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The Engineering Workspace is a comprehensive user interface that provides the tools and information you need to configure every aspect of a FactoryStudio Project Configuration. This user interface is usually referenced by he users as the MANAGER interface, or Project Manager, as the application file that implements it is the TManager.exe
Once a selected project has been loaded, the user is provided with an interface similar to a web browser, with a back button, list of recent items, and other navigation tools. This is the main window to do a project configuration.
You can drag the vertical bar with the mouse to adjust the size of the left menu frame, when you want to have more space on the workspace area.
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Many tabs in FactoryStudio display information in a table. All tables let you manipulate, copy, paste, and import data in the same way.
Editing Tables
FactoryStudio stores most configurations from the Edit menu, such as tags, alarms, and users, in tables. In most tables, you can add and edit information the same way.
To add a new table item (row):
After you click a column in the row, the * becomes a pencil icon, showing that you are now editing that row.
To edit an existing table row:
More than one person can edit a project at the same time. The system saves all changes to the project server and propagates the changes to other users. If two users modify the same configuration table or document, the changes from the last person who saves would overwrite any previous changes.
Tooltips and Validation
Throughout FactoryStudio, fields and buttons have tooltips that contain information about the field or button. tooltips appear when you move your cursor over the related field or button. Some tooltips also include an example that can help you.
The system also validates what you enter in most fields, especially in tables. Validation rules may check that the input is in a correct format, that values are within the appropriate range, and other factors. The exact rules depend on the specific item. If you see a red outline around the table cell, the entry is not valid.
Sorting, Filtering and Grouping
Information in many tabs within FactoryStudio displays in tables that you can sort, filter, and group. By default, items in a table are listed in the order in which you created them.
To sort a table:
To filter a table:
To group items in a table:
Adding and Removing Columns
Tables in FactoryStudio display a default set of columns. Every table has additional columns that you can display, and you can remove any of the default columns. You can also change the order of the columns.
To add or remove a column:
Several common columns are available from many tables. These columns are defined below, rather than repeating them in the description of every applicable table.
Column | Description |
ID | Database ID assigned to the object in the table. Numbers are assigned starting from 1 for the first object created and continue as needed. The IDs are unique only to a specific table. |
Level | Select the level you want to associate with the tag on the Assets tab. See Creating Assets in the chapter Tags, Assets and Templates. |
Category | Select one or more categories for this attribute. See Categories Dictionary below. |
DateModified | Date the object was last changed. |
DateCreated | Date the object was created. |
Description | Enter a description of the object. |
Copying and Pasting Rows
You can copy and paste rows into and from tables in FactoryStudio. The smart copy/paste functions let you copy rows from one table to another within FactoryStudio. For example, you can copy tags and paste them into the Historian tab or the Items tab under Alarms.You can also copy and paste to and from a spreadsheet. In addition, you can import a comma-separated values (.csv) file into any table. Column headings must match the table you are importing into. The best way to ensure that is to copy rows into a spreadsheet first, then edit the spreadsheet.
Copying and Pasting Within FactoryStudio
To copy rows to another tab in FactoryStudio:
Copying and Pasting To or From a Spreadsheet
To copy rows to a spreadsheet:
To paste rows from a spreadsheet:
Importing Data
The system imports the data into the table.
This section explains the major tools and features that are included in FactoryStudio to assist with common tasks.
Intellisense
The Intellisense feature presents a list of valid objects according to the characters you are typing into a specific input field and the valid entries for that field. You can insert a selected item from that list by pressing enter, space, the dot key or other symbol keys. All the input fields, either on the datagrids or at the drawing tools, where you can use tag names or object names, are enabled through Intellisense. The Intellisense fields also have built-in tooltips and validation, as previously discussed. Putting the mouse over a field will present the expected entries to that field. When you have an invalid input, the border of the field will become red and the tooltip will show the error.
Refactoring
Refactoring is the procedure of changing the definition of tag names, or any other object names (such as alarm groups, device nodes and any other) after that symbolic name is already in use in the application. Thanks to the centralized SQL configuration, FactoryStudio allows you to rename any object by simply typing the new name at the configuration table where that object is defined. All the references to that object will remain valid, using the new name with no actions required. For instance, to rename a tag that is already being used all across the project, just go to Edit-Tags-Objects and rename it. The same applies to Edit-Alarms-Groups, members at templates or any named object in the system.
Cross Reference
You can view how many times each object in the project is used, as well as a list of objects that are not used.
There are three distinct ways to select the object for which you want a cross reference.
1. Do one of the following:
2. Click Find or, from the Select Object window, click OK. The results of the search display in the Find window at the bottom of the page.
3. Double-click any row in the find results to go to that item.
4. To close the results pane, click Find window at the bottom of the page.
To track object use:
The table lists the number of references to every object in the system. To view objects that are not used, click the UnusedObjects tab. For a complete cross-reference of all objects, click the CrossReference tab.
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