manual universalreporter for smartplant [en] - caxperts · create the diﬀerence list report...

Contact & informa on:

CAXperts GmbH

Carl-Zeiss-Ring 4

85737 Ismaning – Germany

P.: +49 89 96 97 72 0

F.: +49 89 96 97 72 11

E.: [email protected]

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UniversalReporter Manual

CAXperts UniversalReporter – Manual

2

Copyright

Copyright © 2002 CAXperts GmbH. All Rights Reserved.

Including so6ware, file formats, and audiovisual displays; may be used pursuant to applicable so6ware licence agree-

ment; contains confiden;al and proprietary informa;on of CAXperts and/or third par;es which is protected by copy-

right law, trade secret law, and interna;onal treaty, and may not be provided or otherwise made available without

proper authoriza;on.

Restricted Rights Legend

Rights reserved under the copyright laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Warran es and Liabili es

All warran;es given by CAXperts about equipment or so6ware are set forth in your purchase contract, and nothing

stated in, or implied by, this document or its contents shall be considered or deemed a modifica;on or amendment

of such warran;es. CAXperts believes the informa;on in this publica;on is accurate as of its publica;on date.

The informa;on and the so6ware discussed in this document are subject to change without no;ce and are subject to

applicable technical product descrip;ons. CAXperts is not responsible for any error that may appear in this document.

The so6ware discussed in this document is furnished under a licence and may be used or copied only in accordance

with the terms of this licence. THE USER OF THE SOFTWARE IS EXPECTED TO MAKE THE FINAL EVALUATION AS TO THE

USEFULNESS OF THE SOFTWARE IN HIS OWN ENVIRONMENT.

Trademarks

CAXperts is a registered trademark of CAXperts GmbH. Intergraph, the Intergraph logo, SmartSketch, FrameWorks,

SmartPlant, INtools, MARIAN, PDS, IGDS, RIS and IntelliShip are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corpora;on. IGDS

file formats ©1987-1994 Intergraph Corpora;on. Microso6® and Windows are registered trademarks of Microso6

Corpora;on. Bentley, the Bentley logo “B,” and MicroSta;on are registered trademarks of Bentley Systems, Inc.

ISOGEN is a registered trademark of Alias Limited. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respec;ve

owners.

Introduc�on

3

Contents

1 Introduc on ................................................................................................................. 6

2 General conven ons .................................................................................................... 6

Typefaces ................................................................................................................... 6

Symbols ..................................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Features ..................................................................................................................... 7

3 Installa on ................................................................................................................... 8

Uninstall ..................................................................................................................... 8

Setup command line (for administrators) ................................................................. 8

3.1 Adapter Licences ....................................................................................................... 9

3.2 Licence ....................................................................................................................... 9

Site licence (local) ...................................................................................................... 9

Floa;ng (server) licence .......................................................................................... 10

4 Usage ........................................................................................................................ 12

4.1 UniversalReporter .................................................................................................... 12

4.2 Star;ng UniversalReporter ...................................................................................... 12

4.3 Graphical User Interface of UniversalReporter ....................................................... 13

APributes tree ......................................................................................................... 14

APributes panel ....................................................................................................... 15

Data grid .................................................................................................................. 16

Views ....................................................................................................................... 17

Customising the aPributes panel ............................................................................ 18

Customising aPributes names (glossary func;on) .................................................. 19

Filtering and sor;ng views ....................................................................................... 21

4.4 Repor;ng ................................................................................................................. 27

Expor;ng to Microso6 Excel .................................................................................... 27

Crea;ng mul;ple sheets report associated with a value ........................................ 36

Crea;ng a file per aPribute value ............................................................................ 40

Crea;ng template with Excel func;on .................................................................... 41

4.5 Report genera;on using URB files ........................................................................... 41

4.6 Repor;ng in command line mode with parameters ............................................... 43

4.7 Mul;-applica;on windows (not available in Applica;onReporter) ........................ 43

Opening mul;ple projects simultaneously .............................................................. 43

Links for mul;-applica;on windows ........................................................................ 44

Crea;ng mul;-applica;on windows with two applica;ons .................................... 47

Add further applica;ons to mul;-applica;on window ........................................... 51

Legend for mul;-applica;on window...................................................................... 51

Context menu for legend block ............................................................................... 52

Working with mul;-applica;on window ................................................................. 53

4.8 Rule data window (Comparison window) ............................................................... 53

Create the difference list report directly from the original windows ...................... 54

Apply the Auto compare rule to the mul;-applica;on window ............................. 54

Working with rule data window .............................................................................. 56

4.9 Open related drawings (3D and PID only) ............................................................... 58

4.10 Highlight OPC differences (PID only) ....................................................................... 59

4.11 Add documents ....................................................................................................... 59

4.12 Create Access query from aPributes ....................................................................... 60


4

4.13 Query builder (Mat only) ......................................................................................... 60

Crea;ng new query ................................................................................................. 60

Dele;ng query ......................................................................................................... 62

Renaming query ...................................................................................................... 63

Impor;ng query ....................................................................................................... 64

5 Edit func onality (with EditAdapter licence only) ........................................................ 65

5.1 Grid colour coding ................................................................................................... 65

5.2 Changing a value ...................................................................................................... 66

5.3 Display changes ....................................................................................................... 67

5.4 Import from Excel (3D, PID and XLS) ....................................................................... 69

5.5 Wri;ng changes to applica;on ................................................................................ 74

6 Permissions and se0ngs ............................................................................................ 75

6.1 Permissions .............................................................................................................. 75

Specific permissions: ............................................................................................... 76

6.2 APribute permissions (PID only).............................................................................. 77

6.3 Global seSngs ......................................................................................................... 78

6.4 SeSngs per applica;on ........................................................................................... 79

PID seSngs .............................................................................................................. 79

Grid seSngs ............................................................................................................. 80

SeSngs for other applica;ons................................................................................. 80

7 Appendix A: menu ..................................................................................................... 80

7.1 File ........................................................................................................................... 80

Open project… ......................................................................................................... 80

Recent projects ........................................................................................................ 80

Open view… ............................................................................................................. 80

New view… .............................................................................................................. 80

Save view ................................................................................................................. 81

Save view as… .......................................................................................................... 81

Save all views… ........................................................................................................ 81

Close view ................................................................................................................ 81

Close project ............................................................................................................ 81

Exit ........................................................................................................................... 81

7.2 Edit ........................................................................................................................... 81

Search in aPributes tree .......................................................................................... 81

7.3 Tools ......................................................................................................................... 81

Links configurator .................................................................................................... 81

APribute permissions (PID only).............................................................................. 81

APribute manager ................................................................................................... 81

Glossary ................................................................................................................... 81

Report variable defini;on ........................................................................................ 81

Custom sor;ng ........................................................................................................ 81

Create Access query from aPributes ....................................................................... 81

Export to Excel ......................................................................................................... 82

Export to HTML, PDF, CSV ........................................................................................ 82

Load documents from Excel .................................................................................... 82

Show info ................................................................................................................. 82

Remove read-only from view .................................................................................. 82

Import from Excel (3D and PID only) ....................................................................... 82

Introduc�on

5

Permissions .............................................................................................................. 82

SeSngs .................................................................................................................... 82

7.4 Applica;on specific menus (PID, 3D, Mat, Xls, Rule) ............................................... 82

Highlight changed values (PID only) ........................................................................ 82

Highlight SP_ID or Representa;on_ID (PID only) .................................................... 82

Highlight OPC differences (PID only) ....................................................................... 82

Write changes to SmartPlant P&ID with system edi;ng (PID only) ......................... 82

Write changes to SmartPlant P&ID (PID only) ......................................................... 83

Show history (PID only) ........................................................................................... 83

Write changes to SmartPlant 3D (3D only) .............................................................. 83

Show database informa;on (Mat only) ................................................................... 83

Query builder (Mat only) ......................................................................................... 83

Write changes to Xls (Xls only) ................................................................................ 83

Update all columns (Rule only) ................................................................................ 83

Update columns from grid only (Rule only) ............................................................ 83

7.5 Window ................................................................................................................... 83

Cascade .................................................................................................................... 83

Tile horizontally ....................................................................................................... 84

Tile ver;cally ............................................................................................................ 84

Show related windows ............................................................................................ 84

Show aPributes tree ................................................................................................ 84

Show aPributes ....................................................................................................... 84

Show grid ................................................................................................................. 84

Window toolbar ....................................................................................................... 84

Views toolbar ........................................................................................................... 84

7.6 Help ......................................................................................................................... 84

Manual ..................................................................................................................... 84

Labs .......................................................................................................................... 84

Update licence ......................................................................................................... 84

About UniversalReporter ......................................................................................... 84

8 Appendix B: context menus ........................................................................................ 84

8.1 View context menu .................................................................................................. 84

8.2 Node context menu ................................................................................................. 85

Object nodes ........................................................................................................... 85

APribute node ......................................................................................................... 86

Value node ............................................................................................................... 86

8.3 APribute context menu ........................................................................................... 87

8.4 Grid context menu ................................................................................................... 87

8.5 Applica;on specific context menu .......................................................................... 89

Grid context menu for 3D only ................................................................................ 89

Grid context menu for PID only ............................................................................... 89

Grid context menu for PID and Xls only ................................................................... 89

Grid context menu for EditAdapter licence only ..................................................... 89

Grid context menu for Rule data with Rules licence only ....................................... 90

9 Appendix C: toolbar bu6ons ....................................................................................... 90

10 Status bar and log file ................................................................................................. 91

11 Technical support ....................................................................................................... 92


6

1 Introduc on

UniversalReporterSuite enables customers to extract, consolidate, review, report and edit

against data of different Intergraph® applica;ons.

2 General conven ons

This document contains many visual cues to help you understand the meaning of certain words

or phrases. The use of different fonts for different types of informa;on allows you to scan the

document for key concepts or commands. Symbols help abbreviate and iden;fy commonly used

words, phrases, or groups of related informa;on

Typefaces

Italic Indicates a system response, which is an explana;on

of what the so6ware is doing. For example,

The text is placed in the viewing plane.

Bold Indicates a command name, parameter name, or dia-

log box ;tle. Command paths are shown using an ar-

row between command names. For example,

Choose File → Open to load a new file.

Normal

typewriter

Indicates an actual file or directory name. For exam-

ple,

The ASCII report is stored in the layout.rpt file.

Bold type-

writer

Indicates what you literally type in. For example,

Key in original.dat to load the ASCII file.

Symbols

This document uses the following symbols to iden;fy special informa;on:

Note – important supplemental informa;on.

Map or path – shows you how to get to a specific command or form.

More informa;on – indicates there is addi;onal or related informa;on.

General conven�ons

7

2.1 Features

The UniversalReporter Suite encompasses the following features:

ReportAdapters enable the so6ware to generate data files (in Microso6® Access mdb format)

for different Intergraph® applica;ons. Each applica;on will require its own adapter. Currently,

adapters are available for:

• PDS® 3D

• PDMS

• SmartPlant® 3D

• SmartPlant® Materials

• SmartPlant® P&ID

• SmartPlant® Instrumentation

• SmartPlant® Electrical

• Microsoft® Excel®

• In-house applications

UniversalReporter enables intui;ve repor;ng against a single or mul;ple applica;on data.

• provides export of data to Microsoft® Excel,

• creates report using customised templates,

• allows saving of individual data views,

• offers tools for configuring and renaming displayed attributes,

• writes changes back to application (EditAdapter licence needed).

