System Manager GUI Overview

System Requirements

Minimum system requirements for the SDA System Manager are outlined in the following table.

The following figure shows the SDA System Manager main window.

SDA System Manager Window

To verify whether the operating system and plugins meet the minimum configurations, click the System Configuration icon at the bottom right corner of the System Manager window. The yellow System Configuration icon is shown in the following figure.

System Configuration Icon

The following icons identify your current system configuration status:

• Green icon - identifies the applications that are compliant.
• Yellow icon - identifies any applications on your system that are newer than the minimum requirements or that are non-compliant.

The System Manager Window

The System Manager GUI provides a desktop window to launch and operate the SDA application GUIs.

You can access the SDA System Manager applications by selecting SIGNALINGSERVER from the launcher tree. The following figure shows the main window in the SDA System Manager.

SDA System Manager Main Window

The SDA System Manager main window consists of the following:

• Menu bar
• Toolbar
• Alarms panel
• Launcher pane
• Workspace
• Status bar
• Desktop mode
• Common application features

The System Manager is a dual-node system. One node is active and the other is in warm standby.

The Menu Bar

The menu bar of this window contains the  Common application menus: File, Edit, and Help. The following table provides information on the Tools, Launcher, and Settings menus.

The Toolbar

The main window contains a toolbar with icons as shown in the following figure.

Main window toolbar icons

The toolbar icons provide the following functions:

• Beep Audible - When there is a change in the alarm panel, a beep is issued and the alarm count is updated on the alarm panel. Stop and start the beep sound by clicking the Beep Audible icon.

The System Manager Launcher Pane

The Launcher pane is on the left side of the SDA System Manager desktop window. From the Launcher pane, you can launch applications, store user-created folders and shortcuts, and search the applications. See the following figure.

System Manger Launcher pane

Resize the launcher pane by grabbing and dragging the bar between the launcher pane and the workspace. You can hide the launcher pane by clicking the Hide/Show Navigation icon on the toolbar, or by selecting Tools > Hide (Show) Navigation from the menu bar, or by clicking the left arrow icon in the bar between the launcher pane and the workspace. Hiding the launcher pane provides a larger workspace area for your applications.

The Launcher Tree Tab

Click the launcher tree tab in the launcher pane to list all the System Manager applications in a hierarchical style. You can expand or collapse a branch by clicking the icon associated with that branch or double-clicking the name of the branch. Expanding shows the corresponding subfolders, and collapsing hides them. Invoke applications by clicking the application folder, and the application window is displayed in the workspace.

The launcher tree is in a collapsed state at initial login. As shown in the following example (the launcher tree on your system may or may not match this example), you can expand all the folders by selecting Tools > Expand Tree or click the Expand Tree icon or press <Ctrl+Shift+E>. You can expand the signaling server folders by double-clicking the SIGNALINGSERVER folder. See the following figure.

Launcher Tree Tab

The Search Tab

Click the Search tab to locate applications quickly using a search keyword. See the following figure.

Search Tab

The search tab displays the following:

• Search - enter a search string and press <RETURN> or click Search.

• Filter Options panel - the Filter Options panel displays the following:
  • Consider Case
  • Whole Word
  • Starts With

If no filters are applied, the default search results in a sub-string match with no case consideration. All matching applications are displayed in this panel in a hierarchical style and can be launched by clicking the application.

 

The User Favorites Tab

Click the User Favorites tab to create new folders, rename them, and delete them. Each subfolder has an associated user area where you can create shortcuts for launching applications. Creating sub folders makes it easier to group the shortcuts logically under different folders. See the following figure.

User Favorites Tab

You can perform the following procedures in the User Favorites tab:

• Create a folder
• Rename a folder
• Delete a folder
• Create a shortcut
• Delete a shortcut

The System Manager Workspace

The System Manager workspace is on the right side of the System Manager desktop window. Clicking an application in the launcher tree displays the application GUI in the workspace.

Resize the workspace area by dragging the bar provided between the launcher pane and workspace.

Set the workspace background color with the color selector (right-click in the workspace and select Set Background from the pop-up menu). The workspace default background color depends on the client machine’s desktop color settings.

You can cascade application windows within the workspace if multiple application windows are open.

The System Manager Status Bar

The SDA System Manager desktop window contains a status display for the following items:

• Ribbon Logo - click the Ribbon logo to view the release information.
  
  

• Status message area - displays passive acknowledgement when you invoke applications and save the user preferences.

• Progress bar - displays when you launch an application.
  
  
• System Configuration icon - the system configuration icon allows you to check your system configuration status while you are logged in to the System Manager desktop. Double-click the icon to launch the Minimum Configuration Requirements window. For more information, see Browser and Java Plug-in Requirements.
  
  
• Background process icon - the background process icon is displayed at the bottom right corner of the desktop window, next to the System Manager System Configuration icon. The icon indicates the status of any background processes; for example, when the database update is critical.
  
  
  • When the icon is enabled, there is a background process running. Click the icon to display a dialog box indicating the status of the background process. A tool tip on the icon indicates the process names that are running in the background.
    
    
  • The status is not updated automatically. Click the icon to see the updated status of the background process.
    
    
• About System Manager Desktop - click the icon to display the Release Information window.
  
  
• System Manager clock - the clock provides the current time of the System Manager and not that of the client machine. The day and date are shown as a tooltip for the clock. If the System Manager time is changed, it is updated in the GUI Desktop.

