Desktop shortcuts and tiles

The installer sets up shortcuts or tiles for the following applications:

• Alarm Portal 4.0.nnn (where nnn is the build) is a way to start Workbench using an alarm profile. This mode limits most menu options to the support of the Alarm Portal view, which you can configure to monitor and acknowledge alarms from different stations. Alternatively, you can access the same view in the standard Workbench interface, via the Tools > Alarm Portal selection. For more details, refer to Niagara Alarms Guide.

• Console

  This shortcut opens a blue Windows command prompt window with the path set appropriately for command line utilities.

  Note: One command that may be useful is: nre -hostid. In cases where Workbench refuses to start, use this command to retrieve the Host ID of your Windows PC.

  You can also open a console within Workbench, by choosing Window > Console. The console area then appears at the bottom of the window.

• Install Platform Daemon

  This shortcut installs and starts the platform daemon for this release and build of Niagara. The platform daemon is a server process that allows automatic station restart in case of reboot or failure, as well as remote platform management. To host a local station on this platform, you must install and start the platform daemon. If another platform daemon instance is running, Install Platform Daemon stops the running daemon and overwrites it with this daemon. For related details, see the Niagara Platform Guide.

• Workbench (Console)

  This shortcut launches Workbench with a separate, associated Console (black) window, which can be helpful in troubleshooting. This is similar to opening a Console (blue) window and entering the command: wb. Either console provides client debug messages, similar to the platform Application Director, which provides debug for the (server) station application. If a client side error occurs in Workbench, there should be some sort of stack trace debug in the wb console output.

  Note: If you start Workbench this way, and then close the console window,the program also immediately closes. Any unsaved changes are lost. Be sure to save changes before closing the associated console window. Exiting Workbench from File > Exit forces options to be saved. It also prompts for any unsaved files in the session to be saved or discarded.

• Workbench

  This shortcut launches Workbench without an associated console window. If during installation you selected the option to start Workbench upon completion, the application uses this shortcut to start the program when it finishes the installation process.

• Uninstall

  This shortcut removes this Niagara installation. It provides separate options to save station files and user files.

• Demo Station

  This shortcut launches the standard demonstration station outside of normal platform daemon control. As a convenience, the station launches using the station.exe command in a console window.

  If Workbench is running, you can connect to the station (Open station). To save any changes made and stop the station, type quit in the Demo Station console window and press Enter. To stop without saving any changes, close the Demo Station console window.

  Note: Using station.exe is not the recommended way to start a local station. It is a developer utility that allows quick access to station debug messages in the console window. While the station is running, the console window can also process a few entered commands (to see them, in the console window enter: help). The recommended way to start a production station is to open a platform connection and start the station from the Application Director. This allows configuration for auto-start and restart on failure.