• allows simultaneous usage of data from all available ReportAdapters,

• enables simultaneous usage of data from all available ReportAdapters to and

compare different applications, projects and versions,


8

• creates “multi-application windows” incorporating data from many sources,

• supports interaction between multi-application and single-application windows

to enable quick comparison and editing.

Note: The so6ware to edit data is implemented in UniversalReporter and the ReportA-

dapters, but is available only if an EditAdapter license is installed.

For edi;ng in-house applica;on data an EditAdapter licence is not needed.

3 Installa on Requirements:

• Supported operating systems:

• 32 bit: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP up to Windows 10

• 64 bit: Microsoft Windows 7 up to Windows 10

• Intergraph SmartPlant® 3D 2009.1 or later

• Intergraph SmartPlant® P&ID 4.3 or later

• Intergraph SmartPlant® Instrumentation 2007 or later

• Intergraph SmartPlant® Electrical 2007 SP5 or later

• Intergraph SmartPlant® Materials 2009 or later

• Microsoft Office 2003 up to Office 2013

Administrator rights are required on each computer to install CAXperts UniversalReporter. “Run

as” is not supported.

Note: For uninstalla;on: please backup your seSngs in …\UniversalReporter\Databases

first.

Uninstall

To uninstall the so6ware, select Control panel from the start menu. Then on

• Windows 7: in large or small icon view, click Programs and features. If you're

using category view, under Programs, click Uninstall a program.

• Windows Vista: in classic view, double-click Programs and features. In control

panel home view, under Programs, click Uninstall a program.

• Windows XP/2000: (Double) click the Add or remove programs icon.

Select the program you want to remove, and click Uninstall/Remove. Alterna;vely, right-click the

program and select Uninstall.

Setup command line (for administrators)

The following command line op;ons are supported by the installer:

/S:<<op onal ini file>>

Allow an install to be run in silent mode. As a result, no screens or dialogs will be shown.

This command line op;on also has an op;onal INI file that can be passed containing session

variable values. For example:

"C:\output\setup.exe" "/S:C:\setupvars.ini"

Installa�on

9

This will cause the session variables in the INI file to be used for the setup. The INI file should be

in the format:

[SetupValues]

%AppFolder%=C:\Program Files\MyProduct

/U:<<XML config file>>

This command line op;on must be used when calling the uninstall program from the command

line. This command also has an op;onal XML file that can be passed containing session variable

values. For example:

"C:\Program Files\MyProduct\uninstall.exe" "/U:C:\Program Files\MyProd-

uct\irunin.xml"

3.1 Adapter Licences

Depending on requirement, licences are issued for the following:

• ReportAdapter for PDS® 3D

• ReportAdapter for PDMS

• ReportAdapter for SmartPlant® 3D

• ReportAdapter for SmartPlant® Materials

• ReportAdapter for SmartPlant® P&ID

• ReportAdapter for SmartPlant® Instrumentation

• ReportAdapter for SmartPlant® Electrical

• ReportAdapter for SmartPlant® Foundation

• ReportAdapter for Microsoft® Excel® (this adapter does not require a license)

• ApplicationReporter for SmartPlant®

• UniversalReporter for SmartPlant®

• EditAdapter for SmartPlant® 3D

• EditAdapter for SmartPlant® P&ID

• EditAdapter for Microsoft® Excel® (this adapter does not require a license)

3.2 Licence

CAXperts so6ware supports two types of licences:

Note: The licence loca;on (folder or server name) can be specified during the setup pro-

cess (if known already, otherwise the user may select “Con;nue in Demo Mode”).

Site licence (local)

Domain based licences are restricted to machines within a 5 miles (8 kilometres) radius at a spe-

cific geographic loca;on (building) for which the licence key file was issued for. There is no limi-

ta;on regarding the number of users or machines.

CAXperts will need your Current domain name to issue a licence file (.lic).

The licence file has to be stored on a local or network loca;on accessible by the machine running

the CAXperts product; a licence server is not required.


10

The loca;on of the licence file should be defined on every machine with the CAXperts product

installed, which can be done

• Either by setting the environment variable CAXPERTS_LICENSE_FILE=C:\Program Files (x86)\CAXperts\Licensing\

• Or by setting the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\FLEXlm License

Manager\CAXPERTS_LICENSE_FILE=C:\Program Files

(x86)\CAXperts\Licensing\

Mul;ple licence key file loca;ons should be separated by semicolons (“;”).

Note: If the licence key file loca;on is not defined, “C:\Program Files (x86)\CAXperts\Li-

censing\” is used

Note: The licence key file may be renamed (including the extension). The CAXperts prod-

uct will check the content of all files in the licence folder(s) for valid keys.

Note: Changes to the key path (in the environment variable or registry key) are read dur-

ing the next start of the CAXperts product.

Floa ng (server) licence

Floa;ng licences require a FlexNET server (lmadmin or lmgrd) accessible by the machine running

the CAXperts product. The licence key file is typically located on the FlexNET server machine. The

licence key file defines the maximum number of seats which can be used at the same ;me.

Note: Every running instance of the CAXperts so6ware product will require one seat, no

maPer if the applica;on is running mul;ple ;mes on the same or different machine(s).

New instances can only be started as long as seats are available and the FlexNET server is acces-

sible.

The loca;on of the licence server must be defined on every machine with the CAXperts product

installed, which can be done

• Either by setting the environment variable CAXPERTS_LICENSE_FILE=@YourServerName

• Or by setting the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\FLEXlm License Manager\CAXPERTS_LI-

CENSE_FILE=@YourServerName

Every computer name must be preceded by the @ symbol. Mul;ple licence server loca;ons

should be separated by semicolons (“;”).

YourServerName is the Windows computer name of the machine running lmadmin (FlexNET

server). If lmadmin is running on a non-default port, the port number should be defined like this:

port@ YourServerName.

Note: Changes to the server path (in the environment variable or registry key) are read

during the next start of the CAXperts product.

Installa�on

11

Borrowed licences

Licence seats can be borrowed for a period of ;me from the server and saved to the local ma-

chine. Once the seat has been borrowed the CAXperts applica;on can be used without any con-

nec;on to the FlexNET server.

To borrow a licence seat press the Borrow seat buPon, define the loan period (up to 7 days) and

press OK. When the borrowed seat expires it gets automa;cally returned back to the FlexNET

server.

The seat can be returned earlier by pressing the Return borrowed seat buPon.

Note: Without a valid licence file the so6ware will run in demo mode.


12

4 Usage

4.1 UniversalReporter

UniversalReporter creates reports from single applica;ons but also across mul;ple applica;ons

and allows you to check, validate and combine data between applica;ons. It permits simultane-

ous usage of data from available ReportAdapters. The system permits crea;on of mul;-applica-

;on windows so that the user can compare data between different versions of the same project

or data between two different applica;ons.

4.2 Star ng UniversalReporter

Upon opening of the UniversalReporter, the system is typically set to recall the last used data

files. However if no history is available or the user chooses to open a different data file, the steps

are as follows:

Navigate to File → Open project (or use hotkey ALT+O).

The Open dialogue box appears:

Navigate to the directory where the data (.mdb) file can be found. Select the file and click the

Open buPon. The data file gets loaded.

Note: It is possible to open a database by dragging the (.mdb) file to the UniversalRe-

porter window.

If you wish to load a previous data file, just select File → Recent projects.

Note: It is possible to disable the automa;c opening of the last project. This is carried out

under Tools → SeSngs menu.

Note: Data files can be created by one of the ReportAdapters or can also be simple Access

database files (e.g. created by an in-house applica;on).

Note: If you open a project for the first ;me, no aPributes are configured to be displayed

unless a default was set. Therefore aPribute manager will be displayed to make the configura-

;on see Customising the a"ributes panel.

Usage

13

4.3 Graphical User Interface of UniversalReporter

The UniversalReporter database windows/tabs are split into three areas:

• Attributes tree

• Attributes panel

• Data grid

Note: The areas can be resized and the visibility can be toggled. To show or hide the areas

use the appropriate buPons ( ), resize can be done by moving the bars between

the areas ( ) and/or by resizing the window.


14

A6ributes tree

The a6ributes tree is a visualisa;on of the applica;on database, exported with the ReportA-

dapter to a data (.mdb) file (refer to ReportAdapter documenta;on files for full details). Each

node listed in the a6ributes tree can be a table, column or value represented in the data file or

otherwise known as object, aPribute and value respec;vely.

All nodes can be added, or removed with the context menu. Object nodes cannot be renamed.

As seen in the above figure, the base nodes are always object nodes. These nodes represent

each table in the data file.

The second node types visible are the aPribute nodes. These nodes represent columns of se-

lected tables in the data file. These nodes can be differen;ated from the value nodes by bold

text and from the object nodes by posi;on. Unlike value nodes and object nodes, aPribute nodes

can be renamed (see Appendix B: context menus).

The last type of nodes listed in the figure is the value node. They represent each possible value

for an aPribute, and are used as a filter and grouping mechanism for a view.

Usage

15

A6ributes panel

The a6ributes panel lists aPributes of a selected object in the a6ributes tree (see A"ributes

tree). Checking or un-checking an aPribute adds/removes a column to/from the data grid (see

Data grid). With the buPons on top of the a6ribute panel all items can be checked ( ) or un-

checked ( ).

If the status of the aPributes panel shows Max reached, there are too many (> 75 for windows

with Edit func;onality, > 120 for windows without Edit func;onality) aPributes selected:

The list of available aPributes can be configured using the a6ribute manager window. (see Cus-

tomising the a"ributes panel)

Path a6ributes are shown in red italics. They refer to aPributes that are in the current path of

the selected node in the a6ributes tree, and are used to group and/or filter data in the data grid.

Path a6ributes cannot be un-checked. To uncheck the aPribute it has to be deselected in the

a6ributes tree.

When selec;ng aPributes, you can also choose to apply operators.


16

There are five operators:

• MAX: calculates the maximum of all values grouped in each row in the data grid. This

opera;on cannot be selected with its corresponding aPribute.

• MIN: calculates the minimum of all values grouped in each row in the data grid. This

opera;on cannot be selected with its corresponding aPribute.

• SUM: calculates the sum of all values grouped in each row in the data grid. This is the

only value that can be selected with its parent aPribute, as it won’t create misleading

results.

• COUNT: displays the number of unique values of the aPribute for each grouped row in

the data grid. This opera;on cannot be selected with its corresponding aPribute.

• VAL: displays the numerical part of a string field

The operators that are allowed for each aPribute are determined by the type of aPribute.

Numeric aPributes have all operators unless the aPribute is contained in the path, then it only

has a SUM.

Date aPributes have all operators except SUM. If it is contained in the path, then no operator is

possible.

Non-numeric aPributes only enable COUNT and VAL opera;ons.

APributes with checked operator are shown in bold print. The data related to the checked oper-

ator is visible in the data grid.

Note: The order of columns shown on the aPribute panel is alphabe;cal and does not cor-

respond to the order of columns shown in the grid. Adding/enabling one addi;onal column

will append the column at the end of the grid.

Data grid

Usage

17

The data grid displays the data that is selected by the two other components, the a6ributes tree

and a6ributes panel. All columns shown are based on selec;ons made in the a6ributes panel.

The data grid has three types of columns:

• The path column is shown in italics and reflects the path attribute selected. If

there is a value selected in the attributes tree, the column cannot be filtered.

