Documentation Vision Library+ Documentation

Value+

Value+ shows the current or a time-specific value of one PI Point or AF attribute as a compact readout with its label, unit and timestamp. Hover over it for a tooltip, or open a floating trend of the value without leaving the display.

Overview

Three Value+ symbols: a temperature with a limit color, a flow rate, and a batch phase

When to use it

Use Value+ when you need to:

  • Show a value with its label, unit and timestamp, in the size and font your display needs.
  • Show the value at another time, such as midnight today or an hour before the end of the display range.
  • Color the value by limits, so operators see a high or low reading at a glance.
  • Open a floating trend of the value, or copy its label, from the display.
  • Show a PI Point or attribute in another unit, or with a fixed number of decimals.

Choose KPI Card+ when you build a dashboard of cards with a target, a sparkline or a progress bar. Choose Value+ when a compact readout and its floating trend are enough.

Before you begin

  • Prepare one PI Point or AF attribute. Value+ shows one data source.
  • For limit colors, use a data source whose limits PI Vision can read, for example an AF attribute with limits.
  • For a unit conversion, use an AF attribute that has a unit of measure.
  • If an option such as the Quick Trend button is missing, ask an administrator whether global Value+ settings override the symbol. The administrator settings are in the installation and administration guide.

Add and set up the symbol

  1. Select Value+ in the PI Vision symbol gallery.
  2. Drag the PI Point or AF attribute onto the display. The symbol shows the label, value, unit and timestamp.
  3. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value....
  4. Under Visibility, open the list below Label and select \<Custom\>.
  5. Type a label such as Feed flow.
  6. Close the pane. The symbol shows your label above the value.
Value+ with the label Feed flow, a value in kg/s and a timestamp

Common tasks

Choose what the symbol shows and how the timestamp reads

Use this when a display needs only some of the label, unit and time, or a shorter timestamp.

  1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value....
  2. Under Visibility, set Label (1) on or off. When it is on, pick the text in the list below it (2).
  3. Set Units (3) and Timestamp (4) on or off.
  4. In Datetime Format (5), select a format, for example the time of day only.
Visibility group with Label, the label list, Units, Timestamp and Datetime Format marked

The symbol shows only the parts you left on, and the timestamp uses the format you chose. At least one of Label, Timestamp and Value stays on.

Value+ with a label, a value in kg/s and a time-only timestamp

Set the number format

Use this when the value has more digits than operators need, or must use a thousands separator.

  1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value....
  2. Under Style, set Format (1) to Number.
  3. In Decimal Places (2), select how many decimals to show.
  4. Set Use 1000 separator (3) on or off.
Style group with Format, Decimal Places and Use 1000 separator marked

The value shows the chosen number of decimals. Database, the default, uses the display digits of the PI Point or attribute. The value takes the new format at its next update, so a value that rarely changes can keep the old format for a while.

Value+ showing 33.7 kg/s after Decimal Places is set to 1

Show the value at another time

Use this when operators need a reference value, such as the reading at midnight, next to the live one.

  1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value....
  2. Under Data Retrieval, keep Mode at Recorded.
  3. Set Time (1) to Custom.
  4. In Custom Time (2), enter a PI time expression, for example t for midnight today, y for midnight yesterday, or *-2d for two days ago.
  5. Leave Exact (3) off to get the most recent recorded value before that time. Turn it on to require a value at exactly that time.
Data Retrieval group with Time, Custom Time and Exact marked

To read relative to the display range instead, keep Time at Display End Time or Display Start Time and set Offset. An offset of 1 hour reads the value one hour before that time. The timestamp under the value shows the time that was read.

Two Value+ symbols: one at midnight today, one an hour before the display end time

Color the value by limits

Use this when operators must see at a glance that a reading is high or low.

  1. Right-click the symbol and select Add Multi-State.... If the symbol already has one, the command reads Configure Multi-State....
  2. Check Multi-State Source (1). It starts as the symbol's own data source, and the States list (3) shows the limits PI Vision found and their colors.
  3. In Property (2), select what the color paints: Fill, Value or All Text.
  4. Close the pane.
Add Multi-State pane with the source, Property and States marked

The symbol takes the color of the band that holds the current value. With Property set to Fill, the background changes; the two symbols below read the same data source at two times and fall in different bands.

Two Value+ symbols with different limit colors as the background

Open a floating trend from the value

Use this when operators want to see how a value got to where it is, without leaving the display.

  1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value....
  2. Under Interactivity, make sure Quick Trend (1) is selected. Copy Label (2) adds a button that copies the label.
  3. Close the pane. In display mode, hover over the value. The quick-action buttons appear at its right edge (see the second image below).
  4. Select the Quick Trend button.
Interactivity group with Quick Trend and Copy Label marked
Value+ with the quick-action buttons beside it

A Quick Trend window opens above the display and plots the value over the display time range. Drag it by its header, resize it, or close it. While a Quick Trend is open, hovering over another Value+ also offers Add to active Quick Trend, which adds that value as another trace.

Quick Trend window with one trace

Show the value in another unit

Use this when the attribute is stored in one unit and operators read another.

