Show a tank level with a bar
Place a narrow level bar within the tank. This design exercise uses a fixed 50% preview without a PLC connection.
1. Insert the bar
Choose Basic objects → Bar (Balken), place it and double-click. Name it Fuellstand_Tank_01, retain initial value 50 and leave process fields empty.
2. Position it inside the tank
Use horizontal orientation with object rotation 270°, giving bottom-to-top vertical filling. Before rotation, dimensions are 160 × 20 pixels; example position is X=117, Y=266, opacity 100. Adapt the placement and length to your tank and keep its outline clear. The result uses a larger tank than the preceding exercise. Do not also choose vertical orientation: the alternative is a vertical bar without this rotation.
3. Set display and colors
Open Configure bar display. Select Horizontal, output range 0–100, warning threshold 70, fault threshold 90, preview 50 and disable showing value/unit inside the bar. Keep dark background, teal normal, yellow warning and red fault. Thresholds apply to the converted value; 90 takes fault priority. Apply. These are example limits, not recommended real-tank limits or safety monitoring.
4. Set percentage scaling
Open Convert PLC value. Choose linear two-point scaling, raw minimum/maximum 0/100, output minimum/maximum 0/100, unit %, decimals 0 and preview x=50. Preview should show 50%. No formula parameters are needed. Apply. This is a design preview, not a measured tank level.
5. Check and save
Apply the main properties. The bar should sit inside the tank and be half full from the bottom. Save with Ctrl+S, including after later adjustments. The star in the screenshot title marks unsaved changes. Autosave does not confirm open dialog fields.
6. Common questions
Horizontal describes the bar before its 270° rotation. Text is deliberately hidden in the narrow bar; add a separate numeric display. Coordinates depend on your tank dimensions. A changing live level requires a matching process assignment and scaling.
Keyboard shortcuts
Apply or close property dialogs, select objects on the canvas and leave any active text field before using an object shortcut.
- Delete — delete selection
- Deletes selected simple objects without another confirmation. Check the selection first.
- Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y — undo / redo
- Undoes or restores an available object edit. This is not a recovery mechanism for deleted pages or files.
- Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V — copy / paste
- Copies the selection and inserts an offset copy. Check names and process assignments afterward.
- Ctrl+X — cut
- Copies objects to the internal object clipboard and removes them from the page. Paste with Ctrl+V.
- Ctrl+A — select all
- Selects unlocked objects on the current page.
- Arrow keys — move precisely
- Moves the selection one pixel in the chosen direction within the page bounds.
- Shift+Arrow — next grid position
- Moves the selection in the grid direction using the page grid spacing.
- Ctrl+L / Ctrl+Shift+L — lock / unlock
- Locks the selection; Ctrl+Shift+L unlocks all locked objects on the current page.
- Esc — end editor action
- Cancels an action such as placement or clears the current selection.
- Ctrl+S — save project
- Saves applied changes. Save again after deleting, moving or copying.
The fixed global alarm area cannot be deleted or copied. Structural objects with assigned contents can ask an additional question about those contents.