The version 4 release introduces a completely new object type - the Group Object.
The Group Object may consist of all the individual objects and descriptors necessary to produce the total mimic for, let's say, a pump station or a complex piece of machinery. A Group Object for a pump station will contain all objects, alarms, diagrams, graphs, report properties etc. necessary for creating and controlling the pump station in the configuration. A Group Object for a piece of machinery could, for instance, contain a number of both analog and digital objects with animations, which make up the mimic of this machine.
The Group Object can be copied and then pasted within the same configuration. Or it can freely be exported or imported to and from other IGSS configurations. This makes it extremely easy for the user to build up libraries of logically grouped objects that can be reused time and again - this means considerable savings in design and development time.
The Group Object is a continuation of the object-oriented approach in the IGSS system design. When you copy a Group Object from one configuration to another, you don't need to worry about copying everything else such as alarms, report formats, logging properties, object symbols, etc. Everything is taken care of automatically - the only thing you need to do is to concentrate on creating reusable Group Objects.
A Group Object will normally fit together with a specific piece of PLC code that implements the actual control of the process that the Group Object mimics. Building up libraries of Group Objects and PLC code that fit together ensures a greater return of investment in development and design activity.
Group Object properties can easily be altered with the built-in Group Manager. It is very simple to change the node number of an entire pump station or change the data group number of a PID regulator object. Renaming objects contained in the Group Object is also an easy task with the editor: just tell it what renaming rules to use and the work is done almost as soon as you release the mouse button.