Selecting a panel template

Templates

This section describes the predefined templates which are provided by WinCC OA for selection and how to create an individual template.

Note that when opening the panel topology through GEDI, the Default configuration (template) will always be shown (check box "Use as default configuration"). If you set a user-specific template and open the panel topology again through GEDI, the default configuration will be shown and not the set user-specific configuration.

Predefined templates

Each template consists of up to three modules which are placed in the root panel depending on the selected template. The template parts are stored in the WinCC OA installation directory under <wincc_oa_path>/panels/para/PanelTopology/template/<templateName>.

The following table described the predefined templates with the position information of the modules and available sizes.

ETMMENU

ETMTREE

TEMPLATE1

TEMPLATE2

TEMPLATE3

Creating a template

An individual template that has been created in WinCC OA can be integrated into the screen configuration. To do so, the following steps have to be performed:

1. Create a WinCC OA panel from e.g. the already available template modules (see below). Place them anywhere in root panel.

2. Create a new folder in the project directory WinCC OA panels/para/PanelTopology/templates/. The folder name must match the template name and may only contain uppercase letters!

3. Save the template modules of the panels created in the desired size in the new folder:

• basePanel_<x-resolution>_<y-resolution>_<templateName>.pnl

• infoPanel_<x-resolution>_<y-resolution>_<templateName>.pnl

• naviPanel_<x-resolution>_<y-resolution>_<templateName>.pnl

1. Create a new folder in the project directory under pictures/para/PanelTopology/templates/. The folder name must match the template name and may only contain uppercase letters!

2. Save a Screenshot (*.png) of the created template in the new folder, so that a preview of the template in the screen configuration is available.

Example

It is assumed that a template already exists and a screenshot (MYTEMPLATE.png) is available. The following additional steps have to be performed:

1. Create a new folder with the name "MYTEMPLATE" in the WinCC OA project directory panels/para/PanelTopology/templates/.

2. Save the template parts in the new folder:

Base panel:

/MYTEMPLATE/basePanel_1280_1024_MYTEMPLATE.pnl

Alert bar with system information: /MYTEMPLATE/infoPanel_1280_1024_MYTEMPLATE.pnl

Navigation bar: /MYTEMPLATE/naviPanel_1280_1024_MYTEMPLATE.pnl

1. Create a new folder with the name "MYTEMPLATE" in the WinCC OA project directory images/para/PanelTopology/templates/.

2. Save the screenshot MYTEMPLATE.png in the new folder.

Base panel layout

The base panel, which is opened after logging into WinCC OA, might look like the example below (depending on the template type selected) once the panel topology has been configured:

Operating block (navigation bar)

As in the WinCC OA DemoApplication, the navigation bar contains a number of options for navigating through the topology of a project. This module has the name "naviModule" in the templates (exclusive ETMMENU).

On the left are the "Start" button (with a dynamically generated cascade) and the direct-selection buttons (see also Configuration of the direct-selection feature). A navigation button appears in the center and provides another means of navigating around the panel hierarchy. Its icon is a house surrounded by four arrows pointing in all four directions. On the right of the bar are the buttons for opening some of the predefined independent process displays (Variable Trend, Alert panel - is opened as rootpanel in a new module, System management panel - is opened as childpanel in the "mainModule", link to the Online Help) together with frequently-used function buttons (Acknowledge all and Acknowledge horn). The operating actions available in the navigation bar depend on the user that is logged in (e.g. the user "guest" can only open the Online Help from the independent process displays - all the other buttons are disabled and shown in gray). Please refer to the Online Help for the WinCC OA DemoApplication for a more detailed description of the navigation bar WinCC OA DemoApplication - Navigation facilities.

Main panel

The root panels defined in the panel topology are displayed here. When the base panel is first opened after logging in, this panel displays the first panel configured in the topology or user screen configuration (the start panel). This module has the name "mainModule" in all three templates.

Alert bar with system information

This module contains a three-line alert panel (see also Alert Panel) with scroll bar (name of the module in all three templates is "infoModule"). System information is displayed alongside, for instance details of the logged-in user, system time and date, hard-disk capacity and RAM utilization. If you right-click on the line displaying the current user a context menu opens containing various options (e.g. login, login as ..., User Administration). The size of the alert bar is adjusted automatically according to the resolution. Once again please refer to the WinCC OA DemoApplication Online Help for more details - WinCC OA DemoApplication - Alert handling, WinCC OA DemoApplication - User interface.

If you want to display your logo beside the alert bar in the base panel, save it in the directory <proj_path>/pictures with the file name "firmLogo.gif" (80x80 pixels)! Your company logo can be saved in the format "bmp" or "gif" ("gif" has the advantage of transparency).