Every knowledge area has its own terminology, and the same applies to software applications. Certainly the nomenclature used by Tatsoft FrameworX follows market standards whenever possible, but some specific terms related to the system and other common words may have a special meaning when using in this context.
This glossary has most the terms and keywords used by our platform and also concepts and related technologies that are relevant to our context
It is recommended to at least read this glossary once after using our platform for a couple of months. Doing a review of the definitions and nomenclature used by the FactoryStudio platform and Tatsoft development and engineering teams, combined with your experience with the product, will put your understanding of the system and efficiency on creating applications to a new higher level.
Name | Description |
|---|---|
App Domain, Application Domain | Represents the virtual isolated computer environment, where a .NET application runs. Isolated, in its context, means that the memory areas and components used by programming running in that environment are completely isolated from other programs running in the same computer. |
Application, Project, Solution | Refers to solution or final system created using FactoryStudio. The terms Application. Project and Solution are used with close meaning, referring to the engineering configuration and files necessary to implement the an application intend to deploy in a production environment. Project is used to refer to application created with version 0.2 or older, as Solutions refer to applications created with version 10. |
Assembly | Refers to an executable file (.EXE or Library.DLL) created using managed code and Microsoft .NET framework. |
Component | Graphical User Controls available to create displays |
Designer, Solution Designer | Application and User Interface to configure FrameworX Solutions. |
Draw | Part of the Solution Designer configuration used to draw and animate displays and synoptic screens. |
DLL Hell | Term used to refer the complications on running the legacy Windows applications as there is no built-in isolation on the DLL libraries, memory and COM objects used by the applications. The .NET Framework completely eliminated that problem. |
Domain, Server Domain, Client Domain | Refers to the values and location of objects at run time. Domain server objects running on the server are the objects running on the server during runtime. Values associated with this object are system-wide. Client domain means that the object is running on the client station and each machine can have different values. |
Internal Module | Features and programs that implement internal system functions which run without any user configuration. |
FactoryStudio | Scalable product version by I/O and Clients, simple to advanced SCADA / HMI, IIoT Edge and Gateway all built on Tatsoft’s FrameworX. |
FrameworX | Our software platform. It's also used in the context to refer to the underlying technologies and components of the platform. |
FrameworX Unlimited | Includes unlimited Clients, Connections and Developers. Built-in drivers, SQL, OPC UA, MQTT and more. |
FX EDGE | A FrameworX Edge application |
FX MQTT Broker | Our embedded Broker for testing |
FX MQTT Simulator | A MQTT Client simulator (with Sparkplug) for testing, included in the product installation |
Main Solution File | Refers to the SQL Studio encoded database that contains the Solution configuration. The extension .TPROJ references the current project still under development. The extension .TRUN references read-only published projects. |
Modifier (Device/Points) | Auxiliary parameter to effect read and write points for a device, the treatment of Arrays, bit masks, strings, swap and other operations in which a DataType definition can not define them completely. |
Module | A program that accesses the database in real time (RtDB) and can be composed of one or more Assemblies. |
Namespace | An address space. All objects created with a Namespace have unique names. "Address space" can also be understood as a form of tier objects. All process variables are grouped in the tag namespace; all reports grouped in the namespace report. The name of an object should be unique within the namespace to which the object belongs. |
Object Type (RunObj type) | Determines the type of runtime object (display, report, script). |
Objects, Runtime Objects | Runtime objects are those objects visible (through their names) to access the Solution via scripts and displays, such as Tags, Reports, Alarms, Displays among others. The namespaces also identify which execution module is responsible to update those values, for example the Alarm Module will start and will update the values of the runtime objects associated with the alarms. |
ObjectValues, PropertyValue | Runtime objects (e.g.: Tags, deviceNodes, etc.) can have one or more properties defined. The TAG and the property value, for example, MIN, MAX, description, among other properties. |
PropertyWatch | Diagnostic utility to check and modify the values of the objects at runtime. |
Parameters(Tag Configuration) | Definition of the parameters of behavior and values processing for Tags. |
