Updating Shared Objects in Groups or Symbols

It is likely that there will be objects in your GraphWorX64 displays that will need to conform to uniform standards, updated scripts, a more modern design, naming conventions, or any other facet of a configured object. One such object might be the needle you use in meters; such a needle already has a rotation dynamic, but you might want to add a color dynamic that changes the color of the needle as the temperature fluctuates. If the needle is used in 100 meter objects in a display, maintaining it in all those places takes time and is prone to errors. Using the Update Shared Objects feature makes the job easier. To put Update Shared Objects feature to use, you must:

  1. Assign the same, identical keyword to the object in every meter where it is used by using its ShareKeyword property.

  2. Use the Update Shared Objects feature to push your update to all instances of the object.

Each step is described below in this topic. Refer to Assigning Keywords in the ShareKeyword Property and Push Changes to All Instances using the Update Shared Objects Feature.

 

For use with groups or Smart Symbols. The ShareKeyword property and Update Shared Objects feature are available with all 2D and 3D objects. However, they are primarily intended for use with objects that are components of groups or Smart Symbols. For more information, refer to Groups and Smart Symbol Basics.

 

Assigning Keywords in the ShareKeyword Property

The Update Shared Objects feature requires that you assign a uniform ShareKeyword property to identical objects that you will use the feature with. For example, you might assign the ShareKeyword "NEEDLE" to every needle object; as a result, you will be able to push a change uniformly to every object that has that keyword.

 

Which Objects Need a ShareKeyword? An ideal object to give a keyword to is one that you re-use in groups, Smart Symbols, layers, or displays, and that has a characteristic that requires you to maintain it with some regularity. Perhaps it is:

For other examples, refer to Examples, at the end of this topic.

 

Rules. Regardless of the type of object you give ShareKeywords to, there are a few rules about the keywords themselves that you need to observe:

To assign a keyword to the objects that share it:

  1. Identify the objects that share the keyword.

  2. Locate all instances of the object. If you have named the objects uniformly throughout your displays, you might be able to use the Find feature to locate them.

  3. Open each GraphWorX display that the object is used in, select the object in the display or in Explorer, go to the object's Properties tab and, in the ShareKeyword property, enter the object's keyword.

  4. After all instances have been given the same keyword, you can use the Update Shared Objects feature to push modifications make on one instance to all instances.

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Push Changes to All Instances Using the Update Shared Objects Feature

When you propagate an object's modifications using the Update Shared Objects feature, the changed object that is open on the GraphWorX64 work surface is copied to all instances that share the object's keyword. All characteristics of the object will be copied except for those traits you choose to preserve. For example, if you are updating objects with the ShareKeyword of PUMP, but many of these objects have their own scripts, it is imperative that you preserve scripts when you do the update. Think carefully about the changes before you go ahead and propagate them throughout your GraphWorX displays.

  1. Open the display that contains the 2D or 3D object you will be changing. Make the changes to the object.

  2. While the object is selected, go to the Dynamics ribbon and click the Update Shared button in the Smart Symbols section.

  3. Selecting Update Shared from the Dynamics ribbon opens the Update Shared Objects dialog box, as shown in the figure below.

The Update Shared Objects Dialog Box

 

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Examples

Labels. One display has many inputs and outputs. For all input label objects you assign a ShareKeyword property of INPUT and for all output label objects the ShareKeyword in OUTPUT.  Using the Update Shared feature it is fast and easy to change the color, size, and shadow for all of them. Just do the change on one INPUT object and apply it to the rest; then repeat for OUTPUT objects. (Remember to check the Preserve Text Labels check box.)

 

Pumps. In one project there are several pumps. If the displays in the project are created carefully from the beginning, and all desired pumps are marked as shared with same keyword, it is fast and easy to change their appearance. If the pumps are connected to different signals, remember to check the Preserve Text Labels check box on the Update Shared Objects dialog box. If you are changing the pumps' OPC tags, instead of using Update Shared you might consider using the Find/Replace with wildcards to select the desired group of signals to be searched or replaced.

 

Company logo. You use your company's logo in many displays but recently the company changed its name and its logo. In one operation, all instances of the company logo can be modified or increased in size using the Update Shared Objects feature. In this case you would need to remember to uncheck Preserve Size and Orientation on the Update Shared Objects dialog box so that the logos don't resize and they don't move.

 

Note: If you assign the same share keyword to both a 2D symbol and a 3D symbol, they will be updated in relation to the kind of symbol of the source for the replacement.  If the source is a 2D symbol, 3D symbols with the same keyword will not be updated, and if the source is a 3D symbol, 2D symbols with the same keyword will not be updated.

 

 

 

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