Dashboards allow the display of a variety of graphical indicators of the status of portions of a SIMPROCESS model during simulation. Each of the available types is known as a Graph. The Graph Properties dialog allows for setting the initial state of each type of Graph when it is displayed by a Dashboard Server, and selecting other characteristics that can control how it will appear and operate. The fields and buttons appearing on this dialog will depend on the specific type of Graph being edited, and on whether the Graph is being edited as part of a Dashboard definition or a Dashboard assignment to a model. Some fields include:
Name: When defining a Graph as part of a Dashboard, this field must be unique among all Graphs on the Dashboard. It will uniquely identify this Graph so that messages sent to a Dashboard Server may identify it and route messages appropriately. When editing the properties of a Graph within an assigned Dashboard, this value is displayed for information only and cannot be edited.
Title: this value (not present on a TextLabel Graph) can be used to specify the Title which will appear at the top of the Graph when displayed by a Dashboard Server. A TextLabel Graph will have a Label field instead, representing the string that will be displayed in the TextLabel when initialized at the Dashboard Server.
X Axis Label and Y Axis Label: appearing only in the LineGraph and BarGraph, these fields allow you to specify the appropriate Axis label to appear on the Graph when displayed by a Dashboard Server.
Use Date Axis for Y Axis: appearing only on the LineGraph, this checkbox indicates that you wish to use date values for the X axis data plotted on the Graph. When selected, the LineGraph will automatically adjust the labels along the X Axis according to the range of values it has plotted; that is, it may display hours, dates, etc., as appropriate.
Dimension Type: available only on BarGraph and PieChart, this allows you to choose between 2D or 3D Graph displays.
Bar Orientation: available only on the BarGraph, this allows you to choose between horizontal or vertical bars.
Font Attributes: available only on the TextLabel Graph, this allows you to choose the name, style (any combination of bold, italic, both, or neither), color and point size of the font you wish to use when displayed by a Dashboard Server. It's important to note that not all fonts will be available on all systems, however. Only five (5) are guaranteed to exist on all Java-enabled systems: Serif, SansSerif, Monospaced, Dialog, and DialogInput. If you select a font not found on the system where the Dashboard Server is running, it will usually default to the Dialog font.
Mercury Color and Value Color: available only on a Thermometer Graph, these allow you to choose the color of the "mercury" portion of the displayed Graph and the numeric value displayed in the middle of the mercury.
Needle Color, Meter Color and Value Color: available only on a Meter Graph, these allow you to choose the color of the meter's needle, the color of the face of the Meter, and the color of the displayed current value on the meter's face.
Range: available on the Thermometer and Meter Graphs, this allows you to specify the numeric upper and lower bounds for the values displayed on each Graph. These values will be used to label the appropriate areas on the face of the Graph.
Use Subranges: available on the Thermometer and Meter Graphs, this checkbox allows you to specify whether subranges are to be used in displaying the Graph. When selected, it enables a series of additional fields to be set defining the subranges known as Normal, Warning and Critical ranges. Each of these need to have lower and upper numeric bounds set, along with a color, which will be used to appropriately change color displays or add markings to the Graphs so that plotted values can be identified as falling into an appropriate range.
When defining the properties of a Graph in an assigned Dashboard, there will be a pane on the right side that controls the content and appearance of the Graph. These types of values can be added to a Graph: Entity, Resource, Activity, Connector, Time Stamp, and Model Attributes. The buttons of the same names under the Select Plot Values heading are used to add values. Some of these buttons are not enabled for all Graph types. When setting the properties of a Graph during creation or editing of a Dashboard, only the OK, Cancel and Help buttons will be present, along with the fields described above.
Dialog Field Definitions and Buttons
OK: Closes the dialog and saves your settings.
Cancel: Closes the dialog and discards any changes you have made.
Help: Displays this Help topic for the dialog.
Remove: Removes selected values from the plot.
Remove All: Removes all values from the plot.
Entity: Used to add Entity values to the Graph. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Adding Values To Custom Plots for more information.
Resource: Used to add Resource values to the Graph. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Adding Values To Custom Plots for more information.
Activity: Used to add process or activity values to the Graph. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Adding Values To Custom Plots for more information.
Connector: Used to add connector values to the Graph. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Adding Values To Custom Plots for more information.
Time Stamp: Used to add time stamp values to the Graph. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Adding Values To Custom Plots for more information.
Model Attributes: Used to add model attribute values to the Graph. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Adding Values To Custom Plots for more information.
Set Legends: Used to set the text of the legends and the color of the traces for the selected Graph values. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Plot Legends for more information.
Reset Legends: Used to reset the text of the legends of selected Graph values to their default values. This will not reset colors to their default values. This works just like a Custom Plot; see Plot Legends for more information.
Select All: Selects all values within the Graph.
Deselect All: Deselects all values within the Graph.