The first thing you might notice about the display editor is if the top bar from the homepage is
still available, which means you still have access to the home button the new display button and can
refer to your authenticated account and any messages raised by PI Vision. Just below at
the top bar we have another set of functions; to the far left we have our display title, since we
haven't saved out our new display yet we can't edit this instead it just reads click Save icon.
But typically we can use this to rename our display from within the editor. To the far
right we have our Save button; when we've made a change to our display this button becomes active
and we can save the edits that we've made. Using the drop down to the right of the floppy disk we
also have the option to save as a new file or display or export data on the display to
a CSV or XML format. Below this we have our toolbar; the toolbar consists of primarily
editing and formatting functions as well as static elements such as text boxes and geometric shapes.
Let's add something to our display. We'll create a text box by clicking on the capital T and then
clicking again inside the display window. A few things just happened here: first and foremost text
pops up on our display; a panel also appeared on the right side of the window which we'll call the
configuration pane and where we can control what text is shown as well as a few styling options.
Notice also that a new icon depicting a ruler and a pencil appeared to the left of our Save button.
This button toggles between modify mode and monitor mode; items on the display will respond
differently to button clicks depending on which mode is currently active. In modify mode the icon
will have an orange background and you will also find an orange border around the entire display
window. Other options on the toolbar include undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, and delete. Which may also
be invoked using standard keyboard shortcuts. This is also where you'll find the arrangement
functions. To the left of the display viewport we have the assets pane, events pane and graphics
library. The three may be cycled between using the three vertically aligned icons on the far left.
Clicking on an option when it has already been selected will collapse the entire panel. The
assets pane is where a bulk of our display content will come from. At the top of the
panel we have our data symbol list in order trend, value, table, vertical gauge, horizontal gauge,
radial gauge, XY plot and asset comparison table. PI Vision also supports extensibility
which means you can write your own symbols using javascript in HTML if you feel motivated to do so.
Below the symbol list is a search box that we can use to find specific assets,
attributes and PI tags. Underneath that is our navigation structure; at the topmost level our
our PI and AF databases. Asset framework databases have a hierarchical structure which means they can
be explored level by level, while PI data archives have a flat hierarchy and must be searched.
Beneath the navigation structure is an attribute list; when we select an
asset from the navigational structure its attributes will populate the list below
which may then be used on the display. To build data symbols on the display we
want to first click on a symbol from the list of selected and then find our data
item which will be a PI tag or attribute and click and drag it onto the display.
The events pane taps into the power of event frames and their relation to our assets;
by default this pane will populate with events related to assets represented on
the display that were active within the time range of the display. The built in PI
Vision graphics library provides scalable vector graphics representing many process
components and equipment to help you add more detail and context to your displays. Graphics
may be added to your display either by dragging and dropping them from the library pane or by
selecting them first and then drawing a placement rectangle on the display.
Lastly at the bottom of the display is the time bar; the time bar controls the
time range of the display and therefore the data that's represented. To the bottom left
and right you can find the start and end times of the display and both of these values may be
replaced simply by entering your desired times into the boxes directly. The box in the center
indicates the time coverage of the display and may be set to common intervals such as one hour,
one day etc. by clicking on it. The arrows to the left and the right of this indicator
are used to jump forward or backward in time an amount equal to the duration of the display. The
Now button may be used to jump to the current time setting the display and time to star.
When the Now button is green the displays end time is current and will update in real time.