• The operator column reflects an attribute with operator applied in the attribute

panel (labelled with _(of)_).

• The attribute columns reflect all other attributes selected in the attribute

panel.

Views

Views are saved program states and are visible as tabs above the a6ributes tree, a6ributes panel

and data grid.

Opening a view can be done in two ways, first, in the File menu, and secondly with the toolbar

buPon ( ). Mul;ple views can be opened at the same ;me. Each view is displayed as a tab as

seen above.

Crea;ng a new view can be done just as easily, this also has a menu item in the File menu, and

a toolbar buPon( ).

Closing a view is done with the same methods as listed above and addi;onally with a context

menu which is opened by right-clicking a tab. The toolbar buPon icon is .

Views also have the Save ( ), Save as, and the Save all views func;on, which can be found in

one or more of the above men;oned menus or toolbars. Saving writes changes to a view into a

UniversalReporter view file (.cvf). A6er saving, this file can be opened with any project of the

same type of applica;on.

When the view is locked, i.e. already open in another session (e.g. by another user), it will be

opened read-only. The lock is indicated by a red dot on the view tab. From a technical point-of-

view the lock is a lock file with extension .ovf. The lock can be removed using Tools → Remove

readonly from view.

Note: When opening a view make sure, that the project used to open it has the required

objects and aPributes. Otherwise the so6ware will prompt to add the missing aPributes.

Note: Before changes are applied, a backup file (.bak) of the current view will be created

Note: Mul;-window views may request addi;onal informa;on on saving.

Note: Mul;-window views may require mapping when opening. See: Mapping for further

informa�on


18

Customising the a6ributes panel

Note: If there is more than one window of the same applica;on opened, this menu entry

won’t be available.

Click on Tools → A6ribute manager. The following dialogue box appears for the applica;on of

the ac;ve window.

Expanding an object node will list all available aPribute nodes, aPribute values will be shown in

the tool;p.

Select the required aPributes by checking the preceding checkbox. Press the Add buPon ( ) to

add the selected nodes to the Visible panel. Click on the buPon to remove selected aPributes

from the le6 tree, a6er selec;ng them.

Press the OK buPon to apply the changes. The Don’t show a6ributes without values check box

enables or disables aPributes under all object nodes which have no values in the database (look-

ing for empty values will take some ;me).

The aPributes newly added will at once be visible in a6ributes panel but won’t be visible straight

away on the a6ributes tree. If required, use context menu or equivalent toolbar buPon to add

aPributes to the a6ributes tree.

Note: When a project is opened for the first ;me, no aPributes are configured to be dis-

played. This behaviour can be changed by using the aPribute manager to define a default

configura;on. Select all tables and aPributes to be displayed and use the set as default but-

ton to define or to change the default aPributes.

Usage

19

To remove aPributes for the purpose of clearness, select Remove a6ribute from the context

menu of the desired aPribute node. Removing an aPribute can also be done by dragging it to its

object node.

Customising a6ributes names (glossary func on)

The system permits the user to setup a glossary for aPribute nodes. Each applica;on can be

setup to use its own glossary by changing the glossary path in the seSngs window (see Se'ngs).

There can be mul;ple sets of glossary entries.

Note: System will generate first set of glossary call “Default” but user will need to provide

the new aPribute names. You can also use the context menu item Rename of the treeview to

modify the glossary.

From main menu, select Tools → Glossary → Edit glossary. This will open the glossary table in

Microso6® Access.


20

Double click on the glossary table. There are two root columns in this table. The Table_Name,

and the Column_Name. Each column being self-explanatory. Each addi;onal column defines a

glossary entry. The Default column is the first entry listed. Every addi;onal column will add an-

other glossary entry.

The table above shows an example of a glossary entry with the name "German".

Then close MicrosoL® Access.

In UniversalReporter, if system glossary (‘NONE’) is selected you will see the original aPribute

names.

To switch glossary select Tools → Glossary → #The Glossary you created#. See example below:

Usage

21

Selec;ng German, you will see the aPribute names as translated in this glossary.

Some ReportAdapters (e.g. ReportAdapter for SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant Instrumenta on

and SmartPlant Electrical) provide the aPribute names together with the display names. In these

cases the glossary includes an addi;onal column with the display names (e.g. PidDisplayName,

InstDisplayName, ElDisplayName).

This addi;onal column is created/updated automa;cally whenever a database, which contains

display names, is loaded.

Note: During update only new display names will be added, exis;ng one will not be over-

wriPen. Thus, the user can modify these names in the glossary and the modifica;ons are

kept.

Filtering and sor ng views

Arranging the views is essen;al to the UniversalReporter. In order to keep the process simple,

all ac;ons can be done with a mouse. The following chapters will help you to set up each view

part by part. All changes listed here are saved to a view file (.cvf) when saving the view.

Filter and grouping func onality

The a6ributes tree can be used to filter aPribute and value. For this purpose the desired aPrib-

ute nodes may be nested. For example, if you wish to know for a par;cular buyer, what were the

PO_NUMBERs created by him/her, follow the steps below:

• Add the object [PO_HEADERS] to the attributes tree.

• Add the attribute [BUYER] and [PO_NUMBER] to the object in the attributes

tree.

• Grab and drag the PO_NUMBER node and drop this on the BUYER node.

• Expand the BUYER node then select a buyer. Expand this value and you will see

the PO_NUMBER node nested within this buyer.


22

• Expand the PO_NUMBER node under the select buyer and you will see all

PO_NUMBERs created by this buyer.

This process can be repeated recursively un;l the desired granularity has been reached.

Search in a6ributes tree

To search the aPributes tree, select Search in a6ributes tree on the Edit menu.

This standard search window will show up:

Op;on One result per a6ribute is only available if A6ributes is selected for field Look in. Check-

ing/unchecking this op;on leads to different results only if the grouping func;onality of the at-

tributes tree is used (see Filter and grouping func�onality). If the op;on is checked the search

will show the matching name of nested aPributes only once.

Data grid customising and filter func ons

Within the data grid, columns can be sorted, moved, filtered or resized.

Sorting

Click the column header to sort the row ascending and once more in descending order.

Usage

23

Custom sorting

Custom sor;ng permits mul;level sor;ng to be applied.

In the a6ributes tree, ensure you have selected the object node required and the relevant col-

umns are visible on the data grid.

Click on the Custom sort icon. The following dialogue appears:

Add the first level of sor;ng required.

Add the second level, third level, etc. To reorder the sor;ng, use the arrow icons. To remove a

level of sor;ng, use the Delete icon. Use Clear icon to remove custom sor;ng. Click OK when

complete. System will apply custom sort to the data grid.


24

Reordering/moving

Grab and drag the column you want to move and drop it to its new loca;on (marked by a red

arrow).

Filtering

The NULL value will filter for all empty values in the column, while the NOT-NULL does the op-

posite.

It is also possible to filter manually by typing into the filter field. Possible operators while manu-

ally filtering include “<”, “>”, “<=”, “>=”, “<>”, “*” or “%”. It is also possible to use the “&&” (AND)

and the "||" (OR) conjunc;on to place mul;ple filters for the same column.

Note: “*” and “%”can be used interchangeably, they can be used before text, a6er text or

both but not in text: valid uses: “S*”, “*S” or “*S*”; non-valid uses: “S*S

Note: Filters are not case sensi;ve, with the excep;on of NULL and NOT-NULL. Thus it is

possible to filter for the value null.

Usage

25

Filter by list

The above window displays the Filter by list op;on, which allows selec;ng mul;ple values to

filter with using the [ctrl] buPon on clicking, or by dragging the mouse over mul;ple values. This

op;on can be found in the context menu of the column which is to be filtered.

Filter by selection

Use the context menu item Filter by selec on to filter all items so that only items with the se-

lected value will be shown.

Exclude selection

Use the context menu item Exclude selec on to filter all items so that only items without the

selected value will be shown.

Append exclude selection

Use the context menu item Append exclude selec on to remove all items with the selected

value from the current filter.

Filter multiple columns

If filters are set to more than one column then these filters by default are applied as “AND” filters

which means that all criteria have to be fulfilled.

To change this behaviour, use the toggle buPon AND/OR to switch between this “AND” mode

and an “OR” mode where the column filters are applied in a way that all rows where the data

match at least one of the filters are displayed.

Resizing

It is possible to resize each column in the data grid as seen below. There are two possibili;es to

do this.


26

The first possibility is to drag the space between columns to the right in order to increase the

size, and to the le6 in order to decrease the size. Dragging must be done at the header level of

the grid. See above diagram.

There is also the possibility to auto size each column to the largest value. This is done by simply

double clicking the space between the columns.

Removing Columns

It is possible to remove a column with Right Mouse / Remove column on the data in the selected

column. It is also possible to remove a range of columns by selec;ng a range of columns and

then selec;ng Right Mouse / Remove Columns

Freezing Columns

It is possible to freeze a column with Right Mouse / Freeze column on the data in the selected

column.

Usage

27

4.4 Repor ng

Expor ng to MicrosoL Excel

• Export selected rows only is only available, if rows are selected in the data grid.

To select a row, click on its header. Use Shift and Ctrl keys to select more than

one row. The report will then be created for the selected rows only.

• Export grid with colour creates an Excel report directly from the data grid,

where cells are coloured like in grid. If this option is selected, no template can

be used.

• Create multi report based on key attribute: is only available, if a value was se-

lected in the attribute tree. The system has the ability for creating multiple

sheets of different reports in one file, for a selected value of a key attribute.

The report template then has to contain multiple template sheets which all

share this key attribute (see Creating multiple sheets report associated to a

value)

• Create one file per... (e.g. Create one file per 'Spec Name') is only available, if

an attribute (e.g. spec name) or a value within this attribute was selected in the

attribute tree. Using this option, for every value of the selected attribute a new

report file will be created (e.g. a separate file will be created for every Spec

Name) see also Creating a file per attribute value.

• Add code lists (PID and 3D only): With this option selected an additional sheet

(CodeLists) will be added to the Excel report, which contains all code list values

for the extracted attributes. In the report sheets, the code listed attributes refer

to this additional sheet such that the code list values can be selected from a

drop down field for changing the data.

Template-free export to Excel

The most direct method is to export data to Excel without using a template. The steps are:

• Ensure you are on the data grid which you want to export. Click on Export to

Excel ( ) or use menu Tools -> Export to Excel.

• Ensure the checkbox Use a template is not ticked then click on the Create re-

port button.


28

• Decide name and location where you wish to save the export file. Click Save.

The system will then generate a report and display the following dialogue box.

Click Yes to display the Excel report.

Export to Excel using a template

The steps to create an Excel report using a template are:

Ensure you are on the data grid which you want to export. Click on the Export to Excel ( )

toolbar buPon. The following dialogue window will appear.

Usage

29

You have several op;ons to obtain the template file you need:

Use the Template file path combo box showing the templates used before; select your template

if it is available from the drop down list.

If the file is not available on the drop down list and you want to use an exis;ng template, click

on the File buPon. A dialogue box will appear. Locate the template and click Open.

Note: Make sure that the selected template fits the view to be reported. If there are col-

umns in the template with aPributes not available in the view then these columns will not be

filled with values.

If you want to create a new template, click on the New buPon. A dialogue box will appear. Enter

the filename required and click Save.

To open a template for edi;ng: For the first two op;ons click the Edit buPon. For the third op;on,

the system will automa;cally open the template for edi;ng when you click Save.

