september 2008
ESC | SafePassage Program From the Desk
of the
Understanding Data Management
President
Is your organization prepared for disaster recovery? Do you have a plan of
action? Is your data secure? If not, the ESC|SafePassage Program – We are currently working with
Understanding Data Management is perfect for you! This new program several of you as you prepare for
minimizes the risks associated with hardware failure, data loss, data your first experience reporting
liabilities and poor database performance by educating your organization’s with XML. We will continue to
CEM DAS system administrator(s) on data recovery, data retention and work with EPA and their contractor, Perrin Quarles
database maintenance plans. Associates (PQA), to make third quarter reporting as
hassle-free as possible. I do want to encourage all of
With the SafePassage Program – Understanding Data Management, you our users to prepare early for the XML transition.
will get the expertise of ESC Environmental IT professionals during a We still have several slots available for companies that
two-day visit to your site during which we will review your current want to sign up for our ESC|SafePassage Program –
processes, present data management recommendations and train your A Smooth Transition to XML.
CEM DAS system administrator(s) on implementation.
Working closely with EPA and PQA, ESC will
It is impossible to know about an impending disaster before it happens, but handle both the ESC|StackVision side of your
you can prepare ahead of time to guarantee a quick recovery. You can never reporting interface and EPA’s side, ensuring
be too careful! Contact ESC’s Account Executive Team at 865.688.7900 acceptable compatibility by resolving errors on both
or email to escsales@envirosys.com for more information about this sides. This program allows you to successfully
program and begin planning ahead today! complete your transition to XML while remaining
focused on your daily responsibilities. Allowing our
group to implement the lessons we have learned is
truly the least stressful path for your completion of
ESC Online Community - Join Now! this unique transition.
ESC is excited to announce the addition of an online community to our I do encourage all of you to get started immediately.
website! We are committed to creating new avenues for our customers' We have invested heavily in preparing our staff to
voices to be heard. Our online community does just that. Now officially up assist you, but we certainly do not have the resources
and running, the ESC Online Community serves as a valuable information necessary to help a large portion of our users if
source and discussion forum and it includes the following membership everyone waits until the last minute! Including third
benefits: quarter, only 14% of all ESC customers will be
reporting in XML. Only 18% of all monitoring
▪ Interact with fellow users about various ESC products and services configurations (EDRs) will be completed. Get it
▪ Discuss industry hot-topics started and get it over with!
▪ Share solutions you have discovered
▪ Get answers from industry peers Take advantage of the SafePassage Program – A
Smooth Transition to XML and let our
Best of all, no annual membership fee! knowledgeable staff make your transition easier!
We look forward to your participation in our new online community!
Jack R. Missimer PhD, PE
Go to www.envirosys.com/forums/ to get started.
www.envirosys.com
ESC | FleetVision Charting
automatically update with each new data import and be visible to
A Picture Worth 1,000 Words selected FleetVision users!
Everyone has heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand
words.” Providing a status update can be a daunting task for an If one picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a stream of
enterprise consisting of multiple power facilities that have multiple automatic, accurate and reliable snap-shots of your data worth?
emissions sources. A graphical representation is one way to
communicate this complex message. It can provide enough
information to allow the audience to interpret the data and derive
their own conclusions. Imagine describing a source-by-source
summary of month-to-date NOx tons per megawatt in a memo. A
bar chart could communicate this type of summary much more
clearly.
ESC|FleetVision provides several options to display your chosen
data parameters in charts that are easily created and automatically
updated. Once XML EDR data has been aggregated, users simply
navigate through the tabular software layout to create one of the
eight available chart types. When the chart is perfected and the
message is properly created, it can be saved and distributed to select
FleetVision users or exported for email distribution. Best of all,
once a chart is perfected one time and saved, the chart will
is an impossible feat. Those submitting their formal EDRs in
XML should update their software later this month. Those who
have not registered with EPA to formally submit via the ECMPS
client tool, may wait until after their reports have been submitted to
install the upgrade.
Update Please watch for an email in the next few weeks announcing the
next release!
