DIgSILENT

PowerFactory 2019

Monitoring Systems
Master Station User Manual

I N T EG R AT E D P O W E R S Y S T EM A N A LY S I S S O F T WA R E F O R
T R A N S M I S S I O N / D I S T R I BU T I O N / I N D U S T RY / G EN E R AT I O N / I N T EG R AT I O N O F R EN E WA B L E S
DIgSILENT PowerFactory
Version 2019

Monitoring Systems

Master Station User Manual

Online Edition

DIgSILENT GmbH

Gomaringen, Germany

December 2018
 Publisher:
DIgSILENT GmbH
Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 9
72810 Gomaringen / Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 7072-9168-0
Fax: +49 (0) 7072-9168-88

Please visit our homepage at:

https://www.digsilent.de

Copyright DIgSILENT GmbH

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form without written
permission of the publisher.

December 2018
r5126
Contents

I General Information 1

1 About this Guide 3

1.1 Contents of the User Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2 Used Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Contact 5

2.1 Direct Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.2 General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

II PowerFactoryAdministration 7

3 Program Administration 9

3.1 Program Installation and Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.2 PowerFactory Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2.1 General Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2.2 Database Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2.3 External Applications Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2.4 Network Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2.5 Advanced Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.3 Licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.3.1 Select Licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.3.2 Activate / Update / Deactivate / Move Licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 User Accounts and Groups 13

4.1 PowerFactory Database Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.2 The Database Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual i

CONTENTS

4.3 Creating and Managing User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.4 Creating User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

5 User Settings 17

5.1 Data Manager Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5.2 Output Window Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

5.3 Miscellaneous Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

III PowerFactoryMaster Station Profile 19

6 PowerFactory Overview - Master Station Profile 21

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.2 PFM Project Structure requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.3 Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.3.1 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6.3.2 Plots Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

6.3.3 Analysis Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

6.4 Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

6.4.1 Main Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

7 Plots Handling 27

7.1 Open Plot Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

7.2 Create new Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

7.3 Plot Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

8 Virtual Instruments 39

8.0.1 Virtual Instrument Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

8.0.2 Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

8.0.3 Calculated Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

8.0.4 Tools for Virtual Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

8.0.5 User-Defined Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

9 Analysis Functions 71

9.1 Histogram Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

ii DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 CONTENTS

10 Power Quality 73

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

10.1.1 Conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

10.1.2 Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

10.2 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

10.2.1 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

10.2.2 Launching the Power Quality Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

10.2.3 Generating a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

10.3 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

10.3.1 Power Quality Analysis according to DIN EN 50160 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

10.3.2 Implementation by the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module . . . . . . . . . 78

10.4 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

10.4.1 The menu bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

10.4.2 The configuration area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

10.4.3 The report preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

10.4.4 The button bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

10.4.5 The Inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

10.5 Advanced topics and customisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

10.5.1 Running in standalone mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

10.5.2 Customising the appearance of the printed report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

10.5.3 Adding configuration templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

11 ComTrade Files 95

11.1 ComTrade Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

11.1.1 Automatic Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

11.1.2 Manual Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

12 Project Settings 97

12.1 Power Factory Monitoring settings page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

12.1.1 General settings page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

12.1.2 Sync-Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

12.1.3 Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

13 Data Manager 99

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual iii

CONTENTS

13.1 Using the Data Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

13.1.1 Navigating the Database Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

13.2 Editing Data Objects in the Data Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

13.2.1 Editing in Object Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

13.2.2 Editing in “Detail” Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

13.2.3 Copy and Paste while Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

13.3 The Flexible Data Page Tab in the Data Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

IV Master Station Tools 103

14 Installation 105

14.1 Installing EventViewer and SyncService . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

15 Sync Service 107

15.1 Sync Service configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

15.1.1 SyncService Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

15.1.2 Station Data Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

15.1.3 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

16 EventViewer 113

16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

16.2 Main Status Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

16.2.1 Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

16.2.2 Status Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

16.2.3 Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

16.3 Event Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

16.3.1 Event Tables - General Viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

16.3.2 Event Window Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

16.3.3 Special Features and Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Bibliography 129

iv DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 Part I

General Information
Chapter 1

About this Guide

This User Manual is intended to be a reference for users of the DIgSILENT PowerFactory Masterstation
as well as the Masterstation Tools that are needed. This chapter provides general information about the
contents and the used conventions of this documentation.

1.1 Contents of the User Manual

The User Manual is divided in four parts. The first section of the User Manual provides General
Information, including an overview of PowerFactory Masterstation, a description of the basic program
settings and contact for technical support.

The second sections describes PowerFactory administration and handling. This includes Software
Installation, User Accounts and Groups and User Settings.

The third section PowerFactory Master Station Profile contains main handling information of Master Sta-
tion including Virtual Instruments, Analysis Functions, Flickermeter, ComTrade Files, Project Settings
and Data Manager.

Part four consists of Master Station Tools which are being used. This includes EventViewer and
SyncService. These are general tools necessary for collecting and evaluating data.

1.2 Used Conventions

Conventions to describe user actions are as follows:

Buttons and Keys Dialog buttons and keyboard keys are referred to with bold and underline text
formatting. For example, press the OK button in the PowerFactory dialog, or press CTRL+B on
the keyboard.
Menus and Icons Menus and icons are usually referenced using Italics. For example, press the User
Settings icon , or select Tools → User Settings. . .
Other Items “Speech marks” are used to indicate data to be entered by the user, and also to refer to
an item defined by the author. For example, consider a parameter “x”.

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual 3

CHAPTER 1. ABOUT THIS GUIDE

4 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

Chapter 2

Contact

For further information about the company DIgSILENT, our products and services please visit our web
site, or contact us at:

DIgSILENT GmbH

Heinrich-Hertz-Str. 9

72810 Gomaringen / Germany

www.digsilent.de

2.1 Direct Technical Support

DIgSILENT experts offer direct assistance to PowerFactory users with valid maintenance agreements
via telephone or online via support queries raised on the customer portal.

To register for the on-line portal, select Help → Register. . . or go to directly to the registration page (link
below). Log-in details will be provided by email shortly thereafter.

To log-in to the portal, enter the email (or Login) and Password provided. When raising a new support
query, please include the PowerFactory version and build number in your submission, which can be
found by selecting Help → About PowerFactory . . . from the main menu. Note that including relevant
*.dz or *.pfd file(s) may assist with our investigation into your query. The customer portal is shown in
Figure 2.1.1.

Phone: +49-(0)7072-9168-50 (German)

+49-(0)7072-9168-51 (English)
Portal log-in and Registration: https://www.digsilent.de/index.php/support.html

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual 5

CHAPTER 2. CONTACT

Figure 2.1.1: DIgSILENT customer portal

2.2 General Information

For general information about DIgSILENT or your PowerFactory licence, please contact us via:

Phone: +49-(0)7072-9168-0
Fax: +49-(0)7072-9168-88

E-mail: [email protected]

6 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 Part II

PowerFactoryAdministration
Chapter 3

Program Administration

This chapter provides information on how to configure PowerFactory, and how to log on. More de-
tailed descriptions of the installation, database settings and additional information can be found in the
Advanced Installation and Configuration Manual.

3.1 Program Installation and Configuration

In general there are 3 primary questions to consider before installing PowerFactory software, which will
determine the installation settings:

• Licence: where should the licence key(s) reside?

• Installation: where should PowerFactory be installed?
• Database: where should the database reside?

Once PowerFactory has been installed, it can be started by clicking either on the Desktop or by selecting
PowerFactory in the Windows Start menu. PowerFactory will then start and create a user account upon
the initial user log-in. If the user is working in a single-user-database environment, PowerFactory will
take the username from Windows by default. In the case that several user accounts have been created,
a log-on dialog will pop up allowing the user to select their username. The user will be asked to enter a
password if one has been defined for that particular account.

In a multi-user-database installation (see Chapter 4: User Accounts and Groups) new accounts and
passwords are created by the administrator. The ’Administrator’ account is created when installing
PowerFactory and is used to create and manage users’ accounts in a multi-user environment. To log on
as Administrator, the shortcut from the Windows Start Menu can be used. By default the administrator
account password is Administrator. When already running a PowerFactory session, the user can select
Tools → Switch User in the main menu to log-on as Administrator.

For further information about the roll of the database administrator refer to section 4.2: The Database
Administrator.

Changes to the default installation settings can be made using the PowerFactory Configuration dialog.
Once PowerFactory is started, the Configuration dialog can be accessed via Tools → Configuration
in PowerFactory ’s main menu. The Database tab of the Configuration dialog provides options to
determine how the program installation should be configured. Administrator rights are necessary to
perform changes to these settings.

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual 9

CHAPTER 3. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

3.2 PowerFactory Configuration

The PowerFactory Configuration (SetConfig) dialog is used to apply changes to the configuration
settings. Windows Administration rights are required. All the pages of the PowerFactory Configuration
command are described in the following subsections.

3.2.1 General Page

On this page the user can select the application language for the session.

3.2.2 Database Page

This page allows the selection of how the database will be used. The options are:

• A single-user database which resides locally on each computer

• A multi-user database which resides on a remote server. Here all users have access to the same
data simultaneously. In this case, user accounts are created and administrated exclusively by the
Administrator.

