Editing a user diagram

To edit a user diagram, the Diagram Objects toolbox must be displayed. To open the toolbox, select Options > Show Toolbox. If the Show Toolbox option is grayed out, your user account does not have sufficient access; contact your system administrator.

The Enable Undo option

The Enable Undo option enables or disables the undo feature in Vista. With this option active, you are allowed to undo or “step backward” up to three times. This feature is enabled by default. If you disable the undo feature, you lose the ability to undo any previous changes. You cannot enable the feature and undo changes made prior to enabling the feature. A check mark appears beside Enable Undo in the Options menu when this option is selected.

NOTE: The Show Toolbox option must be selected for the Enable Undo option to become active — it remains unselectable otherwise.

Adding a diagram object to a user diagram

You can add a new diagram object to a user diagram by dragging it from the Diagram Objects toolbox.

Types of diagram objects

Diagram objects provide the interface to ION registers in your network. Each diagram object performs a single function. For example, a single numeric object placed in a user diagram displays numeric data from a single source. There are seven types of diagram objects available on the Diagram Objects toolbox:

Grouping Object:
Group a number of related objects within a separate grouping window. Click on a grouping object to open the grouping window and display its contents.
Text Box:
Display independent headings, titles, and comments in a user diagram.
Numeric Object:
Display real-time numeric values such as Volts, Amps or kW.
Status Object:
Display Boolean data (On/Off, Yes/No, 1/0, etc.) or device-dependent conditions to indicate the status of a digital output (relay), digital input (status input) or setpoint. The image can be customized and it can be configured to use animation.
Data Log Viewer:
Display data logs stored in the ION_Data database (including archives from previous versions of the product), show waveform data (waveform capture, waveform recorder) and trends (data recorders) using tables, and provide data for plotting.
Event Log Viewer:
Display event logs stored in the ION_Data database (including archives from previous versions of the product), show event records from devices and other components, and display alarms.
Control Object:
Send commands to a device on your network (for example, clear an energy accumulator, toggle a relay, reset a counter, or adjust the value of an analog output device).

To add a function to a user diagram, choose the type of diagram object you want, drag it into the user diagram then link it to the appropriate register in a node. The following sections explain how to add and link a diagram object.

See Monitoring your system in Vista for more information on the function and basic use of each type of diagram object.

Adding a diagram object to a user diagram

  1. Select Options > Show Toolbox if the toolbox is not displayed. The toolbox appears in the workspace.

  2. Click on the diagram object you want and drag it from the toolbox to the diagram.

    In most cases, the object appears in the window as the icon from the toolbox. However, there are two exceptions:

    • A text box appears in the window as a rectangular box that displays the default message: “Your text goes here.”
    • A numeric object appears in the window as a rectangular box with a colon (:). This indicates that the object is not yet linked to a node.

    The object is now ready to be linked to a real-time or logged data source. See Linking a diagram object to a data source for details on linking an object to a source.

NOTE: When a diagram object is placed in a window, it automatically uses the same node as the window. If you want to change this source, either relink each diagram object or change the default window link before placing the objects.

Cutting, copying, and pasting a diagram object

Use the Cut, Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu to make a copy of a diagram object and paste it into another window or user diagram.

You can paste the copy as many times as you like to create multiple versions of an object. Each copy retains all of the attributes and linkage information of the original.

Cutting or copying a diagram object
  1. Select the object(s).
  2. Do one of the following:
    • To remove the original, select Edit > Cut then click Yes to confirm the deletion or No to cancel.
    • To retain the original, select Edit > Copy. The selection is copied to the Power Monitoring Expert clipboard.

NOTE: The Power Monitoring Expert clipboard is a temporary storage area that holds any information cut or copied from Vista. It should not be confused with the Microsoft Windows Clipboard.

After the object is copied to the clipboard, you can paste it into the active window.

Pasting a diagram object
  1. Select the window you want to paste to.
  2. Select Edit > Paste. The object appears in the active window.

Copying a group of diagram objects to a framework

A Vista framework is a template that you can use to record the layout of a group of diagram objects.

When you select Edit > Copy to framework, Vista saves the selection (including the type and location of each diagram object) as a file. You can then use the Paste from framework command to copy the group layout to another diagram or grouping window. This is useful for replicating a single configuration on multiple workstations. You can store a saved framework with its own filename and retrieve it anytime.

Copying a group of diagram objects to a framework
  1. Select the group of objects you want to copy.
  2. Select Edit > Copy to framework to open the Copy to framework dialog.

  3. Type a name for the framework in the File name box then click Save. The framework file extension (.fwu) is added automatically.

    The selection is saved as a framework.

After you save a group of objects as a framework, you can paste it to another window.

Pasting a group of diagram objects from a framework
  1. Select the window you want to paste to.
  2. Select Edit > Paste from framework to open the Paste from framework dialog.
  3. Navigate to the framework you want to paste and click Open. The framework selection appears in the active window.

Adjusting diagram object layout and size

This section describes how to move, align and resize diagram objects.

Moving diagram objects

You can move a single diagram object or a group of diagram objects within a single window or from one window to another.

  1. Select the object(s) you want to move.
  2. Drag the selected object(s) to the new location.

You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the selected diagram object(s) one space at a time.

When diagram objects overlap, use the Send to Back command to place one object beneath the others. Select the object then select Edit > Send to Back (or press CTRL+K).

Resizing a single diagram object

You can adjust the size of a diagram object to make it larger or smaller or you can stretch it horizontally or vertically to change its shape.

  1. Click on the diagram object to select it.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • To make the object larger or smaller, drag a corner handle.
    • To stretch the object horizontally or vertically, drag a middle handle.

Resizing a diagram objects to a standard size

The Size tab in the Layout dialog lets you automatically resize a diagram object or group of diagram objects to a set of standard dimensions.

  1. Select the diagram objects you want to resize.
  2. Select Edit > Layout or click to open the Layout dialog.
  3. Select the Size tab.
  4. Edit the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the object(s) as required.
    • Select No change to make no changes to that dimension.
    • Select Shrink to smallest or Grow to largest to adjust the width and/or height to match that of the smallest or largest object in the selected group.
    • Select Pixels to enter the exact width or height in pixels.

    You can also combine horizontal and vertical options on a single selection. For example, if you select Shrink to Smallest in the Horizontal section and 30 pixels in the Vertical section, the entire selection is resized to the width of the shortest object and the specified height of 30 pixels.

  5. Click OK to save your changes.

Aligning diagram objects relative to each other

The Align tab of the Layout dialog lets you specify the horizontal and vertical arrangement of the selected objects.

  1. Select the diagram objects that you want to align.
  2. Select Edit > Layout or click to open the Layout dialog.

  3. Select the Align tab to specify the horizontal and vertical alignment of the object(s).

    The options in the Horizontal and Vertical areas determine the criteria by which you can align diagram objects. For example, if you select Left sides under Horizontal and Space evenly under Vertical, Vista aligns all objects in the selection by their left sides (using the leftmost object for reference) and distributes them evenly along a vertical axis.

  4. Select the options you want then click OK.

Aligning diagram objects on a grid

The Grid tab of the Layout dialog lets you activate and configure an invisible grid. Objects placed onto the grid snap to the nearest gridline to help align and space them evenly.

To activate or deactivate the grid:

  1. Select Edit > Layout or click to open the Layout dialog.
  2. Select the Grid tab.
  3. Select one of the following options:
    • No grid turns the grid off.
    • Grid size in pixels activates the grid. Type a number in the “Grid size in pixels” box to specify the size of the grid (distance between grid lines).
  4. Click OK to save your changes.