This document provides a quick start guide for installing Mendix Workstation, and then configuring its basic settings. Mendix Workstation is available for the following operating systems:
To configure Mendix Workstation, perform the following steps:
Creating a Workspace and Station
A station represents a workstation on the shopfloor. It can connect to one or more apps or devices. A workspace is a grouping of one or more stations. For example, a workspace may group together all the stations which belong to the same factory or factory line.
Enter a name for your new workspace, and then click Create Workspace.
After the workspace is created, in the Stations page, click Create a New Station.
Enter a name for the station, and then click Create Station.
Optional: If you do not want Workstation Management to detect smart card readers, in Station view, set the Detect Card Readers toggle to Off.
Downloading and Running the Workstation Client
The Mendix Workstation Client is a connector between the devices and your local PC. You can download and enable the client by performing the following steps:
Open a station and click Register Computer.
In the Computer Registration dialog, click Download. The Mendix Workstation Client page on the Mendix Marketplace opens for the Windows installer. Alternatively, you can find the component on the Mendix Marketplace by searching for "Workstation Client". You can also find the portable and Linux version by using the search, or navigate to them through the above links.
Perform one of the following actions:
For Windows:
If you have administrator rights for your computer, click Download and run the Workstation Client installer in the form of an NSIS installer package. If you get a prompt from Windows Access Control, click Yes to allow Mendix Workstation Client to be installed; for a silent installation, you can also run the installer as an administrator with the /S argument, that is, MendixWorkstationX.Y.Z.exe /S. The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\Mendix Workstation. The app data folder can be found at C:\ProgramData\Mendix Workstation. The client runs automatically after the installation is completed.
If you do not have administrator rights for your computer, download the Mendix Workstation Client Portable instead. As a best practice, put the portable client in a new folder in your Documents folders, and then click the .exe file to run the client.
For Linux - Download and install the Linux version of the client.
Registering your Computer
With the Mendix Workstation Client running on your computer, you must now register your computer in the Workstation Management.
Go to Mendix Workstation Management and navigate to the Station Overview in the workspace which contains the station that you want to register to your computer.
Click the menu in the overview and select Register computer.
Click Copy to copy the registration token to your clipboard.
Open the Workstation Client and paste the copied registration token into the Enter your registration token field.
Click Register computer.
In Workstation Management, in the Computer Registration dialog, click Done.
The Stations page now shows your station's status as Computer Registered.
Configuring and Testing Virtual Devices
After registering your computer, test your connectivity by creating a pair of virtual devices: a TCP/IP server that will emulate a device, and a TCP/IP client that will connect to the emulated device.
Select TCP/IP Client as the Device Type, and then click Next.
In the Device Name field, enter Test Client, and then click Next.
In the Device Class field, select or create a class (for example, Virtual), and then click Next.
In the Host and Port fields, leave the default value of localhost and 1705, and click Next.
In the Messages dialog, leave all values as default, and click Add Device.
The device, which will be used to connect to the TCP/IP server running in Workstation Client, is added to the Devices list in the Station page.
Testing the Devices
After configuring the server and client pair, test their connectivity by performing the following steps:
In the left navigation menu of the current workspace, click Settings, and ensure that the Enable Local Device Testing toggle is set to On.
In the left navigation menu, click Test Your Station.
The page refreshes and displays a list of all your devices. If you do not want the list to show any smart card readers available on your computer, make sure to set the Detect Card Readers toggle to Off.
In your web browser, duplicate the tab where you have opened the Test Your Station page.
Arrange the two opened tabs so that you can view the two Test Your Station pages side by side.
In the left tab, click on the client device (Test Client).
In the right tab, click on the server device (Test Server).
In the left tab, on the Test Client device, enter a test message, and then click Send Message. In the other tab, on the Test Server, the sent message appears in the Last message received field.
In the same way, send a message from the Test Server to the Test Client device.
The Close button closes the Client but does not stop it. The Client continues to run in the background. To quit the Client, right-click on its icon in the Windows systray, and then click Quit.
