To enable developers to build displays using Flex objects without having to allow for deployment situations where Flex is unacceptable, it is possible to replace Fx graphs with corresponding standard graphs. NOTE: In the Thin Client, Fx graphs are acceptable in any supported browser that has the Flash Player installed. If a display containing an Fx graph is loaded into the Thin Client and the Flash Player is not installed, a link to the Flash Player download page will appear .

Fx graphs are automatically replaced with standard graphs if:

• A PDF file is generated from a display (.rtv) file using the Export menu or the RTView reporting tool. (Fx graphs do not support PDF generation.) Fx graphs are replaced and then restored to the display after the PDF file is generated.
• The Flash player (or wrapper) is unavailable when a display (.rtv) file is opened in the:
  • Display Viewer Application
  • Display Builder Preview Window:  Fx graphs are only automatically replaced in the Preview window of the Display Builder in order to avoid inadvertently saving a file with replacement graphs.
  • Display Viewer Applet:  In order to replace unsupported Fx graphs with standard graphs, the applet's ARCHIVE parameter must include gmsjflash.jar.

To replace Fx graphs with standard graphs in all display (.rtv) files opened in the in the Display Builder, Display Viewer Application or Display Server, set the fxreplace option via the command line or in your OPTIONS.ini file. NOTE: Once Fx graphs have been replaced, a file saved in the Display Builder will be saved with replacement (i.e. standard) graphs.

Fx Trend Graph The Fx trend graph (obj_fxtrend). See the Fx Trend Graph section for more details on working with these graphs and additional interactivity supported in a Thin Client deployment.

Fx Bar Graph The Fx bar graph (class name: obj_fxbar). See the Fx Bar Graph section for more details on working with these graphs and additional interactivity supported in a Thin Client deployment.

Fx Pie Graph The Fx pie graph (class name: obj_fxpie). See the Fx Pie Graph section for more details on working with these graphs and additional interactivity supported in a Thin Client deployment.

Requirements and Limitations

Requirements

• The Fx graphs require version 9.0 or newer of the Adobe® Flash Player.
• In the Thin Client, the Fx graphs are supported in any supported browser that has the Flash Player installed. If a display containing an Fx graph is loaded into the Thin Client and the Flash Player is not installed, a link to the Flash Player download page will appear on the display.
• In the Display Viewer Applet, the ARCHIVE parameter must include gmsjflash.jar in order to replace unsupported Fx graphs with standard graphs.

Limitations

• In the Display Builder and Display Viewer Application, Fx graphs are supported on Windows platforms only. In the Display Builder, the Fx Graphs tab will still be visible.
• Fx graphs are not supported in the Display Viewer Applet on any platform.
• Fx graphs can be resource intensive during display loading and updating. This should be kept in mind when designing displays. A display containing several Fx graphs may load slowly.
• The Fx graphs are drawn inside a Flash Player window. This means that Fx graphs will be drawn above all other objects in a display, except other Fx objects, regardless of the object order. The Move to Front and Move to Back operations have no effect on Fx graphs. Also, in the Display Builder, if an Fx graph extends beyond the edges of the display, it will obscure other panels in the Display Builder, such as the object palette, property sheet, etc. When zooming or scrolling in the Display Builder or Display Viewer, Fx graphs will obscure any portion of the vertical and horizontal scrollbars that they overlap.
• In the Thin Client, if the context menu is opened near an Fx graph, the menu will be partially hidden by the Fx object. Also, a right-click inside an Fx graph will open the Flash Player menu, not the Thin Client's context menu.
• When moving an Fx graph in the Display Builder, it is best to grab and drag the object by one of its edges, just inside the selection highlight rectangle. The graph can't be dragged from within the plot area, since that will initiate a zoom. It can be dragged by other interior areas, but it may not move smoothly.

• Fx graphs store RGB values for all colors, this causes two problems:

  •  If you assign a custom color to a Fx graph and then change the custom color definition, the Fx graph will not update since it stored the RGB value of the custom color instead of the Color Index number. The only way to update it is to manually pick a new color in the Display Builder.
  •  If you apply a custom color to the Fx graph with the same RGB value as a standard color, when you close and re-open the standard color will be selected not the custom color. Because Fx graphs store RGB values, the corresponding color in the standard palette will be selected first.
• Replacement (i.e. standard) graphs do not exactly match the Fx graphs in appearance. There are minor differences in colors, gradients, fonts for legends/axis labels, tick marks, axis line style/thickness, spacing/placement of graph components, etc.
• The following object properties of the Fx Trend Graph (obj_fxtrend) are not available in the standard Trend Graph (obj_trendgraph02): legendPosition, logAxisFlag, alarmGlow, traceNShadowFlag. Therefore, the replacement will always have a linear y-axis and its legend, if visible, will be on the right.
• Interactive changes made to an Fx graph's scrollbar knob position, legend size, or time range are not applied to the replacement.
• Current data applied to an Fx trend graph is not re-applied to the replacement. So, the trace data, legend position, scrollbar position, and time range will appear as though the display was opened.
• The Fx pie graph (obj_fxpie) appears as a circle, the replacement (obj_pie) is drawn as an ellipse that fills the available rectangular area.
• Custom Fx graphs cannot replaced by a standard graph.