Tools¶
A Tool is a panel in the Workbench's Tools tab that creates a Calculated Item. The Glossary defines the terms used on these pages.
The list of Tools¶
The Tools tab starts with the list of Tools, and Formula is first and selected. Choose another Tool in the list to see its form. Each Tool keeps what you typed in it while you use another one.
| Tool | Makes |
|---|---|
| Formula | a Calculated Item from a Formula you write. See Formulas and Calculated Items. |
| Periodic Condition | a Calculated Condition of hours, days, weeks, months, quarters, years and other calendar periods. See Periodic Condition. |
| Composite Condition | a Calculated Condition that combines two Conditions: their union, their intersection, or one minus the other. See Composite Condition. |
| Value Search | a Calculated Condition of when a Signal meets a criterion, such as being above a value. See Value Search. |
| Signal from Condition | a Calculated Signal with one Sample for each Capsule of a Condition. See Signal from Condition. |
To see three of them work together, follow the walkthrough of the run hours per week: Value Search, Periodic Condition and Signal from Condition, in that order.
If you have Read access to the Analysis, the Tools tab isn't shown, as before.
What every Tool has¶
Every Tool is a form that ends the same way:
- Name, the name of the Calculated Item.
- Its own fields, which are the Tool's. A field that takes an Item, such as a Signal, is chosen as a
$variableis in the Formula editor: from the Items in the Details Pane, or by typing in Search Items to find a Stored Signal or a Calculated Item of the Analysis by name. An Item in the Trash is flagged red and still works. - Execute. plintz creates the Calculated Item in the Analysis, adds it to the Details Pane and clears the form, as the Formula editor does.
If the Tool can't create its Item, it shows an error under the form and creates nothing. Formula errors use the message returned by the Formula engine.
A Tool only writes a Formula¶
A Tool creates a Calculated Item by writing a Formula. plintz doesn't save the Tool's form choices or mark the Item as Tool-created. To view or edit the Formula, click ƒ on the Item's row in the Details Pane. Click ⓘ to see it in Item Properties.
Clicking ƒ opens the Formula editor, not the Tool. To create another Item with different choices, use the Tool again. The trend doesn't preview a Tool's result before you click Execute. Each Calculated Item belongs to one Analysis, so it isn't available outside that Analysis.