Version 4.3.1 Build 7265.34424 (Hot Fix)

Bug Fixes

• Fixes a bug that causes batch message sends to Azure IOT Hub to fail
  by reverting the library to a previous working version.

Breaking Changes

• The default database used is SQLite instead of SQL Server CE.
  The default database file is Database\iChenServer.db instead
  of Database\iChenServer.sdf. This is to avoid certain performance
  issues with SQL Server CE.

Version 4.3 Build 7211.23391

System

New Features

• The database and web server can be disabled (via new configuration
  settings DatabaseEnable and iChenWeb_Enable). Compact builds
  without these components can be made.

• Cycle data records stored to the cloud or an external archive
  database can optionally be tagged with a unique ID for tracking
  purposes.

• A new, text-based, Simple Message Protocol (SMP) is added for
  simple integration with third-party controllers.

• A new configuration setting DefaultControllerTimeZone is added
  to set default time-zone for all connected controllers.

• A new configuration setting StandAlone is added (default true)
  to specify that this server is a stand-alone instance and thus
  no cache sharing, broadcasting, and synchronization etc. are
  necessary. This greatly simplifies the operation of the server
  when running in a single-instance deployment.

• The configuration file now allows a controller serial number to
  map directly to another without going through address mapping.

• Enabling HTTPS (via the Https_Certificate_File and
  Https_Certificate_Hash configuration settings) now exposes an
  HTTPS end-point (i.e. https://) for the web interface instead
  of HTTP (http://).

• A new configuration setting iChenWeb_Http_Redirection_Port is
  added to expose an optional HTTP end-point when HTTPS is enabled.
  Any request made to this port will be redirected to the main
  web interface port which serves HTTPS.

• A new command flag -x is added to the Server Console. When
  specified, the console program will loop forever (requiring Ctrl-C
  to terminate the program). Without this flag, the console program
  will exit when Enter is pressed.

Enhancements

• Memory usage is reduced and execution speed increased via System.Span
  and System.Memory and reduced allocations of arrays.

• When a distributed shared cache is used (instead of the default
  in-memory shared cache), data for connected controllers will
  be cached locally to speed up read access.

• When a distributed shared cache is used (instead of the default
  in-memory shared cache), controllers will sync to it
  periodically, just in case a prior cache write fails.

• Using Azure IOT Hub as a distributed shared cache is refined to
  avoid hitting on the IOT Hub's throttle limits.

• Error messages for the Azure IOT Hub (when used as a distributed
  shared cache) are enhanced.

• New configuration settings CloudStore_BatchSize and
  CloudStore_CycleData_BatchSize to enable fine-tuning the
  upload batch sizes for Azure Table storage.

• Warnings will be displayed when certain configuration options are
  set wrong (e.g. enabling Web API when a compact build is used).

• Use ASP.NET Core cookies authentication middleware.

• The configuration setting DataStore for specifying an external
  archive database can now hold a raw ODBC connection string itself
  instead of only a connection name. This simplifies provisioning
  of the archive database.

• A new Variable field is added to MoldSetting which contains
  the CRC32 hash for the mold setting variable's name, if any.
  This allows directly mapping a mold setting offset to a
  particular variable.

• Controller variable mappings now operate off external text-based
  mapping tables, enabling easy updates without touchinng system
  programs.

• Cycle data variable mapping table for the CBmold series of
  controllers is added.

Bug Fixes

• Typo's preventing proper installation of the executable config
  files are fixed.

• On certain controllers using Unicode (e.g. CDC2000WIN), bugs
  that cause the reading of text names (e.g. Mold ID) to stop at
  a zero byte are now fixed.

• Certain crashes due to undisposed messages are avoided.

Breaking Changes

• C# 7.3 or higher is now required.

Log4Net

Enhancements

• log4net.config is now watched for changes and the logging level
  will adjust dynamically.

• Customized logger names can be used, in the format #serial, for
  example #123456, and these will automatically be used for any
  controller with that serial number.

Breaking Changes

• A new logging level, TRACE, is added. Some detailed log messages
  that used to show up for the DEBUG logging level now show up
  for TRACE instead. This is to reduce log cluttering.

• A new logging level, VERBOSE, is added for fine-tuned logging.
  It will display, among other detailed information, specific data/bytes
  sent/received over the wire.

