Using the Steps Tab
The Steps tab displays the switching steps that have been recorded and linked to the event. These steps will continue to be displayed in the event's Steps tab up until you create an Emergency switching sheet for the event. When an Emergency switching sheet is created, the steps will be moved to that sheet.
When this Steps tab is first selected for an event, any steps linked to that event will be pulled from the Miscellaneous Log to this Steps list.
If any crews are listed in the Steps tab's Crews List, then those crews will be automatically filled into those steps' Instructed To field. You can update these assignments later if that is desirable.
Steps can be cut/copied from other sheets and pasted into this Steps list; steps can be cut/copied form this Steps list and pasted into other sheets as well. Steps cannot be cut/copied from one event's Steps list and pasted into another event's Steps list. For pasting of steps to work, the source tool or sheet has to be loaded. To work around this limitation, the steps can be sent to the Miscellaneous Log and then later cut and pasted into a different event's Steps list.
Steps Tab Toolbar and Context Menus
The Steps tab toolbar displays buttons for actions that you can perform. If a button is grayed, then that action is not currently permitted. Some toolbar buttons, such as the Cut and Paste options, are also available through a context menu that is displayed when you right-click a step row. The context menu contains some options that do not appear on the toolbar.
The table in the next section describes all actions that can be performed on the Steps tab with toolbar buttons, keyboard shortcuts, and/or context menu items
Understanding Steps Tab Actions
To perform this action | Do this | Comments |
|---|---|---|
Turn record mode on | Click  | Record mode must be on in order to record operations using the Viewer and Control tool. The status bar displays the recording mode status. |
Turn record mode off | Click  | The status bar displays the recording mode status. |
Mark the selected step as crew ready for instruct. | Click | This button is enabled only when the step state is New or Uninstructed and none of the selected steps have already been marked as Crew Ready. The selected steps also have to be linked to a device. When you click this button, the Crew Ready and Ready Date columns will be populated. |
Instruct the selected steps | Click | When you select this button, the Instructed By and Instructed Date columns are populated. |
Complete the selected steps | Click | Once the action is complete, the status of the step changes to Completed (Switching Sheet Step States on page 11-41). The Completed Date column is also updated with the current date. |
Abort the selected steps | Click | Use this action if a step was never attempted. When you click this button, the status of the step changes to Aborted (Switching Sheet Step States on page 11-41). The Completed Date column is updated with the current date. However, the switching action is not actually performed. |
Mark the selected steps as failed | Click | Use this if a step was attempted but failed. When you click this button, the status of the step changes to Action Failed (Switching Sheet Step States on page 11-41) and the Completed Date column is updated with the current date. However, the action is not actually performed against the real-time data model. |
Clear the Crew Ready status | Click | Use this action to clear the Crew Ready and Ready Date columns. This button is enabled only when the step state is in New or Uninstructed state. |
Uninstruct an instructed step | Click | Use this action to change the state of an instructed step to Uninstructed (see Switching Sheet Step States on page 11-41). If the step has a device and an instruct condition on the device, then the condition will be removed prior to the step transitioning to the Uninstructed state. Steps that are in the Uninstructed state can be instructed again or aborted, failed or completed. Notes: • The uninstruct action is not available for SCADA instructed actions. This option is not available for steps in the SCADA Pending state. • Uninstructed steps may be deleted. |
Focus the Viewer on the objects referenced in the currently selected list of steps | Click | The toolbar button, when used with single step selections, will focus on a single device and set the environment's selected device to the step's associated device. |
Cut steps to the clipboard | Click | Select one or more steps. The selected steps are marked as being cut and are placed on the clipboard. The steps will only be moved after they have been pasted to their new location. Use the Paste option to paste the steps. Alternatively, right-click and select Cut from the context menu or press Control+X. |
Move Steps to the Miscellaneous Log | -- | This action moves Real Time Completed, Aborted, Failed or Instructed steps to the Miscellaneous Log. SCADA Pending steps cannot be moved until they have transitioned to one of the states already stated. Any step in a New or Uninstructed state will not be moved as the Miscellaneous Log only displays Real Time steps that are in a terminal or Instructed state. Any attempt to move an immovable step will result in an error dialog box and the steps will not be moved from the switching sheet's steps list. To move steps to the Miscellaneous Log, select one or more steps and select Move Steps to Misc Log from the right-click context menu. |
