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Itron

Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00

PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00 Release Notes


New Features
PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00 is a major advance in meter programming systems. This release provides a host
of new tools and capabilities to simplify day-to-day operations yet preserves the investment in time, effort,
and training that you have put into your existing Itron meter programming solution by remaining fully
backward compatible with all of your metering data from PC-PRO+ Advanced 8.00.
Our innovative improvements are helping to provide the electricity metering industry with the Tools for
Running Business Better Every Day!
Data Manager Interface
Devices affected: All
The Data Manager is a new application that provides a single user interface to all the programming tools
necessary for creating and managing meter programs. It is a complete and efficient system for managing
electricity metering devices and meter data. While the tools to create and edit programs remain unchanged,
the Data Manager organizes and provides quick and easy access to all of your existing meter programming
data. As shown in the diagram below, Data Manager is very similar to applications in both layout and
overall usage scenarios that people use on a daily basis.

January 2008

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00

Program and Schedule Comparison


Devices affected: All
The comparison tool is an innovative way to compare up to four programs, time of use schedules, or
custom schedules. Differences in programs or schedules can now be quickly identified. This allows you to:

Manage existing programs and schedules


Reduce duplicates
Check existing files for accuracy and consistency

Program and Schedule Dependencies


Devices affected: All
You can view any dependencies that may exist between programs, schedules, or displays. This new and
exciting feature is valuable when needing to see how a particular program or schedule relates to another
one. For example, this feature gives you the ability to quickly see how many programs a schedule change
may affect. This feature also highlights which programs and schedules are no longer used and can be
deleted.

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00
Reporting
Devices affected: All
Itron is very excited to offer improved meter data reporting capabilities in PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00. All
users will enjoy and benefit from this innovative feature addition. Reports can be generated from either new
or existing meter image files (MIFs) and MV-90 HHF files. Reports can be created either one at a time or
in batches immediately after the data has been uploaded by any of the PC-PRO+ suite of products including
PC-PRO+ Advanced, Shop-Pro, Field-Pro, and HH-Pro (at the current time HH-Pro can only create
MV-90 HHF files).
Report Design
The Report Designer is the tool used for creating and editing report templates. The different templates
allow you to specify what data to display and how to display it in the report.

Report Content
Users can select both the content and the template of their reports. Reports can contain any combination of
the following values:

Total consumption
Minimum, Maximum, Average Demands (Block or rolling)
Peaks and Coincident values
Time of Use Analysis
Time series graph
Raw interval data
Interval statuses

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00

Sharing Data
PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00 makes it much easier to share meter data. In addition to printed reports, version
9.00 allows users to store reports in Adobe PDF, Microsoft Excel format (XLS), XML format,
HTML format, or as ASCII text files. In addition, PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00 provides the tools needed to email, store, and manage report files.

Communication Manager Interface


Devices affected: All
The Meter Communication Manager is the tool for communicating with meters. It is used to logon and read
meters. Users can also diagnose meter issues as well as program and reconfigure meters.
With the Communications Manager, you are able to logon, batch initialize meters, complete a Meter
Change Out, or reset billing registers. Once logged onto a device, a user can do the following:

Initialize a device
Reconfigure a device
Validate a program
Change a display
Reset demand
Reset billing registers
Reset activity status
Edit Registers
Create Meter Image File
Refresh Data Summary

