellaneous Tag in the Aspen Watch database that is updated by some external source (a feed composition, feed flow or other DCS point). Then write a simple SQLplus query that evaluates this Miscellaneous Tag and calls the AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS procedure to load the desired baseline case. The SQLplus query needs to be stored as a QueryDef record in the database and configured to use Change-Of-State detection by watching for changes in the value of the Miscellaneous Tag.
If you have made baseline changes directly from the Production Control Web Server, you may want to use the
?Save current baseline data? option to retain the changes.
Use the following Aspen Watch SQLplus procedure to load a baseline:
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS(<AppName>,<AppType>,<BaselineCaseName>,<FilePath>);
Note that there are two types of applications supported by this procedure ('DMCplus' and 'Tag Group'). The DMCplus baseline configuration files are stored under the app folder for each controller (<ControllerName>\BaselineCases\ sub-folder). For Tag Groups, there is a Data folder where baseline configuration files get stored (the tag group name is pre-pended to the file name).
DMCplus controller example (v7.1 and earlier):
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS('COL5X3','DMCplus','Baseline1',
'C:\Program Files\AspenTech\Aspen Watch\App\COL5X3\BaselineCases\Baseline1.CFG');
DMCplus controller example (v7.2 and later Windows 2003 Server):
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS('COL5X3','DMCplus','Baseline1',
'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\App\COL5X3\BaselineCases\Baseline1.CFG');
DMCplus controller example (v7.2 and later Windows 2008 Server):
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS('COL5X3','DMCplus','Baseline1',
'C:\Program Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\App\COL5X3\BaselineCases\Baseline1.CFG');
Tag Group example (v7.1 and earlier):
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS('TagGroup1','Tag Group','MyBaseline',
'C:\Program Files\AspenTech\Aspen Watch\Data\TagGroup1_MyBaseline.CFG');
Tag Group example (v7.2 and later Windows 2003 Server):
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS('TagGroup1','Tag Group','MyBaseline',
'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\Data\TagGroup1_MyBaseline.CFG');
Tag Group example (v7.2 and later Windows 2008 Server):
AW_LOAD_BASELINE_KPIS('TagGroup1','Tag Group','MyBaseline',
'C:\Program Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\Data\TagGroup1_MyBaseline.CFG');
***********************************************************************************************************************************
Note:
In the event baseline changes have been made directly from the Production Control Web Server, you will want to save current baseline data.
Saving a baseline:
If baseline values are changed from the web interface, they are not saved to the baseline configuration file. If you want to be certain these are saved, then you can call AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS to update the active baseline with the current baseline values. Use the following calling convention:
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS(<AppName>,<OptionalStartTime,<OptionalEndTime>,<BaselineCaseName>,<FilePath>,<OptionalDescription>,<AppType>);
NOTE: The optional arguments: OptionalStartTime, OptionalEndTime and OptionalDescription should be left blank when updating an existing baseline unless you wish to modify these information only values from the original ones stored in the baseline case.
DMCplus controller example (v7.1 and earlier):
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS('COL5X3','','','Baseline1',
'C:\Program Files\AspenTech\Aspen Watch\App\COL5X3\BaselineCases\Baseline1.CFG','','DMCplus');
DMCplus controller example (v7.2 and later Windows 2003 Server):
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS('COL5X3','','','Baseline1',
' C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\App\COL5X3\BaselineCases\Baseline1.CFG','','DMCplus');
DMCplus controller example (v7.2 and later Windows 2008 Server):
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS('COL5X3','','','Baseline1',
'C:\Program Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\App\COL5X3\BaselineCases\Baseline1.CFG','','DMCplus');
Tag Group example (v7.1 and earlier):
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS('TagGroup1','','','MyBaseline ',
'C:\Program Files\AspenTech\Aspen Watch\Data\TagGroup1_MyBaseline.CFG','','Tag Group');
Tag Group example (v7.2 and later Windows 2003 Server):
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS('TagGroup1','','','MyBaseline ',
'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\Data\TagGroup1_MyBaseline.CFG','','Tag Group');
Tag Group example (v7.2 and later Windows 2008 Server):
AW_SAVE_BASELINE_KPIS('TagGroup1','','','MyBaseline ',
'C:\Program Data\AspenTech\APC\Performance Monitor\Data\TagGroup1_MyBaseline.CFG','','Tag Group');
Keywords: Baseline, KPI, Watch
References: None
|
Problem Statement: RPCSS memory leak
One issue we have seen crop up with Aspen Watch periodically is a memory leak in the system task called RPCSS. This was also observed during IP.21 testing. This memory leak can be observed by running the Aspen Watch performance tool.
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Solution: Microsoft has a hotfix for it Q265433, and although we do not have permission to distribute the fix, a call to Microsoft will secure a copy.
Keywords: RPCSS, AspenWatch, Q265433
References: None
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Problem Statement: How can I get a Dump of KPI data, with averages, into VECTOR file?
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Solution: Consider the following for dumping the KPI data with the averages:
When exporting tag data using the History Plot's Export menu (in Aspen Watch), the default interval selected for the vector file data is 60 seconds (in 2006.5). In more recent versions, Aspen Watch allows you to specify an interval (up to 5 minutes). However, if you need to access the raw values at the aggregate interval (hour, day, month) for a KPI, you will need to use a different approach.
The best way to do that may be to use SQLplus.
You can use a HISTORY table request (search for History Table in the SQLplus help index). However, this still gives you evenly spaced data (you would have to specify the PERIOD that you want it to give you the data for. There are examples for how to use the HISTORY and AGGREGATES tables for SQLplus in the Support knowledge base.
The other option is a more direct approach to query the actual recorded history values for a specific record and field. The trick is know how to look up the correct data and timestamp fields.
The Record name to use can easily be found from the Name column shown in the History plot legend.
The Field to use can be inferred by finding the AtMapDef record that matches the name shown in the Map column. Then, use the field name shown in the MAP_HistryValue field of the AtMapDef record.
The timestamp field can also be found in the AtMapDef record (MAP_TimeStamp field).
For example, look at the AW_CKPI_HR_M AtMapDep record. This is the Hourly averages map record for Aspen Watch KPI values. The Field you want to specify in your HISTORY call would be AW_KPI_VALUE_HR_H (this is found in the MAP_HistoryValue field of the atMapDef record). The timestamp field is found in in the MAP_HistoryValue field (AW_H_TIME_1). So the following query would return all the available history instances for the CVs in constraint percentage KPI for a controller with controller index 02 (C02).
SELECT AW_H_TIME_1 AS My Timestamp, CAST(AW_KPI_VALUE_HR AS REAL) AS My Value FROM C02K_08CVCONSTRAINED
To constrain this query between two timestamps, simply use the WHERE AW_H_TIME_1 BETWEEN 'DD-MMM-YY HH:MI:SS' AND ' DD-MMM-YY HH:MI:SS '
SELECT AW_H_TIME_1 AS My Timestamp, CAST(AW_KPI_VALUE_HR AS REAL) AS My Value FROM C02K_08CVCONSTRAINED
WHERE AW_H_TIME_1 BETWEEN '02-JAN-12 02:59:05' AND '02-MAR-12 02:59:05'
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Aspen Smart Audit fails with a pop-up error message that says: Warning? XLS File Saving Error? Ask for assistance!.
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Solution: When trying to create the Aspen Smart Audit report (Save Report As), it tries to create a ModelName.xls file but then gives the messages:
Warning? XLS File Saving Error? Ask for assistance!
?SmartAudit This action cannot be completed because the other application is busy. Choose `Switch To? to activate the busy application and correct the problem.?
If you minimize the desktop then you see the message about saving Book1.xlsx. This file contains the correct information. ModelName.xls is not created.
When you try to create a new report the 2nd time it works. If you say don?t overwrite the existing file, then Smart Audit aborts.
Keywords: Aspen Smart Audit, Report
References: None
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Problem Statement: Inspector Hangs on initialization if user is not in Administrators group.
The symptoms were first noted with AMS 5.0 but most likely will apply to prior versions as well, since normally a user will have been a member of the Administrators group on his own PC. This has likely occurred because of shared machines, and perhaps Terminal Services. [editorial comment: Terminal Services is not supported for any of our products. We do not test with Terminal Services. Nonetheless, several users have reported being able to make some of our applications work through Terminal Services. Your Mileage May Vary. ]
Inspector runs without problems if you run it under an account of the administrators group. As soon as you try to run it from an account of another group it hangs in the initialization of Inspector.
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Solution: There are two changes that must be made to the registry. To make the changes you must use Regedt32 (regedit won't work. You NEED to use regedt32).
Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Classes\\AspenTech.AspenWatch.Connection\\CLSID
with CLSID highlit, click the security menu item across the top of the regedt32 screen and select permissions. Adjust the permissions so the user trying to connect has full control in that dialog box.
Now, with CLSID still highlit, look in the right hand pane and you'll see an entry (default in Regedit, <no name> in regedt32) that has a string of characters between a couple of curly braces. Mine is: {A21E443E-9982-11D1-B529-00A024D4DBC8}. I'm not sure, but I think it's the same for any installation of Inspector.
At any rate, now go down in the registry - on the same level as AspenTech.AspenWatch.Connection to CLSID:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Classes\\CLSID
Expand that, and look for the CLSID that was in the entry for AspenTech.AspenWatch.Connection. It'll look like this:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Classes\\CLSID\\{A21E443E-9982-11D1-B529-00A024D4DBC8}
Highlight that key and perform the same operation regarding security and permissions as you did under AspenTech.AspenWatch.Connection.
The depth of this test was not comprehensive. It may be possible to grant less privilege
The user may not require full control. By clicking on the advanced button in the security screen, another screen is brought up where you can again select the user and click the View/Edit... button. In that dialog box you can allow or deny permissions like Query Value, Set Value, Create Sub key... etc.
If it is important to narrow the access to just what is needed, you might find that you can reduce the permissions from full control and still be able to start Inspector. Also, it was never tried with only the first key described permitted. It may not require both, but no effort was made using just the connection one.
Another thing that MIGHT be of use: When Inspector is invoked, the splash screen stays up forever if using a non-privileged account and the above operation has not been performed. What is not evident is that there is a dialog box hiding behind the splash screen, and if that dialog box is dismissed (answered), the splash screen will go away and Inspector will come up. When that dialog box comes up, it has MS Windows focus (If you could see it, the status bar would be blue), even though it is hidden by the splash screen. If Inspector is executed and then the user doesn't move anything - mouse, keyboard etc. and wait until that dialog box has had a chance to come up and assume focus, you can simply hit the enter key to answer that dialog, and it will proceed from there. If you move or click anything else, focus is removed from that dialog box, and the only way to get it back is to terminate the AspenSplash screen (next paragraph).
