ViewX and WebX Clients Guide - Differences Between the WebX Client and ViewX (WebX Client)

Differences Between the WebX Client and ViewX

WebX is available as the newer web server hosted using IIS and installed separately from the ClearSCADA server, or the Original WebX server built in to each ClearSCADA server instance. This topic refers to both versions, using the terms 'Original WebX' and 'WebX (the newer web server hosted using IIS)' where there are differences, and 'WebX' where they are the same.

Many of the functions and displays that are available from a ViewX client are also available from a WebX client:

The differences in how you use a WebX client compared with ViewX mostly relate to how you access items and functions.

ATTENTION: WebX uses Microsoft ActiveX Controls technology to display various types of document. ActiveX Controls are only supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer®. To access the suite of functions and types of display to which ClearSCADA's web client and your user account provides access, we recommend that you use Internet Explorer 11 to run WebX. Other web browsers provide access to a sub-set of functionality and document types. The interface layout varies slightly between browsers. The WebX documentation in the online Help explains WebX functionality that is available using Internet Explorer 11.

The main differences between a WebX client and ViewX are:

A WebX client provides operator, rather than configuration, access to the system. (Engineers have to use a ViewX client to make any configuration changes.)
A WebX client can only show one display in the document display area at a time (it cannot display inset windows as pop-ups as in ViewX). Any inset windows are displayed using the entire document display area and you use the browser's Back button to return to the previous display.
A WebX client can only connect to one server at a time.
On ClearSCADA systems that have:
- Multiple databases (see Multiple Databases).
  and:
- Contain Mimics that include hyperlinks to displays on other ClearSCADA databases.
  Original WebX can navigate between the servers that run those databases and therefore display the other display(s) successfully. However, WebX cannot access multiple servers simultaneously. As such, in order for all of the ‘live’ data on a Mimic to update correctly in WebX, all of that data has to be sourced from the same ClearSCADA database as that on which the Mimic itself is located.
  Cross-database hyperlink support is possible providing that:
- The WebX client can obtain a network connection to each server (connecting to one server at a time).
  and:
- The relevant Cross-Database Hyperlinks settings have been configured on each of those servers (see Define the Cross-Database Hyperlinks Settings).
WebX (the newer web server hosted using IIS) has Alarm Banner capability, whereas Original WebX does not (alarms are displayed using a full screen on an Original WebX client).
Audible alarms are not supported on a WebX client.
Events are displayed using a full screen on a WebX client.
A WebX client can display the latest generated version of a report, providing that specific criteria are met. For more information, see View the Most Recently Generated Version of a Report on a WebX Client in this guide, and see the ClearSCADA Guide to the Crystal Reports Driver.
A WebX client does not have the ViewX ribbon. For displays such as Trends and Mimics the WebX client provides access to options such as Zoom and Pan via a context-sensitive menu or toolbar (depending on the display). With displays such as Mimics, X-Y Plots, and X-Y-Z Plots, you access the menu by right-clicking on the main display area. With displays such as Trends, a toolbar provides access to the relevant options.
A WebX client only provides access to operator-level Explorer Bars. Access to Favorites and Operator Document Stores is provided via the Links Bar. To access an item's object menu in WebX, you select the item in the Explorer Bar—the item's object menu is displayed to the top-right of the document display area. (You can also right-click on an item in the Database Bar, like you can in ViewX.)
A WebX client can display windows that have been saved as Favorites. With Favorites that comprise multiple windows, or multiple windows and inset windows, WebXstores the displays as a group of individual windows. You use the Links Bar to navigate the group of windows and display each window individually.
You cannot access the ClearSCADA context-sensitive help feature from a WebX client. With the ViewX client, the context-sensitive help feature allows you to display help for the ClearSCADA display that you are currently using (see Context Sensitive Help).
To display context-sensitive help in the ViewX client (and in many other Windows® applications) you press the F1 key. If you press F1 in the WebX client, then context-sensitive help for Microsoft Internet Explorer appears, rather than context-sensitive help for the ClearSCADA application.
However, you can display the ClearSCADA online help system by selecting the Help button on the WebX navigation bar (see ClearSCADA Help and see Understand the WebX Interface). The Help is displayed in a separate browser window.