Delta Watch: Configure and use (map) views

Views, maps and overviews are an integral part of Delta Watch. Without them, it would be much harder to visualize where sensors are, how they have moved or what their status is.

Maps, and especially image overviews, can also be used as a sort of dashboard to quickly visualize the current status of the monitoring equipment, such as:

• Which observations are in an Alarm state
• Status of Delta Link units
• Performance of the total stations in use.

Complement views with User defined charts to be able to see trends. In this article we will show how to create, configure, customize and fine-tune these views. As well as how to trouble shoot or use them in both Delta Watch and on the web using the Delta Live! web-visualisation.

In this article:

• Type of views.
• Notes and assumptions
• Simple and detailed workflow of creating the (map) overviews
• Info field customization
• Use and View these views
• Troubleshooting

Type of views

First, a brief description of the different views that are available within Delta Watch and Delta Live!. The following views will be described:

• Map-view
• Overview (map), as used in Delta Live!
• Overview (Image)
• Image view on user defined charts

• Any item that needs to appear on a view in Delta Watch, either in the map module or for use with automated reports, will need to have project coordinates. Regardless of if a background is used.

• Project coordinates are always the Easting; Northing and Elevation values.

• The WGS84 coordinates for any item, are only used to position that item on the OSM map, as currently used by Delta Live!. The WGS84 coordinates can be approximate coordinates and will not automatically be calculated, updated or used for anything else by Delta Watch.

• When using Delta Live!, the user is to ensure that the project coordinate system, even if this is a local system, does align with WGS84 so that, for example, 2D displacement vectors show in the right direction on a map in Delta Live!.

• When using a CAD drawing as background image within Delta Watch, the coordinate system of the project and the CAD drawing need to be equal.

• All geodetic points in the Point and limit management have project coordinates and WGS84 Coordinates if Delta Live! is being used.

• For the geodetic points, one or more, point groups have been created. This could be a special point group just for visualization.

• Any other sensor, this includes geotechnical; Delta Link; total stations and virtual sensors, that needs to be placed on a view or map, has already been given project and WGS84 coordinates, and a map symbol is specified. For an overview of available map symbols, please see the article Importing Sensor definitions.

Simplified workflow

1. Import, and reference where applicable, background image or drawings.
2. Check if all sensors to be used have project and optionally WGS84 coordinates.
3. Define the view.
   • Set the background options.
   • Add sensors.
   • Configure additional options per sensor, such as display orientation of the field.
   • Configure other display parameters.
   • Customize things like units and decimal places or displayed channels.
4. View the result, adjust where required.

Detailed workflow

Because the workflow for creating a view for use within Delta Watch and/or Delta Live! is the same, from now on they will be referred to as "the view". Only the Delta Live! item: Overview (image) will be explained separate in the section Creating an Overview with image.

Import the background(s)

Import the background to use, this could either be an image or a CAD file. If the image will be used in a map-view for maps or reports, make sure it is geo-referenced. See the article Importing images for maps and backgrounds for more details.

Configure the view

 The following numbered items correspond with the annotation on the illustration below.

1. Navigate to the Map section in the System Configuration module and select the sub-section View configuration
2. Click on Add  and specify a name
3. Under the item Select Layer, select which background is to be used.
   • If image is used, select one or more image items.
   • Enable Browser map if the view should be accessible from Delta Live!.
   • Deselect Background if a view without background is needed, this will only be visible in Delta Watch.
   • If a CAD drawing is used, check if any layers need to be disabled, less is often better.
4. Under the item Geodetic sensors
   
   1. Select the point group(s) that contain the points that needs adding, these points will show in the section below it. (section 4B in below illustration)

   2. Select the points to be used on the view. Use the right-click context menu for some quick select options.
      [optional] Customize all or some points where needed. It is possible to only show the 1D or 2D values, or to adjust the orientation of the info field in relation to the point, if shown. Orientation options are SE (default), NE, SW and NW. This can also be done later. See this illistration of info field orientation

      

   3. Complete this section by configuring the remaining display options.

      Field	Value
      Info fields	If unchecked, then only the symbol will show in the view. This is a good option when many sensor points need to be visible in the same view.
      Show sensor name	Check to show the point name in the info field when visible, where a point has got an external name this will be used.
      Show delta values Show absolute values Not show values	The selection here depends on the purpose of the view definition. If showing values, they will always be the latest values. For use in reports the Not show values option is best selected. For most other views, the Show delta values is best.
      Info field active time hours	Number of hours before the info fields should change colour, default is 8 hours. This to indicate if the age of the last data for this point is older than set hours.