• The configuration setting DebugMessages is removed. Use the
  VERBOSE logging level instead.

• Most ALIVE and ACTION_CHANGED messages now show up only for
  the TRACE logging level to reduce log cluttering.

• Most Alive and ControllerAction Open Protocol messages
  now show up only when for the TRACE logging level to reduce log
  cluttering.

Open Protocol

Bug Fixes

• A WebSocket connection is now properly terminated when an error
  is encountered. Previously, some errors might cause the connection
  to be kept alive forever on the server.

• Previously, when a connected client dropped off suddenly without
  going through the disconnect handshake, the WebSocket connection
  would be kept alive on the server forever. Now, the RecvAliveCounter
  server configuration setting is strictly observed; when the server
  does not receive an Alive message from the client (which will be
  the case when the client's connection fails) within the RecvAliveCounter
  window, the server will assume that the connection is dead and
  will terminate it.

• TypeName field of Message is now thread-safe.

• OperatorInfo now takes zero in the OperatorId field indicating
  that the operator is not found.

Enhancements

• RequestControllersListMessage can now take an optional
  ControllerId parameter which, when set, limits the returned list
  to only the controller with the specified ID.

• Setting Field to null or an empty/white-space string in
  ReadMoldDataMessage now returns a MoldDataMessage with the
  full set of buffered mold setting values instead of causing an
  exception. Under this scenario, a MoldDataValueMessage will
  not be returned.

• A State field is added to ControllerStateMessage which may
  hold a StateValues object containing the state values
  (e.g. op mode, job mode etc.) of the controller at the time
  of the event. This is commonly used for analytic purposes.

• Enabling HTTPS (via the Https_Certificate_File and
  Https_Certificate_Hash configuration settings) now also secures
  the Open Protocol WebSocket end-point (i.e. wss:// instead of
  ws://).

• Much more complete logging is provided for messages.

Breaking Changes

• ControllerType field in Controller is changed to String in
  order to accommodate future controller types.

• The ControllerTypes enum is removed.

• JSON representation of ControllerStateMessage is refined.

• The RecvAliveCounter server configuration setting must now be
  strictly observed. An Alive message must be received by the
  server within the RecvAliveCounter window, or the WebSocket
  connection will be assumed dead and the server may unilaterally
  terminate the connection. Previously a server did not time-out
  a connection even when no Alive message is received.

Version 4.1 Build 6845.39

.NET Standard-based release with substantial feature, stability and
performance enhancements.

This is the initial release of version 4.1 of the iChen Server,
which has been converted to .NET Standard 2.0 and runs under both
Windows (with .NET Framework) and Linux (with .NET Core).

This new version includes countless enhancements to version 4.0
with more hardware support (e.g. Linux tty-style serial ports,
CDC2000WIN and MPC-7.0 controllers), advanced features (e.g. RT_TEMP
messages, broadcasting and relaying mode, Azure IOT Hub support),
significant stability and performance improvements, as well as
numerous bug fixes.

Version 4.0.4 Build 6425.20461

New Feature

• Supports direct connections via serial (COM) ports to Ai/CPC/MPC controllers.

Bug Fix

• Fixes a bug related to HTTP port reservation that causes setup to fail.

Enhancement

• The Console is now multi-colored to better highlight errors and warnings.

Version 4.0.1.2 Build 6362.24844 (Hot Fix)

Hot Fix

• Fixes a bug which allows multiple controllers to connect simultaneously with the same
  machine serial number. Now only one machine can be connected with each unique serial
  number. The JOIN messages of any duplicating controller will be rejected.

Enhancement

• Support more firmware versions of the Ai-11 controller.

Version 4.0.1.1 Build 6351.32843 (Hot Fix)

Hot Fixes

• Fix a bug which prevents changing the password of the admin user.

Version 4.0.1 Build 6288.22134

Hot Fix

• Fixes a bug which blocks storage of data to external database when there is a mold data set
  pending.

New Feature

• New setup option to automatically login any connecting controller to authorization level 5
  (i.e. line supervisor). This is particularly useful for Ai-series controllers.

Version 4.0 Build 6250.41030

New Feature

• One-click MSI setup package with uninstaller

Enhancements

• The Terminal is now multi-lingual.