Chipkin BACnet Explorer
Version 4.4 - Release
Since version 4.3, we have made the following changes.
Please contact us ([email protected]) with any feedback or feature requests.
Version 4.4.1 (2022-Oct-28)
🌟 Feature
- Renamed application from CAS BACnet Explorer to Chipkin BACnet Explorer
Added a reports generator which takes a current snapshot of the database, and converts it to JSON and a human readable markdown file.
- Report generation is available at Menu -> Generate Snapshot Report
- These files are generated within ~/My Documents/cas-bacnet-explorer/reports folder
Removed Trial key time limitations
- Reworded licensing notifications so they're clearer (Issue #195)
🐞 Fix
- Increased size limit of session server, resolves issue of HTTP status returning 413 (Issue #146)
- Fixed issue where session data wasn't using the correct getter of the broker properties list (Issue #146)
- Increased discovery time limit to 30 seconds
- Fixed bug where Menu -> Clear Network Tree was not clearing the properties list correctly
Version 4.4.0 (2022-Sep-01)
- Changed the burnout date for the demo to 2023 june.
Version 4.3 - Beta
Since version 4.2, we have made the following changes.
Please contact us ([email protected]) with any feedback or feature requests.
Version 4.3.1 (2022-Aug-29)
🐞 Fix
- Removed instances of
<script setup>tags in component files that contained:valueorv-modeltags as it was causing a bug in production where the variables were becomingundefined(Issue #191) - Added additional margin and padding to dialogs, as scss variables aren't being converted correctly, causing dialogs to look squished. (Issue #178)
Version 4.3.0 (2022-Aug-16)
🌟 Feature
- Write Property is now available when clicking on a property, or from the title bar. (Issue #155)
- Added an action bar on all properties. (Issue #160)
- Refresh: Sends a Read Property request for the property.
- Write: Opens a Write Property dialog for the property, auto populating the fields.
- Vendor Identifiers now lookup the vendor names from the BACnet Vendor Identifiers enumerations list. (Issue #79)
- Datatypes within the Write Dialog now display their actual types, instead of defaulting to raw text inputs. (Issue #166)
- Users can now search through enumeration dropdowns. This search is lossful meaning the previous input value is lost. (Issue #173)
- Filled in help sections for the Write Dialog. (Issue #180)
🐞 Fix
- On startup the documents directory is printed to the log.
- Fixed issue where the data type for the write property would be parsed incorrectly.
- PropertyValue will return RAW JSON when the dataType is unknown. The raw data then can be interpreted by the user even if the CAS BACnet Explorer can't visualize it.
- Fixed Export Database not saving the database correctly in certain instances. (Issue #112)
- BACnet Reject error messages are now displayed correctly, and not just dumped as JSON. (Issue #119)
- Real and Double data types now display as fullwide numbers instead of scientific notation. (Issue #137)
- Real and Double data types now always display to at least 2 decimal places. (Issue #136)
- Added the known priority values to the write dialogs Priority field. (Issue #170)
- Fixed a bug where the priority was not being sent on a write property. (Issue #183)
- Fixed a bug where the Destination Network and Destination Address were not being sent on a write property. (Issue #182)
Write Property
The Write Property dialog allows a user to modify the value of a single specified property of a bacnet object.
Property Actions
A new action bar is now located within each property that lets you read, or write to a property.
The property actions bar lets you
1) Open the write dialog within the context of the property, and allows you to write to that specific property, or change it's context and write to any other property from any other device, or accessible network.
2) Refresh the property, by sending a ReadProperty request.
Version 4.2 - Beta
In the last two weeks since our intial public beta release (4.1). We have made the following changes.
Please contact us ([email protected]) with any feedback or feature requests.
🌟 Feature
- Created Manual, Data Fact Sheet, and Website landing page for the CAS BACnet Explorer. (Issue #144)
- Basic BACnet object simulator for Analog-input (0). Auto increment value once a second by 1.02 (Issue #134)
- Added Read Property fallback for devices that do not support Read Property Multiple. (Issue #56)
- Added property profile for object types as a fallback for properties from a device that does not support Read Property Multiple and protocol revision is less than 14 (Issue #56)
- Added Read Property for property list if the device does not support Read Property Multiple-all (Issue #49)
- Current network tree data saved to {documents}/sessions for backup
- Statistics reporting to Chipkin for research purposes
- Added Discovery dialog (issue #60)
🐞 Fix
- Restart is no longer required when changing the network adapters. (Issue #138)
- Title of the dialog shows a different version than the footer (Issue #132)
- Changed the publisher/Author to "Chipkin Automation Systems" (Issue #135)
- The Ethernet adapter information is not displayed on the network adapter selection page. (Issue #113)
- The simulator device is not discoverable when the "unbound" network adapter was selected. (Issue #37)
- Disable auto refresh when switching between nodes in the network tree (Issue #130)
- Enumerated values for bitstrings are shown in the unordered list (Issue #124)
- Breadcrumbs in the property list are not getting clear on "clear network tree" (Issue #117)
- Front end window "X" button confirmation dialog (Issue #133)
Discovery
The discovery dialog allows the discovery and interrogation of BACnet devices, device objects, and object properties on the BACnet network. The dialog settings allow fine control of how the network is discovered. A full discovery can be useful for creating reports of the current state of the BACnet network while on-site, for review offline.
