Layers and Views
What are Layers and Views?
Many SCADA configurations contain a lot of objects and graphical displays of process components. Sometimes this huge amount of information given to the system operators may cause that they will not be able to act fast on a critical situation. By using layers and views you may simplify the process diagrams by hiding irrelevant objects in a given situation and thus optimize the monitoring process. With IGSS layers you are provided with 16 layers for the graphical descriptors in the process, 8 layers for names of objects and 8 layers for object values. All process objects are added to one or more layers and these may then combined in any way, to create a number of process views for various critical system states.
Examples of use
Layers and views may be used for many different purposes, here is given a few examples:
- To show/hide certain operator controls depending on a plant parameter (for example automatic/manual).
- To show a normal operation view and a view for emergency situations.
- To show/hide selected objects that might be useful to be viewed exclusively.
The illustration shows an example of using layers and views. Here the operator controls should only be visible when the configuration is running in manual mode:
Features
Below are listed some features available with IGSS layers and views:
- Global and diagrams views
Views can be made either as global views for the whole configuration or as a specific view for a single diagram. Both a global view and a diagram view may be active at any instance. - Digitally controlled views
Views can be activated by using a digital object. This is useful for automatic control of the current view. - VBA controlled views
In a similar way as with the Controlling object, views may also be activated from VBA code. - Set up from Property Table View
Layers may be configured from Property Table View which will make this process much faster and easier.