DIgSILENT PowerFactory provides drivers for the following multi-user database systems:

• Oracle

• Microsoft SQL Server

For further information regarding the database configuration refer to the Advanced Installation and
Configuration Manual.

3.2.3 External Applications Page

The External Applications page is used to configure the external programs.

PDF Viewer

Here the User can select which program should be used to open “.pdf” files. The are three options to
set the PDF viewer:
• system viewer: uses the system’s default editor for pdf files (*.pdf). This is the default option.

• Sumatra PDF: uses “Sumatra PDF” which is included in the PowerFactory installation.
• custom: here the user can customise which viewer should be used to open Python files.

3.2.4 Network Page

The Network page is used to specify an HTTP proxy in the case the user’s computer connects to the
internet via a proxy server. Format: host:port , e.g.: “myproxy:1234”

3.2.5 Advanced Page

Settings on the Advanced page should only be changed under the guidance of the DIgSILENT Power-
Factory support (see Chapter 2 Contact).

10 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 3.3. LICENCE

3.3 Licence

3.3.1 Select Licence

In order to run PowerFactory, the user is required to define licence settings in the DIgSILENT Power-
Factory Licence Manager, its dialog can be accessed via Tools → Licence→ Select Licence. . .

Note: The DIgSILENT PowerFactory Licence Manager can be started externally using the correspond-
ing shortcut in the main installation folder of PowerFactory or in the Windows start menu.

The Licence Access defines the type of licence, which can be a local licence (either a licence file or a
USB dongle) or a network licence.

Automatic search

This option searches automatically local and network licences via a broadcast and chooses the first one
found without further input.

Local Softkey / USB dongle

If local softkey / USB dongle is chosen, the Local Licence Settings require the selection of a Licence
Container. The locally found containers are available in the drop-down-list.

Network licence

If network licence is chosen, the server name has to be selected from the drop-down-list or entered
manually in the Network Licence Settings. Pressing will refresh the list of available licence servers
in the network. For the specified server the Licence container can be chosen from a drop-down-list or
entered manually.

Selected Licence:

The field on the right side of the dialog shows various information about the selected licence. It contains,
amongst others, the order ID (useful for any contact with the sales department), the customer ID (useful
for contact with technical support), the number of possible users for a multi user environment and a list
of the licensed additional modules.

If problems with the licence occur, the button Create Licence Support Package creates a zipped file with
the needed information for the support to identify the cause of the problems.

3.3.2 Activate / Update / Deactivate / Move Licence

These options are relevant for local licences, where the user has to manage the licence. In a network
licence environment, this is done by the network administrator.

For the activation, the update and the deactivation process the licence related Activation Key has to be
entered into the upcoming dialog.

A PowerFactory software licence softkey can be moved between computers a limited number of times
per year. The licence move is a two-stage process:

1. An activated licence needs to be transferred back to the DIgSILENT server via the Deactivate
Licence feature of the Licence Manager.
2. The deactivated licence can be activated again on any computer.

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual 11

CHAPTER 3. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

More information regarding licence types and their management is available in the Advanced Installation
and Configuration Manual.

12 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

Chapter 4

User Accounts and Groups

Key objectives of the user account managing system are to:

• Protect the ’system’ parts of the database from changes by normal (non-Administrator) users.

• Protect parts of the databases belonging to user “A” from changes by user “B”.
• Facilitate sharing of user data.

The user account managing system provides each user with their own “private” database space. The
user is nevertheless able to use shared data, either from the common system database or from other
users, and may enable other users to use data from their private database.

The user account managing system manages this whilst using only one single database in the back-
ground, which allows for simple backup and management of the overall database.

The default name for a PowerFactory user is the Windows user name, which is automatically created
when PowerFactory is started for the first time.

4.1 PowerFactory Database Overview

A brief introduction to the top level structure of the PowerFactory database is convenient before pre-
senting the user accounts and their functionality.

The data in PowerFactory is stored inside a set of hierarchical directories. The top level structure is
constituted by the following folders:

• Configuration: contains company specific customising for user groups, user default settings,
project templates and class templates for objects. Configuration folder is read only for normal
users.
• Library: contains all standard types and models provided with PowerFactory. The main library
folder is read only for normal users.
• System: contains all objects that are used internally by PowerFactory. The system folder is read
only for all normal users. Changes are only permitted when logged on as the Administrator, and
should be conducted under the guidance of DIgSILENT customer support.

• User account: contains user project folders and associated objects and settings.

The structure described above is illustrated in Figure 4.1.1

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual 13

CHAPTER 4. USER ACCOUNTS AND GROUPS

Figure 4.1.1: Basic database structure

4.2 The Database Administrator

A database administrator account is created with the PowerFactory installation. The main functions of
the administrator are:

• Creation and management of user accounts.

• System database maintenance under the guidance of the DIgSILENT customer support.

Under a multiuser database environment, the administrator is the only user with permissions to:

• Add and delete users.

• Define users groups.
• Set individual user rights.

• Restrict or allow calculation functions.

• Set/reset user passwords.
• Create and edit Profiles (see Section 4.4 for details).

The administrator is also the only user that can modify the main library and the system folders. Although
the administrator has access to all the projects of all the users, it does not have the right to perform any
calculation.

To log on as administrator, there are two options:

• Select the Shortcut in the Windows Start Menu PowerFactory (Administrator).
• Log into PowerFactory as a normal User and select via the Main menu Tools → Switch User. Se-
lect Administrator and enter the corresponding password. By default the administrator password
is Administrator.
For further information about the administrator roll, refer to the Advanced Installation and Configuration
Manual.

4.3 Creating and Managing User Accounts

In the case of an installation with a local database, the default name for a PowerFactory user is the
Windows user name, which is automatically created when PowerFactory is started for the first time.

14 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 4.3. CREATING AND MANAGING USER ACCOUNTS

(see chapter 3: Program Administration). In this case the program will automatically create and activate
the new account, without administrator intervention. In order to create other PowerFactory users if
required, the ’User Manager’ object can be used as described below:

In multi-user database installations, the administrator creates new user accounts by means of a tool
called the ’User Manager’, which is found in the Configuration folder.

To create a new user:

• Log on as Administrator. You can do so by starting the PowerFactory Administrator shortcut in the
Windows Start menu or by switching the user via Tools → Switch User in the main tool bar.
• In the left pane of the Data Manager click on Configuration folder to display its contents.
• Double click on the User Manager icon ( , right pane) and press the Add User. . . button.

The User edit dialog will be displayed. The settings are the following:

• General page
– User Name: user Name that will be used for login to PowerFactory at startup
– Full Name: full Name of the appropriate user. In case, that the parameter User Name is set
to be an abbreviation.
– Change Password: the Administrator can change the user password here, without knowing
the previous password. If this button is clicked by the user itself, the current password has to
be entered as well.
– Publishing user: by setting this flag, the user can be defined to be a publishing user. This
means, that the user is visible to other users within the database and marked with a different
symbol within the data manager. This option can be used to provide an user within the
multiuser database, who publishes projects.
– User account enabled: this setting can be used to enable/disable the user Account
– User account is time-limited: this option will set the account to be time limited and therefore
can be used for temporary users within the database.
– Force Authentication server usage: setting this option also requires the definition of an
authentication server within the PowerFactory configuration as explained in the manual,
delivered within the download package of the AD authentication service. If this is set and
the server is entered, Active Directory can be used for user login.
– Password hash: this password hash can be used to hand over the user password in a
protected way via a certain API function (CreateApiInstanceSecuredV1).

• Licence page: if a licensed version with a restricted number of functions is used (i.e. you may
have 4 licences with basic functionality, but only 2 stability licences), the Licence tab may be used
to define the functions that a user can access. The Multi-User Database option should be checked
for all users that will access the multi user database.
• Parallel Computing: it can be defined, whether the user is allowed to use parallel processing
possibilities within PowerFactory.
• User sharing: by adding different users into the list of permitted users, access for these users can
be granted to login to the appropriate user account. If User A is in the list of permitted user, User
A can access the user account without entering the user password.

The administrator can edit any user account to change the user name, set new calculation rights or
change the password. To edit an existing user account:

• Right-click on the desired user and select Edit from the context sensitive menu. The User edit
dialog will be displayed.

Any user can edit her/his own account by means of the User edit dialog. In this case only the full name
and the password can be changed.

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CHAPTER 4. USER ACCOUNTS AND GROUPS

Note: The Administrator is the only one who may delete a user account. Although users can delete
all projects inside their account folder, they cannot delete the account folder itself or the standard
folders that belong to it (i.e. the Recycle Bin or the Settings folder).

4.4 Creating User Groups

Any project or folder in a user account may be shared. This action can be performed selectively by
sharing only with certain user groups. User groups are created by the administrator via the User
Manager. To create a new user group:

• Log on as Administrator.
• In the Data Manager open the Configuration folder and double click on the User Manager icon( ).
• In the User Manager dialog that appears press Add Group. . .

