Introduction

Overview

The following sections cover the basic usage of Device Integration Platform applications. They describe

• Accessing Device Integration Platform applications.
• Logging in.
• Navigating in Device Integration Platform applications.
• Changing your user settings.
• Searching in Device Integration Platform.

Accessing Device Integration Platform applications

To use Device Integration Platform applications, you need a modern web browser. We test with the following desktop web browsers:

• Internet Explorer (Version 10 and 11)
• Firefox (latest)
• Chrome (latest)

You can also use recent smartphone and tablet web browsers. We test with the following mobile web browsers:

• Chrome on Android (latest) on Galaxy smartphones and tablets.
• Safari on iOS (latest) on Apple iPhone and iPad.

Note that using the private mode on browsers may not work. Note also that using Device Integration Platform on mobile devices may be constrained by the memory and the processing power available on the devices. For example, loading graphs with large amounts of data points may make the mobile device unresponsive.

To access the applications for your Device Integration Platform tenant, use the following URL:

https://<account>.customer.com/

This will direct you to the login page of your default application, shown in the image below.

Make sure that the address bar of your browser shows a lock symbol. The lock symbol indicates that you are using a secure connection and that you are indeed connected to Device Integration Platform.

The above URL is only valid for Device Integration Platform Standard Edition subscribers. For Dedicated and Private Edition deployments of Device Integration Platform, the URL is specific to your organization.

Logging in

On the login page, enter your username and password to start the application. The "Remember me" checkbox will make the browser remember your credentials, so that you do not have to enter them again when opening the application the next time. This is also convenient if you frequently navigate between Device Integration Platform applications, as Device Integration Platform requires you to authenticate each time when starting an application. You can make the browser "forget" your credentials by explciitly logging out using the "Logout" menu item in the application.

For security reasons, Device Integration Platform does not use Cookie technology.

If you forgot your password, click the "Forgot password?" link on the login screen. You can now type your email address and click "Reset password". Check your email for the password reset link. Click the link to enter a new password.

The password reset link is valid for one day.

The automated password reset will only work if your email address is stored with your Device Integration Platform user. If you get a warning that the password cannot be reset, you are either using a different email address than the one stored with your Device Integration Platform user, or your Device Integration Platform user has no email address stored. In either case, contact a Device Integration Platform administrator in your organization. Administrators can reset your password.

If you are yourself the primary administrator, the email that you used when registering first to Device Integration Platform is automatically stored with your user. If you have questions, please contact the Device Integration Platform support from this email address.

To change your password, click on the "User Settings" icon in the application. Please make sure to pick a strong password. To support you in picking good passwords, a password strength indicator is displayed along with a password change. A password needs to consist of at least eight characters. It should use a mixture of character classes (uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols). A strong password uses at least three of the above four character classes.

Your administrator may have configured your account to enforce a password policy. You may be required to pick a strong password or to change your password regularly.

Navigating in Device Integration Platform applications

Once you are logged in, your default Device Integration Platform application will open. The content of Device Integration Platform applications is entirely dynamic and is generated based on various criteria:

• The applications that your organization has subscribed to.
• The applications that your organization has configured or developed itself for Device Integration Platform.
• The functionality that your user is permitted to see.
• The configuration of the user interface, such as groups and reports.
• The functionality of the devices that are used by you.

The general structure of a Device Integration Platform application is shown in the screenshot below:

• The name of the currently visible application is shown in the top left.
• Using the navigator, you can go to the different pages of an application. Click on an entry in the navigator to open the respective page. You can collapse or expand sections in the navigator by clicking the section headers (i.e., the rows with the little triangle in front of the text).
• On some pages, additional "tabs" are available depending on how much information is required to be shown.
• The top area of the application is used as message bar whenever a status (green) or an error (red) needs to be shown.
• The "search" field provides a full-text search where available.
• Using the application switcher, you can change from one application to another. You might have to re-enter your credentials if you have not selected "Remember me" on your original login to Device Integration Platform.
• The user menu shows your user name. By clicking on the user name, a popup menu appears. The popup menu allows you to log out of the application (even if you clicked "Remember me") and provides access to user settings and help.
• In some areas, a cog wheel on the top right provides access to further functionality through a drop-down menu.

On smaller screens, the layout of an application changes, as shown below. The navigator is hidden and only some of the tabs are in the visible screen area. To access the navigator, click on the three lines on the top left. To access other tabs, scroll the tabs left or right. (The way to scroll the tabs may depend on your device.)

Note that you can navigate straight to any place inside a Device Integration Platform application. For example, to show the basic information for a device, you can enter the following URL:

https://<account>.customer.com/apps/devicemanagement/index.html#/device/<id>/info

Using such a URL, you can

• Save bookmarks for specific devices or pages.
• Send Emails (manually or automatically using the real-time event engine) which include a link to devices or sensor data.
• Use the backward and forward navigation of your browser.
• Write own web applications that link directly to information contained in a Device Integration Platform application.

Usually, Device Integration Platform applications provide tooltips when you hover over a particular user interface element. When you use Device Integration Platform applications on touch devices, tooltips are shown when you touch a user interface element for a longer time.

User settings

To change the settings for your user, click on the user symbol at the top right and select "User settings". Set the user interface language using the "Language" drop-down menu. Change your password by clicking "Change password". Finally, click "Save" to store your changes or "Cancel" to discard them.

The user interface language is selected using the following criteria, in the order listed below:

1. The language selected in the Device Integration Platform user settings.
2. The language selected in the browser preferences.
3. The operating system language.

The default language is English.

Full-text search

The Device Integration Platform search field provides a full-text search of the whole inventory. Entering multiple words separated by a blank returns all objects that match any of the words. For example, entering

My Demo Device

will return objects containing "My", "Demo" or "Device". If you want to match the exact phrase, enter

"My Demo Device"

You can also exclude words by putting a hypen before the word. For example, enter

My Demo -Device

to search the inventory for objects containing "My" or "Demo" but not "Device".

Case is ignored. The following search texts return the same result:

My Demo Device
My demo device