Owner's Manual

The System Flow Graph is an independent module that displays a graph of the total theoretical flow (in gallons per minute)
of all programs for all field units in the current system(s) for one day. It can be opened from Sentinel from the Flow menu by
selecting the Composite Flow Graph item or simply clicking the Graph button on the tool bar. Since the System Flow
Graph module runs independently, it can also be started from the Windows Start menu. System Flow Graph can be
launched even when Sentinel is not running. The System Flow Graph is sometimes referred to as the Composite Flow
Graph because it integrates all the graphs of all programs in all units in the current system(s), representing the total flow of
the entire system with a red line at the top of the graph. (If you prefer, a different color scheme can be selected in Options.) If
more than one system has been selected as the Current system in the System Maintenance screen (discussed in Chapter
3), all programs from all units of all current systems are graphed and totaled.
When the System Flow Graph is opened from within the running Sentinel program, the user is prompted to select which day
to graph, as all programs in the current system(s) may not be scheduled to run on any given day. Three choices are
presented, as shown at right, graph today, graph tomorrow, or all programs, regardless of schedules. If the third option is
selected, the resulting total graph is only valid for days on which all programs in the entire system are scheduled to run. If it is
opened from Windows, the graph will default to the third choice and displays all programs.
After choosing which day to graph, units to graph can be selected
by choosing either Select Units To Include or Graph all units in
current system. If the first option is checked, a new window will
open when OK is clicked, where any unit, units or groups of units
can be selected. After making a selection of units, clicking OK on
that window launches the System Flow Graph module, graphing
all programs of the selected units.
When the graph is opened, it initially displays a full day. You can
zoom in to display half a day by clicking the mouse in the left or
right half of the graph. Then clicking the mouse within a one-hour
segment of the graph will zoom in further to display that single hour.
Clicking the mouse on the graph again will cause zooming of the
vertical scale (gallons per minute) only. Click the right mouse button
on the graph to zoom out again. You can also select the time scale
with the options at the bottom of the screen, which has the same
effect as zooming in or out with the mouse. When the time scale is
one hour, you can shift the graph by one hour left or right with the
scroll bar at the bottom of the graph. When the vertical scale is
zoomed in, you can shift the graph up or down with the scroll bar at
the right.
The graph for each program is derived from Run Times, Start
Times, and Repeats entered in the Auto Programming screen
(Chapter 5) and Expected Flow for each station entered in Zone
Data (Chapter 6). Each blue line in the picture to the right
represents the graph of one program, and consists of at least three
line segments. The first segment is a vertical line rising at the start
of the program to the height representing the expected flow for the
station in the first slot. The second segment is a horizontal line from
the top of the first segment to the right for the duration of the first slot run time plus run times
of any contiguous slots with stations of the same expected flow. The last segment is a vertical
line marking the end of the program. Stations with different expected flows will result in more
line segments. Up to twenty program graphs are labeled with the unit code, cluster letter, and
program number, as you can see in the picture. Each program graph is stacked on top of the
one below, so that it’s height represents a running total of the flow of all programs beneath it.
The flow contribution of a single program is only the distance to the next program beneath it.
The red line at the top represents the top program as well as the total of all flows of all
programs in the current system(s). The box in the lower right corner of the window displays
the total usage in gallons for the period displayed. It will automatically recalculate if a different
time scale is selected.
The options menu allows you to print the graph as it is displayed, and to cycle through different color schemes and adjust the
thickness of the lines (focus offset - thicker lines are easier to see but less accurate at lower resolution).
The List by Minute command displays a list of all the data used to generate the flow graph. This includes the total flow in
each station that is running at each minute of the day, the unit, cluster, program running each station, and the total flow of all
stations running at that minute. An example is shown. This list can be printed, but it may require an unwieldy number of
pages if the system is large - hundreds if dozens of controllers run concurrently all day.
Chapter 14 : System Flow Graph
14 - 31
Toro Sentinel Central Software User’s Guide