• Enter the name of the new group, optionally a description and press Ok.
• The new group is automatically created in the User Groups directory of the Configuration folder.

The Administrator can change the name of an existing group by means of the corresponding edit dialog
(right clicking on it and selecting Edit from the context sensitive menu). Via the context sensitive menu,
groups can also be deleted.

The Administrator can add users to a group by:

• Copying the user in the Data Manager (right click on the user and select Copy from the context
sensitive menu).
• Selecting a user group in the left pane of the Data Manager.

• Pasting a shortcut of the copied user inside the group (right-click the user group and select Paste
Shortcut from the context sensitive menu).

Users are taken out of a group by deleting their shortcut from the corresponding group.

The Administrator can also set the Groups Available Profiles on the Profile tab of the Group dialog.

16 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

Chapter 5

User Settings

The User Settings dialog, offers options for many global features of PowerFactory. The User settings
dialog may be opened by selecting the Tools → User Settings. . . menu item from the main menu.
The setting relevant to the PowerFactory Master Station Profile are described in the following sections,
additional setting are described in the PowerFactory User Manual.

5.1 Data Manager Settings

The Data Manager settings include:

Browser
• Save Data Automatically. The Data Manager and the Network Model Manager will not ask for
confirmation every time a value is changed in the data browser when this option is selected.
• Confirm Delete Activity. Pops up a confirmation dialog whenever something is about to be
deleted.
Data Manager
• Sort Automatically. Specifies that objects are automatically sorted (by name) in the data browser.
• Remember last selected object. The last selected object will be remember when a new Data
Manager window is opened.
• Use multiple Data Manager. When enabled, more than one Data Manager dialog can be opened
at a time. When disabled only one Data Manager may be opened at a time and pressing the New
Data Manager button will pop up the minimised Data Manager.
• Use custom font. When enabled, a customised font can be defined.

Export/Import Data (DZ)

Configures the export and import of PowerFactory ’DZ’-files, as follows:

• Binary Data. Saves binary data, such as results in the result folders, to the ’DZ’ export files
according to selection.
• Export References to Deleted Objects. Will also export references to objects which reside in
the recycle bin. Normally, connections to these objects are deleted on export.

Folders for Global Library

The default global type folder is the Database/Library/Types folder. This default folder contains
many predefined object types, but objects within this folder may not be changed by the user (read-

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CHAPTER 5. USER SETTINGS

only access). This option allows the user to specify a different “Global Type Folder”, possibly a
company specific and defined type library.

For information about the PowerFactory Data Manager refer to Chapter 13.

5.2 Output Window Settings

Message filter

This is where the filters used in the output window are defined. This, however, can be directly
done in the output window.

Message format
• Date and time. The date and time of the system will be printed in every line of the output window.
• Full object names. When an object is printed, the complete name (including the location path) is
printed.
Font

The font used in the output window is set by clicking the button Font...

5.3 Miscellaneous Settings

Localisation
• Decimal Symbol. Selects the symbol selected to be used for the decimal point.
• Use operating system Format for Date and Time. The operating system date and time settings
are used when this is checked.
Retention of results after network change

When the option Show last results is selected, modifications to network data or switch status etc.
will retained the results, these will be shown on flexible data pages in grey until the user reset the
results (e.g. by selecting Reset Calculation, or conducting a new calculation).

Check for application updates

PowerFactory will remind the User if there are new updates available for the software. In this field
is defined how often PowerFactory shall check for available updates. By default there will be a
reminder every 14 days. The possible options are:
• Manually: the User will check for updates manually, no reminder will be shown.

• On each application start: a reminder will be shown every time PowerFactory is started.
• According to interval: a reminder will be shown according to the time defined in this field.

18 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 Part III

PowerFactoryMaster Station Profile

Chapter 6

PowerFactory Overview - Master

Station Profile

6.1 Introduction

The Master Station Profile provides access to all the specific functions and tools designed to work with
measurement data (COMTRADE files) from PowerFactory Monitor (PFM) systems. You can access it
via Tools → Profiles→ Master Station.

6.2 PFM Project Structure requirement

A PFM project has the structure as shown in Figure 6.2.1, including folders for Data, Function, Plots
and Signal Processing.

Figure 6.2.1: PFM Project Structure

6.3 Menu

The menu bar contains the main PowerFactory menus. Each menu entry has a drop down list of menu
options and each menu option performs a specific action. To open a drop down list, either click on the
menu entry with the left mouse button, or press the Alt key together with the underlined letter in the

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CHAPTER 6. POWERFACTORY OVERVIEW - MASTER STATION PROFILE

menu. Menu options that are shown in grey are not available, and only become available as the user
activates projects or calculation modes, as required.

Figure 6.3.1: The help menu on the Menu bar

For example, as shown in Figure 6.3.1:

• To access the About PowerFactory : Left click the Help menu and then Left-click the option About
PowerFactory to check the software version you are using.

6.3.1 File Menu

The File menu includes the options as shown in Figure 6.3.2.

Figure 6.3.2: The File menu on the Menu bar

• Activate Project: shows a tree with all the projects in the current user’s account. Select the
project that should be activated. Alternatively, a project may be activated by right-clicking on it in
the Data Manager and using the context-sensitive menu. Also see Main Toolbar 6.4.1 for access
via shortcut pulldown function Project Activate Window as an alternative.

Note: Only one project can be activated at a time.

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 6.3. MENU

• Duplicate Project: a duplicate of the current project is created and activated.

• Rename Project: a new window appears where the name of the current project can be modified.

• Delete Project: the current project is deleted. A window appears to confirm prior to its deletion.
• Project Settings: the project settings window appears. This is equivalent to left-clicking the icon
, located in the icon toolbar. More information can be found in chapter 12.1.

• Export Project: the current project is exported. A window appears to define the location and
name.
• Import Project: a window appears for the selection of the location of the project to be imported.
• Import COMTRADE Files: a window appears to select the location of the Comtrade files to
be imported. This is equivalent to left-clicking the icon , located in the icon toolbar. More
information can be found in section 11.1.
• Refresh Comtrade Files: updates the Comtrade files stored in the predefined location. This is
equivalent to left-clicking the icon , located in the icon toolbar.
• Export Graphic: exports the plots in the graphic window.

• Printer Setup: configures the printer.

• Print: opens the Print Preview, showing the first page of the diagram, which will be printed after
pressing the Print button. If the drawing size of the diagram doesn’t fit the printers paper size, the
diagram is split up into more pages, its previews can be browsed using the buttons , ,
and . To edit the Print Setup, press the button . By default, the whole active diagram will be
selected. If only the current view should be printed, the option Selection in the Print range of the
Print Setup has to be selected. The button in the Print Preview opens the Page Setup dialog,
where the margins can be customised.
• Define Print Area: enhances the print functionality by predefining a selected area of the diagram
to print. After its selection, a red bounded rectangle, the Print Area, will be shown, which covers
by default the whole active view. Its proportion fits the one of the printer settings. The size and
position of the Print Area can be scaled and moved to cover only the desired part of the diagram.
With the Print Area still active, the Print command opens the Print Preview with exactly the area
of the network covered by the Print Area. Once defined, the Print Area can be shown and hidden
using the -button. For every network diagram a separate Print Area can be defined, which
is saved over the whole session (not available after de- and reactivating the project or using the
rebuild command for the according diagram).

6.3.2 Plots Menu

The Plots menu includes the options as shown in Figure 6.3.3.

Figure 6.3.3: The Plots menu on the Menu bar

• Open a plot: opens the Plot Wizard. This is equivalent to left-clicking the icon , located in the
icon toolbar. More information can be found in section 7.1.

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CHAPTER 6. POWERFACTORY OVERVIEW - MASTER STATION PROFILE

• Create a new plot: opens the Create New Plot Wizard. This is equivalent to left-clicking the icon
, located in the icon toolbar. More information can be found in section 7.2.

6.3.3 Analysis Menu

The Analysis menu includes the options as shown in Figure 6.3.4.

Figure 6.3.4: The Analysis menu on the Menu bar

• PFM300 GenerateDefaultPlots v4: executes a DPL script to automatically generate default plots
to visualise the measurements. Be aware that this script must be imported prior to its use.
• Analysis functions: opens the Analysis functions wizard. This is equivalent to left-clicking the
icon . More information can be found in Chapter 9.
• Power Quality (PQ): opens Power Quality evaluation. For more information refer to Chapter 10

6.4 Toolbar

6.4.1 Main Toolbar

The main toolbar provides the user with quick access to the main commands available in the program
(see Figure 6.4.1). Buttons that appear in grey are only active when appropriate. All command icons
are equipped with balloon help texts which are displayed when the cursor is held still over the icon for a
moment, and no keys are pressed.

To use a command icon, click on it with the left mouse button. Those icons that perform a task will
automatically return to a non-depressed state when that task is finished. Some command icons will
remain depressed, such as the button to Maximise Output Window. When pressed again, the button
will return to the original (non-depressed) state.

This section provides a brief explanation of the purpose of the icons found on the upper part of the
toolbar. Detailed explanations for each of the functions that the icons command, are provided in other
sections of the manual.

