RTView® Core
User Guide

Quick Start Tutorial
This Quick Start Tutorial provides you with the fundamentals on how to use RTView. Once completed, you can swiftly apply this knowledge to building your own real-time dashboard displays that give you comprehensive business information at a glance.

Learn to:
  • Animate graphs, tables and meters  
  • Create drill down displays that show more detail with a mouse click
  • Create a display that is reused for any number of data sets 
  • Create alerts for critical data
  • Perform automated calculations on your data and display results
  • Automatically highlight critical data in tables
  • View your displays in their deployed form

In order to illustrate RTView features, this tutorial uses an XML source - the XML data simulator. Even if you will not be using XML data, we suggest you complete these exercises in order to learn basic RTView concepts. In the Data Sources section, there are links to additional exercises that address topics specific to other data sources.

Get Started
To start RTView, you need to get a license key, start the XML data simulator and login to the Display Builder.

Register for a License Key
In order to proceed, you need to Register for a license key if you have not already done so.

Start the XML Data Simulator 
In this exercise you start the XML data simulator which is the XML source used in this tutorial.

On Windows
1.    Select Start-->Programs-->RTView-->RTView Command Prompt.

2.   In the command window, go to demos:
 
type start run_simdata

The XML data simulator is ready when dots appear across the screen.

On UNIX
1.    Open a UNIX terminal window.

2.    In the terminal window, go to your RTView installation directory.

3.    Initialize the terminal window.
 
csh bsh
  type source rtv_init type . ./rtv_init.ksh

NOTE:  You must initialize each new terminal window you open. See the Setup section for more details about setting up your environment.

4.    In the initialized terminal window, go from your installation directory to the demos directory.

5.    Start the XML data simulator:
 
type run_simdata &

The XML data simulator runs as a background process and is ready when dots appear across the screen.

Start the Display Builder

On Windows
1.    Start the Display Builder in your original, initialized terminal window:
 
type start run_builder

2.    Login to the Display Builder. By default, the Display Builder does not require a login. Login can be enabled at setup to support role based security. The default user name and password are:
User Name: admin
Password: admin

NOTE: It is possible that your system administrator may have configured another user name and password. In this case, you may also need to select a role.

You are now ready to create a display.

On UNIX
1.   Start the Display Builder in your original, initialized terminal window:
 
type run_builder &

2.    Login to the Display Builder. By default, the Display Builder does not require a login. Login can be enabled at setup to support role based security. The default user name and password are:
User Name: admin
Password: admin

NOTE: It is possible that your system administrator may have configured another user name and password. In this case, you may also need to select a role.

You are now ready to create a display.

Create A Display
At this point you have:

In addition to illustrating the fundamentals of RTView, we also want to provide you with a conceptual understanding of its many uses. Therefore, in the following exercises, you will use the XML simulator as a data source to create a dashboard display for a fictitious company with plants in multiple cities. The display will track live production numbers, such as Units Completed and Units in Production. The dashboard will have several animated objects showing real-time updates, including:
 
  • A table that shows production data for fifteen plants, highlights rows when production status goes offline, and drills down to plant-specific information with a mouse click
  • An automatically activated, audible alert 
  • A graphic showing the sum total of Units Completed for all fifteen plants
  • A bar graph comparing Units Completed versus Units in Production for each plant

Set Display Background Properties
The first step in creating your dashboard display is to set the size and background color as it is to appear in your deployment.

1.    In the Display Builder, select File>Background Properties.

2.    In the Background Properties dialog:
 
Model Width - Increase to 800.

Model Height - Increase to 600.

Model Properties - Click the button to open the Model Properties window:
 
bgColor Click in the right column, select the ellipsis   button and choose a background color from the palette.

Close the Color Chooser.

3.    Click OK to apply and close the Background Properties dialog.

4.    Click Yes to add space to the top of the display.

Your display size and background color are now set. You now need to setup access to an XML source.

Add an XML Source to XML Source List
In this exercise, you add an XML source, update.xml, to the XML Source List to make it available for animating objects.

1.    Select Tools>Options to open the Application Options dialog.

2.    Select the XML tab and click Add to open the Add XML Source dialog.

3.    In the Add XML Source dialog:
 
XML Source Name - Enter update.xml

NOTE: The update.xml source is generated by the XML data simulator. See Creating XML Sources for technical details on creating and formatting your own XML source.

4.    Click OK to close the Add XML Source dialog. The XML source appears in the list of available XML Data Sources.

5.    Click OK to apply and close the Application Options dialog.

The XML source is now available for animating objects.

