Viewlet Configuration

The Configuration Menu

Configuring a viewlet is accomplished by selecting the red wrench icon, known as the configuration tool, located in the top right corner of each viewlet. When selected, the user is presented with a pop-up configuration menu in the center of their dashboard. While each viewlet has a slightly different menu, many of the configuration options are applicable to each viewlet. Setup can be completed with just a few mouse clicks once the user has a basic understanding of their meanings. Several of the viewlets have multiple tabs for configuration options, as seen in the viewlet types and examples section of the user manual.

Configuration Terminology

Understanding the terminology within the viewlet configuration menus is necessary for the user to get the most out of their viewlet displays. Listed below are several terms the user should be familiar with.

Sort:
This refers to the order which Periscope displays information from left to right, whether it be ascending or descending.

Normalize:

An important feature within Periscope, normalization averages data such as energy consumption based upon common units of measure such as square footage. This feature will help a user make a more informed decision on energy usage by eliminating the size difference oflocations. Normalizing the data sets will provide a fair view of total energy consumption figures in side-by- side comparisons. The user must be certain to enter a location’s conditioned square footage area within the Periscope configuration menu.

Rollup:

The Rollup selection allows users to select multiple time intervals when summarizing large data sets for display. In most cases the user can choose to display the minimum, maximum, average, and sum of the units at hand. The time rollup lets Periscope know how often to pull those values from the Niagara database for charting purposes. For example, if energy demand is trended in 15 minute periods, but the user wants to display only the hourly maximum demand values, the user would choose “hourly” rollup. In another example, the user could choose to display only the
sum of monthly kWh over a one year-span, even though trends are in 15 minute periods.

Stacked or Clustered:

These options modify the display capabilities of bar-charts within Periscope. A stacked chart will compile the user’s chosen locations vertically, display the value of each individual location. This can be useful if a campus had separate buildings/locations and the user would like to view aggregated totals. A clustered display presents the information by aligning the bars next to one another for side-by-side comparisons.

Filters:

Many viewlets have the ability to “filter” the available points or trends to be added. Systems with a large number of site locations or thousands of points may require the use of the unit filter or location filter to narrow the list of available points down to a subset of system points. The unit filter automatically displays a type of unit, i.e. Fahrenheit. This unit can be changed by clicking on the filter button and selecting a new unit from the unit picker menu. Units are grouped in categories. Once a category is selected, all variations of that category are available for selection. For example, selecting the Energy category, allows the point or trend database to be filtered by sub-categories such as Watt-Hr, Kilowatt-Hr, BTU, Therm, etc. Location filters will allow the user to see points or trends from only one location at a time.