Plug-in | Sub-set of a FrameworX Solution. Plugins are created using the Solution-Export command, selecting which parts and objects from the Solution will be exported. The Plugins can be imported or used by other solutions. |
Product Family | Specify the many options in our product line. It includes: FrameworX: Our Unlimited version, unlimited Clients, I/O and development, server based with all the tools you need FactoryStudio: Scalable, by the number of I/O & clients EdgeHMI: Scalable by I/O, more affordable EdgeGateway: Embedded device communications and processing at the edge or as flexible secure gateway This Product Family reflects in the software licenses. |
Solution | A configuration set Studio sketches of displays, reports, scripts and user notes created and edited with a single entity. |
SolutionDB / SolutionDatabase | SolutionDB (or Solution database) is a database that contains configuration information. Matches files with the extension <Solution>.dbsln (current type, for example) or <Solution>_ version.Teng (type released, for example). |
Property or Attribute | Property (value) associated with a Tag or object. |
Real time database, RunDB, Runtime Database, RtDB | The real time database created when the Solution is running. All objects running accessible (such as Tags, Displays, Reports) are objects on the Runtime Database, also called Real-Time Database or RtDB. |
Runtime | A Solution with modules loaded and running. |
Runtime Startup | Operation that is the Solution at run time. This operation can be performed from the program TStartup.exe in the current version of FactoryStudio, or TServer.exe in the published version of the Solution. |
Tag | A process variable. Name of a Namespace that includes all the variables created by the user in a Solution configuration. |
Tag Type | Defines the type of objects in the Tag Namespace: Digital, analog, text. These Tags are a class of compounds or properties accessed directly such as minimum, maximum, Value, quality. Each property is internally created as ValueType. |
Task (Script.Task) | Task program written in VB.NET (or C #) that runs on the server or client during the runtime of a solution. The execution will be on the server or client, depending on the configuration of the domain property in the script. |
Time-Series | Time-Series data is a collection of data, usually a list, or a set, or a stream of data, often with one entry following after the other in time, so a "series" of data readings over some consecutive time period. A single time-series data point is usually represented as a data value, such as a temperature reading (e.g. 56) and the time at which that reading was done (a.k.a. the "time-stamp" or "timestamp"). E.g.: It is helpful for analysis if the timestamps from various systems use the same "clock" and "time zone", so often people use UTC time (Universal Coordinated Time) as the "common" time zone. This helps avoid the potential confusion and extra work to "align" the data from various time zones. |
TManager | The program that performs the configuration of a solution. |
Toggle | Reverses the value of a variable. Values greater than zero are converted to zero; zero is converted to the value "1". |
Trust, Partial Trust, Full Trust | Partial Trust: Environment in which an application has limited access to resources (restricted access to files from particular folders, running other applications, etc.). XBAP applications that run within a browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) should run in "Partial Trust". |
Unified Namespace | A software solution that acts as a centralized repository of data, information and context where any application or device can consume or publish data needed for a specific action. FactoryStudio 9.2 fully incorporates this concept: you can create, consume or integrate to a variety of namespaces. |
Visibility (Tag Visibility) | Refers to the tagging system; Tags can be Private, Public or Protected. In another context, the graphical objects in a display can have a visibility dynamic property to appear or not when the screen is running. The Tag Visibility can be Public, Protected or Private Public: The value of the Tag during the execution of the Runtime is available for access to external Programs via TCP / IP or OPC Server. Also, the value of Tag is necessarily global or shared in all the client stations (Server Domain). Protected: Read-only. Private: A Tag set to "Private" can not be accessed by external applications (OPC Server, TCP / IP) and will run in Client or Server machines according to the application configuration with the following characteristics: Tags used only in modules called by the client (such as displays and Reports) run in the scope of the client, or may have different values on each client machine (Client Domain); Tags used in server modules, such as Devices and Alarms have a unique value in the system (Server Domain). |
XBAP | Xaml Browser Application (XBAP) is a graphical application using the XAML technology that runs inside a web browse. This is a legacy technology no longer in use.. |
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