Algorius Net Viewer Manual | Maps

General Information

A map is typically a layout of a computer network or IT infrastructure. It includes schematically shown devices (computers, servers, network devices), lines, which usually symbolize the connections between devices, textual information for explanatory purposes and other objects.

Maps Panel

The map tree is displayed in a structured manner in the Maps panel on the left sidebar. Locally open maps are displayed under the Local section. Maps downloaded from a server are displayed under the corresponding server.

The Maps panel may be hidden. To display the panel, select Tools→Maps from the menu, or click Maps button on the toolbar, or press Ctrl+M.

Creating

To create a new map, select File→Create from the main window menu, or click Create Map button on Maps panel or press Ctrl+N.

To create a child map, select a parent map in the Map Tree and click Create child map in the context menu or on the toolbar.

This will open a new map creation window. Specify the map name. Select where to create it: locally or on a server. Press OK and a new map tab will appear in the editor. If the map is created on a server, it will automatically be saved in the server database.

Only users with the Administrator or Super Administrator role are authorized to create new maps on servers.

Also you can use Network Discovery Wizard to create a new map.

Opening

To open a map, select File→Open from the main window menu or click Open button on Maps panel or press Ctrl+O. Select the map file you want to open. The selected map will open and appear in the map editor.

To quickly view one of the maps you have recently opened, pick it from the recent map list by selecting File→Recent from the main window menu.

Opened maps are updated automatically when the main application window is activated if there are any external changes.

Import

You can import maps to the server that are open locally, or available on another server.

To import maps to a server, select them in the Map Tree and drag to the desired server, or select Import on Maps panel and specify map files to import. Only users with the Administrator or Super Administrator role are authorized to create new maps on servers. are authorized to perform such actions.

Editing

To edit a map, you need to capture it for editing first. Capturing involves checking it for relevance, i.e. checking that it's not being edited by another user.

To capture a map for editing, open it in the editor and select Edit→Capture map, press F2, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar. The Capture map button on the toolbar shall remain pressed, signaling that the current map is captured. Map capture is also available on Maps panel. The latter method makes it possible to capture multiple maps at once.

You cannot capture for editing files with demo maps that that are supplied with the application, because these files may be updated in new versions of Algorius Net Viewer, and your changes will be lost.

Once the map has been captured, the system notes what computer and what user has captured it. This information is displayed on the screen tip upon hovering over the map in the map tree or in the map tab.

The lock and star icons displayed next to the map name in the map tree or in the map tab show its current edit status:

Map is captured by you on this computer and is available for editing.
Map is captured by another user and is unavailable for editing.
Map is being edited by you and contains unsaved changes.

If a map has been captured by another user, it can be re-captured. This function is useful if, for example, the user who captured it is currently unavailable, but map urgently requires edits.

Once the map has been captured it is available for editing: you can add new devices, links and other objects to it. See Map Objects for more information.

Once edits have been made, it is recommended to release the map. This protects it from further accidental changes and lets other users see that you've finished editing it. To do that, open the map in the editor and select Edit→Release map, press F2, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar. The same can be done from Maps panel. This method makes it possible to release multiple maps at once.

Properties

Map properties are displayed in the Properties panel when there are no objects selected on the map:

The following items are available:

  • Background color — the background color of the map. If not specified, the background color from the current color theme is used.
  • Background image — path to an image file that will be displayed in the background of the map. You can specify a full or relative path to the file. If a relative path to the file is specified, then for local maps the image is searched relative to the map directory, and for server maps - relative to the Web folder in the server data directory. If the Tile background mode is enabled, the background image chosen will be repeated for the entire map background. If the Tile background mode is disabled, the background image chosen will be shown only one time, starting with the upper-left corner of the map background and the remaining background space will be filled with the background color.
  • Geo Map — link to a geographic map to use as a background image. Currently only links to OpenStreetMap are supported (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Copy the link with the required area of the geographic map from your browser and paste it into Algorius Net Viewer. The viewing area allows you to adjust the desired position by moving the map. Transparency allows you to set the level of transparency for displaying geographic maps. Internet connection is required to download OpenStreetMap maps. Each downloaded segment of the geographic map is cached and can be afterwards displayed without Internet connection. Cache duration can vary for different segments and is defined by cashing policy of the geographic map service. Common cache duration is from several hours to several days. When cache duration is over, map segment is updated automatically when Internet connection is available. If the proxy server address is specified in the application settings, then geo-maps are loaded through the proxy.

Color Editing

The color editor allows you to set the required color for different objects.

The color editor can be collapsed or expanded. When collapsed, the following items are available:

  • Button that displays the selected color. When you click this button, the color editor expands or collapses.
  • Color value in RGB or HEX format.
  • Color transparency in percentage.
  • Button to switch the color value display format: RGB or HEX. RGB format displays the color value in decimal format, for example: 255, 192, 255. HEX format displays the color value in hexadecimal format, for example: FFAAFF.

The color value can be set in the following ways:

  • In RGB format, for example: 255, 192, 255
  • In ARGB format, for example: 150, 255, 192, 255
  • In RGBa format, for example: 255, 192, 255, 0.5
  • In HEX format, for example: FFAAFF
  • In HEX format with the alpha channel, for example: 80FFAAFF
  • By specifying the color name in HTML format, for example: Red

For HEX, the short format is supported, for example, if you enter F, the color value will become FFFFFF, if you enter FA, the color value will become FAFAFA, if you enter FFA, the color value will become FFAFFA.

