Plot Editor

Help Contents

Introduction

The Plot Editor allows you to configure data plots. For example a Trend Plot:

Trend window showing two tags

In Fernhill SCADA, a Data Plot contains these elements:

Plot Types

Fernhill SCADA supports these plot types:

Plot TypeDescription
Trend Plot Plots the value of Data Point Tags over time.
Value Duration Plot Plots the duration a Data Point Tags is at a value.

Using the Plot Editor

To use the Plot Editor to create a Trend Plot:

  1. In the Tag Window, right-click a folder and select Add New Tag, followed by Core, then Trend Plot. This will create a new Trend Plot Tag in the tag database.
  2. To set the name of the Trend Plot Tag do one of the following:
  3. To edit the Trend Plot Tag do one of the following: In either case the Plot Editor will open.
  4. Choose the tag you want to display on the trend plot and drag it on to the Plot Editor.
    Note: Only Data Point Tags with historic storage enabled can be added to the Plot Editor.
  5. Click the Save button to save the Trend Plot Tag to the tag database.

To edit an existing trend plot do one of the following:

Editing Plots

Using the Plot Editor you can do any of these edit operations:

Edit the Plot Title

To edit the plot title:

  1. Click the data plot area of the trend.
  2. In the Title section of the Properties Window, enter a new value for any of these properties:

Change Text Sizes or Font Faces

To change font faces or text sizes:

  1. Click the data plot area of the trend.
  2. In the Text Styles section of the Properties Window, enter a new value for any of these properties:

Add a Pen to a Trend

To add a pen to a trend:

  1. Select a Data Point Tag in the Tag Window.
  2. Drag the tag onto the trend.

Locate the Data Source of a Pen

To locate the data source of a pen in a trend:

  1. Select the pen in the trend.
  2. Right-click and select Show in Tag Window.

    The Data Point Tag will be selected in the Tag Window.

Remove a Pen from a Plot

To remove a pen from a plot:

  1. Select the pen in the plot.
  2. Right-click and select Remove.

Change the Order of Pens in a Plot

To change the order of pens in a plot:

  1. Select the pen in the plot.
  2. Drag the selected pen to its new position.

Change the Attributes Displayed with each Pen

Pen attributes provide additional information about the data source. For example:

To change the attributes displayed with each pen:

  1. Select the pen in the plot.
  2. Right-click and toggle any of these options:

Configuration Properties

Use the Plot Editor to change these properties:

Plot Properties

To edit Plot Properties select the data area of the plot.

When the data area of the plot is selected, you can change these properties in the Properties Window:

Title
Title The text that appears at the top of the plot.
TitleColor The color of the title. See Color Values for the different ways you can configure a color.
TitleFontFamily The font family of the title. Click the Browse button Browse button to open the Font Chooser Dialog.
TitleFontSize The size of the title text.
Text Styles
AxisFontFamily The font family used for text on the X and Y axes. Click the Browse button Browse button to open the Font Chooser Dialog.
AxisFontSize The size of the text used on the X and Y axes.
PenFontFamily The font family used to display each pen at the bottom of the plot.
PenFontSize The size of the text used to display each pen at the bottom of the plot. Click the Browse button Browse button to open the Font Chooser Dialog.

X-Axis Properties

To edit X-Axis Properties select the X-Axis area of the plot.

The X-Axis Properties depend on the type of plot edited.

Trend Plot

For Trend Plot Tags, you can change these properties in the Properties Window

X Axis Defaults
XAxisInterval The time span of the X axis when the trend is opened.
XAxisOffset The offset of the current time indicator from the right Y axis.
XAxisTracking When set to True, the trend moves the X axis with current time.

Value Duration Plot

For Value Duration Plot Tags, you can change these properties in the Properties Window

Plot Timescale
Duration The time span of data included in the plot.
StartOffset The offset from the current time of the first data point to include in the plot.
StartOffsetRounding The rounding to apply to the StartOffset property.

Pen Properties

To edit Pen Properties select a pen at the bottom of the plot.

When a pen is selected, you can change these properties in the Properties Window:

Properties
Color The color of the pen. See Color Values for the different ways you can configure a color.
Label The label to display in the pen at the bottom of the trend.
LineWidth The relative line width of the pen. The allowed range of this property is 1 to 5.
Source The data source of the pen. Use one of the following:
  • The full name of a Data Point Tag which has historic storage enabled.
  • The full name of a Time Series Tag which has historic storage enabled.
  • An SQL query that returns exactly 2 columns. The first column must be a timestamp. The second column must be a value.
Data Scale
DataScaleType The type of data scale:
  • Automatic: Scale information is obtained automatically from the data source.
  • Fixed Analog: An analog scale with a fixed range.
DataScaleUnits The units to display above the Y Axis. Not used if DataScaleType is Automatic.
DataScaleMaximum The maximum value of the Y Axis scale. Not used if DataScaleType is Automatic.
DataScaleMinimum The minimum value of the Y Axis scale. Not used if DataScaleType is Automatic.
DataScaleDisplayDigits The number of significant digits to display when displaying a numeric value for the pen. Not used if DataScaleType is Automatic.

Further Information

Trend Plot Tag

For information about storing trend plot definitions in the tag database.

Data Tags

For information about tags that store data historically.

Fernhill SCADA Configuration Tool

To learn about the Fernhill SCADA Configuration Tool.

Glossary

For the meaning of terms used in Fernhill SCADA.