Working with System Manager
This section provides instructions for System Manager common tasks. For background information, see Overview of System Manager.
- The System Manager window is not visible.
- In the Summary bar, select Menu > Active Tasks.
- From the thumbnail preview of the active windows, select System Manager to bring it to the foreground.
You can create additional System Manager windows, for example to use on multiple monitors, or to investigate/supervise different aspects of the building control site.
- Do one of the following:
- From the Desigo CC system menu, select Applications > Start new System Manager.
- From the expanded Summary bar, click System Manager to open a new System Manager window.
- A new System Manager window, labeled System Manager (2), is created. You can switch between it and other windows from the Windows taskbar or from Active tasks on the system menu.
You can repeat these steps to create further System Manager windows, which will successively be labeled System Manager (3), System Manager(4), and so forth.
- From the system menu, or from the Windows taskbar, display the window that you want to close, for example, System Manager (2).
- Click Close in the title bar.
NOTE: You can only close additional System Manager windows in this way. The primary System Manager window (the one labeled System Manager) can only be minimized by clicking Minimize in its title bar.
You can adjust or customize the arrangement of the panes in the System Manager window.
- In the System Manager window header, if the lock pane layout icon is active (undimmed), click it so that it becomes dimmed. Otherwise the pane layout cannot be changed.
- To switch between the available preset layouts, click the icons in the title bar:
- : Selection, Primary, and Contextual panes. Secondary pane will open when required.
- : Selection and Primary pane, and the left part of the Contextual pane.
- : Selection and Primary pane.
- : Primary and Contextual pane. Secondary pane will open when required.
- : Primary pane only.
NOTE: Even if the selected layout includes the Secondary pane, the Secondary pane only displays when you make a selection that requires it, and provided the Primary pane is not locked. See Allow or Prevent Opening of the Secondary Pane.
- To resize the panes in the current layout, drag the splitter (the dividing line) between them.
- To expand/collapse a pane, click the button on the splitter. (Click the button again to re-expand a collapsed pane).
- To close the Secondary pane, click Close in its pane header.
- To prevent the current layout from being changed, click the lock pane layout icon in the title bar (so that it is undimmed). This disables the function that lets you switch between the preset layouts so that panes can no longer be resized, expanded, collapsed, or closed.
Normally, the Secondary pane opens on demand, when you make a selection that requires it. When the Secondary pane opens, it takes up half the space that would otherwise be allotted to the Primary pane. You can prevent the Secondary pane from opening, so that the Primary pane will always occupy its full width.
- To prevent the Secondary pane from opening, click the pushpin icon in the Primary pane header so that it is in the locked position .
- The Primary pane is locked to full width, and the Secondary pane will not open. Any selections (such as Related Items) that would normally display in the Secondary pane are instead redirected to the Primary pane.
- To allow the Secondary pane to open again, click the pushpin icon in the Primary pane header so that it is in the unlocked position .
- The Primary pane width is unlocked, and will resize to accommodate the Secondary pane when a selection is made that displays in the Secondary pane.
You can define whether objects in System Manager are labeled with just a name, just a description, or both. For background information, see the reference section.
- In System Browser, click the Display Mode drop-down list.
- Select how you want the objects to be labeled:
- Show Description: example Air Handler Unit 1
- Show Description [Name]: example Air Handler Unit 1 [AHU]
- Show Name: example AHU1
- Show Name [Description]: example AHU1 [Air Handler Unit 1]
- The objects are labeled in the selected way in the System Browser tree, and also throughout the other panes in System Manager.
NOTE: The choice you make here persists across sessions and is specific to the user. It also determines whether you can search for objects in the system tree by name or by description.
You can set whether the Primary and Contextual panes will automatically refresh whenever you make a selection in System Browser.
- To disable automatic propagation, select the Manual navigation check box.
- The next time you click an object in the tree, the Primary and Contextual panes will not be automatically updated, and you will have to do this manually. See Manually Propagate a Selection to Other Panes.
- To enable automatic propagation, deselect the Manual navigation check box.
- The next time you select an object in the tree, the Primary and Contextual panes will automatically refresh to reflect the new selection.
- You made a selection in System Browser with Manual navigation checked, so that the Primary and Contextual panes were not automatically refreshed. You now want to manually propagate this selection.
- To propagate this selection to the Primary and Contextual panes, do one of the following in System Browser:
- Click the Send button.
- Right-click the selection in the tree, and select Send to the Primary Pane.
- (Only for an individual object) Double-click the object.
- The Primary and Contextual panes of System Manager update with content relevant to the selected objects.
- To propagate this selection to the Secondary pane, do the following:
a. In the System Manager header, check that the current pane layout includes the Secondary pane: or .
b. In the Primary pane header, check that the pushpin icon is in the unlocked position , so that opening of the Secondary pane is allowed.
c. In System Browser, right-click the selection in the tree, and select Send to the Secondary Pane.
You can work with a system object in the Secondary pane so that the current contents of the Primary and Contextual panes will not be changed.
- In the System Manager window header, check that the current pane layout includes the Secondary pane: or .
- In the Primary pane header, check that the pushpin icon is in the unlocked position , so that opening of the Secondary pane is allowed.
- In System Browser, navigate to the object that you want to work with.
NOTE: Select the Manual navigation check box if you do not want the Primary and Contextual panes to refresh while you are doing this.
- Right-click the object in the tree and select Send to the Secondary Pane.
