Last week we published an article introducing the latest version of the D2000 platform designated V21. Since the V21 comes with so many innovative new features, we couldn’t go into the necessary detail. We will change that in this blog post!
This is the first blog post in the series dedicated to describing the new features of the latest version. The scope of the new features and their impact on developing and maintaining the SCADA and MES systems is vast. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of the first two areas containing new features:
Configuration and Version Control and Extended Security.
Let's start with the first one.
The Configuration and Version Control
The innovation in Configuration and Version Control comes primarily from the implementation of two new features. The main goal of the new features was to help the SCADA and MES developers, simplify the development process and make the D2000 universal platform, even more, user-friendly.
Version Control System
The first freshly implemented feature is the Version Control System. The Version Control System enables a detailed archiving of changes. The developers can efficiently manage the configuration and script versions. Thanks to the new feature, the code review process has become smoother, more efficient, and simpler. Deployment of changes and new features is smoother both during the standard development cycle and during the incident resolution.
The standard properties of the D2000 application platform have been extended by implementing the Version Control System and include the application versioning and better control of the application development process. Developers can have complete information about all the configuration changes and keep a better track over time. Subsequently, they can also audit and identify all the sources of configuration changes. This way, developers can exactly pinpoint changes and answer questions like:
- Who made the change in the application?
- When was the change made?
- What device was used to change the application?
With the new feature, you can improve and streamline the application development and following support and maintenance.
All the changes occurring during the development and runtime of the D2000 platform e.g. creation of a new object, renaming of objects, deleting of objects, etc. are being collected and archived into a git repository.
The changes can be seen and analyzed using the new user interface or by third-party applications. A little glimpse of the new user interface is visible in the following picture:
V21 with its new functions enables developers to filter objects by type and name and sea all the modifications made. The developers can select a single modification and sea and compare the object before and after modification, or they can select two timestamps of the object and compare them.
If the information about the Version control system peaked your interest and you want to know more, check out this informative video. In the video, our colleague senior SW developer - Ján Lališ introduces the new feature in further detail and also shows the system in practice.
ESL editor
Another feature improving the Configuration and version control is a brand new development interface for ESL script configuration. The implementation reflects the current needs and requests of developers wanting to develop their industrial automation software like SCADA and MES systems using the most recent interfaces. The implementation of the ESL Editor can help the application developers and programmers to be more efficient and reduce the error rate in the development process.
The ESL editor is based on the Monaco Editor code editor framework. It brings many new functions to speed up the development process and reduce the error rate. The picture above gives a brief overview of some of the most prevalent new features.
Extended security
The security standards in the field of software development are constantly evolving. Cyber-attacks focused on industrial automation software like SCADA and MES systems are becoming more and more common. New cybersecurity threats are constantly emerging and clients are relying on us to keep their data secure. We also realize that many clients in the world of industrial automation who use the SCADA or MES systems are often required to pass extensive security audits. To help them achieve this task, the V21 has a set of new features focused on extending security. It supports new security standards that minimize the threats and risks emerging in cyberspace.
The picture above shows a brief overview of some of the new security features implemented in the new version. The D2000 development team implemented the Transport Layer Security (TLS) v1.3 protocol. The reason for implementing TLS v1.3 was to keep pace with the new cyber threats and switch from older protocols that were either partially or fully broken. Along with better security, the new protocol also improves speed and supports perfect forward secrecy.
The update strategy for our universal application platform was also changed. The SFTP protocol has been implemented to make the update process more secure and efficient. In comparison with the previously used technology, the SFTP protocol makes the update process much more user-friendly and streamlined.
The goal of this article was to inform our readers and partners about the main innovations in Configuration and Version Control and Security brought by the D2000 V21. The D2000 development team put a lot of effort into the new version. It would be impossible to fully introduce all the new features and innovations. For this reason, we decided to introduce the features of the new version in further detail using explanatory videos.
If the information about the Version control system peaked your interest and you want to know more, check out this informative video. In the video, our colleague senior SW developer - Ján Lališ introduces the new feature in further detail and also shows the system in practice.
The first video about the Version Control system is already published and was also included in this blog post. Did you like it?
If you prefer video content for learning about the D2000 and the topic of industrial automation, don’t worry! Many more are coming.
In the videos, experienced members of the D2000 development team will give you all the information necessary. The videos will be published on the IPESOFT social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) and the D2000 website. If you are not yet following our social media, this would be a great time to start. We will be also posting some design changes in the D2000 user interface.
For those, who prefer a brief overview in text format, we will also continue in similar articles introducing other new features of V21.