Alarms Panel

Please refer to the Ribbon DSC Alarms Guide for information on SDA alarms that are generated on specific events. All alarms are visible in the WebUI. Refer to the Web UI and Menu UI Guide for more information.

Warnings

When you click on an application, the application attempts to connect to the System Manager for a period of 60 seconds. If it cannot connect within 60 seconds, a problem dialog box is displayed. If the application loses communication with the System Manager, you are notified through a problem dialog box. You can access the functions of the processor only when the System Manager is active.

System Manager Desktop Mode

The SDA System Manager desktop mode has two options:

• Normal - in the normal mode, at least 30 percent of the workspace is visible. The desktop is in normal mode upon initial login. You can launch an application through the launcher tree, the user shortcuts, or the desktop menu bar from the appropriate menu item.
  
  
• Reduced - in reduced mode, less than 30 percent of the workspace is visible. In this mode, the menu bar, toolbar, and status bar are visible; the launcher pane and workspace are not visible. Launch an application through the menu bar from the appropriate menu item. Launched applications are in dock-off state in reduced mode.

When the System Manager is in normal mode, applications are launched in dock-on state. When the System Manager is in reduced mode, applications are launched in dock-off state.

When applications are in a dock-on state and more than one window is displayed at the same time, it may be necessary to close the window using the close icon in the upper right corner of the window.

If the application window is minimized, the corresponding window icon is placed on the desktop. If the application window icon is maximized, the corresponding window is shown on the desktop when the application window is in dock-on mode.

Common Application GUI Elements

Throughout the SDA System Manager GUI applications there are some menus and buttons which have similar functions. Rather than repeat this type of information in each application, it is defined in this section.

• Common application menus
• Common application icons
• Common application buttons
• About tables
• Print

Common Application Menus

The following table lists the SDA System Manager application GUIs with common menu functions:

SDA System Manager Common Application Menus

Menu	Option	Function	Shortcut	Mnemonic keys
File				<ALT+F>
	Page Setup	Set paper size and orientation.		<S>
	Print	Select number of copies, whether to print to a printer or a file, set banner page title, or enter print command options.	<CTRL+P>
	Close	Close the application window.		<C>
Edit				<ALT+E>
	Copy	Copy the contents.	<CTRL+C>	<C>
	Paste	Paste the contents.	<CTRL+V>	<P>
Dock				<ALT+D>
	Off	Move application screen out of the browser window to your desktop.	<CTRL+O>
Help				<ALT+H>
	On application name	Context-sensitive help information.	F1
	About application name	Application release version.		<A>
	About Ribbon	System Manager release version.	<CTRL+F1>

Some menu options have underlined characters. Press the <ALT> key plus the underlined character to display a menu.

With the exception of the System Status Report window, other report windows have the same menu. The following table lists common menu options:

Common Report window options

Menu	Option	Function	Shortcut
Options	Forward	Moves forward in the report.	<CTRL+F>
	Backward	Moves backward in the report.	<CTRL+B>
	Print Report	Prints the report.	<CTRL+R>

Common Application Icons and Buttons

Some of the SDA System Manager application GUIs have common icons. The following table lists the common icons:

Common Application GUI Icons

Icon	Name	Function
	Next Forward	Display next page. Move forward in a report.
	Previous Backward	Display previous page. Move backward in a report.
	Print Report	Print a report.
	Report	Generate a report.

The following table lists common SDA System Manger application GUI buttons:

Print Function

Select the print command from the file menu to display the Print window. You can print information to a printer or a file. See the following figure.

Print Window

 

Folders and Shortcuts in the Launcher Pane

Folders and shortcuts are created in the Launcher pane of the SDA System Manager GUI.

You can perform the following tasks in the Launcher Pane:

• Create a folder
• Rename a folder
• Delete a folder
• Create a shortcut
• Delete a shortcut

To create a folder

1. Right-click the User Favorites tab.
   A pop-up menu is displayed with the Create Folder menu item.
   
   
2. Select Create Folder.
   An Input dialog box is displayed.
   
   
3. Enter the folder name.
   
   

4. Click OK.

   The new folder is created.

   It is possible to create a maximum of 10 folders, excluding the default system folder. When the maximum is reached, a warning dialog box is displayed.

To rename a folder

1. Right-click the User Favorites tab.
   
   
2. Right-click the selected subfolder.
   
   A menu is displayed with the Rename and Delete Folder menu items.
   
   
3. Select Rename.
   
   A Rename Folder dialog box is displayed.
   
   
4. Enter the folder name.
   
   
5. Click OK.
   
   The folder is renamed.

To delete a folder

1. Right-click the User Favorites tab.
   
   
2. Right-click the selected subfolder.
   
   A menu is displayed with the Rename and Delete Folder menu items.
   
   
3. Select Delete Folder.
   
   A confirmation dialog box is displayed.
   
   
4. Click Yes.

To create a shortcut

1. Click the User Favorites tab.
   
   
2. Right-click in the User Shortcut panel.
   
   A pop-up menu is displayed with available applications.
   
   

3. Select an application.
   
   

   You can create a maximum of 40 shortcuts. If the maximum is reached, a warning dialog box is displayed.

To delete a shortcut

Follow this procedure to delete application shortcuts from any subfolder available in the User Favorites tab.

1. Click the User Favorites tab.
   
   
2. Right-click the selected application shortcut.
   
   A menu is displayed.
   
   
3. Select Delete.
   
   A confirmation dialog box is displayed.
   
   
4. Click Yes.