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Using and Editing HMI Page Templates

You can create new HMI pages (HMI page instances) in your project by using page templates. Page templates are pre-designed pages that you can use as the basis for new HMI pages. PLCnext Engineer provides page templates which are available by default when you create a new project (such as the 'Blank Page', 'Login' page, etc.) and user-defined page templates. The page templates available for the project by default are managed in the 'Default > Page Templates' folder under the 'HMI' category in the COMPONENTS area. The user-defined page templates are contained in the 'Local > Page Templates' folder under the HMI category.

The page templates available in your project can also be set as background pages for existing HMI pages. The selected background page then appears behind the HMI page. Background pages allow you to create a common page with, for example, a background image, a navigation toolbar, etc. and then use it as a background for all of your HMI pages in the application.

Note
The 'Login' page template refers to the login page that will be automatically displayed for the user to input the user name and password if the HMI application is locked for unauthorized users (security for HMI enabled). The login page contains the default login form including the user name and password fields. By default, the dynamics and access rights are set accordingly. You can adapt the page to your needs (for example, add a company logo, change the color settings, etc.).
See the "Security for HMI" topic for further details.

Creating a new HMI page from a page template

Select 'Create HMI Page' from the context menu of a page template under the 'HMI' category. Alternatively, drag the template from the 'Default > Page Templates' or 'Local > Page Templates' folder and drop it on the 'Application' subnode under the 'HMI Webserver' node in the PLANT.

Creating a new HMI page template from an existing page

Right-click the page in the PLANT and select 'Create HMI Template Page' from the context menu. The new template is added to the list of page templates in the 'Local > Page Templates' folder under the 'HMI' category.

Editing HMI page templates

HMI page templates can be edited in the same way as HMI page instances added to the PLANT.

Note
Any modifications made to an HMI page template are also made to all page instances which use the page template as background page (see below).

Proceed as follows:

  1. Navigate to the page template under the 'HMI' category in the COMPONENTS area and double-click the template. This opens the HMI editor group with the associated editors. (The editor group has a blue bar at the top indicating it has been opened from the COMPONENTS area.)
  2. Edit the content, page parameters, and tags as necessary. Close the HMI editor when you have finished editing the page template.

Using a page template as background page for an existing page

When a page template is used as background page for an HMI page, the HMI page inherits the following from the page template:

  • Page properties such as dimensions (width, height), background color (fill), background image, etc.
  • Objects. The objects are made the bottom-most objects on the HMI page.
  • Page parameters. The parameters are added to the list of page parameters for the HMI page instance. Inherited page parameters cannot be deleted.

Note
Any modifications made to a page template are reflected in any page which uses the template as background page.

Proceed as follows:

  1. Double click the HMI page in the PLANT to open it.
  2. Left-click anywhere in the HMI page to show the HMI page properties. If the properties window is not shown, open it by double-clicking anywhere in the page or right-clicking in the page and selecting 'Show/Hide Settings' from the context menu.
  3. Select the page template to be used as background page from the 'Background page template' list box. (The list box provides all page templates available in your project.)

Note
If you delete the page template assigned to a page, an error is reported in the Error List (MESSAGES window). To remove the error, select '(none)' from the 'Background page template' list box in the page's properties or assign another page template.