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Abstract
Both ProVision and Canvass offer a wide array of user input options. These options range from mouse use to keyboard inputs. Specific keystroke inputs are typically referred to as “shortcut keys” and can be executed via pressing and releasing one or more keys or series of keys. These shortcuts are handy time-savers, and streamline the process of analyzing data. This white paper serves as an overview and explanation of some of the shortcut keys available in ProVision and Canvass.
General ProVision Shortcuts
The context menu, accessible by clicking the right mouse button, can also be displayed by pressing the Q key. Note that when summoned with the mouse, the context menu appears at the position of the mouse cursor, but with the shortcut key, it is displayed in the upper-left corner. This can be useful when wanting to display the options of the context menu without obscuring the current location of the mouse pointer. Each entry on the context menu has a corresponding shortcut key. These shortcuts are relevant to general stripchart graphs in ProVision.
The E key displays the Export dialogue, which is the same shown from selecting the similarly-titled entry on the context menu. This dialogue contains options allowing the currently selected graph to be exported to an image or to the system clipboard. The graph can also be exported to text by selecting the “Text/Data” option, then choosing Export. This shows additional options necessary to complete the Text/Data export operation, such as which data sets are exported and in what format. The D key can be used to display the Text/Data export options directly.
To print the graph, use the P key. This launches the same dialogue as opening the File menu and selecting the Print entry, and contains options for printing the current graph.
The S key enables and disables monochrome display of the current graph. This shortcut toggles the current graph between a full-color display and a black-and-white only monochrome representation. This option is the same as opening the context menu, selecting “Viewing Style”, then “Monochrome”.
The K and J keys can increase and decrease, respectively, the thickness of the trace lines. Note there are upper and lower boundaries for the line thickness, and attempting to increase or decrease beyond these boundaries will have no effect. These options can also be accessed via the context menu. These are handy for quickly making traces more visible on very high resolution monitors, or before printing.
The T key shows and hides the point table (Figure 1). The point table can also be displayed and hidden by selecting “Toggle Point Table” from the context menu. The data on the point table correlates with the current position of the point table line superimposed over the graph, and updates when the point table line is moved. The point table line can be moved left and right with the arrow keys, or by clicking the desired portion of the trace with the mouse.
Figure 1. The ‘T’ key shows and hides the point table.
The B key displays the Boundaries dialogue. This dialogue allows modification of the upper and lower boundaries for each side of the graph for each channel, instead of using autoscaling. This dialogue can also be accessed via the context menu.
Table 1. Keyboard shortcut ‘cheat sheet’ for ProVision
Comma and Period: Decrease by half and double, respectively, the current upper boundaries of the right axis. This functionality can be used to modify the boundaries by either of these values without having to manually specify in the boundaries dialogue. Holding the Control key (Ctrl) modifies the boundaries of the left axis instead. The main use for this is when viewing the RMS Voltage and Current Graph, which has voltage on the left y-axis, and current on the right y-axis. Although it’s very useful to see voltage and current together on the same graph, with so many traces it can be difficult to visually separate them. Using “,” and “.”, the current traces are immediately halved or doubled in size, getting them out of the way (or restoring them) of the voltage traces. Use “.” to cut them down by half with each press, get your bearings on the graph, then use “,” to bring them back. It’s a very useful technique for quickly getting a handle on a complex graph.
Figure 2. Sample graph with default scaling.
Figure 2 (above) shows a sample graph with the default autoscaling. The left and right axes are autoscaled so the voltage and current traces fill the plot area, but in this case the large overlap between the voltage and current make the graph difficult to read at first. Scaling the current down (Figure 3 below) separates them, and makes it easy to see important events. The current can be scaled back up as needed after the basic shape of the traces is seen.
Figure 3. Scaling the current down separates it from the voltage and makes it easier to see important events.
The M key maximizes the current graph. This opens a new window containing the current graph, expanded to fill the entire screen. This new window can be dismissed by either clicking its title bar or pressing the Escape key. This feature is also available by selecting “Maximize” from the context menu.