When the color editor is expanded, the following items are additionally available:

  • Color selection panel in the HSB/HSV color model (Hue, Saturation, Brightness). Use the slider to set the tone. In the rectangular area, you can set saturation and brightness.
  • Slider to select color transparency.
  • Palette of standard colors and their shades.
  • Buttons for creating a custom color palette. Each such button can be empty or filled. Empty buttons are displayed with a strikethrough. To remember the current color, click on the empty button with the left mouse button. To select a previously remembered color, click on the filled button with the left mouse button. To make a button empty, right-click on it.

Renaming

To rename a map, select it in the map tree and select Rename in the context menu, or press F2. Enter a new map name and press Enter to confirm or Esc to cancel. If the map was opened from a file, the file name will be changed. If the map was opened from a server, the map name in the server database will be changed.

Saving

To save the map, select File→Save from the main window menu, or press the Save button on the toolbar or Maps panel, or press Ctrl+S. This option is unavailable if there are no unsaved changes.

If the map is new and created locally, you will be offered to specify a filename for the map.

To save the map to an arbitrary file, select File→Save As from the main window menu and specify a filename.

To save all maps at once, select File→Save All from the main window menu or press the Save All button on the toolbar. Only those maps that have unsaved changes will be saved. This option is unavailable if your maps have no unsaved changes.

If the map is opened from a file, the system creates a backup copy of the map file. See Backup copies for more information.

Closing

To close the current map, select File→Close from the main window menu, or press the close button on the current map tab.

To close one or several maps, select them in map tree and select Close in their context menu or on the toolbar.

This action is available only for maps that are opened locally or were created locally.

If the map contains any unsaved changes, you will be offered to save them.

You can also close all maps at once by selecting File→Close All.

Deleting

To delete a map, select it in the map tree and click Delete in the context menu or on the toolbar of the map tree.

This action is available only for maps that were created on a server. Only users with the Administrator or Super Administrator role are authorized to delete maps.

Backup Copies

The application backs up all saved local maps and all maps captured for editing on the server. The server backs up all all maps captured for editing.

To open the local backup directory, go to File→Backup Folder in the main screen menu. On the server, the backup directory is located in the Backup folder in the server data directory.

For your convenience, all files created in the backed folder are grouped by Date modified.

Hierarchy

The program allows to create a hierarchical structure of maps. Maps can be designated as child in relation to other maps. Child maps are displayed under parent directory in the map tree. This makes it possible to display the exact hierarchy of a structure. There can be multiple root maps; there are no limits on nesting levels.

To designate a map as a child map, drag it to the desired parent map in the map tree. While operating on a server, only the users authorized to edit the child and the parent map are authorized to perform this action.

To make a child map, that was downloaded from a server, as a root map, drag it to the desired server in the map tree. Only users with the Administrator or Super Administrator role are authorized to perform such actions.

To make a local child map as a root map, drag it to Local in the map tree.

To view a necessary map, you can click on its tab, or select it in map tree. You can use search function to go to a map by its name.

To return to the previous map, select View→Previous Tab from the main window menu or press Alt+Left. To go back, select View→Next Tab in the main window menu or press Alt+Right.

A map may also contain a link to another map. In this case it is possible to follow the link by double-clicking it.

You can switch to next/previous map tab by pressing Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab key combinations respectively.

You can also quickly switch between tabs by pressing Ctrl+<tab number>.

You can pan the map by holding down the right or middle mouse button and dragging, or by holding the Ctrl key and pressing the arrow keys.

Mini-map

Mini-map is a tool to greatly facilitate the navigation through large maps:

To view a mini-map, select View→Mini Map in the menu or press Ctrl+Space.

The Mini Map window will appear.

The mini-map shows the whole current map. The visible part of the map, which is displayed in the main window, is highlighted on the mini-map, the invisible one is shaded. In order to move to the desired part of the map, simply click on the correspondent area on the mini-map or move through the mini-map with the mouse while holding the left mouse button down.

Creating Screenshots

To save a map image, select File→Save as Image from the main window menu. Specify the graphic image format and filename to save the map to. All popular graphic formats are supported. A map graphic image will be saved in the specified file.

The image can be saved both in raster graphics (PNG, JPG) and in vector (SVG) file formats. The vector format provides better scaling, supports animation of devices and events.

To copy a map image to the clipboard, press the File→Make screenshot from the main window menu.

Printing

To print a map on the printer, select File→Print from the main window menu. Specify the printer settings in the window appeared and press the Print button. The chosen map will be printed.

Scale

To change a map scale, select an appropriate scale on the toolbar, or scroll the mouse wheel over the map while holding down the Ctrl key or use the keys ‘+’ or ‘–‘.

To display the entire map by selecting the appropriate item in the scale editor on the toolbar or by pressing the All Map button on the scale panel of the status bar.

To display the entire map, click Fit Page button on the control panel. The scale will be set automatically so that all information fits in the visible area of the map editor.

To return to the real scale, click Real Size button on the control panel, or select View→100% from the main window menu, or press Ctrl+0. After this the scale will become 100%.