PanelPilotACE Design Studio
Target System Requirements
• Minimum Operating System: Windows XP SP3, or Windows Server 2003 SP2 (not tested on
Windows Servers)
• CPU: x86 AMD64
• RAM: 512 MB
• Hard disk: 200 MB free space
• Minimum Screen Resolution: 1152x800
• Network: Not required
• USB Port: at least 1 free USB 2.0 (or above) Port
• Administrator privilege to install the application
• Key board and Mouse
Getting Started
Starting Panel Pilot ACE
PanelPilotACE Design Studio provides user with two windows one is the
Window and PanelPilotACE Design Window.
PanelPilotACE Home
Each time you open PanelPilotACE Design Studio you are taken directly to the Home Window
which gives quick information on Recent Projects,
projects and getting started information with tutorial videos.
The projects designed in design studio can be directly opened by double clicking the project file.
The project is opened in the design studio and you are directly taken to the designer window which
provides the user with all the tools for designing the project.
Working with projects
Design studio project specifies the files, folders, and image resources that make up the project.
A project created is stored in the folder is made up of,
• Images: A folder that stores all the images used in designing the project.
• Project: A file with project name followed by a ppproj extension.
• Preview image: A preview (.png) file that stores the project’s default screen image.
PanelPilotACE Design Studio is a Multiple Document Interface (MDI), it supports working on
multiple project files. Features supported are,
• Multiple project files can be opened in Design Studio.
Project templates to start with pre-designed basic
• Multiple project files can be saved with Save All option.
• Multiple project files can be closed with Close All option.
• User can use the project elements from another open project in the Design Studio to any
other open project in the Design Studio (using copy and paste actions on elements).
• Screen from an open project in Design Studio can be copied to another project in Design
Studio (using copy and paste actions on screen).
Using Projects
Project Properties
Project is designed using screen/screens. Project designed is associated with the device model it
is designed for. Project properties that can be configured are,
• Project Name: This sets the name of the project and the project name is valid if it satisfies the
following validator conditions,
The project's identifier name must have at least 2 characters and cannot have more
than 248 characters.
Only the following characters are allowed:
'a' to 'z', 'A' to 'Z', '0' to '9', ' ' (Space), '~', '`', '!', '@', '#', '$', '%', '&', ''', '(', ')', '-', '_', '+', '=', '{', '}',
'[', ']', ',', '.'
The name cannot start with space or '.', and the following keywords are reserved (case
insensitive):
AUX, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, CON, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3,
LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, LPT9, NUL, PRN
For example, identifier name "aux" is not allowed, and "aux.project" is also not allowed. But
"aux_project" and "project.aux" are allowed.
• Device Model: This is a read only property, displays the model of the device for which this
project is designed.
• Display Brightness: The display brightness of the device can be set here.
• Device Screen Size: The device screen size is a read only property; this is set with the initial
device configuration, related to the device model.
• Analogue Input Channels: This is a read only property and is set with the device configuration,
related to the device model.
• Alarm output Channels: This is a read only property and is set with the device configuration,
related to the device model.
• PWM Output Channels: This is a read only property and is set with the device configuration,
related to the device model.
• Digital Input/output Channels: The number of digital input/output channels available is set with
the device configuration, related to the device model. The signal type of these channels can be
set.
o Signal Type configured to Input: Function elements that use input signal type - Digital
Channel Indicator.
o Signal Type configure to Output: Function elements that use output signal type - Switch,
Switch with Indicator, Digital Output Controller.
• Default Screen: Project’s default screen can be set here. Default screen is the first screen to be
loaded on to the device display screen.
To set default screen for a project, do one of the following,
Project browser, click project , change the default screen property in the
property editor
Project browser, right click the screen and select set as default screen option provided
in the context menu.
Note: Default screen in the project browser is always indicated in bold fonts.
Creating a New Project
This tutorial guides you through the process of creating a new project in PPACE Design Studio.
(Design Window)
To create a new project in design studio, do one of the following:
• Click the New Project Button on the toolbar.
• Press Ctrl + N.
