mberel.txt

MBE_DRV7.RAR

MBE Version 7.42 Release Notes 

Contents

A.  Required Software
B.  General Information
	B.1  New Features Included in this Release
C.  Known Issues
D.  Troubleshooting
	D.1  Automatically Starting the MBE Driver
	

A.  REQUIRED SOFTWARE

The MBE driver requires the following software:

*  Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2 or greater, Windows XP, 
   or Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5 or greater.
*  Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater.
*  Hardware key driver, if you are using a keyed GE Fanuc product.

To determine if you need the hardware key driver on your computer,
you must identify which GE Fanuc applications run on your computer.
Some GE Fanuc applications require a hardware key, while others do not.
For example, the iHistorian Server requires a hardware key, but the
iHistorian Collector does not.  If you are not sure if the applications
you are running require a hardware key, check the key requirements for each
application.  If you determine that you need a hardware key, use the
information provided here to install a hardware key driver.

The November, 2002, Drivers CD and greater contains an option that lets you install
the device driver directly from the CD.  Earlier Drivers CDs do not contain this
option, and the hardware key is not installed with the driver.

Similarly, if you install a SIM from GE Fanuc Automation抯 web site, 
http://www.gefanucautomation.com/products/fixiodrivers/default.asp, and you do not
have a hardware key driver installed, you must use the November, 2002, Drivers CD
or greater to obtain the device drivers for the hardware key.

If you are using the C-Plus B or the Super Pro hardware key, you may also
obtain the driver from the Safenet web site, www.safenet-inc.com. Access 
the downloads link in the Sentinel Customer Links section.

IMPORTANT:  Before you install a driver, be sure to close the
Power Tool and shut down all GE Fanuc applications that check the
hardware key.


B.  GENERAL INFORMATION

*  The MBE driver should be stopped before importing, reloading, or
   generating a process database.

*  The MBE driver does not support Standby or Hibernation modes.  You 
   can enable or disable these modes with the Power Options applet in 
   Control Panel.  

*  7.x drivers no longer use the Period field in Mission Control.  
   Likewise, the Datascope button in Mission Control is not supported
   for 7.x driver.  Use the Power Tool's datascope instead.

*  The MBE driver has an Overruns field in the Power Tool at the 
   driver, channel, device, and datablock statistics level.  You 
   can use this field as a troubleshooting tool to assist in 
   optimization.  The presence of overruns do not necessarily 
   indicate a problem.  Any of the following conditions can cause 
   overruns:

   *  Bandwidth saturation on your network.
   *  Turnaround delays in the PLC.
   *  Overflowing message queues in the process hardware.

   Please refer to the MBE electronic book for more information on 
   overruns. You can find information on overruns by displaying 
   the driver statistics in the Power Tool, selecting the Overruns 
   field, and pressing the F1 key.

*  Do not install or uninstall a new version of the MBE driver 
   while an old version is running.  Always stop and exit the driver 
   before installing or uninstalling new version of the MBE driver.

*  When using Windows XP, minimizing the Power Tool and MBE help 
   windows can cause all windows to be combined in the Taskbar under
   the title GE Fanuc MBE Driver Power Tool.  You can prevent this
   behavior by changing the Taskbar properties as follows:
   
   1.  Right-click the Start button.  A pop-up menu appears.
   2.  Select Properties from the pop-up menu.  The Taskbar and Start 
       Menu Properties dialog box appears.
   3.  Select the Taskbar tab and clear the Group Similar Taskbar 
       buttons check box.

*  The MBE driver uses a service called MBEHelperServic.  This service
   is used by the MBE driver to access computer resources when the 
   currently logged-in user does not have administrative rights.  The 
   process remains in memory even when you shut down the driver.  
   Consequently, you will see it in your Task Manager list.  You do 
   not need to shut it down.


B.1  NEW FEATURES INCLUDED IN THIS RELEASE
The following new features were added to thre MBE driver as part of this release:

*  Two new driver datatypes have been added to the Server.  You can select 
   these new datatypes for use by entering them in the "Data Type" field 
   of the Data Block configuration in the Power Tool.

