Functional explanation
The Network Topology draws the plant network as nodes (switches, PLCs, HMIs, servers, workstations, remote I/O, hosts) connected by links, and colours every node and link from live status. An operator sees at a glance which devices are online, degraded or offline and where a break in the network sits.
Every configured device is a node without any topology work. The type comes from the device protocol (PLC protocols become PLC / controller, OPC UA, MQTT and Kafka become Server / broker, ICMP becomes Host), the IP address comes from the device row, and the status comes from the device itself: the ChannelState of a driver device, or the IsOnline, ResponseTimeMs, PacketLoss and LastSeen points of an ICMP device. A device added to the project appears on every Network Topology object by itself.
The topology is project configuration, shared by every Network Topology object: the Network Nodes page refines a device (type, label, group, hidden, manual position) or adds a node that is not a device, and the Network Links page connects two nodes. Devices without a link hang under a virtual node per subnet, so a project without links already shows a structure. See the configuration article Network Topology for the two pages.
The object itself only chooses how the topology is shown: filters, layout, labels, status thresholds and colours. Several objects can show different slices of the same network, for example one page per production line.
Node status
A node ring is coloured from the status source below. The header counts the nodes per status and the legend shows the colours.
| Status source | Online | Degraded | Offline | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status Variable on the node | Variable or expression is true | Variable or expression is false | Unknown when the variable has no value | |
| ICMP device | IsOnline true, ResponseTimeMs at or below Degraded Above (ms) and PacketLoss 0 | IsOnline true with a response time above the threshold or packet loss above 0 % | IsOnline false | Disabled when the device is disabled |
| Any other device | ChannelState Connected or Simulation | ChannelState Connecting | ChannelState Offline | Disabled when ChannelState is Disabled or the device is disabled |
| Manual node without Status Variable | Unknown (grey dashed ring) |
No rows match the filter.
A link without a Status Variable follows its endpoints: it is drawn red and dashed when either node is offline, grey when either node is unknown or disabled, and green otherwise. A link with its own Status Variable follows that variable.
Object name
The object name identifies the object in the Object Viewer, the Cross Reference tool and the Design API.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object Name | Unique name of the object on the page. | plantNetwork | Text |
No rows match the filter.
General
The General group switches the parts of the object on and off.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Text shown at the left of the header bar. | Plant network | Text |
| Show Header | Shows the header bar with the title, the online, degraded and offline counts, the search box and the Fit to view and Re-layout buttons. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Show Search | Shows the search box in the header. A search term dims every node whose name, label or IP address does not contain it. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Show Group Filter | Shows a Groups button at the left of the search box. It opens a list of the groups of the Group setting, or of every group in the project when Group is empty, each with its number of nodes and a filter box to find a group. Checking groups narrows the view to those groups; the button shows how many groups are checked. Match and Others at the bottom of the list change how the checked groups are applied. The Group setting always limits what the object shows; the checked groups narrow it further. The choices apply to the current page view only and are not saved. | Unchecked | Checkbox |
| Group Match | Initial Match of the Groups list. Any shows a node that belongs to at least one checked group. All shows only a node that belongs to every checked group. | Any | Selection |
| Other Nodes | Initial Others of the Groups list. Dim keeps the nodes outside the checked groups in place and dims them, so the layout does not change. Hide removes them and lays out the remaining nodes again. | Dim | Selection |
| Show Legend | Shows the legend with the node types in use and the status colours at the bottom left. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Show Details Panel | Shows the details panel at the right. Clicking a node fills it with the status, type, IP address, subnet, device, group, status source, response time, packet loss, last seen, description and links of that node. | Checked | Checkbox |
No rows match the filter.
Topology
The Topology group opens the two configuration pages and filters what the object draws. The Network Nodes and Network Links buttons open the configuration pages in a new tab; they need Administrators rights.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Unlinked By Subnet | Devices without a Network Link hang under a virtual node per /24 subnet, labelled with the subnet and the number of devices. Nothing is stored; adding a link moves the device into the tree. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Show Unlinked Devices | With Group Unlinked By Subnet unchecked, collects the devices without a link in a lane labelled Unlinked devices. Unchecked, only linked nodes are drawn. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Hide Disabled Devices | Leaves out devices whose configuration row is disabled instead of drawing them greyed. | Unchecked | Checkbox |
| Group | Comma-separated list of groups. Shows only the nodes whose Network Node row carries at least one of them; the Group field of a Network Node is a comma-separated list as well, so a node can belong to several groups. An entry that is a variable name is replaced by the value of that variable, itself a comma-separated list, so the visible groups can change at runtime, for example through a client variable written by a selection object. Empty shows the whole project. | Line 1, Line 2 | Text, comma separated |
| Protocol | Shows only the devices of one protocol. | Modbus TCP | Selection |
| Type | Shows only the nodes of one type. The list holds the types of the Network Node Types configuration page, including added types. | PLC / controller | Selection |
No rows match the filter.
Filters combine: a node is drawn when it passes the Group, Protocol and Type filters. Links to a node that is filtered out are not drawn.