Figure 6.4.1: The main toolbar

Create a New Plot

Opens the Create New Plot Wizard, which provides guidance how to setup the graphics board in
order to visualise the data. For more information refer to Section 7.2.

Open a Plot

24 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 6.4. TOOLBAR

Provides access to the Open Plot Wizard. For more information refer to Section 7.1.

Analysis Functions

Provides access to the Analysis Function Wizard. For more information refer to Chapter 9.

Power Quality

Provides access to Power Quality. For more information refer to Chapter 10

Import COMTRADE Files

Opens a user interface to select the location where the COMTRADE files are located. For more
information refer to Section 11.1.

Refresh COMTRADE Files

Performs a refresh of the COMTRADE files and updates any missing files to the DATA Folder
from the location which has been configured under File → Project Settings→ Data Path.For more
information refer to Section 11.1

Project Activate Window

Displays a drop-down list of all the projects in the database. By selecting one of them, it is
automatically activated.

Project Settings

Allows to configure the main settings of your project, such as the data path for the COMTRADE
data, or the folders where the plots are located. For more information refer to Chapter 12.1.

Maximise Graphic Window

Maximises the graphic window. Pressing this icon again will return the graphic window to its
original state.

Maximise Output Window

Maximises the output window. Pressing this icon again will return the output window to its original
state.

Undo

Undo the last operation.

Open Data Manager

Opens a new instance of the Data Manager. For more information on the Data Manager refer to
Chapter 13.

Execute Scripts

Displays a list of scripts that are available to be executed.

Break

Stops a simulation or DPL script that is running.

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CHAPTER 6. POWERFACTORY OVERVIEW - MASTER STATION PROFILE

26 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

Chapter 7

Plots Handling

7.1 Open Plot Wizard

The Open Plot Wizard guides the user through the process to visualise the measured data from a
specific COMTRADE file. The user can access the Open Plot Wizard by clicking the icon or using
the menu Plots → Open a Plot. A new window appears, as shown in Figure 7.1.1.

Figure 7.1.1: Open Plot Wizard

The Plot Selection allows selecting a graphic board between:

• Default System Plots: the graphic board is located in the folder specified in the Project Settings →

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CHAPTER 7. PLOTS HANDLING

Folders (for more information refer to Chapter 12.1). By default, it is the Plots folder located inside
the Study Case.
• User defined Plots: the graphic board is located in the folder Individual Plots (in the folder Plots
folder located inside the Study Case).

The Trigger Info allows to hide or show a trigger that occurred in the plot.

In the Default System Plots, the System and the Recording Date of the COMTRADE file can be selected.
In addition, there are three possible types of plots that can be visualised, depending on the type of
COMTRADE file:
• Monitor Plots (Slow Stream)

• Triggered RMS Plots (Fast Stream)

• Triggered Instantaneous Plots (Raw Data)
Based on the previous selection, a dropdown list is available with all possible COMTRADE files that can
be used for visualization.

Finally, click on Execute to open the plot.

7.2 Create new Plot

The Create a New Plot Wizard guides through the process to visualise the measured data from a
specific COMTRADE file creating a new graphics board. It is possible to access the Create a New Plot
Wizard by clicking the icon or using the menu register Plots → Create a new plot.... A new window
appears, as shown in Figure 7.2.1.

28 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 7.2. CREATE NEW PLOT

Figure 7.2.1: Create a New Plot Wizard

First of all, one can add a new graphics board (option Add new Graphics Board) or use an existing
one (option Use existing Graphics Board). A new graphics board will be stored in the folder Plots →
Individual Plots, in the study case. This folder is specified in Project Settings → Folders→ Plots (for
more information refer to Chapter 12.1). An existing graphics board can be selected from a dropdown
list.

If a user add’s a new graphics board, then it is necessary to add a new graphics page and define its
name (Graphics Page → Add new Graphics Page). In the case of using an existing graphics board, the
user can decide to add a new graphics page or use the existing ones to include the new plots.

The Trigger Info allows one to hide or show the trigger that has taken place, in the plots.

In the field Plot Data Sources the user can specify the which system, COMTRADE file and signals
which shall be included in the plot.The signals to be included in the new plots (Y1 and/or Y2) are
defined among all the available COMTRADE files based on the Recording Date. By selecting the cell
Y1 for instance, will open a dialog window from which the signal selection can be made, see fig. 7.2.2.

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CHAPTER 7. PLOTS HANDLING

Figure 7.2.2: Advanced signal result selection

The possibility of filtering makes it easier for the user to search and select the required signal (Y1) or
signals (Y1 and Y2) for display, see fig. 7.2.3.

Figure 7.2.3: Advanced signal result selection dropdown menu

A Custom configured search can be chosen instead of using the selection filter. The following dialog
window shown in fig. 7.2.4 appears when Custom is selected.

30 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 7.3. PLOT TOOLBAR

Figure 7.2.4: Custom filter dialog window

When a filter is active, the heading text of the column is blue and a little filter icon is visible as can be
seen in fig. 7.2.5.

Figure 7.2.5: Filter active

Going back to opening a plot dialog window, a user can also select COMTRADE files from multiple DSM
Systems (configuration setup must be configured as such to permit this).

The time scale of the x-axis can be selected in X-Axis Time Scale.

Finally the user must click Execute to create the plot.

7.3 Plot Toolbar

The plot toolbar provides the user with quick access to the main commands available to create, configure
and customise plots (see Figure 7.3.1). Buttons that appear in grey are only active when appropriate.
All command icons are equipped with balloon help text which are displayed when the cursor is held still
over the icon for a moment, and no key is pressed. Detailed information about the use of the Virtual
Instrument Panel is given in chapter 8

Figure 7.3.1: The plot toolbar

Rebuild

This option refreshes the graphics board.

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CHAPTER 7. PLOTS HANDLING

Zoom In

This option changes the cursor to a magnifying glass. Drawing a rectangle with the cursor will
enlarge that area.

Zoom Back

This option restores the previous zoom area.

Zoom All

This option zooms to the complete window (meaning 100%).

Zoom-level

It allows zoom in or out the window to a predefined percentage value.

Pan Tool

It allows to move around the window by drag-and-drop.

Fault Recorder View

Used to split and arrange the virtual instruments horizontal.

Arrange Subplots automatically

Used to split and arrange the virtual instruments vertically.

Scale x-Axes automatically

Used to scale the x-axes in the virtual instruments automatically.

Scale y-Axes automatically

Used to scale the y-axes in the virtual instruments automatically.

Zoom x-Axis

This option allows to scale the x-axis according to the cursor selection.

Zoom y-axes

This option allows to scale the y-axes according to the cursor selection.

Move x-scale

This option allows to move the x-axes by drag-and-drop.

Stretch-/compress x-scale

Used to stretch and compress the x-scale. Depending if the cursor is moved towards to or further
from the centre of the graph, the x-scale is compressed or stretched, respectively.

Jump to previous recording

Shows the results of the COMTRADE file with the previous recording time from the same station
and the same type of recording. This function is only available when default plot is used.

Jump to next recording

32 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 7.3. PLOT TOOLBAR

Shows the results of the COMTRADE file with the next recording time from the same station and
the same type of recording. This function is only available when default plot is used.

Cursor 1

Shows an x-axis cursor in all plots which can be moved.

Cursor 2

Shows an additional x-axis cursor in all plots which can be moved. If both cursors (1 and 2) are
available, the distance between both them is also shown graphically.

Show Triggers

Shows detailed Trigger information in plots (only supported by PFM300 COMTRADES).

Statistic Label

The statistic label helps analysing a curve, by labelling e.g. its maximum and minimum. For more
information refer to Section 8.0.4 .

Delete Statistic Label

Deletes all or a selection of the statistic labels in a curve.

Add Label with Text

Displays user defined text above and below a line connected to the curve. Edit the label to change
the text shown.

Add Label with Value of the current Curve

Displays the x/y coordinates. The label is a text-label filled with the marked coordinates. Edit the
label to change the text.

Add Gradient Label

Displays the value of the difference between two pairs of x- and y-values, as well as the gradient
(dy/dx) and the 1/dx value. The label is a text-label filled with the marked coordinates. Edit the
label to change the text.

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CHAPTER 7. PLOTS HANDLING

Add Label with definable Format

Uses a form to print the displayed text. The form can be selected as local for each label or a
common label can be used for all plots of the same type in the active project.

Insert Text Box

Can be used to display text or tables anywhere in the plot.

Title Block on/Off

The title block is turned on and off. The title block is placed in the lower right corner of the drawing
area by default. When opening a new graphic the title will appear by default.

Edit Title

The contents and size of the title mask can be changed. All text fields have a fixed format in the
title block. The data and time fields may be chosen as automatic or user defined. Most text fields
are limited to a certain number of characters.