    

5. Under the item Geotechnical sensors
   

   1. Locate the sensor types to use and Select them, they now appear in the section below it

   2. Select the actual sensor field(s) to be included in this view, in this example all sensors are selected. Optional, customize the orientation for the info field, right-mouse click for all options.

   3. Complete the configuration by configuring the remaining display options.

      Field	Value
      Info fields	If unchecked, then only the symbol will show on a map
      Show sensor name	Check to show the sensor name in the info field when visible. Where a sensor has got an external name than this will be used.
      Show delta values Show absolute values	The selection here depends on the geotechnical sensors to be shown in this view. Items like Delta Link box, Total station or Compensator should use the show absolute values option
      Info field active time hours	Number of hours before the info fields should change colour to indicate if no data was received, default is 8 hours
      Raw values Average values Processed values	For most geotechnical sensors, the Processed values option should be selected.

    

6. Click Apply and close the module

7. Navigate to Map module in the System Centre group
8. Click on Views in the toolbar and select the created view
9. Are all the items visible? No… See the section on troubleshooting at the bottom.

Configure an Overview with image

As mentioned earlier, this type of view is different from the views used for maps. This view can use any image, picture or illustration as a background, and none of the items that are placed on this view will require any coordinates. This view differs further because it will only show the info field with the name of the sensor, when the user clicks on the info field, it will expand and shows the available channels.

To create an Overview (image)

1. Navigate to the Overview module in the Project management group.
2. Click on Add  to add a new view and give it a name.
3. Select the tab Sensor field configuration.
4. Select a background image to use, if no image available then import one first.
5. To add, or remove, sensors for each sensor group, click on the specific Edit icon.
6. It is also possible to select a camera input if available.
7. Once all sensors to be shown are selected, switch to the Calculation tab.
8. Check the Edit mode: set points in the top left of the section.
9. Now move each sensor to their place on the image using drag-and-drop. When done, uncheck the edit mode and Apply the edits.
10. Optionally, further customization of this view can be done in the Browser configuration. Overview specific formats for values and date/time display can be done here.
11. The view is now available in Delta Live!.

Info field customization

An info field, which is the small field that can be visible on a map linked to a sensor symbol, gives additional information on a point-of-interest. This could be a prism monitoring point or the status of a Delta Link unit. The field could also be used to show just the point name. For example, this could be useful for automated reports. When info fields are enabled to show in a view, there are a few settings that can be made to customize their appearance. Some of these options like Show-Sensor-name and Orientation have already been discussed. Others, like units-and-decimal-places or sensor-channels, can be configured elsewhere in Delta Watch. They also change colour depending on the age of the data, where the 'age' is a configurable number of hours.

In this section we look at:

• Info field orientation

• Units and Decimal places

• Info fields for Geodetic points (2D and 1D values; Point symbols)

• Info field for Geotechnical sensors (Point symbol selection and scaling option)

• Info field for Delta Link and Total Station information

Info field customization

Units and Decimal places The unit and number of decimal places to be shown on a view can also be configured. This is done in the System Configuration module in the section Units and Decimal places, locate the subsection Map info field to change settings. The difference between (short) and (detail) for a specific item depends on wetter the info field is minimized, the normal state, or if it was activated and did expand to show all individual channels. For example, the info field of an observation could show a 2D vector value and 1D height in normal state. But will show the individual XYZ values when clicked.

Info field for Geotechnical sensors Point symbol selection and scaling option Point symbols are assigned to each (geotechnical) sensor individually. Depending on the sensor type, this either done in the Sensor Management or the Virtual Sensors section in the Point and Limit management module. Select the sensor of interest and Edit the Symbol field. Enter the symbol ID or select it from the dropdown control. For a table with symbols and their ID, check the article Importing Sensor definitions. It is also possible to individually scale a sensor symbol. This allows to show, for example, important symbols slightly bigger on a view. To see the effects, simply adjust the Scale factor with a small amount.

How to view and use these views

Now all views are created, they can be used and admired.

Map view within Delta Watch

1. Open the Map module in the System centre group, it might load with an empty screen.
2. Click on the Views button in the toolbar and select the required view.

Can't see the map symbols? Check the troubleshooting section at the bottom of this article.

• To zoom: Either the mouse scroll wheel or the +/- keys can be used.
• To pan: Mouse left-click and hold, then move the mouse.

