Composer

for Harmony

Release Notes
Composer (Version 5.0)

NOTICE
This document contains information about one or more ABB products and may include a
description of or a reference to one or more standards that may be generally relevant to
the ABB products. The presence of any such description of a standard or reference to a
standard is not a representation that all of the ABB products referenced in this document
support all of the features of the described or referenced standard. In order to determine
the specific features supported by a particular ABB product, the reader should consult the
product specifications for the particular ABB product.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be
construed as a commitment by ABB. ABB assumes no responsibility for any errors that
may appear in this document.
In no event shall ABB be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential
damages of any nature or kind arising from the use of this document, nor shall ABB be
liable for incidental or consequential damages arising from use of any software or hardware described in this document.
This document and parts thereof must not be reproduced or copied without written permission from ABB, and the contents thereof must not be imparted to a third party nor used
for any unauthorized purpose.
The software or hardware described in this document is furnished under a license and
may be used, copied, or disclosed only in accordance with the terms of such license.
This product meets the requirements specified in EMC Directive 89/336/EEC and in Low
Voltage Directive 72/23/EEC.
Copyright 2007 ABB
All rights reserved.
Release:
Document number:

December 2005
3BUA000301R0002

TRADEMARKS
All rights to copyrights, registered trademarks, and trademarks reside with their respective owners.

Table of Contents
Section 1 Release Notes ..............................................................................................1-1
Introduction............................................................................................................. 1-1
Resolved Customer Reported Problems..................................................................... 1-6
Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds ...................................................... 1-6
Installation........................................................................................................... 1-8
Composer (General) .............................................................................................. 1-8
Automation Architect ........................................................................................... 1-8
Automation Interface............................................................................................ 1-9
Configuration Viewer.......................................................................................... 1-10
Revision Manager ............................................................................................... 1-10
Licensing............................................................................................................ 1-10
View and Monitor and SVG Publishing ............................................................... 1-10
Instruction Manual Changes .............................................................................. 1-11

3BUA000301R0002

iii

3BUA000301R0002

Release Notes

Section 1

Introduction
The new features and enhancements incorporated into Composer 5.0 are:

Composer console support has been updated to include:

Added support for 800xA for Harmony SV3.1/4.0, 4.1/5.0;
Conductor NT 5.0 and 6.0; Conductor VMS 5.0 and 6.0;
Process Portal B 2.0 (SP1 and SP2).
New console types:
- 800xA for Harmony SV 4.1/5.0 (30,000 tags per console).
- 800xA for Harmony SV 3.1/4.0 (10,000 tags per console).
- Conductor VMS 3.0-4.0 console is now Conductor VMS
3.0-6.0.
- Conductor NT 4.0 is now Conductor NT 4.0/5.0/6.0.
- Harmony RTDS console is now Process Portal B RTDS.
The 800xA for Harmony 4.1/5.0 context is now the default
for new projects. Upgraded or converted projects will use
their last known default context (Composer 5.0 will not
change this). The context can be changed later if desired.
When creating new consoles, there is now a Console Type
field containing the major types of consoles. Selecting a
type populates the Console Type and Rev field with only
those consoles of that overall type. This new field remembers the last used console type. This makes selection of
new consoles easier with fewer choices to navigate through
for projects with few console types.

Enhanced the support for importing and exporting tag data

between Composer and 800xA for Harmony and Process
Portal B console types. Some changes were also made in
the consoles and Composer 5.0 will work best with the latest versions of the consoles (Process Portal 2.0 SP2 or later,
Harmony Connect SV5.0 SP1 or later).
- Composer will also default to exporting all ancillary lists
(alarm comments, engineering units, historian atom collections, etc.) when exporting to these consoles, since they are

