Navigation

PhixFlow screens have been designed to provide quick access to the functions you are likely to need from the current view without having to navigate complex menus. This help page provides an overview of the navigation features and key screens in PhixFlow.

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On the left edge of the PhixFlow screen is the Explorer Bar containing icons which when pressed open up slider panes containing lists of all the configured objects represented by the icon. Until you are familiar with the meaning of each icon, you can hover the mouse over the icon to see a description of what it will do when clicked. Note that these descriptions can be found on all PhixFlow icons. The icons are logically grouped e.g. into categories which cover modelling, user administration etc.

Each opened slider pane has a common set of icons. Note that several of these icons are used on other forms to perform the same function:

Image Removed	Close the pane.
Image Removed	If the Pin icon is yellow when another Explorer Bar icon is pressed, then the slider pane will be closed and the other slider pane will be opened. Clicking the Pin icon turns it red indicating that the pane is now pinned. This means that when another Explorer Bar icon is pressed, this pane remains open (in addition to the new pane opening). Click the icon again to toggle the pinned status (which will also cause the pane to close).
Image Removed	Open up a grid showing more details about each item. General navigation properties of grids are explained href="#grids">below.
Image Removed	Delete the selected item or items.
Image Removed	Refresh the list (e.g. if the list has been updated on another computer by another user).
Image Removed	Create and insert a new item into the list.
Image Removed	Context sensitive help.

Note that Image Removed on the Explorer Bar closes all open slider panes.

Applications

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General Notes on the User Interface

Please read Client Application Notes for general advice on mouse and other actions available on the user interface.

Applications

On the top left of the PhixFlow screen is the Applications button. Clicking an Applications button opens a list of all Applications available for the user. The user can run the selected one using its default Menu by clicking (right-click allows also opening or right clicking to open in a new tab /window) or use the particular Menu by choosing it from the drop-down list which is shown after clicking on an Applications which contains more than one Menuor window. An application may have more than one menu item which will be displayed after clicking on the application.

The user can also choose an Application and Menu by adding a adding ?application=APPLICATION_NAME-&menu=MENU_NAME to  to the PhixFlow URL where APPLICATION_NAME is the name of the selected application and MENU_NAME is the name of the selected Menu.

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User menu

Across On the top right of the PhixFlow screen are the Perspective buttons. Clicking a Perspective button minimises open windows and sets up a standard layout containing the most useful lists and forms for that perspective:

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• Show Resolve Console opens the Resolve form showing lists of Alarms, User Tasks, External Tasks, Timer Tasks and Email Tasks
• Show Evaluate Console opens the Alarm Evaluation Form to record and prioritise work on models which generate Alarms.

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• System Configuration opens the System Configuration Form which defines basic system settings which are generally configured when PhixFlow is first installed.
• Manage Email Accounts opens the Email Accounts List which shows Email Accounts defined in the system. The user can configure Email Accounts in order to fetch and send emails.

• Reset Configuration permanently deletes all existing configuration objects (E.g. Streams, Alarm Generators, Analysis Models, Macros, Dashboards, the Control Framework) except for Users, User Groups and minor objects (e.g. Alarm Priorities). Working data (including Stream Data, Stream Sets, Log files and Audit logs) are not deleted.

  Reset Configuration requires the Reset Configuration Privilege.

  You should only run Reset Configuration when so instructed by PhixFlow Support.

• Export Configuration opens the Export Configuration Form to allow the user to select which objects to export to an XML file which can then be imported into another instance of PhixFlow using the Import Configuration function.
• Import Configuration imports configuration data from the XML configuration files created by the Export Configuration function.

• Cleanup Configuration removes orphan objects (e.g. Stream Sets) that can be left behind by failed or incomplete operations.

  Cleanup Configuration requires the Cleanup Configuration Privilege

  You should only run Cleanup Configuration when instructed by PhixFlow Support.

• Publish Streams checks all Streams for configuration changes and aligns underlying Stream Tables in the PhixFlow Database. Note that from version 3.2 onwards Streams are published automatically and it is no longer necessary to use this function.
• Purge Streams checks all Streams for configuration changes and removes any underlying Stream Tables in the PhixFlow Database that no longer match the Stream configuration. This function also removes data for any Stream Attributes that have been removed from a Stream.
• Download Log Files allows you to download server log files and performance files for analysis.

