Process Explorer

TOPi training

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Peraljuk
29.5.2009 1
Process Explorer. Overview

•Provides overviews, trends and various

analysis features

• Comprehensive overview with combined

process graphics and trends.
• Drag & Drop from process graphics or
tag browser to trends
• Flexible navigation using familiar model
of web browser with favorites and
next/previous workspace buttons

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Menus

File Edit View Plots

Favorites Tools Window Help

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Short cuts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

• New trend 9. Paste

• Open file 10. Insert
• Save 11. Tag browser
• Print 12. Help
• Print preview 13. Run macros
• Next/previous workspace 14. Visual basic editor
• Cut 15. Design mode
• Copy

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Graphics properties
• Right click from the time line

• Replay drives trend and process values e.g. start and end
time is changing every 3 seconds 1h forward
• In time field you can define time format, graphics update
frequency and default time span of the trend
• Timezone is selected at TimeZone field
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Peraljuk
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Process Explorer timeline

Halve duration Double duration Slider for time selection

Open calendar to select Select duration Select current time

start and end times
Lock / unlock duration

Timeline fields are yellow when browsing

history data and white when looking real
time data.

Easy to use calendar for time selection

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Peraljuk
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Trending with Process Explorer

Any number of trend

components on screen Hairlines to examine
momentary values
Many tags in one
trend
Trend data can viewed
in ASCII format or
Raw data or aggregate exported to other tools
values

Drag & Drop tags from

process graphics or
tag browser

Easy-to-use timeline

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Tag browser
Tag browser is used when
new tags are added in the
trend.

(*) is the wildcard

(?) is the wildcard for one

character

Advanced tag browser

enables sql-queries

Drag and drop tags in to

the trends

Save query in to the

favorites

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Peraljuk
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Trend features

Background color selection.

Grid line style and color.

Trend line color and style.

Data points marker type.

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Trend features
Auto scaling uses minimum and
maximum of the measured values.

Database scaling uses minimum and

maximum of the database values.

Manual scaling uses values from limits

fields. Values are given manually by the
operator.

Sampling type allows to create

calculated trend from measured values.

Sampling shift moves trend line in the

time line.

Sampling stepped is good option for

binary values.

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Trend Data Compression

The selection of which data

points to store is
accomplished through a data
Compression algorithm such as
the widely used boxcar /
backslope algorithm.

Data compression saves disk

space and makes it possible for
a historian to retain several
years of compressed histories
on line with moderately sized
storage devices.

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29.5.2009 11
Trend Data Sampling

Step
In data aggregation and trending methods, a step corresponds to the
frequency of data sampling. For example, if you sample data every
minute, a trend of the data has a stepped appearance because the
value changes every time period, but remains flat between values.

Period
In data aggregation, a period is a duration of time. In each period, the
data is aggregated and a statistical calculation is made on the
aggregated data. For example, if a period of time contains 10 data points,
those 10 data points are aggregated, and then the calculation is
performed on those 10 points. A single data point is returned and plotted
for each period. For interpolated data, the period is also a duration of
time and is the step between interpolated points.

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Trend Data Sampling
Type – Select one method of the following from the
drop-down list:

Actual – Displays actual data points in history and

draws a line between the points. If there are no real data
points within the plot span, there is no trend line.

Interpolated – Displays interpolated data taken from

existing data points and draws a line between the points.
If there are no actual data points within the plot span,
you see a trend line interpolated from the good data
points before and after the plot span.

Best Fit – The default sampling method. It provides the

most effective plot for the plot area. It breaks down data
into manageable sections and determines the maximum,
minimum, first and last values in that section. These
values are then plotted, rather than every data point.

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Trend Data Sampling
These statistical analysis approaches allow aggregates:
• Average – The sum divided by good for each aggregate
period.
• Good – The number of seconds of good (status greater than
or equal to 0) data for each aggregate period.
• Maximum – The highest good value for each aggregate
period.
• Minimum – The lowest good value for each aggregate
period.
• Not Good – The number of seconds of each aggregate
period minus the value of good for each aggregate period.
• Range – The max minus the min for each aggregate period.
• Standard Deviation – The square root of the variance.
• Sum – The sum of the areas under the curve for each
aggregate period.
• Variance – The variance in the values for the good samples.

The following statistical analysis approaches do NOT allow

aggregates:
• Actual
• Interpolated
• Best fit

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Trends Data Retrieval Methods
Data retrieval methods affect the final data points that Process Explorer uses to plot
data. Process Explorer uses three different data retrieval methods:
• Actual – Displays the actual data points in history, and draws a line between the points.
Depending on the compression used on the data, actual data points may be far apart. Process
Explorer retrieves actual data samples in bundles of about 2000 points.

