Working with other applications

Launching Other Applications from DeltaV Operate

DeltaV applications and other approved third-party applications can be launched from DeltaV Operate. The DeltaV Operate toolbar already provides buttons to launch commonly accessed DeltaV applications. These toolbar buttons use the DeltaV Operate VBA command FRSRunTask. You can create custom toolbar buttons to launch other approved third-party applications using the same approach.

Applications can also be launched from within a graphic by editing the script for an object, such as a button or textbox, and using the FRSRunTask command. In addition, some applications can be launched "in context" through command line arguments. An example of context launching is starting the Process History View application and opening a particular chart.

The DeltaV Operate FRSRunTask VBA command supports the inclusion of command line arguments. The format of the command is

frsRunTask (strExecutable As String,[strParameters As String],[blnErrorFlag As Boolean=True]) As Double

Refer to DeltaV-Specific VBA Functions for more information on this and other commands.

DeltaV Operate has global variables defined for common applications such as Process History View and Excel. These global variables contain the path location for the application. If needed, users can add their own global variables to the User Globals file, User.fxg. Refer to Customizing the DeltaV Operate Environment for more information.

Working with ActiveX Controls

DeltaV Operate graphics are created and saved as ActiveX documents, which allows you to view your pictures in any application that supports ActiveX controls, such as DeltaV Operate or Internet Explorer. In fact, you can think of DeltaV Operate as a container for ActiveX controls.

Working with Bitmaps

You can import bitmaps from another drawing application directly into a picture. Once a bitmap is pasted into your picture, you can work with the image as you would any DeltaV Operate object. In fact, you have additional options for a bitmap. When you right-click a bitmapped object, you can select the operations listed in the following table.

Table: Bitmap Operations Available Through the Pop-Up Menu
Use the Operation...	To...
Animations	Animate a bitmap using the Animations dialog box.
Undo	Cancel the previous operation.
Cut	Remove the bitmap from the picture and places it into the clipboard.
Copy	Copy the bitmap to the clipboard.
Delete	Remove the bitmap from the picture.
Duplicate	Create a duplicate copy of the bitmap and place it slightly offset from the original.
Group	Combine one or more bitmaps into one grouped object.
Bring to Front	Move the selected bitmap to the front or top of the picture.
Send to Back	Move the selected bitmap to the back or bottom of the picture.
Load Image	Load a primary or secondary bitmap, either from a file or from the clipboard, that can be displayed in your picture.
Enable/Disable Transparency	Enables or disables the Transparency property in the bitmap.
Transparent Color	Assign a color to the Transparency of the bitmap. Note If you change the screen resolution, it may be necessary to reset the color depth setting to 32 bit (the default).
Button Styles	Assign a button style (No Button, PushButton, or MultiState) to the bitmap.
Edge Style	Assign an edge style (None, Sunken, Raised, Etched, Bump) to the bitmap.
Edit Script	Open the Visual Basic Editor, which allows you to edit Visual Basic scripts.
Property Window	Display the Properties Window, which allows you to view and change property values.

Let's say you want to import a bitmap, and then be able to easily view a different image related to the first. You can do this using the Load Image operation from the bitmap's pop-up menu. Here's how:

Click the Bitmap button on the Shapes toolbar or the Toolbox, if enabled.
Select the desired directory and bitmap and click Open. The image is added to the picture with object handles.
With the image selected, right-click the mouse and select Load Image - Secondary from the object's pop-up menu.
Select the file from the Open File dialog box, select a file, and click Open.
To switch from one image to another, right-click the bitmap and select Display Primary or Display Secondary from the pop-up menu.

You can copy another object as a bitmap and paste it into another graphics application such as Microsoft Paint, or copy and paste an existing object as a bitmap.

You can also change the properties of a bitmap by selecting the bitmap, and then selecting a property from the Object menu.

Working with Windows Metafiles

Another powerful feature of DeltaV Operate is that it lets you directly import Windows metafiles (files with the extension .WMF) into your picture. When importing metafiles, you can improve your performance by copying the object as a bitmap and then pasting it into the picture. Refer to Working with Bitmaps in this topic for more information on how to do this. The bitmap will use much less system memory than the metafile.