The Chart control displays recorded data from channels graphically. It is suitable for visualizing measured values.
Id
The Id field shows the internal number of the control and its type. The number is for display only and is assigned automatically by the system. The control type cannot be changed afterwards.
Name
The name of the control. The name is shown in selection lists and, for most control types, also directly to the user as a label.
Comment
The Comment field is for free use by the integrator/system administrator. It serves solely to document the configuration. Information can be entered here, e.g. the purpose of the control, remarks, room/floor and other particulars. The content of this field has no meaning for X2.
Options/Customize
Timer: If the control supports timers, the timer can be activated with the checkbox. Widget size: Sets the size of the control's tile in the widget/tile view. If the combo box is empty, a default size for the control type is used, which gives a good display in most use cases. More options: Opens a dialog in which further, rarely needed settings can be made (timer lock, override colors).
Time Base
Controls the length of the time period displayed in the chart by default.
Type
Chart type displayed by the chart. With the selection Automatic, the display switches between line/bar depending on the selected time period.
Navigation Bar
Displays a navigation bar for showing any time period in the chart.
Aspect Ratio
Controls the width-to-height ratio of the chart. The width of the chart on screen is always scaled to the available space. The height is then set according to the aspect ratio.
Data Sources
There follow five identical sections, each of which defines one data source.
| Field | Function |
|---|---|
| Data source | Type and source of the data to be displayed. If nothing is specified, this data source does not appear in the chart (the source is not used; the remaining settings are then irrelevant). |
| Processing | Determines how data values are processed/aggregated over longer periods and displayed. |
| Stepped | If not set, the graph is a smoothed curve. If set, no smoothing is applied. |
| Filled | If set, the area under the curve is displayed filled. |
| Min/Max (Soft) | Default values for the minimum/maximum value on the Y axis. If values outside this range occur, the Y axis range is extended as needed. Both values are optional; if not specified, they are chosen according to the largest/smallest value to be displayed. |
| Min/Max (Hard) | Fixes the value range of the Y axis. If values lie outside, the curve runs out of the graph and is cut off. If only one value is specified, only the upper/lower limit of the graph is fixed accordingly. |
Notes
A chart displays a maximum of two Y axes (one on the left and, if needed, a second on the right). Data series with the same units share the same Y axis. Keep this in mind when specifying min/max values.
Data Source
The left field determines which type of data source is used. Currently only two options are available: Chart channel and Meter channel. In the field next to it, select the object the data comes from (currently always a channel). Chart channel: The chart data recorded for the channel is used as the data source (see also Channel, Chart flag). All channels with a numeric data type can be used as chart channels (e.g. temperatures, power values etc.). Meter channel: Meter data (from energy billing) is used as the data source. Meter data only exists if the channel is used as a meter in energy billing (the data is managed by energy billing). Meter data can be displayed less flexibly (see below).
Processing
From left to right, the Processing row sets: measured value, aggregation function, unit, rounding.
Measured value: For each data source (chart channel), the average, minimum and maximum of the value are recorded for each 5-minute time window. This combo box determines which recorded data value is used as the basis for the graph. For data sources of type Meter, there is inherently only one value per time window, i.e. selecting average, minimum or maximum yields the same value (namely the meter reading at that point in time). Accordingly, the range of a meter data value is always 0.
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Average | Average value in the time window |
| Minimum | Minimum value in the time window |
| Maximum | Maximum value in the time window |
| Range | Derived: maximum minus minimum in the time window. |
Aggregation: If the data is to be displayed on larger time scales, several measured values must be combined into one value in the chart (e.g. bar chart with one value per day). The aggregation controls how the measured values are processed. For a data source of type Meter, usually only the Difference aggregation is meaningful.
| Aggregation | Effect |
|---|---|
| Average | The mean of the combined values is displayed. |
| Change | Forms the difference between the first and last combined value. This corresponds to the first derivative of the graph and is suitable for visualizing a monotonically changing value (e.g. meter reading). |
| Range | Difference between maximum and minimum value. This corresponds to the fluctuation range between the combined values. |
| Minimum | Returns the minimum value of the combined values. |
| Maximum | Returns the maximum value of the combined values. |
Unit: A unit compatible with the measured value (i.e. a unit into which the measured value can meaningfully be converted, e.g. if the measured value is in watts but kilowatt hours are to be displayed). If the conversion is not defined (e.g. °C to watts), the unit of the measured value is displayed.
Rounding: If desired, the aggregated value is rounded to the specified number of decimal places. The setting Auto applies no rounding.
Note: To visualize a meter reading, the combination Measured value: Maximum (or Minimum) and Aggregation: Change is useful. For "normal" measured values, Change is usually not meaningful, or the resulting graph is of little informative value to humans. If the minimum/maximum of a value is to be visualized, it makes sense to set measured value and aggregation identically. It can be useful to visualize a chart value several times in one diagram with different processing. Example: temperature (aggregated minimum and maximum as separate data series); this allows, for example, highs and lows over longer periods to be visualized very clearly.