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Changing object template properties

About Object Template inheritance

By default, an object created based on an object template will inherit all changes made to the object template, with a few important exceptions.

Properties inherited from the object template

The following properties are inherited from the object template by all objects based on that template.

All templates (Analog, Digital, Table and Counter object templates)

• All properties in the Data Management tab, including Object Level Protection settings, Safe Commands and data logging settings.
• All properties in the Atom Mapping tab, including PLC addressing, alarm numbers and alarm texts.¹
• All properties on the Alarm/In Ack Bit tab (bit map definitions for the PLC alarms)
• All properties and defined calculations in the Calculations tab.
• All properties on the Symbol Definition tab (symbol type and colors) if the symbol properties have been stored in the object template and if the option Inherit symbols from template was selected for the objects that are based on the template.

¹ Atoms that contain input values from either user-input or PLC machines (for example Actual Value, Counter, Limits, High /Low Alarm, High /Low Limit, Min/Max Scale, and all Free Value atoms) are not updated if they have been changed more recently than the value in the object template. i.e the date/time stamp on the atom value is newer than the date/time stamp for the object template change.

Digital object templates only

The following object properties are updated by the digital object template

• All properties on the Bit Map I/O tab (bit map definitions for the states and commands)
• All properties on the States and Commands tab (Display names for states and commands)
• All properties on the Command/State Config tab (Mapping of valid commands to states)
• All properties on the Symbol Definition tab(symbol type and color mapped to states) if the symbol properties have been stored in the object template and if the option Inherit symbols from template was selected for the objects that are based on uses the symbols from the template.

Object properties not updated by the object template

The following object properties are not updated by the object template

• The Connect to field on the Data Management tab
• The Object Description field on the Analog, Bit Map I/O, Table or Counter tab, respectively
• Any symbol definitions on the Symbol Definitions tab if the option Store symbols in template is not selected in the Object template, and if objects based on the template does not have the option Inherit symbols from template selected.
• Any descriptorA descriptor is the graphical display of an object. IGSS includes many types of descriptors including: - Built-in standard symbols - Animated symbols (Symbol Factory library) - Graphics and animation - Drawing symbols - Windows controls - ActiveX controls An IGSS object can be represented with different descriptors on different diagrams.-dependent settings, for example all objects connected to a descriptor will have a Display tab, but the object template will not contain a Display tab as the object template by definition does not have a descriptor.
• Atoms that contain input values from either user-input or PLC machines (for example Actual Value, Counter, Limits, High /Low Alarm, High /Low Limit, Min/Max Scale, and all Free Value atoms) are not updated if they have been changed more recently than the value in the object template.

Breaking object inheritance from the object template

Object inheritance rules for object templates are straightforward in IGSS:

• If the object property is the same as the property value in the object template, object inheritance is maintained and changes to the object template property will be copied to the object.
• If the object property is not the same as the property value in the object template, object inheritance is broken and changes to the object template property will not be copied to the object.

Non-symbol properties

To break object inheritance from an object template for non-symbol properties, change the property value to a value different than the object template.

You can re-establish object template inheritance by setting the object property to same property value as the object template.

Symbol properties

To break object inheritance from an object template for symbol properties, clear the Inhreit Symbols from Template check box on the Object Properties form's Symbol Definition tab.

You can re-establish object template inheritance by selecting the Inhreit Symbols from Template check box again.

Object inheritance can only be broken and re-established in the individual objects’ properties forms, not in the Object template.

Object Template inheritance example

There are two objects in this example: A Flowmeter00 analog object and the FLOWMETER analog object template, which the Flowmeter00 analog object is based on.

The FLOWMETER analog object template has defined:

• High Alarm atom: 90
• Low Alarm atom: 15

Creation of Flowmeter00 object

When the Flowmeter00 analog object was created, it inherited the High Alarm and Low Alarm property settings from the FLOWMETER analog object template.

Break object template inheritance for High Alarm

The Flowmeter analog object's High Alarm property setting is now changed to 93, breaking the inheritance to the FLOWMETER analog object template for the High Alarm atom only. The Low Alarm setting is not changed for the Flowmeter00 analog object.

The FLOWMETER analog object template is changed: The High Alarm property setting becomes 91 and the Low Alarm property setting becomes 17. The High Alarm property setting is not changed for Flowmeter00, remaining at 93 but the Low Alarm property setting is changed to 17.

Reestablish object template inheritance for High Alarm

If you want to re-establish the Flowmeter00 inheritance to the High Alarm property setting for the FLOWMETER analog object template, you must change the High Alarm property setting on the Flowmeter00 object to be 91.

See Also

To change object template properties

The digital object template properties form

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