• Interpolated – Displays data interpolated from the existing data points and draws a line
between the points.
– Note: If you use the interpolated retrieval method, you must specify a step. If data is
sampled every second, you know that every second a new value is added to history.
Since the values are interpolated, use the step to make the best estimation of the actual
data points.

• Best Fit – Displays data selected from existing data points. Process Explorer determines a
number of time slices, or 'buckets', such that each bucket is approximately one pixel wide on
your screen.
• In the Best Fit method, points are trended adhering to the following rules:
• There is a maximum of five data points per bucket: high, low, first, last, and bad.
• The actual data points in each bucket are searched. From each bucket, the first, last, high, low, and bad data
points are selected. There is a maximum of five data points returned per bucket, and a minimum of zero.
• If there are no data points in the time period, the bucket can be empty. As the time window gets smaller,
buckets only contains actual data points.
• Process Explorer plots the data points that are returned.

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Trends Aggregation Methods

• To make a statistic calculation, the data over a time span is

aggregated. A set of values is combined to calculate the statistic.

• Process Explorer uses five data aggregation methods:

• Value – The value aggregation method uses the actual values in

history between a specified start time and end time. If there is no
data in history for the specified time span, the aggregated data is
zero, and all of the statistics calculated from that data are zero.
The value method is used for data that is not time-sensitive, such
as lab data. Because the data is not time-sensitive, each value is
given equal weight in determining the aggregate.

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Trends Aggregation Methods

• For example, the following figure shows the actual data points in
history: 4 at 10:00, and 9 at 15:00.

• The aggregated data between 10:00 and 18:00 is 4 and 9.

Statistics are calculated on this aggregated data. For example,
the average would be 6.5 for the time period between 10:00:00
and 18:00:00.

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Trends Aggregation Methods

• Time – The time aggregation method uses the interpolated

value at the step that you specify between a specified start
time and end time. The step should correspond to the
frequency of data sampling. If there is no data in history for
the specified time span, the aggregated data is zero, and all
of the statistics calculated from that data are zero.
• For example, the following figure shows the actual data
points in history: 4 at 10:00, 5 at 11:00:00, 6 at 12:00:00,
and so on. You specify a step of one hour, since you know
that data was sampled once an hour and recorded in history.
A line is plotted at 4 for 1 hour, 5 for one hour, 6 for one
hour, and so on, and the area under these lines is calculated
for the time span between 10:00 and 18:00, as represented
by the shaded area in the following figure.
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Trends Aggregation Methods

• The shaded area represents the aggregated data. Statistics

are calculated based on this aggregation. For example, the
average would be 6.375 for the time period between
10:00:00 and 18:00:00.

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Trends Aggregation Methods
• Integral – The integral aggregation method uses the integral of the
plotted trend line between a specified start time and end time. If
there is no actual data in history for the specified time span, the
value is interpolated from data before the start time and after the
end time.
• Value – Incomplete – The value – incomplete aggregation method
uses actual values in history between a specified start time and end
time, calculating an interpolated value for an incomplete period
according to InfoPlus.21 rules.
• Integral – Incomplete – The integral – incomplete aggregation
method uses the integral of the plotted trend line between a
specified start time and end time, calculating an interpolated value
for an incomplete period according to InfoPlus.21 rules.
• Note: A data table of an Integral – Incomplete aggregate will
display a status of BAD until enough data values have been
accumulated to compute the interpolated value.

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Trends Aggregation Methods
• For example, the following figure shows the actual data points in history:
4 at 10:00, and 9 at 15:00. If the data is compressed, you can assume that
the actual value is on or near the line or is 6 at 12:00 and 8 at 14:00, and
so on. A line is plotted between the actual points, and the area under the
curve is calculated for the time span between 10:00 and 18:00,
represented by the shaded area in the following figure.
The shaded area
represents the
aggregated data.
Statistics are
calculated based on
this aggregation. For
example, the average
would be 6.875 for the
time period between
10:00:00 and
18:00:00.

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Trend menus

Right clicking on the top of Right clicking on the top of the

the trend area. variable field.

Select fields which are

important.

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Trend own time line

You can add time line for the trend. It appears asa
default after that.

You can use relative time i.e.:

t-1d 06:00
mon-7d 06:00

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XY-Trend

Correlation coefficient Regression formula

Sample amount

X-axis

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Trend. Calculation

• Trendiin on lisätty erotus laskenta ja sille annettu raja-arvot

Calculation is made in the trend or data field

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