Draw a Coverage Area Symbol

  • You want to create and save a symbol that consists of an image (for example, a camera or motion sensor) and a pre-defined coverage area associated with the image. Or, you have an existing device symbol in your Library and want to add a coverage area to the device symbol.
    After this procedure, a user can drag the updated device symbol onto a graphic and the coverage area is available to graphically associate other objects, to, for example, represent the objects the camera or motion sensor is monitoring.
  • You should have an understanding of how substitutions work with symbols and Property Evaluations.
  • You have reviewed or completed the Preparing to Create Controls to Command Objects workflow.
  • System Manager is in Engineering mode.
  • You have a new or existing symbol open in the Graphics Editor.
  1. If this is a new symbol, drag an image onto the canvas for the device that is going to monitor objects and data points on the graphic. Otherwise, if this is an existing device symbol and already contains a device image, proceed to Step 2.
  1. On the Home tab, from the Elements group, click one of the following elements to draw the coverage area on the symbol: Path, Ellipsis, Polygon, and Rectangle.
    NOTE: The type of shape cannot be changed in the symbol instance. However, the Path element has segments that can be adjusted individually in the symbol instance, and is the recommended choice for drawing a coverage area.
  1. Click the canvas, and draw the coverage area.
  1. Select the coverage area and navigate to the Properties view and expand the Advanced properties so that the Coverage Area Reference field is visible.
  1. To reference a specific device or create an object model, do one of the following:
  • Device specific: In System Browser, from the Management View, navigate to the hardware device, camera or motion sensor object, and drag it over the Graphics Editor's Properties view > Coverage Area Reference field.
  • Object model: In the Evaluation Editor, from the Property drop-down menu, select Coverage Area Reference. In the Expression field, enter the coverage area reference or a substitution enclosed with double quotes. For example: "{*objectref}". This allows you to bind the element to an object model.
  1. In the Properties view, from the General section, do the following:
    a. (Optional) In the Tooltip field, type a label for the coverage area. The text displays in the Graphics Viewer when you move your mouse over the coverage area.
    b. Click Next to assign the next available ID value in the ID field.
    c. (Optional) In the Description field, enter a description for the coverage area.
  • When you click away from the element, the Element Tree view lists the element with the ID number and description in parentheses.

NOTE:
When the symbol is a symbol instance in a graphic, you can change the dimensions of the coverage area element only if the element has an ID associated with it. If you leave the ID field blank, the element cannot be edited.

  1. To save the symbol, click Save As from the File menu. Expand the Libraries directory and navigate to the appropriate library and Symbol folder you want to save the symbol to, and then click Save.
  1. If you create an object model, do one of the following:
  • If the device symbol is not yet associated to an object model or a function, to complete the process of creating a coverage area symbol, proceed to the next procedure, Associating a Coverage Area Symbol with an Object Model.
  • If the symbol is already associated with an object model or function, the coverage area or device symbol is ready to use in a project graphic to graphically represent a monitoring device. Linked data points and objects can be added to the coverage area. For more information, see Using Coverage Area Symbols in Project Graphics.