A symbol on a process diagram card can send a command when an operator clicks it: click the pump to start it, right-click the valve to close it. Commands on symbols are set on the dashboard card that draws the diagram, so the same drawing can be clickable on a control-room board and read-only elsewhere.
Who may set it up
| You need | For |
|---|---|
| Author commands on process diagram symbols (administrators by default) | Adding or changing a command on a symbol. Without it, Run a command is not offered; existing commands keep their settings. |
| The right to change the board | Saving the card |
| The command’s own permission | Picking the command |
Removing a symbol’s command, or saving a card without touching its symbol commands, does not need the authoring permission.
Which commands
Symbols send commands the same way as control cards: Send a command to a device, a command from the device profile’s catalogue of the Basic tier. Raw methods, privileged, critical and high-impact commands are refused on boards; send those from the device console. See Control cards and Sending commands to devices.
Add a command to a symbol
- Customise the board and open the Process diagram card’s settings (or Edit diagram for the full-screen editor, where the inspector’s Actions tab shows “Actions of
“). - In the actions, add a source: When a symbol is clicked, When a symbol is double-clicked or When a symbol is right-clicked.
- Choose the Symbol from the drawing’s symbols, by name, or Every symbol and thing (*).
- Add Run a command and pick the Device, the Command, the Control and the Value.
- Choose where parameter values come from: a fixed value, the board’s
, or a value of the clicked symbol. - Set Confirmation: Ask “Are you sure?” or Ask to type the command name. “A command from a symbol is always confirmed; the command itself can ask for more.”
- Select Save (the editor’s changes reach the card only when you apply them).
A symbol with an action shows a small dot in the editor (Has actions).
What the operator sees
- They click the symbol. A dialog “
on ” names the device, the command, the control and the value, for example “Pump 2: Start”. For an action on every symbol: “ (the same for every symbol)” with “It runs as set, not only on . Are you sure?” - With a typed confirmation they type the command’s name.
- While it runs, the symbol shows a spinner in its bottom right corner (Command pending). A failure shows a red mark (Command failed).
- The reply is shown as text. A queued request shows “Sent; waiting for the device”. With no answer after 30 seconds the outcome is shown as unknown.
One command runs at a time per card: a click meanwhile is answered with “Another command of this diagram is still running; wait for its answer.”
Every run is written to the audit log with the symbol and the gesture (click, double-click or right-click).
Protections
| Rule | Message |
|---|---|
| The symbol must exist in the drawing | “A command is set on a symbol this process diagram does not have” |
| A symbol that has a command cannot be removed or renamed | “A symbol that has a command cannot be removed or renamed; remove its command first” |
| Deleting a symbol in the editor drops its actions when you save | “Deleting |
| An action that names a missing symbol is dropped | “N actions name |
| A new symbol that takes a deleted symbol’s id does not inherit its actions | — |
| Commands never run from a display screen | Controls and symbols are inactive there |
Good practice
- Give commands a clear label in the profile’s catalogue; the dialog shows it.
- Use Ask to type the command name for anything that stops a process.
- Show the result on the symbol: connect its Running or Opening field to the device value the command changes, so the picture shows what the device reports, not what was asked.
- Keep a manual or local mode visible with a rule (Mode), so an operator sees when the equipment will ignore remote commands.