Set current Style

Each virtual instrument panel uses a style where line-widths, fonts, brushes and other graphical
settings are defined. There are six predefined styles available in DIgSILENT PowerFactory, which
are:

• Default - Standard English Text and Symbols

• Paper
• Digital
• PFM

• Fault Recorder View

The “Default” styles uses smaller line-widths and smaller fonts than the “Paper” styles. It was
designed to get nice printouts. The paper style was designed for reports and papers where meta-
files are included in text-programs. In addition to the layout the styles hold predefined virtual
instruments.

There are several ways to select a predefined or user-defined style for the current virtual instru-
ment panel. The easiest way to change the style is using the toolbar.

• The list-box in the toolbar is clicked and an available style is selected.

• A style is selected from the Style → Select Style→ . . . in the context sensitive menu of the virtual
instrument panel.
• A style is selected in the virtual instrument style list-box on the “Advanced” page of the SetVipage
dialog.
The user-defined styles are described in detail in Section 8.0.5.

Print

It opens the Print Preview, showing the first page of the diagram, which will be printed after
pressing the Print button. If the drawing size of the diagram doesn’t fit the printers paper size,
the diagram is split up into more pages, its previews can be browsed using the buttons , ,
and . To edit the Print Setup, press the button . By default, the whole active diagram
will be selected. If only the current view should be printed, the option Selection in the Print range
of the Print Setup has to be selected. The button in the Print Preview opens the Page Setup
dialog, where the margins can be customised.

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 7.3. PLOT TOOLBAR

Copy and Paste Virtual Instrument Panel

Creates a copy of the current virtual instrument panel.

Edit Plots on Page

Opens a dialog for defining curves of several plots. If the variables of only one subplot are to be
changed, it is suggested to edit the dialog of the plot itself by double-clicking it. This procedure is
more convenient.

This dialog gives a very good overview over the diagrams on the virtual instruments panel and
the variables, axis and curve styles. Figure 8.0.1 shows an example of the dialog.

Figure 7.3.2: Editing all plots on the page

Each line of the table named Curves defines a variable shown on the panel. The variables
definition applies to the plot shown in the first column. When the dialog is opened the plots are
sorted from left to right and from top to bottom and are numbered accordingly.

All data and settings of each variable is displayed in the table, and the columns are used exactly
like the columns in the table of a plot. To move a variable from one plot to another, simply change
the Plot Nr. of the variable to move.

In this table not only subplots (VisPlot) are shown but also plots with two y-axis (VisPlot2) can
be modified. Here additionally in the column y the y-axis can be defined to which the variable is
related.

Like in most tables new rows can be add. Default File for Page is a reference to the results
element of the virtual instrument panel. The Filter. . . button opens the filter dialog. The selected
filter will be applied to all plots on the current virtual instrument panel.

Default Result File for Page is a reference to the COMTRADE in the virtual instrument panel.
This is exactly the same setting like the one displayed on the Results page of the dialog box of
the virtual instrument panel.

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CHAPTER 7. PLOTS HANDLING

Edit actual Virtual Instrument Panel

Opens a dialog to edit the virtual instruments panel. It is split into three different pages:

• x-Axis holds the settings for x-Axis of plots and Waveform Plots.
• Advanced holds graphical settings like Style and Background.

• Results contains the reference to the default results object for plots.

Edit Graphics Board

Opens a dialog to edit the virtual instruments panel. Among others, the corresponding COM-
TRADE file can be selected.

Create New Plot

Creates a new virtual instrument. A small dialog will pop up, where the class of virtual instrument
can be selected from the available Object and the number of virtual instruments to be added to
the current virtual instrument panel.

Drawing Format

Allows to configure the drawing area for single line diagrams, block diagrams and virtual instru-
ments.

A predefined paper format can be selected, edited, or a new format can be defined. The
selected paper format has ’Landscape’ orientation by default and can be rotated by 90 degrees
by selecting ’Portrait’. The format definitions, which are shown when an existing format is edited
or when a new format is defined, also show the landscape dimensions for the paper format.

It is not possible to draw outside the selected drawing area. If a drawing no longer fits to the
selected drawing size, then a larger format should be selected. The existing graphs or diagrams
are repositioned on the new format (use Ctrl+A to mark all objects and then grab and move the
entire graphic by left clicking and holding the mouse key down on one of the marked objects; drag
the graphic to a new position if desired).

If no ’Subsize for Printing’ format has been selected, then, at printing time, the drawing area
will be scaled to fit the paper size of the printer. If, for instance, the drawing area is A3 and
the selected paper in the printer is A4, then the graphs/diagrams will be printed at 70% of their
original size.

By selecting a subsize for printing, the scaling of the drawing at printing time can be controlled.
The dimensions of the sub-sized printing pages are shown in the graphic page. If, for instance,
the drawing size has been selected as A3 landscape, and the printing size as A4 portrait, then a
vertical grey line will divide the drawing area in two halves. The drawing area will be accordingly
partitioned at printing time and will be printed across two A4 pages.

Make sure that the selected subsize used for printing is available at the printer. The printed pages
are scaled to the available physical paper if this is not the case.

For instance:
• The drawing area has been selected as A2 landscape.
• The subsize for printing has been selected as A3 portrait. The A2 drawing is thus to be printed
across two pages.

• Suppose that the selected printer only has A4 paper. The original A2 drawing is then scaled down
to 70% and printed on two A4 sheets of paper.

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 7.3. PLOT TOOLBAR

Insert New Graphic

Inserts a new graphic object into the Graphic Board folder of the active study case and presents
a blank graphics page to the user. A dialog to configure the new graphics object will appear first.

Note: The Page Tab menu is opened by right-clicking a page tab, shown just below the single line
diagram.

Note: Existing graphics can be opened by selecting Show Graphic of the context sensitive menu of
the graphic object in the subfolder Network Model/Diagrams or by choosing it from the list, which
opens after selecting Insert Page → Open Existing Page from the context sensitive menu of the
page tab.

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CHAPTER 7. PLOTS HANDLING

38 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

Chapter 8

Virtual Instruments

A virtual instrument is basically a tool for displaying calculated results. The most common use of a VI
is to look at the results of a time-domain simulation like an EMT or RMS simulation, by defining one or
more plotted curves showing the variables changing with time.

But there are various other applications of virtual instruments, for example to graphically display voltage
profiles, FFT plots or the results of a harmonic analysis. This could be in the form of a bar graph, a
plotted curve, single displayed variables, tables of values, etc.

To visualise results from a calculation, two different parts are important:

Virtual Instrument Panel

The Virtual Instrument Panel is basically a page in the active graphics board, where different plots
or graphs are stored and displayed. The basic information about the included virtual instruments
is stored here.

Virtual Instruments

Virtual Instruments (VIs) are shown on Virtual Instrument Panels and display the results of one or
more variables or parameters. Multiple VIs can be defined for any one Virtual Instruments Panel
and individual VIs can be set up as required by the variable(s) displayed.

All signals, parameters, variables or other magnitudes from PowerFactory can be shown in a Virtual
Instrument. The variables are normally floating point numbers, but there is also the possibility to show
discrete variables as well as binary numbers, for example an “out of service” flag or the switching
operation of a circuit-breaker.

There are various designs of Virtual Instruments available in PowerFactory. These Virtual Instruments
can be divided into several groups, which are described in the subsequent sections of this chapter:

Plots are the ’basic’ diagrams used to show variables. Variables can be plotted against either a time
axis or an axis defined by another variable. PowerFactory plots include the following:
• Subplots (VisPlot)
• Subplots with two y-axis (VisPlot2)
• X-Y plots (VisXyplot)
• FFT plots (VisFft)

Curve Inputs are used to convert graphical information (graphs or curves) into a set of data by scan-
ning and sampling the data points.
Bitmaps can be inserted as a remark or to provide further information.

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

In addition to the above options there are further types of virtual instruments for specific purposes. For
example, the time-overcurrent plot or the time distance diagram is available for protection studies. Study
specific plots are not described in this chapter but rather directly in the section of the manual dealing
with the individual calculation method. The following list briefly describes some other virtual instrument
types:

8.0.1 Virtual Instrument Panels

Virtual instruments are created and edited on a Virtual Instruments Panel (SetViPage) which is one of
the possible types of pages on a Graphics Board. Other page types are single line graphics and block
diagram or frame graphics.

A new virtual instrument panel can be created by

• selecting the File → New option on the main menu and subsequently selecting a “Virtual Instru-
ment Page” in the ComNew. This will create a new page in the “Graphics Board” of the currently
active study case.
• selecting the Insert New Graphic icon on the graphics board’s toolbar and selecting “Virtual
Instrument Panel”. This will also create a new VI panel in the current graphics board.
All virtual instrument panels are stored in graphics boards. A graphic board holds default settings for
plots and other diagrams. The icon is clicked or the Edit Actual Virtual Instrument Panel option is
selected from the context sensitive menu to edit the dialog.

Note: If a new virtual instrument panel is created, while there is no Graphics Board opened already, a
new Graphics Board in will be added to the current study case.

The dialog is built of several pages. These are

x-Axis holds the default x-Axis for plots without local axis stored in pages without local axis.
Advanced holds the advanced settings like the arrangements of the plots or their specific style.
Results stores a reference to the default results object used by the plots.