Copy steps to the clipboard | Click | You can select one or more steps. The selected steps are copied to the clipboard. Select the Paste option to paste the steps. Alternatively, right-click and choose Copy from the context menu or press Control+C. |
Copy steps as go-back steps | Click | You can select one or more steps. Reverse steps are created for each selected step and copied to the clipboard. Select the Paste option to paste the steps. Alternatively, right-click and choose Copy as Go-Backs from the context menu or press Control+G. |
Paste steps from clipboard | Click | Steps are pasted after the currently selected step. The operation pastes the steps that were placed in the clipboard during the last Cut, Copy, or Copy as Go-Backs operation. Once the steps have been pasted, the Paste button is no longer available and the contents of the clipboard are cleared. Alternatively, right-click and select Paste from the context menu or press Control+V. |
Delete steps | Click | Deletes the selected steps from the plan. This button is disabled if the step has transitioned beyond its initial state (No State). Alternatively, right-click and select Delete from the context menu or press Control+D. |
Show Manual Step Addition Form | Click | Shows the Manual Step Addition pane, which allows you to add steps without using the Control Tool. See Adding Steps Manually on page 11-43. |
Clear the step's Condition Class and Index fields for this step. | Right-click and choose Clear Condition Indexes from the context menu. | The action will only happen for steps that are not in a terminal state. Click this button to remove the condition class and index associated to the step. An error dialog box will be displayed if any of the selected steps' condition handles could not be cleared. |
Insert a blank step | Right-click and choose Insert Blank Step from the context menu. | Inserts a new blank step after the currently selected step. This is useful for adding comment steps. See Adding Comment Steps on page 11-44 for more information. |
Clear Crews | Right-click and choose Clear Crews from the context menu. | Clear the Instructed To fields for the selected steps. This will clear the crew assignments from the selected steps. |
Update Step Control Zone Data | Right-click and choose Update Step Control Zone Data from the context menu. | If a step’s device has been altered and placed into a different control zone, then select this option to update the step’s associated control zone. |
Step Columns
• Step #: Displays the number of the step.
• Operation: Displays the description of the switching action. This field is editable, but only if the step action is a non-operational action. In other words, if the action for this step does not impact the NMS model in any way and is not tied to another NMS tool or feature, then the text can be edited in this column. Edited text will show up with a yellow background color. To reset the value, see Resetting Operation Text on page 11-44.
• Device: Displays the device alias referenced in the step.
• Phases: Displays the phase that was selected for the step. When obtaining a device through a Viewer device selection, all the phases are selected by default.
• Details: Displays information about the outcome of the switching step., such as:
• Deenergize a section of the network.
• Energize a section of the network.
• Make a loop.
• Break a loop.
• Make a parallel. (The feeders involved in the parallel will be listed.)
• Break a parallel. (The feeders involved in the parallel will be listed.)
This information is recorded into the step when the step is initially added to the steps list. You can enter text into this field to replace the text that is automatically inserted.
• Status: Displays the state of the switching sheet step. See Switching Sheet Step States on page 11-41 for information.
• Crew Ready: Displays whether the field crew is ready to be instructed or not.
• Ready Date: Displays the date and time when Crew Ready is populated.
• Executed By: Displays the user ID of the person who completed the step in real-time mode. This field is automatically populated by the system.
• Completed Date: Displays the date the step was completed. If this field is blank when a step is completed, failed, or aborted in real-time mode, then the system populates this field automatically.
• Instructed By: Displays the user ID of the person who instructed the step in real-time mode. This field is automatically populated by the system.
• Instructed To: Displays the IDs of the crews to which the step was instructed. This field is automatically populated if crews are selected in the Crew List at the bottom of the Steps tab when you transition a step to a new state. This field cannot be edited manually. If a crews are listed in the Crews list at the bottom of the Steps tab and none are selected, then all of those crews will be automatically populated into this field when the steps is Instructed or recorded through a Control Tool action. Any steps that get initially populated into the Steps tab will also be automatically populated with the crews lists on this tab’s Crews list.
• Instructed Date: Displays the date and time the step was instructed.
• Address: Displays the address of the device referenced in this step. This field is automatically populated if you record the step by initiating an action within the Viewer.
• Comments: Displays any additional information associated with this step. You can enter free-form text in this field.
Crews List
The Crews List on the event’s Steps tab functions exactly the same as the Crews List on a switching sheet’s Steps tab. See Crews List on page 11-39 for more details.