Hotboxes

A dynamic navigation feature used on VTS application pages is the hotbox. A hotbox is a hidden, rectangular area on a page that has been configured to reveal itself when the mouse pointer moves over it. A hotbox performs an action when clicked.

There are two types of hotboxes that may be present in your application:

•      Page Change Hotbox

•      Set Value Hotbox

 

A page change hotbox opens a new full-sized page, or a control panel or dialog-sized page when it is clicked. A set value hotbox sends a new value out to equipment to control its mode, status, or value when it is clicked.

It is likely that if both these types of hotboxes have been configured throughout your application, your VTS developer may have differentiated between the two types using different colors.

Some pages have small bitmaps that represent a complex arrangement of equipment. A page change hotbox is often defined around these small bitmaps. When such a hotbox is clicked, it can take you to another page that illustrates the complex system in much more detail. This is a space saving approach often used when large and complex systems are reproduced in VTS.

Another common use of page change hotboxes is to open a pop-up control panel or dialog box for a specific piece of equipment. A hotbox may be configured around a piece of equipment. When you click the hotbox, a control panel or dialog with controls for that equipment open. Page change hotboxes like these provide a convenient way of opening the control panel or dialog box associated with a piece of equipment, so that the control panel or dialog box can be used when needed and hidden when not in use. For example, clicking on the bitmap of a motor that has been assigned a hotbox could open a control panel that could be used to turn the motor on or off. The control panel can then be closed until the next occasion upon which it is needed.

Another means of using hotboxes to control equipment processes is using a set value hotbox. Such a hotbox may also be configured around a piece of equipment. When you click the hotbox, a signal is sent to the equipment.

An example of a hotbox on a page is shown below.

When you run your mouse pointer over certain symbols on a page, a rectangle appears, indicating a hotbox. In the example above, the hotbox is represented by the red rectangle around the pump.

The (red) rectangle appearing around the pump bitmap that the mouse pointer is touching is a hotbox. Clicking on this hotbox may open a control panel with controls for the selected pump, or may instantly turn the pump off and on.

Hotboxes are typically configured as yellow rectangles, although they can be configured in any color your VTS developer chooses. Again, if there are both page change and set value hotboxes in your application, they are likely be represented in two distinct colors. Ask your VTS developer what colors have been configured for the hotboxes in your application.