Quick Trend

Quick Trend collects up to 8 variables from runtime pages in a temporary list and shows them as a trend in a window over the page or on the Trend Analyst page.

Updated 7 min read
On this page (8 sections)
  1. Functional explanation
  2. Runtime menu
  3. Quick Trend panel
  4. Quick Trend window
  5. Pens
  6. Open in Trend Analyst
  7. Theme
  8. Notes

Functional explanation

Quick Trend collects variables from runtime pages in a temporary list and shows them as a trend, without a Trend Analyst configuration. The operator opens the runtime menu on a value, selects Add to Quick Trend, and opens the list in a window over the page or on the Trend Analyst page.

Quick Trend is available on pages with the page setting Allow Quick Trend on. The setting is in the Page Decorator of the editor and in the Settings dialog on the Pages page, and is off by default. A change of the setting applies after the next page load. Quick Trend needs no user group right.

The list holds up to 8 variables. It belongs to the logged-in user and the browser tab: it is kept across page changes until Logout or until the browser tab is closed. Nothing is stored on the server.

Runtime menu

The runtime menu opens with a right-click on the page, or with a press and hold of about 0.6 seconds with a finger or a pen. Moving the finger cancels the hold, so one-finger pan and pinch zoom keep working. The tap that follows a hold does not trigger the action of the object.

The menu is available outside Edit Mode, on pages with Allow Screen Notes or Allow Quick Trend on. On a page with both settings off, a right-click does nothing. The menu has two contexts. On an object that displays a value, it shows the Quick Trend entries below, followed by the Screen Notes entries when Allow Screen Notes is on, and outlines the object. On the page itself and on any other object, such as a shape, a pipe, an image or a static text, it shows the Screen Notes entries only and the object is not outlined; see the Screen Notes article. On a page with Allow Screen Notes off, a right-click there does nothing.

EntryDescription
HeaderShown for the object that was right-clicked, which is outlined while the menu is open: the variable description, or the variable name when the variable has no description, with the live value (shown with the Format of the variable when it has one), the units and the status of the variable, for example Good or Connection Lost. An object that shows several variables shows the title Values on this object with the expression or the list of variables.
Add to Quick Trend / Remove from Quick TrendAdds the variable to the Quick Trend list, or removes it when it is already in the list. An object that shows several variables, for example an expression such as FC1.Flow + FC2.Flow or the pens of a Trend, lists each variable under Quick Trend with a check box and its live value. Select a variable to add or remove it; the menu stays open for the next one.
Text values cannot be trendedShown disabled for a variable with a text value.
Quick Trend holds up to 8 variablesShown disabled when the list already holds 8 variables. Remove a variable from the list to add another one.
Open Quick TrendOpens the Quick Trend window, with the number of variables in the list. Shown on a value when the list holds at least one variable. The Quick Trend button opens the list from anywhere on the page.

The menu offers the variables that an object displays:

  • The variable of a Label, an Input, a Button, a Slider, a Knob and the other objects that show a value.
  • Pens 1 to 4 of a Trend.
  • The data of a Donut, a Bar Graph and a Radar.
  • The variable of a Container tab.

The menu lists displayed values only. Variables that appear only in conditions, such as Visibility, Blink, Color States and position and size animation, are left out. Values inside a popup can be added to Quick Trend.

Quick Trend panel

On pages with Allow Quick Trend, the Quick Trend button appears at the bottom right of the screen as soon as the list holds a variable, and shows the number of variables in the list. Select it to open the Quick Trend panel. The header of the panel shows the number of variables against the maximum of 8.

ElementDescription
VariableThe pen color, the variable description and, below it, the variable name. A variable without a description shows its name.
ValueThe live value with units, shown with the Format of the variable when it has one.
Not loggedShown next to the description when Historize is off for the variable. The variable has no history, so its line starts when the trend opens.
History: <name>Shown next to the description when the variable reads its history from a History Source, followed by (project default) when the variable follows the project default. The history is read from the named History Source, also when Historize is off. See the History Sources article.
Remove from Quick TrendThe x button at the end of the row removes the variable from the list.
RangeTime range of the trend: Last 1m, Last 5m, Last 10m, Last 15m, Last 30m, Last 1h, Last 2h, Last 6h, Last 12h or Last 1d. The default is Last 1h.
ClearRemoves every variable from the list.
OpenOpens the Quick Trend window over the page.
Open in Trend AnalystOpens the Trend Analyst page in the same browser tab with the same pens.

The panel closes with its Close button or with a click outside the panel. At the bottom it shows the note Kept in this browser tab until you log out. Removing the last variable, or Clear, closes the panel and hides the Quick Trend button until Add to Quick Trend adds a variable again.

On a page with Allow Quick Trend off, the Quick Trend button is hidden. The list is kept and is available again on the next page with Allow Quick Trend.

Quick Trend window

Open shows the Trend Analyst in a window over the page. Move the window by its title bar and resize it by its bottom right corner. The title bar shows the range and holds the Open in Trend Analyst, Maximize and Close buttons. Maximize fills the screen with the window, including the area of the Notes and Quick Trend buttons; the same button, now Restore, returns it to its previous position and size. A double-click on the title bar does the same. In a narrow window the Trend Analyst toolbar continues on extra rows: the start and end time stay on the first row and the other controls move to the rows below.

A window that is open during a page change opens again on the next page with Allow Quick Trend, at the same position and size, and maximized when it was maximized.

Pens

The pens of the Quick Trend window and of Open in Trend Analyst are built from the list:

Pen propertyValue
ColorThe pen colors of the Trend Analyst, in the order of the list. The same color marks the variable in the Quick Trend panel and on the page.
RangeThe scaled range of the variable (Min Scaled and Max Scaled), or auto range when both are 0.
DescriptionThe variable description.
UnitsThe units of the variable.
LineA line, or a step line for a variable with the value True or False.
UpdateLive update every second.

A value on the page whose variable is in the list shows a small dot in its pen color at the top right of the object.

Open in Trend Analyst

Open in Trend Analyst opens the Trend Analyst page in the same browser tab with the pens and the range of the list. The pens, colors and ranges can then be changed with the Settings icon of the Trend Analyst, as for any other configuration. The Return icon navigates back to the screen, and the Quick Trend list is kept. See the Trend Analyst article.

Theme

The runtime menu, the Quick Trend and Notes buttons, the Quick Trend panel and the Quick Trend window follow the Viewer colors of the active runtime theme of the client (Viewer colors on the Parameters page, themes of the Color Library), not the Edit Mode theme.

Notes

Quick Trend needs no user group right. The page setting Allow Quick Trend decides on which pages the runtime menu offers Add to Quick Trend.

The list is held in the browser tab of the user. It is not shared with other users or other clients, and Logout clears it.

A variable with Historize off can be added to the list; it is marked Not logged and its line starts when the trend opens.

A variable that reads its history from a History Source is marked History: <name> instead and shows its history also with Historize off.

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