Once a VI panel has been created, the Append new VI(s) icon can be clicked or the option Create
VI → . . . from the context menu of the SetVipage can be selected to add new virtual instruments to the
VI panel.

Virtual instrument panels usually set the size and position of new virtual instruments like plots automat-
ically. But it is possible to turn on user defined moving and resizing of the plots. In this mode the plots
can be moved or resized by the user. Also the and icons are used to tile the Virtual Instruments
horizontal or to arrange the VIs automatically.

A ViPage uses a predefined style which set line-styles, line-width, fonts and other graphical settings.
User defined styles can be created and selected. A different style can be selected on each VI panel of
a Graphics Boards.

These different options are described in the following sections.

Editing the Virtual Instrument Panel dialog

There are several ways to access the graphics board dialog from PowerFactory
• When the panel is empty one can access the dialog by simply double-clicking the empty VI panel
or an empty area on the panel.
• Right-click the background of the VI panel besides the shown plots and choose Edit actual Virtual
Instrument Panel from the context menu.

40 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 • The simplest way to edit the dialog is to click the icon.

The icon is clicked or the Edit Actual Virtual Instrument Panel option is selected from the context
sensitive menu to edit the dialog. The dialog is split into three different pages named:

• x-Axis holds the settings for x-Axis of plots and Waveform Plots.
• Advanced holds graphical settings like Style and Background.

• Results contains the reference to the default results object for plots.

Automatic Scale Buttons

The buttons or are clicked to scale the x-axis respectively the y-axis of all plots on the virtual
instrument panel automatically. Plots on other panels in the same graphics board are unchanged if their
axes are local.

The buttons are inactive, if there are no plots shown at all or if the x or y axes can not be scaled
automatically. That applies e.g. for bar-diagrams showing the distortion after a harmonics load-flow
calculation, where the x-axis is given by the harmonic frequencies. Different types of plots, like the
subplot and the waveform plot, can be scaled simultaneously.

With the button Zoom X-Axis a certain range of the x-axis or of several x-axes can be zoomed easily.
Click on the icon to activate the function, then click on a plot, hold the right mouse button and ’drag’ the
mouse to the right or to the left to mark the desired range on the x-axis. If the mouse button is released,
PowerFactory will then show the marked x ranged zoomed.

Using the button Move X-scale it is possible to move the x-axis through the recording by holding the
right mouse button and ’drag’ the mouse to the right or to the left.

Using the button Stretch / compress x-scale it is possible to stretch or compress the x-axis of the
plot by holding the right mouse button and ’drag’ the mouse to the right or to the left.

Automatic Arrangement of VIs

Virtual instrument panels usually set the size and position of new virtual instruments like plots automat-
ically. Then the VIs can not be resized or moved. So the position of these VIs is set automatically and
their size remains unchanged.

There are two different modes for automatically arranging the VIs. The user can choose to arrange the
VIs using either

• Arrange Subplots on Top of Each Other with the icon or

• Arrange Subplots automatically with the icon .

The modes can easily be changed by pressing the one or the other button. In addition the position of
VIs can easily be exchanged. Mark the VI by clicking it. Then ’drag’ the VI onto another plot. Thus the
position of the VIs will be exchanged.

Note: This option of exchanging the plots by dragging is only possible, when one of the arrangement
buttons are active. If you deactivate both buttons by unselecting them in the toolbar, the plots can
freely be moved by dragging them on the panel. See also Moving and Resizing.

Another way to rearrange the VIs is to open the dialog of the VI panel by pressing the icon and then
use the Arrangement options on the “Advanced” page. Here the option User defined can be activated.
So the VIs will no longer be arranged automatically but can be resized and moved inside the panel. So
the user is free to arrange the VIs ’ad libitum’. This mode is also activated by disabling the selected icon
or .

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Moving and Resizing

Moving and resizing of VIs in the standard virtual instrument panels is turned off. Both can be activated
by deactivating the auto-arrangement modes by disabling then currently active icon or . Also the
option User defined can be activated on the Advanced page of the edit dialog of the VI panel.

A VI is clicked to mark it. The VI is ’dragged’ inside the panel by clicking it with the mouse button
pressed. Then the VI can be move across the panel. The mouse is released to set the new position.

Note: Please note that some VIs can not be resized at all because their size is set automatically. This
applies e.g. for the bitmap VI with the option Adapt Size of VI to Size of Bitmap enabled.

Page Format

The page format is modified using the in the toolbar of the graphics board. VI panels use the page
format set in the graphics board. In addition a local page format can be created for each VI panel. The
option Create local Page Format is selected in the context sensitive menu to create a local page format.
The VI panel now uses a local page format independent of the page format set in the graphics board.

Set default Page Format is selected in the context sensitive menu to reset the local page format. The
VI panel now uses the default format of the graphics board again.

Editing Variables of Plots

The icon is clicked to open the Edit Plots on Page dialog for defining curves of several plots. If the
variables of only one subplot are to be changed, it is suggested to edit the dialog of the plot itself by
double-clicking it. This procedure is more convenient.

This dialog gives a very good overview over the diagrams on the VI panel and the variables, axis and
curve styles. Figure 8.0.1 shows an example of the dialog.

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 Figure 8.0.1: Editing all plots on the page

Each line of the table named Curves defines a variable shown on the panel. The variables definition
applies to the plot shown in the first column. When the dialog is opened the plots are sorted from left to
right and from top to bottom and are numbered accordingly.

All data and settings of each variable is displayed in the table, and the columns are used exactly like the
columns in the table of a plot. To move a variable from one plot to another, simply change the Plot Nr.
of the variable to move.

In this table not only subplots (VisPlot) are shown but also plots with two y-axis (VisPlot2) can be
modified. Here additionally in the column y the y-axis can be defined to which the variable is related.

Like in most tables new rows can be add. Default File for Page is a reference to the results element
of the virtual instrument panel. The Filter. . . button opens the filter dialog. The selected filter will be
applied to all plots on the current virtual instrument panel.

Default Result File for Page is a reference to the default results element of the virtual instrument panel.
This is exactly the same setting like the one displayed on the Results page of the dialog box of the
virtual instrument panel.

Title Block

All virtual instrument panels in a Graphics Board show the same title by default. The only difference of
the title blocks on the VI-Panels are the panel name and the page number which are unique for each
panel. To create a local title for a VI-Panel simply right-click on the title and select Create local Title from
the context sensitive menu.

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Like in the single line graphics the icon in the toolbar is clicked to show or hide the title block. The
title can be defined or changed by double-clicking on them or use the icon to modify the title text.

Results

Some VIs like the most frequently used class “subplot” show curves stored in one ore more COM-
TRADES. The curves are selected in a table where the result element, the element and a variable have
to be selected.

The result column of VIs needs not to be set for most calculations. The VI itself will look for the results
element to display automatically. The default results element is either:

1. Results reference on page Results of the VI Panel accessed by pressing the icon.

2. If 1. is empty the Results reference on the Results page of the Graphics Board will be used by
pressing the icon.

3. If both (1. and 2.) are not empty, the results element used for the last calculation will be applied.
If there is no calculation the appropriate results element in the study case will be used (if any).

Background

The default background of virtual instrument panels is empty. The background settings for the panel
can be found in the frame Background on the “Advanced” page of the virtual instrument panel dialog.

The Filename defines the background file, which can be either a Windows Metafile (*.wmf), a Bitmap
(*.bmp) or a AutoCad DXF file. If the selected file does not exist, or if the filename is not set the
background remains empty. VIs can be transparent or opaque. Graphics are transparent must be
activated to make all graphics transparent. If an opaque graphic fills the complete panel area the
background will be invisible.

The Context Sensitive Menu

The options in the context sensitive menu of the VI panel may vary depending on the cursor and the
settings of the panel. The options are listed below:

• Edit Actual Virtual Instrument Panel opens the virtual instrument panel dialog.
• Create local Page Format creates a page format for the current panel.
• Paste Text inserts text from the clipboard into the panel.

• A VI can be selected from the list shown in the Create VI → . . . option to create a new VI on the
panel.
• Style → Select Style is clicked to select a style for the panel.
• Style → Create new Style is selected to create a new style for the panel.

• Style → Edit Style of clicked Element is selected to modify the style of the selected element only.
• Select All → is selected to mark all VIs.
• Export Results. . . exports the shown result into e.g. the output window, a ASCII file, a Comtrade
file or the clipboard.

Creating Virtual Instruments

New VIs can easily be created with the Append New VI(s) icon . A small dialog will pop up, where
the class of VI can be selected from the available Object and the number of VIs to be added to the
current VI panel.

Another way to create VIs is to select the option Create VI → . . . from the context menu of the
SetVipage. Then a class of virtual instrument can be selected to be added to the current VI panel.

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The Default Styles

Each virtual instrument panel uses a style where line-widths, fonts, brushes and other graphical settings
are defined. There are six predefined styles available in DIgSILENT PowerFactory, which are:

• Default - Standard English Text and Symbols

• Gr Default - Greek Symbols

• Tr Default - Turkish Symbols
• Paper

• Gr Paper
• Tr Paper

The “Default” styles uses smaller line-widths and smaller fonts than the “Paper” styles. It was designed
to get nice printouts. The paper style was designed for reports and papers where meta-files are included
in text-programs. In addition to the layout the styles hold predefined VIs.

