Most fleets have many devices of one kind: forty pump stations, two hundred cold rooms. You draw the picture once and give it to every device; each device keeps its own connections, so each picture shows its own device’s values. This page explains the three ways to do that and what happens when the drawing changes later.
Way 1: from the device profile
- Open the device profile and select Views in its header. The drawer Views for the devices of this profile opens.
- Choose the Type: 2D drawing or 3D view.
- Pick the drawing from the list (with Search drawings, Updated and Used by). It reads “Drawing:
“. - Read the count, for example “37 of 40 devices of this profile have no 2D drawing of their own yet.”
- Choose how values reach symbols:
- Links: when devices of this profile already link this drawing, pick The links of
(N links) : “each device bound now gets the links of the one picked here, reading its own values.” Or No links: by name only. - Match the equipment (3D): By name (the same names) for a drawing made for this type of device, or By the labels of the drawing for a design imported from a 2D drawing.
- Links: when devices of this profile already link this drawing, pick The links of
- Select Bind N devices and confirm: “Binds N devices of this profile to “
“. A device that already has a 2D drawing keeps it, and nothing is set for the profile itself.”
The result: “Bound 37 devices; 3 already had a 2D drawing.” Each device gets its own view; a device that already has one is left alone. One run binds at most 500 devices; “run it again for the rest”.
Nothing is stored on the profile itself: a device added to the profile later has no view until you run this again or attach one by hand.
Way 2: from one finished device
Connect one device’s drawing completely on its Views (see Binding symbols to live data). Then, in the symbol panel, choose Apply to every device of this type…:
“The connections of this device are applied to the N devices of its profile that have no view yet, each on its own drawing. A device that already has a view keeps it.” Confirm with Apply to N devices. Each device reads its own values through the same keys.
This works best when all devices of the profile send the same keys.
Way 3: by name, with no setup
If your devices send keys named <symbol id>.<field>, for example p1.running, t1.value and v3.position, a drawing whose symbols have the ids p1, t1 and v3 connects itself: attach it and every symbol finds its value by name. This is the most robust choice for a large fleet; ask your device firmware to name keys this way. See Binding symbols to live data.
Sites
| Case | What to do |
|---|---|
| A site should look like one of its parts | On the site’s Views, Use |
| Floors and rooms under a building | Give the building a view; each floor and room under it is drawn as its part of the building’s view (“This site is shown by |
| A site with one device | The site shows its device’s view (“This site shows the view of its device |
See also Site views.
When the drawing changes
A drawing is shared: a saved change reaches every device and site that uses it, at once.
| Change | Effect on connected views |
|---|---|
| Move a symbol, restyle it, add or change rules | None. Connections still match. |
| Add a symbol | It shows on every device, unconnected until you connect it. |
| Delete a symbol, or change its id | Saved connections to it no longer match. Each view shows “N saved connections no longer match the drawing.” with Review, and cards show “The drawing changed since this was set up”. |
| Delete the drawing | Views that used it show “The drawing of this view is gone: choose another one.” The values you connected are kept where the new drawing has the same symbols. |
Rename symbols with F2: that changes the name only, never the id, so connections stay valid.
One device that should look different
To change the drawing for one device without touching the others, give it its own copy:
- On a dashboard card, Make this drawing editable saves a copy for the device the page shows and adds it to its views; every other device keeps the original.
- Or duplicate the drawing in Process Diagrams and choose the copy on that device’s Views.
Dashboards for the whole fleet
Build one board whose cards follow the page’s device (The drawing chosen on the device’s page), with a device parameter in the filter bar. The same board then shows the right picture for each device. See Data sources and parameters.