New In 2014! Remote Training Classes

Starting in January, we will be offering selected instructor-led classes online.

You can attend the class remotely from your office or home as long as you have a good internet connection. Our instructors will be delivering the classes over the internet with audio, video, and remote virtual machines for all hands-on exercises.

You get:

• Live session to see the instructor's demos and presentation.
• Conference call for instructor lectures, demos, and Q&A.
• Virtual machine in the cloud for the duration of the class.
• Downloadable training manual.

We are starting with the following courses:

• Application Server
• Historian Server for System Platform
• Historian Client
• MES Operations
• MES Performance
• MES Quality

You can see the schedule and register for these classes here.

Note: All remote classes will he held 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM PST.

NEW! Information Server 2012 R2 BETA Class

Information Server classroom-based training is back!

Last year we committed training for Information Server to eLearning-only with the release of the Information Server 2012 Recorded Lecture Series.

This year we are bringing the class back to the classroom starting with the Information Server 2012 R2 BETA class scheduled for Dec 4-6, 2013 at our facility in Lake Forest, California. This new course includes improved materials and labs on ActiveFactory Reports, Table Weaver, and ArchestrA Reports, as well as the new OverView component of Information Server.

Click here to register for this class.

The new training materials and lab instructions for this course will be validated during this beta class. Your input is greatly appreciated.

You can see the course outline past the break.

NEW! Application Server 2012 R2 eLearning

In our effort to expand our eLearning library, and as promised last week, we have released a Recorded Instructor-Led Training (RILT) for our Application Server 2012 R2 course.

This RILT includes:

• Lectures and demos
• Execution of all the labs
• Downloadable training manual

Click here to register for this eLearning course.

Wonderware Training is Hiring Again!

We are looking for a new Wonderware Technical Training Instructor for our Lake Forest office in California.

As a Wonderware Instructor you will train customers, our distribution channel, and Invensys employees on different Wonderware products; from Application Server and InTouch to advanced applications, such as MES and Workflow. In addition to teaching at our state-of-the-art facility in Lake Forest, you will travel around the United States and the world conducting on-site classes at different facilities.

As part of the training team, you will become a Subject Matter Expert for the design and development of the training courses in collaboration with the course development team.

You can find more information and apply for the job here and search for the keywords: instructor.

NEW! InTouch for System Platform 2012 R2 eLearning

We are expanding our eLearning library!

We have released a Recorded Instructor-Led Training (RILT) for our InTouch for System Platform 2012 R2 course.

The Application Server 2012 R2 training course will be available very soon. I know that it seems backwards to release the InTouch course first, but we are fixing some technical issues with the Application Server recordings. Stay tune as I will announce when the course is available.

These are the first in our new RILT format. These and future RILTs include:

• Lectures and demos
• Execution of all the labs
• Downloadable training manual

Click here to register for this eLearning course.

Using System.AppDomain to share data between Automation Objects - Part 2

In Part 1 I introduced you to the System.AppDomain .NET class a way to share complex types between objects in Application Server (as long as the objects are hosted in the same AppEngine). As an example, I shared a database connection to the Historian Server database (Runtime) through the AppEngine object.

Now, let's take a look at the sample script needed in the other objects to access the shared database connection.

Using System.AppDomain to share data between Automation Objects - Part 1

This one is for advance Application Server users.

When writing complex .NET scripts within automation objects, you might find the need to share information between objects that is not of a standard ArchestrA data type. In other words: if your script is using a .NET type that is not compatible with the data types available for a UDA, how do you share that data between two or more objects in your Galaxy? If you read the title of this post you guessed right: using the .NET System.AppDomain class.

There is one caveat, though. You can only share the data between objects in the same AppEngine.

Note: The AppDomain class provides an isolated environment to execute applications. We are using it as a "trick" to share data within your application, but it's not its real purpose.