The R key functions as a shortcut for “Launch Report” on the context menu. Doing so creates and shows a text-based report in ProVision of the values of the current graph. Note that if the graph has been zoomed in on, only the currently-displayed data will be shown on the report. This can be useful when wanting to ensure only certain data range is included in the report.
The customization dialogue can be opened via the Spacebar. This dialogue contains options that change the look and appearance of the graph, such as the title, the colors the graph is displayed in, the font sizes, and which data sets are displayed.
The 1 and 5 number keys toggle visibility of line markers across all channels that simply designate the level for, respectively, 1 volt and 0.5 volts relative to the current scaling of the graph. These toggle options are also available in the context menu. These markers are primarily used in stray voltage recordings, where 1V and 0.5V are common limits.
ProVision Zoom Shortcuts
When working with a zoomed graph, additional keyboard shortcuts are available. These shortcuts can make quick work of regressing to previous zoom levels. The shortcuts available are U, which undoes the most recent zoom, and Z, which zooms the graph out entirely. These are also available on the context menu as “Undo last zoom level” and “Undo all zoom levels” respectively. A complete list of shortcuts available in ProVision can be found in Table 1.
Canvass Shortcuts
Canvass includes several of the same shortcuts as ProVision, where applicable. In the stripchart graph, the U and Z keys are the same as ProVision (Undo one zoom level, undo all Zoom levels, respectively). Canvass adds one more zoom key: O zooms Out, doubling the displayed graph range. Since there is no recording start/ stop in a Canvass graph, you may zoom out repeatedly until you reach the very first Canvass entry.
The T key toggles the point trace table just as in ProVision, and the arrow keys may be used to adjust the point line position.
A shortcut unique to Canvass is the ability to toggle multiple traces on or off in a graph at once. Hold the Shift key down, and while it’s down, check or uncheck any channels for any device in the stripchart graph right side panel. When the Shift key is released, the graph is redrawn with the traces (Figure 4).
Figure 4. In Canvass, toggle multiple traces on and off by holding down the Shift key and selecting or deselecting channels from connected recorders.
Additional Graph Types
ProVision also contains additional graph types. These additional graph types have their own sets of shortcut keys depending on the type of data displayed.
Harmonic graphs, vector graphs, and waveform graphs have shortcut keys as well. The F key shows and hides the fundamental as appropriate. Usually the fundamental (60Hz) component is much larger than the rest of the harmonics, and autoscaling to that can make the smaller harmonics difficult to see. Using F can quickly turn the fundamental off and on, letting the small harmonics autoscale without the fundamental.
The I key toggles views between line-to-neutral and line-to-line voltage. In both cases, the graph redraws itself to accommodate the new data being displayed. Assuming the raw data is 3 phase line-neutral (a normal wye), the I key toggles to line-line mode, where ProVision takes the raw waveform data and computes line-line values. It uses the relations A-B = An-Bn, B-C = Bn-Cn, and C-A = Cn-An to compute line-line voltages for display. In addition, the graph is redrawn so that the three voltage phase are on one plot, and the currents on a separate plot.
The L key displays the dialogue window allowing waveform selection, for recordings with multiple waveform captures. Pressing L shows the wave form capture list, and a new waveform may be selected for graphing. Pressing L again returns to the normal view.
The Page Up and Page Down keys can be used to cycle through the various available waveform captures. Press Page Down repeatedly to very quickly scroll through each waveform capture in turn, only stopping when a significant one is found.
For harmonic and vector graphs, the left and right arrow keys can scroll the graph through the available data set. The grey square in the topmost graph shows the current data being displayed. Holding the control key while pressing the arrow keys will move the graph by a greater magnitude. This can be useful when getting to a general area of the graph, then using the arrow keys alone to zero in on specific data.
Conclusion
Using shortcut keys can be useful for accessing frequently-used commands, as they remove the necessity of acquiring the mouse, activating the context menu, and choosing the desired entry. Shortcuts such as the right axis scale increase/ decrease on stripcharts, line-line toggle and Page Up/Down in waveform capture, and the F fundamental toggle in the harmonic graph are especially useful for quickly viewing graphs and getting to the essential part of the data.
Nick Crook
Software Developer
theengineers@powermonitors.com
https://www.powermonitors.com
(800) 296-4120
