Ignition 8.1.42: SAML Integration, Perspective Maps Customization, Launcher Executables Improvement & More

Recently, the Ignition release train celebrated its fifth birthday. From the first day it rolled onto the tracks, it knew it was destined to make building in Ignition the best it could be. So when it blew out its birthday candles it wished to have even more new features to deliver — and it was not disappointed!

This time around, Ignition 8.1.42 offers four fantastic new features: access to SAML Response XML documents, easier map customization in Perspective, an update to launcher executables, and a validator for Modbus Driver configuration.

SAML Response XML Documents

If you use a SAML identity provider, you’ll be pleased to know that you now get greater interoperability with access to the full SAML Response XML document in your Perspective project!

When a project’s identity provider is a SAML IdP, the session.props.auth.idpAttributes property will now contain an authnResponse property with a string value of the SAML Response XML.

This new feature opens the door for you to use the SAML bearer assertion grant type, providing you with an additional authentication route at the project level. By being able to look at the exposed XML, you can assert a request with the authorization server (helper APIs can be created to fetch specific assertions). You’ll then be able to receive a bearer token to use as proof of authorization.

Perspective Map Component

A new user-requested feature in Perspective’s Map Component makes it easier to customize the colors and overall look of your maps to suit your exact preferences.

We’ve added a new className string property in styleOptions for the Perspective Map Component’s geoJson feature layers. This will enable your project to recognize additional CSS configurations defined in different style sheets elsewhere. Now when you add in a new styleOptions object you’ll be able to use the handy className property to add in a CSS configuration.

A couple tips:

• The class name has to be a string
• To include Perspective style classes, prefix them with “psc-”

Launcher Executables

In Ignition 8.1.42, the launcher executables’ file version will now match its product version — great news for users of software deployment management tooling!

Previously, there was a difference in these values. The product version could have been “1.1.37” for example, while the file version would have been the Ignition version (so something like “8.1.37.0”).

Since the product and file versions will be the same with this new feature, if you use software deployment management tooling (such as Microsoft Software Center Configuration Manager) you’ll enjoy a much more seamless launcher upgrade process from now on. You’ll be able to upgrade launchers without having to go in and manually change product and file versions to make them match. Now, when you click upgrade, it’ll just work!

Modbus Driver Configuration Validator

We added a new validation feature to the Gateway’s Modbus Driver configuration. This validator will help keep your Ignition Gateway running speedily by preventing user input error when setting up device connections.

When you’re specifying how many registers you want to read, the validator will verify that both the range of values and the values themselves do not exceed 65,535.

The validation of the range will prevent you from inadvertently creating extremely large address mappings (a situation that could cause the Ignition Gateway to slow down). The validation of the values themselves will prevent you from using invalid addresses (since 65,535 is the Modbus Driver’s maximum valid value).

This precaution is a handy fail-safe. If you, for example, accidentally type extra digits into the “end” field, a warning will appear to alert you that you’re adding way more subscriptions than you actually want (and you’ll be prevented from doing so). Now, you’ll be able to avoid maxing out your CPU/memory and causing unnecessary downtime from an errant keystroke.

The Release Train: Still Going Strong After 5 Years

Get more details about these updates in the 8.1.42 release notes and the Ignition user manual. And don’t forget to stop in at the ideas portal to let us know about any Ignition features you’d like to see in the future. If there’s something that would make building in Ignition better, faster, or more fun, we want to hear about it! The Ignition 8.1.43 release train is already on the move, and due to pull into the station in late August.