Radial Gauge+

Overview

When to use it

Use Radial Gauge+ when you need to:

• Show one process value on a dial, with its range.
• Color the dial in bands that mark low, normal, high, and critical limits.
• Show several related values of the same unit on one shared scale.
• Choose the shape of the dial, from a full circle to a half circle.

Choose Linear Gauge+ when a straight bar fits the display better than a dial. Choose Value+ when the number alone is enough.

Before you begin

• Prepare one or more numeric PI Points or AF attributes. All values on one gauge share one scale, so use values with the same unit.
• Decide the limits and their colors if the dial should show bands. They are set in the PI Vision multi-state configuration of the symbol.
• An AF attribute can be shown in another unit of the same kind with Display unit. A PI Point always shows its own engineering unit.

Add and set up the symbol

1. Select Radial Gauge+ in the PI Vision symbol gallery and drop it on the display.
2. Drag a numeric data source onto the symbol. The gauge shows a marker on the scale.
3. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Radial Gauge.
4. Under Trace Options, select the data source and set Type to Needle.
5. Close the pane. The needle points to the current value on a scale that follows the range stored with the data source, and the center label shows the value.

Common tasks

Set a fixed scale range

Use this when the useful part of the scale is smaller than the range stored with the data source.

1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Radial Gauge.
2. Under Scale, open Range and set Range to Custom (1).
3. Enter the Maximum (2) and the Minimum (3).

The scale now runs from the minimum to the maximum, and the tick labels follow. A value outside the range stays at the end of the scale. Set Invert scale to ON to make the scale run counter-clockwise. A custom range is read in the displayed unit.

Color the dial by limits

Use this when the operator must see at once whether the value is low, normal, or high. The bands come from the multi-state limits of the symbol.

1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Multi-State.
2. Under States, change the upper limit (3) of a state, or click its color box (2) and pick a color.
3. To add a state, type its upper limit in the empty field, then click Add (1).
4. Right-click the symbol again and select Configure Radial Gauge.
5. Under Rangebar, make sure Show (1) is ON.

The dial shows one band for each state. While Range is Auto, the scale runs from the lowest limit to the highest one, and the major ticks sit on the limits.

To emphasize the band that holds the current value, set Highlight (2) to ON. The data source that drives the highlight is listed below the toggle (3).

The other bands are dimmed, so the green band stands out. Change the dimming with Opacity under Appearance.

Choose the shape of the dial

Use this when the dial must be a half circle to save height, or a full circle.

1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Radial Gauge.
2. Under Scale, open Layout.
3. Drag Angle (1) to the right to close the arc from both ends. Drag it to the left to open the arc up to a full circle.
4. Drag Start (2) to rotate the arc.

Angle runs from 0 to 90 in steps of 5.

Angle	Result	Example
40 (default)	An arc of 280 degrees with an opening at the bottom.
90	A half circle.
0	A full circle. The minimum and the maximum meet at the bottom, so one label covers the other.

The symbol keeps its size when the shape changes. Resize it so that the labels fit.

Show several values on one dial

Use this when related values share a scale, such as a measured value, its setpoint, and a limit. Every data source on the symbol gets its own pointer.

1. Drag the data sources onto the symbol.
2. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Radial Gauge.
3. Under Trace Options, select a data source in the list (1).
4. Set Type (2) to Marker, Bar, or Needle.
5. Set Color (3) so that each pointer is easy to tell apart.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 for each data source.

With Range set to Auto, the scale follows the first data source. In this example, a bar, two markers, and a needle share one scale from 5 to 105. Under General, Center Label lists the value and the name of every data source in the pointer color.

When pointers overlap, give a marker or bar a different Position or Offset under its own group in Trace Options.

Style the needle and the value text

Use this when the needle covers the scale labels, or when the center label repeats information that the display already shows.

1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Radial Gauge.
2. Under Trace Options, select the data source. Set Color (1) to Custom for a fixed color, or to Range for the color of the band that holds the value.
3. Open Needle and drag Length (2) to shorten or lengthen the needle.
4. Open Label and set Show (3) to Value to print the value at the tip of the needle. Other choices are Name and Name + Value.

To simplify the center label, open General > Center Label. Set Label (1) to OFF to hide the data source name. Set Color (2) to Custom for a fixed text color instead of the pointer color.

The needle is shorter, the value sits at its tip, and the center label shows only the value and the unit.

Use the symbol

• Hover the gauge to see a tooltip, if the designer enabled it. The tooltip shows either the pointer values or the limits, depending on its Type.
• Read the pointer, the value, and the active band together. Bands only show where the limits are. They do not alarm.
• Stale data: when a displayed live value is stale, an amber clock appears. Its tooltip names each affected data source. See Data Quality.
• Bad data: a bad value uses the bad data color of the multi-state configuration. Check the data source.
• The symbol only displays data. It does not write to the PI System or change other symbols.

Configure the symbol

Right-click the symbol and select Configure Radial Gauge. The pane groups its settings into sections, and each section has collapsible groups. Rangebar appears when the symbol has multi-state limits. Marker, Bar, and Needle groups appear for the selected data source and its Type.

General

Scale

Rangebar

Available when the symbol has multi-state limits. The bands come from those limits.

Trace Options

Select a data source in the list. The settings below apply to it.

Other sections

Troubleshooting and limitations

Limitation: All pointers share the scale of the first data source, so values with different units do not belong on one gauge.

Limitation: On a full circle, the minimum and the maximum are at the same place, and one label covers the other.

Limitation: The band colors and limits are edited in the multi-state pane of PI Vision, not in the gauge pane.