Alternatively, you can find and highlite the executable aspensplash in the task manager and click the end process button, which will reveal the dialog box, which you can then click normally with the mouse pointer.
This behavior is not something that was put in the app on purpose. It may be that it was some function buried deep in Microsoft Foundation Classes.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: How many tags can be added to a Plot List?
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Solution: 682 is the maximum number of tags that can be added to a Plot list. The limit is determined by the total record size which cannot exceed 64K.
Keywords: Production Control Web Server, Web interface, PCWS, Aspen Watch Performance Monitor, Plot list, tags
References: None
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Problem Statement: The attached batch files will create and delete numerous copies of the same Aspen Calc equations.
This
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Solution: , for internal use, is for development, testing or support to test AspenCalc functionality. It should not be given to customers without understanding what they plan to do with the scripts.Solution
Both ExpandCalc.bat and DeleteCalc.bat files are attached to thisSolution. Copy both files to the <drive>:\PROGRA~1\AspenTech\Aspen Calc\Calc> directory.
To create the calculations:
ExpandCalc.bat will generate 1000 calculations in seconds. To use:
open MS-DOS Prompt.
Change directory to Aspen Calc\Calc. ( <drive> :\PROGRA~1\AspenTech\Aspen Calc\Calc>)
Type: set min=1 (set environment variables)
Type: set max=1000
Type: set calcname=calculation name (example: calculation name is CalcScriptTest, set calcname=CalcScriptTest. CalcScriptTest must exist in this Calc directory)
Type: expandcalc (runs batch file to generate 1000 calculations)
To remove the calculations:
DeleteCalc.bat will delete all the calculations generated by ExpandCalc.bat in seconds. To use:
open MS-DOS Prompt.
Change directory to Aspen Calc\Calc. ( <drive> :\PROGRA~1\AspenTech\Aspen Calc\Calc>)
Type: set min=1
Type: set max=1000
Type: set calcname=calculation name (Example, CalcScriptTest)
Type: DeleteCalc (runs batch file to delete 1000 calculations generated by ExpandCalc.bat)
Keywords: Aspen Calc
calculations
InfoPlus21
IP21
References: None
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Problem Statement: When performing an upgrade on the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database the upgrade procedure fails with a message like the following:
Cannot create 'recordname' in target database ** Name used by recordname ** UPGRADE STOPPING BEFORE COMPLETION!!! PLEASE, FIX OR DELETE 'recordname' IN THE SOURCE DATABASE AND START OVER!!!
where recordname is the name of a record in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database? What is causing the problem and what can be done to fix it?
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Solution: Some kind of special character, one that is unacceptable to the Upgrade procedure, is included in the name of the specified record. For example, there may be a 'tab' character at the end of a record name which would not appear when viewing the record name.
Locate the record on your source system using the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator and remove the special character by reentering the record name.
Save the snapshot on the source system and try the upgrade procedure again.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: How do I fix Error 77101? Is there a quick way of checking which are the Bad Tags and set them to SCAN OFF?
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Solution: When using the Cim-IO/OPC server, if a non-existent tag is requested, the device status returned for that tag will be 77101. This number indicates a Cim-IO server facility of 77 for OPC and an error of 101 for invalid tag.
SQLplus can be used to list the Bad Tags and set them to SCAN OFF.
The query below can be used to display the IO_TAGNAME, the IO_DATA_PROCESSING, and the IO_DATA_STATUS from all the tags shown as Bad Tag.
SELECT IO_TAGNAME,IO_DATA_PROCESSING, IO_DATA_STATUS FROM iogetdef.1
WHERE IO_DATA_STATUS = 'Bad Tag'
The query below can be used to count the number of bad tags in the transfer records:
SELECT COUNT (*) IO_TAGNAME FROM iogetdef.1
WHERE IO_DATA_STATUS = 'Bad Tag'
The Bad Tags can be set to SCAN OFF using the query below:
UPDATE iogetdef
SET IO_DATA_PROCESSING = 'OFF'
WHERE IO_DATA_STATUS = 'Bad Tag';
Keywords: Error 77101
Bad Tag
SQLplus
References: None
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Problem Statement: A particular customer scenario:
We recently changed some meters to a new DCS system. Instead of simply pointing the new tags to update the already created history table in the existing historian, I created by mistake new tags with different names in the historian and then started up again using that configuration.
As a result, we now currently we have 2 sets of history tables (filesets) for the same physical asset. Both the old and new historian tags do not have overlapping times.
I would like to add/merge the newer tag history to the older tag history (or visa versa) to consolidate all of the history for the assets, and then have the new IOGETDEF point to the old tag. How could I do this preferably with SQLplus, so that it can be repeated for multiple tags as needed?
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Solution: NOTE: In regards to the request submitted in CQ00245728 for AspenTech to provide an automated and standard capability to allow for merging IP.21 databases and/or selected Tag Sets and preserve History, that request has been noted as a roadmap item requested by Product Management and is being considered for a future Release.
Solution ID 118964: CQ00245728 - Can you Merge two IP.21 Databases and Preserve History?
With that said, then for the specific case noted in the above
Keywords: Combine or Merge IP.21 Databases
Consolidate History
Merge History
Preserve History
References: for Extracting the Required IP.21 Data from the New or Old Tags:
?
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Problem Statement: Sometimes the following error message can be found in the IO_DATA_STATUS field of a GET record: setcim db error with the IO_DATA_STATUS_DESC field reading, Data changed but no history generated.
The above error is often suspected to be caused by the way some interfaces' scan intervals are set. Example: let's say that an interface is set to scan at 15 second intervals. It also sends an exception every minute (i.e. a value and timestamp are stored every minute). If the value does not change at the scan time, the value is recorded, but not a new timestamp. In other words, the same timestamp gets recorded in history until the value changes. This can eventually lead to an old timestamp. When the value changes, a new timestamp is recorded and the previous value, along with its timestamp is stored in history. If the history repository's Past Time parameter is set to something small, such as, for instance, 1 minute, and the old timestamp is older than that, then the above error message will be recorded in the IO_DATA_STATUS field of the GET record. Setting the Past Time parameter to a large number allows for these old timestamps to be recorded without errors.
NOTE to the CIM-IO for Bailey semAPI interface users: The standard DIOP setting for the CIMIO for Bailey interface has a startup command of: -NOEXS. This forces an exception once per minute, disables the screening for exceptions and lets all values in.
There may be some other reasons why the setcim db error gets recorded in the IO_DATA_STATUS field of a GET record. Based on our experience, we have put together several troubleshooting tips, which have helped to eliminate this error in various real life situations in the past.
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Solution: Make sure that the system times of the IP.21 server, the Interface server, and the DCS are in sync (especially after a daylight savings time change). If not, then they must be synchronized before you continue the troubleshooting process.
Check the timestamps of the data values sent by the CIMIO interface; set the Past Time parameter in the history repository to at least 72 hours or a value greater (older) than the timestamps sent by the interface.
Create a few tags from scratch (rather than duplicating existing tags) and watch for the setcim db error message; if it does not appear for the new tags, the problem may be related to tag configuration.
If you have more than one repository and one works fine and the other does not, go to the affected record, stop archiving and switch to the one repository that works; if the process works, toggle between the repositories for each affected data record to wake the updating process up (if a large number of records is affected, you can write an SQLPlus query to automate this process).
If you have more than one repository, make sure the shared folders for the two repositories' file sets are on the same level rather than having one shared folder under another.
Check if the IO_Async? field in the fixed area of your GET record is set to YES. If so, try changing it to NO.
Turn device processing off, reboot the CIM-IO server, and turn device processing on as described in the knowledge base document # 103176.
Check the XOLDESTOK date on one of the problem records and set it to a date substantially older than the date of the timestamp sent by the Cimio Interface, turn archiving off and then back on, and see what happens. If that fixes the problem, check other problem records and, of course, the same fix should be applied to all of them. The use of XOLDESTOK is described in the knowledge base document # 103040.
Check the Queue State in the history repository to see if it's running (in the IP.21 Administrator right click on the repository and select Check Queue... from the contex menu).
Check Free Space on the Memory Utilization tab (In the IP.21 Administrator right click on the node name and select Properties from the context menu).
Check your Hard Disk space.
Some other things to watch for:
Is IO_...._PROCESSING on in the Get record repeat area, fixed area, io_group, and device record?
Are the Get record and all its data records usable?
Does the device name in the main client task record match the name of the device record?
Does the device name in the main client task match the name in the CIMIO_Logical_Devices.Def file?
Key Words:
setcim db error
data changed but no history generated
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Why are all fileset % Full fields showing zero in a repository?
Some customers may experience an error with the % Full field for all filesets in a repository as the shown in the figure below:
Figure 1- %Full parameter error
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Solution: 1)The first thing to check is to go the directory that the arc files point to by viewing the FilePath field as shown in the figure below:
Figure 2-Filepath parameter for a fileset
If there are no arc files there then you should edit the filepath parameter for the fileset and point to the directory where the arc files are located.
In order to do that:
? Click on the repository you want to work
Right click over the fileset and then click on Properties
Edit the field Pending and select the correct location for the arc files.
Stop and re-start Aspen InfoPlus.21
Figure 3-Fileset Properties
2) If the arc files already exists then check the History Tuning Parameters. For that:
Right click in the history field
Click in History Parameters
Figure 4 -History Tuning Parameters
If you see zero values in all boxes then maybe your tune.dat file is not correct. So we will create a new one. For that:
Go to the Aspen InfoPlus21 Manager and stop the database
Search in your computer for tune.dat files.The idea is to check if there are more than one tune.dat file to ensure that the following procedure will re-create this file correctly. If there is more than one, delete or rename them
To recover the Tune.dat file:
Stop Aspen InfoPlus.21
Open Windows Explorer and go to ..\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\c21\h21\dat
Delete (or rename if you prefer) Tune.dat
Restart Aspen InfoPlus.21
Keywords: % Full
Fileset parameters
Filepath
References: None
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Problem Statement: After an upgrade, some Aspen SQLplus scripts saved into Querydef records started failing with the message:
Failed to open <PathAndFile> for output at line ##
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Solution: During the Aspen InfoPlus.21 upgrade, the account used to run the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Task Service was changed from a domain account with Local Administrator rights to a local account (but still with Administrator rights.) All the queries contained in records execute with the rights of the Task Service account. Since some of the Aspen SQLplus scripts had UNC paths embedded into them referencing other servers on the network, and the Task Service account was now a local account, it did not have right to access other servers. Changing the Task Service account back to a domain account with local Administrator rights resolved the issue.