3BUA000301R0002

1-1

Introduction

required by those consoles. The options to export these

ancillary lists can be disabled before exporting if desired.
- Predefined system values of MiscArea, MiscEquipment,
and MiscUnit were added. System defined historian atom
collection values also added.
- Importing now allows users an option to match tags by
name as well as GUID. This is useful for those versions of
the consoles that change the GUID when importing from
Composer and export their own GUID.
- Composer now retains atom names for alarm inhibit tag
fields when importing, will display them in the Data
Browser, and export them in the console-expected form of
tagname.atom.
- NumDecPl field now supports values up to 289.
- Engineering Units and Logic State descriptor indices can
now be positive up to 32,483 or negative to -32,483 for
Process Portal and 800xA for Harmony consoles (they will
not export for other consoles). (32,483 is an internal Microsoft database engine limitation.)
Some compatibility issues have been addressed in Composer but will require future versions of Process Portal and
800xA for Harmony to properly resolve:
- Security Group field defaults to SymGroup when importing into the console.
- The consoles export both SectionDisplay and SectionDisplayName as the name. SectionDisplay should be the
GUID.
- The consoles export a number of alarm comment fields
with incorrectly filled in values. A number of fields configurable in Process Portal and 800xA for Harmony are not
supported for export by the consoles, or import by Composer, and they must be configured on the console or using
the bulk configuration tools on the consoles. Refer to the
Primary Interface instruction for a list of fields.
Refer to the release notes of the respective consoles for
other issues with importing/exporting.

1-2

3BUA000301R0002

Introduction

Performance enhancements - Composer 5.0 can now open

large projects and large CLDs much faster than earlier versions through the use of the new Prelaunch Service. This
service gets project tag and cross-reference data ready for
use during system startup and login. Internal caches have
been improved also.
NOTE: These caches get rebuilt when users accessing the project add or
delete cross-references or tags which can take a few seconds to a minute
depending on the size of the project and the number of tags and especially
cross-references in the project. While the caches are not fully rebuilt, opening
other CLDs will not be as fast when the caches are built.

Standalone configuration viewer tool - The configuration

viewer utility can now be installed and used on consoles
without installing Composer. CFG configuration files can
be viewed and configurations uploaded from controllers,
values tuned, function codes tuned, and configurations
saved to controllers without the need for Composer or large
Composer projects.

Improved support for PCV consoles:

- Added console types PCV 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5.
- PCV 5.1 context becomes PCV 5.1/5.2, and new console
contexts were added for the other new consoles. PCV 5.3
and earlier will support 5,000 tags. PCV 5.4 and 5.5 will
support 10,000 tags.
- Added the X1U and X2U taglist structures for PCV 5.5.
(X2U is identical to X1U but the block number field will be
five digits wide, not four.)
- Enhanced the product documentation on PCV support,
including detailing the taglist structures, and supported
graphic elements.
- Added an option to export tools to force all output files to
be named in lowercase.
- Importing taglists will now support UNDEF (undefined)
values in the Module Type field.
- Added support for enhanced analog and digital tag types
for PCV 5.5 consoles. (ABB20040415-0193).

3BUA000301R0002

1-3

Introduction

Binding across Composer projects - A new tool has been

added to allow IREFs in a project to be resolved against
OREFs in other projects. The appropriate specifications of
the IREF function codes (25, 26, 41, 42, 63, 64, 121, 122,
178, 193, 201, and 202) are adjusted to point to the
matching OREF. Detailed control of the process is provided. This tool allows projects to be split into smaller,
more efficient projects in many cases.

Composer 5.0 supports Windows XP SP2 and Windows

Server 2003 SP2. Windows 2000 (Professional or Server) is
no longer supported. GrafX 3.0 and 4.0 are provided, but
GrafX 1.6 and 2.3 have been removed because they do not
support Windows 2000 or later.

A new dialog added to the Project properties window provides more information about the project (including the
number of cross-references, tags and CLDs in the project).
This will be useful in evaluating size vs. performance of a
project.

Shared installation (Composer and System 800xA). Composer has been tested and is supported when installed on
an 800xA Engineering node.

Enhanced printing support:

- Composer now allows selection of which sheet or sheets
to print from within a CLD.
- Font settings will be remembered.
- Font settings can be changed for headers and footers.
- Added capability to change text sizes for Spec and Tag
info display in view options dialog box in Automation
Architect. Settings are saved in the registry for future
sessions.
- Layer colors are now correctly printed when printing from
System Architecture pane in Composer Navigator.
- Added the following options to the header and footer formatting options: Document Number, Module Identifier
(two-letter ID), Last Compile Time, Last Compile Date,
Module Type, Revision Name, Revision Description, Loop,

1-4

3BUA000301R0002

Introduction

Node, and Module Address (three separate items), and

Printing User's Username.

The Composer online help system has been updated to use

Windows HTML Help.

An option was added to the View and Monitor function to

allow CLDs to be displayed based on tag name.

The Power Tools for Composer have been tested, updated,

and included on the Composer media. They are still separately licensed software.

