PC PRO+Advanced960ReleaseNotes

Itron Release Notes

PC-PRO+® Advanced 9.60

PC-PRO+® Advanced 9.60 Release Notes

New Features Itron is pleased to announce the release of PC-PRO+® Advanced 9.60.

Our innovative improvements are helping to provide the electricity metering industry with the Tools for Running Business Better – Every Day!

A replica file created using PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 or later can be loaded into PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.60.

Itron strongly recommends that you create a replica file once successfully installing the latest version of software.

New State Input Board for CENTRON® C12.19 meter Devices affected: CENTRON C12.19 meter

A one State Input Board has been developed for the CENTRON C12.19 meter. This new board was added for customers who desired a way to trigger a TOU rate change based on an external input. The voltage range is 12V to 24V, either AC or DC voltage with no polarity requirement for the DC input.

The screen has a checkbox for indicating whether the state input board is installed and four radio buttons for determining the desired action (such as which TOU rate the meter will switch to upon receiving the input signal). The list of desired actions is a set that is specific to the CENTRON C12.19 meter and the one State Input Board. The list is as follows:

• Switch to Rate A

• Switch to Rate B

• Switch to Rate C

• Switch to Rate D

Initially the input board installed check box will be unchecked and the desired action radio buttons will be disabled. The desired action radio buttons will only be enabled when the input board checkbox is checked.

The input board installed checkbox will only be enabled if TOU is enabled in the meter.

August 2009 Page 1 of 6

Itron Release Notes


Addition of a Digital Signature to the underlying code Devices affected: All

As a part of the Itron continuous improvement effort, this release of our programming software includes a new, improved security change called ‘signing’. It is designed to help prevent hackers from inserting false DLL files onto a laptop with the same name as one of the DLLs that we use in our software packages. Signing adds a digital signature to DLL files that our software will utilize to ensure the correct, legitimate files are being run. Itron will continue to look for ways of making our software more secure for our customers.

Improvements in PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.60

Shop-Pro™ Installation Devices affected: All

The Shop-Pro installation now automatically installs Microsoft® .NET. A separate, manual installation of Microsoft .NET (as described in PIL EL-P09-639) is no longer needed.

Missing HHF Intervals Devices affected: QUANTUM Q1000® Meter

HHF files created with Communication Manager from a QUANTUM Q1000 meter when the meter spans a fall DST change were previously missing an hour’s worth of intervals. The Communication Manager was modified to correct this error in the HHF file creation.

References to Itron Website Devices affected: All

References to http://www.itronmeters.com have been changed to the Itron Support Services Home Page.

Segment Test Devices affected: SENTINEL® Meter

There was an issue with the Segment Test in Test Mode. If you removed this value from the program display, there was no way to add it back. The correction was to make Segment Test a selectable display item for the Test Display.

SmartSynch® Option Removed Devices affected: CENTRON® (V&I) Meter

The SmartSynch option was removed from the CENTRON (V&I) option board configuration. There is no OEM option board available.

Online Help Devices affected: All

The “Search” tab in the online help now works as expected. The SENTINEL Program Server help was also modified in order to expand on several topics based on customer responses and feedback.


Itron Release Notes


Software Totalization Licenses Devices affected: All

Previously, the Software Totalization license was not maintained during a un-install of PC-PRO+ Advanced or an upgrade of PC-PRO+ Advanced. This issue has been corrected. Known Issues in PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.60

Load Replica Devices affected: All

The Load Replica Application (Start | Programs | PC-PRO+ Advanced | Advanced Tools | Load Replica File) will occasionally produce an error at the very end of the load replica file process. The error does not cause any problems with the loading of the replica file.

Uninstalling PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.50 will remove the Software Totalization License Key Devices affected: All

When uninstalling PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.50, the software totalization license key is removed. The user will have to re-enter the software totalization license key in order use this functionality. However, if the user upgrades from PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.50 to PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.60 (not uninstalling), this issue will not occur.

Validation Notice Error Possible when Creating File to Generate Software Totalization License Devices affected: All

The following error will occur upon the second time you attempt to copy the machine information to an email and then send the email. The customer should only generate ONE email in order to prevent this error. As a workaround to this error message, simply copy the machine information to the PC’s clipboard and pasting the information into the “Notepad” program. Save this file as a text file. Attach this file to an email and send the email to [email protected].