ESC|StackVision product enhancements continue to develop
throughout the summer. Among the improved regulatory
compliance areas are PADEP Revision 8, XML and RECLAIM
support. We have also enhanced the RATA, Cylinder
Management, and Reports tools and are continually making ESC | StackVision
improvements to the Linearity tool.
ESC is excited to announce that a new and improved StackVision
Version 2.2 is coming!
installer has been developed and is now being tested. The new
installer is streamlined and maintainable which should eliminate Consider aligning your upgrade process now to ensure a
the defects present in previous installers. We hope that you will find smooth upgrade path to the latest release at the end of
this to be a major step forward in getting quality releases out to you. September. We recommend taking the following steps:
For those of you who are familiar with StackVision architecture, ▪ Notify your IT department if you need their assistance
you can look forward to average data being stored exclusively in ▪ Download the required .Net 3.5 release
Microsoft® SQL Server in an upcoming Fall release. More details ▪ Download the required SQL 2005 SP2 release
will be provided at the Orlando User Group meeting and in future
newsletters.
ESC realizes that customers do not want a release in a quarterly Look for upcoming emails containing additional
reporting month. However, with the onset of XML reporting, this information regarding the new release!
2 september 2008 www.envirosys.com
Customer Support Additionally, many of you have asked: “What should I do to stay
ahead of the pack in October?”
Get Ahead of the Pack! Steps that you should take include the following:
1. Take the steps described above to prepare for October and
In October, ESC customers will be submitting XML emissions reduce the number of complications that you will
reports for a total of 260 reporting units. This is more than five encounter in October.
times the number of units that were reported via XML in July. 2. Install StackVision Version 2.2, which will be released
With this daunting challenge before us, many of you have asked:
immediately prior to October, to address changes made by
“What should I do to prepare for October?”
EPA to the XML schema and to the ECMPS Production
Steps that you should take now include the following: Tool for third quarter reporting. Additionally, prepare to
install any StackVision Service Packs that may be required
1. Install the latest release of the ECMPS Production Tool to address emerging XML reporting issues during the
on an appropriate workstation (not the ESC|StackVision third quarter. Please note that StackVision Version 2.2
server). requires installation of .NET 3.5 and SQL 2005 SP2.
2. Resolve monitoring plan errors in the ECMPS 3. Submit issues regarding use of the ECMPS Production
Production Tool, generate an XML monitoring plan file Tool (to generate an error free XML monitoring plan file,
and submit the error free monitoring plan to EPA through submit XML certifications and emissions files, etc.) to
the ECMPS Production Tool. PQA as soon as the issues are identified. For guidance on
submitting issues to PQA and for tips on receiving the
3. Install XML Notepad on the StackVision server. This will fastest service possible refer to:
facilitate troubleshooting of XML files by ESC Support http://ecmps.pqa.com/technical_support_tips.shtml
personnel when accessing your system over a VPN
connection: 4. Submit issues regarding use of StackVision (to import
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?fami XML monitoring plan files, generate XML certification
lyid=72d6aa49-787d-4118-ba5f-4f30fe913628&displayl and emissions files, etc.) to ESC Support as soon as the
ang=en issues are identified. ESC Support works cases in order of
their urgency and time of submittal.
4. Ensure that you are running StackVision Version 2.1 SP2.
5. Provide ESC Support with the specific information
5. Import the XML monitoring plan into StackVision, delineated below when reporting an XML reporting issue.
resolve discrepancies with the existing monitoring plan This will facilitate rapid troubleshooting as ESC Support
records in StackVision and deploy. will not have access to your records in the ECMPS
6. Create an XML EDR template in StackVision. Production Tool. The specific information that is required
is as follows:
7. Enter required QA tests in StackVision, generate a
QA/Cert XML file in StackVision, import the file into ▪ Monitoring plan file (in XML format) generated by
the ECMPS Production Tool and resolve any errors. the ECMPS Production Tool
8. Review quarter-to-date data in StackVision, ensure that ▪ Monitoring plan report (in PDF format) generated
ProcessNow is running and resolve any errors. by the ECMPS Production Tool
9. Generate a partial quarter XML emissions file in ▪ Monitoring plan evaluation report (in PDF format)
StackVision, import the partial quarter XML emissions generated by the ECMPS Production Tool
file into the ECMPS Production Tool and resolve any
errors. ▪ QA/Cert file (in XML format) generated by
StackVision (if the issue involves the QA/Cert file)
Notes:
▪ QA/Cert file evaluation report (in PDF format)
▪ Steps 4-6 must be performed in the order presented above.