In this 2-part article, I will walk you through an example sharing a connection to a SQL Server database. In Part 1 I will show you how to create and make the connection available to the rest of the application. In Part 2 I will show you how to access the connection from a different object.

New and updated Quick Reference cards available

For those of you that were not aware, we have several Quick Reference cards available for download. All cards are for QuickScript .NET, ArchestrA scripting engine.

We just updated the previously available cards (five of them) and added two new ones around the ShowGraphic() script function. I hope you find them useful.

Are there any other products and features you might want to see as a Quick Reference cards? Please, let us know in the comments what you'll like to see.

You can download PDF versions of the cards here.

IntelaTrac classes now in Lake Forest

All IntelaTrac classes are now being held at our training facility in Lake Forest, CA.

The next IntelaTrac class is scheduled for Oct 15-18, 2013.

Click here to register for this class.

Sending E-mails from an Automation Object - Part 2

In Part 1 I discussed a script that allows your Galaxy to send e-mails through an SMTP server. The e-mail, while short and simple, was all contained within a single Execute script. This means that every single class used by the script is instantiated and initialized every time the script runs. Also, all the information that the script uses was hardcoded within the script itself.

Let's take advantage of the different execution types, UDAs, and the Declarations section to reshape the script into a better, optimized, and well-structured object. Details after the break.

Sending E-mails from an Automation Object - Part 1

Once in a while I hear people asking how to send e-mails from Application Server. As long as you have access, or rather your Galaxy has access to an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server, you can configure an object to perform this task using the System.Net.Mail namespace of the Microsoft .NET Framework.

After the break, I'll walk you through a basic script that will send e-mails though Gmail SMTP server. Later, in Part 2, I will describe a better, optimized version of the object and script.

An Overview of the Deployment Model in Application Server

In previous posts I provided an overview of the objects you get out of the box when you create a new Galaxy in Application Server. When discussing the System Objects I (very) briefly mentioned two important configurations of a Galaxy: the Plant Model and the Deployment Model.

Today I want to talk a little bit about the Deployment Model.

An Overview of the Plant Model in Application Server

In previous posts I provided an overview of the objects you get out of the box when you create a new Galaxy in Application Server. When discussing the System Objects I (very) briefly mentioned two important configurations of a Galaxy: the Plant Model and the Deployment Model.

Today I want to talk a little bit about the Plant Model.

NEW! Historian Server 2012 R2 BETA Class

The Historian Server class has been redesigned into two separate classes targeting different solutions: System Platform solutions and tag-based InTouch applications.

The Historian Server 2012 R2 for System Platform Applications BETA class has been scheduled for Aug 19-20, 2013 at our facility in Lake Forest, California.

The new training materials and lab instructions for this course will be validated during this beta course. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Click here to register for this class.

An Overview of Application Objects in Application Sever

Following up on a previous post, A Quick Overview of Automation Objects in Application Server, let's take a closer look at the Application Objects.

While System Objects provide the infrastructure to distribute and run your application, and Device Integration Objects give you the means to access I/O from the Galaxy, it is the Application Objects the ones that allow you to model the equipment in the field. For example, valves, motors, conveyors, level and temperature transmitters, they are all modeled through Application Objects.

An Overview of Device Integration Objects in Application Server

Following up on a previous post, A Quick Overview of Automation Objects in Application Server, let's take a closer look at the Device Integration Objects.

DI Objects (for Device Integration) represents your controllers - PLCs, RTUs, or similar devices. They don't communicate directly to the controllers, but with a "driver" that speaks the actual controller's communication protocol; for example, Modbus or DH+. In the case of Wonderware "drivers", we are talking about Device Integration Servers: IO Servers or DA Servers.

Basically, the out-of-the-box Device Integration Objects allow your Galaxy to communicate with other applications through DDE, SuiteLink, or OPC. These applications can be Wonderware Device Integration Servers, 3rd-party OPC Servers, or any other applications that is a DDE, SuiteLink, or OPC server.

NEW! MES Operations 2012 Training

We have released the MES 2012 - Operations training course.