- The content pertaining to the selected object displays only in the Secondary pane, whereas the content of the Primary and Contextual panes is not changed.
- In System Browser, from the Views drop-down list, select the view (Application View, Management View, or some other custom-configured view) you want to work with.
- The System Browser tree updates to display the selected view.
- Browse the objects in the System Browser tree as you would the folders in a computer. An arrow icon indicates a folder or parent object that contains other objects inside it:
- Click the side arrow icon alongside a collapsed node to expand the node and view its children.
- Click the down arrow icon alongside an expanded node to collapse it again and hide its children.
- Select the object you want to work with by clicking its label in the System Browser tree.
- The selected object displays highlighted in the tree. If the Manual navigation check box is deselected, the Primary and Contextual panes of System Manager are automatically updated to reflect the new selection.
- If the Manual navigation check box is selected, do one of the following to manually propagate the selection to the Primary and Contextual panes:
- Double-click the object.
- Click the Send button.
- Right-click the selected object and select Send to the Primary Pane.
- In System Browser, select the view (Application View, Management View, or some other custom-configured view) you want to work with.
- The System Browser tree updates to display the selected view.
- Do one of the following to find the set of objects you want to select:
- Navigate to the desired objects in the System Browser tree. Click to expand a collapsed node and view its children, or click to collapse an expanded node and hide its children.
- Run a search by name/description and other criteria such as discipline, type, and so forth. See Searching for Objects.
- From the System Browser tree, or from the list of search results, select the objects as follows:
- To select multiple non-contiguous objects, press and hold the CTRL key while clicking the objects.
- To select multiple contiguous objects, press and hold the SHIFT key while clicking the first and the last object in the range.
- The selected objects display highlighted in the tree. If the Manual navigation check box is deselected, the Primary and Contextual panes of System Manager are automatically updated to reflect the new selection.
- If the Manual navigation check box was selected, do one of the following to propagate the selection:
- Click the Send button or right-click the selection and select Send to the Primary pane.
- The Primary and Contextual panes of System Manager refresh to reflect the new selection.
- Right-click the selection and select Send to the Secondary pane.
- The Secondary pane of System Manager refreshes to reflect the new selection. The Primary and Contextual panes remain unchanged.
You can use the Navigation bar’s breadcrumb trail to move around the system tree and select objects. This allows you to make selections even with System Manager layouts that do not include the Selection pane. For background information, see Navigation Bar.
- If the Navigation bar is not already visible, click Open navigation bar in the System Manager window header.
- The Navigation bar displays along the top of the System Manager window, directly underneath the title bar. The breadcrumb trail shows the full path of your current selection in the system tree. Whenever the current primary selection is changed, the breadcrumb trail refreshes to reflect the new position in the system path.
- To begin browsing the tree, click an arrow icon alongside a path element.
- A drop-down list displays of all the items directly beneath it in the system tree. (For example, clicking the arrow icon to the right of Applications displays a drop-down list that includes Documents, Graphics, Recipients Editor tab in Notification application and so on.)
- Click an item in the drop-down list (for example, Documents) to make it the new selection.
- System Browser, the Primary pane, and the Contextual pane all update to reflect the new selection.
NOTE: The selection made here propagates to the other panes even if you selected Manual navigation in System Browser.
- Continue moving around the tree in this way until you reach the object you are interested in.
NOTE: From the breadcrumb trail, you can only make single selections that go to the Primary and Contextual panes. To send a selection to the Secondary pane, or to make multiple selections, you must use System Browser.
The Navigation bar provides a browser-like history of recent selections so that you can easily revisit objects previously displayed in the Primary pane. For background information, see Navigation Bar.
- Click Open navigation bar in the System Manager header.
- To jump to a specific, previously-visited selection:
a. Click or press CTRL+H to view the selection history. As a result, a drop-down list of your 20 most recent Primary-pane selections (in descending order from newest to oldest) displays. The one currently displayed in the Primary pane is highlighted with a checkmark .
b. Click the name of the selection in the list that you want to revisit.
- The selection displays again in the Primary pane. The Contextual pane, System Browser, and the Navigation bar also refresh accordingly.
- To move sequentially through the history list of recent selections:
- Click the Back or Forward buttons, or use the ALT+Left or ALT+Right keyboard shortcuts.
You can bookmark a particular selection as your favorite location, so that it displays as the initial location whenever you open System Manager and that you can easily access by clicking Favorite location in the Navigation bar. For background information, see Navigation Bar.
- Select the object you want to set as the favorite location, so that it displays in the Primary pane.
- If the Navigation bar is not already visible, click Open navigation bar in the System Manager header.
- In the Navigation bar, click and hold Favorite location for 2 seconds.
- A status message indicates that the new favorite location is set and stored in your user profile.
- To jump to the favorite location at any time, click Favorite location in the Navigation bar or press the ALT+Home keys.
- The favorite location displays in the Primary pane. The Contextual pane, System Browser, and the Navigation bar all refresh accordingly.
The Recently Viewed feature lets you return to a previously visited view in the Primary pane. For background information, see Recently Viewed.
- In the Selection pane, click the Recently Viewed tab.
- Recently Viewed displays a list of the recently visited views in the Primary pane.
- Do the following:
- Click the Links/Thumbnails button to switch between displaying the recent items as snapshots or text links.
- Click the scroll icons (Newer) (Older) to move backward and forward among the recent views.
- The selected view displays in the Primary pane, and a new recently visited view item is created and displays in Recently Viewed.