FBDK 3.3 Release

In addition to clickable documentation links, the FBDK now generates hoverable pop-up documentation (derived from comments in the XML document) for graphical elements in the PNG diagrams produced using the "Save as HTML" function. For a user-oriented overview, see the FBNavigator home page, and for instructions on producing the HTML documentation, see  https://www.holobloc.com/doc/fbdk3/howtodoc.htm.

If you are already using FBDK 3.2, this update will auto-load at startup; otherwise, you can follow the instructions at  https://www.holobloc.com/fbdk3/index.htm.

Security Upgrade and FBDK 3.2 release

The holobloc.com website has been upgraded to use the HTTPS (secure HTTP) protocol for all served documents.

This has required an extensive update to the FBDK to convert its use of HTTP to HTTPS for auto updates, help pages, etc.

For details, see https://www.holobloc.com/security.htm.

For additional details of new features in FBDK 3.2 see https://www.holobloc.com/fbdk3/whatsnew.htm

FBDK 3.0 Release

FBDK 3.0 is now available at http://www.holobloc.com/fbdk3/. New features include:

1. The FBDK and FBRT now support the following experimental features:
   • Transient EC States
   • Compact encoding of management commands and responses
2. Validation tools are provided for ECCs and FB Types to guide development and prevent compilation of incorrect or incomplete elements.
3. The progress bar has been relocated to the upper right corner of the Library Navigator and its operation has been properly synchronized to the running background process.

FBDK 2.6 Version 20170408

If you have used the FBDK recently, you may have noticed an unannounced auto-upgrade to Release 2.6 version 20170314. Further testing revealed a few glitches, which have now been fixed. Changes from the 2.5 release include:

1. Look and Feel (LAF) has been set to the Java "Metal" default, to ensure uniform window appearance and sizing across platforms.
2. An experimental, more efficient encoding of device management commands and responses is available by specifying the fbmgt2 protocol in the MGR_ID parameter of the remote device. See the mgt2 and mach folders of the FBNavigator for details and examples.
3. The System and Device launchers have been re-implemented to support multiple management protocols. In particular, the System launcher now starts each device as soon as it is created and initialized, instead of waiting to launch the devices in reverse order. This mainly affects the delays required to start simulation and diagnostic clocks in the system configurations of the mach folder. 

Documentation in the FBNavigator is being updated to reflect these changes; updating should be complete in a week or so.

E_CYCLE Test Statistics

Here are some E_CYCLE performance statistics collected on various platforms using JUnit 3. For more details see www.holobloc.com/doc/fb/rt/events/E_CYCLETest.htm.

Dynamic Updating of E_CYCLE period

There has been some discussion within the IEC 61499 Maintenance Team of the appropriate behavior of E_CYCLE blocks when doing programmatic updates of the cycle period (DT input) while the block is running. The events/E_CYCLE documentation on the FBNavigator site explains how this is done in the FBDK, and a new test/E_CYCLE_DEMO system configuration is included in today's FBDK self-update with documentation on the FBNavigator site showing you how to use an E_DELAY block to obtain the correct STOP/START event sequencing for this purpose.

Mapping Update

The Mapping dialog and associated documentation have been updated.
For details see http://www.holobloc.com/doc/fbdk2/maphelp.htm.
This information is also linked to the "Mapping" section of the System help.