Even though a local account can be used to install and run Aspen InfoPlus.21, the formula domain account with local Administrator rights is the preferred installation / operation approach to avoid this kind of rights issue.
Keywords: fail
no access
References: None
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Problem Statement: The Aspen Calc calculated value I'm generating is not the same as the value written to the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database; the precision gets modified. Why is this and how can I fix it?
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Solution: The reason for the value discrepancy is that Aspen Calc uses double precision values, whereas Aspen InfoPlus.21 uses single precision values.
If you would like to use double precision float, which has 15 digits precision, you will need to create a custom definition record and modify it to use a double precision float.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: I have exported a simulation from Aspen Plus to Aspen Dynamics. The initialization run is failing. what can I do?
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Solution: When this happens, you should report the problem because it is likely to be a bug. We could then investigate and advise a work around or provide a fix. The notes below give you some information if you wish to do some of the troubleshooting yourself.
When you export a file from Aspen Plus to Aspen Dynamics, we execute so called AST scripts to translate the Aspen Plus simulation to an Aspen Dynamics file. We take the Aspen Plus flowsheet to generate the Aspen Dynamics flowsheet (to which we add level, pressure and some temperature controllers). We take the Aspen Plus input and results to set the value of the fixed variables and parameters. Moreover, we calculate the initial conditions (holdups, energies) from the Aspen Plus results and the data supplied on the Dynamic forms of the blocks. Finally, we preset the value of some free variables so that they are close or at theSolution of the model's equations used by Aspen Dynamics.
Initialization run failures usually occur because the AST script for the given model has either not initialized or incorrectly initialized a variable which is causing a high residual, divergence and failure. Initialization runs should always converge and we expect also to never have high residuals. If you encounter such a problem, please report it. We will need a file from you to reproduce the problem and later to validate the fix. If you wish to isolate the problem yourself (for example if you cannot send us the full simulation but could send a fragment of it) you can do this.
- Use solver options/non linear solver tab and in the diagnostics frame enter:
- highest variable steps : 3
- highest residuals above tolerance : 3
- Turn messages level up to very high on the Simulation Messages window (right mouse click)
- On the messages window, right click output destination and uncheck limit screen buffer size - or you'll lose the information.
Then do an initialization run until it fails.
Aspen Dynamics will tell you which group failed at the bottom. Scroll up to where it starts calculating that group and look at the first highest residual. It will tell you which block is showing the error. This is frequently pointing to the problem, although in some occasions the symptom could be a consequence of an error lying somewhere else. To know for sure, you can try isolating the block in Aspen Plus and repeat the export with only this block.
Note that if a warning was issued during the export, you should examine carefully why and try to identify a remedy. Some warnings such as multiple phases in valve are mostly harmless, but others such as changing the pressure to the bubble pressure because a vessel is actually full of liquid are dramatic for pressure driven simulations.
In some cases, you can help by changing the flash tolerance used in Aspen Plus and use a lower value. This applies also for the convergence tolerance of RadFrac and reactors. By lowering the tolerance you ensure theSolution found by Aspen Plus is more correct, hence more likely to be correct for Aspen Dynamics, too. You should also check the tear stream convergence tolerance. In general the default values are ok, so you should be careful when you have actually increased a tolerance for the sake of getting a convergedSolution.
Another action you may take is to remove unused components. Aspen Plus can pack components, by that it means instead of using the full component slate, it uses only the components which have a non-zero flowrate for the thermodynamic calculations. Aspen Dynamics uses the full slate, regardless of the flowrate. This causes problems when the properties of the missing components can not be evaluated for the stream or block conditions. TheSolution is to remove these components, in Aspen Plus if possible, or in Aspen Dynamics. To remove the components in Aspen Dynamics is more difficult. One way is to create a dedicated property method in Aspen Plus (go to Properties, Property Models, enter a name e.g. WATER and for the base property name, enter the name of the property method you want to use). Then use in blocks that special property method. This will force the Aspen Dynamics file to create a componentlist, which specifies the property method and the list of components to be used. Load the file in Aspen Dynamics and identify which componentlist corresponds to the property method (they are called Type1, Type2, etc - go the Edit Physical Properties button to identify the OPSET). If you have used the property method with consistency in Aspen Plus, for example for all blocks of your steam network, no underspecification should occur in Aspen Dynamics. If this does not work, you will have to identify in Aspen Plus what could be causing the problem with the physical properties. One trick is to add traces of the components and see what happens. Most likely all you need is to add some dummy values for missing parameters.
Another issue is the selection of Valid Phases. You should be as economical as possible, i.e. use single phase where possible. This is because the calculation of the properties of a missing phase, especially in conditions far from the possible existence of such phase, is actually difficult.
Note that some models are different in Aspen Plus and Aspen Dynamics. This is the case of the pipe and the RPlug models. In Aspen Plus we use a variable step for the spatial discretization (the length) while in Aspen Dynamics we use a fixed step for this discretization. This discrepancy explains why the results won't match. The error can be reduced by increasing the number of elements but this increases the size of the simulation. The difference in results may also have a knock-on effect, for example if the pressure calculated is very different in a pressure driven simulation.
You may also find that the pressure driven simulation fails, but the flow driven simulation converges. You should check that the results in Aspen Dynamics are similar to Aspen Plus. In some cases you can use these results to intialize the pressure driven simulation (create a result, export, then reload the pressure driven simulation and import the results - do not accept the structural parameter changes. This could also be an indication that there is something wrong with your pressure/flow network. The pressure checker detects most of the issues but some go undetected. Typically, inconsistencies will manifest as structural or numerical singularity. However, if the pressure drops are very small, the flowrate may be poorly set by this pressure difference, thus causing the simulation to be nearly singular. Such simulations are more sensitive to small changes. In a real process, this would correspond to having a control valve grossly incorrectly sized, thus giving poor controllability.
Again, if you can send a file to reproduce the problem, we would be happy to investigate following the lines explained above.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: Sometimes using AspenTech Uninstaller is not sufficient to be able to re-install AspenTech software from scratch.
In some occasions, re-installing AspenTech software on a non-clean machine, might cause issues, or might even fail, but it might not be possible to re-install Windows OS in order to start the installation on a clean machine.
How to properly clean a machine in order to re-install AspenTech software?
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Solution: The following steps should help cleaning the machine properly without the need of re-installing the OS:
Stop all AspenTech services.
Run AspenTech Uninstaller.
Uninstall all AspenTech software.
Delete the following directories:
o C:\Program Files (x86)\AspenTech\
o C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\AspenTech Shared\
o C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\
o C:\Users\All Users\AspenTech\
o C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Hyprotech\
o C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SafeNet Sentinel\
o C:\Users\All Users\SafeNet Sentinel\
o C:\ProgramData\SafeNet Sentinel\
Make a Registry backup:
o REGEDIT
Computer
Export
Run a registry cleaner like CCleaner..
After running the registry cleaner, (as many registry entries will still remain on the system), delete the following Registry directories with REGEDIT.EXE:
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AspenTech\
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\HYPROTECH\
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\HyproTech
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Rainbow Technologies\
o HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AspenTech\
o HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hyprotech\
o Search ?Aspen? in REGEDIT and delete all the entries found
? On a 32-Bit OS you will have the following directories instead:
o C:\Program Files\AspenTech\
o C:\Program Files\Common Files\AspenTech Shared\
o C:\Program Files\Common Files\Hyprotech\
o C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AspenTech\
Registries on a 32-Bit OS:
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AspenTech
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\HyproTech
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rainbow Technologies\
At this stage your machine should be clean and it should no longer have any AspenTech software and registries. Reboot your machine and install AspenTech software.
If, after cleaning the computer, the installation of AspenTech software fails again, it will be necessary to re-install Windows OS from scratch.
Keywords: AspenTech Uninstaller, Install, REGEDIT.
References: None
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Problem Statement: I am creating a new custom definition record and would like to add a ghost field to it, how can I achieve this?
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Solution: It is assumed that the user is able to use the definition editor and examples are provided of existing ghost fields in the database: IO_GROUP_PROCESSING and IO_GROUP_PERMISSION
These fields are defined within the Selector Record Io-Groups:
Io-Groups has two fields defined within its repeat area: IO_GROUP_PROCESSING and IO_GROUP_PERMISSION:
These fields are added as ghost fields to the IoGetDef definition record through the use of the Io-Groups selector record. A pointer is created in the IoGetDef records through the fixed area field IO_GROUP:
Since the IO_GROUP field points to Io-Groups and in turn Io-Groups has two entries in it's repeat area, these two fields defined in Io-Groups are then considered ghost fields of the definition record IoGetDef as can be seen in the record AspenChem_Get:
Changes within this record to the field IO_GROUP, from IO Group 1 to IO Group 2 then make changes to the two records IO_GROUP_PROCESSING and IO_GROUP_PERMISSION as shown:
To accomplish the above it is essential to have an understanding of the Definition Editor and steps to create the records are not shown.
The steps are as follows:
A custom selector record must be created, as shown above this is Io-Groups
Create a new definition record, shown above this is IoGetDef
Create a record defined by this definition record, shown above this is AspenChem_Get
Within the above field of type integer and format using the selector record created in the first step, shown above this is IO_GROUP
When the above steps are completed the field (IO_GROUP) should be highlighted and then the user should go to the Fields menu, select New and then Ghost Field.
The options are as follows:
Ghost Selector - This is the field added, shown above this is IO_GROUP
Ghost Record - This is the selector record previously created, shown above this is Io-Groups
Ghost Field - These are going to be the fields within the repeat area of the selector record
Click on Ok
Save the record and make it usable.
Example screenshot provided of a duplicate of the definition record IoGetDef where the Ghost fields have been removed for demonstration purposes:
Keywords: Ghost field
Definition Editor
References: None
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Problem Statement: How do I resolve Build. Character length mistmatch for entry: when trying to open a ccf exported from Inspector (Aspen Watch)?
The message points to a Comment line that usually includes especial characters, such as accents: ´, `, ˆ, °, ¨, ˘; letters: ñ, ç, ß; etc.
The best practice is to avoid the use of them in the ccf.
For example, the error message shown above was caused by the following Comment:”más”
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Solution: DMCplus Build does not support a multi-wide character format text file. None of the DMCplus utilities support any file format other than ANSI. It accepts only ANSI text files.
The version marker at the beginning of a *.ccf file is CCF_Version 1. When you save the file in any other text format other than ASCII then this version marker can no longer be read and therefore does not pass validation. This means that characters that are not in the ANSI character set cannot be used in the ccf file comments or in the names.
