Using the Online Help

Canvas > Using Canvas > Using the Backstage View > Using the Online Help

Using the Canvas Help

This topic provides information about how best to use the Canvas Help, including various tips and tricks to help you better find the information you need.

The Canvas Help describes how to configure and use the Canvas application.

To quickly review the topics in the Canvas Help, click the Help Topics heading below.
To learn how to get the most from help usability features, click the Help Features heading below.
To expand all drop-down text, click (Show drop-down text) at the top of the online help window.

Launching the Canvas Help

The Canvas Help files are available online as part of the larger CygNet Help, which can be accessed in the following ways:

Canvas Toolbar — Click (Launch help (F1)) to open the CygNet Help in a browser window
F1 — Press the F1 key at any time while using Canvas to open the CygNet Help in a browser window
Backstage View — Go to Help > click (Launch Help) to open the CygNet Help in a browser window

Find the Canvas section in the Contents pane on the left.

Help Topics

The Canvas Help is organized around the tasks you perform with the software, rather than the interface itself.

Help topics are organized as follows:

Canvas Overview — Introduces the Canvas application and provides an overview to the features and functionality of Canvas
Using Canvas — Describes how to use the application to create and edit customized user screens for controlling, monitoring, and displaying information based on the data and devices in your CygNet SCADA system.
Using Canvas View and Canvas View Lite —
Using Canvas Controls, and Objects — Describes the Canvas objects that can be used to view CygNet information, as well as to control actions. Each object can be configured by using the Properties pane and via script.
Using Relative Facilities — Describes how to use relative facilities in Canvas, concepts, examples, design considerations, configuration, and scripting
Viewing Alarms in Canvas — Describes how alarms are displayed in Canvas and use and configuration of the Alarm Notifier.
Scripting in Canvas — Describes some of the scripting capabilities of Canvas

Help Features

The online help includes several time-saving features, as described below:

Feature	Description
Help buttons	To get the most out of help, use these buttons, located at the top of the Help frame. From left to right, they are: Print — Click to print the current topic. Show drop-down text / Hide drop-down text — Double-click the icon to toggle between expanding and collapsing all drop-down text in a topic. Remove highlights — Click to remove highlights from text after performing a search. Previous topic — Click to view the previous topic in the online help. Next topic — Click to view the next topic in the online help. To go back to the last or next topic that you viewed, use your browser's Back and Forward buttons.
Drop-down text	If a heading has a (red arrow) to its left, you can click the heading to reveal information. When a topic is first displayed, only the drop-down’s heading and red arrow next to it are visible. To expand an individual drop-down, click the heading or the red arrow to its left. To collapse an expanded drop-down, click the heading or arrow a second time. To expand all drop-downs in a topic, click the (Show drop-down text0 button in the title bar at the top of the topic. To collapse all expanded drop-downs in a topic, click again on the (Hide drop-down text) button.
Home button	To return to the Welcome page, click the CygNet logo in the upper left corner.
Search features	To find information in the online help, enter a search term in the bar on the top right side of the help page. Search results include topic descriptions to help you quickly find the best match. To find a definition, enter text in the Search bar at the top of the Glossary tab.
Related topic suggestions	Looking for other topics that are related to the current one? Click Related Topics at the bottom of the page you are viewing, and then click on one of the topic names that is displayed.

In-Application Assistance

Canvas provides some in-application user assistance to help as you build screens.

Control Properties — Click next to any property name in the Properties pane to see a short description for the selected property.
Control Events — Click next to any event name in the Events pane to see a short description for the selected event.
Scripting — Microsoft's Intellisense code completion tool is built into Canvas. See Accessing Screen Objects