Buttons New Folder and New exist in a device’s Point Manager view under any driver network.
New Folder and New are tools on the Point Manager toolbar, and in the Manager menu.
New Folder in the Point Manager adds a special “PointFolder” component that you can use to organize proxy points. This is equivalent to copying that same component from that driver’s palette. A Name dialog lets you name the folder before it is created (Figure 49).
When you click OK, a new PointFolder component is added under Points. Point folders are often useful, especially if you are creating many proxy points, or need extra wire space for additional kitControl or schedule components (and whatever links you wish to create between them).
A devices’s PointFolder component is different than a “normal” Folder component, because it includes that devices’s Point Manager view as its default view (just like the
parent Points component). You can double-click a point folder (either in the Point Manager view pane or in the Nav tree),
to access its Point Manager. Also, an All Descendants command is available from the root Points Manager, which allows you to see all proxy points in that device.
When in the Point Manager of a point folder, it is “unaware” of proxy points in other point folders (or in the root of Points). However, from the root Point Manager view (of Points), you can “flatten” the folder structure to view all proxy points by selecting “All Descendants” from the Manager menu (Figure 50) or simply clicking the “All Descendants” tool on the toolbar (Figure 51). Note that “all descendants” is also available at any point folder (level) as well—you just see all points in descendants from that folder level on down.
Be aware that in a device with many point folders and proxy points, using the all descendants feature (particularly at the
Points root level) may decrease performance. This might result from so many points becoming subscribed.
If you are using point folders, and you click on a table to column to resort points, please be aware that any proxy point-to-point folder organization is lost during that view. However, you can always
see contents of point folders clearly in the Nav tree, and again when returning to the Point Manager view from another view.
New in the Point Manager is to add new proxy points to the station. Typically, you use New only if the driver does not support online discovery, or if you are programming offline. Under any of the Modbus drivers, for example, you use New to add proxy points.
Using New is equivalent to copying proxy points from that driver’s palette, except it provides more utility to specify other parameters. Minimally, the New dialog provides a selection list for proxy point type, and also the number of points to add (Figure 52).
In some driver networks, the New dialog may provide other parameters, such as a starting address range when adding multiple proxy points. When you click OK, the number and type of proxy points you specified are added under Points or a point folder. You need to edit specific properties for each new proxy point (note these are typically properties of its proxy extension).