Transition from older versions to PROMOTIC 9

New folder structure and new utility PmManager

New different folder structure is recommended to be used with PROMOTIC 9 compared to older versions:
The older PROMOTIC versions have been located in the "/Pm" folder (e.g. C:/Pm) and the applications were placed in other folders (e.g. C:/PmProj etc.) It often happened that the application designer had to work with multiple PROMOTIC versions simultaneously. It was necessary to have e.g. folders /Pm75, /Pm80, /Pm83 for individual versions. Before launching the application the designer had to remember which version is corresponding to the application and had to use such PROMOTIC version.

Now it is recommended to use new folder structure as follows:
All PROMOTIC versions and applications are stored in the \Promotic folder. This folder contains:

PmManager utility functionality:

The new folder structure and the PmManager utility aims to make creation and management of applications much easier. This concept is suitable not only for designers managing multiple applications but also for simple usage with a single SCADA application.

See Folders and files of the PROMOTIC system.

Development environment and runtime are now separated and both are available also in 64-bit versions

In previous versions both the development environment and runtime environment were a single program (Promotic.exe).
In PROMOTIC 9 the two environments are separated into programs (the attribute 32/64 means that it is a 32 or 64-bit program):

One of the advantages of such concept is the possibility to develop an application while it is running.

See 32-bit and 64-bit version of the program.

Removed obsolete objects

Since this version some obsolete objects have been removed. Some have been removed without replacement, some are coverted into another objects. Any of such cases is clearly indicated to the application designer.

Following objects were removed:

Renamed objects

In order to improve clarity and simplicity some objects were renamed:

Some objects were renamed completely (not only suffix) or were separated into multiple objects.

List of modified Pma objects (not only the suffix was changed):

Old name	New name	Note
PmAlarmEvent	PmaAlarmGroup, PmaEventGroup	Separated into two independent objects
PmCommData	PmaCommGroup	Name change
PmOpcDaClientData	PmaOpcDaClientGroup	Name change
PmTrend	PmaTrendGroup	Name change

List of modified Pmg objects (not only the suffix was changed)::

Old name	New name	Note
PmiAx PmTable	PmgWTable	Converted from ActiveX object to standard Pmg object
PmiAx TrendsView	PmgTrendViewer	Converted from ActiveX object to standard Pmg object
PmiAx	PmgActiveX	Name change
PmiText	PmgString, PmgNumber	Separated into two independent objects
PmiButtonTwo	PmgButtonState	Name change
PmiPanel	PmgBox	Name change
PmiWAnimate	PmgVideo	Name change

The JavaScript language is now supported also in Pma objects

In previous versions it was possible to write scripts in the JavaScript language only in the script of Pmg objects (in order to make these scripts functional in Web browsers).
In PROMOTIC 9 it is now possible to use the JavaScript language everywhere (i.e. also in Pma objects) and the usage of obsolete VBScript language can be avoided.

A conversion tool has been created for conversion of existing scripts written in the VBScript language into JavaScript language - see Object script conversion. This tool (although not being perfect) allows very easy script conversions in order to convert applications into a single language - JavaScript.

The VBScript language is obsolete, is not functional in Web browsers and lacking many modern statements. Therefore it is possible that the support for such language will be terminated in the PROMOTIC system in future.

Unification of Application editor and Panel (GUI) editor into a single environment

In all previous versions the PmaPanel object graphics have been edited in an independent program.
Since this version the graphics is edited directly on the "Graphic" tab of the PmaPanel object (this tab can be expanded to the whole workspace). Editing a panel is now simpler and easier to access.

The graphics editor functionality has also been significantly expanded:

Graphics ActiveX objects PmTable and TrendsView were transformed into standard PROMOTIC graphic objects

These two objects were created as ActiveX objects (contrary to other PROMOTIC graphic objects). It used to be advantageous because such objects could have been used directly also in Web panels for InternetExplorer. The ActiveX technology is no longer supported in standard Web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge ...) due to security reasons. Therefore since version Pm8.2.0 these graphic objects were emulated for the Web in html pages as standard PROMOTIC graphic objects.

In version PROMOTIC 9 these objects are converted into standard PmgWTable and PmgTrendViewer objects. This bring much easier configuration of such objects in the development environment because the configurators of such objects are now directly accessible the same way as for other Pmg objects.

Alarms and events - new concept

In previous version there was a single object (PmAlarmEvent) that managed both alarms and events. There was also a system viewer that was fixed and impossible to modify by the application designer.

There are two individual objects now: PmaAlarmGroup for alarms and PmaEventGroup for events.
These two objects has similar basic function - saving alarms or events and providing these for viewing. But these objects do not provide the viewing function.

There are three new graphic objects (Pmg objects that can be placed into the PmaPanel object):
These graphic objects can now be used to view the alarms and evens as required by the application designer. This new approach unifies the concept of viewing of alarms and events with other viewers such as trends, real time data etc.

Alarms/events conversion from older versions:
The PmAlarmEvent object is automatically converted into PmaAlarmGroup or PmaEventGroup (based on current setup) and automatically following items are created in this object:
This way the old application is converted into new version allowing the designer to modify the alarm/event viewers as needed.

Some communication drivers were removed

Since version Pm9.0.0 the following communication drivers were removed (these drivers are still available in older PROMOTIC versions):