generated by the ECMPS Production Tool (if the
▪ For assistance with steps 5, 6, 7 and 9, refer to the issue involves the QA/Cert file)
“Transition to XML Reporting Guide” which will be
posted on the ESC|Knowledge Base on or about ▪ Emissions file (in XML format) generated by
September 26, 2008. StackVision (if the issue involves the emissions file)
▪ To facilitate troubleshooting errors manifested in steps 7 ▪ Emissions file evaluation report (in PDF format)
and 9 above, consider generating a flat-file EDR in generated by the ECMPS Production Tool (if the
StackVision and resolving any errors using MDC. issue involves the emissions file)
3 september 2008 www.envirosys.com
Tips and Tricks Ask Roger
Q: What is the easiest way to request
ESC Online Community license keys for multiple ESC|StackVision
servers when I upgrade to the latest release?
We have now launched the ESC Online Community at
http://www.envirosys.com/forums/ for our customers. A: There are many individuals who oversee
multiple plants and multiple StackVision servers.
Anyone who has support site access to our website can view the forums. Keeping your DAS current with the latest release
However, if you would like to participate by adding your own topics and has recently become much easier.
questions or responding with your answers or comments, you will need to
accept the user agreement which is posted inside the forum so others can The Software Support page on our website is the
benefit from the answers as well. proper avenue to use in order to request a license
key required to upgrade to the latest version of
Your first stop should be the ESC Online Community FAQ located at the StackVision. Once on the ESC Support webpage,
top of the topics list. It contains a glossary of online community terminology look for the Request License Key Request link or
as well as instructions for all of the basic functions such as reading, writing follow this link:
and replying. Additionally, it has instructions for some more advanced
functions like subscribing to the forum so you can receive email notifications http://envirosys.com/support/requestakey.aspx
when new posts are made. If you have a question about forum functionality
and it is not covered in the FAQ, simply reply to the forum with your question Previously, the License Key Request Form required
and we will answer it within the forum. one completed request form containing one DAS
server license request. In turn, ESC would
respond via email with one key. The process had
to be completed for each individual StackVision
server. Now, the License Key Request Form will
accept multiple plant entries at once.
In order to receive one comprehensive email
response containing license keys for multiple
plants, the request form must contain the plant
name for each StackVision in which a license key
Here’s a sample question that was asked by one of our early users: is needed. Each plant must have a valid and
current maintenance agreement. The email
Question: response containing the requested license keys can
I created a post and the timestamp on it is from the West Coast but I’m on be sent to two individual email accounts. The
the East Coast. How do I change the time zone that is used to timestamp my desired contact email accounts should be entered
posts? into the request form in the appropriate location.
Answer: Make sure the License Key Request Form is
You can go into your website profile and change the time zone that is used to properly completed. The comprehensive email
set your post times. (This is the same place where you may have reset your containing all requested keys will be sent to the
password at some time). exact email addresses entered into the form. The
“plant(s)” section of the form must contain the
1. Click Edit Profile in the upper right corner of the webpage. specific names of each desired plant. Do not enter
a generic description such as “Please provide
2. Click the Site Options tab. licenses for all plants at Acme Corp.”
3. Scroll down to Timezone and pick your time zone from the Note: To avoid routinely typing all plant names into
dropdown list. the form, we suggest entering a list of plants into a
saved Word document and simply cutting and pasting
4. Click Save. from the document each time a License Key Request
Form is completed.
4 september 2008 www.envirosys.com