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<h1 style="text-align: center;">Displays <br> (Desktop and Web)</h1>
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Introduction to the Displays Module
The Displays Module allows you to create User Interfaces.
Some of the Displays Module
Display's features:
- Allows the creation of .NET WPF and HTML5
- applications from a unified drawing tool
Create Responsive Dashboards as well HMI process screens.
Easily setup for Multi-Monitor applications.
- .
- The same configuration can execute in both WPF and web clients.
- Create responsive dashboards as well as HMI process screens.
- Allows user-defined layouts, creating
- displays composed
- of multiple frames.
- A large set of
- smart symbols, high-performance graphical symbols, and extensible components
- are included.
- Support for
- theme skins,
- language localization, and units metric system conversion.
- Automatically connects data templates with symbols.
- Displays are dynamically created from the
- asset model for self-aware SCADA applications.
This documentation section explains the tools available on the Displays Module. The drawing of displays is on the next documentation section: Drawing the User Interface.
On this page:
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Key Concepts and Terms
Display / Screen
A
Displaydisplay is a window or frame of your application’s user interface. A display can contain multiple graphical elements. The elements of a display can be static, meaning they always appear the same,
likesuch as a title or an image, or dynamic, such as a gauge or a color status indicator.
In the context of this documentation, the terms display and screen can be used interchangeably when referring to a user interface window. When referring to the configuration objects or the module, the term "Display" is used.
Layout
Layouts allow the organization of the user interface into frames or panels, acting as containers for your Displays. For instance, a typical layout includes a top display that remains constant with navigation buttons, and an area below where different displays can be shown.
Client
A client is a software component that interacts with a server or services, including types such as .NET Clients, HTML5 Clients, and Remote Clients.
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Rendering Engine
A rendering engine generates visual output from an application's display drawing. In our context, the Engine can be WPF, HTML5, or Portable meaning that the same displays can be rendered to WPF or HTML5 clients.
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Panel Types
PanelType
Panels are
Panel types work ascontainers for organizing
display elements. Ourthe display’s graphical elements. The PanelType defines how those elements will be organized. Our platform supports Canvas and Dashboard as PanelTypes.
Our Platform support Canvas and Dashboard as PanelTypes.
Canvas (or Process Screens): The elements are in a drawing surface, where each element has its specific location and size.
Grid (or Dashboard Screens): The elements are placed in a grid with responsive size, columns and rows. The graphical elements adjust accordingly.
Understanding the Displays Module
The displays communicate between technologies, operational processes, and visual configurations. Exploring display technologies and client types provides a foundation for tailoring displays. The operational aspect organizes elements for an enhanced user experience, including screens and dashboards. Additionally, understanding display modes and stretch options for shaping how information is visually presented on the screen helps ensure adaptability and responsiveness. These components collectively contribute to a comprehensive understanding of displays.
Display Technologies and Client Types
Displays leverage various technologies and support different client types, such as .NET Clients and HTML5 Clients. Understanding these technologies and client variations is necessary for tailoring displays to specific platform requirements and user experiences.
→ Read more about Display Client Types
WPF and HTML5 Automatic Conversion
Displays Module implements the user interface for the execution of your solution. The drawing of a display itself is covered in the next chapter, "Drawing User Interfaces." First, it is necessary to understand the various concepts and features related to creating and using the User Interface Displays.
Desktop and Web sharing the same configuration
The Displays Module allows the creation of screens to run on Windows desktops using WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) technology or in web browsers using HTML5 and WebAssembly technologies.
Although you can create displays that are intended to open in only one environment, our platform supports the Portable option, where the exact same configuration can be used by both Windows/WPF clients and Web/HTML5 clients.
Users don't need to create two different types of screens for Windows and web The Portable option allows automatic conversion between WPF and HTML5 technologies. Users do not need to create two different kinds of screens for Windows and Web clients. Using the Portable option for the rendering engine creates displays that will automatically function in both HTML5 desktop and WPFweb environments. This enables running on the web browser all the displays you created for Windows/WPF.→ Read more about WPF and HTML5 Automatic Conversionfeature enables our users from previous releases to use the screens they created over the years on Windows desktops and open them directly in web browsers with no rework or modifications.
For Windows WPF, you can access the displays using the Rich Client (installed on the client computer) or a Smart Client (ClickOnce, no installation required) loading from supported browsers.
For Web HTML5, no installation is required; you can use it on desktop or mobile devices with any browser compatible with HTML5/WebAssembly (which most browsers currently are).
Process Screens and Dashboards
Process screens and dashboards are specific layouts within displays that organize graphical elements for different data visualization purposes. They contribute to the overall structure and design, enhancing the user experience.
A Process Screen represents a process diagram. When resized, the elements keep their relative position.
A Dashboard Screen is for data presentation where the UI components are placed on a grid, according to the size of the Container window.
When using process screens, there are various ways to specify the responsiveness for resizing, such as stretching proportionally or other options. That behavior is defined in the drawing tool or the Display Settings.
When using Dashboards, you are automatically creating responsive UI interface.
Windows Specific Features
Although the platform tries to keep the Windows/WPF and Web/HTML5 experiences of the displays as similar as possible, there are features available only when running WPF displays on Windows, due to intrinsic limitations of the web browser.
Those features include;
Easily setup for Multi-Monitor applications.
Process Control execution mode disables the Windows Task Switch.