The standard template looks somewhat like the sample shown below.

Note: There is an add-in toolbar available in Excel to help you create and customise the

current template.

The following op;ons/seSngs are available on the add-in:

• Create standard report: apply the header and skip lines setting, and rebuild the

sheet.


30

• Add column: insert a column marker for the selected column in the cell cur-

rently selected. The displayed columns are those available in UniversalRe-

porter.

• Add variable: insert a report variable from list of values. (see below)

• Add sum: inserts a summed value to the report. Currently only values which

are recognized as numbers in the database are listed. Depending on wherer a

sum field is placed sum types can change. see Creating reports with sub header,

sub footer and sub total)

• Header lines: insert the number of rows that should be above the column

markers to add header information.

• Sub header lines: insert the number of rows where sub header text and attrib-

utes should be defined. (see Creating reports with sub header, sub footer and

sub total, see also the Lab UniversalReporterSuite 3D on the Help menu)

• Sub footer lines: (see Creating reports with sub header, sub footer and sub to-

tal)

• Skip lines between rows: inserts the given number of empty rows between

each line(s) with data

Addi;onally it is possible to insert pictures (i.e. your company logo), text and/or text formaSng

into the header rows. See sample below.

Export to Excel using report variables

You can add a report variable to the template. First you must create this variable in UniversalRe-

porter. To do this:

• From main menu, select Tools → Report variable definition. This will open the

Report variable definition dialogue box.

Usage

31

The top part of the variable defini;on form displays system and plan specific variables which are

read from the system or the database of the current ac;ve data window. These are not editable.

The user defined sec;on displays the variables that are defined per user, and can be edited. By

entering the name and value of the variable in the Name and Value fields respec;vely.

Now you can add the field to your template. See below:

Note: It is also possible to lock the cells in a template and then protect the sheet, in order

to disable the edi;ng of certain extracted values. Protected sheets are not allowed to have

passwords. This does not include protec;ng a workbook.


32

Variable “Asbuilt-name”

For PID data (assuming the PID ReportAdapter version is at least 3.2.0.39) in the case or projects

located underneath an As-Built plant the variable Asbuilt-name is available for repor;ng.

Crea ng mul line report

By simply spreading the column marker across more than one line a mul;-lined report is created.

Usage

33

Crea ng mul page report

It is also possible to create mul;page reports. This is achieved by placing one or more column

markers within the header area. Placing for example #Originator# into the header area will cre-

ate one sheet for each different originator.

Note: the mul;page report template is not to be used for crea;ng a “Mul;ple sheets re-

port associated to a par;cular value”.

Close and save the template when you have finished.

The Create report dialogue will be displayed again.

Ensure the Use a template check box has been ;cked, click Create report buPon to generate the

report.

Note: If the Use a template check box is not ;cked, the system will generate the report in

the standard report mode.


34

Below is the finished report u;lising mul;page. In this case each sheet represents the originator

name.

Crea ng reports with header and footer

There are two possible header and footer types. The first are report headers and footers. Report

headers and footers are added directly to the report, using the template header rows configura-

;on in the add-ins toolbar. This header type is visible on each sheet in the report, but not on

each page. The same pertains to the footer. The amount of rows added to the footer does not

need to be defined, since it is simply calculated by designa;ng everything below the last data

row. Entering a “#” value into the footer may result in strange effects, though it is possible to add

a sum field into both the header and footer to receive the total value of that column.

The second possible header and footer are those that are defined by the Excel pages. It is possi-

ble to use the Excel predefined values in these fields (i.e. page number, date, etc.) as well as

UniversalReporter variables, both user and predefined (“%” fields).

Note: Excel page headers are only usable for Excel versions a6er 2003/XP, for older ver-

sions, this feature is ignored.

Usage

35

The above picture displays the usage of a standard template with the excel page header and

footer using the variables %plantname% and %date% in the header, and %user% in the footer.


36

Crea ng reports with sub header, sub footer and sub totals

In addi;on to Report headers and footers, it is possible to add sub headers and sub footers. Both

are defined by adding the number of rows into the add-ins toolbar. The sub header rows are

counted directly a6er the header rows end, and the sub footer rows start directly a6er the last

data row (rows with “#” fields).

The sub header row is used to create a master-detail-report by including a data field (“#”) in the

sub header rows; the report will sort the following data rows to match the values in the sub

header as seen in the following example.

Note: In addi;on to data fields the sub header can contain variable fields. Any sum fields

entered into these rows will result in the report total and not the sum of the area between

each sub header and footer.

The sub footer rows cannot contain any data fields but can contain variable and sum fields. Sum

fields in the sub footer rows calculate different from sum fields elsewhere, the total of the area

between the last sub header and sub footer instead of the whole total of the data field.

Even though sum fields are predefined in the add-ins toolbar, these values only display fields that

are recognized by the database as a number, in which case some aPributes may be numbers as

well but not listed in the dropdown in the toolbar.

It is s;ll possible to sum these fields even if they are not in the dropdown, by manually adding

the field name (original and not display name) between two “|” symbols. Addi;onally numbers

which contain units of measurement and other strings can also be totalled.

The above picture shows a report in which piping system is used as a sub header, and the es;-

mated length of each pipe run of that piping system is totalled.

Crea ng mul ple sheets report associated with a value

The system has the ability for crea;ng mul;ple sheets of different reports for a single value se-

lected. First you have to set-up a template, which has the value as the key parameter, e.g.to

Usage

37

create a report which lists PO_HEADERS on the first sheet and with PO_LINE_ITEMS as the sec-

ond sheet. The steps are:

Create a template report for table PO_HEADERS as per normal (see Expor�ng to Excel). Give the

template a unique filename say PO_header_01.xlsx.

Similarly create another template report for table PO_LINE_ITEMS as per normal. Give the tem-

plate a unique filename say PO_line_items_01.xlsx.

Note: It is vital that both templates share one unique aPribute. In the example below, this

will be POH_ID.

Now combine these two worksheets into one Excel template. To combine, copy

PO_header_01.xlsx to another Excel File, say PO_info.xlsx.

Open PO_info.xlsx. Rename the sheet name from “Report” to the object name which this tem-

plate was generated with, in this case it will be “PO_HEADERS”.


38

Copy the second worksheet from PO_line_items_01.xlsx into PO_info.xlsx.

Rename the sheet name from “Report” to the object name it was originally created for, in this

case it will be “PO_LINE_ITEMS”.

Usage

39

Save and Close the updated template report.

Return to UniversalReporter.

In the Tree filter, for the object PO_HEADERS, select a value for the aPribute POH_ID. Say we

select POH_ID = “5001”. Click on the Export to Excel ( ) buPon. The Create report dialogue will

appear.

Locate the template required. Tick the One template per table a6ribute checkbox and the Use

a template checkbox .Click Create report. The system will ask you to save the output file and

a6er the report was created if you like to review the output file. All data related to POH_ID =

“5001” will be reported to the mul;ple sheets.


40

Crea ng a file per a6ribute value

The system can create a file for each value of a selected aPribute, e.g.:

The objec;ve is to create a report for each buyer lis;ng their purchase orders.

First, in the tree filter grid, under PO_HEADERS object, you will need to add the aPribute BUYER.

In the a6ributes panel, select the fields you need in your report. Check the data in the data grid

filter, with the a6ribute BUYER selected in the tree, click on the Export to Excel icon.

Ensure the check boxes “Create one file per ‘BUYER’” and “Use a template” are ;cked and a

template is selected.

Click Create report buPon to generate mul;ple files. Select a folder to which the mul;ple files

shall be saved. The program will open this folder a6er the reports were created. The BUYER

values are added to the respec;ve report file names.

The resul;ng Excel files should look like this:

Usage

41

Sample report for BUYER “PA”

Sample report for BUYER “PABROAL”

Crea ng template with Excel func on

You can also include Excel func;ons within a template which you create. For example, you can

Concatenate fields, use the If func;on, mathema;cal func;ons etc. in the template.

Note: Excel func;ons in report templates are only working if the first column in the dataset

is not a formula but an aPribute placeholder. If the first column in the dataset is a formula,

you need to add a column before it with a dummy field #DUMMY#.

4.5 Report genera on using URB files

UniversalReporter can be used from the command line to automate the Excel report crea;on.

Note: Command line mode does not support reports from mul;-applica;on or rule data

windows.


42

Prior to usage, the report which needs to be run in batch mode needs to be configured and saved

as a UniversalReporter batch file (.urb). This can be done in the Create report window.

Clicking the Create batch file buPon will open a new window in which two fields need to be

filled.

The Excel report file defines the des;na;on for the resul;ng report Excel file. The file name can

automa;cally be modified with the date at the end (i.e. c:\ReportFile.xlsx becomes c:\Report-

File_2012_01_01.xlsx) when the Add date to Excel file op;on is checked.

The Batch output file path defines the des;na;on and file name of the resul;ng UniversalRe-

porter batch file (.urb) which contains all the informa;on which is needed in order to create the

report in command line mode.

Using the resul;ng urb file it is possible to create a report in the command line mode as follows:

C:\> “C:\Program Files\CAXperts\UniversalReporter\UniversalReporter.exe” [Path to urb file]

The batch file resul;ng report is then created at the loca;on defined in the urb file.

Op;ons (like Use template) selected in the Create report window while crea;ng the urb file are

stored there and will be applied in batch mode.

Note: Some export op;ons, e.g. Export selected rows only, Export with grid colour, can-

not be checked for batch mode. Glossary is not supported.

Note: The batch mode can be started with command line or by double-clicking the .urb

file.

Usage

43

4.6 Repor ng in command line mode with parameters

UniversalReporter can be used from the command line to automate the Excel report crea;on.

Note: Command line mode does not support reports from mul;-applica;on or rule data

windows.

These parameters are available via command line:

4.7 Mul -applica on windows (not available in Applica onReporter)

Opening mul ple projects simultaneously

You can open mul;ple projects from different applica;ons simultaneously if you have the Uni-

versalReporter licence.

Open a project from one applica;on. Click on File → Open project or Recent projects and choose

the database you want to open.

Similarly, open the second project from the same or another applica;on by repea;ng this step.

This ;me choose a different database. Repeat this for addi;onal databases.

Use the windows icons ( ) to organise your projects on the screen.

For example, ;le the windows horizontally by using the Tile windows horizontally icon.

Note: When you double click on the window ;tles, they will get arranged as tabs and vice-

versa.


44

Links for mul -applica on windows

To ac;vate the mul;-applica;on windows, a link for the two objects to be joined must be avail-

able in the Links configurator.

Links

In general, links work by associa;ng two aPributes together. These aPributes can come from any

of the supported applica;ons and can be grouped for more complex joins. Links also allow for

concatenated aPributes or SQL func;ons, meaning that even custom naming rules can be asso-

ciated across applica;ons.

Valid applica;on acronyms are:

• PID for SmartPlant® P&ID applications

• Ins for SmartPlant® Instrumentation applications

• El for SmartPlant® Electrical applications

• PDS for PDS® applications

• 3D for SmartPlant® 3D applications

• Mat for SmartPlant® Materials applications

• Xls for Microsoft® Excel applications

• PDMS for PDMS applications

• Gen mdb files not resulting from a Report Adapter

The links can be defined between the same applica;ons (e.g. to compare different versions of a

project) or between different applica;ons. The following is an example for a simple link between

equipment from P&ID and 3D:

Link_Name Applica;on1 Table1 APribute1 Applica;on2 Table2 APribute2

Equipment PID Eqp_Nozzle Equipment_ITEMTAG 3D Equipment Equipment

Name

In the above example the P&ID Eqp_Nozzle table will be linked to the 3D equipment table only

where the ItemTag in P&ID matches the EquipmentName in 3D.

