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Beacon Tower v4.3.0 - End User Features

Beacon Tower Team
Beacon Tower Team
Beacon Tower Developer Team

Version: 0.8.470 → 0.9.14

Significant improvements to the end-user experience, with a focus on enhanced data visualization, streamlined device configuration, and modern UI updates. These changes make working with IoT devices and analyzing sensor data more intuitive and powerful.

Beacon Tower v4.3.0 Release Notes

This release note covers End User Features. View other v4.3.0 components:

Overview​

This release delivers significant improvements to the end-user experience, with a focus on enhanced data visualization, streamlined device configuration, and modern UI updates. These changes make working with IoT devices and analyzing sensor data more intuitive and powerful.

🎯 Key Features​

📊 Advanced Dashboard & Visualization Capabilities​

Multi-Signal Chart Visualizations

The dashboard system now supports sophisticated multi-signal visualizations with extensive customization options:

  • Multi-Series Chart Support: Create charts that display multiple sensor signals simultaneously with independent styling for each series, enabling comparative analysis across different data sources
  • Custom Series Styling: Configure individual series with custom colors, line styles, and display properties using the new OutputSeries type system
  • Signal Visibility Controls: Dynamically show or hide specific signals within a chart for focused analysis without recreating the entire visualization
  • Time Bucket Aggregation: Built-in support for time-based data aggregation with configurable bucket sizes, enabling efficient analysis of large time-series datasets
  • Web Worker Processing: Complex data calculations are processed in background workers, ensuring smooth UI performance even with large datasets
  • Custom Calculations: Support for custom calculation functions like aggregateSignalsByTimeBucket for advanced data transformations
  • Enhanced DynamicEChartPanel: Improved configuration interface for creating and managing sophisticated visualizations

Example Use Cases:

  • Compare temperature readings from multiple sensors on the same chart
  • Analyze historical trends with time-bucketed aggregations
  • Toggle between different data views without recreating visualizations
Impact

Users can create more sophisticated data visualizations for deeper insights into IoT sensor data, with significantly improved performance for large datasets.

⚙️ Desired Properties Management​

Streamlined Device Configuration

Managing device desired properties is now more flexible and user-friendly:

  • Popover-Based Editor: Quick-edit desired properties using an intuitive popover interface without navigating away from your current view
  • Inline and Popover Modes: Choose between inline editing for simple changes or popover mode for more complex property configurations
  • Improved Property Handling: Enhanced validation and error messaging for property value changes
  • PropertyValuesList Component: New component providing an organized view of all device properties with inline copy functionality for quick reference
  • Better Visual Feedback: Clear indicators showing when property updates are pending, in-progress, or completed
Impact

Configuring and updating device properties is faster and more intuitive, reducing the time required for common device management tasks.

🎨 PatternFly v6 Migration & UX Improvements​

Modern, Consistent Interface

The interface has been modernized with the latest PatternFly design system:

  • Provider Page Modernization: Complete redesign of provider management pages using PatternFly v6 components for improved consistency and usability
  • Responsive Design Enhancements: Better support for tablets and mobile devices with improved touch-friendly controls and adaptive layouts
  • Split Button Improvements: Enhanced Save/Save As functionality with clearer visual states and better loading indicators
  • Deprecated Style Removal: Removed legacy SCSS and outdated styling patterns, resulting in a more consistent and maintainable interface
  • Log Viewer Integration: Improved log viewing component with better search, filtering, and navigation capabilities
  • Accessibility Improvements: Enhanced screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and ARIA compliance throughout the interface
Impact

A more modern, consistent, and accessible user experience across all Beacon Tower interfaces, with better support for diverse devices and accessibility needs.

🔒 Security Improvements​

🔐 Enhanced Authentication Security​

Strengthened Authentication Flow

Critical security updates improve the safety of your data and sessions:

  • OAuth 2.0 Standard Compliance: Updated authentication mechanism now fully complies with OAuth 2.0 RFC 6749, using proper access tokens for API authorization
  • Session Security: Improved token handling and session management reduces risk of unauthorized access
  • Transparent Updates: All security improvements are applied automatically without requiring changes to your workflow
Impact

Enhanced security protection for all authenticated operations with no change to user experience.

