Version 7.1.0 07/07/2026

Improvements

• The built-in online help is now provided as a HTML5-based help system, which is opened in the web browser.
• Includes a new and free Trace Converter Add-in, which allows to import and export from and to different trace file types, like .asc or .mf4.
• New possibility to borrow a license from the server for offline use for up to 30 days. After the borrowing period has ended, the borrowed license is again available for use from the license server.
• The “What's New?” window has been renamed “Release Notes” and now allows for easier navigation between the individual entries in the version history.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an Access Violation exception on deactivating a database if one of its signals was listed in the Watch window.
• When the Start Page was made a floating or dockable window, after closing the window it could not be opened again.
• On changing the style of a HTML window (tabbed <> floating <> dockable) the default web browser was opened and an empty page displayed.
• Creating and adding a new Trace file in the Project Manager failed if the default Trace buffer mode was set to "File".
• If a new Trace file was created via File > New , the new file was marked as unsaved in the title of the new Trace window even if the "File" Trace buffer mode was used.
• If a new Trace file was created via File > New , the initial file name was something like . If a recording was then subsequently started in this tracer, the path was automatically changed to a temporary file located in the "_temp" subdirectory.
• If the display mode of a variable in a Symbols file was set to -o (Off), the symbolic representation in the Receive/Transmit lists was displayed incorrectly: Instead of hiding the invisible variable, the last variable of the symbol was missing.
• The message rate shown in the Receive List in the Msg.Rate column didn't show steady values although the message rate didn't change.
• ARXML, CANdb, Plotter, and Instruments Panel files were not listed in the Library Browser.
• Some other minor bug fixes and improvements.

PCAN-Symbol Editor

Improvements

• Global attributes and signal attributes have been enhanced so that their values are now validated and warnings are displayed when something is wrong.
• Attributes of the type "Char" can now also be used with quotation marks.

Bug fixes

• Under certain circumstances, an Access Violation exception was thrown when a signal was renamed after a Symbols file had previously been opened and closed.
• Custom signal attributes were not removed when the symbols were converted to Symbols File version 6.0 or earlier.
• Not all floating-point attributes could be saved and restored correctly, especially if they had very large values.
• After closing the Print Preview, an empty properties page was displayed for elements that had no properties.

Changes

• The "0 - None" attribute value type is no longer available.

Instruments Panel Add-in

Bug fixes

• LED and Switch controls did not yet respect the Rendering Mode setting introduced in version 7.0.6.
• Fixed some rendering issues in the VerticalSlider control when using Direct2D rendering mode.

Plotter Add-in

Bug fixes

• Some plotter settings could not be adjusted in the Properties dialog box, e.g. the span of a y-axis.
• The channel statistics in the Properties dialog box were not updated when the channel was changed.

CANdb-Import Add-in

Improvements

• The online help for the CANdb Import window is now provided as HTML5-based help which is opened in the web browser.

J1939 Add-in

Improvements

• J1939 database updated to 2026-04.

License Manager - Version 2.1.0

Improvements

• The renewal mechanism now supports renewing expired licenses by entering the ticket.
• Added a new “Identify CmDongle” button to make it easier to identify connected CmDongles, provided they support this feature.
• Added a new setting to gray out expired licenses.
• The container name is now displayed alongside the serial number.
• Improvements to the visual appearance.
• New Offline Process feature: Added a new Transfer Mode setting to select the preferred transfer mode. Added a new page to all actions for selecting either the online or offline transfer mode.
• New Borrow feature: - Added new buttons to the license toolbar for borrowing and returning licenses. Added new icons for borrowed licenses and borrowers.

Bug fixes

• Fixed arrow key handling on the "Settings" page.
• Fixed the "Next" button on the "Overview" page, which was previously enabled only when a CmDongle was present.
• Fixed a crash while communicating with the PEAK activation server.
• Fixed container selection during deactivation; previously, all containers were displayed, even if they were not present on the system.

Changes

• Reworked the category toggle behavior in the "Settings" page.
• Removed the unnecessary "Select Container" page from the offline import process.
• Updated the running process icon to make it easier to distinguish it from an information message.

Version 7.0.9 02/06/2026

Bug fixes

• A few issues that occurred when creating trace files using the File > New > New File and Project Manager > Add New Item commands have been fixed.

Instruments Panel Add-in

Bug fixes

• After reloading a panel file that had been edited in an external editor, some of the panel's scenes were duplicated.
• Error when creating a new ValueEdit control.