Each aPribute used for linking is iden;fied by its applica;on, table name, and aPribute name.

Note: The link aPributes (or link expressions) have to be unique to avoid cross linking.

The 'Link_Name' column is an iden;fier that is used both as a display name when crea;ng mul;-

windows inside the UniversalReporter so6ware as well as a 'group name' when crea;ng more

complex joins. It should be descrip;ve and must be unique to the set of aPributes.

The following example (based on the previous example) shows a more complex link using mul;-

ple entries:

Link_Name Applica;on1 Table1 APribute1 Applica;on2 Table2 APribute2

NozzleList PID Eqp_Nozzle Equipment_ITEMTAG 3D Equipment Equipment Name

NozzleList PID Eqp_Nozzle Nozzle_ITEMTAG 3D Equipment Nozzle Name

Usage

45

In the above example the two applica;ons will be linked both on matching equipment names

and matching nozzle names. In this way more complicated links can be built up to meet addi-

;onal requirements.

The final example shows the use of concatenated aPributes:

Link_Name Application1 Table1 Attribute1 Application2 Table2 Attribute2

PipeLines PID InlineComp_prun [Piperun_operfluidcode] & "-" & [Piperun_tagsequenceno] 3D Piping Pipeline System

In the above example the pipeline tables are being linked from P&ID to 3D. In the example 3D is

also using a custom naming rule that needs to be matched in P&ID.

The syntax used for concatena;ng mul;ple aPributes follows the standard Microso6 Access

rules:

• All attribute names must be enclosed in '[]' square brackets.

• All separator characters must be enclosed in '""' quotation marks.

• The '&' symbol is used as the concatenation operator.

Links configurator

The links configurator is a tool to display, create, delete and edit the links. It can be opened by

clicking the Tools -> Links configurator menu entry.

To display an exis;ng link select a link name from the links configurator toolbar.

The meaning of the fields is as follows:

1. The links configurator toolbar

2. Table containing all aPributes used for the link defini;on

3. APribute (or mul;ple aPributes) used for the link defini;on

4. Connec;on between two tables

5. Drop down list for addi;onal SQL func;ons to be executed with aPribute values

6. SQL func;on (e.g. Le6) showing its parameters in brackets

7. Field for text to be concatenated with the aPribute (as prefix or suffix) or for text between

two concatenated aPributes.

8. This grid shows all links for the selected link name.


46

9. These columns show the associated applica;ons

10. These columns show the associated table names

11. These columns contain either a single aPribute name or a more complex SQL statement

that defines the link. The whole cell will be coloured if there is a problem to interpret the

expression. This occurs either on syntax errors or missing capability to display it correctly

(see Create new links).

SQL Func ons

For link defini;ons with complex SQL statements you can choose between a set of predefined

func;ons:

Trim: Removes leading and trailing blanks

Upper: Changes all characters to upper case

Lower: Changes all characters to lower case

There also exists a set of func;ons that requires some parameters to be set:

LeL: Uses only the first n characters.

Right: Uses only the last n characters.

Mid: Uses all characters beginning at the p posi;on. Op;onal you can also specify the maximum

length to be used.

Every ;me you add a new func;on that requires parameters, a new window will be opened

where you can configure these aPributes.

Op;onal parameters will be omiPed, as long as their value is either 0 for numbers or empty for

strings.

You can also change these parameters if you choose Edit parameters in the func;on drop down

list.

Usage

47

Connec ons

Connec;ons between two tables are displayed as direct line between them.

Create them by dragging one connec;on point to the other:

Remove them by clicking on the connec;on point:

Create a new link

To create a new link select ( ) New link from the Links configurator toolbar and enter a link

name. The Links configurator window will open.

Take the aPributes needed for the link from the respec;ve applica;on window. This is done by

selec;ng the needed aPribute from the aPributes tree and dragging it to the Links configurator

window. If a second aPribute is needed to define one link expression then drag the addi;onal

aPribute directly on the first one. Both aPributes then will be displayed in one box and will be

concatenated in the link expression.

Note: If a needed aPribute is not displayed in the aPributes tree, you can add it with right

mouse click on the table name and selec;ng Add a6ribute.

In the links configurator always the original aPribute names are used. For renamed aPributes

(when a glossary is used), the name displayed in the tree can be different from the name dis-

played in the links configurator.

A6er selec;ng the aPributes, add predefined SQL func;ons if needed and define the connec;on

like described above. The first row of the link then will be displayed in the grid.

If an addi;onal row is need for the link then repeat the steps described before.

Note: If others than the predefined SQL func;ons are needed, the SQL statement can be

modified in the APribute fields of the grid.

However, in this case the modified cell will be coloured to show that the expression cannot

be interpreted by the Links configurator and the graphical display will disappear.

With ( ) Save link the new link will be saved to the links.mdb file which by default can be found

in the database folder of the program.

Crea ng mul -applica on windows with two applica ons

Open a project from one applica;on – e.g.PID_DB.MDB for Smartplant P&ID. Open a project

from another applica;on – e.g.Madison.mdb for SmartPlant3D.


48

Tile the windows e.g. using the Tile windows horizontally icon.

Drag an object from one project to another object on the other project.

If the object link is not available in the link.mdb file, the following error will occur.

However if link is available, the following will appear. For example try to link [Piping] object to

[InlineComp_Prun] Object:

Usage

49

From this window the user can decide to combine the data so that both datasets are displayed

next to each other in the Mul;Window or to create the Comparison (Rule) Window which will

show the differences between the original windows based on the link aPribute and based on

aPributes having the same name or on aPributes mapped to each other.

Combine data will create the Mul Window.

Show differences will create the ComparisonWindow

Note: If “Show different rows only” is also selected then items which have not differences

(e.g. Tag and displayed proper;es are the same) will not be listed

In the Link selec on dialogue box, choose the link you wish to establish from the Available links

field. You can view the link informa;on using the Show link informa on buPon.

The link informa;on shows which aPributes on the first applica;on will be mapped to which

aPributes on the second applica;on.


50

Also select the Join criteria required.

The Keep grouping func;onality influences the number of data rows that will appear in the

mul;-applica;on window. If rows are grouped in the data grid of the parent windows, it depends

on this func;on whether data will be ungrouped or not, before being linked to create the mul;-

applica;on window.

Note: To link grouped data, the link aPributes have to be unique with respect to the

grouped rows to avoid cross linking.

Note: The Mul;windows keeps the filters which are applied in the single windows

Note: The Monikers get their name from the applica;on of the ofiginal (single) window

(for example PID for the applica;on PID, 3D for the 3D applica;on etc).

If 2 PID snapshots are compared then the monikers will be called PID1, PID2 etc.

The Keep grouping checkbox is disabled if the selected link requires aPributes that are not se-

lected in the aPribute panels of the parent windows or if further applica;ons have been added

to a mul;-applica;on window.

Result of “Combine data” :

Note: The new window will only display aPributes selected in the a6ributes panel from its

parent tables (from which the join was first created). The sequence of aPributes in the data

grid is according to the sequence in the parent windows.

For renamed aPributes, the names are taken from the parent windows. Glossaries for mul;-

applica;on windows are generated temporarily. This means that aPributes can be renamed

there but the name is only kept as long as the mul;-applica;on window is open.

A buPon called “Match Columns by Name” is available: it will arrange columns with the same

(internal mdb column name) next to each other

Usage

51

This principle is valid for the following type of comparisons:

- 2 snapshots of the same project and applica;on (for instance PID Rev 1 versus PID Rev 2)

- 2 different projects of the same applica;on (for instance PID Plant 1 versus PID Plant 2)

- any applica;on/project versus an XLS list (for instance PID Rev 1 versus XLS LineList)

Add further applica ons to mul -applica on window

Further applica;ons can be added to the mul;-applica;on window, which was created like de-

scribed before. Drag an object from the applica;on to be added to the Mul window table.

Addi;onal applica;ons will be included via Inner Join to the exis;ng data.

Legend for mul -applica on window

At the boPom of UniversalReporter is the legend block for the mul;-applica;on window. You

can hide/unhide this block by clicking on the Hide ( )/Unhide ( ) icon.

The legend block illustrates the source of each aPribute by colour. Example below, aPributes

shaded in green are from the SPPID table and those shaded in purple are from XLS.


52

Context menu for legend block

Context menus for the legend block can be ac;vated by a right mouse click on the record which

needs changing.

Changes that can be made:

• Rename moniker: the system automa;cally generates a moniker name, which is added

to the aPribute names to indicate the related applica;on. This can be changed manually.

Select Rename moniker and type in the new name.

Note: Renaming Monikers as described before is used to assign a display name and will

not change the column name in the database. To change the column name the renaming has

to be done in the Legend of Link selec on window, before the mul;-applica;on window is

created (see Crea�ng mul�-applica�on windows with two applica�ons)

• Change colour: the system usually auto-selects a colour code for each moniker. This can

be changed. Use Change colour and select the colour you want.

Select the colour you want. The result is as follows:

Usage

53

• Show link informa on: this will show the tables the mul;-window table is based on.

• Reset moniker name: resets moniker name to its original value.

Working with mul -applica on window

Mul;-applica;on windows provide the same repor;ng func;onality as windows for one appli-

ca;on.

Addi;onally, there are some func;ons to display their rela;ons to the windows on which they

are based:

With a mul;-applica;on window ac;ve, the Show related windows buPon can be used to ar-

range the mul;-applica;on window together with all the related windows, ;led ver;cally.

Double clicking a row in a mul;-applica;on window will create addi;onal views in all related

single applica;on windows. These views in the single applica;on windows, called mul;-view fil-

ter, display only data of the item that was selected in the mul;-applica;on window. This is helpful

if data of that item have to be edited (see Edit func onality) which is not possible in a mul;-

applica;on window.

Note: If the grid in a mul;-applica;on window contains columns having the same name

except for the monikers, then buPons ( ) Match columns by name and ( ) Hide matching

columns without differences can be used to rearrange or hide these columns (see Working

with rule data window).

4.8 Rule data window (Comparison window)

The RuleWindow can be created from the Mul Window (as described in the chapter “Apply the

Auto compare rule to the mul -applica on window”) but it can also be created directly from


54

the combina;on of the original windows be selec;ng “Show differences” buPon (in this case the

colour-coded difference report will be delivered as result).

Create the difference list report directly from the original windows

By choosing “Show differences” the data from the single windows is shown in one new window

displaying the color-coded differences. The MasterTag aPribute is created based on the link

which was defined to compare the data in the 2 windows.

Apply the Auto compare rule to the mul -applica on window

An Auto compare rule is available in a mul;-applica;on window, using right mouse click on Mul

Window Table and selec;ng Apply rule →Auto compare. This rule compares all columns which

have iden;cal column names in the single-applica;on windows the mul;-applica;on window

was created from. The result of this comparison will be displayed in a new window, the rule data

window.

Usage

55

The user can decide whether to get all rows (Show all rows) or rows with differences only (Show

different rows only), in the appearing Rule data window. Differences are highlighted in various

colours, with corresponding columns having the same colour.

