Contour Type Options

Object

Simulator can contour several different values. To specify what Simulator should contour, first choose the type of display object; the options are Bus, Line, Interface, Area, Generator, Substation, Zone or Injection Group. Once the object is chosen, you must then choose the numerical value to be contoured by specifying it in the Value dropdown box.

If multi-section lines objects exist on the oneline diagram and the type of object to contour is Line, the contour for the multi-section line object will reflect the series of AC lines that it represents. If the type of object to contour is Bus, the locations of intermediate buses will be contoured.

Note: to contour a value for a type of object, representations of that type of object must be present on the oneline diagram. Choosing to contour an object type that is not represented on the diagram will result in no contour being drawn on the diagram.

Value

Select the quantity to contour from the Value dropdown box or click the Find… button to find the desired field (it is normally easier to use the Find button). Note: see Contour Type for more information.

Filter Object Values

The name of the advanced filter that is currently applied to the contour. Click Define to create a new Advanced Filter to use during contouring. Applying a filter means that only objects that meet the filter will affect the contour image. Objects which do not meet the filter will be ignored.

Influence Region

This track bar determines how far away each data point influences the contour image. A larger influence region results in each data point influencing more of the contour at the expense of longer screen refresh times.

Use Dynamic Influence Region

Dynamic influence distance determines how far out the contour should go when determining which buses influence the contour value for a screen point. The actual distance is the minimum of either 1) a common value for all screen points that depends upon user parameters [e.g., the dynamic region points value]), and now 2) the distance that includes the number of buses associated with the dynamic influence field. The primary reason for this option is speed, particularly when zoomed in on dense portions of the display. You should not see much impact on the contour itself.

Kind of Value

This option allows you to choose to contour based on the Actual Value or the Density Value. The Actual Value uses the weighted average of the data for computing the contour. The Actual Value method is most commonly used for contouring in Simulator. On occasion, the Density of Values method does not work as well. One example is contouring generator MW values. If you have four buses in close proximity, each with 100 MW of generation, and compare the contour with a single bus with 400 MW of generation, the contour based on the weighted average will look drastically different, despite the amount of generation being the same in each region. Using the Density Value option will correct the disparity, and the contour around these two different groups of generation would look basically the same.

Use Fade to Value

Checking this check box will allow to use the Fade to Value and Begin Fade Percentage options.

Fade to Value

The value to which a data point's value fades as it moves away from its location.

Begin Fade Percentage

While moving away from a data point, the data point’s value decays towards the "Fade to" Value. The Begin Fade Percentage specifies when the contour starts to fade as a percentage of the largest distance for which this data point influences the contour.

Contour Resolution

This value determines the relative resolution of the contour. Increasing the contour resolution increases the level of detail represented on the map but will lengthen screen refresh times. Reducing the screen refresh time will yield less detail and shorter screen refresh times.

Low Resolution Display when Zooming or Panning

Do Low Resolution Speedup

Check this option to enable drawing contours in low resolution while zooming or panning. Low resolution images are drawn much faster than high resolution images.

Low Resolution Normalized Percent

Set a percentage of resolution between 0.01 (1%) and 1 (100%). A smaller value translates to a lower resolution image.

Time Delay in Seconds before Redrawing at Full Resolution

Set the number of seconds Simulator will pause before returning the contour to full resolution following zooming and panning.

Minimum Resolution in Pixels for Low Resolution Displays

Specify the minimum resolution allowed (in pixels) when Simulator draws the low resolution image.

Use GPU to accelerate contour calculation

As it describes, checking this option will use the GPU processor to perform contour calculations that will accelerate computation time.

Use 32 bit texture format

As it describes, checking this option will use a 32 bit texture format for countours.

When Animating, Only Update Contour if Something Changed

As it describes, checking this option will suppress redrawing the contour during animation unless one or more of the contoured values changes.