Explorer Window

Navigation: User Guide ➔ Windows ➔ Explorer Window

Application Window	Message Window	Graphics Window	Access Window	Explorer Window	Trend Window	Project Window	Command Window

Latest SysCAD Version: 25 February 2021 - SysCAD 9.3 Build 138.28098

This page is for Build 137 or later. For earlier builds, please see Explorer Window 9.3.

---

Introduction

The SysCAD Explorer Window may be accessed in any of the following ways:

Command Button
Command Path	View - Explorer	OR	Window - Select Window
Short Cut Key	Ctrl+E	OR	Ctrl+W

This window contains information regarding the Graphics and Trend windows available in the project, as well as the units on each graphic.

The Explorer window is not constrained within the boundaries of the SysCAD window and may be moved beyond the SysCAD limits, and if the user has dual monitors (highly recommended) this window may be located on the alternate monitor.

This is a very useful feature, as the Explorer window in always on top and by moving it away from the SysCAD window you free up more space to view the actual project.

Flowsheets grouped in Areas

The Explorer Window is very useful when navigating a large project with multiple flowsheets, models and document windows. For flowsheets the user may group these into Areas directly from the Explorer window or in Plant Model Flowsheets tab.

The image below shows the same project with 12 flowsheets. The left window has all of the flowsheets in a single default Area, while the window on the right has flowsheets group by area:

Notes:

1. In Build 139 and later, flowsheets can be dragged and dropped into areas using the Explorer Window.
2. The Explorer default behaviour can be found on Tools | General Options | Global.
3. Graphics and Trend information are always available;
4. Classes information are shown by default as the explorer window is accessed. The user can right click to on this and choose hide to remove the information.
5. Nodes, Tears and Flows (Flows are only available for dynamic projects) information will be Off by default. The user may right click on the group and choose Show.

Navigating to Existing Graphics and Trend Windows

The user may navigate to any Graphics or Trend window in the project by simply clicking on the required window in the Explorer window. SysCAD will activate the required window.

If the user has added Areas to the project, then the flowsheets may be grouped by area. This is a really useful feature for a large project that contains many Graphics windows.

The Graphics windows are listed alphabetically in the Explorer window, as shown in the left hand window above. This is why it is often a good idea to number the flowsheets so that they follow the process flow, for example:

• 01 Crushing and Screening
• 02 Milling and Cycloning
• 03 Leaching
• 04 Counter Current Washing Circuit, etc.

If the user has added Areas to the project, these will also be listed alphabetically, so again it is recommended that the areas are alphanumeric and follow the flow of the project, e.g:

• 0100_FeedPrep
• 0200_Copper
• 0300_Nickel, etc.

The Graphics windows are all listed first, followed by the Trend windows.

Manipulating Graphics Windows (Flowsheets)

For Build 139, flowsheets can be dragged and dropped between Areas. And Areas can be managed through right click context menus for the Explorer window Graphics as described below.

Overall Graphics

By right clicking on 'Graphics' in the Explorer window the user will see the following pop up menu: (Note that in Build 139, Add New Area has been added)

This allows the user to carry out a number of actions: New Graphics Window allows the user to open a new flowsheet window. Group Operations opens the Graphics Flowsheet Group Operations dialog box. Bulk Tag Change opens the Bulk Tag change dialogue box, allowing the user to change a number of tags easily. Colour Scheme allows the user to change the overall colour scheme of all flowsheets. Window Behaviour allows the user to specify if graphics windows are sized, moved or displayed individually or together. Copy Graphic List to Clipboard allows the user to paste a list of the graphics (flowsheet names) into another application, e.g. Excel, Word, etc. Copy Graphic, Tag List to Clipboard allows the user to paste a list of the graphics (flowsheet names) with all of the unit tags into another application, e.g. Excel, Word, etc. Add New Area allows the user to add a new Area to the project. The user can accept the default name for the new area or change it to the desired name. (Only available in Build139 or later)

Area

By right clicking on an Area name in the Explorer window the user will see the following pop up menu, (in Build 139, some additional commands have been added):

This allows the user to carry out a number of actions: Copy Graphic List to Clipboard allows the user to paste a list of the graphics in this area (flowsheet names) into another application, e.g. Excel, Word, etc. Copy Graphic, Tag List to Clipboard allows the user to paste a list of the graphics in this area (flowsheet names) with all of the unit tags into another application, e.g. Excel, Word, etc. Activate (X Units on Y Pages) allows the user to activate all flowsheets and units within the area. (Only available in Build139 and later) DeActivate (X Units on Y Pages) allows the user to deactivate all flowsheets and units within the area.(Only available in Build139 and later) Add New SubArea allows the user to add a new area which will be a subarea of the selected area. This is only available if the AllowSubAreas option has been ticked on the Plant Model - Flowsheets tab. (Only available in Build139 and later) Rename Area allows the user to rename the selected area. (Only available in Build139 and later) Delete Area allows the user to delete the selected area. This is only available if the area contains no flowsheets. (Only available in Build139 and later)