There are several ways to select a predefined or user-defined style for the current virtual instrument
panel. The easiest way to change the style is using the toolbar.
• The list-box in the toolbar is clicked and an available style is selected.
• A style is selected from the Style → Select Style→ . . . in the context sensitive menu of the VI
panel.

• A style is selected in the VI-Style list-box on the “Advanced” page of the SetVipage dialog.
The user-defined styles are described in detail in Section 8.0.5 later in this chapter.

8.0.2 Plots

Plots are the most used diagrams to show parameters, states, signals or variables depending on either
time or on another variable. The following plots are available in PowerFactory :

• SubPlot (VisPlot)
• SubPlot (2y) with two y-axes (VisPlot2)
• X-Y plot (VisXyplot)
• FFT plots (VisFft)

• The Digital plot

• The Fault Recorder View plot

The Subplot

SubPlots are the ’basic’ diagrams and are typically used to display one or more plotted curves from the
results of an EMT or RMS simulation.

A new subplot is created on the current Virtual Instrument panel by pressing the icon and selecting
a Subplot (VisPlot) from the pull down list. More than one subplot may be created at once by setting
the Number of VI(s).

To edit the subplot either:

• right-click on the subplot, and select the Edit option from the context sensitive menu; or
• double-click on the subplot.

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Editing Subplots

The edit dialog of a subplot has pages for the y-axis and x-axis of the individual subplot as well as an
additional Advanced page for auxiliary settings. The y-axis page is normally used to set the curves in
the subplot, while the x-axis normally shows time (by default).

The subplot edit dialog has the following features:

Scale

The y-axis may be defined for more than one subplot at the same time, or, and by default, may be
defined as a “local Axis” format. When the option Use local Axis is disabled, a reference to the used
’global’ axis type is shown and can be edited by pressing the .

Automatic

The colour, line style, and line width of all new curves in the subplot will be set automatically when
the corresponding option is enabled. The Set now button will apply automatic line formats all existing
curves again.

Shown Results

This is a reference to the currently active COMTRADE. This object will be used, if no result file is
specified in the Curves definition table.

Curves

The definition table for the curves is used to specify the result file (optional), object and parameter for
each of the curves as well as their representation.

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User Defined Signals

Some plot types (e.g. VisPlot) have the option to define a ’User Defined Signal’ which allows arithmetic
calculation of additional results based on PowerFactory calculated results. The method to create a
calculated result is explained in Section 8.0.3: Calculated Results.

The available options for scaling the axis are described in more detail below.

Setting the X-Axis

The x-axes often needs to be synchronised for all subplots or for all subplots on one VI panel, for
instance to show the same time-scale in all plots. In order to synchronise the x-axes without losing the
freedom to manually set each subplot, a hierarchy of x-axes is used in the Graphics Board:
• The Graphics Board contains the basic x-axis definition. This definition is used by default by each
new subplot.

• A VI panel, however, may define a local x-axis definition, which will then be the default for each
new subplot created on that panel.
• The subplot thus uses the Graphics Board or the panel SetViPage definition by default, but may
also use a local x-axis definition.

Note: If you change the settings of the x-axis, which uses the definition stored in the graphics board,
all x-axis are changed using the same definition in the whole project. These are also affected, if
the x-axis is automatically scaled or zoomed.

The following list describes how to edit the definition of the different x-axes:
• To edit the graphics board definition, either right click on the Virtual Instrument and select Edit
or double-click on the Virtual Instrument. Next click on the x-Axis page of the edit dialog of the
plot and select the option Graphics Board under ’Scale’, ’Axis’. The dialog for changing the x-
axis definition for the complete graphics board can be then accessed via the Used Axis selection.
Another way to modify the graphics board definition is to click the icon for the graphics board
dialog and then go to the x-Axis page.
• Similar to the graphics board definition, to edit the virtual instrument panel specific x-axis, either
right click on the Virtual Instrument and select Edit or double-click on the Virtual Instrument.
Next click on the x-Axis page of the edit dialog of the plot and select the option Page under
’Scale’, ’Axis’. The dialog for changing the x-axis definition for the virtual instrument panel can
be then accessed via the Used Axis selection. This will display the dialog of the of the VI panel
(SetVipage). Another way get to the panel dialog is by clicking the icon or selecting Edit actual
Virtual Instrument Panel from the context menu and then go to the x-Axis page.
• The local (virtual instrument) x-axis definition is accessed by selecting the option Local. When
Local is selected, the options for specifying the x-axis are shown directly in the edit dialog.

The options available for the x-axis are similar to the one for the y-axis. They are described in the
following section. The only difference is in selecting the variable of the axis.

Within the x-axis page there are numerous options to choose from for the x-Axis Variable as shown in
Figure 8.0.2. The Default value depends on the type of simulation and the result object created during
the previous simulation. For time-domain simulations different representations of the time scale are
available. For an FFT plot, the x-axis can be scaled using the frequency in Hz or the harmonic order.

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Figure 8.0.2: The variable list available for the x-Axis

The option User defined enables the user to choose any variable for the x-axis, selectable from a result
object. In this way an x-y plot can be created. Whilst the VisPlot can be used to create x-y plots, there
is also a specific plot type to create an x-y plot: the VisXyplot. The VisXyplot is described in more detail
in section VisXyplot.

Setting the Y-Axis

The y-axes are normally not synchronised across virtual instruments like the x-axis can be, because
they all show different parameter values and thus need parameter-specific settings. By default, the
Graphics Board’s default plot type is used, but more plot types may be created and used, i.e. plot
types for voltages, power, factors, slip factors, etc. By using the same plot type, different plots can be
compared more easily, without the risk of misinterpreting a difference in curve amplitude.

The y-axis page in the subplot edit dialog has the option to Use local Axis. Similar to the x-axis, if the
Use local Axis checkbox is not ticked, the graphics board y-axis settings are selected. The graphics
board y-axis settings can be altered by selecting Type when the Use local Axis checkbox is unticked.

The local definitions of an axis (either the x-axis or the y-axis) has three parts:
• The axis Limits (minimum and maximum)
• The axis Mapping (linear, logarithmic, dB (only for y-axis) )
• Auto scale options
• The Adapt Scale settings to adapt the scale to a setpoint.

The axis Limits can be set manually, or can be auto scaled via the Scale button. The scale button sets
the limits automatically from the curve shape. The options to Auto Scale the plot are:

Off Turns any auto scaling function off and will display the results in the range between the given
limits.

48 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

 On This option will automatically scale the plot at the end of a simulation.

Online This option will automatically scale the plot during the simulation.

The x-axis additionally features a Chart option. If ticked a range and a start value can be set. This will
set the x-axis to the specified range. During the simulation, only an x-range, set in the options, is shown
and will ’wander’ along with the calculation time.

The Adapt Scale settings are used to force a tick mark on the axis at a particular value. The tick marks
can be forced by setting the Offset value for the y-axis and the Trigger value for the x-axis. Other tick
marks will be drawn at ’nice’ distances from this offset. The default value for both x- and y-axis is an
active adapt scale with both Trigger and Offset equal to zero. With the default values, the main ticks of
both axes start at zero.

For the y-axis, to see the deviations from the offset, the Show Deviations from Offset option will draw
a second axis on the right, which has its zero baseline at the offset value. The Show Deviations from
Offset option is available for the y-axis only.

An example of two subplots is given in Figure 8.0.3 where a voltage sag is shown with both an
instantaneous and a RMS value curve. The top curve has the Adapt option disabled, and both axes
autoscaled.

Figure 8.0.3: Two subplots with different axis definitions

The bottom subplot has a smaller x-axis, to show only the interesting part, and has the Adapt option set
on both axes.

In Figure 8.0.3, the y-axis has its offset set to the nominal voltage level (11kV) and also shows the
deviations from that level in the right vertical axis. From this deviation, it is clear that the RMS voltage
initially drops more than 5kV. The x-axis has its offset set to the event time, which in this case is 100ms
when a short-circuit was simulated. From the x-axis, it is now directly clear that this short-circuit was
cleared after 200ms, at t=300ms.

Specifying Curves for Plots

The curves in a subplot must be taken from a COMTRADE or a Calculated result object (IntCalcres). A
result object is created by a power system calculation function like the RMS or EMT simulation.

The selection of variables to display on the current plot is done in the y-axis page of the edit dialog. To
view the edit dialog, double-click on the background of the plot or right-click the plot and select Edit.
The curve definition is shown on the Y-Axis page of the edit dialog as shown in Figure 8.0.4.

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Figure 8.0.4: Defining a new curve

Each line in the Curves ’table’ is used to define a variable to plot and the visual representation of the
curve.

• The first column states the COMTRADE from which the data to plot the curve will be read. If it is
empty, the standard COMTRADE will be used, as defined in the reference to Shown Results in
the same dialog.