Version 7.0.8 20/05/2026

Bug fixes

• An Access Violation error might have occurred when closing PCAN-Explorer if an Add-in had been previously disabled.
• Some other minor other improvements and bug fixes.

Instruments Panel Add-in

Bug fixes

• Error when loading panel files created with PCAN-Explorer 7.0.5 or older.
• After an externally modified Instruments Panel file was reloaded, ValueEdit controls on the panel were no longer displayed correctly.

PCAN-Symbol Editor

Bug fixes

• An Access Violation error or software crash might have occurred when a DBC file was imported directly from the Start Page.

License Manager - Version 2.0.5

Improvements

• Categories in settings can now be toggled to be shown or hidden.
• Added app title to notification window popups.

Bug fixes

• The attempt to activate a ticket on an empty CmDongle failed.
• Fixed hidden last column under the vertical scrollbar in list.
• Some other minor other improvements and bug fixes.

PCAN-Nets Configuration - Version 6.0.2

Bug fixes

• The channel assignment of a Device ID binding could be lost if the Binding tab in theNet Properties dialog was never selected, just the dialog opened and closed with OK.
• Binding a net to a Device ID and a channel number greater than 1 did not work and the netwas always bound to channel 1.
• All bit rates would disappear under certain conditions when a new custom bit rate was setin the Bit Rate Manager.

Version 7.0.7 29/04/2026

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug introduced in v7.0.6 where the application could freeze when the File > Close Project command was executed while a Trace window was open.

Version 7.0.6 28/04/2026

Improvements

• If no more seats are available when trying to access a network floating license, a better error message is displayed in the License Error dialog.
• The "Data Length" property of a symbol or multiplexer selected in the Properties window now displays "All" instead of "8" if the element was defined to be valid for all data lengths.
• New Standard Macro error codes 1043 ("Unknown database") and 1054 ("Database not assigned to bus").
• In all Standard Macro instructions that accept symbol names ( Send , SendXL , WaitId , WaitRTR , WaitData , SetSignal , DecSignal , IncSignal ), a database name can now be specified before a symbol name to avoid wrong symbol assignments if the same symbol name is used in more than one database assigned to a connection.
• When sending a symbol in a Standard Macro that was valid for all data lengths, the symbol was always sent with 8 data bytes. Now the data length to be sent can be explicitly specified in the Send instruction.
• The color of the grid lines in Receive/Transmit windows can now be customized.
• Highlighting of changed data bytes and signal values now fades automatically without the need to receive messages or set signal values. The behavior can be customized in the Options dialog under Receive/Transmit > Highlight Data Changes > Update Mode .

Bug fixes

• If a value of a mapped signal was set that did not have a multiple of 8 bits, the signal value was not correctly inserted into the auto-transmitted message.
• Selecting File > Save or File > Save As while the Receive/Transmit window was focused did not prompt for a file name for the Transmit list, but saved the Transmit list under the next unoccupied file name.
• Pressing the right mouse button in a message list only left the single message under the mouse cursor selected.
• Enabling a connection did not also start transmission of cyclic messages belonging to the connection.
• When the About page was open in PCAN-Explorer, it could happen that a prompt was shown that asked about reloading the file "About_...html".
• If a symbol name was specified in a Standard Macro instruction and a connection had more than one database assigned to it, the error "Unknown symbol" was triggered.
• Application crashed when a Trace file was opened that had a comment in the last line.
• If the comment of a transmit message was empty, the cell in the grid was merged with the cell immediately preceding it.
• Clicking on the Open File... entry in the Recent Files list of the Start Page had no effect.
• Selecting Open Project from the context menu of the Recent Projects list on the Start Page had no effect.
• Changed values of virtual signals in the Watch window were not highlighted.
• The Comment field in the Trace window could appear at the wrong position separating the header from the Trace list.
• After changing the time format in the Options dialog, the time values shown in the "Time" column of Receive/Transmit lists were not updated accordingly.
• When executing the File > Save Project As command, the displayed Save dialog was not correctly configured to be part of the application. The resulting effects include: the Save dialog could move behind the main application window after closing the Save dialog, the main application window could be moved to the background behind other applications.
• Changing a signal value in the Edit Message dialog could trigger an Access Violation.
• If the option to show ordinal values of enum values was enabled in the Edit Message dialog, selecting an enum value from the drop-down list did not update the data bytes of the message being edited.
• Multiple macros with the same name but different macro languages could lead to unexpected behavior.
• The "Project" menu was initially visible after starting the application even when no project was loaded yet.
• Possible Access Violation when processing received extended multiplexing signals.
• Availability of Add-in licenses was not checked again after the main license could no longer be accessed and another one had been accessed, e.g. after the connection to a network license server was lost and a different LAN or local license was used instead that had a different set of Add-ins unlocked.
• When trying to export signals from trace data based on extended multiplexing symbols (Symbols file format 7), no signals were found the trace.
• When exporting messages (*.log/*.csv) from a tracer that contained trace data based on extended multiplexing symbols, symbol names were always exported as qualified names ignoring the setting in the Trace Export dialog.
• Event entries in trace files with only a single word as comment could not be interpreted and showed an error "Too few line parameters".
• German Umlauts in event entries in trace files were not correctly shown in the Trace window; event entries are now always written in English into the trace file.
• After a Trace window was closed, the last selected trace entry was still visible in the Properties window.
• If the main application window was initially shown in maximized state and then brought back to normal state, the background of the MDI client area was not erased or repainted while moving windows around.
• Trace playback did not pause at a breakpoint set for the first playable message in the trace when the "Repeat" option was enabled and playback started from the beginning.
• After all keyboard shortcuts were reset in the Options dialog, the Quick Access window could no longer be opened using the default keyboard shortcut Ctrl+ .
• Some other minor other improvements and bug fixes.