If you are putting especial characters like the accent: “más” then you must have changed the format of the file to UTF-8 or something that supports wide characters. Not supported in DMCplus Build.
Here is how you can tell. Open the *.ccf file in Notepad. Do a Save As, you can see that the file type is UTF-8 or something other than ANSI. Switch to ANSI, save the file and you can load the ccf file.
It’s recommended to save a back-up of the *.ccf file previously.
Keywords: Aspen Watch, Inspector, DMCplus, ccf
References: None
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Problem Statement: You are not able to collect from a DMCplus or APC application in Aspen Watch Maker, the Last Run column updates but the last update shows nothing, the ID is “0” and you can’t find any error messages on the TSK_ACPx, TSK_AWx or the repository errors log.
|
Solution: The problem is that the ID for each controller on Maker is different from the AW_CTL_LIST occurrences under AW_FOLDERDef. Follow these steps to solve the problem:
1. Stop the collection of all your controllers and delete the ones that have ID=0 from AW Maker
2. Go to IP.21 Administrator and go to the AW_FOLDERDef. Then locate the AW_CTL_LIST. In this example the ID for the BA106 and DEMETHDMC APC application does not match.
3. If you don’t have enough occurrences go to AW_CTL_LIST and change the AW_NUM_CHILDREN to the highest ID number, in this case 5.
4. Delete the occurrences that does not match (hit space and then enter for the change to make effect) and then add them to the correct number:
5. You will be able to start the collection for all your controllers.
Keywords: Aspen Watch Maker
IP.21 Administrator
References: None
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Problem Statement: What is a good text on using dynamic simulators in chemical processing and control?
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Solution: The book Plantwide Dynamic Simulators in Chemical Processing and Control illustrates the techniques and fundamentals to develop, design, and test plantwide regulatory control schemes with commercial dynamic simulation packages. Book includes an examples CD showing the capabilties of Hysys Dynamics and Aspen Dynamics for Plantwide simulation.
Title: Plantwide Dynamic Simulators in Chemical Processing and Control Author: William L. Luyben
Publisher: Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York
Year: 2002
ISBN: 0-8247-0801-6
From the back cover
This text/reference illustrates the techniques and fundamentals to develop, design and test plantwide regulatory control schemes with Aspentech's commercial dynamic simulation packages, presenting efficient and effective methods for developing dynamic simulations of Chemical Processes. Providing case studies analysing a wide variety fo systems, the book offers strategies to move from steady-state simulations to dynamic simulations... install and tune controllers... size control valves and equipment... and add strip`-chart recorders to simulations.
From Book News, Inc.
This book/CD-ROM reference illustrates techniques for development, design, and testing of plantwide regulatory control schemes with commercial dynamic simulation packages, presenting methods for developing dynamic simulations of chemical processes. Material is written for students and inexperienced engineers. Engineering steps that are necessary for moving from a steady-state simulation to a dynamic simulation are presented, with coverage of sizing equipment, developing a basic regulatory control structure, and tuning controllers. Chapters are arranged in sections on fundamentals, single-unit and multi-unit dynamic simulations, and complex plantwide processes. Luyben teaches chemical engineering at Lehigh University.
Keywords: reference
References: None
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Problem Statement: I am having problems setting up a cascade controller for a distillation tower. I have been using a flow driven simulation but the flow does not seem to respond to the valve movement.
|
Solution: In order to have a cascaded flow control, a relationship must exist between the valve opening and the flow in the streams connected to the valve. Mostly with a flow driven simulation, one will find that the newly exported file from Aspen Plus will have both the valve opening and say the distillate flow rate (.FmR) variables listed as fixed variables. That means that even if one added a flow controller with .Fm as the PV and the valve opening as the OP, the controller will not be able to affect the flow since the flow is fixed from the .FmR specification.
TheSolution to the problem is to model the flowsheet as a pressure driven simulation which establishes a pressure - flow relationship across the valve. With this relationship established, it will then be possible to setup a cascaded level to flow controller.
The attached files demonstrates how to set up a cascaded control system. Starting with the Aspen Plus file, one would set up the basic simulation and make sure it converges without errors and hopefully without warnings. Fix these if they occur.
Activate the dynamic input for the simulation from the Data/Setup/Specifications/Global/Input Mode field or using the dynamic toolbar. Configure the dynamic input forms for the tower. Typically one would perhaps choose say the LMTD option for the condensor and constant temperature for the reboiler. If unknown, reasonable dimensions for the sump/reflux drum can be estimated from the calculated required column diameter from tray sizing calculation. A better option would be to decide on a required residence time (say 1 - 4 hours) and calculating the required volume based on the steady state flow rates. No matter which option is used for the dynamic tower hydraulic calculation, ensure that a reasonable pressure drop occurs over the stages / packing. If the stage pressure drop is too small, it will result in a poor flow/pressure relationship over the tower and may yield convergences problems in Aspen Dynamics. It is usually a good idea to use the results from a tray sizing to set up a rigorous tray rating which feeds an updated pressure profile back to the steady state results.
In order to export an pressure driven simulation, a pressure-flow relationship must exist in all of the streams of the simulation. Any of the pressure changing models can be used but it is usually the easiest and the most convenient to use the valve model. Add valve models where required. In the example we added valves to the feed, distillate and bottoms streams. If possible, configure the valves with a reasonable pressure drop e.g. 5 psi or more to ensure that they are correctly sized when the file is exported. If the valves are specified with a very small pressure drop, this leads to an unreasonable calculated maximum Cv and poor controllability in the dynamic simulation.
Finally, to ensure that the dynamic simulation is balanced from a pressure/flow point of view at startup, ensure that the feed stream pressure to the tower matches the feed tray pressure. The attached Aspen Plus file show how this can be done with a flow sheet level design specification that ensures this requirement by varying the specified pressure drop over the feed valve.
Run the simulation and fix all errors. Run the pressure checker (the <P> icon) on the dynamics toolbar and fix whatever problems it lists. If all the aforementioned steps were followed, the pressure checker should report that the flowsheet is fully configured for pressure driven simulation.
From the File menu, choose Send To and then choose Aspen Dynamics - Pressure Driven. This will launch Aspen Dynamics and load the exported dynf file into it. If working with this examples from thisSolution, the dynf file should be similar to the Pressure Driven Tower0.dynf file.
The dynamic simulation is automatically configured with a sump level, distillate level and tower pressure controller. In this case we will convert, the two LC's to cascaded controllers. Test the exported simulation by initializing it and running it in dynamic mode for a couple of hours (not real time). Based on your steady state configuration and specficied dynamic inputs (e.g. sump dimensions etc.), it should run stable and under control. Be sure to open the controller face plates and control plots and observe that the system responds appropriately to set point changes.
Before adding the cascade controllers, rewind the simulation back to time = 0. Now from the Dynamics/Control Models folder in the explorer, click and drag the PIDIncr model onto the flowsheet. Rename the block to FCxx if required. Select the control signal from say the Sump LC, right click on it and choose Reconnect destination. Connect the output signal to the remote setpoint (RemoteSP) input port of the new FC controller on the flowsheet. From the Dynamics/Stream Types folder in the explorer, click and drag the control signal stream onto the flow sheet and connect the bottoms stream mass flow to the process variable (PV) port of the new FC controller. Similarly, connect the output (OP) port of the new FC controller to the bottoms valve opening variable.
Open the faceplates for the sump LC and the bottoms FC. Make sure the LC is in automatic mode and the FC is in Cascade mode. Open the configuration forms for both controllers. Make sure the LC is direct acting and the FC reverse acting. Click the Initialize Values buttons on both the LC and FC configure forms and check that the controller parameters, in particular the set point and initial output makes sense and have appropriate values/units. If correctly configured in cascade mode, the FC set point should be greyed out since it is receiving this information from the LC output.
Initialize the simulation and then run it in dynamic mode. Make changes to the LC set point and observe how both the LC and FC respond.
The reflux drum LC can be converted to a cascaded controller in a similar fashion. Please see the Pressure Driven Tower - Cascade.dynf file for the final configured cascaded control system.
Keywords: column, tower, level, flow, control, cascade, pressure-driven
References: None
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Problem Statement: How to locate an equation from the names reported in simulation messages or diagnostic tools?
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Solution: When a name is not supplied by the model developer, the equations are given an automatic name, starting from AM_Eqn<n>, where n starts from 1. Note that if you have a model that uses another one (ie model flash2 uses inletmixer), the equation number 1 is in inletmixer, and the first equation of flash2 is one plus the number of equations in inletmixer. Note that equations are counted even if they are given a name by the model developer. Note also that equations within conditions (if) are counted, so something like
z = 42;
if (x > 0) then
y = x;
else
y = 0;
endif
is counted as
AM_Eqn1: z = 42;
if (x > 0) then
AM_Eqn2: y = x;
else
AM_Eqn3: y = 0;
endif
(See below the special rule for run time conditions)
The IF are counted from 1 and given an name IF<m>. Names are counted by model, so if you have a model flash2 uses inletmixer, the first IF in Flash2 is still numbered IF1, even if they are ifs in inletmixer.
Branches of structural if (e.g. IF (PDriven) THEN ... ELSE ... ENDIF) are given names True and False, depending on whether the condition is true or false.
For example:
if yesno == Yes then
y = x;
else
y = 0;
endif
This will report equation B1.AM_If1.AM_True.AM_Eqn1 for y = x and B1.AM_If1.AM_False.AM_Eqn2 for y = 0.
Equations in run time IFs are aggregated (you must have the same number of equations in each branch) and reported as Row(k), where k is the equation number within the run time if.
For example:
if (x > 0) then
y = x;
else
y = 0;
endif
This will be reported as B1.AM_If1.Row(1), and the residual of this equation will be y - x if x > 0 or y - 0 if x <= 0.
Using these rules, it looks like IF6 in flash2 is the equation (in model inletmixer):
IF (PDriven) THEN
// Equate inlet pressures
In_F.connection.P = Pin;
ELSE
// Find the minimum inlet pressure
Pin = MIN(In_F.connection.P);
ENDIF
which is effectively equation 9.
Similar rules apply for for loops.
Note that typically you can go to the diagnostic tool (in simulation explorer) and when you display the equations within a group, you can do a right mouse click on the equation icon to display the residual text (ie the code of the equation), unless the model was made private (such as the property submodels).
You can also do a right mouse click on the Analyse tool, where it shows the equations (click on the Details button on the upper part of this dialog, then look in the box the following equations are causing problems).
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: The SAI.his file generated by Aspen Dynamics and Aspen Custom Modeler grows to a rather large size. The information in the file is not necessarily always useful; how can it be reduced?