January 2008

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00

Improvements in PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00


Support of Microsoft Vista
PC-PRO+ Advanced suite of products (PC-PRO+ Advanced, PC-PRO+ Views, Field-Pro, and Shop-Pro) is
now supported on the Microsoft Vista operating system. This is the only version of PC-PRO+ Advanced
that will work on Microsoft Vista.
The HH-Pro Synchronization process will not work on Microsoft Windows Vista. Microsoft no longer uses
the ActiveSync program that is used in the synchronization process in HH-Pro; a new software product was
created to replace ActiveSync. Therefore, it is not recommended that users of HH-Pro migrate to Microsoft
Vista at this time. This issue will be addressed in a future release of HH-Pro.
Improved Replica File Loading
Devices affected: All
You can now load replica files that were created with previous versions of PC-PRO+ Advanced. For
example, you can load a replica file that was created in version 8.00 into PC-PRO+ Advanced version 9.00.
You cannot, however, load a replica file created in PC-PRO+ Advanced version 7.30 into PC-PRO+
Advanced version 9.00.
In the past, users would have to re-create their replicas after each new installation.
To load a replica file, go to Start | Programs | PC-PRO+ Advanced | Advanced Tools | Load Replica
File.
Reports from MV-90 HHF Files
Devices affected: All
The MV-90 HHF file is a device neutral format containing load profile data. PC-PRO+ Advanced,
Shop-Pro, Field-Pro, and HH-Pro are all capable of reading and storing metering data in MV-90 HHF files.
This file format was used as the primary means to import billing data into MV-90 systems.
PC-PRO+ Advanced version 9.00 now provides the ability to read and analyze the load profile data stored
in MV-90 HHF files. Load profile reports can be generated from either new or existing MV-90 HHF files
using the Report generation utility in the Data Manager.
Automatic Creation of Replica Files
Devices affected: All
Replica Files can be created using a command prompt:
"System Manager.exe" -create "C:\Path\ReplicaName.replica"
Notes:

The System Manager.exe is located in the following directory by default:


C:\Program Files\Itron\PC-PRO+ Advanced\PCPROP)
-create tells it to create a Replica file
The second parameter is the fully qualified directory location including the name of the new
replica file.

This enhancement allows replica files to be created and distributed via user created scripts to automate the
meter program distribution processes.

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00

Addition of MIF Viewer to Field-Pro


Devices affected: CENTRON, CENTRON (12.19), CENTRON (V&I), 200 Series, SENTINEL, and
VECTRON
The MIF Viewer is an new derivative of the original Program Editor in order to allow a user to view MIF
files outside of PC-PRO+ Advanced. The MIF Viewer only allows the opening and closing of MIF files.
Once the MIF file is open, you can view all of the data on the left side like in Communication Manager.
This application is only distributed with Field-Pro.
DST Clock Adjust During Standard Time (DST)
Devices affected: All
There was an issue when programming meters to use standard time while the computers time was set to
daylight savings time. During meter initialization, the meter clock would not be set properly while the
computer was in standard time. This issue has been corrected.
Field-Pro Program Selection Screen Sorts by Program ID
Devices affected: All
The Field-Pro selection screen now sorts by the program ID. Previously, it was sorted by the program
name.
Saving a Time of Use Schedule for FCS
Devices affected: All
Users can now save and export a TOU Schedule in the format required for use by the Itron Field Collection
System (FCS) which will save you from having to re-key this information a second time.
The FCS is the premier data collection engine for handheld and mobile AMR systems. It collects data from
multiple meter types, provides accurate, reliable meter data to customer billing applications, and integrates
with the Itron work force automation tools.
FCS is compatible with Itron collection devices currently on the market, including optical and water
probes, and integrates easily with third-party software applications for billing, meter data management and
data analysis.
Interval Combining Demand Calculation
Devices affected: All
The load profile reports will mark a short interval with a status of S (indicating a short interval) when
combining intervals. Intervals need to be combined when the number of desired intervals is not available
and usually only occurs during initial installation of a meter.

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00

Known Issues in PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.00


Printer warning when starting Report Designer
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 Dont 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
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
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.
Potential Failure on First Attempt to Configure Meters with a New Program
If you create a new program and then immediately logon an initialize a meter, a message may appear
stating the configuration failed and to logoff and the 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.
Text report files with page numbers will always add Page 1 of 1 to the end of the
document
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.
E-mailed HTML Reports do not include the Load Profile Graph
The load profile graph is not included when e-mailing an HTML report.
Phone Numbers are lost when upgrading from 6.10 to 9.00
If you are upgrading from PC-PRO+ Advanced version 6.10 to version 9.00, phone numbers will be lost.
This was a problem in the 6.10 release only. You will need to reenter the phone numbers after upgrading to
version 9.00. 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, or 8.00 to the 9.00 version.

January 2008

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Itron
Release Notes
PC-PRO+ Advanced
9.00
Upgrading Client Systems
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 to avoid problems with data
settings. For example, when upgrading PC-PRO+ Advanced to version 9.00, you must also upgrade
Field-Pro to version 9.00.
Invalid TOU Schedule Names cause initialization error
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
If you change your PCs 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 computers system time.
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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