Changes

• The keyword "AnyBus" is no longer allowed as the name of a connection, since it is a reserved word in Standard Macros that is used in place of a bus number or connection name to specify that a send or wait instruction is to be performed on all connections.
• No more right-aligned columns in Receive/Transmit windows.
• Update check is only done if the currently used license is not a trial license.

Instruments Panel Add-in

Improvements

• New option in the Panel Properties to control whether a panel is rendered using Direct 2D or classical GDI, to resolve possible performance issues.

Bug fixes

• If the corner radius of a control was set to 0 it was neither stored in the *.ipf file nor did it persist after a copy-paste operation.
• The Corner Radius property was configurable even for controls that do not have a corner radius, like BitmapList , SvgList , LED , ToggleSwitch , or RockerSwitch .
• Access Violation when an object was dragged with the mouse onto the panel.
• If an SVG was used as a background image, the graphic was sometimes not scaled/aligned correctly, especially if the background image alignment of a scene was set to Stretch and then the Image Transparent property was toggled.
• If the PCAN-Explorer was located on a monitor with a scaling factor <> 100%, moving selected panel controls with the mouse displayed a wrongly positioned and wrongly scaled drag image.
• After switching to Run mode, it was not possible to return to Design mode using the command in the toolbar.

Plotter Add-in

Bug fixes

• The the Properties dialog was not setting its initial page when if was opened from the context menu of any plotter object by selecting the Properties command.

J1939 Add-in

Bug fixes

• A maximum of 4 non-FD BAM and 8 RTS/CTS write sessions could be started, then the error "Already sending" occurred in PCAN-Explorer for each subsequent sending attempt.
• J1939 multipacket symbols were not correctly decoded if the data length of a message did not exactly match the length defined for the symbol.

CANdb-Import Add-in

Bug fixes

• Error "Interface not supported" if an open CANdb file, which was not part of a project yet, was applied and then the option "Copy and add to project" was selected.

AUTOSAR XML-Import Add-in

Improvements

• New "Apply" button in the Add-in form. There is no context menu, and the only option to apply the file was via the file commands in the PCAN-Explorer toolbar.
• Some other visual improvements of the Add-in window.

Bug fixes

• Buttons in Import dialog were too wide so that they overlapped when the dialog was opened for the first time.
• Style/skin of Add-in window was not set.
• Error "Interface not supported" if an open ARXML file, which was not part of a project yet, was applied and then the option "Copy and add to project" was selected.

PCAN-Symbol Editor

Improvements

• In the About dialog, the license information for the available Add-ins "Bus Descriptions" and "J1939" is displayed.
• When searching for available PCAN-Explorer Add-in licenses, perpetual licenses now have a higher priority than trial licenses.
• New Advanced option to specify the license search order.
• In the Options dialog, the list items were not displayed correctly under certain circumstances, e.g. when the dialog was displayed with a screen scaling of more than 100%.

Bug fixes

• After the software was launched once without a valid J1939 Add-in license, the J1939 PG symbol type was no longer usable, even if a valid license was subsequently available.

Setup

Changes

• The file type extension .pym (Python Macro) was not registered in Windows as a file type to be opened by PCAN-Explorer by default.
• When the Visual C++ Runtime prerequisite was installed on Windows 11 ARM64, a message "Warning 4154: Visual C++ Redistributable... was not correctly installed" popped up though the Redistributable had been installed correctly.