Those requirements are useful for enterprise Network Operations Centers and Operations Control Rooms. To activate this feature, navigate to Displays Client Settings
Designer and Runtime Themes
An extensive set of light and dark themes, including high-contrast options, provides better comfort and visibility when creating the solution, as well as for operators.
The built-in tools enable the easy creation of solutions that will be delivered with theme support, requiring no extra effort.
Localization and Internationalization
The platform allows the easy creation of solutions that, without the need of modifications, can run in various settings for language and internationalization.
It is possible for two Operators to access the same server, using distinct choices of UI language and Engineering Units, and changing its settings for their local User Interface.
Smart Symbols
Smart Symbols
The Drawing tool includes a library of around 2,000 Smart Symbols, graphical elements typically used in industrial applications. Many of these symbols are more than just vector images; they also have dynamic behavior that allows direct mapping to your tags and assets. It includes also a set of Industrial Icons, specially designed for the typical visuals on process displays.
High Performance HMI
The well-known book High Performance HMI proposed a set of standards for HMI design. Our platform fully enables the creation of solutions that support those standards, including High-Performance Graphical (HPG) palettes in its themes and hundreds of ready-to-use symbols created following those specifications.
Advanced Components and Controls
For advanced graphical interfaces, such as GanttCharts, TrendCharts, DataGrids, PdfViewers and more, a set of Graphical Components for WPF and Web is included. Additionally, third-party controls can easily be used in the solution.
Self-aware Applications and Dynamic Displays
Previous generations of SCADA and HMI typically had the drawing and mapping of their data fixed to the tags and process variables. At most, they allowed the same drawing to point to different assets, as long as the assets were similar. Our platform, being a new generation, also allows the dynamic creation of complete graphic displays according to the data being connected.
These data-centric applications can have their user interface created automatically based on the assets found in the data model. Typically, these applications are organized around a unified namespace, an MQTT broker, or OPC UA servers.
Using the TagProvider feature, our platform can establish a dynamic connection with those systems, selecting the best UI elements according the data found on the connected servers.
Learn more about data-driver user interface on the Tutorial MQTT and Dynamic Displays.
Displays Module Configuration
→ Read more about Responsive Dashboards.
Display Modes and Stretch Options
Display modes and stretch options influence how information is presented on the screen. Whether configuring modes for specific contexts or stretching elements for responsiveness, these options impact the visual output.
→ Read more about Display Modes and Stretch Options.
Configuring DisplaysThe Objects and Tools to create and manage Displays are organize organized in the following sections:
Displays List
The Displays List page shows the current set of Displays of the solution. More information in Displays List.
Displays Draw
Built-in graphical editor for Displays. Go to Displays Draw for an overview, and go to Drawing the User Interface for information on all the drawing tools
Layouts
Organize Displays into frames. More information on Displays Layouts.
Client Settings
Setup startup and execution settings, when using the displays. More information on Displays Client Settings.
Images
Table will with all Image Files imported to the Solution File. More information on Displays Images.
Symbols
Table will with all Symbols imported to the Solution File, or created within. More information on Displays Symbols.
Themes
Show the available Themes and allows customizations. More information on Displays Themes.
Localization
Define Translation Dictionaries, allowing different operator to run their displays in different languages. More information on Displays Localization.
Units Conversion
Define Dictionaries for Metric System conversion, allowing different operator so operators to see Values in different metric system. More information on Displays Units Conversion
Creating New Displays
You can create a display in two sections of the software: Displays/List and Displays/Draw. These interfaces enable the creation and management of new displays.
To create a display on List:
- Navigate to Displays/List.
- Click the
button at the top to open the 'New Display' popup window. - Define the Name and Description of the display.
- Define the Rendering Engine. This configuration item has three options: Portable (available for WPF and HTML5), WPF Only, and HTML5 Only.
- Define the Panel Type for the display. This configuration item has two options: Canvas and Dashboard.
The Canvas option allows for manual positioning and sizing of elements.
The Dashboard option automatically resizes and repositions elements, organizing the display into predefined regions. It provides a structured and uniform layout, ensuring that elements adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions without manual adjustments. - Optionally, choose a Template for the display. If you do not select a template, a blank page will be created by default.
- Finally, press the OK button to finish the display creation and close the popup window.
To create a display on Draw:
- Navigate to Displays/Draw.
- Click the
button at the top to open the 'New Display' popup window. - Follow the same procedure as for Displays/List.
The Drawing the User Interface section of the Users covers the information about the drawing tools and CodeBehind editing.
Working with the Displays Module
Enabling Multi-Monitor Support
The multiple monitor feature enhances solutions to support various screens, which is useful for enterprise Network Operations Centers and Operations Control Rooms. To activate this feature, navigate to Displays → Client Settings and select Enable MultipleMonitor. This option is available exclusively for Rich Clients.
→ Read more about Client Settings.
Troubleshooting and Best Practices
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** Why is there a TOC here? **
Best Practices and Recommendations
Use responsive dashboards when designing interfaces for client displays, ensuring that the HMI and dashboard components adapt to different screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations. This section covers design principles and best practices for creating responsive layouts, such as using flexible grids, scalable images, and media queries. The focus is on ensuring that the application delivers an optimal user experience across various devices, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones, with platform-specific considerations and recommendations for different client types.
In this section:
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