Layout
Every layout is computed once when the object opens or when a layout setting changes, so the picture is the same on every client and never moves on its own. The Re-layout button in the header recomputes it and the Fit to view button fits it to the object again.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Layout | Hierarchical draws a tree from the links: the first link from another node makes that node the parent, extra links such as a ring are drawn dotted. Force Directed places nodes by a force simulation with a fixed seed, so the starting picture is identical on every open. The layout stays live: any user can drag a node, the linked nodes follow and spring back into place on release, and double-clicking a node pins or unpins it (a pinned node shows a pin mark). Dragging and pinning apply to the current page view only and are not saved; use Manual Positions for saved positions. Re-layout releases all pins. Manual Positions uses the positions saved on the Network Node rows. | Hierarchical | Selection |
| Orientation | Direction of the hierarchical tree: Top To Bottom or Left To Right. | Top To Bottom | Selection |
| Node Spacing | Distance between neighbouring nodes before the picture is fitted to the object. | 95 | Number, 40 to 400 |
| Node Label | Text under a node: Name, Name And IP Address, or IP Address. | Name And IP Address | Selection |
| Node Size | Radius of a node. | 16 | Number, 8 to 40 |
| Lock View | Disables pan and zoom for operators; the picture stays fitted to the object. | Unchecked | Checkbox |
| Float | Applies to the Force Directed layout at runtime. When checked, the nodes drift gently so the graph keeps a slight motion. When cleared, the layout comes to rest and only moves while a node is being dragged. The simulation stops by itself when the page is left. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Float Speed | How lively the drift is when Float is checked. 0 keeps the nodes still, 100 is the fastest drift. | 30 | Number, 0 to 100 |
No rows match the filter.
With the Manual Positions layout a user in the Administrators group drags nodes into place at runtime. The position is saved on the Network Node row of that node (a row is created for a device that has none), so it is project configuration shared by every object. Nodes without a saved position take their place from the hierarchical layout.
Status
The Status group tunes how status is derived and how often the topology is re-read.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degraded Above (ms) | Response time above which an online ICMP device is shown as degraded. Packet loss above 0 % and a ChannelState of Connecting are degraded as well. | 100 | Milliseconds |
| Link State | From Endpoints colours a link without its own Status Variable from the two nodes it connects. From Link Variable Only leaves such links grey; only links with a Status Variable get a state. | From Endpoints | Selection |
| Highlight Neighbours | Clicking a node dims everything except the node and its direct neighbours. Click the node again to clear the selection. | Checked | Checkbox |
| Refresh (s) | Interval at which the nodes and links are re-read from the project, so devices and links added while the page is open appear. Status values are live regardless of this interval. | 30 | Seconds, 5 to 3600 |
No rows match the filter.
Actions
A click on a node selects it. The Actions group makes the selection available to the rest of the page.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selection Variable | Client variable prefix written when a node is clicked. The prefix itself receives the node name, the prefix followed by .Device the device name and the prefix followed by .IpAddress the address. All three are cleared when the node is clicked again. Empty writes nothing. | client.SelectedNode | Variable |
| Click Page | Page opened when a node is clicked, after the Selection Variable is written. A page that shows the selected device can read the variables above. Empty only selects the node. | DevicePage | Page |
No rows match the filter.
Colors
Every colour accepts a literal colour or a Color Library name.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background Color | Background of the object and fill of the nodes. | #ffffff | Color |
| Text Color | Colour of the labels, the header and the details panel. | #2b3037 | Color |
| Line Color | Colour of the header and panel borders, the subnet grouping links and links without a state. | #d9dde3 | Color |
| Online Color | Ring of an online node and colour of an up link. | #2e9e44 | Color |
| Degraded Color | Ring of a degraded node. | #e08a00 | Color |
| Offline Color | Ring of an offline node, its badge and the colour of a down link. | #d63a2f | Color |
No rows match the filter.
Using the object
Drag the background to pan and use the mouse wheel to zoom, unless Lock View is checked. Hover a node for a tooltip with its label, IP address and status; for an ICMP device the tooltip shows the response time and packet loss, or the last seen time when it is offline. Click a node to select it and fill the details panel. Type in the search box to find a node by name, label or IP address.
Position / Size
The object is a rectangle like any other object. 900 x 500 px is the reference size; the graph is fitted to whatever size the object has.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Distance from the top of the page. | 50 | px |
| Left | Distance from the left of the page. | 50 | px |
| Width | Width of the object. | 900 | px |
| Height | Height of the object. | 500 | px |
No rows match the filter.
Border
The Border group draws a border around the object.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border Width | Width of the border. | 1 | px |
| Border Radius | Rounding of the corners. | 5 | px |
| Border Color | Colour of the border. | #d9dde3 | Color |
No rows match the filter.
Access Control
Access Control limits who sees the object. See the article Object Control Access.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Groups | User groups that see the object. Empty shows it to everyone. | Operators,Maintenance | Comma separated |
No rows match the filter.
Visibility
Visibility hides the object based on a condition, like any other object.
| Setting | Description | Example | Units / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility Condition | Expression that must be true for the object to be shown. | SYSTEM.UserGroups.includes('Maintenance') | Expression |
No rows match the filter.