Samples

Changes

• Fixed wrong PECallbackEvents type library reference in VS2019 C# Add-in example.
• Small fix/optimization in code of the NewClientSend() VBS macro example.
• In the .NET Add-in example the example window could not be opened.

License Manager - Version 2.0.4

Improvements

• Display start, stop, and crash events from the CodeMeter Runtime Server.
• Added a notification for CodeMeter service crashes and startups.
• Notifications include timestamps.
• Added a button to manually check the connection to the PEAK activation server.
• Improved license selection to allow only one license of the same type to be selected.
• Added a notification when the PEAK activation server is under maintenance.
• Improved error reporting.

Bug fixes

• Fixed a crash that occurred when generating containers during the offline process.
• Reworked container generation for activation in the offline process.
• Notifications now close when clicking outside the notification area.

Changes

• Removed unnecessary time specification from the maintenance date.
• Removed the local license view, as the network view is required even when only local licenses are displayed.

Version 7.0.5 03/02/2026

Changes

• Perpetual licenses that are found take precedence over trial licenses.
• The CodeMeter runtime is no longer installed with the network server feature pre-enabled.

License Manager - Version 2.0.3

Improvements

• Improved error message for cases where CodeMeter is not installed.

Bug fixes

• The License Manager could not always establish an internet connection with the PEAK license server.

Version 7.0.4 29/01/2026

Improvements

• When the "No License Found" dialog opens because the connection to the license was lost, a new "Ignore" button can be clicked (up to 3 times) to resume working with the application for a limited time and to make sure a user has enough time to save all unsaved changes
• Some minor improvements.

Bug fixes

• The message type tooltip shown in the Receive/Transmit lists was not hidden when the mouse was moved to another window.
• For windows in floating or docking style, popup menus could be scaled incorrectly in an environment with mixed monitor scaling settings.
• When editing a CAN-FD message for which additional options such as "Extended" or "BRS" had been specified, these options were no longer preselected as enabled in the Edit Message dialog box.
• Access violation when closing the application if the External Tools dialog had been opened previously.
• If the Windows 11 task bar was configured to combine task bar icons only if the task bar is full so that a program icon with a caption was shown, the task bar icon did not display the correct application icon.
• Some other minor bug fixes.

Instruments Panel Add-in

Bug fixes

• Selecting the "Cancel Full Screen" command in the context menu of a panel had no effect.

J1939 Add-in

Bug fixes

• A received J1939 RQST corrupted the Receive List and created subsequent "List Index out-of-bounds" errors.

CANdb-Import Add-in

Bug fixes

• Exporting variables or signals with comments sometimes resulted in an incorrect DBC file if a comment ended with a backslash character ("\").

PCAN-Symbol Editor

Bug fixes

• When editing a Symbols file with format version 5.0, a search performed with the Quick Access window found the same variables in the "Variables" and "Virtual Variables" categories.
• Sometimes an Access Violation error was triggered when a large DBC file was imported directly from the Start Page.

License Manager - Version 2.0.2

Improvements

• Added a notification message for license malfunctions.
• Usage period now begins upon activation.

Bug fixes

• Reworked notifications to prevent crashes.
• Fixed a crash occurring when deselecting all available container updates.

Version 7.0.3 11/12/2025

Improvements

• Some minor improvements.

Bug fixes

• In the Trace window, the context menu for changing the CAN ID format was opened when clicking on the "Type" column instead of the "ID" column.
• The application crashed when the style of the About window was changed (dockable/floating).
• Some other minor bug fixes.

Instruments Panel Add-in

Bug fixes

• The SVG List control could not be added to an older Instruments Panel file.
• The maximum size of SvgList items was limited to 256 x 256.
• Fixes and optimizations in Edit Bitmap Items and Edit SVG Items dialog boxes.
• When changing the name of a scene via the PCAN-Explorer Properties window, the names displayed in the status bar and structure view of the panel were not updated.
• Fixes in the automation interface.

J1939 Add-in

Bug fixes

• An error occurred while claiming an address.

CANdb-Import Add-in

Bug fixes

• An Access Violation error occurred while executing the “Apply” command in the CANdb window.

License Manager - Version 2.0.1

Improvements

• Added a file selection to the offline process.

Bug fixes

• A crash that occurred when loading saved settings from the registry at program startup has been fixed.
• Fixed UI refresh issues.

Version 7.0.2 04/12/2025

Changes

• First release.