Itron Release Notes


Email error when generating Software Totalization License Devices affected: All

An error will occur if you try to copy the Serial Number and Machine Code to an email and that does not have an email program set up on the machine being used. To prevent this from happening, ensure that you have an email program properly set up on the computer in question prior to copying the Serial Number and Machine Code information to an email. If this is not an option, you can use another PC with email functionality to send in the Serial Number and Machine Code information.

Printer warning when starting Report Designer Devices affected: All

The following message may appear when launching the Report Designer if a default printer is not configured on the PC. Click OK to ignore this message. You can check “Don’t show this message again” to avoid seeing this message in the future.

Graphic may not display properly when producing an HTML report in the Mozilla® Firefox® web browser Devices affected: All

The title image graphic may not display properly in the Mozilla Firefox web browser when producing an HTML report. As a work around, resize the title image in order for it to be displayed properly.

Columns Rendering in Microsoft Excel® Devices affected: All

Some reports that are output to Microsoft Excel may not correctly create the columns. For example, the report columns may overlap each other within the same Microsoft Excel column. This issue is dependent upon the number of columns in the report and the amount of information needed to fit on one page. If you experience this problem then try adjusting the number of channels and the number of tables in the report. You could also simply resize the columns within the Excel file.

Potential Failure on First Attempt to Configure Meters with a New Program Devices affected: All

If you create a new program and then immediately logon and initialize a meter, a message may appear stating the configuration failed and to logoff and then log back on to try again. This message will continue until you logoff the meter. Once you logoff and logon to the meter, the configuration will be successful. As a work around, you may need to wait a few seconds before logging on and initializing a meter with a newly created program to allow the file to be properly written to your computer’s hard drive prior to use.


Itron Release Notes


Text report files with page numbers will always add “Page 1 of 1” to the end of the document Devices affected: All

If you create a report file in .txt format with a Report Specification that contains footer information, the footer information will only be added to the end of the file. Therefore, the number of pages on the report will always say Page 1 of 1 on the last page. To correct this issue, you can manually paginate the text document or simply remove the footer.

E-mailed HTML Reports do not include the Load Profile Graph Devices affected: All

The load profile graph is not included when e-mailing an HTML report. A workaround for this issue is to use other formats (such as Adobe PDF) when needing to email reports with the Load Profile Graph.

Phone Numbers are lost when upgrading from 6.10 to 9.60 Devices affected: All

If you are upgrading from PC-PRO+ Advanced version 6.10 to version 9.60, phone numbers will be lost. This was a problem in the 6.10 release only. You will need to re-enter the phone numbers after upgrading to version 9.00 or higher. This problem does not occur if you are upgrading from PC-PRO+ Advanced version 7.00, 7.10, 7.11, 7.20, 7.30, 7.31, 7.36, 8.00, 9.00 or 9.50 to the 9.60 version.

Upgrading Client Systems Devices affected: All

When upgrading PC-PRO+ Advanced on a master station to a newer version, the client systems such as Field-Pro, Shop-Pro, or HH-Pro must also be upgraded to the same version in order to avoid problems with data settings. For example, when upgrading PC-PRO+ Advanced to version 9.60, you must also upgrade Field-Pro to version 9.60.

Invalid TOU Schedule Names cause initialization error Devices affected: All

If the TOU schedule name associated with a program file uses unsupported characters, a Database Access Error will occur when you attempt to initialize a meter. This problem can occur if you have imported program files from a PC-PRO+ 16-bit system and the associated 16-bit TOU schedule name uses unsupported characters. The following characters are not supported in PC-PRO+ Advanced for TOU schedule names:

/ : \ * ? " < >

To avoid this problem, rename the TOU schedules to use supported characters.

Adjusting system time while software is running can cause problems Devices affected: All

If you change your PC’s system time (Control Panel | Date and Time) while PC-PRO+ Advanced or other Itron metering software is running, problems may occur. To avoid problems, close PC-PRO+ Advanced and other Itron metering applications before you adjust the computer’s system time.


Itron Release Notes



QUANTUM Q1000 Display Registers Devices affected: QUANTUM Q1000

An issue was discovered where Totalized demand registers in the Q1000 always show up as Totalized #1 when viewing the Display Registers through PC-PRO+ Advanced, Shop-Pro or Views. The error is only in the description shown on the Display Registers summary and does not affect the way the meter is programmed, the value returned in the Display Register summary or the value appearing on the display.

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PC PRO+Advanced960ReleaseNotes