Add and Modify Widgets

Add a Widget to a Cell

The Component Library can be found in the right panel after selecting the Component Library button or pressing the C key.

There are several ways to add a widget to a cell. Select a cell in the canvas, then select a component in the Component Library. Or you can drag a component from the library into a cell.

Note: If you do not see the component you are looking for when going to add a new widget, make sure you have an empty cell selected. Having an occupied cell selected may filter the Component Library to show only compatible components for the selected cell. If you still don't see the component you are looking for, you may need to show a different symbol library - see below.

Hide or Show Symbol Libraries

You can access a larger range of component symbols by showing additional symbol libraries.

Go to the Settings ribbon, then select Symbols. Select additional symbol libraries to show in the component library, or deselect symbol libraries you do not use to hide them.

Search for a Component

You can use the magnifying lens button at the top of the component library to search for a particular component in the component library. The search function filters the list of components to show only those whose names contain the search term.

Change the Component Type

You can select or drag a new component into an already occupied cell to change that cell to be the new component. If the widget was already connected to a data source and the data source is appropriate for the new component type, the data source mapping will remain.

For example, if you have a KPI gauge 1 widget already connected to a simulator tag, you could drag a KPI label component onto that cell and the cell would change to a label connected to the same simulator tag.

If an incompatible component is selected or dragged into the cell, the data mapping will be removed.

Connect a Widget to Data

There are several ways to connect a widget to data from the data browser.

You can drag tags from the tag browser onto the widget. If the widget has more than one type of data source (for example, a categorical chart will have a category and one or more values), each time you drag a tag onto that widget it will fill the next available data source.

You can select your widget then select your tag in the tag browser and use the Select button at the bottom of the tag browser to apply the selected tag to the selected widget. As with dragging tags onto the widget, each time you select a tag it will fill the next available data source.

You can also open the Widgets Settings panel by selecting the Widget Settings button (or pressing the B key), then drag tags from the data browser into the appropriate data fields. Fields will turn green if your tag is valid for this data type, and red for an invalid data type.

If your widget is a simple one-value component, such as a gauge, you can type a point name or constant value directly into the value field in the Widgets Settings panel.

The widget will display data immediately, if data is available, and will animate if the data is changing.

You can drag or select another data source onto the widget or data fields to change the mapping.

For more information on using the data browser, see Use the Data Browser.

Move a Widget

You can move a widget from one cell to another simply by dragging it. If the destination cell is occupied, the widgets will trade places.

Change the Settings of a Widget

Select the cell containing your widget, then in the right panel select the Widget Settings button or press the B key. Depending on the component type you will find different properties that can be modified to change the behavior of the widget. For example, a gauge may allow you to specify high and low limits, while a categorical chart will allow you to change the sort order.

For a more detailed explanation of the settings for each component, see Working with Charts and Working with Other Components.

Change the Settings of a Container

Select the cell containing your widget, then in the right panel select the Container Settings button or press the V key. Here you can modify the cell title and background color. The different elements you can update are:

Template - One of four choices to determine the location of the title (top or bottom) and whether the cell has a border shadow.
Title section
- Title - The text used in the title.
- Alignment - The horizontal alignment of the title.
- Font Size - The font size of the title.
- Foreground - The font color of the title.
- Background - The background color of the title.
Appearance section
- Background - The background of the cell.

Note: If your container already has a title, you can edit the title by selecting it inside the widget itself.

Change the Appearance of Multiple Widgets

You can easily change the appearance of multiple widgets by copying the style from one widget to other widgets.

Set the appearance of one widget, as desired then select that widget and go to the Home tab. Select the Edit button (also known as the Format Painter), then select the next widget you would like to style. The newly selected widget will take on the appearance of the first widget.

Keep selecting cells to continue applying the same style to multiple cells. When you are done, deselect the Edit button.

Remove a Widget from a Cell

There are several ways to remove a widget. You can select the Component Library button (or press the C key), then drag the None component into the cell, or select the cell and then select the None component. The None component is located in the Controls library.

You can also select the more options button on a widget and select Remove.

Or you can select the widget and hit the Delete key.