We've just released PAC Project software 9.4008, an important update that eliminates a security vulnerability recently identified in OptoOPCServer (specifically in OPC Test Client, a separate application previously included with OptoOPCServer.)

You already know that the OptoForum is a great place to get your questions asked and answered. 

It's also a great place to learn about using tables, subroutines, and pointers in PAC Control; built-in protocols like SNMP in SNAP PAC controllers; and more. 

The new forum called 101 Mini-Lessons gets you started learning about a variety of subjects:

If you've already got your groov, make sure it's activated and back up your project.

If you don't have groov yet, you'll definitely want it now.

Get ready for some great new features in groov 3.0, available soon. Here's a preview of just a few:

High on the list of things you'd rather not do: clean up liquid waste from an overflowing storage tank.

Avoiding this kind of mess is especially good when your business includes storing and disposing of liquid waste from industry and manufacturing.

That's the business Plummer's Environmental Services is in.

Along with a variety of other services—including hydro excavating, manhole rehabilitation, and emergency spill response—the Michigan-based company collects liquid waste from Midwest industrial and municipal customers, stores it, and treats it.

Here's a tech tip for the more adventurous among you, who'd like to learn a faster, shorter way to code repetitious actions on similarly named variables or I/O.

A recent post on the OptoForum asked for an OptoScript equivalent to Eval(), a function used in a variety of programming languages, typically to act on expressions or operators passed in a string.

We won't get into the question of whether Eval() is "evil" or not (apparently it has a reputation for trouble in more than one language). Instead, we'll move right into how you can do good things by using a similar approach in your PAC Control strategy—and clean up a lot of spaghetti code in the process. 

You'll have three chances in the U.S. to explore industry trends and new products in the next few weeks.

One of those trends is mobile. Come see how you can monitor or control your automation systems and equipment with a simple groov mobile operator interface you build yourself—with no programming.

We'd be glad to see YOU at one of these three events: CSIA Executive Conference, Del Mar Electronics & Design Show, or The Automation Conference.

Have you wondered if Opto 22 PACs and the PAC Project software suite would work for your application?

Or maybe you want to demonstrate the software to someone else—say, a customer or your boss. 

Here's a great free way to test it out: the PAC Project Demo, now with an additional demo screen and a small library of artwork pieces you can use any way you want to in your own HMI project. 

You've probably heard about the continuing drought in California.

The U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln currently categorizes more than 94% of the state's total area as in "severe drought" or worse, and notes that snowpack statewide (from which we get most of our water through the year) is at only 5% of normal.

The worst-hit area is the center of the state, especially the Central Valley that produces many of the vegetables, fruits, and nuts that appear on dining tables throughout the U.S.—and the world.

If you're near Mobile, Alabama, or the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, join us next week for the 3rd annual Allied Electronics Mobile Technology Day.

You'll see some 25 Allied suppliers at the Expo demonstrating the latest tech products and ready to answer your questions.

Be sure to look for Opto 22's Dan White. Dan will be there to show you how easy it is to build your own mobile app to monitor and control Modbus/TCP devices, OPC UA systems and equipment, and of course Opto 22 SNAP PAC controllers. 

Say you've got a dry contact switch you want to monitor so you know when it's closed. Could be a level sensor or pressure indicator, a magnetic reed switch or snap-action micro switch, or maybe a relay contact.

There are lots of ways you could do that, but often the best way is to use a SNAP-IDC5-SW digital input module. Why?

• It supplies 15 volts of power to an external dry contact switch.
• You only need 2 wires to connect the switch to the module.
• You can monitor 4 switches from 1 module.

Ben Orchard raves about this module in his recent blog post on monitoring water usage, and with good reason: it makes life easier by saving wiring time and complexity.