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'Physical Topology' Editor (Project)

The following information refers to a specific, typical device type. Your screen may differ.

This help topic describes the 'Physical Topology' editor of the 'Project' PLANT node. 'Physical Topology' is an editor for scanning the connected network and visualizing the network topology of the detected devices. This topic only describes the functions provided in the editor toolbar.

Click here to show the toolbar description

Toolbar button	Description
	Starts a single scan (see below how turn on cyclic scan mode). The network is scanned according to the scan options configured in the project's 'Settings' editor. After completion of the scan, the devices and connections discovered in the connected network are shown in the 'Physical Topology' editor. The button is only active, if the enabled scan options are properly configured. Further Info For detailed information see the topic "Scanning the network and adding devices/connections to the project".
	Stops a single scan. The button is only active while a single scan is in progress.
	Turns the cyclic scan mode on or off. With activated cyclic scan mode (button appears pressed), iCube Engineer automatically scans the network with the time interval entered for the 'Interval' parameter under the 'Scan details' category in the project's 'Settings' editor. To stop the cyclic scan mode, press the button again.
'Scan sources'	Opens the 'Scan sources' category in the 'Settings' editor. The 'Scan sources' category contains the configurable scan options. According to the scan options, the network is scanned when pressing the button on the toolbar (see above) or using the cyclic scan mode (see below).
	Re-arranges the devices and connections in the network topology view according to an internal algorithm. The existing positions of the devices are ignored.
	Adds the selected the device(s) as non-engineering devices and connection(s) in the network topology to the iCube Engineer project. Further Info For detailed information see the topic "Scanning the network and adding devices/connections to the project".
	Enables/disables the auto placement of devices in the network topology view. Auto placement is enabled by default (button appears pressed). When the button appears pressed (highlighted), new devices discovered by a network scan and online devices manually added to the project are placed automatically in the view. The editor tries to keep the position of devices that were discovered by a previous network scan. When the button is disabled (appears not pressed), all devices in the view keep their position. New devices discovered by a network scan and online devices manually added to the project are placed at the top left of the view (possibly placed above each other). You can manually move a device to a different location on the view by clicking it and dragging it to the desired position. When dragging the device, the connections between the devices are automatically routed.
	Launches the web-based management (WBM) for each device selected in the topology view in your default web browser. For each device selected in the view, the WBM is opened in a separate browser window or tab. The web-based management, if supported by a device, can be used to manage and configure the device using a standard web browser.
Drop-down list for view selection	Allows the selection of the topology representation. Depending on the selected view, the network objects, connections, and ports are shown by specific symbols and colors. Refer to the topic "Topology Representations" for details.
Drop-down list for layout selection	Allows to switch the topology view between isometric layout and tree layout. Refer to the topic "Physical Topology Operation", section "Switch the topology layout".
	Devices that do not have any connections to other network devices are shown in the 'Unconnected devices' subeditor. Unconnected means, no physical connection to other network devices could be found in your network. Unconnected devices are represented by the same symbols than the devices in the 'Physical Topology' editor. The devices are placed automatically in the subeditor and cannot be moved inside the editor. With drag and drop, you can move unconnected devices between the 'Unconnected devices' subeditor and the 'Physical Topology' editor. Just press the <Shift> key as you drag the device between the two editors.
	Opens the 'Online info snapshots' subeditor. The subeditor shows the snapshot groups and snapshots captured for the network devices selected in the 'Network Topology' editor. A snapshot contains the actual online parameter values of one or several network devices that the parameters have when the snapshot was created. Further Info For detailed information see the topic "Generating Snapshots of Online Device Parameter Values".
	Displays the network devices with individual device icons (toolbar button appears pressed) stored in the device description file of the device (e.g., FDCML, GSDML, etc.). Standard topology icons are shown when the button is unpressed.
	Opens the search/replace bar which allows you to search and replace text in the 'Physical Topology' editor. Pressing <Ctrl>+<F> opens the bar with the 'Find what' field focused and <Ctrl>+<H> opens the bar with the 'Replace' field focused.