Animate a Graphic Object
Certain objects are suitable for displaying certain types of data. For example, you could not display an entire table of data in a single meter object, but you could display a single cell from that table in the meter object.  

In this exercise, you create a meter that shows the plant load for a single plant. You animate the meter simply by attaching it to a Data Key in the XML source. You will first add a meter object to your display, edit the meter label, and then attach the meter to the Data Key, element1_load.

1.    Select the Meters tab in the Object Palette.

2.     Click on the first meter in the palette.

3.    Move the cursor to the Working Area. A + symbol appears next to the cursor which means that the Display Builder is in Add mode. Click in the Working Area to place the meter. The meter is ready to be edited.

4.     In the Object Properties dialog:
 
label (category: Label) - Change to Load. Press <Enter> to apply the label.

value (category: Data)- Right-click in the Property Name field and select Attach to Data>XML.

5.    In the Attach to XML Data dialog:
 
XML Source - update.xml should already be selected.

Data Key - Select element1_load from the drop down menu.

6.    Click OK to apply these values and close the Attach to XML Data dialog.
 
The meter is now animated with real-time data updates provided by the value of the element1_load Data Key.

Create an Alert
In this exercise, you create an audible alert using the Data Key, element1_load. You setup an alert by defining the value at which it is to be activated, and what happens when it gets activated. You will first copy and paste the meter's data attachment properties (from the previous exercise) to a new object, label it Plant Load, and then set the alert to beep when element1_load is 75 or greater.

1.    In the Object Palette, select the General tab and add the Range Dynamic object shown here (class name: obj_rect_ilvx_ra4) to your display.

2.    Select the meter you previously added (class name: obj_meter20) and click on the Copy button  in the toolbar.

3.    Select the Range Dynamic object and click the Paste Data Attachments  button. The new object is animated by real-time data updates provided by the value of element1_load.

4.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
label (category: Label) - Change to Plant Load. Press <Enter> to apply the label.

valueHighAlarmEnabledFlag (category: Alert) - Select the checkbox to enable.

valueHighAlarm (category: Alert) - Decrease to 75. Press <Enter>. This will activate the alert when the value of element1_load is 75 or greater.

valueHighAlarmCommand (category: Alert) - Right-click in the Property Name field and select Define Command>SYSTEM.

5.    In the Define System Command dialog:
 
Command Type - Select Beep from the drop down menu.

6.    Click OK to apply these values and close the Define System Command dialog.

The alert now automatically beeps when the Plant Load is 75 or greater. You will also notice that the color of the meter changes to the default valueHighAlarmColor setting, red, when the alert is activated.

Display Data in a Table
In this exercise, you add a table to your display that shows real-time production numbers for fifteen plants, and highlights rows when the status of a plant changes to offline. This is done by attaching data to the table, then creating a filter for the table. You will notice that you do not have to specify the number of columns and rows for the table - RTView automatically creates the exact number needed based on the data. During this exercise you will also add a table and change the label.

1.    In the Object Palette, click on the Tables tab and add the first table in the palette (class name: obj_table02) to your display.

2.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
label (category: Label) - Change to Production Table. Press <Enter>.

3.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
valueTable (category: Data) - Right-click in the Property Name field and select Attach to Data>XML.

4.    In the Attach to XML Data dialog:
 
XML Source - update.xml should already be selected.

Data Key - Select production_table from the drop down menu.

Column(s) - Select * to display all columns available in the Data Key. RTView automatically generates the correct number of columns and rows for the table.

5.    Click OK to apply these values and close the Attach to XML Data dialog.

The table now displays real-time data updates provided by the value of production_table.

6.    In the Object Properties dialog:
   
filterProperties (category: Alert) - Double-click in the Property Name field to open the Filter Properties dialog.

7.    In the Filter Properties dialog, click the Add button to open the Edit Filter dialog.

8.    In the Edit Filter dialog:
 
Condition - Select Status.
Select = (equals).
Click in the text field and enter offline.
Action -  Set Background Color To should already be selected.
Click in the next field to open the Color Chooser. Click to select the filter color and close the Color Chooser.
Target -  Rows should already be selected.

9.    Click OK to close the Edit Filter dialog.

10.   Click OK to apply and close the Filter Properties window.
The table now highlights rows where the Status cell value is offline. You can easily create an animated bar graph version of this Production Table. See the next exercise for instructions.

Animate a Bar Graph
In this exercise, you display the Production Table data in a bar graph. This is done by copying and pasting properties from the Production Table to a bar graph object. You will also edit the label.

1.    In the Object Palette, click on the Graphs tab and add the first bar graph (class name: obj_bargraph) to your display.