Individual Flowsheets

By right clicking on a Flowsheet name in the Explorer window the user will see the following pop up menu:

This allows the user to carry out a number of actions on the flowsheet:

The user can Activate the selected flowsheet by clicking on the Activate command (See also Group Operations). The user can Deactivate the selected flowsheet by clicking on the Deactivate command (See also Group Operations). The user may Rename the selected flowsheet (if a Trend window is selected, the user may also rename it using this command). The user may use the Bulk Tag Change command to change a number of Tags on the selected flowsheet. See Bulk Change Tag The user may Copy the Bitmap of the selected flowsheet to be used in an external application, such as an Excel report or a word document. Please note that the Heading text that appears on the flowsheet may be changed by going to Tools - General Options - Graphics Tab The user may Copy the Tag list of the selected flowsheet. The list of tags will depend on the Filter selection (at the bottom of the Explorer window). In the example shown above, the Tag List this will contain the tags of ALL units on the selected flowsheet because the filter has not been enabled. The user may Delete the flowsheet (deletes all the models on the graphics page) The user may Close the flowsheet (NOT recommended). Any closed graphics pages are NOT saved, this could lead to missing graphics page and orphan models. The user may Reset values for the individual flowsheet - this sets all flows to zero and clears any calculated values for the models. When the user presses the Solve button, the flowsheet will be forced to re-solve. Please also see Action Commands - Reset. The user may Remove any Qualities, size data, lockups, etc, from the flowsheet. This only removes any Quality that has built up in the flowsheet.

Navigating to Unit models or Pipes

The user may navigate to any unit model or pipe in the project by expanding the tree view and then clicking on the required unit or pipe in the Explorer window.

This is shown in the image below (this is for a small project with only a single Graphics page - so that it is easier to view the units)

Creating Equipment or Pipe List

The user may limit the units that are displayed by using the Filter at the bottom of the Explorer Window.

For example, if the user wishes to copy the pipes on a single graphics page, and the pipes all have the naming convention P_nnn, then in the filter window type P_.

The following view is shown:

The user may then copy all of the pipe tags on Graphics Window 05_Flowsheet to another application, such as Excel to form the basis of a report, see Excel Reports .

Models Marked with Red Cross

Missing models will be marked with red cross.

• A Missing Model refers to a SysCAD unit model that's been deleted, but the Graphics still exist.
• This could be a result from the following actions:
  1. A SysCAD unit model/graphics page has been deleted
  2. User closes graphics page without saving
  3. User then saves the project. (Closed graphics page will NOT be saved)
  4. User then closes and opens the project, and reopens the graphics page (that was not saved).
• As a result, the model has been deleted from the database but the graphics file has not been updated, thus causing the mismatch.
• The easiest way to check for missing models is by looking at the Graphics page directly (not from Explorer). If miss model exists, the models would appear grey and there is no access window when you click on them.
• The recommended action for Missing Model with graphics is to delete all the dummy graphics using Graphics - Delete, then re-build the flowsheet.

Missing Graphics

It is possible to get into a situation where "orphan" models without Graphics Representation exist in the SysCAD project.

The missing Graphics could be due to user accidentally closing the Graphics Page, or Graphics Symbol got "corrupted" and has gone missing, thus creating "orphan" models without graphics representation.

1. If the models are valid and must exist, then the graphic symbols should be added back to the project.
   • In the case of missing an entire page: try and located the missing graphic page from previously saved versions, copy back into the project and open it using Open file: "xxxx.scg"
   • In the case of missing single Graphics Symbol:
     • In the empty spaces where the graphics should be, use Graphics-Insert Symbol to add back an appropriate Graphics Symbol. (This is a dummy symbol)
     • Use Graphics - Construct Symbol to attached this dummy symbol to an orphan model. (See also Manipulating_Graphics)
2. If the Orphan models in the project are NOT required, then user can delete these orphan models using the Explorer Window:
   • From the section called Missing Graphics under the graphics tree, open that tree to get a list of all the unit operations in the project without graphics.
     
     
   • If user wish to delete all the orphan models, simply right click on the word Missing Graphics to bring up a popup menu, select the option to Delete all nodes without graphics.
3. Once that is done, save the project, close and reopen Explorer to refresh the explorer list. User should find that the missing graphics is fixed.