Trend Application
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Introduction to Trend

The Trend application provides a visual way of viewing data over time. The data displayed are user-selected tag values viewed over user-specified time durations. The tool is designed to leverage the ThinkIQ Model and make getting data about equipment quick and efficient. This means that users with no knowledge of the underlying source systems and their tags can search for and visualize any real-time and historical data.

The platform provides many ways to launch Trend. An empty Trend can be opened from the main menu item Applications->Trend. You can also launch Trend from a Process Layout Diagram, from several areas within the Model Editor, from a Material Flow Diagram, and where ever you see the Trend icon:  .

Selecting tags with the Model Browser

Trend uses the Model Browser component when selecting tags. The Model Browser allows the user to navigate through the model via a hierarchical tree panel and select specific attributes in the data table on the right. Multiple contiguous and non-contiguous tags in the data table can be added while holding the Ctrl key. Open the Model Browser using the  button at the top right of the attribute table.

The Attribute Table

Once selected, the tags are displayed in the attribute table below the charting area. The columns displayed in the attribute table are configurable using the icon  to open the Selection List. The Selection List dialog includes an option to Show hidden Attributes. These hidden attributes refer to attributes on instances in the Model Editor that have been set to 'hidden'.

Columns in the table can be sorted, filtered and searched, as seen by the column headings. This feature can be toggled on and off using the funnel icon:   Collapsed and expand the table as needed using the  icon. 

The attributes (tags) displayed in the chart area can be modified using the attribute table several ways:

  • Highlight an individual attribute on the chart  by clicking on a row to select it
  • Remove an individual attribute from the chart using the  in the Trash column
  • Show/Hide an attribute on the chart by clicking on the checkbox in the Eyeball  column
  • Open the Model Editor for an individual attribute by clicking on the vertical ellipsis  at the end of the attribute row and selecting "Model Editor"
  • If access level allows, attributes can be directly edited from within Trend by opening the Edit Attribute dialog. Click on the vertical ellipsis  at the end of the attribute row and selecting "Edit Attribute".

Note that the Time Range currently in use in the Trend is always displayed at the top left of the attribute table.

DateTime Settings

The Date-time Selector at the top left of the chart is used to set a specific date and time configuration. The play-timeline icon  on the date-time control becomes enabled when the datetime has been changed: click the icon to update the chart with new datetime settings. Should the chart transaction take too long to load, use the stop polling icon  to stop the process. Upon launching, Trend defaults to the last hour of data.

The Relative Time (custom-range) drop-down selector provides a set of convenient time periods such as Last Minute, Last Hour, Last Week for quick charting. As you are studying the chart, use the refresh button  to update a custom-range setting.

Zoom In or Zoom Out from the currently selected time duration and update the Trend chart area using the zoom controls . Zooming in will reduce the time span by half each time it is engaged. Zooming out will double the time span each time it is engaged.

Panning Backward and Forward moves the time span 100% and 50% each time the associated panning button     is engaged.

Other Chart Controls

Live Mode will reset the Relative Time range to 5 minutes, refresh and update the chart every 5 seconds. Unchecked is the default for this control.

Autoscale, when checked,  will set the y-axis scale graduation to reflect the attribute with the largest range in the attribute table, and show all the visible attributes within those Y-axis values.

When unchecked, y-axis scale will match the attribute selected (highlighted) in the attribute table. As you highlight different attributes, the scale will change and adjust it's range to match the attribute. This range only reflects the actual data and does not respect limits that are set for the attribute. Unchecked is the default for this control.

Data Markers highlight (makes bold) the individual data points returned by the source for all attributes on the chart. When checked, the tooltip adds the date and time for the points returned. Unchecked is the default for this control.

Down Sampling is checked by default for this control. Down sampling improves performance by setting a maximum resolution of data points returned for a time period for an attribute to 3600. If during a specific time period, say 1 hour, more than 3600 data points are in the system, calculations will be made to reduce the number of points returned to the trend chart to 3600. Turning off down sampling for the chart will return all data points for a given time period, but this can result in degradation of performance or an overly busy chart. Options for increasing resolution of data include using the data cursors (see below) to narrow in on a specific time period, or using the datetime selector to manually set a time period. Depending on the nature of the data, reducing the time period and turning off down sampling can be effective.

Copy Trend saves the current Trend URL and its parameters to the clipboard so the Trend can be shared with other platform users. The copied URL can be messaged or emailed to other users with the paste capability.

Download Data downloads the trend data in the chart into a CSV file. Options for downloading include:

  • Attributes to download: Select All or check the ones you want.
  • Timezone timestamp: Local, UTC or Epoch (computer system time). Select one or more.
  • Status Format: Code only, the Name the code represents (eg. 'BadRequestTooLarge'), and additionally, the severity of the code. Select one or more.
  • Download Type:
    • download all of the data into one CSV file, or a separate file for each attribute selected
    • download time interval: how many seconds, minutes or hours of data to download within the data timespan of the Chart data. For example, if the chart data spans 1 hour and you request an interval of 10 minutes, you will get a value for every 10 minutes during the Chart hour.

Data Cursors are 'handles' on either end of the x-axis time bar that are draggable and allow one to focus in on specific data during a time period in the chart. Drag the cursors from one or both ends of the chart and press the Zoom In  button. The x-axis will resize and show only the time period you are interested in with greater resolution.

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