   "Signed Long64" - 64-bit signed long integer value.
   
   "Float64" - 64-bit IEEE floating point value.

   A new swapping option "Swap Long Words" has been added to accomodate the 
   longers words.  This can be selected on the DataBlock/Advanced tab.

   Note: These values are stored in 4 consecutive 16-bit analog registers 
   and are addressed on 16-bit register boundaries.  For example, 1 value 
   might use the 4 analog registers starting at 40001 and ending in 40004.
   When configuring the database, it is possible to configure data items 
   that overlap each other.  It is the responsibility of the user to assure 
   that no addresses overlap, the DatabaseManager does not perform error 
   checking on the address entered.

   Note: These new datatypes are not supported in the Hardware Options field.

   Note: 64-bit Integer values are not supported through OPC because VT_I8
   is not a valid Automation Type ... if a 64-bit Integer is requested, the data
   will be returned as VT_R8.


C.  KNOWN ISSUES
The MBE driver has the following known issues:

*  At the time of release, the MBE driver supports 
   exception-based processing for Analog Input and Digital Input 
   blocks only.
   
*  If you are communicating to a Modbus or Modbus Plus device over an 
   Ethernet bridge, make sure it supports the commands/function codes
   you configure in the Power Tool. 

*  GE Fanuc does not recommend the use of the Auto Create option 
   when the Hardware Options field is used in the database to override
   default data types.  If you require Database Manager to create new 
   datablocks automatically, verify that all database blocks that use 
   the Hardware Options field reference valid datablock ranges.

*  Stopping the driver with a large configuration causes one or more 
   message boxes with the following text to appear:

   Stats Error

   Once you dismiss these message boxes, another message box appears 
   with the text:

   Server busy

   Press the Switch to or Retry button to close this message box.  
   Restarting the driver after receiving these messages does not 
   update the statistics until you select a different channel, device,
   or datablock from the Tree Browser.  You can also refresh the 
   statistics by switching to Configuration mode and then back to 
   Statistics mode.  

*  When using the MBE OPC server with Cimplicity PE, you may not be able to 
   retrieve boolean data without first modifying the Master_OPC_X.ini file 
   located in the project's directory.  To configure the Cimplicity Client
   to request a BOOL point as VT_BOOL you must modify the AddBoolAsBool 
   parameter to true (1).  Refer to the .ini file for more information on this parameter.

*  If you are using this MBE driver (v7.41 or above) in iFIX 4.5, 15-digit 
   precision is supported for data values only, and not for signal 
   conditioning. Therefore, in iFIX 4.5, signal conditioning calculations
   are limited to 7 digits of precision. In other words, if the range of 
   your EGU limits exceeds 7 digits, a small amount of imprecision will 
   be introduced into the calculated result for signal conditioning.

*  If you are using iFIX 5.0 with this MBE driver (v7.41 or above),  
   15-digit precision is supported for both data values and signaling 
   conditioning. 

*  Prior to iFIX 4.5, 15-digit precision was not supported. Instead, 
   you are limited to the 7 digit limits imposed by the use of single
   precision values.


D.  TROUBLESHOOTING
Only use the MBE server window for troubleshooting.  
When you are not debugging a problem, disable all debug messages and 
close the server window.  Leaving debug messages enabled or leaving 
the MBE server window open degrades driver performance.

If you experience difficulty installing the MBE driver, refer to 
the following section for information on how to resolve the 
problem.


D.1  AUTOMATICALLY STARTING THE MBE DRIVER
When you install the MBE driver, the installation program creates 
a driver configuration file called nodename.MBE.  FIX uses this 
file when you automatically start the driver.  If you subsequently 
change the name of your SCADA server after installing the driver, 
FIX cannot automatically start the driver because the name 
of the node does not match the name of the configuration file.  To 
correct this, rename the configuration file to match the name of 
your SCADA server.  For example, if you change the name of the 
SCADA server from SCADA1 to SCADA9, rename the configuration file 
from SCADA1.MBE to SCADA9.MBE.