PressureMAP Version 29 Enhancements


This page provides a summary of the important features that were added to PressureMAP in Version 29. Some of the items listed provide new program functionality, while others are refinements of existing features.

Operating System / Server / Installation

• Ongoing CentOS Support
  Support is now available for the CentOS 6.x operating system. This includes the restore / rebuild function in System Administration that makes it possible for users to migrate from CentOS 5.5 to CentOS 6.x.
• PressureMAP Users in IT Hosted Installations
  There is now an option to create PressureMAP Users in IT Hosted installations. By default the PressureMAP System installation does not create user accounts. These needed to be created manually. With Version 29 the installation scripts now checks the environmental variables CREATE_MAP_USER and CREATE_ALL-USERS. If these are set, the MAP User and/or all default PMAP Users are created, respectively.
• System Installation Media Versatility
  Media content for the current version of PressureMAP now exceeds one compact disc. Consequently, for customers who have hardware that does not support the larger capacity DVDs, a two-CD MAP system installation package is now available.
• Customer-configured Server Evaluation
  A platform certification package has been created for situations where a customer wishes to install the PressureMAP/PressureWEB system on their own preconfigured system. The two most common examples are the IT Hosted version or when Redhat EL is mandated (rather than CentOS). A new script assists in evaluating whether or not the customer-configured server meets the requirements for installing IT Hosted PressureMAP. This script first runs the same system/hardware scan that occurs during a traditional PMAP installation, then attempts to install the new certification package (using the force option in case this is already installed).
  
• Digi PortServer Driver Update
  The Digi PortServer TS 16 driver has been updated to 1.9-36, which is required for the CentOS 6.x operating system. The upgrade will be included on new PressureMAP system installations and available as a MAP update where the user will be prompted for the password of the day to perform the Digi driver upgrade from 1.9.17 to 1.9.36.
  
• Hardware Analysis Script
  A new script was created to perform a hardware analysis during the installation of the PressureMAP/PressureWEB software. The script will detect minimum requirements for hardware memory, disk space, CPU Mhz, CPU chores and CPU MIPS (millions of instructions per second). A warning message will display if requirements are not met, and the user will be prompted to continue or not.
  

Database

• Database Implementation
  The next stage in the evolution of the PressureMAP/PressureWEB product has arrived with Version 29 and Version 4 respectively. Both applications are now based on a common database: PostgreSQL, which is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS) similar to Oracle. The common database provides the infrastructure needed to develop web applications such as PressureMAP data entry, custom reports, etc. It can also provide a means of customer access to PMAP data via commonly used tools, such as Excel and Access.
  

General

• Device Reading Source Identification
  PressureMAP now displays a four-letter indication of the source of a current device reading in the Dispatch Histories Display. One of five possible originating conditions will be listed in the Level data field after the star designation). The possibilities include: CALL (reading obtained from a scheduled call to the monitor), REAL (realtime reading), ALRT (reading received from an CPAMS alert), EDIT (reading was edited manually), OTHR (other/unknown reading source).
  
• Supplemental Update Procedure Change
  Performing a Supplemental Update for the PressureMAP system no longer requires that all users logged into the system be notified to log out prior to initiating the update. Previously, the update application would not run unless all user were logged out. This requirement still pertains to a System Update, but is no longer necessary for Supplemental Updates.
• Updating IP and Modem Alert Numbers for Backup Systems
  As part of disaster recovery preparedness, some operating companies choose to maintain a remote group of PressureMAP systems with data identical to their active systems. These remote/backup systems are regularly updated with the live system data. If the backup systems were ever to go live, the Alert Numbers for 289H LSS and uM260 monitors would still reference (call) the original systems. PressureMAP now includes a utility that globally updates IP and modem Alert Numbers for all offices in a given system. This utility could be run after the office and device data is updated, so that the backup system are ready to go at any time.
• BackupEDGE Restore Utility Modification
  The script of the BackupEDGE restore utility (RestoreEDGE) has been modified to check the major system revision designations only when performing a restore function. Previously, it checked the major, minor and patch version numbers, and if they did not match the restore was aborted. This more stringent check was a bit restraining because a system that needs rebuilding might be on an older version than what is installed on a spare computer. Now if the versions do not match, the software prompts you to perform a forced PressureMAP update using the correct version after the rebuild to ensure that the proper files are in place.
  
• Updating Latitude, Longitude Coordinates
  It is possible, beginning with PressureMAP Version 29, to use an iPhone to obtain latitude and longitude coordinates for an office and/or monitoring device location and send them via the phone’s email application to the PressureMAP server. Submitted data can then be updated to the PressureMAP system using Supplemental Update media.
• BackupEDGE Restoral Improvement
  BackupEDGE has been modified to make it possible for stickmap images on a PressureMAP system to be restored along with office and device data when a customer rebuilds a system on a spare computer.
• Expanded CPAMS Programming Support
  CPAMS programming support has been extended to the Hercules 740 monitors. Previous version of PressureMAP provides this capability for Sparton 5300B and 5318 monitors, as well as the Chatlos L3 and Hercules 940 CPAMS monitors.
• Chatlos Circuit Number Preservation.
  PressureMAP has been revised to preserve the Circuit Number (CKT) for Chatlos monitors that have been replaced by 289H or uM260 monitors, even after a system update. Technicians depend on the Chatlos CKT field and need this information. Previously, when an office was converted to a new version via portdata, the CKT value was not included in the new history file. Version 29 now preserves the CKT data during a version update.