Lookout 6.6 Known Issues

Overview

This document contains the Lookout 6.6 known issues that were discovered before and since the release of Lookout 6.6. Not every issue known to NI will appear on this list; it is intended to only show the severe and more common issues that can be encountered.

National Instruments is committed to maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Windows technology changes. However, NI has become aware of a number of issues of potential significance regarding Microsoft Windows 7. To learn how Windows 7 affects your use of NI products, visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code windows7.

Each Issue appears as a row in the table and includes these fields:


Issue ID—Contains the number in at the top of each of the cells in the first column. When you report an issue to NI, you may be given this ID, you can also find IDs posted by NI on the discussion forums or in Knowledge Base articles.

Legacy ID (optional)—Contains the legacy CAR ID, if an issue has a legacy ID from NI's legacy/deprecated bug reporting database. This ID appears on a separate line directly below the Issue ID in the table, or to the right of the Issue ID in the table of contents (separated by a space).

Issue Title (in italics)—Describes the issue in one sentence or less.

Problem Description—Describes the problem in further detail. The brief description given does not necessarily describe the problem in full detail, and it is expected that you might want more information on an issue. If you would like more information on an issue feel free to contact NI (contact information below) and reference the ID number given in the document.

Workaround—Provides possible ways to work around the problem. The workarounds that appear in the document are not always tested by NI and are not guaranteed to resolve the issue. If a workaround refers you to the NI KnowledgeBase, please visit www.ni.com/kb/ and enter that KB number in the search field to locate the specific document.

Reported Version—Contains the earliest version of the NI Lookout the issue was reported in. If you discover the issue appears in an earlier version of the NI Lookout than is reported in this field, you can report that to NI (contact information below) to have the field updated.

Resolved Version—Contains the version the issue was resolved or was no longer applicable. If an issue has not been resolved "N/A" will be reported.

Date Added—Contains the date the issue was added to the document (not the reported date).

Contacting NI

Feel free to contact NI regarding this document or issues in the document. If you are contacting NI in regards to a specific issue, be sure to reference the ID number given in the document to the NI representative. The ID number contains the current issue ID number as well as the legacy ID number (use the current ID number when contacting National Instruments). You can contact us through any of the normal support channels including phone, email, or the discussion forums. Visit the NI Website to contact us. Also consider contacting us if you find a workaround for an issue that is not listed in the document so that we can add the workaround to the document.

Known Issues by Date

The following items are known issues in Lookout 6.6 sorted by Date.

203508Alarm filter may not work in Lookout client.
221035Lookout services on Vista
221067Lookout remote connection issue
40069Logging doesn't work when a specified user is set for NT service.
91092Lookout service cannot be stopped from control panel in Vista or Windows 7



IDKnown Issue
203508

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Alarm filter may not work in Lookout client.
You may fail to use "Filter alarm" and "Select process" options in Lookout client software.

Workaround: Use ActiveX Alarm Viewer instead.

Reported Version: 6.5  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 01/21/2010
221035

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Lookout services on Vista
(Windows Vista) You cannot start and stop the following services from the command line on Windows Vista using the -start and -stop parameters or the Windows net start and net stop commands: 

  • National Instruments PSP Server Locator 
  • NI Lookout Citadel Server 4.x 
  • Citadel 5.x Database 
  • National Instruments Time Synchronization Service 
  • National Instruments Domain Server

    Workaround: To start and stop these services, use the Services utility, available by selecting Start?Control Panel?Administrative Tools?Services. Also, NI applications no longer start these services automatically if these services are not running already.

Reported Version: Unknown  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 04/10/2007
221067

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Lookout remote connection issue
A Lookout control with a Local source and a direct connection does not change if something acts to alter the value or status of the PLC or object it is connected to. Instead, Lookout restores the control value to the PLC or object in the following circumstances: 

  • When the driver object is modified or I/O is reconfigured 
  • When the process is reloaded 
  • When communication is restored after a communications failure 
  • After 100 polls in some cases (this varies from driver to driver and might depend on .ini file settings) 

If you operate a Lookout control with a Remote source connection, and the PLC register it is connected to cannot or does not change when Lookout writes the new value out to the PLC, the control snaps back to display the actual PLC register value or status. Whether or not this issue occurs depends on data transmission time between your Lookout computer and the field hardware. To prevent this issue, Lookout has built-in delays for most driver objects. The following driver objects do not have a built-in delay:

  • AdvantechPCL 
  • DeltaTau 
  • Dynamic 
  • ProfibusDP 
  • ProfibusL2 
  • Reliance 
  • Sixnet 
  • Wizdom 

The following two driver objects do not support remote source connections at all because the underlying protocols do not allow this sort of connection: 

  • Aquatrol 
  • DeviceNet 

Another way to correct snap-back issues caused by slow communication is to adjust the SnapDelay setting that is available with some control objects. For Switch and Pushbutton objects, use the SnapDelay data member; for the Pot object, use the SnapDelay lookout.ini setting.

Workaround: N/A

Reported Version: 6  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/12/2006
40069
4B1D13NY

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Logging doesn't work when a specified user is set for NT service.
Logging doesn't work when a specified user is set for NT service.

Workaround: Don't specify a user.

Reported Version: 6.1  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 07/02/2007
91092
43NFEP00

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Lookout service cannot be stopped from control panel in Vista or Windows 7
Lookout service cannot be stopped from control panel in Vista or Windows 7. You have to close the Lookout window to stop the service.

Workaround: Close Lookout window.

Reported Version: 6.1  Resolved Version: N/A  Added: 11/24/2008

Document last updated on 10/19/2011

Glossary of Terms

 

  • Bug ID - When an issue is reported to NI, you may be given this ID or find it on ni.com.  You may also find IDs posted by NI on the discussion forums or in KnowledgeBase articles.
  • Legacy ID – An older issue ID that refers to the same issue.  You may instead find this issue ID in older known issues documents.
  • Description - A few sentences which describe the problem. The brief description given does not necessarily describe the problem in full detail.
  • Workaround - Possible ways to work around the problem.
  • Reported Version - The earliest version in which the issue was reported.
  • Resolved Version - Version in which the issue was resolved or was no longer applicable. "N/A" indicates that the issue has not been resolved.
  • Date Added - The date the issue was added to the document (not the reported date).