Defining Evaluations

Evaluations are expressions and conditions applied to element or symbol property values to determine how an element or symbol behaves in a graphic. Property evaluations are the basis for creating animated graphics that automatically update to show a graphical representation of real time conditions of your system or facility.

Prerequisites: You should have an understanding of property evaluations and expression types.

Select the topic related to your task:

Start an Evaluation

You are in Design or Test mode and have a graphic or symbol open and would like to provide some property substitutions to an element.

From the canvas or the Element Tree view, click the element you want to evaluate.

The Properties view title is updated to reflect the name of the selected element and the associated properties display in the view. Additionally, in the Evaluation Editor, the Property drop- down menu is populated with the associated properties.

Navigate to the Evaluation Editor view.

From the Property drop-down menu, select the property you want to evaluate.

From the Type drop-down menu, select an evaluation type.

Proceed to one of the topics that follow below to complete the evaluation configuration:

Define an Animated Evaluation

You are in the Evaluation Editor, and have selected Type > Animated.

In the Expression field, enter a data point name or address of a system object along with a result or value you want to apply.

For each Frame [Condition], enter the value to associate with that frame. To insert another frame, click .

You are now ready to test your Evaluation with the Simulation View. Be sure you have enabled your evaluation by selecting the Evaluation Enable check box.

On the Home tab, from the Modes group, select Test.

Navigate to the Value Simulator view and complete the fields to configure a simulation.

The evaluation is simulated on the canvas.

Define a Discrete Evaluation

You are in the Evaluation Editor and have selected Type > Discrete.

In the Expression field, enter a data point name or address of a system object.

For each Condition, enter a value range and enter or select an associated Value to apply if the condition is met. Add and repeat for each condition as needed.

Sort the conditions in order of preference, using the arrow button at the bottom of the view.

On the Home tab, from the Modes group, select Test.

Navigate to the Value Simulator view and complete the fields to configure a simulation.

The evaluation is simulated on the canvas.

Define a Linear Evaluation

You are in the Evaluation Editor and have selected Type > Linear.

In the Expression field, enter a data point name or address of a system object along with a minimum and maximum value range you want to apply.

Do one of the following:

To manually enter a minimum and maximum range for the expression, deselect the Auto Range check box. Set the Range: enter values for the Min and Max fields and then enter a Value to apply for each range. If you leave a Min or Max value blank, the corresponding minimum or maximum range is taken from the expression range. If the expression doesn’t have a range then the values -1.79E+308 (Min) or +1.79E+308 (Max) are used.

To apply the minimum and maximum range of the expression to the Range, leave the Min and Max fields blank and enter a Value to represent each threshold.

On the Home tab, from the Modes group, select Test.

Navigate to the Value Simulator view and complete the fields to configure a simulation.

The evaluation is simulated on the canvas.

Define a Multi Evaluation

You are in the Evaluation Editor and have selected Type > Multi.

Enter a data point name or address of a digital system object for each Expression as needed.

Enter or select the Value for each required Condition.

For every Condition, set the state for each related expression by using the check boxes. For each condition, the expression check boxes are ordered from left (first expression in the expression list) to right (last expression in the list).

The check box states are represented as follows:

Checked = condition is true.

Unchecked = condition is false.

Filled = condition is neither true nor false (unspecified) and the corresponding expression is ignored.

Sort the conditions in order of preference, using the arrow button at the bottom of the view.

On the Home tab, from the Modes group, select Test.

Navigate to the Value Simulator view and complete the fields to configure a simulation.

The evaluation is simulated on the canvas.

Define a Simple Evaluation

You have an element selected on the canvas.

From the Property drop-down menu, select a property to evaluate.
For example: Visible

From the Type drop-down Menu, select: Simple

In the Expression field, enter or drag and drop the data point name or address of a system object using the correct syntax.

Modify or Delete an Existing Evaluation

You are in Design or Test mode and have an active element on the canvas that has one or more properties associated with an evaluation.

On the canvas, click the element whose property evaluation you want to modify.

The element is active and the scrolling arrows in the Evaluation Editor view are active.

In the Evaluation Editor view, click the navigation arrows until you get the property evaluation you want to modify.

The property with the evaluation settings displays.

Do one of the following:

Clear all evaluations fields or delete the evaluation – click .

Modify the existing evaluation settings as necessary.

If you have not already enabled value simulation to test your settings, navigate to the Value Simulator view and select the Run Value Simulator check box. If necessary, adjust your simulation preferences.

The results of the evaluation should be reflected in the running simulation.