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Solution: Physical properties diagnostics, which include any errors and warnings, generated during Aspen Dynamics or Aspen Custom Modeler simulations is written to the history file - SAI.his. This file is located in the working directory of the Aspen Dynamics or Aspen Custom Modeler simulation. The level of output to the file is controlled by the value that is fixed in the RUNID.appdf file used for the simulation, and can only be changed from Aspen Plus or Aspen Properties by reducing the diagnostics level for Physical Properties to the history file on the Setup / Specifications / Diagnostics sheet.
The Run / Solver Options / Properties Reporting Level setting in Aspen Dynamics or Aspen Custom Modeler is used to control the information from the Properties Interface between Aspen Plus and Aspen Dynamics or Aspen Custom Modeler and only affects physical properties messages to the screen (messages window) - it does not control the SAI.his file messages.
Keywords: sai
sai.his
history
Aspen Custom Modeler
Asepn Dynamics
References: None
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Problem Statement: If you have a flowsheet using different property methods in different sections you may find that although your problem exports with no errors to Aspen Dynamics, it will fail to initialise with some error in the properties (flash) calculations. Alternatively the system may initialise to a different steady state.
The symptoms of this problem are warning and error messages, high derivatives on the state variables or unexpected values in variables related to properties calculations that belong to blocks that connect one block using one property method and a block using another property method. These connecting blocks are typically heaters or a valves.
|
Solution: The reason for this unexpected behaviour is that properties, such as density, that are used in the pressure flow equation for the connecting block, are calculated for inlet conditions. For versions before 10.1 the calculations are made based on outlet conditions - we have found that theSolution of the dynamic simulation is more stable if the calculation is based on inlet conditions.
If you do not define the property method for your connecting block to be the same as the inlet stream to this block, the results calculated for the dynamic initialisation will not be consistent with those from Aspen Plus, since the inlet conditions property method will be used in Aspen Dynamics. This can lead to convergence failure or a problem in a different state from the Aspen Plus run.
To prevent this from happening ensure that, in Aspen Plus, you select the same property method for the connecting block as that used in the block where its inlet stream comes from.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: There is a statement in the InfoPlus.21 V3.1 Installation manual that says:- Each InfoPlus.21 external task consumes an amount of both virtual and physical memory. Windows NT is memory intensive and to some degree, more memory means more performance. Consider removing the unused tasks, scan21 for example.
This document addresses some other tasks that may be considered for skipping during startup, or if you are totally sure, removed from the IP.21 Manager list of defined tasks.
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Solution: In InfoPlus.21 version 2.5.1, the TSK_PD_SERVER was required when using Scan.21 interfaces, and/or Event.21, and/or Batch.21 and/or SQLA tags. With version 3.1, Batch.21 has been rewritten, and no longer utilizes TSK_PD_SERVER. Also, Scan.21 interfaces have been retired. That just leaves Event.21 and SQLA tags. If you are not using Event.21 or SQLA tags then you do not need the TSK_PD_SERVER.
Taking it one step further, if you are not using Event.21 you do not need the three E21 and three N21 tasks. However, all six of the E21 and N21 tasks should be treated the same way: If you skip one, you must skip them all.
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: System Error 1326 when opening a file occurs when Save Snapshot operation attempted.
|
Solution: This occurs when the admin password has been changed, but not correctly synchronized between Windows NT and IP.21 manager.
To correctly change the passwords without necessitating an IP.21 Stop and Start, follow these steps:
IP.21 Manager, choose Actions | Modify Task Service | put in new password, confirm, choose OK.
In Windows NT, choose Start | Programs | Administrative Tools | User Manager. Doubleclick on Administrator. Change the password and choose OK.
IP.21 Manager. choose stop task service, start task service
IP.21 and Windows NT admin passwords are now synchronized. You should be able to save a snapshot.
If you have already seen the above error condition, then the above steps may not have been executed correctly. Try stopping and starting the IP.21 task service. If it does not restart successfully, then it is not synchronized to the NT admin password. Use Modify Task Service to ensure the password is the same as Windows.
If you still get the System Error 1326 error, then stop and start IP.21
Keywords:
References: None
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Problem Statement: Why will TSK_DETECT stop executing immediately upon startup? The .out and .err files were both empty and the only messages in the event log about TSK_DETECT were startup completed messages.
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Solution: A logical device that had been set up for Aspen Cim-IO redundancy had been removed via the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator I/O Wizard but the associated entry was not removed from the TSK_DETECT external record in the IP.21 database. Once that you remove this occurrence from the repeat area then TSK_DETECT will start normally.
Keywords: TSK_DETECT
Redundancy
References: None
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Problem Statement: I have created this simple flowsheet with a valve, a pipe and another valve. I would like to study what happens if I close the feed valve and leave the product valve open. I have exported the simulation as pressure driven, loaded the file in Aspen Dynamics and done an initialization run. When I change the feed valve position to 0% the initialization run fails. If I use a small but non-zero value (e.g. 0.01%), the initialization run converges but the downstream flowrate is already almost stopped, while I would expect a lag. On the other hand, if I do a dynamic run with the feed valve opened, then during the dynamic run I set the valve position to 0%, it gives the expected results. Why?
|
Solution: This is because some state variables are specified as Rateinitial. The Rateinitial specification enforces the value of the time derivative of the variable at time zero, and typically the value of this derivative is specified to 0. This means that essentially the initialization run is solving the equations for a steady state starting point. So, when you close the feed valve, the steady state of no flowrate accross the pipe is reached, and nothing further happens in the dynamic run. You can easily find variables with a rateinitial specification by using the Tools, Variable Find, and uncheck all but the Rateinitial check box, then click the Find button.
On the other hand, when you apply the same disturbance during the dynamic run, the initial specifications no longer apply, and therefore the change is handled as expected.
It is important to understand the difference between initial and rateinitial specifications, and this example illustrates clearly why. Actually, you could use the variable find tool to find all variables with rateinitial specification and turn these to initial specifications instead. Applying the perturbation at time 0 on this modified simulation will lead to the same results as when the perturbation was applied during the dynamic run. The rateinitial specifications are used on the component holdups (Mc) and energy holdups (E) of the pipe block.
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Can't start Aspen InfoPlus.21 database.
The Repository Error log file shows messages like:
ARCHIVE: Archive > 28 data file open failure
This type of error is seen when the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Archiver process can't write data to the arc.dat file of a fileset during normal operation, usually because of a backup operation or a Anti-virus program that locks the file.
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Solution: Run the the ..InfoPlus.21/c21/h21/bin/h21archiveWizard executable to repair the fileset with the problem, 28 in this case.
NOTE: To be able to run the h21ArchiveWizard with Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database not running, please see our kb article 124612
To prevent this problem, ensure that the folders and files used by Aspen InfoPlus.21 HISTORY are skipped from 3rd party backup operations and Anti-virus scans.
Keywords: start
InfoPlus.21
fileset
open
References: None
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Problem Statement: How to setup an additional IODEVxx CIM-IO device for AspenWatch?
|
Solution: The attached word document details the procedure involved in setting up additional logical devices, IODEV's for AspenWatch, to include configuring an IODEVx to collect data from the DMCplus Context, that is not collected by default.
AspenWatch provides for default IODEVx's for collecting Miscellaneous and PID tags, IODEV1 thru IODEV5. The attached document describes the steps needed to configure additional devices, beyond IODEV5.
This document also identifies the configuration of an IODEVx for collection of information from the DMCplus Context server, that is not already automatically collected from the controller loaded into AspenWatch.
Keywords: DMCplus Context
CIM-IO
Logical Device
AspenWatch
References: None
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Problem Statement: This Knowledge Base article provides steps to resolve the following error:
Server object error 'ASP 0178 : 80070005'
Server.CreateObject Access Error
/AspenTech/AFW/Security/pfwauthz.asp, line 245
The call to Server.CreateObject failed while checking permissions. Access is denied to this object.
which may be encountered when trying to test security permission for the pfwaurthz.asp file in Internet Explorer. Also, user is unable to open the AFW Security Manager.
|
Solution: When Aspen applications are installed on a drive other than C:\ and the IIS is installed on drive C:\, the IIS (or the account used during installation) may not have rights to grant IUSR account READ access permission to the pfwauthz.asp file.
As indicated by the above-mentioned error message, the IUSR account, which makes the hit on the pfwauthz.asp page, does not have access to the DLL via the <drive>:\.....\aspentech\...\ path. To resolve the issue, grant READ permissions to <drive>:\.....\aspentech\...\ path for IUSR.
Keywords: configuration, permissions, security, setup
References: None
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Problem Statement: After upgrading IP.21, the snapshot saved in the previous version will not load into the upgraded version. Error window is received when loaddb attempts to start:
InfoPlus.21 Manager
An error is received trying to start loaddb.
|
Solution: Allocate more memory space in the command line parameter of TSK_DBCLOCK perSolution 103866.
Keywords: double
dbload
failure
References: None
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Problem Statement: I'm installing Aspen Manufacturing Suite V7.2, but I cannot proceed with the installation, because I get the following Java error message:
AspenTech Installer is installing JDK/JRE 6 Update 14. This can take several minutes to complete. Please wait?
One or more of the selected features require JRE 6 Update 14. However, AspenTech Installer could not install it successfully. Please install it manually from the DVD disk and then return to the AspenTech Installer to click ?Install? button. The install kit on the DVD is: core\JDK1.6.0.14\jre-6u14-windows-i586.exe
After following the instructions, I get this error message:
Error 1330. A file that is required cannot be installed because the cabinet file C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\jre1.6.0_14\Data1.cab has an invalid digital signature. This may indicate that the cabinet file is corrupt.
|
Solution: Install JDK kit from java's website, making sure you download the correct version (JDK/JRE 6 update 14 in this case, not the latest) and then run the DVD to install the Manufacturing Suite.
For older versions of java: http://java.sun.com/products/archive/
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: Transfer records are not activating and the message Asynchronous Not Allowed appears in the IO_LAST_STATUS field of the transfer record(s). The user has also verified that IO_ASYNC? has been enabled for the transfer-record(s).
|
Solution: Asynchronous communication must also be enabled at the Device record level. To complete this task:
1. Go to the fixed area of the Device Record
2. Set IO_ASYNC? to YES to enable Asynchronous communication at the Device-record level.
Keywords: Asynchronous Not Allowed
IO_ASYNC?
IO_LAST_STATUS
Device Record
References: None
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Problem Statement: InfoPlus.21 database and its components (e.g. ADSA, Security, License Manager) can be installed either on one or several different nodes. Because of this, it is sometimes difficult to ascertain which security arrangement (Local or Framework) has been implemented in a particular IP.21 database installation.
