DAQFactory 5.86 New Features

[AzeoTech]

DAQFactory 5.86 has a couple new features like the trial become a free DAQFactory Express license, and some improvements to network security. First the important security notes:

ALL 5.85 USER'S SHOULD UPGRADE TO 5.86! Recently it was released on the Internet about a security issue in DAQFactory concerning UDP port 20034 and a buffer overflow. This problem exists only in release 5.85, but is a serious security issue. Therefore, all 5.85 users should upgrade to 5.86. All users of previous versions are also strongly recommended to upgrade to ensure the latest security changes are implemented (see 5.85 release notes) Like always there is no charge for the upgrade. The 5.86 completely removes the offending service, which was not in use. Provided you keep broadcasting disabled (again, see 5.85 release notes) and don't run the now deprecated web server (see below), DAQFactory now exposes no ports and runs no servers or services which should eliminate any possible routes of attack through the network to DAQFactory.

Enhanced Safe Mode: to help protect against social engineering hacks, namely, someone posting or emailing a DAQFactory .ctl document that uses DAQFactory script to corrupt your harddrive or do other things and convincing you to open the document, we have enhanced safe mode to disable all File. functions, all DB. functions, the extern() function and the shellExecute() function. These functions will not work when the system is in safe mode. So, if you are opening a .ctl document from an unknown source, you should open it in safe mode first and examine the script before running the application. That said, a better choice is to simply not run any .ctl documents from unknown sources, much as you wouldn't run an .exe file from an unknown source. This would include .ctl documents posted to this forum by anyone other than AzeoTech as we do not test all posted .ctl documents.

Remember, DAQFactory is a powerful development environment which allows you to create applications that do all sorts of great things. Alas, this same functionality that you know and love can be used to do damage as well.

Web server compeltely deprecated: the internal web server of DAQFactory is now considered completely deprecated. This is because we do not believe web servers exposed to the Internet should be run on the same PC as SCADA systems. Period. It doesn't matter what software you are using. DAQFactory offers a number of alternatives to allow for secure remote access including the built in DAQFactory networking for DAQFactory to DAQFactory communications, screen capture with FTP/Email to external sites, and DAQConnect integration which provides secure remote access to your data without any firewall changes or other IT issues.

We have removed the Web Settings from the main menu. The only way to get to the web settings is to type:

system.editWebSettings()

in the command/alert. This is provided for backwards compatability ONLY. Do not use the web server in new applications.

It is almost certain that we will completely remove the internal web server in an upcoming release, so anyone still using it should start migrating to the other options as soon as possible. Please contact us if you need assistance determining the best course of action.

DAQFactory Trial becomes free Express! Now, when the 25 day trial has expired, instead of becoming a non-functioning piece of software, DAQFactory becomes a fully licensed Express version that you can use for free for as long as you want. Please see www.azeotech.com/featuregrid.php to see what features are available in Express.

Better DAQConnect integration: Connecting your DAQFactory application to your DAQConnect account is now much easier. No more finding data source / connector ID's. You simply select from a list of your current data sources, or create a new one, right from within DAQFactory. You can even create a new DAQConnect account from within DAQFactory.

[JohnyQuick]

Since 5.86 has no web server, does that mean that DF can no longer upload FTP screen captures?

Also what about pop mail, checking and sending e-mail? I haven't tried the e mail functions yet. Are they

no longer available in ver 5.86?

[AzeoTech]

The capture and FTP are still available. This method is actually one of the recommended alternatives to a built in webserver. By FTP'ing the screenshots to another computer off network, you are eliminating the exposure. Actually, the Capture() function has been improved and now takes two more optional parameters with the width / height of the desired image. Capture() used to rely on the web settings for these numbers, but now you can do it right in the capture() and you can capture different sized images.

Also, all the other networking features, in and outgoing email, in and out FTP, etc are all still available as none of them create "servers" out of DAQFactory.

[BeeHay]

Actually, the Capture() function has been improved and now takes two more optional parameters with the width / height of the desired image.

Can I do an unreasonably long height? Will DF just stretch my screenshot??

I'm trying to find a way to make a "growing graph" that would "grow" thousands of data points and travel far downwards outside of the screen res...

After FTP'ing the image, a user can "scroll" down on the webpage, viewing the complete graph...

As of now, anything "outside" of the screenshot is just clipped...

Is there a way to accomplish this?

[AzeoTech]

Maybe. You'd have to try it. I've certainly done applications where I've stretched a graph past what was visible on the screen, but I was using the printPDF function to output the result. The issue with doing this with a jpeg is that DF has to create a big chunk of memory to render the screen before it generates the jpg, so just watch for this. With a PDF, everything is vector, so the memory load is minimal.

BTW: to create a graph that stretches off screen, simply adjust its position parameters in script (through the command/alert window even)