When pasting objects that contain tags (hardware nodes

like controllers or control units, or consoles) from other
projects, there is a new option to include or not include tag
data. Selectable in the Tools > Options window in Composer, this will allow objects to be copied without tags for
faster copying. Tags can then be exported and imported
into the destination project which is faster and provides
more error information.
Use this option when trying to copy the logic drawings, but
the console contexts, LSD, EUD, Alarm Comment, or Configuration Server data in both projects cannot be made the
same. (If they aren't the same, errors can occur when
attempting to add the tags associated with the logic drawings and when pasting, this halts the operation unsuccessfully. If the contexts and related list data can't be made the
same in both projects, use this option to copy the drawings
and then export and import the tag data into the destination project.)

3BUA000301R0002

The CLD Connection Check tool has been added to check

for a rare case where signals appear to be connected in a
CLD but aren't (due to problems converting WinTools projects).

The Synchronize With Taglist utility allows console displays and display groups to be resynchronized with tag list
data when the tag identifiers (GUID, name, index) change
multiple times or significantly after the last time the displays have been opened or exported. Opening or exporting
displays normally synchronizes the tag data automatically.
However, if the data (GUID, name, index) changes radically

1-5

Resolved Customer Reported Problems

enough that tags can no longer be matched, this tool can

be used to help resynchronize it.

The logical ICI name is now displayed in the status bar and
in all connection windows and messages for clarity.

The display of export file names and modification times for

displays is now presented in the Composer System List
pane.

The Export CFG capability allows the saving of a CFG file

outside the current Composer project. Other Composer
projects can then Verify against these exported CFG files
for comparison and updating of specifications. The verify
utility now allows any configuration in the project to be
used as the source or reference configuration. Exported
CFG files can be read by the Standalone Configuration
Viewer as well.

Default address specification (S3-S10) values for FC 63

and FC 64 (AIL/B, DIL/B) have been changed from 9998 to
31998 for BRC-400/HAC compatibility.

SEM module support for firmware revision J.0.

BRC-300/400 module support for firmware revision K.0.

The Standard Drawings project now includes S-800 I/O

drawings.

Trigger and Channel Definition lists can now be exported

to database files from within the Data Browser. These can
provide useful reference data for making changes to other
systems. Importing these lists is not supported.

Resolved Customer Reported Problems

Table 1-1 lists problems reported by customers that have been
resolved.

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

The following topics detail the issues that may exist in Composer at the time of release. Workarounds, clarifications, or
helpful hints have been provided for each issue whenever
possible.

1-6

3BUA000301R0002

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

Table 1-1. Resolved Customer Reported Problems
External Reference

Description

ABB200400707-0052A

The Ignore Unconnected Constant Blocks option has been added to the compiler.
Unconnected constant blocks do not generate a warning when this option is enabled.

ABB20040909-0035

The default console context can now be selected when creating new Composer projects. A console context is the set of range limits, data types, rules, etc. that control
how Composer deals with tag, trend, and other data (for example, TagName length is
not the same between all the consoles Composer supports).
The correct console context is always used when editing or exporting tags from a
console object in the Composer system architecture view. When working with tags
that do not have a clear console context (for example, when editing tags while
another type of tree object is selected in the system architecture window), Composer
uses the default console context. The default console context was Conductor VMS
3.0 - 4.0. With Composer 5.0, the default console context is now Harmony Connect
for SV5. Be sure to select the proper console context for each Composer project.

ABB20050316-0272

Output references and tags can now be attached to FC201 blocks. When connecting
tags to FC201 however, Composer will not do any checking to ensure that the type of
the tag matches the type of the FC201 as defined by its specifications. It is up to the
user to make sure they are using a tag of the appropriate type.

ABB20070109-0181

Channel 16 is now displayed when editing the SOE Channels of FC228 with HSOE
enabled (in the Automation Architect).

ABB20070628-0119

Automation Architect can now correctly connect an IREF to S4 of FC228.

ABB20040922-0118

View Block Usage Map window has been expanded to allow all blocks to be viewed
horizontally.

ABB20031104-0116

When converting projects from WinTools, the SOE specification of FC224 is now correctly converted.

B20011010008

Chinese tag descriptions can now be half the maximum length of tag descriptions for
the given console context.

B20010313023

Taglists with Chinese text now export to TTG file formats correctly.

ABB20040525-0080,
ABB20040524-0209

The PID Block field now allows values up to 32,025 for HAC and BRC-400 controllers.

ABB20040122-0051

CLD Export now correctly exports string specs for FC226 and FC228.