2.    Right-click on the Production Table and select Copy from the popup menu.

3.    Right-click on the Bar Graph and select Paste All Properties from the popup menu.

The bar graph is now animated by the Production Table data.

4.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
label (category: Label) - Change to Production Units vs. Completed Units.  Press <Enter>.

xAxisFlag (category: X-Axis)- Click to select the checkbox to display labels at the bottom of the graph.

If you cannot read the labels below the graphs, scale the graph horizontally.  

The bar graph is now animated by three columns of the production_table data. You can easily create a graphic that displays an automated calculation. See the next exercise for instructions.

Display an Automated Calculation
In this exercise, you create an object that displays total Units Completed for all production sites. You do this by creating a function that calculates a sum, attaching the function to the Units Completed column of the production_table Data Key, creating an object to display the sum, and attaching the object to the function. 

1.    Select Tools>Functions and click the Add button to open the Edit Function dialog.

2.    In the Edit Function dialog:
 
Function Name - Enter total_units_comp. (This must be a unique name.)

Function Type - Select Add All Rows Or Columns from the drop down menu.

Table - Right-click in the text field and select Attach to Data>XML.

Return Column - 0

The function is ready to calculate - it now needs data to perform calculations on.

3.    In the Attach to XML Data dialog:
 
XML Source - update.xml should already be selected.

Data Key - Select production_table from the drop down menu.

Column(s) - Select Units Completed from the drop down menu.

4.    Click OK to close the Attach to XML Data dialog.

5.    Click OK to apply these values and close the Edit Function dialog.

The function now performs calculations on the Units Completed column of the production_table Data Key. It now needs a place to display the totals.

6.    In the Object Palette, click on the General tab and add the oval object shown here (class name: obj_circ2d_ilv) to your display.
 

To be sure that you have added the correct object to your display, you can verify the class name listed at the top of the Object Properties window.

7.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
label (category: Label) - Change to Total Units Completed.  Press <Enter>.

labelTextPosY (category: Label) - Select Outside Bottom from the drop down list to position the label.

8.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
value (category: Data) - Right-click in the Property Name field and select Attach to Data>FUNCTION.

9.    In the Attach to Function Data dialog:
 
Function Name - Select total_units_comp from the drop down menu.

Column(s) - Select Units Completed from the drop down menu.

10.   Click OK to apply and close the Attach to Function Data dialog.

The oval object now displays the sum of Units Completed for all production sites.

Create a Drill Down
In this exercise, you create a drill down in the Production Table. A drill down enables you to navigate through your data in many different ways. 

Background Information
RTView has a Substitution feature that allows you to build open-ended displays in which data attachments and commands depend on values defined at the time the display is run. In this way, a single display can be reused to show data and execute commands from a number of different sources. When data attachments are created in the Display Builder, generic values are used instead of the actual value of any field in the Attach To Data and Define Command dialogs. Later, when the display is running, these generic values are defined.

The data structure of tables and graphs (tabular data) enables RTView to automatically create several data source specific, built-in Substitutions for you. You will see these built-in Substitutions used in the target display when you create the drill down. For more information on Substitutions, see Substitutions.

In this exercise, you create a drill down using the previously created display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, as the target display. First you will set the Production Table to display two columns, the Plant and Status columns. Then you will create a drill down that will open a bar graph that shows production numbers for each plant.

1.    Select the Production Table and in the Object Properties dialog:
 
valueTable (category: Data) - Double-click in the Property Name field to open the Attach to XML Data dialog.

2.    In the Attach to XML Data dialog:
 
XML Source - update.xml should already be selected.

Data Key - production_table should already be selected.

Column(s) - Click on the ellipsis   button to open the Select Columns dialog.

3.    In the Select Columns dialog:
 
Select Plant in the Available Columns list and click Add.

Select Status in the Available Columns list and click Add.

Click OK to close the Select Columns dialog.

4.    Click OK to apply and close the Attach to XML Data dialog.

5.    In the Object Properties dialog:
 
autoResizeFlag (category: Column) - Click to select the checkbox and set the width of all columns to fit the visible area.

The table now displays only two columns: Plant and Status.  

6.    Select the Production Table and in the Object Properties dialog:
 
drilDownTarget (category: Interaction) - Double-click in the Property Name field to bring up the Drill Down Properties dialog.

7.    In the Drill Down Properties dialog:
 
Apply Drill Down To -  Select Named Window from the drop down menu. This option lets you re-use the window when you drill down multiple times.  

Window Name -  Enter xml. This name should be unique unless the display is to open in an existing window.

Drill Down Display Name -  Select dstutorial\xml_dd_qs.rtv, the previously created display for this tutorial, from the drop down menu. 