As it's predecessor, the MES 2012 - Operations course is a 4-day, instructor-led class designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the features and functionality of Wonderware MES Software/Operations.

This course has been scheduled on a bi-monthly basis starting in July 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California.

Click here to register for this class.

An Overview of System Objects in Application Server

Following up on a previous post, A Quick Overview of Automation Objects in Application Server, let's take a closer look at the System Objects.

As I indicated before, I consider the System Objects the infrastructure objects of the Galaxy (remember, Galaxy = project). These objects provide the pillars or foundation of your application, and define two important concepts in your project Galaxy: The Plant Model and the Deployment Model.

NEW! InTouch for System Platform 2012 R2 Training

We have released the InTouch for System Platform 2012 R2 training course.

As it's predecessor, the InTouch for System Platform 2012 R2 course is a 5-day, instructor-led class designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the features and functionality of how the Wonderware Application Server provides visualization for your plant galaxy data using ArchestrA Symbols by seamlessly integrating the InTouch for System Platform software.

This course has been scheduled on a monthly basis starting in July 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California.

Click here to register for this class.

NEW! Application Server 2012 R2 Training

We have released the new Application Server 2012 R2 training course as an update to Application Server 2012.

As it's predecessor, the new Application Server 2012 R2 course is a 4-day, instructor-led class designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the features and functionality of the Wonderware Application Server 2012 R2 software. The course provides lectures and hands-on labs to supply and reinforce the knowledge necessary to use the ArchestrA tools and services in the System Platform for plant modeling.

This course has been scheduled on a monthly basis starting in July 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California.

Click here to register for this class.

A Quick Overview of Automation Objects in Application Server

A project in Application Server consist of the configuration and assembly of automation objects. I will estimate that 99% of a Galaxy (that's how we call the projects) consist of these automation objects.

So let's take a quick look at the automation objects you get out of the box with Application Server (you can get more objects with other Wonderware products… or build your own with our toolkit).

SCADAlarm Training in Lake Forest, CA on May 23, 2013

A SCADAlarm training class has been scheduled for May 23, 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California.

Seating is limited.

Click here to register for this class.

Introduction to ArchestrA Toolkits

Wonderware provides Toolkits and Application Programing Interfaces (APIs) to assist in the development of custom applications that need to interact or communicate with Application Server. By their software development nature, all these toolkits require knowledge of programming languages such as Visual Basic and C#, the .NET Framework, and development tools like Microsoft Visual Studio.

The three main toolkits available are:

• ArchestrA Object Toolkit
• GRAccess API
• MXAccess API (formally known as LMXAccess)

NEW! MES 2012 - Quality Training

We're about to release the new MES 2012 - Quality training course.

The MES 2012 - Quality course is a 2-day, instructor-led class designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the features and functionality of Wonderware MES Software/Quality. The course provides lectures and hands-on labs to supply and reinforce the knowledge necessary to use Wonderware MES Software/Quality to address the configuration and deployment of a data collection system, which allows for the analysis and reporting of Quality Management data using a Sample Recording Object.

This course has been scheduled on a bi-monthly basis starting in March 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California. Our first session is scheduled for March 25-26, 2013.

Click here to register for the classes.

NEW! MES 2012 - Performance BETA Class [Update]

UPDATE: The BETA class for MES 2012 - Performance has been re-scheduled for April 11-12, 2013. The class in March will be MES 4.0 - Performance.

The MES 2012 - Performance BETA class has been scheduled for March 14-15, 2013 April 11-12, 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California.

The new training materials and lab instructions for this course will be validated during this beta course. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Click here to register for this class.

NEW! MES 2012 - Quality BETA Class

The MES 2012 - Quality BETA class has been scheduled for March 4-5, 2013 at our training facility in Lake Forest, California.

The new training materials and lab instructions for this course will be validated during this beta course. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Click here to register for this class.

UPDATE: Added course outline.