Note: In the Mul;-Window and also in the Rule Window it is possible to use the Highlight

func;on for PID objects (assuming the drawings are in the corresponding Igr folder)

With buPon ( ) Match columns by name, columns with the same name, i.e. columns with the

same colour, will be sorted together. With buPon ( ) Hide matching columns without differ-

ences all columns with matching name that do not have different values (that is columns without

coloured fields) will be hidden.

The result is a window displaying the differences colour-coded :

The result can be exported to a Spreadsheet.

Difference list created without template:

Difference list created with template (for reports created from the AutoCompare window it is

possible to select the “Export grid with colour” op;on:


56

Working with rule data window

Rule data windows provide the same repor;ng func;onality as single-applica;on or mul;-appli-

ca;on windows.

Addi;onally, there are some func;ons to update the single-applica;on windows, the rule data

window is based on.

Note: If the mul;-applica;on window which was used to apply the rule, was created using

the Keep grouping op;on, then these update func;ons are not available.

Every rule data window, created with the Auto compare rule, contains a column named Master-

Tag. When comparing data of two applica;ons in the rule data window, the user can decide, by

row, which applica;on contains the correct data and can mark the rows with a so called Master-

Tag, which defines the leading applica;on. Right mouse click on selected rows provides the func-

;ons Assign master tag for selected rows and Assign master tag for all rows combined with the

names of the related single-applica;on windows. Thus the user can assign the name of the win-

dow which has to become the master. To delete a master tag, assigned before, Nothing has to

be selected for MasterTag.

Usage

57

The MasterTag column will display all assignments already made. If, for example, one single-

applica;on window is PID1 data and the other one is PID2 data, then the situa;on might be as

shown below:

With MasterTag assigned, the single-applica;on windows can be updated from rule data win-

dow with Rule → Update all columns or Rule → Update columns from grid only.

Upda;ng in this context means, that columns in one single-applica;on window will be updated

with values from corresponding columns of the other single-applica;on window. In the example

above, all rows with MasterTag PID2::PID will use PID2data to update rows in PID1 data window.


58

Note: Update will be done for corresponding columns only, that means for columns having

the same name in both single-applica;on windows.

A6er update, the single-applica;on windows will show the changed values highlighted in blue,

exactly as if they had been changed manually (see Edit func�onality). If a Column ChangeStatus

is available, the updated rows will be marked in this column as "updated". In addi;on to upda;ng

exis;ng data, the update func;onality inserts rows, which exist in the master applica;on but do

not in the applica;on to be updated. If ChangeStatus column is available, then these new rows

will be marked there as "inserted". With ChangeStatus column available it is also possible to

mark rows as "deleted" which do not exist in master applica;on but do exist in the applica;on

to be updated.

A6er update, all rows of rule data window, that had been executed during update, will be marked

in MasterTag column, e.g. with Updated from PID2::PID or Updated from PID1::Xls.

Update all columns executes the update for all corresponding columns in the selected tables,

independent of which columns are displayed in the data grid of the single-applica;on window

or rule data window. With Update columns from grid only, the update is restricted to columns

having the same name and being selected in rule data window. Insert will always be done for all

columns.

In some special cases, corresponding columns can be excluded from update, even if they are

selected in rule data window. So called op;onal columns, which can be defined for extrac;on in

ReportAdapter for MicrosoL Excel (see Manual_ReportAdapter for Microso1 Excel), can be ex-

cluded from update by selec;ng Rule → Update all columns → Without op onal columns or

Rule → Update columns from grid only → Without op onal columns.

Note: With or Without op onal columns func;onality is only available if op;onal columns

were defined during extrac;on with ReportAdapter for MicrosoL Excel.

4.9 Open related drawings (3D and PID only)

Use the context menu Highlight (...) objects in (...) drawings... (PID) and Open ... matching ISO

files (3D) respec;vely to open any related IGR or ISO files.

Usage

59

Note: To select more than one object, click on the headers of the needed rows, using the

Ctrl or Shi6 key. Then call the context menu by right clicking on one cell of the selected rows.

If these context menus show no drawings, the folders IGR and ISO might be missing.

Using Tools menu Highlight changed values (PID EditAdapter only), drawings with changed val-

ues will be displayed. Tools menu SP_ID/Representa on_ID... (PID only) enables the user to

search for SP_ID or Representa;on_ID in P&ID drawings.

4.10 Highlight OPC differences (PID only)

Tools menu Highlight OPC differences toggles marking of paired OPC aPributes which are differ-

ent.

For paired OPCs all Piperun and PlantItem aPributes are compared and all inconsistencies in

these aPributes are marked in red. For OPCs which cannot be compared, because the partner is

in stockpile or is not displayed in the data grid, the OPCTag is marked.

The list can be exported to Microso6 Excel keeping the red field with Tools → Export to Excel→

Export grid with colour (see Repor�ng).

4.11 Add documents

Use the context menu item Add documents to aPach a document or a document link to a node.

Documents will be stored in the folder as specified in Se0ngs (Path to data files). Nodes with

aPached documents are marked in blue.

Instead of adding documents manually, an Excel file can be used. Simply use an Excel file like this

(column order and headers in row 1 are obligatory).


60

4.12 Create Access query from a6ributes

Creates an addi;onal query in the database which contains all aPributes that are currently dis-

played on the grid.

4.13 Query builder (Mat only)

Crea ng new query

In UniversalReporter, you can create your own object by linking several objects together. This

will help you create complex reports with data from several objects linked together. To use the

query builder, the steps are:

From the main menu, select Tools → Query builder..., this will open the Query defini on dia-

logue box.

Usage

61

A6erwards, select a query from Exis ng queries or click on the New buPon to create a new

query. The New query dialogue box opens.

Enter the name of the new query in the Query name field.

Select a Base table.

Select table(s) associated to the base table.

Click the OK buPon. The informa;on returns to the Query defini on dialogue box.

To add aPributes from the base and associated tables, expand the tables by clicking on the +

sign.


62

Select the required aPributes in the Associated tables field and click the buPon. This will move

your selec;on into the Query columns field.

Click Save when ready. The new object is now available in the a6ributes tree for use.

Dele ng query

To delete a query, open the Query defini on dialogue box (Tools → Query Builder), select the

query and click on the Delete buPon.

A warning message will appear. Click the Yes buPon to proceed.

Usage

63

Renaming query

To rename query, open the Query defini on dialogue box (Tools → Query Builder), select the

query and click on the Rename buPon.


64

A dialogue box will let you enter a new name for the query. Click OK and close the query builder.

The query in the a6ributes tree will get renamed.

Impor ng query

A user can import a query from another .mdb file. To import a query, open the Query defini on

dialogue box (Tools → Query builder), select the query and click on the Import buPon.

Edit func�onality (with EditAdapter licence only)

65

The import query dialogue box opens. Click on the Browse buPon to locate an .mdb file from

which you want to import the query from. The system will then list all available queries from this

.mdb file.

Select the query/queries required.

Click Import.

The imported queries are now available to be added to the a6ributes tree.

5 Edit func onality (with EditAdapter licence only)

5.1 Grid colour coding

In order to show the different states of each value in the data grid, the cells of the grid are colour

coded, when EditAdapter licence is installed. There are three colours as seen below:


66

Blue represents a cell that has had its value changed. Grey cells are cells that cannot be edited,

due to user rights, or belonging to read only values in the Intergraph applica;on. White coloured

cells represent unmodified changeable values.

User rights for edi;ng SmartPlant 3D data correspond to rights in SmartPlant 3D. For SmartPlants

P&ID data user rights can be defined in separate privilege databases (see A"ribute privileges).

Rights for MicrosoL Excel data can be defined in an Excel mapping sheet (see Manual_ReportA-

dapter for Microso1 Excel).

For SmartPlant P&ID data it is possible to remove the Read-Only flag from addi;onal aPributes

like FluidCode, ItemTags and DrawingName and Number.

This can be done by changing the value of the parameter “UpdateExtendedAPributes”

In the ini file (.UserProfile\Appdata\Roaming\CAXperts\Universal Reporter\PID Data\

<PlantName>.ini the following parameter must be changed (or added of it is not available)

[Edit]

UpdateExtendedA"ributes=1

0 = default behaviour FluidCode, ItemTag, Drawing Name and DrawingNumber cannot be

changed

1 = aPributes like FluidCode, FluidSystem, APributes for PipingConnectPoints can be modified

2 = ItemTag, Drawing Name and DrawingNumber can be modified (also FluidCode and PCP at-

tributes)

5.2 Changing a value

Edi;ng a value in the grid is done very quickly with either the dropdown box (as seen below) or

via direct input. Columns that are code listed can only be changed using the dropdown.


67

For P&ID data and for 3D data you can use the context menu Extended modifica ons for easier

data modifica;on. (see Grid context menu for PID only)

A6er every change, a window shows up and asks how the change should be applied (in the PID

and in the 3D seSngs the prompt can be suppressed for P&ID data by checking the op;on Sup-

press prompt).

Only apply the change to the selected object: modifies all related rows, if applicable. E.g. if an

equipment object has four nozzles, the nozzles will be listed in four rows. If the user changes the

equipment name, the equipment name will be changed on all four rows.

Apply change to filtered values with…: only values shown in the filter will be changed, not nec-

essarily all related values in the database.

5.3 Display changes

A6er changing a value, the Old value column will appear in front of the changed column. A6er

wri;ng changes back to the original applica;on, the Update status column is added behind every

column that has been updated (see below).


68

The Old value operator shows the original value of a changed aPribute. This is to ensure that

prior to wri;ng changes to the applica;on it is known which changes have been made.

The Update status displays one of four values a6er the changes have been wriPen to the appli-

ca;on. The first of the possible shown values for this column is "successfully updated". This

simply means that all changes have been recorded without a problem. The second possibility is

“Up-to-date”. This states that the value that has been changed in the report grid has the same

value as the object in the applica;on. The third possibility is an error message. This means that

the value cannot be wriPen to the applica;on database. Amongst other things, this can be due

to user rights, applica;on rules or database problems. The last of possible values is blank. This

means no ac;on has been taken.

The columns Old value and Update status can be added and removed where applicable, by

checking the respec;ve operator in the A6ribute panel. You can also hide and display these val-

ues using the Toggle old value and update status buPon ( ). As long as old values are dis-

played, a “Changed values” filter is available in all columns with changed values.

Reset values

It is possible to reset changes values in the grid (as long as they are marked as change).


69

Reset table will reset the complete table

Reset column will reset the column

Reset value will reset the single value

5.4 Import from Excel (3D, PID and XLS)

Use Tools → Import from Excel and select an Excel report. The Import from Excel window will

appear.

Impor ng without Import Configura on

Select Sheet to import and Task to import to and assign the Header row line (row in Excel sheet

which includes the aPribute names). A6er ;cking the Next buPon you can select the aPributes

to be imported, by dragging them from the Ignore columns area to the Update columns field.

If the aPribute names in the Excel file do not match the names in UniversalReporter then they

are displayed in red and a mapping has to be done, using the Map buPon which calls an addi-

;onal mapping window. To map Mapping columns to the respec;ve Unknown columns just drag


70

the needed aPribute from the right side to the unknown column name on the le6 side. To re-

move mapping, drag the mapping name from the le6 side to the right.