• On File Menu, click New.
Any of these steps launches the New Project dialog box, from which you can select the project
that you want to create.
The New Project Dialog,
• Once the New Project Dialog opens user can change the project name and also the storage
path for the created project files.
• Set as default Project location option is provided to let the user set the default project
location path and this is the default path set in for new project action.
The new project thus created has an empty screen for the user to start designing the
project.
Using Templates to create the New Project
Your project templates are listed in the Home Window Templates tab. For more
information, see
Basing New Projects on Templates
Opening projects
To open an existing PanelPilotACE project, do one of the following,
• Click the open project button on the toolbar.
• On the File menu, click open. In the open dialog box, navigate to the project file (Multiple files
can be opened in Design Studio).
• Press Ctrl + O.
• Click the File Menu, Recent projects and click on the recently opened project link provided in the
or PanelPilotACE Home Window , recent projects tab.
list
• Double-click a project file (.ppproj) on the desktop or in Windows Explorer.
• Drag-N-Drop the project file (.ppproj) from the desktop or from Windows Explorer on to the
project browser provided in the
Design Window (Multiple project files are supported for Drag-N-
Drop).
With the exception of clicking a specific file or file link and Drag-N-Drop, all of the above
options launch the Open dialog box, which enables you to browse to your project file.
Saving Projects
To save the current working projects in PanelPilotACE Design Studio, do one of the following,
• Click the Save project button on the toolbar.
• On the File menu, click save (single project) / save all (multiple projects).
• Press Ctrl + S.
• Save option provided in the context menu for the project in the project browser.
Saving the project with a new name and location
To save the current working project in PanelPilotACE Design Studio, do one of the following,
• Click the Save As project button on the toolbar, In the Save As Project Dialog enter the new
name and location for new the project file.
• On File menu, click Save As.
• Save As option provided in the context menu for the project in the project browser.
This option provides the user an option to save the current working project with a new name
and location and start working on this newly created file, it will close the current working
project.
Saving a copy of the project
To save a copy of the current working project in PanelPilotACE Design Studio, do one of the
following,
• Click Save Copy As button on the toolbar, in the Save Copy As dialog enter the new name and
location of the new project file.
• On File menu, click Save Copy As.
• Save Copy As option provided in the context menu for the project in the project browser.
This option provides the user an option to save the copy of current working project with a new
name and location and continue working on the current working project.
Validate Project
To validate the current working project in PanelPilotACE Design Studio, do one of the following,
• On the File menu, click validate.
• Press F4.
• Validate option provided in the context menu for the project in the project browser.
Validation of the project gives you the information on the validity state of the project. If
the project has validation error this action shows up a dialog with a list of validation errors. The
project can be uploaded to the device if and only if all the validation errors are resolved.
Upload Project
To upload the current working project in PanelPilotACE Design Studio, do one of the following,
• On the File menu, click upload.
• Press F6.
• Upload option provided in the context menu for the project in the project browser.
Upload project action validates the current project and if the project has no validation
errors, upload project dialog box appears and the once you confirm upload action the project is
uploaded to the device. In case of validation errors you have to resolve the issues and then
upload action can be performed. For more information on validation errors refer to
Errors and
Warning.
Note:
1. The upload action is disabled in the File menu if the device is not connected to the
system.
2. F6 pressed when device is inactive/not connected will show up information dialog
asking the user to connect the device to perform this action.
Preview in Emulator
To preview the current working project in PanelPilotACE Design Studio, do one of the following,
• On the File menu, clicks preview.
• Press F5.
• Preview option provided in the context menu for the project in the project browser.
PanelPilotACE Design Studio has an option to preview the designed project on the
emulator. Emulator can be used to test the minor changes in the project design and then once
the design is complete can be uploaded on to the device for testing. For more information on
how to use the emulator view for testing refer
PanelPilotACE Emulator Window.
Note:
1. Text Box visual element, font rendering system on the device and PC are different and
hence the fonts might not be rendered exactly similar on the preview dialog/window
and the device.
Project Templates
A project template contains the design elements and their default settings that you can use as a
starting point when you create a PanelPilotACE project.
