Echelon OpenLNS Commissioning Tool - Manual (Page 25)

OpenLNS CT User’s Guide 9
be further divided into subsystems for each floor, and each floor divided into subsystems for each
room.
Supernodes
Using OpenLNS CT, you can also use subsystems to create supernodes. A supernode is a subsystem
with its own network variable interface. You can use supernodes to organize groups of devices into
logical units and to hide complex subsystem details, exposing only the most important network
variables. This structure reduces errors and decreases the time required for network engineering and
commissioning. A network variable interface for a supernode may contain any network variable on
any device functional block found within the supernode or in any of its nested subsystems.
Visio Basics
OpenLNS CT is built on the Visio drawing tool to provide a robust technical drawing environment for
network design. An OpenLNS CT drawing consists of one or more drawing files, and each drawing
file contains multiple subsystems that are each displayed on individual Visio pages. The Visio
documentation provides detailed descriptions of Visio commands and capabilities.
Two key Visio concepts are shapes and stencils. Shapes are reusable drawing objects. A shape may
represent a simple drawing object such as a line, arc, circle, or square, or it may represent a complex
drawing object with special behavior such as OpenLNS CT SmartShapes
®
. OpenLNS includes
SmartShapes for subsystems, application devices, functional blocks, network variables, message tags,
connections, routers, and channels.
To simplify finding and reusing shapes, Visio defines a special type of drawing called a stencil. A
shape contained on a stencil is called a master shape. When you drag a master shape from a stencil to
one of your drawing pages, Visio automatically makes a copy of the master shape on your drawing and
leaves the master shape unchanged on the stencil.
You can create custom master shapes and stencils for any set of OpenLNS CT SmartShapes. For
example, OpenLNS CT includes custom master SmartShapes and a custom stencil for SmartServer
devices and functional blocks. You may wish to create your own custom master SmartShapes and
stencils to speed up network design. See Chapter 12, Creating and Using Custom OpenLNS CT
Master SmartShapes, for more information.
To simplify access to your most commonly used stencils and drawing options, Visio defines another
type of drawing called a template. Templates are drawings that may be used as the starting point when
you create a new drawing. OpenLNS CT includes a L
ON W ORKS template that is used automatically
when you create an OpenLNS CT drawing. If you wish, you can create your own custom OpenLNS
CT template and select it as the default template in the OpenLNS CT Design Manager. See New
Network Options in Chapter 3 for more information on selecting the default drawing template.