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citect As Citect, we provided world-class automation software solutions and services to our customers around the world for over 35 years. This commitment has only strengthened following the recent integration with our parent company and global energy management specialists, Schneider Electric.

This dynamic collaboration brings together more than 200 years of collective automation and control management expertise and has seen Citect transform into the "SCADA Activity", a key automation pillar within Schneider Electric's global Industry Business.

Citect is a leading industrial automation software system that enables users to reduce costs by optimizing operations. Based on true client server architecture, Citect provides maximum flexibility, proven reliability, quick installation and easy to manage functionality.

Citect industrial automation software from Ci Technologies, works effectively with thin clients running ACP ThinManager software on Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition and Windows 2000 Server with Terminal Services enabled. While Citect works "out of the box" without special configuration, this document will discuss issues that will allow the optimization of Citect projects running on terminal servers.

What Do We Do?

Renowned for the innovation and application of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Human Machine Interface (HMI) solutions, the development of powerful and reliable industrial software capable of withstanding the rigours of large-scale operations is one of our core strengths.

With a heritage founded on research and development, the added backing and expertise of Schneider Electric enable us to further expand this focus and produce a growing portfolio of world class and cost effective integrated control solutions for our customers.

Whilst continuing to deliver the latest innovations of our best-in-class SCADA solution, CitectSCADA, our software suite has expanded to include Vijeo Citect, designed for customers who require a tightly integrated hardware and software solution from a single vendor.

EcoStruxure™ is Schneider Electric's enabler for a solution-based approach that supports the convergence of five key industry domains, including Power Management, Industry Management, Whitespace Management, Security Management and Building Comfort Management. With a focus on business performance and integrated solutions for our customers, EcoStruxure™ is refined into specific reference architectures for each of these industry domains.

As the SCADA business, we fit into the Industry Management architecture known as PlantStruxure™. This architecture is a collaborative system that allows industrial and infrastructure companies to meet their automation needs while also delivering on growing energy management requirements. In a single environment, measured energy and process data can be analysed and used to yield a holistically optimised plant.

On a product level, PlantStruxure™is comprised of a number of collaborative product suites combining to optimise the critical needs of the Industry Management domain. From a software perspective, our Vijeo Citect and Vijeo Historian products are key components of the PlantStruxure™ 'SoCollaborative' software suite, an integrated software suite that supports collaboration and drives efficiency for engineering, operations and maintenance teams.

Our software products are complemented by a solid range of support services, including Certified Integration Partner services, SCP-certified customer support and educational services, all of which enable our customers to achieve the maximum benefits from their installations.

Our Advantages

Solutions are not just about technology but also about the expertise behind the technology. Our wealth of experience is our customers' advantage:

Performance-tested architectures
Seamless integration of components
Open connectivity with business software
A team of professionals to help guide you and support your investment

About Schneider Electric

As global specialists in energy management, with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation and data centres/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable and efficient, the company's 100,000 plus employees achieved sales of more than 15.8 billion euros in 2009 through an active commitment to help individuals and organisations make the most of their energy™.

Windows 2000 Server Installation Security Issue

In Windows 2000 Server setup, after the Windows Components selection, there is a dialog box which gives the option of using Windows 2000 permissions or using the legacy Windows 4.0 Terminal permissions. The new and improved Windows 2000 Security prevents unauthorized users from writing to the registry or the windows directory. Since Citect uses these features, selecting Windows 2000 permissions will prevent a Citect user from connecting to an I/O server.

If Windows 2000 permissions is selected, each user must be made an administrator or a power user to allow connection.

A simpler method is to select and use the legacy Windows 4.0 Terminal Server permissions offered on the dialog box..

Citect Installation

Terminal server architecture requires that software be installed in the "install mode". This makes the software available to multiple users. It is important that Citect is installed in the install mode.

The easiest way to enter the install mode is through Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel. A dialog box will be displayed that allows a choice between making the software available for all users, or limiting it to the installer. If autorun begins, it is preferred to close that startup down and to use the installation wizard in Add/Remove Programs.

An additional way to place the computer into the install mode is to go to a command prompt and type change user /install. When the software is installed, go to a command prompt and type change user /execute.

ODBC in Windows 2000

When Citect is first run in Windows 2000, it may show an ODBC error and fail to open. This can be corrected by:

Open the ODBC Data Source Administrator by selecting Start…Settings…Control Panel…Administrative Tools…Data Sources (ODBC).
On the System DNS tab select the Add… button.
Select the Microsoft dBase Driver from the window that launches and select the Finish button.
Type Citect_dbf into the Data Source Name field of the ODBC dBase Setup window that is launched. Select the OK button to finish. This will add Citect_dbf as a system data source.

Hardware Keys

Citect should recognize hardware keys (dongles) if the keys are placed on any server. If thin clients do not see a key, the server may be using Windows 2000 Permissions and the user is not a power user or an administrator. See Terminal Server Installation at the beginning of the article.

Three-Box Configuration

Citect runs best in a "three-box" configuration using Terminal Server. This layout would have one computer configured as the I/O server and a Terminal Server computer configured to provide the display clients. The third box is for data storage.

3 box system

To do this:

Set up the I/O server as usual
Install Citect on a Terminal Server computer
Configure terminals in ACP ThinManager and create user profiles for the terminals in Windows NT/2000
Connect each terminal, configuring as a display client

One-Box System

The "one-box" system is similar to the "three-box" system, except that the I/O server is run as a session on the terminal server. This is only recommended for small projects.

1 box system

Quick ThinManager Configuration

To configure the ACP Enabled thin clients with the least amount of work, do this:

Create the needed terminals in ACP ThinManager. Create a user profile for each thin client user in Windows NT/2000. Login each thin client user once to create a profile in C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\"USER" folder
Log in one user, open Citect, and configure Citect as desired. This creates a CITECT.INI file)
Copy the CITECT.INI to the C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\"USER"\WINDOWS directory of each thin client user.
Edit each CITECT.INI file to change the node name listed in the [LAN] NODE= "NAME" line to correspond with the thin client terminal.
At this point the terminals can be turned back on and the sessions started by logging in the user.

Auto Login

In most industrial settings, it would be advised to have the terminal automatically login and have Citect up and running. Do this after the terminals have been configured with the CITECT.INI file by copying the CITECT.INI file to the the C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\"USER"\WINDOWS directory of each thin client user (see Quick ThinManager Configuration).

Go to ThinManager and add a valid user name and password in the ICA Session tab of ThinManager. In the Initial Program field, add the path to the Citect.exe file. Once Citect launches, it will retrieve data from the CITECT.INI files and will open the configured project.

Failover and Redundancy

Citect does a great job with failover of servers. ACP ThinManager has failover capabilities to complement Citect's system. In ACP ThinManager, if multiple terminal servers are used, a primary and secondary servers can be designated. If the primary server fails, ACP quickly shift the terminal to a secondary server. Figure 1 shows redundant terminal servers for failover.

Schneider Electric / Citect