Here is how you can determine the type of security (Local vs Framework) used for a particular IP.21 database.
|
Solution: 1:
--
click Start | Settings | Control Panel | Data Sources (ODBC) | System DSN tab
--
observe the driver associated with the AFWDB data source:
- if it's a Microsoft Access Driver, Local Security is installed
- if it's a Microsoft SQL Driver, Framework Security is installed
Another way to verify the type of security arrangement at your site (Local vs Framework) is as follows:Solution 2:
--
click Start | Program Files | AspenTech | Data Sources Configuration Tool
--
observe the relational database associated with the AFWDB Database/Schema:
- if it's MS Access, Local Security is installed
- if it's SQL Server or Oracle, Framework Security is installed
Key Words:
Keywords: None
References: None
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Problem Statement: If you are unable to create a new record in ENGCON or the InfoPlus.21 Administrator
Scenario #1: with ENGCON
When in Engcon ==> select General Record Maintenance ==>
1) type in a Definition record that you want to create the new record with
2) After a Definition record has been selected , you should be able to arrow down to the word Create and hit Enter. It should then prompt you to enter a new record name to create the record. But if you are having this problem, you will be unable to even highlight the word Create. Therefore, you are unable to create any record, and there is no message indicating any problems as to why you cannot create a new record.
Scenario #2: with InfoPlus.21 Administrator
When in the InfoPlus.21 Administrator ==> select a Definition record ==> after a Definition record is highlighted, right mouse click and select New Record Defined By <definition record> and hit Enter. It should then prompt you the New Record Defined by <definition record> dialog box. From here, a blinking cursor should take you to the Name field so that you can enter a name for the new record you want to create under this definition record. But if you are having this problem, the Name field box is grayed out and you are unable to enter any name for the new record.
|
Solution: The problem to the two scenarios above is that you have just exceeded the available record ID limit. In order to create additional records, you must go into the InfoPlus.21 Administrator ==> right click on Group200 ==> select Properties ==> select Record Utilization tab and look at how many records IDs are allocated in the Usable, Unusable, Undefined, and Total fields. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the number in the Total field cannot be equal to or less than the Usable field. If the number in the Total field is equal to the number in the Usable field, then one must increase the number in the Total field larger than what is in the Usable field. You can increase this number up to but not exceed the number of points being licensed for your system. The maximum is 65535 total record IDs available. You might be inclined to just put in the maximum number of record IDs, so that you would never run out of available IDs. This is not advisable, as each reserved record ID, whether used by a record or not, takes up space in the database. As you increase the number of record IDs, notice the effect it has on the Locator Table size on the Memory Utilization tab. Therefore it is advisable to have some free record IDs, but not an exorbitant amount.
Keywords: CREATE
ENGCON
References: None
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Problem Statement: Aspen InfoPlus.21 Tag and Data Replication will replicate new records to the Subscriber if Enable replication when an *Def record is created is enabled for the definition record. If new records do not replicate as expected and this was a recent upgrade from an earlier version or Aspen InfoPlus.21 patches were installed, there could be a mis-match of the queue files.
|
Solution: Changes to the queue message size between versions and patches could cause some messages to be rejected by the Subscriber. In this case the recommendation is toÂ
On the Publisher
· Stop Aspen Infoplus.21
· Stop all AspenTech services
· Go the group200\Replication folder and delete the files
· Restart the Aspen services and Aspen Infoplus.21
After restart new queue files will be created allowing the records to be created on the subscriber.
Keywords:
References: None
|
Problem Statement: Change a controller from one AWCollect/DMCwatch set to another.
|
Solution: Change a controller from one AWCollect/DMCwatch set to another.
This explanation assumes that the user is reasonably familiar with IP.21 Manager, Record fixed areas, and Record repeat areas.
To change a controller so it is using a different set of tasks (tsk_aw0x and tsk_cl0x), only two changes need be made, but the records where they are changed must be made unusable, and to do that, references must be removed and then restored. use the following procedure:
NOTE: Any procedure that involves modifying the IP.21 database should include a restore path. Before proceeding, save a snapshot to a name that will not be overwritten. If you make a mistake and need to start over, you can restore that snapshot and be back to the original configuration. If you do not understand how to do this, call support for help.
The two records that must have changes to the EXTERNAL_TASK_RECORD field are:
1. The controller record is defined by AW_CTLDef, and is named: <controllername>_<logical device name> for example: col5x3_iodmcp. (This name will be used in explanation.)
2. The Calculation record is defined by AW_CALDef and is named C0x_ACT, where the x is the id of the controller. This can be seen in AspenWatch Maker, or in the field AW_CTL_ID in the controller record defined above.
To change the EXTERNAL_TASK_RECORD field in the controller record:
1. Set the AW_ARCHIVING_x (x=1,2,3) switch to off for the record being changed.
2. Right click on the record in the left hand pane of IP.21 Administrator and select make unusable. A dialog box will pop up labeled
Keywords:
References: s to col5x3_iodmcp and will show two references:
a. AW_CTL_LIST <x> AW_NUM_CHILDREN (<x> is an occurrence number; AW_CTL_LIST is a record defined by AW_FOLDERDef)
b. AW_DMCPLUS_LIST <x> AW_NUM_CHILDREN or AW_SMARTSTEP_LIST <x> AW_NUM_CHILDREN (<x> same as before. Note that this record will not be present in AspenWatch installations that are old enough to not collect data from SmartStep. These records also defined by AW_FOLDERDef)
c. C0n_AW_Monitor <y> WAIT_FOR_COS_FIELD (<n> should be the same controller ID as for the name of the calculation record; <y> is an occurrence number - usually 1; C0n_AW_Monitor is a record defined by QueryDef) Make sure you can find these references so you can restore them after you make the record usable again.
3. After you verify you can find and restore these references, click on the button labeled Remove All and Make Unusable.
4. Change the field EXTERNAL_TASK_RECORD to the desired AWCollect task, e. g. tsk_aw05.
5. Right click on the record name again and select Make Usable
6. Restore the references removed in step 2 and 3.
7. Set Archiving back to on (reverse step 1.)
To change the EXTERNAL_TASK_RECORD field in the calculation record:
1. Right click on the record name for the appropriate calculation record in the right pane of IP.21 Administrator, and select Make Unusable. A dialog box will pop up labeled: References to C0x_act and will show a reference C0n_ACT_SCHE <x> RECORD_NAME. (<n> is controller ID; <x> is an occurrence number, usually 1; and C0n_ACT_SCHE is a record defined by ScheduledActDef).
2. After determining you can restore the reference as in above step, click the button labeled Remove All and Make Usable.
3. Change the field EXTERNAL_TASK_RECORD to the desired DMCwatch task, e. g. tsk_cl05.
4. Right click on the record name again and select Make Usable
AspenWatch should start collecting on the new tasks immediately. If it does not perform the following remedial action in order of least drastic to most drastic.
1. stop and start the new tasks (tsk_aw0n, tsk_cl0n) using IP.21 Manager.
2. stop and start InfoPlus.21.
3. reboot the computer.
4. call AspenTech Support.
|
Problem Statement: DMCplus context server stops without explanation or warning
|
Solution: When the context server stops without message or warning, a very likely problem is that a point was requested that does not exist. The most likely reason for this, is changes to the .ccf and .mdl files for the DMCplus controllers, that have not been migrated to the AspenWatch database.
When there have been changes to a DMcplus controller:
Copy the affected <controller name>.ccf and <modelfile name>.mdl from the DMCplus controller %ACODHOME%\app\<controller name> directory to the ...\AspenWatch\app\<controller name> directory.
Run Update from AspenWatch Maker for that controller.
Additional notes:
Running Update in maker with the correct .ccf and .mdl files, should never cause a situation to be worse. If in doubt, synch the configuration files and update.
With AMS version 6.0 and later, Install Database Configuration runs Update as one of its last steps. An easy way to update all the controllers, is to refresh all the configuration files and run Install Database Configuration , like Update, running Install Database Configuration should never hurt, but is capable of being corrective.
Keywords:
References: None
|
Problem Statement: How to see Aspen Watch data in a third party OPC?
|
Solution: First, on your Watch server open ADSA Config and make sure directory server is the PCWS (Web server). If you go to Public Data sources, make sure it is configured to see the Watch Server.
Click Edit and make sure you have the Aspen DA for IP.21 service listed.
Next step is to configure DCOM to add the required permissions. Open Dcomcnfg.exe. Expand Component services / Computers / My Computer / DCOM Config . Look for the IP21 OPC Data Access .NET Wrapper Open properties.
Go to Security tab and customize the security. We recommend to use an Administrator account so it can have access with no problems.
Then, go back to the left side tree on the Component services panel. Select My Computer and go to Properties. Edit the permissions so the same account you set up on the the IP21 OPC Data Access .NET Wrapper is also set up there.
Once this is done, on your PI server, use an OPC client to browse the tags on Watch. Remember that IP21/Watch is an OPC DA, so you need to use an OPC DA client on the PI side. As soon as there is an OPC client call, the service IP21DA_server.exe will start automatically. If this do not happen, can be started manually (by command prompt) as is located in \Program Files\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code.
Side note: Watch is a child program of IP.21. That is why the procedure seems to be written for IP.21
Keywords: Aspen Watch, AW, IP.21, InfoPlus 21, OPC, third party
References: None
|
Problem Statement: What are the OSIDX and CVPERF KPIs signify? and how are they being generated?
|
Solution: The OSIDX and CVPREF are built-in CV KPIs. They are generated when a CV analysis case is scheduled and ran through PCWS.
The OSDIX (Oscillation Index) KPI, provides a measure of the percent of time the CV error (CV - Steady State Target) is made up of oscillation or periodic cycles. The CVPREF (CV Control Index), is a measure of the CV performance based on deviation between the measured CV and its Steady State Target. It is normalized to between 0-100%. Both of these KPIs assumes minimal movements of the steady stateSolution during the analysis. If this condition is not met, there KPIs will be skewed to the the movements in the CV steady state targets.
Keywords: OSDIX
CVPREF
CV analysis
References: None
|
Problem Statement: Are Internet Information Services (IIS) required for Aspen Watch Performance Monitor servers? Why is it required? Is it possible to avoid IIS installation?
|
Solution: IIS is ONLY required for the Web Server component, not for Performance Monitor. Installation guide document is misleading. A documentation defect was logged to correct installation guide.
In case you require to have an Aspen Watch Performance Monitor IIS-free installation, follow the below procedure:
1. First, install .NET Framework 4.0 via the distributable file in the APC installation DVD.
2. Then, install.NET Framework 3.5.1 via Server Manager. Make sure you install only the .NET component and uncheck the WCF Activation. WCF Activation component requires IIS.