ABB20070622-0175

In some cases an incorrect IREF label can cause a compile to fail but without any
indicated warnings or errors. An error message has been added indicating No OREF
in scope of IREF, and double-clicking the error message in the Output window opens
the CLD containing the IREF in question.

ABB20061208-0110

CLD Export now correctly exports all CLDs when launched from a Control Unit or
Control Network level.

ABB20060809-0063

The Clear Existing Tables option in the CLD Export utility now functions correctly.

ABB20040918-0001

The Add Tags on Save function of the Conductor VMS Display Editor now functions
as expected.

ABB20041220-0273

The Verify window now correctly closes after clicking Cancel during an online-configuration operation.

ABB20060316-0336

COM modules will now correctly Verify.

3BUA000301R0002

1-7

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

Table 1-1. Resolved Customer Reported Problems (continued)
External Reference

Description

ABB20040430-0118

The UpdateSpecs parameter to Verify commands in GSLV (global save/load/verify)

scripts now works correctly.

ABB20060601-0379

GSLV Scripts correctly run as Windows scheduled tasks when the user is not logged
in.

ABB20051213-0321

During an online-configuration operation, Composer now checks the module status

when selecting an option. This is to make sure that the modules are in the expected
state when making the selection. If the primary module fails the online configuration
can no longer guarantee the outcome due to the nature of online configuration. The
main reason is if the primary goes offline the backup takes over as the primary and
may be running a new or different configuration. Therefore if the primary fails for any
reason the user is notified of the severity of the problem and then online configuration
closes. However if it is the backup module that fails the user has the option to fix the
status and try again or cancel and abort the online configuration.

ABB20061218-0127

Composer has been corrected to eliminate multiple restarts when using a PCI02 to
communication.
Corrected behavior of specification S1 (Module Address) on FC25 when dropped in a
BRC-400. Before, it was defined as NODE address, but has been corrected to MODULE address.

Installation
Table 1-2 lists the unresolved installation issues and their
possible workarounds or clarifications.
Table 1-2. Unresolved Installation Issues
Issue
Right clicking on blank lines in the license section of the
ABB License Entry program may cause errors (Runtime
Error 91).

Possible Workaround
Do not right click on blank lines in the ABB
License Entry program.

Composer (General)
Table 1-3 lists the unresolved general Composer issues and
their possible workarounds or clarifications.

Automation Architect
Table 1-4 lists the unresolved Automation Architect issues and
their possible workarounds or clarifications.

1-8

3BUA000301R0002

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

Table 1-3. Unresolved General Composer Issues
Issue
When copying CLDs or hardware nodes (controllers, control
units, and control networks), tag are copied as well. This
includes tags defined but not linked to function codes in
CLDs. Various errors occur when Composer tries to copy
these tags. Conditions generating these errors can be if
console contexts are different between projects and the values in tag fields are invalid for the destination context,
N90Status tags missing node information, etc.

Possible Workaround
If the case of the errors cannot be determined
and corrected, the recommended procedure is
to:
1. Copy the CLDs or hardware objects without
tags (using the new Dont Copy Tag Data option).
2. Export the desired tags using the filter in the
Data Browser.
3. Import the tags into the destination project.

SOE index gets re-indexed when new slave modules are

added to the configuration. This causes a difference
between Composer SOE index and console SOE index.

After compiling the modules containing the

FC242s and compiling the SEM module, SOE
indexes are assigned to the SOE points. The
same point list must be manually entered on the
console.

On some IBM workstations, having multiple keyboard

input locales defined in Windows has resulted in unexpected behavior when entering text in edit fields (such as
when changing file names). The cursor may move to the left
instead of the right or move to the beginning of the text
instead of the end when adding characters.

The corrective action is to go to Windows Control

Panel > Regional Options and remove all language services except English (U.S.).

If a backup controller fails during an online configuration

operation in such a way that Composer can no longer communicate with it to determine it's status, the OLC process
will not proceed and the states of the two controllers is
unknown.

Abort the process, correct the hardware situation, and try again.

Table 1-4. Unresolved Automation Architect Issues

Issue
Composer does not check to ensure that the tags assigned
to it are of the type set in the FC201 specifications.

Possible Workaround
Manually ensure the tag type is correct.

