Support for multi-monitor applications in the Reliance SCADA/HMI system

November 25, 2013 | Reliance SCADA

The Reliance system allows its users to create multi-monitor applications. For each computer defined via the Reliance Design development environment's Project Structure Manager, you can activate support for multiple monitors and configure other properties on the Screen page. These settings are used in the runtime software (Reliance View, Control, Control Server) at project startup on this computer. It is assumed that monitors have the same screen resolution and are arranged as matrix elements (in rows and columns). Therefore, the Monitor count above each other (i.e., row count) and Monitor count next to each other (i.e., column count) properties must be configured. For clarity's sake, the monitor layout diagram is shown. In addition, the position and size of the runtime software's main window can be specified so that, for example, the window stretches over the desktop made up of all monitors. Further, you can decide which monitor should be used to display visualization windows, alarms/events, trends, and reports.

Project Structure Manager > computer properties > Screen

At runtime, windows are displayed on the particular monitor according to these settings. If a window is activated by a user action, such as clicking on a button, this window will be shown on the monitor that matches up with the current position of the mouse cursor. This behavior is particularly important for dialogs (e.g., a dialog with detailed information on a specific object in the visualization project). The same applies to dialogs that are part of the program, such as the Enter Value for Tag or Enter Limits for Tag dialog boxes. It also allows you to create trays with buttons for activating windows. These trays can be inserted into multiple monitors. By clicking on a button contained in a tray that is located on a specific monitor, the respective window is displayed on the same monitor.

At runtime, visualization and other windows (e.g., alarms/events) can be moved from one to another monitor. If the window is not maximized, you can drag it to another monitor. Otherwise, choose the Move Window command from the window's popup menu that can be invoked by clicking the right mouse button on the window's title bar or anywhere within the free window area (where there is no component). As for a dual-monitor system, the window is moved to the opposite monitor. If there are more than two monitors, choose the target monitor from the list displayed by the Move Window command. To distinguish the monitors in the list, the current one is displayed in bold characters.

Reliance Control – the Move Window command

By default, the position of visualization windows is not saved. If it is desirable to save it, simply activate the Save window position and size option on the Display page. Once activated, each visualization window saves its latest position (the monitor number and coordinates), size, and state (maximized/unmaximized). Such information is common to all users of the respective computer and stored in a file located in the <Project>\Settings\Desktop directory.

Project Structure Manager > computer properties > Display

Support for multi-monitor applications was enhanced significantly in version 4.6.1. In previous versions, the number of monitors had been limited to 2 without the possibility to configure the position and size of the runtime software's main window in the Project Structure Manager's computer properties.