Creating Dashboard Displays How-to Guide

Build responsive operator dashboards with automatic layout adaptation

How-to → Pillars → Operator → Displays → Dashboard | Tutorial | How-To Guide | Reference

Creating a Dashboard

New Dashboard Display

1. Navigate to Displays → Draw
2. Click Create a New Document
3. Configure: • Name: Dashboard name • Engine: Portable (.NET and HTML5) • Template: BasicDashboard
4. Click OK

Dashboard Architecture

Layout System

The dashboard automatically switches between Grid and StackPanel based on display width, ensuring optimal layout on all devices.

Block Controls

Adding Dashboard Elements

Available Components

• DataGrid - Tabular data with sort/filter
• Trend Charts - Real-time time series
• Pie/Bar Charts - Data visualization
• Gauges - KPI indicators
• Symbols - Library or custom components

Container Types

Using Groups

1. Click Group icon in toolbar
2. Drop container on dashboard
3. Place related items inside
4. Group moves/resizes as one unit

Configuring Blocks

Block Properties

Dynamic Titles

// Use curly brackets for real-time values
Title: {Tag.ProductionRate} units/hr
Title: {Client.DateTime}
Title: Line Status: {Tag.LineStatus}

Dashboard Styling

Appearance Options

• Themes - 12 built-in themes (light/dark)
• Fill - Block background color
• Font - Text styling

CodeBehind Customization

.NET:

public void OnDashboardCustomizeItem(TCell item)
{
    item.TitleElement.TextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center;
    item.TitleElement.FontStyle = FontStyles.Italic;
    item.TitleElement.FontSize = 20;
    item.TitleElement.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
}

HTML5:

this.OnDashboardCustomizeItem = function(item)
{
    item.TitleElement.FontSize = 18;
};

Real-Time Updates

Event-Driven Architecture

Dashboard updates are fully event-driven:

• All tags automatically subscribe to server
• Changes trigger immediate updates
• Typical latency: 100ms - 1 second
• No polling or refresh configuration needed

Benefits:

• Minimal network traffic
• Instant value updates
• Efficient resource usage

Mobile Optimization

Responsive Behavior

1. Dashboard detects display width
2. At ≤400px, switches to StackPanel
3. Blocks stack vertically
4. Hidden blocks don't render

Mobile Configuration

• Check "Hide Block on Mobile" for non-essential KPIs
• Test at 400px width during design
• Prioritize critical information at top

Runtime Features

Operator Controls

• Maximize - Full screen focus on block
• Restore - Return from maximized
• Resize - Drag gridlines between blocks
• Reorder - Move blocks to new positions

Common Dashboard Patterns

Operations Dashboard

[Group: Production Status]
  Line 1 Gauge | Line 2 Gauge | Line 3 Gauge
[Trend Chart - Full Width]
[Group: Alarms and Events]
  Active Alarms Grid | Event Log

KPI Dashboard

[Horizontal StackPanel: Metrics]
  Revenue | Costs | Efficiency | Quality
[Group: Trends]
  Production Trend | Quality Trend
[DataGrid: Detail Data]

Best Practices Checklist

Design

• Use groups for related items
• Test at 400px for mobile view
• Place critical KPIs at top
• Apply consistent themes

Performance

• Leverage event-driven updates
• Limit complex visualizations
• Test with production data volumes

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