Dashboards are defined in a window separate from the traditional SIMPROCESS window. It is intended to provide a simple, uncluttered means of defining dashboards. It contains three menus (File, Edit and Layout) and two toolbars which provide all the tools and commands needed to specify a Dashboard.
File Menu
New places a new Dashboard in the work area displayed in the window. If the current Dashboard has been changed, you will be asked whether to save its contents to a file before clearing it in favor of a new Dashboard in the work area.
Open prompts for the selection of a Dashboard file (having the extension ".spd"), which will be read and displayed in the work area where you can make additional changes to it. If the current Dashboard has been changed, you will be asked whether to save its contents to a file before clearing it in favor of a new Dashboard created from the selected file.
Save will save the current work area into its Dashboard file. If no file has yet been associated with it, this behaves the same as Save As.
Save As allows saving the current Dashboard to a new file. If an existing file is selected, you will be asked if you wish to overwrite that file.
Preview will be enabled when the Dashboard in the work area contains one or more Graphs. It will open a separate window which will look more like the actual Dashboard display to be shown by a Dashboard Server.
Close will close the SIMPROCESS Dashboards window. If the current Dashboard has been changed, you will first be asked whether to save those changes.
Edit Menu
Cut will be enabled only if one or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it removes the selected Graphs from the work area and places them onto the clipboard, where they may later be pasted back into the work area.
Copy will be enabled only if one or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it places a copy of the selected Graphs onto the clipboard, where they may later be pasted back into the work area.
Paste will be enabled only if one or more Graphs have been placed (via Cut or Copy) onto the clipboard. When selected, it places Graphs from the clipboard into the work area. The clipboard's contents remain intact until changed by a subsequent Cut or Copy action.
Duplicate will be enabled only if one or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it acts as though you had selected Copy followed by Paste. That is, it copies all selected Graphs onto the clipboard and then immediately pastes them back into the work area.
Clear will be enabled only if one or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it removes the selected Graphs from the work area and does not place them onto the clipboard.
Select All will be enabled only if one or more Graphs appear in the work area. When selected, it selects them all and they will display red borders to indicate their status.
Resize will be enabled only if one or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it presents a Resize dialog where you specify the width and height of the selected Graphs in pixels. If more than one Graph is selected, the size you enter will be applied to all of them. Individual Graphs may also be resized by selecting them and moving your mouse cursor over a portion of the border, then dragging when the cursor changes to indicate the direction of the resizing operation.
Properties will be enabled only if one or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it presents a Dashboard Graph Properties dialog for each selected Graph, in turn. You may also double-click any Graph to see edit its properties.
Layout Menu
Size will always be enabled since a Dashboard is considered to be open in the work area at all times. When selected, it displays the Dashboard Layout Size dialog.
Background Color will always be enabled since a Dashboard is considered to be open in the work area at all times. When selected, it sets the background color of the Dashboard in the work area to the currently selected color on the Dashboard Color button (see below).
Align will be enabled only if two or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it presents a dialog allowing you to choose from Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Center (Vertical) and Center (Horizontal). Selected Graphs will be repositioned so that they align as directed.
Distribute will be enabled only if three or more Graphs are selected (as indicated by a red border). When selected, it presents a dialog allowing you to choose from Vertically, Horizontally and Circular. Selected Graphs will be repositioned so that they are distributed within the available space (the layout size) as directed, much like the equivalent function in the SIMPROCESS model editor.
Snap to Grid, Grid Lines, Grid Spacing and Grid Color work like their counterparts in the SIMPROCESS model editor. They allow the optional use of grid lines to help in placement of Graphs in a Dashboard.
Dashboard System Tools
This toolbar provides buttons for convenient access to most of the functions available on the menus. There are buttons to create a New Dashboard in the work area, open a Dashboard from a file, Save the current work area, and to access the Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear and Properties actions from the Edit menu. In addition, there are two other buttons providing functions not available elsewhere.
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Dashboard Color is actually a pair of tools. The first is a button displaying the current color. When this window initially opens, the color is set to match that in the main SIMPROCESS window. The selected color can be changed using the triangular button, which displays a color chooser that allows selection of any color. Unlike the color button in the main SIMPROCESS window, this one does not have any assigned function when clicked. It merely displays the current color setting, which may be applied to the background of the Dashboard.
Dashboard Tools
This toolbar provides buttons for each of the available Graph types that may be added to a Dashboard. When one is clicked, a new Graph will appear approximately in the center of the Dashboard's layout, and it will be selected (its border will appear in red). A Graph may be moved by dragging it with the mouse. It may be resized via the Edit/Resize menu item described above; if it's the only selected Graph, hovering your mouse pointer over one of its edges will change the cursor to indicate the direction in which you can drag to change its size.
Popup (Contextual) Menu
This menu will appear when you right-click on any selected Graph. Available options include:
Properties will allow editing of the properties of all selected Graphs.
Edit is a submenu offering a number of the features available on the window's Edit menu (see above).
Align is a submenu which may be used to select any of the options that would be available from the Layout menu's Align item, though without a dialog.
Distribute is a submenu which may be used to select any of the options that would be available from the Layout menu's Distribute item, though without a dialog.