8.    Click OK to set the drill down target and close the Drill Down Properties dialog.

9.    Double-click on any row in the table to drill down. The previously created display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, opens.

10.    Double-click on another row in the table and the same display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, is reused to show different data based on the row you selected.

11.    Close the drill down display.

12.    Select File>Save, name this display mydisplay.rtv and save it in the demos directory.

For more information on creating drill down displays, see Drill Down Displays. For more information on Substitutions, see Substitutions.

Deploy Your Display
In this exercise, you access your displays in their deployed form. Depending on whether you deploy RTView as an Application, a Rich Client Browser, or a Thin Client Browser, you will access your displays either with the Display Viewer, the Display Viewer Applet, or a web browser, respectively. For the purposes of this tutorial, we show you one way to access your display for each of the three types of deployment.

Application with Direct Data Connection

On Windows
1.    Select Start-->Programs-->RTView-->RTView Command Prompt.

2.   In the command window, go to demos:
 
type start run_viewer

3.    Login to the Display Viewer. By default, the Display Viewer does not require a login. Login can be enabled at setup to support role based security. The default user name and password are:
User Name: admin
Password: admin

NOTE: It is possible that your system administrator may have configured another user name and password. In this case, you may also need to select a role.

4.    Select File>Open, choose mydisplay.rtv and click Open.

Your display opens with real-time data updates.

5.    Single-click on any row in the table to drill down. The previously created display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, opens.

6.    Single-click on another row in the table and the same display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, is reused to show different data based on the row you selected.

7.    Close the drill down display.

8.    Exit the Display Viewer and, if you are not going to view your display again, exit the XML data simulator.

If your RTView package features additional data sources, see the Work with Additional Data Sources section at the end of this tutorial.

On UNIX
1.    With the XML simulator running and in an initialized command window, open the Display Viewer:
type run_viewer mydisplay

2.    Login to the Display Viewer. By default, the Display Viewer does not require a login. Login can be enabled at setup to support role based security. The default user name and password are:
User Name: admin
Password: admin

NOTE: It is possible that your system administrator may have configured another user name and password. In this case, you may also need to select a role.

Your display opens with real-time data updates.

3.    Single-click on any row in the table to drill down. The previously created display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, opens.

4.   Single-click on another row in the table and the same display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, is reused to show different data based on the row you selected.

5.    Close the drill down display.

6.    Exit the Display Viewer and, if you are not going to view your display again, exit the XML data simulator.

If your RTView package features additional data sources, see the Work with Additional Data Sources section at the end of this tutorial.

Rich Client Browser with Direct Data Connection
1.     With the XML simulator running, open the file mydisplay.html (located in the demos directory) in a web browser to open the Display Viewer Applet. 

2.    Login to the Display Viewer Applet. By default, the Display Viewer Applet does not require a login. Login can be enabled at setup to support role based security. The default user name and password are:
User Name: admin
Password: admin

NOTE: It is possible that your system administrator may have configured another user name and password. In this case, you may also need to select a role.

Your display opens with real-time data updates.

3.    Single-click on any row in the table to drill down. The previously created display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, opens.

4.   Single-click on another row in the table and the same display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, is reused to show different data based on the row you selected.

5.    Close the drill down display.

6.    Exit the web browser and, if you are not going to view your display again, exit the XML data simulator.

If your RTView package features additional data sources, see the Work with Additional Data Sources section at the end of this tutorial.

Thin Client Browser
1.    In an initialized command window, start the Demo Server. Go to the demos directory:
type run_startup_demoserver

2.    In an initialized command window, start the Display Server. Go to the demos directory: 

type run_displayserver

3.    Open a browser and navigate to http://localhost:8068/rtvdisplay.

4.    Select mydisplay.rtv from the left frame in the browser.

Your display opens with real-time data updates.

5.    Single-click on any row in the table to drill down. The previously created display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, opens.

6.   Single-click on another row in the table and the same display, xml_dd_qs.rtv, is reused to show different data based on the row you selected.

7.    Close the drill down display.

8.    Exit the Demo Server and the Display Server and, if you are not going to view your display again, exit the XML data simulator.

Work with Additional Data Sources
You may continue this tutorial by working with XML via Java Server Pages. If your RTView package features additional data sources, further Quick Start exercises are located in the Data Sources section.  

 
SL, SL-GMS, GMS, RTView, SL Corporation, and the SL logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sherrill-Lubinski Corporation in the United States and other countries. Copyright © 1998-2015 Sherrill-Lubinski Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

JMS, JMX and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. They are mentioned in this document for identification purposes only. 

 

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