Project templates can be,
• System templates
• User templates
System Templates
System templates are the project templates installed with the Design Studio application, for
more information on where to find the system templates, follow
templates.
User Templates
User templates are the project templates created by the user. You can create project templates
using any of the projects designed in PanelPilotACE Design Studio.
• Open an existing project in the designer or create a new project.
• On File menu, click Export as Template.
• Export As Template option provided in the context menu for the project in the project
browser; in the Export Project Template Dialog enter the template name and the required
details (details will be displayed when the template is selected in the
templates), click export
and provide the location to store the project template (is saved in a file [template name
provided].pptemplate format).
Once the template is exported to a location it can be imported in to the Design Studio to
make it available in the application using following options,
• On File Menu, click Import Templates.
• Double click the project template file.
• Drag-N-Drop project template/project templates in to the Design Studio.
Note: In case the Design Studio is busy with any device related action like upgrade, upload, reboot, the
templates might not get added to the Design Studio on performing any of the above actions to import
the project templates.
Basing new projects on templates
To save time, you can base multiple projects on a single project template that contains default
settings and design elements. You can create a new project using the project templates as base designs
follow these steps,
• Browse to the Home Window, Templates.
• Select the type of template System Templates or User Templates.
• Double click the template, in the New Project Dialog provide the new name and project location.
Note: In case you have not imported any user templates in to the Design Studio, Templates will only
display the System Templates and the User Templates tab is not created.
Recent Projects
To open recent project do one of the following,
• On the File menu, click recent projects and select the project link and start designing the project.
• Browser to
Home window, click the recent projects tab. Here is the list of recent projects with a
preview (default screen image) of its content. Click open on the project to start designing.
Note: In case the recent project selected is not available anymore or is deleted externally, error message
is displayed.
Using Screens
Screen Properties
Screen properties that can be configured by the user,
• Screen name: This sets name of the screen used in the project.
The screen's identifier name must have at least 2 characters and cannot have more than
247 characters.
Only the following characters are allowed:
'a' to 'z', 'A' to 'Z', '0' to '9', '_'
The first character must be an English alphabet letter, and the following keywords are reserved
(case sensitive):
abstract, alignof, asm, auto, bool, boolean, break, byte, case, catch, char, char16_t,
char32_t, class, console, const, const_cast, constexpr, continue, debugger, decltype, default,
delete, do, double, dynamic_cast, else, enum, explicit, export, extends, extern, false, final,
finally, float, for, friend, function, goto, if, implements, import, in, inline, instanceof, int,
interface, let, long, mutable, Math, namespace, native, new, noexcept, nullptr, operator,
package, private, protected, public, register, reinterpret_cast, return, short, signed, sizeof,
static, static_assert, static_cast, struct, super, switch, synchronized, template, this, thread_local,
throw, throws, transient, true, try, typedef, typeid, typename, typeof, union, unsigned, using,
var, virtual, void, volatile, wchar_t, while, with, yield
The screen's identifier must be different from any other screen in the project, any element in
this screen and all project variables.
For more information about the reserved words, please visit:
https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Reserved_Words.
• Screen Size: This is a read only property and is set from the device configuration, depends on
the device model.
• Color: Set the screen background color, also provides an option to set the same color to all the
screens used in the project.
• Orientation: Set the screen orientation, also provides an option to set the same orientation to
all the screens used in the project.
Creating New Screen
To add new screen to the project go to the Project browser, right click screens, and click add
new.
Rename Screen
To rename screen do one of the following,
• Project browser, double click screen, and enter the new name for the screen in the tree view.
• Project browser, right click screen and select rename, and enter the new name for the screen
in the tree view.
• Select screen in the project browser, go to property editor that displays the properties of the
screen, and enter the new name for the screen in the name field.
Change Screen Order
To change the order of the screens designed for the project, enter the project browser and right
click the screen, the context menu provides Move up, Move down options to change its order.
Note: This order need not be the same as the order in which the screens are loaded on the device
display; this order can be controlled using other
function elements.
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