Retry the operation when it can be done without

Internal Microsoft ADO errors (0x800a0e21) have been
reported when doing repeated multiple operations in Auto- other users copying CLDs.
mation Architect involving creating cross-references while
other users on different computers are simultaneously copying large numbers of CLDs (which copies cross-references).
The error displayed and the transaction rolled back, so no
data is lost.

Automation Interface
Table 1-5 lists the unresolved Automation Interface issues and
their possible workarounds or clarifications.

3BUA000301R0002

1-9

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

Table 1-5. Unresolved Automation Interface Issues
Issue
It is not possible to sequentially add multiple copies of the
same item to the exchange.

Possible Workaround
Rename each copied item to a unique name
before the next add operation.

Configuration Viewer
Table 1-6 lists the unresolved Configuration Viewer issues and
their possible workarounds or clarifications.
Table 1-6. Unresolved Configuration Viewer Issues
Issue

Possible Workaround

An invalid block error is reported when using the Configura- None.

tion Viewer to view the local IPT02 module (in INFI - Plant
Loop mode) and attempting to view the specifications of a
FC201 type 10 function code. Further attempts to view any
other block (except the executive block) will cause the Configuration Viewer to stop functioning. Configuration of the
controller is not affected and this does not occur when the
IPT02 module is in Configure mode.

Revision Manager
Table 1-6 lists the unresolved Revision Manager issues and
their possible workarounds or clarifications.
Table 1-7. Unresolved Revision Manager Issues
Issue
The progress indicator of a pack or unpack operation fails to
indicate that CLDs are being processed. The progress time
of each CLD is dependent on the project size).

Possible Workaround
1. Terminate the Revision Manager process
using the Windows Task Manager.
2. Shut down Composer.
3. Restart the computer (recommended).
4. Retry the pack or unpack operation.

Licensing
Table 1-8 lists the unresolved licensing issues and their possible workarounds or clarifications.

View and Monitor and SVG Publishing

Table 1-9 lists the unresolved View and Monitor and SVG publishing issues and their possible workarounds or clarifications.

1 - 10

3BUA000301R0002

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

Table 1-8. Unresolved Licensing Issues
Issue

Possible Workaround

The following two error messages are sometimes received

when the license assignment editor is called up after
server-based licensing is installed.
Failed to read License Service path from registry: Object
doesnt support this property or method 800A01b6.

Enable the Initialize and script ActiveX controls

not marked as safe option in the Internet
Explorer Security tab for the local Intranet (not
Internet) zone.

An ActiveX control on this page is not safe. Your current

security settings prohibit running unsafe controls on this
page. As a result, this page may not display as intended.

Table 1-9. Unresolved View and Monitor Publishing Issues

Issue

Possible Workaround

SOE point names are not displayed in the CLD Viewer.

None.

Instruction Manual Changes

Table 1-10 lists the problems or issues in the instruction manuals that exist at product release. The corrections to the
instructions have been indicated.
Table 1-10. Instruction Manual Changes
Instruction

Error (Page)

Batch 90 and UDF Pro- Incorrect text

(B-3)
gramming Language
(3BUA000277R0001)

Change or Correction
Replace the Emer_stop text with the following text:
This is a state that contains all regular states (normal, fault, hold,
restart). These states and transitions behave normally except for:
The operation number is 0.
The run input is ignored except in the handling state (that is, the program runs operation 0 whether the input is 1 or 0).
After execution of ESTOP operation 0, if the run input (S3) is still on,
the recipe proceeds to operation 1.
After execution of ESTOP operation 0 (run input has been turned off
during operation 0), a transition of run input from 0 to 1 will cause the
recipe to rerun operation 0, however, the next operation after 0 is
operation 1 regardless of the value of phase number (S2). So after
ESTOP, phase number is ignored.
If subr (phase) that is running in operation 0 contains NORMAL
LOGIC, FAULT LOGIC, and HOLD LOGIC, when NORMAL LOGIC is
complete, FC = -13 is displayed followed by execution of HOLD
LOGIC. HOLD LOGIC executes to completion followed by HELD
state.

3BUA000301R0002

1 - 11

Known Unresolved Problems With Workarounds

1 - 12

3BUA000301R0002

3BUA000301R0002 Litho in U.S.A. December 2007

Copyright 2007 by ABB. All Rights Reserved
Registered Trademark of ABB.
Trademark of ABB.

http://www.abb.com
Automation Technology Products
Wickliffe, Ohio, USA
www.abb.com/controlsystems

Automation Technology Products

Vsters, Sweden
www.abb.com/controlsystems