  1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value....
  2. Under Style, open the Units list (1).
  3. Select a unit of the same kind, for example ft2 for an area stored in m2.
Style group with the Units list marked

The value and its unit label change to the chosen unit. Default shows the unit of the attribute. The list is unavailable for a data source without a unit of measure.

Value+ showing an area converted from square meters to square feet

Use the symbol

Value+ with a tooltip and the quick-action buttons, with numbered callouts
What it shows
(1)The label.
(2)The value and its unit. When limit colors are set, the value or its background takes the band color.
(3)The timestamp of the value that is shown.
(4)Quick actions: the trend button, and a copy button when Copy Label is on.
(5)The tooltip, with the label, point name, description, value and time that the designer chose.
  • Hover over the value to see the tooltip and the quick actions.
  • Select the trend button to open a Quick Trend. This reads data and opens a window; it does not write data or change other symbols.
  • Select the copy button to put the label on the clipboard.
  • No data: the symbol shows the state text, such as No Data. With Hide No Data on, the value is hidden.
  • Stale warning: an amber clock appears when the live value is older than the stale limit. Hover over it to see the last event time. See Data Quality.

Configure the symbol

Right-click the symbol and select Configure Value.... Limit colors are set with Add Multi-State... or Configure Multi-State... and are described in Color the value by limits.

Style

SettingWhat it does
Fill, Text, ValueThe background color, the color of the label and timestamp, and the color of the value.
AlignmentAligns the text left, center or right.
FormatDatabase (default), General, Number or Scientific. With Number, Decimal Places and Use 1000 separator appear. See Set the number format.
UnitsConverts an AF attribute to another unit of the same kind. See Show the value in another unit.

Font

SettingWhat it does
Name, SizeThe font and its size.

Data Retrieval

SettingWhat it does
ModeRecorded shows a recorded value. Summary calculates a value over a time range.
TypeAvailable when Mode is Summary: Total, Average, Minimum, Maximum, Range, StdDev, PopulationStdDev, Count or PercentGood.
BasisAvailable when Mode is Summary: Time Weighted or Event Weighted.
Conversion FactorAvailable for Total with a time-weighted basis: the time unit of the total.
Time, Custom TimeWhich time to read: Display End Time, Display Start Time or Custom. See Show the value at another time.
Use Display Time as ReferenceCalculates relative times such as t and y from the display end time instead of the current time.
OffsetMoves the read time back by an amount in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years.
ExactOn requires a recorded value at the exact time. Off uses the latest value before it.

In Summary mode the pane also shows the shared time range controls for the calculation.

Data Quality

SettingWhat it does
Hide No DataHides the value when PI returns No Data. In display-editing mode a placeholder keeps the symbol selectable.
Stale warningShows an amber clock when the live value is older than the stale limit, and adds the details to the tooltip.

Visibility

SettingWhat it does
LabelShows the label. The list below it picks a name form or \<Custom\>.
Units, Timestamp, ValueShow or hide the unit, the time line and the value. At least one of Label, Timestamp and Value stays on.
Datetime FormatThe format of the timestamp. A second Datetime Format appears for a data source whose value is a time.
MultilineAvailable for string and enumeration data sources. Split breaks the text at a Delimiter such as \n. Wrap starts a new line after Max Length characters. Make the symbol tall enough for the lines.

Interactivity

SettingWhat it does
Quick TrendShows the trend button on hover. See Open a floating trend from the value.
Copy LabelShows a button that copies the label. Not available when an administrator turns it on globally.
TooltipTurns the hover tooltip on or off. Position puts it below (Bottom) or above (Top) the symbol.
Label, Timestamp, Value, Units, CustomThe lines of the tooltip. Custom adds your own text. The list under Label chooses the name form.
Point AttributesAdds PI Point attributes such as instrumenttag to the tooltip. Available for PI Points.
Text, Background, Border, Font SizeThe appearance of the tooltip.

An administrator can set tooltip and copy-label defaults for all Value+ symbols in config.js. When one is set, the matching control is locked.

Target

SettingWhat it does
Show IndicatorShows an arrow that compares the value with its target. Available when the attribute has a target.
Differential, By Percent, By Value, Target ValueShow the difference to the target, as a percentage or as a value, and the target itself.
Above Target, Below TargetThe indicator colors.

Troubleshooting and limitations

SymptomCauseWhat to do
No value appears and Exact is on.The archive has no value at exactly that time.Turn Exact off, or choose a time that has a value.
The value disappears when a limit color is applied.The band color equals the value color, for example a white background with white text.Set Property to another choice, or change Fill or Value so the two differ.
The Quick Trend button is missing.Quick Trend is off, or an administrator disabled it globally.Select Quick Trend under Interactivity, or ask an administrator.
The tooltip does not match the pane.An administrator set global tooltip defaults.Ask an administrator about the config.js settings.
Long text is clipped.Multiline is off or the symbol is too short.Turn Multiline on and make the symbol taller.
The value keeps its old number format after you change Format.The value has not been updated since.Wait for the next update of the value.

Limitation: Units converts only the value PI Vision supplies for the display end time. When Value+ reads the value itself, with a Time other than Display End Time, an Offset, or Mode set to Summary, the number is shown in the attribute's own unit while the label shows the chosen unit. Set Units to Default with those options.

Limitation: Value+ shows one data source. Use KPI Card+ or a table symbol to compare several.