Device Simulator
A simple device simulator has been added to the CAS BACnet Explorer. This allows people who are not connected to a BACnet network to test and evaluate the CAS BACnet Explorer's features. In future versions, we can make this simulator configurable. This will allow users to test their BACnet clients using the CAS BACnet Explorer.
Legacy devices fallback support
Older devices may not support the Read Property Multiple services. The CAS BACnet Explorer now has a fallback for older less capable devices.
If read property multiple then the CAS BACnet Explorer checks to see what protocol revision is supported. If the protocol revision is greater than or equal to 14 it will request the list of supported properties. If the protocol revision is less than 14 the CAS BACnet Explorer uses a hardcoded list of properties defined by the protocol specification.
Version 4.1 - Beta - Initial public beta
Thank you for downloading and providing feedback for the latest beta release of CAS BACnet Explorer
Features in this version
- Supports Windows, and Linux
- Who-is / Discovery
- Custom rendering of object properties
- Auto refresh and data age
- Save/Open database
- Network adapter selection
- Currently only BACnet IP is supported.
This is a beta application and we expect that there will be some issues. Please report any issues to **[email protected]**. Any feedback on new features, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
We will be regularly updating the CAS BACnet Explorer with new versions. A notification in the application will alert you when a new version is available.
A license is required to use the CAS BACnet Explorer. For the beta version everyone will get a free unlimited license.
Features 🌟
Supports Windows and Linux
The CAS BACnet Explorer supports both Windows and Linux (Snap or AppImage). We are planning on adding MAC support in a few months.
Who-is / Discovery
Simple discovery of BACnet devices using. Click the “Who-Is” button to send a BACnet Whois message out onto the network. Then click the BACnet devices in the device tree to discover the object and properties of a device.
Custom rendering of object properties
The properties of an object are rendered depending on their data type and property identifier. This allows us to show properties in a more familiar way than raw values. The raw values are accessible by a toggle switch next to each property.
For example:
- The Enumerated (9) can be displayed as both the enumerated text and the enumerated value.
- The Octet String (6) can be rendered as 2 character hex values separated in an array of boxes.
- The Bit String (8) for Status Flags (111) can be rendered as a series of on or off values in an array of boxes.
- The Bit String (8) for Protocol Object Types Supported (96) can be rendered as a series of on or off values in an array of boxes as well as a list of enabled services.
- The Boolean (1) can be rendered as a true of false
Auto refresh and data age
The property page can be automatically refreshed every 3 seconds using the “auto refresh” toggle. The age of the values in the property page is displayed next to each property.
Save/Open database
After discovering the devices and objects the database can be saved as a file. This database file can be opened and viewed offline. This file can also be used as documentation or used to configure BACnet clients.
Network Adapter selection
Many modern computers have multiple network adapters. For example a Ethernet adapter and a Wifi adapter. The CAS BACnet Explorer allows the selection of the network adapter to ensure that the traffic is sent out on the correct network.
History
Chipkin originally released the CAS BACnet Explorer v2.00aA in 2002 as a simple tool for discovering BACnet devices and objects on a network and validating the present values. It has been updated many times since its initial release with new features requested by our customers. CAS BACnet Explorer was last updated in 2012 with version v2.02aW as it satisfied most of our customers' needs.
A lot has changed in BACnet spec since 2012. COV, BBMD, Network port objects, Elevator objects. One of the most exciting changes has been the introduction of BACnet SC (Secure Connect) in ANNEX AB. BACnet SC uses web sockets to add TLS encryption and security, in a hub and spoke configuration.
Chipkin updated the CAS BACnet Stack to support BACnet SC data link protocol. This allows companies to embed the CAS BACnet Stack into their product and expose their data with a BACnet interface. The CAS BACnet Stack supports BACnet IP, BACnet MSTP, BACnet Ethernet and BACnet SC data link protocols.
With the addition of BACnet SC, Chipkin needed a tool to help their customers discover and validate BACnet SC devices. We also wanted to improve the adoption of BACnet SC in the industry. Thus we decided to update the CAS BACnet Explorer.
Thank you once again for your help testing the latest version of the CAS BACnet Explorer.