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is the User menu, a drop down menu giving access to basic user functions

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The Control Framework (opened by clicking Image Removed on the href="#explorerBar">Explorer Bar) is a fully configurable tree-like structure which enables you to group key configured objects in a way that makes sense to your organisation. The high level tree structure is achieved by adding Control Groups (represented by Image Removed) either to the top level of the tree or as sub-branches of an existing Control Group. Top level Control Groups can be added using Image Removed or the Control Group context menu. This menu also enables you to add child Control Groups and Controls (represented by Image Removed).

You can drag key objects from other lists and drop them under the Control that they help implement e.g. Analysis Models, Alarm Generators, Charts, Dashboards etc. This provides you with fast access to those key items. It is also possible to drag these objects and drop them directly under Control Groups just to provide a useful grouping.

Dragging and dropping items in this way just creates a shortcut - it does not remove the original object from its list. If you want to create multiple links to the same object from different parts of the Control Framework you can drag the object multiple times or you can copy an existing shortcut on the tree by pressing the Control key and dragging the item to the new location.

You can modify the tree structure at any time by dragging any leaf or branch and dropping it under another branch (the whole substructure is moved). Shortcuts can be removed using the Remove Shortcut context menu item.

Make sure you do not confuse the Remove Shortcut menu item with Permanently Delete which removes the target object completely from PhixFlow!

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Repository browser and object property editor forms

When opening PhixFlow in design mode the Repository Browser will open on the right side of the screen. When an object is opened to edit, a property editor form will be opened in a new tab in this pane. If an object is opened for editing when another property editor form is already open, the new property editor form will replace the already opened one, unless the open form contains unsaved data or the tab is pinned.  You can close the property editor by clicking on the white cross on the tab.

Image Added

If the Pin icon is yellow when another edit form is opened, then the tab will be closed and the other tab will be opened. If the open tab contains unsaved data then a new tab will be opened. Clicking the Pin icon turns it red indicating that the pane is now pinned. This means that when another form is opened, this pane remains open (in addition to the new pane opening). Click the icon again to toggle the pinned status.

The property editor form has a number of icons at the top.  If there is insufficient space on the header bar then some icons may be moved to the hamburger menu which can be accessed by clicking on the hamburger menu icon shown in the table below.

Image Added	Save the current details and close the editor
	Save the current details without closing the editor.
Image Added	Back.  This icon will cause the form to refresh to show the details for the previous object that was in this editor
Image Added	Forward.  This icon will cause the form to refresh to the details of the object that was in this editor before the Back icon was pressed.
Image Added	Find in Explorer.  This icon will bring the repository browser tab to the front and will close all nodes except those leading to this object.  You may need to scroll the explorer to see the selected object.
Image Added	Context sensitive help.
Image Added	The hamburger menu icon.  This icon reveals a dropdown menu with additional options.  If there is insufficient space to show all of the items above on the header bar of the editor then some items may be moved to the hamburger menu.

The hamburger menu on the top of the property editor form may also contain the following options which are configured to remain in the hamburger menu even if there is space on the header bar:

Image Added	Permanently delete the current object
Image Added	Close the property editor

Each property editor form may contain a number of sections.  Each section has a header represented by a green bar with a small arrow before the section label which can be clicked to collapse and open the section.  Some sections contain fields whereas other sections can contain grids.  Sections which contain grids may have a number of icons on them to allow you to add and delete records, see a more detailed grid with more columns or refresh the current grid.

Image Added	Open up a grid showing more details about each item.
Image Added	Delete the selected item or items.
Image Added	Refresh the list (e.g. if the list has been updated on another computer by another user).
Image Added	Create and insert a new item into the list.

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formBar formBar

Windows bar

The Windows bar appears in the bottom of the screen if 'Show Windows Bar' is selected from the footer bar. The Windows bar contains links to all open windows (both open and minimised). Click on a link to restore the form window (if needed) and bring the form window to the front of the screen. Each form window link also has a context menu which allows you to close the form it directly.

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TaskBar TaskBar

Task bar

The task bar is at the bottom of the PhixFlow window. On the far left the number of the Form Bar is an icon which when clicked minimises all open windows. currently running actions is shown. There is also the button to show/hide the windows bar. If there are any notifications on screen, they can all be dismissed in one go by clicking 'Dismiss notifications'. This will dismiss the green notification pop ups but not red error/failure messages.

On the right are icons which can be used to access different features:

Image Added	Show the System Console. This shows currently running tasks and log messages from processes run in PhixFlow.
Image Added	Open Repository Browser. This shows all of the available objects in your PhixFlow instance.
Image Added	Administration Menu. Options to Import Configuration, Export Full Configuration or Open Export Pane
Image Added	Switch between App Mode and Design Mode