Algorius Net Viewer Manual | Map Objects

Creating

See the Adding Devices, Adding Lines, Adding Figures, Adding Text Field, Adding Images, Adding Links, Adding Widgets sections.

To create copy of an object, select it, hold Ctrl and drag the object.

Deleting

To delete selected map objects, select Edit→Delete from the main window menu, or select Delete from their context menu or press Del. Selected objects will be deleted from the map.

Selecting

To select a map object, simply click on it. Selected objects are marked by a frame.

You can select multiple objects by clicking them while holding down the Shift button.

You can also select multiple objects by setting a rectangle area with the mouse.

If multiple objects are selected on the map, a common frame appears around them. Using the common frame, you can move, scale, or rotate them all at once.

To deselect an object, just click on it while holding down the Ctrl button.

Adding objects to the selection list by holding Shift key and removing objects from the selection list by holding Ctrl key is supported when selecting the objects by rectangular area or by type.

To select all map objects, select Edit→Select All from the main window menu or press Ctrl+A.

To select all devices of the same type, choose Select All from the context menu of the desired device type in the Device list.

Select Edit→Select Same Type in the main window menu or press Ctrl+Shift+A to select the same type objects on the map. In case there are some already selected devices, then all the objects of the same type will be selected if activating this feature. In case there are lines selected, then all the lines of the same type of stroke will be selected, if you select text or image, then all the text or images will be selected respectively.

To deselect all map objects simply click on an empty space on the map.

Editing

See the Editing Devices, Editing Lines, Editing Figures, Editing Text Fields, Editing Images, Editing Links, Editing Widgets sections.

Resizing

To change the size of an object (except for lines), select it on the map and drag one of its vertices. If you simultaneously hold down the Shift button, then the object will be scaled from the center.

To change the size of the selected objects, drag one of the vertices of their common frame.

Editing the height and width of one or several selected objects at once is available in the Properties panel.

Rotating

To rotate an object, select it on the map and hover the mouse over the area next to its corner vertex. The cursor will change to the rotation cursor. Hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse to rotate the object. Holding down the Shift key will rotate the object by 15 degrees.

Rotating multiple selected objects is possible in the same way using their common frame.

Editing the rotation angle of one or several selected objects at once is available in the Properties panel.

Properties

Properties of selected objects are displayed in the Properties panel. Object properties can be changed if the map is in edit mode. In this case, if several objects are selected on the map, the properties of all selected objects will be edited.

Depending on which objects are selected, certain properties are displayed. See Map Properties, Device Properties, Line Properties, Figure Properties, Text Field Properties, Image Properties, Link Properties, Widget Properties sections.

The Geometry section is available for all objects:

The following items are available in this section:

  • X, Y— coordinate of the upper left corner of the object on the map.
  • W, H – the width and height of the object, respectively.
  • Maintain aspect ratio — when enabled, the width and height of the object will be changed simultaneously while maintaining the object's proportions.
  • Adjust size — when clicked, the size of the object will be adjusted to its contents.
  • Angle — the rotation angle of the object.
  • Flip — flip objects horizontally or vertically.

The Align section is available for all objects:

The following methods are available to align objects:

Align to Grid
Align the selected objects with the grid.
Available if multiple objects are selected.
See Grid for more information.
Align Lefts
Align the left side of the selected objects with the left edge of the left-most object.
Available if multiple objects are selected.		 Ctrl+Shift+Left
Align Rights
Align the right side of the selected objects with the right edge of the right-most object.
Available if multiple objects are selected.		 Ctrl+Shift+Right
Align Tops
Align the top side of the of the selected objects with the top edge of the top-most object.
Available if multiple objects are selected.		 Ctrl+Shift+Up
Align Bottoms
Align the bottom side of the of the selected objects with the bottom edge of the bottom-most object.
Available if multiple objects are selected.		 Ctrl+Shift+Down
Align Centers
Align the center of the selected objects with the vertical center of the selected objects.
Available if multiple objects are selected.
Align Middles
Align the selected objects in the horizontal middle of the selected objects.
Available if multiple objects are selected.
Make Vertical Space Equals
Move the selected devices or text fields to evenly distribute them vertically.
Available if more than two objects are selected.
Make Horizontal Space Equals
Move the selected devices or text fields to evenly distribute them horizontally.
Available if more than two objects are selected.
Flip Horizontally
Swap objects located to the left and right relative to their common center.
Available if multiple objects are selected.
Flip Vertically
Swap objects located above and below relative to their common center.
Available if multiple objects are selected.

Clipboard

You can use the clipboard to make map device copies or to move them from one map to another.

To copy selected map objects to the clipboard, select Edit→Copy from the main window menu, or press the Copy button on the toolbar, or select Copy from the map context menu or press Ctrl+C. This option is not available if no map object is selected.

To move selected map objects to the clipboard, select Edit→Cut from the main window menu, or press the Cut button on the toolbar, or select Cut from the map context menu or press Ctrl+X. This option is not available if no map object is selected.

To paste selected map objects from the clipboard, select Edit→Paste from the main window menu, or press the Paste button on the toolbar, or select Paste from the map context menu or press Ctrl+V. This option is not available if the clipboard contains no map objects to be pasted.

If some objects already exist in the insertion position, the new objects will be inserted with an offset. Use Ctrl+Shift+V to insert without the offset.

Editing History

To undo last changes made to the current map, select Edit→Undo from the main window menu, or press the Undo button on the toolbar or press Ctrl+Z. This option is not available if there were no changes made to the map.

To redo last changes made to the current map, select Edit→Redo from the main window menu, or press the Undo button on the toolbar or press Ctrl+Y. This option is not available if there were no undo operations made to the map.