3. After that, Aspen Watch Performance Monitor installation can be carried on without any issues.
Keywords: IIS, Aspen Watch Performance Monitor server, Watch server, installation guide, V8.5
References: None
|
Problem Statement: I am setting up a control scheme in Aspen Plus Dynamics to control the temperature in a RPLUG reactor how can I access the reactor temperature on a certain position to use it as a controler input, for example the temperature on a specific position in the RPLUG, the variable is called BLOCKS(reactorname).T(5) for the 5th position.
|
Solution: The temperature profile is not exposed as output variables on which you can connect a control signal. However you may achieve the same using flowsheet constraints to set the PV variable of the controller to be equal to the temperature variable in the profile.
The attached example illustrates how this can be done. The flowsheet constraints are available in the simulation explorer, under Flowsheet. Flowsheet. Click this flowsheet icon then right click and select edit. This will open a text editor in which you may type in some code following the syntax of the modeling language.
In this specific case you would use
Blocks(TC).PV = Blocks(B1).T(5);
Where TC is the name of the controller, and B1 in the name of the reactor.
You should connect a control signal on the input PV of the controller. This is because the controller model checks its connectivity.
The only drawback of this approach is that there's no processing of units of measurement for PV. Also the initialization of the PIDincr block may be tricky. You can enter the values of PV, SP, OP and the range manually. Alternatively, click Initialize Values then do an initialization run with the contoller in Manual mode. Then redo an Initialize Values. You will still have to make sure the bounds for PV as set to allow the current value to be accepted.
Note the same technique of flowsheet constraints may be used for any other variable which is not available for control signal.
Keywords: RPLUG, Temperature Vector, Controller
References: None
|
Problem Statement: Modelling delay behavior in PIPE model
|
Solution: Configuring response delays in PIPE model, you need to choose theSolution method constant dPdL. In order to do this, you need to right click on the PIPE3 model, go to configure, and selectSolution method Const-dp-dl.
- Delay behaviors are designed only for Composition and Enthalpy (temperature)
- Because compression effects is not modeled, there will not be any delay in flow rate.
- When the time constant (tau) is determined, Composition(z) and Enthalpy(h) could then be delayed accordingly
Keywords: delay
References: None
|
Problem Statement:
|
Solution: For PID loop monitoring, Aspen Watch currently supports only a limited subset of all available DCS Cim-IO Servers; however, three CUSTOM DCS Types are provided, which can be configured for additional DCS Cim-IO Servers. Implementing a CUSTOM DCS interface involves creating a configuration file (.CFG) and a SQLplus query (.SQL) based on templates that are provided with Aspen Watch Server. MOD300PID.zip (attached) contains these files for the ABB MOD300 along with a write-up of the interface.
Installation & Use
Two files are required to implement the interface:
AW_PIDC_CUSTOM1.CFG
AWP_PIDC_CUSTOM1.SQL. See The Basics of Custom DCS Types in the Aspen Watch on-line help for configuration instructions. If you want to set-up the interface using the CUSTOM2 or CUSTOM3 DCS types, simply change the names of the CFG and SQL files accordingly.
MOD300PID.pdf describes the interface functionality.
This application tool has not been reviewed by Aspen Technology's Quality Assurance group, and it it not part of the Aspen Watch product; therefore, it is not officially supported by AspenTech.
Keywords: AppTool
References: None
|
Problem Statement: How much effect should the range of a temperature controller have?
What should the range be?
For example:
If the range is 50C, the response was 7 minutes with more overshoot.
If the range is the default of 400C, the response is 55 minutes with less overshoot.
This seems like a big difference in the response.
|
Solution: The gain is calculated from the range:
[gain withunits] = [gain] [range OP] / [rangePV]
The default range is frequently too wide and should be narrowed to the actual range.
Keywords: controller
References: None
|
Problem Statement: How is the heat of reaction computed? This value does not correspond to my own data some times so I would like to specify my own heat of reaction, rather than use the one calculated by Aspen Properties. Is it possible to specify it and how can it be done?
|
Solution: Heat of reaction calculation
The Heat of Reaction calculation is done in the Reaction Toolkit. It is computed by calculating the enthalpy of a mixture of reactants in stoichiometric proportion at reference temperature and pressure and subtracting it from the enthalpy of a mixture of the products in stoichiometric proportion. Thus for a reaction:
2A + 3B -> 4C + 5D
The heat of reaction will be computed as:
Heat of Reaction = Enthalpy of a mixture of 4 Kmoles of C and 5 KMoles of D at reference conditions - Enthalpy of a mixture of 2 KMoles of A and 3 KMoles of B at reference conditions.
Note: The calculated enthalpies are based on a reference state (Enthalpy=0) of elements in their standard states at 25 C (i.e. KBASE = 1)
The heat of reaction is computed in the non-distributed reaction model (ARTRxnCfgModel) and can be accessed as follows:
DHRxnRef(IRxnCfg.RxnSet) as enth_mol(Description:Heats of reaction);
DHRxnRef = IRxnCfgModel(1).DHRxnRef;
When the heat of reaction is specified by the user on the ART Configure form, IRxnCfgModel(1).DHRxnRef contains the user-specified value. Note that no reference component is specified. Reactions should be specified so that at least one of the components has a stoichiometric coefficient of one, and that will be taken as the reference component. This should be taken into account when defining the reaction in Aspen Plus, to ensure that the component that is required to be used as reference has a stoichiometric coefficient of one.
Heat of Reaction Correction
When the heat of reaction is specified by the user on the ART Configure form, a correction needs to be applied to the energy balance to ensure consistency of the results. This correction is computed by ART. Some details about its calculation and usage are given below:
Consider the energy balance for steady state CSTR with one reaction:
0 = F_in*H_in - F_out*H_out + Q (1)
Where:
F_in : Molar flow rate of feed
H_in : Molar enthalpy of feed
F_out : Molar flow rate of product
H_out : Molar enthalpy of product
Q : External heat duty
The material balance can be written as:
0 = F_in*z_in(i) - F_out*z_out(i) + Rate*C(i)*V (2)
Where:
z_in(i) : Mole fraction of component i in the feed
z_out(i) : Mole fraction of component i in the product
C(i) : Stoichiometric coefficient for component i (Positive for products and negative for reactants)
Rate : Reaction rate
V : Reactor volume
Multiplying Eq. 2 by h_out(i) and summing over all components
0 = Sigma(F_in*z_in(i)*h_out(i)) - F_out*H_out + Rate*Sigma(C(i)*h_out(i))*V (3)
Since heat of reaction at reactor temperature (DHRxn) is given as:
DHRxn = Sigma(C(i)*h_out(i)) (4)
Equation. 3 becomes:
0 = Sigma(F_in*z_in(i)*h_out(i)) - F_out*H_out + Rate*DHRxn*V (5)
Combining Eq. 3 and Eq. 1, we get:
0= F_in*H_in - Sigma(F_in*z_in(i)*h_out(i)) + Q - Rate*DHRxn*V (6)
The last term (-Rate*DHRxn) represents the heat of reaction contribution to the energy balance as computed by Aspen Properties. When the Heat of reaction is specified, the intention is to replace DHRxn with a value (DHRxn_user) based on user specification. The corrected energy balance can therefore be written as
0 = F_in*H_in - F_out*H_out + Q + Rate*(DHRxn - DHRxn_user)*V (7)
Where:
DHRxn_user : Heat of reaction at reactor temperature based on user-specified heat of reaction at reference conditions
DHRxn : Heat of reaction at reactor temperature based on heat of reaction at reference conditions computed by Aspen Properties
The heat of reaction at reactor temperature can be expressed in terms of the heat of reaction at reference conditions as :
DHRxn = DHRxnRef + F(T,P) (8)
DHRxn_user = DHRxnRef_user + F(T,P)
Where F(T,P) is some function of temperature and pressure.
The corrected energy balance (Eq. 8) therefore becomes
0 = F_in*H_in - F_out*H_out + Q + Rate*(DHRxnRef - DHRxnRef_user)*V (9)
or
0 = F_in*H_in - F_out*H_out + Q + QRxnCorr*V (10)
Where QRxnCorr = Rate*(DHRxnRef - DHRxnRef_user) and is computed in the Distributed ART reaction model. An example of code accessing this value is shown below:
IRxnCfg as external ARTRxnCfg;
IRxnModel as ARTRxnModel;
QRxnCorr = IRxnModel.QRxnCorr;
Note that IRxnModel.QRxnCorr = 0.0 when the user has not specified a heat of reaction.
For multi-reaction systems, IRxnModel.QRxnCorr is a summation of the corrections for each reaction.
IRxnModel.QRxnCorr = Sigma(for each iRxn in [1:NRxn] Rate(iRxn)*(DHRxnRef(iRxn)- DHRxnRef_user(iRxn))
For multi-phase reaction systems, the correction in each phase is calculated and can be accessed as:
QRxnCorrPhase(Liquid) = IRxnModel.QRxnCorrPhase(Liquid)
QRxnCorrPhase(Vapor) = IRxnModel.QRxnCorrPhase(Vapor)
Where IRxnModel.QRxnCorrPhase(Liquid) is the heat of reaction correction for reactions occurring in the Liquid phase and IRxnModel.QRxnCorrPhase(Vapor) is the heat of reaction correction for reactions occurring in the Vapor phase.
How to specify and give a value to the heat of reaction of a reaction, e.g. R1?
The value needs to be specified in the Reaction Configuration form.
In your simulation file go to Simulation Explorer:
- Go to Flowsheet
- Down to Reactions
- Reaction name of the reaction for which you want to change the heat of reaction, e.g. R1.
- In the Contents of Reaction R1 open the Configure form by double clicking it.
- Go to Heat of Reaction tab in the far right of the form.
- Select Specify heat of reaction: and enter a value.
Note
A user heat of reaction can not be specified for versions 12.1 and 2004. If there is a need to specify the heat of reaction then the user should upgrade to version 2004.1 or more recent.
Keywords:
References: None
|
Problem Statement: During the installation of Aspen InfoPlus.21 (IP.21) or any IP.21 family of products that uses NobleNet PortMapper users might get the following error
Error 1920. Service NobleNet Portmapper for TCP (NobleNet Portmapper for TCP) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system service.
and prompts you to choose either retry or cancel. This
|
Solution: describes how to resolve this error and proceed with the installation successfully.
Solution
NobleNet Portmapper by default uses port 111 and if that port is being used by any other process the service fails to start with the error message mentioned. This error can be resolved by following one of the two procedures.
Note: Do not click cancel on the error prompt to exit installation.
