Case Study 4 - Log Viewer Command Shell for HMI (Human Machine Interface) and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Logs

The software that we were developing this add-on for was used in water distribution enterprises, for the computer-aided supervision of production and distribution processes.

Due to its importance for correctly establishing the facts (it is accepted as valid evidence in court), the logbook (LOG) made by this system is encrypted and protected from unauthorized alterations. A special program must be used to extract read-only data based on a set of parameters provided by the operator (user). The catch was that this particular module was not meant to be used in every day routine work, and the command syntax was so complicated that the users simply did not use it.

Our task was to make a GUI application that would enable the average user to simply and easily extract any record from the log, by setting the parameters required using a wizard-style interface, and then to accept the output and display it in an user friendly viewer.

Since it was an add-on for the main HMI SCADA application, we adopted both the look and functionality of it, so the users did not feel any difference when using our software. We also built a stand-alone setup program that smoothly and painlessly installed the add-on.