⚡ Performance Improvements​

Speed and Efficiency Enhancements​

Numerous optimizations improve application responsiveness and reduce load times:

  • Dashboard Rendering Optimization: Reduced initial dashboard load time by up to 40% through improved component rendering strategies
  • Web Worker Integration: Heavy calculations for chart data processing now run in background threads, preventing UI freezes during data updates
  • Reduced Re-Renders: Optimized React component updates reduce unnecessary re-renders, particularly beneficial for dashboards with multiple panels
  • Memory Management: Improved cleanup of dashboard components and data subscriptions prevents memory accumulation during extended sessions
  • SignalSelector Performance: Enhanced signal selection interface loads faster and handles large numbers of available signals more efficiently
  • Network Request Optimization: Reduced redundant API calls through better caching strategies and request deduplication
Impact

Noticeably snappier application performance, particularly when working with complex dashboards or large datasets.

⚠️ Breaking Changes​

User-Facing Changes

Please review these changes to understand potential workflow adjustments.

1. Dashboard Panel Configuration​

  • Multi-signal chart panels now use a new configuration format for series styling
  • Existing charts will continue to work but won't have access to new styling options until reconfigured
  • No data loss; simply edit and save chart configurations to enable new features

2. Desired Properties Interface​

  • Property editing now uses popover interface by default
  • Users accustomed to inline-only editing may need brief adjustment
  • Previous inline editing is still available for simple properties

3. Browser Requirements​

Minimum Browser Versions

Minimum supported browser versions updated due to PatternFly v6:

  • Chrome/Edge: 90+
  • Firefox: 88+
  • Safari: 14+

Older browsers may experience visual inconsistencies.

🐛 Known Issues​

Limitations and Workarounds​

1. Multi-Signal Charts with Many Series

Issue: Charts with more than 20 simultaneous series may experience reduced performance

Workaround: Use signal hiding feature to display fewer series at once, or split into multiple charts

2. Time Bucket Aggregation

Issue: Very fine-grained aggregation (e.g., 1-second buckets) over long time ranges (>30 days) may be slow

Workaround: Use larger bucket sizes (e.g., 1-minute or 5-minute) for longer time ranges

3. Popover Editor on Mobile

Issue: Desired property popover editor may be difficult to use on very small screens (<375px width)

Workaround: Use landscape orientation or inline editing mode on very small devices

4. Chart Legend Interaction

Issue: Clicking legend items rapidly may occasionally cause brief visual glitches

Workaround: Allow brief delay between legend interactions

💡 Tips and Best Practices​

Getting the Most from New Features​

Multi-Signal Charts:

  • Start with 3-5 signals per chart for optimal readability
  • Use custom colors to distinguish related signal groups
  • Leverage signal hiding to create "views" within a single chart
  • Consider time bucket aggregation for historical trend analysis

Desired Properties:

  • Use popover editor for batch property updates
  • Take advantage of inline copy feature for documenting configurations
  • Watch for visual feedback indicators to ensure updates complete successfully

Performance Optimization:

  • Close unused dashboard panels to reduce memory usage
  • Refresh long-running sessions periodically for optimal performance
  • Use dashboard panel filters to limit data loading

📝 Upgrade Notes​

  • Recommended: Review and test complex dashboard configurations after upgrade
  • Browser Check: Ensure your browser meets minimum version requirements for best experience
  • Cache Clear: Clear browser cache after upgrade for optimal performance
  • Training: Users may benefit from brief orientation on new popover editor and multi-signal chart features

📚 Support and Documentation​

For questions or issues related to these changes:

  • Access updated user documentation through the in-app help system (? icon)
  • Dashboard-specific help is available on each panel via the info icon
  • Contact your administrator or support team for assistance