Using Delta Live! Overview (map or image)

Using either the map or image overview in Delta Live! works the same, the difference being the background. As mentioned before, Overview (map) in Delta Live! does use the OpenStreetMap (OSM) interface to load an actual map as background for a view, whereas a custom picture is used for the Overview (image) section. To get more details and remove the text: API Key required when using a map, it is possible to register with a provider and get the API key. There is a separate article for this, see Delta Watch: Unlock OpenStreetMap API for Delta Live!

1. To view an overview, click on either Overview (Map) or Overview (Image) under the menu item Overview
2. From the dropdown select what to view, when viewing a map and this is empty, then no views have been are enabled for the browser! If no Images are visible, then either there are none or the user is not allowed to see them.
3. After selecting the view, it will load and can be zoomed and panned.
4. To see only sensors on the map that are in a certain state, i.e. no alarm, trigger level 1 etc., open the Map settings by clicking on the Settings icon .
5. A menu will open and select here which states NOT to show. This can be used to filter and show, for example, only sensors with Trigger value 2 active.
6. Click on Display to apply the setting.
7. To see the data from a sensor, either select it from the list or click on its symbol/info field. That sensor will now expand the info field; be selected in the table; and show the data in the chart.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting for views comes down to: Why do I not see the view or sensors.

Below is a list of things to be checked when this is the case. Almost all these checks, and adjustments, can only be done from within Delta Watch. Delta Live! is just the viewing platform.

• Created map view not listed (Delta Watch)
  
  • Close all open modules and open just the map module, it should be visible now. If not check if the view does still exist. Maybe changes were not applied.
  • If using different users and you are not an administrator, then possibly you are not allowed to see the particular view. Edit the user in User management module.
    

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• Created map view not listed (Delta Live!)
  
  • Navigate away from the Overview section and then back again, this should force a refresh of the browser screen. If that does not help, clear the browser cache.
  • The view in question is not enabled for viewing in Delta Live! or the user is not allowed to see it.
    
    • Check if the Browser Map option is selected in the view configuration.
    •  
      

      Check in the User management module (1). Select the user and click Edit (2) to check the definition for this specific user (3): Are they allowed to see the view. The Views are normally found on the bottom of the list.

• No symbols and info boxes at all
  
  • In Delta Watch in the Map module with the view in question loaded, use the Search… button in the toolbar to verify the sensor does exist on the map. If not, add it first and reload the view afterwards.
  • Check if the sensors have correct coordinates and a symbol. Depending on the sensors used on the map this should be checked in the Points and/or the Sensors Management section of the point and limit management module. Without a symbol it won't show.
  • It is also possible the symbols are very small due to the scale of the map, see item: The symbols are either very small or very big.
    

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• The symbols are either very small or very big
  
  • They might be there but are very small. When in Delta Watch, Right-click anywhere on the view and select Zoom All.
    Delta Watch will zoom to ensure anything configured is onscreen. If still not seeing anything then there might be some items with no coordinates. Others maybe have project coordinates, like UTM values, thus the view has a very large scale. See next point.
  • The image in incorrectly referenced, causing the image and the points to be on the wrong place resulting in a very big area to show on screen. Check the image referencing. If that is correct, then the coordinates of the points are wrong.
  • Symbols are very tiny or enormously big.
    
    • For observations: Adjust the scale setting for observations by using the Settings.. option in the toolbar and adjusting the field Zoom factor: size of symbols. See below illustration on the right.
    • For any other sensors: Open the Sensor Management section of the Points and Limit management module, select the sensor in question and edit it. Adjust the field Zoom factor. See illustration below, on the left

    

• See sensors but no image (Delta Watch only)
  
  • Has an image been selected when configuring the view?
  • Check the referencing of the background image, i.e. is it using the same coordinate system as the sensors.
    

    To check, right-click in the map area and select Zoom All.
    This will zoom out and include all that is configured for this view. If the image is on the wrong place then the displayed area will be very big and the image might not even be visible.
    Use the Search.. option to locate different sensors and see if they are on an image. If so, then there are only a few points incorrect.

  • Check if the image still exists, maybe it was accidentally deleted. Check this in the System Configuration module, where the Map Referencing is done.
    

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• No name visible in the info field
  

  This can happen when accidentally a space or other invalid character is entered in the External name field of a sensor. Navigate to the configuration of the point or sensor in question and Edit it. Check the External name field. If no External name should be used, make sure it is really empty, no spaces.

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• CAD drawing does not show, or does not show on the right place (Delta Watch only)
  
  • Check that not all layers are disabled, do this in the View Configuration.
  • Check line dimensions and colours, maybe they are to small or the wrong colour to be used on this background.
  • Are the CAD drawing and the coordinates of the sensors in the same coordinate system?