Issue
For example:
> Can a I/A Series G3 3.5.34 station in an ENC be edited with a 3.7.106 release of Workbench?
> Can a I/A Series G3 3.6.47 station in an ENC be edited with a 3.6.406 release of Workbench?
Environment
I/A Series G3 ENC or JACE controller (any 3.x release)
I/A Series G3 Enterprise Server or Workbench software at any 3.x release
Cause
When engineering a mixed system it is advised that you use the correct version and brand of Workbench to connect. This insures that the modules on your Workbench will be compatible with the modules used by your station. It is known that connecting with a different set of modules, i.e., different release, can result in a few odd behaviors or display problems or it may not allow you to connect at all.
The incentive to upgrade is primarily for the new features. But it is also convenient to have all your stations at the same build so that you do not have to load different builds of Workbench to properly design and maintain the site.
Resolution
There are two solutions to this issue.
- Upgrade the older stations to the latest release.
- Install multiple copies of the I/A Series G3 software on the engineering computer and use the appropriate version when editing an existing ENC or JACE station.
When more than one version of the I/A Series G3 software is installed on the same computer, you must load the corresponding version of the Niagara platform daemon before attempting to use the Workbench software. There are two ways to load the Niagara platform daemon.
When newer versions of the I/A Series G3 software are installed, a Windows Start menu folder is created for that version. The "Install Platform Daemon" command will be found under that folder. After running that command and allowing the Niagara Daemon service to start, you can use the "Enterprise Network Server" in the same Start menu folder to launch the corresponding release of the Workbench.
With any version of the I/A Series G3 software, you can manually install & start the platform daemon then start Workbench. To set the version, start the Niagara console (<release directory>\bin\console.exe) for the version you want to run and then type the command "plat installdaemon". You can then also start the workbench from that console window by typing "wb" at the command prompt.