To search for information on maps, select View→Find from the main window menu or press the Find button on the toolbar. The search string will appear on the toolbar. Enter a key phrase you are looking for. In case there are any objects on the map that contain the specified search phrase in their names, addresses or any other parameters, they will be displayed in a drop-down search list right under the search string. You can select the needed object by using the Up, Down, PgUp, PgDn keys. Pressing the Enter key or clicking the left mouse button will navigate you to the object needed. Press the Esc key or click on the map to cancel the search.

The search list will be sorted in case there are found a few objects containing a specified search phrase. Those objects containing exact match are shown first and highlighted in green. Those objects containing search phrase (case insensitive) are shown next and highlighted in light green. Then there are shown those objects containing search phrase in any of its attributes. They are not highlighted.

This kind of sorting greatly facilitates the search process as the needed object is almost always turns out to be first on the list.

Advanced search can be used for more detailed search.

You can navigate to a device from external applications, including the command prompt. Launch NetViewer.exe with parameters ‘-s:address’, where address is the address of required device. Algorius Net Viewer should be launched during this operation.

With advanced search you can look for various objects by the values of their attributes. You can search by device attributes values, monitoring results, inventory data values.

Select View→Advanced Search in main menu or press Ctrl+Shift+F to open advanced search. Advanced search window will be opened:

Window includes following elements:

  • Search in — search area.
  • Search by attribute value — here you can define device attributes and their values, which you can use for the search. Attributes can be text or numeric. Text values can be searched by full or partial match. Numeric values can be searched with comparison operations.
  • Add — add a new attribute to search by value.
  • Delete — remove search attribute.
  • Delete All — delete all attributes used at search except the last one.
  • Full match — search for the full match of a text value.
  • Case sensitive — consider the upper/lower case while searching for the text values.
  • Whole word — search for the whole specified word.
  • ReGex — defines regular expression as required attribute value. Microsoft syntax is used: https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/standard/base-types/regular-expression-language-quick-reference
  • Previous searches — list of previous search parameters, saved as the template. Double-click a template in a list to open this search.
  • Load — load the selected template from a list.
  • Save — save the current search parameters as a template.
  • Delete — delete the templates, selected in the list.

Clicking the Search button will start the search of required objects and display the found objects and values of found attributes in the list. Double-click the object in the list or click Select button to go to this object on a map. Click Select all button to select all found objects on a map.

Moving

To move the selected map objects across the map, simply drag them by holding down the left mouse button or using the keyboard cursor.

If you move the selected objects by mouse while holding down the Shift key, the objects will be moved horizontally or vertically only.

Objects can be locked on the map to prevent accidental movement. To lock them, select Edit→Lock/Unlock in the main window menu or in the object's context menu. Locked objects are marked with a lock icon in the layer tree. Clicking on the icon locks/unlocks the object.

Grid

The grid divides the map into squares. It helps to align objects. If the grid display is enabled, it is displayed above the map background. If snap to grid is enabled, the objects’ vertices are automatically snapped to the grid’s intersections when moved. Thanks to this, several objects can be easily arranged into one horizontal or vertical line. When you move an object while holding the Alt key, the snap to grid setting will be ignored and the object will be moved pixel-by-pixel.

In order to enable/disable the snap to grid option, select View→Snap to Grid in the main window menu.

In order to enable/disable the grid display, select View→Grid in the main window menu.

Layers

Objects on the map can be placed on different layers. Each map contains its own list of layers. Layers can form a hierarchical structure. This allows grouping objects with an unlimited level of nesting.

The layer tree is located in the Layers panel in the sidebar to the right of the map editor. The layer tree displays all layers created for the current map. Under each layer is a list of child layers and all objects on the map located in this layer.

The Layers panel may be hidden. To display the panel, open the map and select Tools→Layers from the menu, or click the Layers button on the control panel, or press Ctrl+L.

Selecting a layer in the layer tree makes this layer active. New objects on the map are added to the active layer by default. When an object is selected in a layer, this object is highlighted on the map. Double0click on the object navigates to this object on the map. This greatly simplifies navigation to objects. Double-clicking on a layer selects all objects inside this layer. This allows quickly selecting a group of objects. Selecting an object on the map automatically selects it in a layer and makes the layer in which it is located active.

Layers affect the order in which objects appear on the map. For example, the devices located in the upper layer are displayed on the map above those located in the lower layer. The eye icon to the right of a layer in the layer tree allows to show/hide the layer's objects on the computer map.

To create a new layer, click the Add layer button in the layer tree. A new layer will be added over the first of the active layers. To add a sub-layer, select this layer and click on the Add sub-layer button in the layer tree.

To rename the layer, select it, click Rename button in the layer tree or press F2, or double-click on empty layer. Enter a new name and press Enter to confirm or ESC to cancel the operation.

To delete a layer, select this layer and click the Delete button in the layer tree or press the Del key. Deleting a layer deletes all objects in the layer.

To change the order of the layers, select the required layers in the layer tree and click the Move Up / Move Down button or press the Ctrl + Up / Ctrl + Down keys.

To move objects from one layer to another use the clipboard, or Drag&Drop the objects in the layer tree.

Layout

On the map, objects that are positioned higher in the layer tree are displayed over those below them.

To move objects higher or lower, Drag&Drop them in the layer tree or via the clipboard, or select the corresponding options under Edit→Layout in the main window menu or in the objects' context menu.

To automatically arrange objects on the map, go to Edit→Layout→Auto Arrange in the menu bar or the devices' context menu. The system orders them as follows: images at the bottom, text boxes above them, links to other maps above them, then — lines, and at the top — devices. Objects of the same type will be ordered depending on their location and size. Objects are ordered automatically only within the layer in which they are located.