In Select a6ributes to change window, it is not allowed to add read-only or unmapped aPributes

to the right list; this will bring up an error message a6er clicking OK. You need to drag one or

more aPributes to the Key columns field on the le6, to build up a unique key (e.g. OID or Item-

Tag) that matches the rows to be updated and at least one aPribute to the right column. APrib-

utes on the column in the middle will be ignored and thus do not have to be mapped.

Start the import by clicking OK.

If duplicate keys are found in Excel then these will be displayed in a window and the user can

choose if he wants to import the data ignoring the duplicate keys or the “last value wins” op;on

(in this case the last row for rows with same key will be used for impor;ng for all the objects

iden;fied).

A6er the import, modifica;ons get blue mark-up on the grid and the column Old value will be

filled.

For S3D data Code list values will be evaluated during import. Errors during evalua;on will cause

a rejec;on of these modifica;ons.

Impor ng with using an Import Configura on

Crea ng Import configura ons

An attribute configuration can be created by saving the combination of Key column and Update

columns in relation so that they can be used for imports from different Excel files.


71

When the user selects an ImportConfigura;on clicking the “Import” command will directly run

the import and the result will be visible in Universal Reporter.

Parameters for iden;fica;on of valid Import configura;ons:

As marked in the screenshot above the 3 parameters which are used to define valid Import con-

figura;ons are

- the name of the Excel sheet in the Excel file


72

- the row number of the header row (containing the column headers)

- the task (table) to which the data will be imported

It is also possible to create a new Import configura;on based on an exis;ng one by using the

“Save As” buPon in the ImportConfigura;on window:

In this case the user can choose between the valid Import configura;ons:


73

Removing an Import configura on

An Import configura;on can be removed by selec;ng it and clicking on the “Remove” buPon.

Removing all Import configura ons

The “Clean” buPon will remove all related Import configura;ons (matching to the Excel Sheet

and Target Task / Table) from the database.

Renaming an Import configura on

Switching to the import method without Import configura on

If the user wants to switch to the import method which does not use an Import configura;on he

can check the “Don’t use configura;on” check box:


74

Note: Using import configura;ons makes it possible to import different Excel files with the

same configura;on (assuming that the Name of the Excel sheet is the same and the Headre

row number is the same).

Note: When impor;ng without Import configura;on the user is prompted to select the

key column and the update columns (ev. Also the mapping between Excel columns and Uni-

versal Reporter columns) for each new Excel file he wants to import.

Note: The Import Configura;ons are stored in the Link.mdb database.

Note: All aPributes assigned to the Update columns field will be imported, not only the

aPributes and objects shown on the data grid.

Note: If the key columns contain duplicate values, you will be prompted to overwrite du-

plicates, ignore duplicates or cancel the import.

5.5 Wri ng changes to applica on

To write changes to an applica;on, this applica;on has to be installed on the computer. From the

menus, select the respec;ve applica;on (3D, PID or Xls), e.g. 3D -> Write changes to SmartPlant

3D.

Upon the selec;on of this op;on, the Update a6ributes tables selec on window appears. Select

the tables to be updated from this window

Permissions and se'ngs

75

The changed values of the selected tables will be wriPen to the applica;on, using the applica;on

interface. Once this process is complete a message box will appear, sta;ng that data have been

wriPen to the applica;on successfully and, in UniversalReporter, Update status columns will

display the update status for every changed aPribute.

For P&ID data you can select either to Write changes to SmartPlant P&ID... or to Write changes

to SmartPlant P&ID with system edi ng... This will set the respec;ve op;on in SmartPlant P&ID.

Thus, with system edi;ng will result in a propaga;on of the changed values to connected items.

Note: When FluidCode (or TestFluidType from CaseProcess aPributes) is changed and

wriPen to SmartPlant P&ID the FluidSystem value is also changed (regardless if the FluidSys-

tem aPribute is available in the mdb); this change is ac;vated in the WriteBack step

For Excel data, a6er selec;ng the tables to be executed, a new window appears where the user

can select the Excel file that will be used for write back. Addi;onally he can assign a revision

number and colour which will be used to mark the changes in the Excel file. To assign the revision

number to the changed rows in the Excel sheet, this sheet has to contain a column with the name

Revision.

Note: To write data back to Excel, the Excel sheet has to include a key column, named

xlsKey, which contains the unique iden;fier, and this name has to be mapped to the corre-

sponding aPribute in UniversalReporter (e.g. ItemTag).

A6er upda;ng and depending on necessity, it may be necessary to export a new Access database

from the applica;on with ReportAdapter, e.g.to see which values were changed addi;onally be-

cause of rules in the applica;on.

6 Permissions and se0ngs

6.1 Permissions

Assign permission with Tools -> Permissions.


76

Group or user names contains either the domain and user name, the domain and group name,

the computer and user name or for those computers that are not in a domain, the computer and

user name.

As long as the seSng Add new users with full permissions is checked (see 6.3 Global se'ngs),

each new user which logs on to the computer and starts UniversalReporter will automa;cally

obtain full permissions.

The permissions path can also be designated in the seSngs. This way mul;ple users can u;lise

the same permissions DB.

Both the Add new users with full permissions op;on and the Permissions .mdb file seSng re-

quire the All -> Permissions permission to change.

Warning: Removing the Add new users with full permissions and the All -> Permissions seSng

for all users will disable any future permission modifica;on (unless the permissions database

password is known)

Warning: The program will not start without a valid permissions database.

Note: Removing the ac;ve user in the permissions will only serve to reset his/her permis-

sions (to the seSngs defined in Add new users with full permissions).

Specific permissions:

• Attribute_Manager: allows the opening and changing of the attribute manager

for the specified program part

• Attribute_Permissions: allows the editing of editable columns in the Attribute

Permissions window (PID Only)


77

• Change_Values: allows the editing of values in the data grid (Edit Only)

• Glossary: allows the viewing and modification of the glossary table

• Import_from_Excel: allows importing changes from excel sheets (Edit Only)

• Link_Configurator: allows editing links needed for creating multi-application

windows

• Save_View: allows saving over existing views. If disabled will only allow "Save

as" dialog and will not allow overwriting of existing files.

• WriteBack: allows the user to utilize the WriteBack function (Edit Only)

6.2 A6ribute permissions (PID only)

APribute permissions are enabled and disabled in the seSngs under PID Se0ngs -> Enable at-

tribute permissions. The default is disabled.

The directory of the aPribute permissions is modifiable using the Se0ngs -> PID Se0ngs -> At-

tribute permissions directory. If the directory is empty, new (empty) databases will be created

there. These database files can be copied and renamed to define the privileges for addi;onal

plants (source and target plant have to have iden;cal aPributes).

Locked aPributes are shown in grey colour on the grid; for users that are not listed in the privi-

leges database, all aPributes will be locked.

Note: If the Property aPributes are enabled and no user has been added, no fields will be

editable. APribute permission seSngs are stored in per-project databases.

Using Tools -> A6ribute permission the modifica;on privileges for aPributes can be defined

user- or group-wise.


78

6.3 Global se0ngs

• Open last used files on load: load the last projects on program start. If check

box is not checked the system will require you to manually open the project

upon program start-up.

• Export report header row count: set the default for header row for Excel report

created without template and for new templates.

• Maximum Excel batch row count: There is a known memory leak in Excel. If

you are experiencing any difficulties try to reduce this number. If the number of

defined rows is exceeded, the report will be split during creation and merged in

the end. This does not influence the result but performance is decreased.

• Add new users with full permissions: if checked, new users will get full admin-

istrator rights. see permissions

• Permissions .mdb file: path to store the permissions database.

• Path to glossary file: set the location of the glossary .mdb file. If a global path is

set for glossary then the glossary is used for all applications. This means that

table names have to be unique across applications. If there are duplicate table

names, the glossary path must be set for every application separately.

• Select all attributes by default: when checked, attributes in the attribute panel

will be selected when an object gets added to the attributes tree.

• Path to data files: set the default location of the document files which can be

attached to nodes of the attributes tree. (see Appendix B: context menus)

• Use one configuration: configuration settings are identical for all projects.

• Use one configuration per project name: configuration settings shall be bound

to the project name.


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• Copy locally from: if checked it will copy the settings from the path specified.

Configuration file always is used locally (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\CAX-

perts\UniversalReporter\Config). If a global configuration is needed then the

configuration file can be copied from a global location during start-up of the

program.

• Replace after finish: if checked the local configuration file will be saved to the

path where it was copied from, thus overwriting the global configuration file.

• Use one configuration per .mdb file path: configuration settings shall be bound

to the mdb file path (includes a hash value of the file path in the configuration

file name).

• Links database path: set the location of the links database (links.mdb)

6.4 Se0ngs per applica on

PID se0ngs

• Use global settings: To override global settings for this application, uncheck this

box.

• Enable history logging: if checked, all changes done in SmartPlant P&ID with

write back function will be documented in an Access database.

• History database file: defines the location of the change history database

• Enable attribute permissions: if checked, attributes are locked according to

user rights specified in the attribute permissions database (see Attribute per-

missions (PID only)). Every project has its own attribute permissions database. If

enable attribute permissions is set, user rights must be defined for each pro-

ject.


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• Attribute permissions directory: defines the directory where the attribute per-

missions databases for all projects are kept.

• Highlight colour: the software will use this colour to highlight objects in

SmartSketch

• Highlighted line width factor: the software will use this line width to highlight

objects in SmartSketch

• Suppress update prompt: suppresses the prompt that asks for the modification

target when a cell value was changed.

• Suppress default update selection: sets how modifications should be applied

by default.

Other seSngs: See Global se'ngs.

Grid se0ngs

Grid seSngs allow the user to change the color for the Read-Only, Old_value, Update value color

and also to choose a different color for even and odd rows.

Se0ngs for other applica ons

• Use global settings: To override global settings for this application, uncheck this

box.

Other seSngs: See Global se'ngs or PID se'ngs.

7 Appendix A: menu

7.1 File

Open project…

Shows a file dialogue to open a Microso6 Access database containing the project data.

Recent projects

Shows a list of the most recently used projects. Click on an item on this list to open the project.

Open view…

Opens a UniversalReporter view file (.cvf).

New view…

Creates a new view tab.

Appendix A: menu

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Save view

Saves the current view as a UniversalReporter view file (.cvf).

Save view as…

Saves the current view as a UniversalReporter view file (.cvf) to a new loca;on.

Save all views…

Saves all views as UniversalReporter view files (.cvf).

Close view

Closes the current view.

Close project

Closes the current project.

Exit

Closes UniversalReporter.

7.2 Edit

Search in a6ributes tree

Brings up the Search in a6ributes tree form to search the tree of aPributes.

7.3 Tools

Links configurator

Shows the Links configurator window to create links for mul;-applica;on windows. (see Links )

A6ribute permissions (PID only)

Shows the aPribute permissions window (see A"ribute permissions).

A6ribute manager

Shows the aPribute manager window, see Customising the a"ributes panel.

Glossary

Opens the project specific glossary, see Customising a"ributes names (glossary func�on).

Report variable defini on

Shows the Report variable defini on window to define variables that can be used in Excel re-

ports (see 4.4 Repor�ng)

Custom sor ng

Shows the Sort window to sort mul;ple columns in the data grid (see Filtering and sor�ng views)

Create Access query from a6ributes

Creates a query including all aPributes displayed in the data grid and saves it to the current da-

tabase. (see 4.12 Create Access query from a"ributes)


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Export to Excel

Creates Excel report, see Expor�ng to Microso1 Excel.