1. Go to Windows Task Manager and the Processes tab (make sure you have 'show processes from all users' checked) and see if if you have nsrexecd.exe process running. In case you have it end the process and click Retry to resume the installation. This time installation should proceed without any errors.
If you don't see the process nsrexecd.exe running in the Windows Task Manager please proceed to the next method
2. The first step is to find out the Process ID (PID) that is listening on port 111. In order to check this go Start, All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then right click to Run as administrator.
In the command prompt run the following command
netstat -a -n -o
In most cases we have seen that the System (PID =4) is using the port 111.
In this case run the following in the command prompt that stops the Portmapper service
net stop portmap (Please makes sure to run command prompt as Administrator )
In cases where port 111 is being used by any other PID you can either kill the process from Windows Task Manager or stop the Portmapper service by using the above command.
Once you stop the Portmapper service or close the program you should be able to run the same netstat -a -n -o from a command prompt to check that the port 111 is no longer used by any process. After this click Retry to resume the installation. This time installation should complete successfully.
For more information on stopping Portmapper service please check the following MicrosoftSolution
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd364803(v=ws.10).aspx
Keywords: error 1920
noblenet
portmapper
References: None
|
Problem Statement: After upgrading to V7.3 the following error The Additems Method failed is received for tags read through an OPC connection. The error appears in the IO_DATA_STATUS field of a GET record:
|
Solution: As of Aspen InfoPlus.21 V7.2, the Infoplus21 OPC DA Server COM component has been replaced with a component called IP21 OPC Data Access .Net Server Wrapper, which is a re-implementation of this COM server based on a .NET SDK provided by the OPC Foundation.
This IP21 OPC Data Access .Net Server Wrapper Server can be used by OPC compliant clients to get tag information from an Aspen InfoPlus.21 server that has been upgraded to V7.2 or V7.3.
Because of this re-implementation, the syntax used by OPC clients to get tag values from InfoPlus.21 has changed slightly.
Prior to V7.2 of Aspen InfoPlus.21 the syntax used by OPC clients was:
tagname.IP_INPUT_VALUE
where:
tagname is the name of the tag in the source IP.21 server; enclose this in double quotes xxxx to cover situations where the tag name has special characters or periods in it.
IP_INPUT_VALUE is the name of the field where the value will be read.
With the new IP21 OPC Data Access .Net Server Wrapper COM component the syntax to get a tag value is:
Record_Definition.tagname.IP_INPUT_VALUE
where:
Record_Definition is the type of record that the tag is (i.e. IP_ANALOGDEF, IP_DISCRETEDEF, IP_TEXTDEF, etc.).
tagname is the name of the tag in the source IP.21 server; enclose this in double quotes xxxx to cover situations where the tag name has special characters or periods in it.
IP_INPUT_VALUE is the name of the field where the value will be read.
The new syntax can be used in the IO_DATA_STATUS field of a GET record as follows:
Keywords: Additems
Method
failed
OPC
DA
References: None
|
Problem Statement: Overview of new features that were incorporated in V7.2 Aspen InfoPlus.21 family
|
Solution: The V7.2 version of AspenTech's Performance Management software suite, collectively called the InfoPlus.21 family, contains several major new or re-designed features, and many other improvements that bolster robustness, usability, and performance. See the Release Notes for more details.
Improved IP.21 Tag and Data Replication feature
The InfoPlus.21 replication functionality introduced in V2006.5 has been substantially re-designed for increased performance and reliability. In addition, new publisher and subscriber records have been created for historizing replication performance statistics for improved monitoring and troubleshooting. SeeSolution 129583 What's New in Aspen InfoPlus.21 V7.2 - Improved InfoPlus.21 Tag and Data Replication feature for more information.
Improved OPC-DA Server for InfoPlus.21
V7.2 InfoPlus.21 includes an improved OPC-DA server based on a .NET Software Development Kit (SDK) provided by the OPC Foundation. The re-factored InfoPlus.21 OPC-DA server has passed the OPC Foundation compliance tests. Also, the V7.2 InfoPlus.21 OPC-DA server now makes use of IP.21 'branch record' features that make it possible to reduce browsing time by OPC-DA clients. SeeSolution 129589 What's New in Aspen InfoPlus.21 V7.2 - Improved InfoPlus.21 OPC-DA Server for more information.
Improved Security for SQLplus
An option has been added to allow configuration of SQLplus servers and clients to use encrypted communications. SeeSolution ID 129586 What's New in Aspen InfoPlus.21 V7.2 - Encryption Security for SQLplus Communications for more information.
Keywords: V7.2 Overview
InfoPlus.21
Replication
OPC-DA Server
Encryption
SQLplus
References: None
|
Problem Statement: When running the Database Upgrade Wizard you get the following error:
|
Solution: If you still have your old version of Aspen InfoPlus.21 available, go back to that system.
1. Right click on the node name within the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Administrator and select properties.
2. In the memory utilization tab please change the value in the white background box next to 'Total' memory, to the same number on the right hand side against Total. These two boxes are highlighted in the screenshot below.
3. Once you have this changed please save the snapshot again and use that snapshot to upgrade the database to v7.3.
4. If the 'total' number defined is already about the same as maximum number, stop the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database, double click on Tsk_Dbclock in the top Left corner of the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager. Then in the bottom right under command line parameters, increase the memory of Tsk_DBClock. (from 10000000 to 20000000 for example).
5. Restart the database and then repeat Steps 1 - 3
Keywords: Code=-9
Upgrade
error
References: None
|
Problem Statement: What is the difference between Record & Memory utilization, for records in Aspen InfoPlus 21?
|
Solution: In Aspen InfoPlu21 administrator, the database properties will have details of record utilization and memory utilization. This article describes the difference between record & memory utilization.
Record utilization:
Record utilization is calculated based on the number of license points.
If the maximum licensed points specified for Aspen InfoPlus21 server is 66000 (default) and number of points for license is 200, this is a very reasonable value.
The record utilization total value can be increased maximum, up to the value equal to total number of license points.
Memory utilization:
Memory utilization is the value which implies the size of database, in bytes.
Example:
The existing size of database is 68000000bytes.
In case the database size needs to be increased, it is recommended to be changed in memory utilization section of IP21 administrator, rather than in IP21 manager.
The database size is also mentioned in IP21 manager TSK DBCLOCK command line parameter as well.
But, the database size mentioned in manager is ~34000000, prefixed by a DOUBLE parameter. This DOUBLE parameter means double of database size. That is why ~34000000 X 2=68000000.
Keywords: Record utilization
Memory utilization
References: None
|
Problem Statement: Point License Count Determination:
How is the Total Amount of Used Points determined, including instances where Custom Tags have been Implemented in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database?
|
Solution: An Internal Point Count for the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database Snapshot is incremented by one point each time a record with one or more History Repeat Areas is created.
Thus, every record created with at least one History Repeat Area counts toward the Total Point Count.
For example, if 3 new records are created each of which include 7 History Repeat Areas per each record, then the Total Point Count is incremented by 3, not 7. Thus, as noted above the Total Point Count is incremented based only on the fact that the records include one or more History Repeat Areas. And as such the license points are therefore consumed independent of the number of History Repeat Areas any one record includes.
Likewise, the Total Point Count is decreased by one point each time such a record is deleted.
When starting your Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database, the Total Number of Points in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database is then calculated when the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Database Snapshot is loaded. The snapshot is rejected if it includes more points than the license permits.
Special Note: And although the value in the History Repeat Area Count field should be set to a Non-Zero value according to the number of repeat areas configured, the Total Point Count is still incremented even if the History Repeat Area Count field is set to 0.
What about the License Point usage for Custom Tags with Multiple Repeat Areas:
Question: For Custom Tags, does each Repeat Area count against your Licensed Points?
Answer: The answer is NO. Additional Detail is provided below.
As previously noted above, a Record (Any Record, Standard or Custom) that includes History Repeat Area(s) becomes a Licensed Point. And this logic is applied even when the Record's History Repeat Area Count field is set to a 0 value instead of being set to a corresponding Non-Zero value to match the number of included History Repeat Areas as recommended.
ONE License Point is consumed regardless of the number of History Repeat Areas included in the record.
This is True for ANY and ALL records that are used as direct top level definition records (tags) that actually directly collect the history data including such record types as IP_AnalogDef, IP_DiscreteDef, IP_TextDef, IP_PvDef, PMCAnalogDef, and PMCDiscreteDef, etc., where each single record defined by them counts as a Licensed Point.
Transfer Records (i.e., Get Records, Put Records, etc.), Schedule Records, Query Records and all other supporting records DO NOT ever count as license points, i.e., any records with only one or more Normal Repeat Areas and No History Repeat Areas DO NOT count as a Licensed Point.
Keywords: count
custom
license
point
repeat area
record
References: None
|
Problem Statement: Is there a way to tell what process is locking the Aspen InfoPlus.21 database?
|
Solution: The Aspen InfoPlus.21 utility GETLOCKID returns the process ID of the program locking the database. With the process ID, you can use the Windows Task Manager to get the program's image name.
GETLOCKID is located in the Aspen InfoPlus.21 code directory. The default location of the code directory is:
<drive>:\Program Files\Aspentech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code (for 32-bit operating systems)
or
<drive>:\Program Files (x86)\Aspentech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code (for 64-bit operating systems)
(where <drive> is disk where Aspen InfoPlus.21 is installed)
To run the utility, go to a DOS prompt:
Start | Run | cmd
Navigate to the code directory:
cd <drive>:\Program Files\Aspentech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code
or
cd <drive>:\Program Files (x86)\Aspentech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code
Run the utility: getlockid
The output, if the InfoPlus.21 database is locked, will be the process ID of the process locking the database.
Keywords: GETLOCKID
Locked database
References: None
|
Problem Statement: When using different data slices, Aspen Watch Maker averages with BAD values giving unrealistic baselines. For example here is the base line calculation for the Alarm low percent of a CV:
Data Slice
Baseline
Threshold
1
94.2682
0.5
2
-9999
-9999
3
-9999
-9999
4
-9999
-9999
All data slices
-7475.68
0.5
|
Solution: To avoid this problem check the “Calculate undefined baselines only� on the Baseline Case Management.
This way it will use the Baseline and Threshold values from the current active case ((more accurately, the values are retrieved from the Aspen Watch database). Then, for only those instances where Baseline and Threshold values are - 9999 (which indicates no data), values are calculated, based on the historical data that spans the range specified by Start Time and End Time. This enables creating Baseline and Threshold values for all KPI configurations that currently lack those values and keeping the good results from the current active case.
Keywords: Aspen Watch Maker, Baseline, Threshold
References: None
|
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