Creating pictures > Picture basics

Working with pictures - basic functions

Opening and Showing Pictures

If you have more than one picture open in DeltaV Operate, you can easily view a picture that is behind another one by doing one of the following:

  • double-clicking the picture name in the system tree

  • right-clicking the picture name in the system tree and selecting Show from the pop-up menu

  • selecting the picture name from the Window menu

Another effective strategy for showing multiple pictures is using the tiling and cascading functions, described in Tiling and Cascading Pictures in the Working with Pictures - Additional Functions topic.

Refreshing a Picture

You can refresh a picture by right-clicking the picture name in the system tree and selecting Refresh from the pop-up menu. You can also select Refresh from the View menu. When you refresh a picture, DeltaV Operate repaints the current picture on the screen.

Closing and Saving a Picture

There are different ways to close a picture. You can close a picture by clicking FileClose or by right-clicking the picture name in the system tree and selecting Close from the context menu. If you have made changes on the picture, you will be asked if you wish to save the changes before closing.

You can also close the currently selected picture by clicking the Close File button on the toolbar. Using the toolbar Close File button performs the following additional functions: 

  • counts the datalinks, objects, groups, and empty events

  • updates the refresh rate (Anything outside the range of .5 to 60, inclusive, is reset to 1 second.)

  • sets the deadband and tolerance for each datalink animation to 0

  • if any automatic updating has been done, saves a log file (picname.log) in the Pic folder (The log file can be viewed using Microsoft Notepad.)

  • empty events are removed and you are notified of these events as errors. (Note  A comment in the script is considered code and will not be reported as an error.)

It is a good idea to periodically save your work on a picture using the FileSave command or the Save Picture toolbar button. Using the Save toolbar button performs the same additional functions listed above for the toolbar's Close File button.

Context Menu for Pictures

When creating pictures, you can display a pop-up menu for that picture by right-clicking the picture name in the system tree, or by right-clicking any area in the picture outside of an object. The pop-up menu provides quick access to the picture's specific properties and animations, as well as common operations you can perform within the picture, such as selecting all objects.

The following table shows the functions that are available from the picture pop-up menu.

Use the Operation...

To...

Animations

Display the Animations dialog box that lets you animate properties of the picture.

Undo

Cancel the previous operation.

Paste

Place the most recently copied object into your picture.

Select All

Select all objects in the picture window.

Zoom

Change the width and height of the viewport by 50%, 150%, or 200% of the window size, or return the viewport size to 100% of the window size. The viewport is described in What Makes Up Your Picture.

Default View

Restore the original view of the picture before the window's size was changed.

Full View

Expand the window to occupy the entire client-area.

Fit Picture to Window

Resize the picture to fit inside the picture window, if necessary.

Fit Window to Picture

Resize the window to fit the size of the picture, if necessary.

Update Window Location

Preserve the current view of the picture so that, after being saved, it will look exactly the same way it did on the screen as when you closed it.

Refresh

Repaint the current picture in the picture window.

Property Window

Display the Properties window for the current picture.

Picture

Display the Edit Picture dialog box, which allows you to change window properties.

Edit Script

Open the Visual Basic Editor, which allows you to edit Visual Basic scripts.

Enable Scripts

Reference all selected objects into Visual Basic scripts.

Properties Window for Pictures

To display the Properties window of a picture, right-click the picture name in the system tree and select Property Window from the pop-up menu. For more information on Properties, refer to Controlling Object Properties.

Defining Picture Height and Width

You can define the height and width of the window in your picture using the Edit Picture dialog box. To do this, right-click the picture name in the system tree and select Picture from the pop-up menu, or select Picture from the Edit menu. Window dimensions are measured in logical units, which are further defined in What Makes Up Your Picture.

The Picture Preferences dialog box contains the default picture preferences which apply to newly created pictures.

Setting the Picture Background Color

You can set the background color of a picture using an unlimited selection of colors. This is useful for customizing your screens to complement multi-colored objects in your picture. The default background color is the color defined in the template from which the picture was created. 

To change the background color, open the picture, and click EditPicture from the menu bar. (Alternatively, you can select the picture on the system tree, right-click, and select Picture from the context menu. You can also right-click the picture, outside of any objects, and select Picture from the context menu.) On the Edit Picture dialog, click the background color button and select the color you want from the Select Color dialog box. For more information on using color in your pictures, refer to  Designing Your Pictures.

Viewing a Picture in the Run-time Environment

To view a picture, you do not have to leave the application you are in or shut anything down. You can switch environments directly from DeltaV Operate with the click of the mouse. To view your picture, click the Switch to Run button on the Standard toolbar or press Ctrl+W on your keyboard.

You can also control other preferences at run-time using the User Preferences dialog box. Refer to The User Preferences Dialog for more information on setting DeltaV Operate preferences.