Export to HTML, PDF, CSV

Creates report in HTML, PDF or CSV Format from the data displayed in the data grid. With this

func;onality no template can be used.

Load documents from Excel

Assigns document links, provided in an Excel sheet, to items in the aPributes tree. See Appendix

B: context menus / Add document).

Show info

Opens a table which displays informa;on related to the database that contains the extracted

data. This informa;on may contain an expira;on date. If this date is exceeded a warning will be

displayed whenever the database is opened.

Remove read-only from view

If a view is locked, i.e. read-only, clicking this menu item will remove the lock. (see Views)

Import from Excel (3D and PID only)

Imports data from an Excel Sheet to the current database. (see 5.4 Import from Excel)

Permissions

Shows the Permissions window where user rights in UniversalReporter can be defined. (see 6.1

Permissions)

Se0ngs

Includes global seSngs and seSng for the different applica;ons. (see 6 Permissions and set-

�ngs). All seSngs will be stored in .ini files. (e.g. in C:\Program Files (x86)\CAXperts\UniversalRe-

porter\Config)

7.4 Applica on specific menus (PID, 3D, Mat, Xls, Rule)

Highlight changed values (PID only)

Opens all drawings with items to be changed and highlights these items. (see Open related draw-

ings (3D und PID only))

Highlight SP_ID or Representa on_ID (PID only)

Brings up the Highlight values window to search for SP_ID or Representa;on_ID in all P&IDs.

(see Open related drawings (3D und PID only))

Highlight OPC differences (PID only)

Toggles marking of paired OPC aPributes which are different. (see 4.10 Highlight OPC differences

(PID only))

Write changes to SmartPlant P&ID with system edi ng (PID only)

Writes changed values back to SmartPlant P&ID using the system edi;ng func;onality. (see 5.5

Wri�ng changes to applica�on)

Appendix A: menu

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Write changes to SmartPlant P&ID (PID only)

Writes changed values back to SmartPlant P&ID. (see 5.5 Wri�ng changes to applica�on)

Show history (PID only)

If that op;on is selected in the seSngs, all changes that were made in wri;ng back to SmartPlant

P&ID get stored in a database. This change history database will be opened and displays the data

concerning the current project.

Write changes to SmartPlant 3D (3D only)

Writes changed values back to SmartPlant 3D (see Wri�ng changes to applica�on)

Show database informa on (Mat only)

Opening UniversalReporter for SmartPlant® Materials normally triggers the following dialogue

box. This dialogue box gives you informa;on on the current database the system is linked to. See

sample below:

Query builder (Mat only)

Helps to create your own object in the database by linking several tables or queries from the

database together.

Write changes to Xls (Xls only)

Writes changed values back to Microso6 Excel (see Wri�ng changes to applica�on)

Update all columns (Rule only)

Updates single-applica;on windows out of rule window (see Working with rule data window)

including all columns having the same column name in both single-applica;on windows.

Update columns from grid only (Rule only)

Updates single-applica;on windows out of rule window (see Working with rule data window)

including columns displayed in the grid and having the same column name in both single-appli-

ca;on windows.

7.5 Window

Cascade

Cascades the project windows.


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Tile horizontally

Tiles the project windows horizontally.

Tile ver cally

Tiles the project windows ver;cally.

Show related windows

Only ac;ve when a mul;-applica;on window is selected. Arranges the mul;-applica;on window

together with all related windows.

Show a6ributes tree

Shows / hides the a6ributes tree.

Show a6ributes

Shows / hides the a6ributes panel.

Show grid

Shows / hides the data grid.

Window toolbar

Shows / hides the window toolbar.

Views toolbar

Shows / hides the view toolbar.

7.6 Help

Manual

Show this manual.

Labs

Provides a list of labs in which examples of how to use UniversalReporter are described step by

step.

Update licence

Shows the licence update form, to update licences or to change license path. (see Licence)

About UniversalReporter

Displays version informa;on of UniversalReporter.

8 Appendix B: context menus

There are context menus for each sec;on of the UniversalReporter. The menus can be reached

via right clicking on the associated item. Some context menu func;ons are also available on the

menu bar and/or toolbar.

8.1 View context menu

The view menu shows up when you right click on the view tab:

Appendix B: context menus

85

• Save view: saves the currently selected view. If the selected view has not been

saved before, the Save as dialogue will be opened.

• Save view as: saves the view under a certain file name.

• Close view: closes the selected view.

8.2 Node context menu

In the a6ributes tree, depending on what item you right click on a slightly different context menu

will appear, see A"ributes tree.

Object nodes

If you right click on the object node, the following context menu will appear:

Add a6ribute: opens a pop-up menu lis;ng all aPributes which are not already added. Select

one to add it to the selected node.

Add all a6ributes: add all available aPributes to the selected node.

Remove all a6ributes: remove all aPributes assigned under the selected node.

Add table: opens a popup menu lis;ng all tables which are not already added. Select one to add

it to the a6ributes tree.

Add all tables: add all available tables to the a6ributes tree.

Remove table: remove selected node from the a6ributes tree.

Remove all tables: remove all tables from a6ributes tree.


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Export table...: Exports the selected object to an external database. The object can be renamed

while saving it.

Add document (in single-applica on windows only): aPaches a document to the selected item

(see Add documents).

Documents (in single-applica on windows only): displays all aPached documents. Open the

document by selec;ng the document name.

Remove document (in single-applica on windows only): displays all aPached documents. Re-

move the document by selec;ng the document name or remove all documents by selec;ng All.

Apply rule → Auto compare (with mul window table only): Starts the auto compare rule (see

Apply rules to mul�-applica�on window), available only in mul;-applica;on window, with Rules

licence.

A6ribute node

If you right click on the a6ribute node, the following context menu will appear:

Rename: renames the target aPribute node. Only works if a glossary is selected under Tools →

Glossary.

Reset rename: reset the renaming of an aPribute back to the database column name.

Add a6ribute: opens a popup menu lis;ng all aPributes which are not already added. Select one

to add it to the selected node.


Remove a6ributes: remove the selected aPribute.

Add document, Document and Remove document: see Object nodes

Value node

If you right click on the value node, the following context menu will appear:


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Add a6ribute: opens a popup menu lis;ng all aPributes which are not already added. Select one

to add it to the selected node.


Remove all a6ributes: remove all aPributes from the selected node (not possible for value

nodes).

Add document, Document and Remove document: see Object nodes

8.3 A6ribute context menu

Right click on the a6ributes panel to open the A6ribute context menu or use the respec;ve

icons.

Ac;ons available are as follows:

• Select all ( ): selects all attribute nodes

• Unselect all( ): unselect all attribute nodes, including operator nodes.

• Toggle old value and update status ( ): (only with EditAdapter licence) Shows

/ hides old value and update status columns in the data grid.

Note: Unselec;ng will not affect the path aPributes.

8.4 Grid context menu

Context menu for filtering


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The context menu shown below is the first and primary way to filter (see Filtering and sor�ng

views). Right click on a grid cell to open it.

Filter by selec on: sets the column filter to the current value in the selected grid cell.

Exclude selec on: sets the current column filter to exclude the value in the selected grid cell.

Append exclude selec on: excludes the current value in addi;on to the current value(s) in the

filter. This op;on is only enabled if the column has been filtered by exclusion.

Filter by list: displays a list where all values to be used for filtering can be selected.

Copy to clipboard: copy the displayed name or glossary name of the current column to the clip-

board.

Opera onal filters: these filters are only available for numeric and date/;me columns. The

popup menu contains filters for ‘Greater than’, ‘Less than’, ‘Greater than or equal to’, and ‘Less

than or equal to’, all are rela;ve to the current selected grid cell.

Append opera onal filters: these filters are only available for numerical or date/;me columns

and if a previous opera;onal filter has been set in the current column. This op;on enables the

possibility to filter for values between two values.

Compare similari es with: compare values between two aPributes for similari;es. This is not

possible between different data types.

Compare differences with: compare values between two aPributes for differences. This is not

possible between different data types.


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Extended modifica ons/Concatenate (PID and Xls only): not available for locked cells. Opens

the Concatenate window to concatenate all values of items included in the selected column with

addi;onal strings.

Clear column filter: clears the current column filter in which the selected grid cell resides.

Clear all filters: resets all filters in the grid. With the excep;on of filters set in path columns (see

Data grid).

It is also possible to filter by selec;ng an item from the filter combo box at the top of each column

(see Filtering).

8.5 Applica on specific context menu

Grid context menu for 3D only

Open (...) matching ISO files: opens isometric drawings related to the selected item, (see Open

related drawings (3D and PID only)). Only available if drawings were extracted with 3D ReportA-

dapter and folder "ISO" exists. If there are no isometric drawings then Iso informa on missing

is displayed in the context menu.

Grid context menu for PID only

Highlight (...) objects in (...) drawings: opens P&IDs related to the selected item (see Open re-

lated drawings (3D and PID only). This op;on is only available if P&IDs were extracted with PID

ReportAdapter and the folder "IGR" exists. If there are no isometric drawings then No drawings

is displayed in the context menu.

Grid context menu for PID and Xls only

Extended modifica ons/Concatenate: not available for locked cells. Opens the Concatenate

window to concatenate all values of items included in the selected column with addi;onal

strings.

Extended modifica ons/Regular expression: not available for locked cells. Opens the Regular

expression window to change all values of items included in the selected column based on reg-

ular expressions.

Extended modifica ons/Replace: not available for locked cells. Opens the Replace window to

change all values of items included in the selected column by replacing parts of these values.

Grid context menu for EditAdapter licence only

Reset table: Reset the values of all columns to the old value. Only available if at least one cell

value is different from old value.

Reset column: Reset all values of the selected column to the old value. Only available if at least

one value in the column is different from old value.

Reset value: Reset the value of the selected cell to the old value. Only available if the cell value

is different from old value.


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Grid context menu for Rule data with Rules licence only

Assign master tag for selected rows: Assign to all selected rows which applica;on is the master

for upda;ng single-applica;on windows out of Rule data window. Only available with column

MasterTag.

Assign master tag for all rows: Assign to all rows which applica;on is the master for upda;ng

single-applica;on windows out of Rule data window. Only available with column MasterTag.

9 Appendix C: toolbar bu6ons There are several toolbars in UniversalReporter.

The toolbar allows faster access to the most important func;ons from the menu.

Windows toolbar

• : cascade windows.

• : tile windows horizontally.

• : tile windows vertically.

• : Show related windows

• : shows or hides the Attributes tree.

• : shows or hides the Attributes panel.

• : shows or hides the Data grid.

…

Edit toolbar

• : search in Attributes trees.

…

Status bar and log file

91

Views toolbar

• : adds a new view.

• : opens an existing view.

• : saves current view.

• : closes the selected view.

• : exports the report currently shown in the grid into a Microsoft Excel work-

sheet.

• : custom sorting.

• AND / OR: toggle button to switch between “AND” mode and an “OR” mode for

filtering

Links configurator toolbar (see Links)

• : creates a new link.

• : deletes the link.

• : saves the link.

• : renames the link.

• : reorders all link windows

• : drop down list of all defined links

10 Status bar and log file

A double click on the status bar at the boPom of the window will open the log file.

The log file can be found in the UniversalReporter folder of the temporary directory of the cur-

rent computer.


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11 Technical support

Need more help? Contact CAXperts support by email, online, or phone:

mailto:[email protected]

hPp://www.caxperts.com/contact/