When you click 'add' on in the root folder page, you have the option to either add another folder or a VDT. If you add a VDT will be taken to the page below
- The name of the VDT
- A description of the VDT
This can be used for a full-text description of what the VDT does, the calculations involved, etc.
- The folder that the VDT will be stored in (within the root folder)
- Toggles confidentiality (only visible to roles and users added in access section)
- Add user/role to the access list
Once a VDT has been added it will automatically redirect to the build/display page seen below. The starting node is highlighted in red.
Add/Edit Node
Each node in the VDT contains information, as well as controls to modify the node or the VDT. The colour of the node is determined by the type of the node (Parent, KPI, Constant or linked VDT), with the colours configured on the Site Settings Page.
A typical parent node is displayed below
- The name of the Node, as set up in the Node Edit Dialog
- Collapses/expands all the children of this node
- It contains the list of fields, as set up in the Root folder edit page, as well as their values.
These values are either calculated, read from the input captured in the Node Edit Dialog or retrieved from the KPI that the node is associated with. The fields shown can be changed by selecting different view options.
- This indicates that this node’s values are calculated and show the formula used in the calculation.
- Provides node edit functionalities, dependent on the type of node. These are detailed as follows:
Icon | Function |
| Opens the Create Node Dialog to allow for the creation of child nodes |
| Opens the Edit Node Dialog |
| Opens the associated KPI chart |
| Opens and redirects to VDT associated with the node |
| Removes a node from VDT |
The type of node (parent, KPI, constant or VDT) will determine which fields are present in the edit dialog box. The parent edit node dialog is displayed below.
The fields are as follows:
Title
- This value will be displayed at the top of the node and is used to identify/describe the node
Reference
- A unique identifier for this node
- To be used in the expression of the parent node
- Must start with an alphabetic character and no spaces are allowed
- Automatically allocated a value from a – z, based on the node’s position, but can be changed to any other valid identifier for ease of use
Node Type
Node Type | Function |
Parent |
|
Input KPI |
|
Constant |
|
Linked VDT |
|
Expected Trend
- This can be downwards or upwards and refers to the desired trend of the value of the node. It indicated whether the desired outcome would be a value higher or lower than the associated target
- This is especially important in the status view as the trend will determine the status colour of the node. If the actual is lower than the target value and the trend is set to downwards, the colour of the node will be green. If the trend is set to upwards, the colour will be red.
Unit of Measure
- The unit in which the value of the node is measured. The unit is selected from a list of pre-defined options.
- Units can be added under the Administration tab of PIPware
Decimals
- The number of decimal places to be used when displaying this node’s values
Comments
- Can be used for any comments, descriptions or other free-text information relevant to this node
Expression
- The expression to be used to calculate the field values for this node
- Based on a combination of child node references, expressions and functions
- See Expressions below for more information
Node Expressions
Expressions are used to specify how a field or child node calculates its value. These can be made up of any combination of the following:
References to other fields (for calculated fields) or child nodes (for calculated nodes)
Constant values
Function calls
For example, the following is a valid expression: pow(a, 2) * avg(a, b) / abs(min(a * 50, b))
In this case:
- a and b are references to other fields or nodes
- 2 and 50 are constant values
- pow, abs, and min are function calls
During the evaluation of the expression, references are replaced with their appropriate values (from the field/node it referenced) and the expression is then evaluated using the standard mathematical order of operations:
- brackets
- function calls
- multiply/divide operations
- add/subtract operations
The following functions are currently supported:
Function | Description | Example Usage |
abs | Returns the absolute value of a number | abs(a) |
ceil | Returns the smallest integral value that is greater than or equal to the specified number | ceil(a) |
floor | Returns the largest integer less than or equal to the specified number | floor(a) |
round | Rounds a number to the nearest integral value | round(a) |
trunc | Returns the integral part of a specified number | trunc(a) |
exp | Returns e raised to the specified power | exp(a) |
min | Returns the smaller of two numbers | min(a, b) |
max | Returns the larger of two numbers | max(a, b) |
avg | Returns the average of two numbers | avg(a, b) |
pow | Returns a specified number raised to the specified power | pow(a, b) |
sqrt | Returns the square root of a specified number | sqrt(a) |
log | Returns the natural (base e) logarithm of a specified number | log(a) |
log10 | Returns the base 10 logarithm of a specified number | log10(a) |
sin | Returns the sine of the specified angle | sin(a) |
cos | Returns the cosine of the specified angle | cos(a) |
tan | Returns the tangent of the specified angle | tan(a) |
asin | Returns the angle whose sine is the specified number | asin(a) |
acos | Returns the angle whose cosine is the specified number | acos(a) |
atan | Returns the angle whose tangent is the specified number | atan(a) |
atan2 | Returns the angle whose tangent is the quotient of two specified numbers | atan2(a, b) |
sinh | Returns the hyperbolic sine of the specified angle | sinh(a) |
cosh | Returns the hyperbolic cosine of the specified angle | cosh(a) |
tanh | Returns the hyperbolic tangent of the specified angle | tanh(a) |