Release Notes

Version 2.2 (2016-06-22)

Features

Rules and Events

The GUI for creating and maintaining Rules has been improved and capability to send notifications via email has been added.

When a Rule is triggered, an Event is registered in the Cloud Connect platform. Events can be viewed and managed in a new user interface accessible from the main menu.

When configuring a Rule, the text and priority for the resulting Event can be edited and the Event can be specified as requiring action by the user.

Domain custom fields support in Value widget

The Value widget type now supports displaying domain custom fields in dashboards.

Support for backdating observations

Capability has been added to allow “backdated” observations to be inserted using the API. This allows a Thing application developer to send observations in batch at some point in time, and still maintain proper time stamps for each observation individually, independently of when the observation was registered in the cloud environment.

Automated operational routines

Routines related to the build and deployment processes employed for release upgrades has been automated to safeguard reliable production environments.

Minor improvements and corrections

Numerous minor enhancements and bug fixes are delivered by the new release, including:

• Fixed issue with spaces in Thing Type names
• Performance improvements
• Added alphabetical sorting for Thing Types
• A confirmation modal is now displayed before replacing a certificate
• Increased test coverage of automated tests
• Usability and user interface improvements
• Improved usability of the map and pie chart widgets in the Thing Type overview dashboard

Version 2.1 (2016-05-25)

Features

Customer Branding

Functionality that allows customization of application logotype and colors. In addition the login page can be customized by naming the application and adding additional information in text like contact details for support, etc.

Virtual resources

Virtual Resources can be defined for a Thing, allowing the user to manually enter arbitrary data related to the Thing. Virtual resource data is stored just like resource data (i.e. time series data), allowing it to be used together with e.g. widgets and rules. An example use case is to manually enter the location for a Thing that is permanently installed at a location. The Thing can then be displayed on a map, even though it is not capable of reporting its position.

Visualization of signal strength and battery level

If a Thing sends its current signal strength and battery level according to certain conventions, the data will be visualized as a standard element in the Thing Dashboard. This provides an “at a glance” context for other data from the Thing and aids basic troubleshooting. Conventions are specified in the Thing API.

HTTPS-Proxy – access a web server on a Thing

The HTTPS-proxy allows Cloud Connect users to securely access Things capable of e.g. serving a web-page or similar interface for remote control.

Sub-Things concept and visualization

The sub-Thing concept is designed for use cases where several products (that can be perceived as individual Things) connect to the cloud via one gateway. The Things can be of the same type or can be different types with different visualizations. In order for the sub-Thing concept to work, the payload needs to be prefixed according to conventions specified in the Thing API.

Domain custom fields

Functionality to define a bespoke set of custom fields (meta data) for domains and edit this data for individual domains has been added. The custom fields definition supports different field types (currently: text and number), and a typical usage scenario is data entry and storage for contact details.

Rules

Rules provide capability to monitor resource data based on a customer defined criteria and initiate web hook actions if the criteria is fulfilled. For example, a criteria such as “if the temperature resource is greater than 20 for a Thing of a certain type in a certain domain” could trigger a web hook that control the air condition.

Minor improvements and corrections

Numerous minor enhancements and bug fixes are delivered by the new release, including:

• Improved user interface in the Thing Credentials widget
• Increased test coverage of automated tests
• Usability and user interface improvements
• Improved handling of meta data describing and defining resources
• Possibility to save changes to the default view mode, and reset it to the original auto generated state

Version 2.0.4 (2016-04-26)

Features

Settable Widgets

Functionality to set the value of a resource has been added for all Thing dashboard widgets.

In edit mode, a widget can be marked as a settable widget. When a widget has been configured as settable, the user can send a value (either entered in text field or selected from a drop down) to a specific Thing resource. If the Thing is not connected to the Cloud when a user sets the value, the platform will persist the new value and send it to the Thing once it comes online, unless the user cancels the operation in the meantime.

Online status

In the Thing list, the online status of each Thing is now indicated. A green cloud symbol is used to indicate that a Thing is online, and a grey cloud icon indicates that a Thing is currently offline.

Thing and Cloud API (incl. documentation)

Version 2.0.4 includes a Cloud API and a Thing API.

The Cloud API is a REST API that exposes application meta data, stored observation data, and related functionality. The areas covered by the Cloud API are:

• Auth API
  The Auth API (AuthLambda) is used to authenticate users and let new users sign up.
• Domain API
  The Domain API (DomainLambda) is used to manage domains. The domains are represented as a tree and the use can be restricted to only see part of the domain tree and that applies to all actions.
• File API
  The File API (FileLambda) is used to manage files in the system.
• Observation API
  The Observation API (ObservationLambda) is used to manage observations.
• Thing Management API
  The Thing Management API (ThingLambda) is used to manage Things and Thing certificates.
• Thing Batch API
  The Thing Batch API (ThingBatchLambda) is used to manage batches of Things.
• Thing Event API
  The Thing event service lives in front of the MQTT broker and controls access to real-time events for Things, according to the domain model and user role. It allows authenticated clients to publish and subscribe on MQTT topics for all Things that the user account has access to. Publishing and subscribing is very similar to how it would work against the actual MQTT broker, however the communication with the client is implemented using a Socket.io channel.
• Thing Type API
  The Thing Type API (ThingTypeLambda) is used to manage Thing Types.
• User API
  The User API (UserLambda) is used to manage users and user profiles.

The Thing API is a MQTT API, which can be used for message based communication with the Cloud Connect platform.

Pie-chart histogram widget for Thing Type

A new type of widget, the pie chart histogram widget, is available for use in Thing Type dashboards. This widget visualizes aggregate histogram data for all Things of a certain Thing Type, e.g. the number of Things with a reading between 0-10, the number of Things with a reading between 10-20, etc.

Map for all Things of a specific Thing Type

A new map widget is available in the Thing Type dashboard. The new map widget provides a geospatial representation that includes all the Things of a certain Thing Type.

Thing files widget

A new widget for managing files related to individual Things is available for the Thing dashboard.

Changed port for live updates

The port used by the platform to send live data to a dashboard has been updated to prevent issues with certain firewall configurations.

Minor improvements and corrections

Numerous minor enhancements and bug fixes are delivered by the new release, including:

• A new format for urls in the App Board
• Enhanced look and feel of the App Board GUI
• Improved copy text and user messages
• Fixed problems with the login dialogue and session handling