• The second column states the actual variable for the curve (here “RMS line-to-line voltage”),
selected from the variables in the COMTRADE.
• The next columns specify the style of the individual curve.
• With the last two columns the user can normalise (Norm.) the values of the variable to a nominal
value (Nom. Value).

To select a new result object, element or parameter, double-click the field or right-click the field and
select Select Element/Type or Edit from the context sensitive menu. Then select a new entry from the
list of possible result objects, resp. elements and parameters that appear.

The colour, line style and line width settings are edited in the same way: double-click the cell or right-
click the cell and select Edit.

To create a new curve definition line, right-click on the column number (on the far left) and select Insert
Rows or Append (n) Rows. Similarly, to delete a marked curve definition from the list, select Delete
Rows.

To easily specify more than one curve for the same result file and element in one action, select more
than one variable at once from the variable list. This will automatically create new entries in the curve
definition table for all additionally selected variables. The entered Result File and Element columns are
copied automatically. This convenient procedure is shown in Figure 8.0.5 and Figure 8.0.6.

Figure 8.0.5: Defining subplots with minimum effort, step 1

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 Figure 8.0.6: Defining subplots with minimum effort, step 2

Similarly several elements can be selected and PowerFactory will automatically insert the corresponding
number of rows. The variables are set automatically to the one selected in the first row.

The Subplot with two Y-Axes

A plot with two y-axes can be seen in Figure 8.0.7. To create this plot, press the icon and select a
Subplot(2y)(VisPlot2) from the pull down list. This will add a subplot with two y-axes to the current VI
panel.

Figure 8.0.7: The definition of the second y-axis

To deactivate the additional axis, navigate to the page for the second y-axis and untick the option Use
second y-Axis.

The X-Y Plot

A further type of plot is the x-y plot. This plot shows one variable dependant on a second variable.
The two variables can be completely independent from each other and do not have to belong to one
element. To create a x-y plot press the icon and then select a X-Y Plot(VisXYPlot) from the pull
down list. This will add a new x-y plot to the current VI panel.

Figure 8.0.8 shows the edit dialog of the plot.

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CHAPTER 8. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Figure 8.0.8: Defining variables for a X-Y plot

On the variables page the variables for the x- and y-axis are specified. Both variables have to be stored
in one result file of a simulation. To select variables of two different elements the option Show x-Element
in Table has to be activated. The options and the tools for the curves are similar to the ones described
in Section 8.0.2 (The Subplot).

On the page Scales of the dialog, the scales of the two axis can be set automatically or global definitions
can be used.

On page Time Range the time range can be set to the whole simulation time or alternatively select a
specified range to show the results pertaining to a specific time range only.

The Digital Plot

A Digital Plot (see lower part of Figure 8.0.11) can be used to illustrate digital signals. If a digital signal
is true (i.e. the absolute value of a signal is greater than 0.5), the Digital Plot displays it in form of a bar.
In contrast to this, false values are represented as lines.

Digital Plots are based on Subplots (VisPlot) - with some modifications: In the definition table for the
curves the following parameters have to be specified:

• Object
• Parameter
• Colour
• Height of the bars.

The parameters Result file and variable description are optional. Furthermore the option to decide,
whether graphics are presented as curves or bars, is not available, because Digital Plot are always
plotted in form of bars. For all other settings of the Digital Plot, refer to Subsection 8.0.2 (Plots).

Vector Diagrams

It is possible to show voltage and current variables in a vector diagram (see below 8.0.10).

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In order to create a vector diagram, a standard voltage and current plot must be created from a triggered
instantaneous file. Once the plot has opened, by pressing the right mouse button with pointer inside the
plot, a dropdown menu appears where Create Vector Diagram can be selected (see below 8.0.9).

Figure 8.0.9: Selecting Create Vector Diagram from menu

As soon as the Create Vector Diagram button has been selected, a new plot window will be created
containing the current/voltage plot as well as the vector diagram (see below 8.0.10).

By shifting the cursor ( ) along the plot, the vector diagram will shift its phases accordingly.

Figure 8.0.10: U and I phase vector diagram

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The Fault Recorder View Plot

The Fault Recorder View is available in the PowerFactory Monitor profile (Tools → Profiles→ Master
Station). It may consist of several Subplots and Digital Plots. By clicking the Fault Recorder View
button, the plots will be arranged as shown in Figure 8.0.11. The tool assigns predefined spaces for the
Digital Plots and for the Subplots and scales the size of the plots according to their number to fit them
into these areas.

Two cursors ( , ) are supplied, which can be shifted over the whole diagram. At each point of
interception between the cursor and the graph the y-value is displayed. Furthermore the time difference
between the two cursors is shown.

Figure 8.0.11 depicts a possible case of application for the Fault Recorder View. It shows the three
phase currents of a line and several digital signals from a protection device. At time 0 s a phase to
ground fault at phase A occurs, followed by a second fault at phase B after 15 ms. From the perspective
of the protection device both faults occur at the other end of the line. For that reason they are only
detected in Zone 2. The tripping signal is being transmitted after 350 ms. The time between the first
detection of the fault in phase A and the transmission of the tripping signal is 418 ms.

Figure 8.0.11: The Fault Recorder View

8.0.3 Calculated Results

Some plot types, such as the VisPlot, have the option to define a ’User Defined Signal’. The ’User
Defined Signal’ option allows calculation of additional results based on the arithmetic manipulation of
one or more results calculated by PowerFactory and recorded in the COMTRADE.

As the calculated result object is used to plot additional values based on other recorded values, the
calculated result object is stored within the relevant VisPlot object under the virtual instrument panel
and the graphics board in the Data Manager.

To define a new Calculated Result, first create a VisPlot. Double-click on the Visplot or right-click on the
Visplot and select Edit and define at least one curve from the results stored in the result object. When
at least one curve is assigned in the VisPlot, the ’User Defined Signals’ dialog should become visible
as shown in Figure 8.0.12.

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 Figure 8.0.12: User Defined Signals button

Click on New to create a new calculated result. An example of the calculated result object dialog is
depicted in Figure 8.0.13.

Figure 8.0.13: The calculated result object

The calculated result object dialog includes the following fields:

Name

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the name of the calculated result object

Input Parameters

• Results defines the result object in which the arithmetic operands are located.

• Operands defines the elements and variable names of the operands within the result object.
Additional operands can be inserted or appended by Mouse over Operand row → Right-Click →
Click Insert Row(s) or Append Row(s) or Append n Row(s).

Result

• Name defines the name of the user defined curve

• Description a free text field for description of the curve
• Unit user defined variable unit

• Formula DSL expression for arithmetic calculation, operands are defined in accordance with the
naming convention in the ’Input Parameters’ field i.e. in1, in2, in3 etc.

8.0.4 Tools for Virtual Instruments

Different kinds of plots are used to display calculation results or device data. There are numerous tools
which help the user interpret and analyse data and calculation results. Most of the tools are accessible
directly through the “status bar” of PowerFactory or through the context sensitive menu. To activate the
context sensitive menu, right-click on the curve or on the plot background (depending on the desired
function).

Edit Dialogs

To access the Edit dialog of the plots, double-click on the background of a plot or Right-Click → Edit. A
quick way to access information pertaining to the plot is to double-click directly on the element requiring
change. This includes:

Legend

Manipulation of the legend text and representation.

X-Axis

The x-axis limits, scales and variable representation and auto scaling options of the current
graphics board or panel.

Y-Axis

The y-axis limits, scales and variable representation and auto scaling options as well as the
variable displayed.

A double-click on other positions will open the plot dialog.

The Status Bar

In the status bar of PowerFactory on the bottom of the program window useful information regarding
the data shown in the curves can be obtained.

• First the value of the mouse position in the diagram is displayed in the status bar, similar to the
information shown with an open single line diagram.
• When a curve is clicked and marked with a cross, the cross value is displayed in the status bar and
remains unchanged until the cross is set to a different position. If there is no cross on the active

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 page the status bar value is reset and no longer displayed. Some plots have different scales on
one axis, these plots can not display a value in the status bar.
• The option Curve-Tracking can be found in the status bar, normally in a grey font style. Double-
click on this font to enable the “Curve-Tracking” mode. In this mode a cross will appear if the
mouse arrow is near a curve. Hold the mouse pointer still for one second and the x- and y-value
will be shown in a balloon window.

Labelling Plots

There are different styles of labels available for labeling curves and graphics. Setting labels is possible
in most of the different plots, although some of the labels are not available in all plot types. Labels are
all created in the same way.

To create a label, first click on the curve to mark the desired data point with a cross, then right-click on
the plot to display the context sensitive menu. The option Label → Insert . . . Label can be selected for
different label types. Alternatively there are also two icons and in the toolbar, which can be used
to create labels directly.

After selecting the appropriate label from the sub-option of label, a rubber band from the cross to the
mouse is shown. A click with the left mouse button sets the label, the right mouse button cancels. The
following different labels are available.

The Text Label

The text-label (Add Label with Text option) displays user defined text above and below a line
connected to the curve. Edit the label to change the text shown.

The Value Label

The value-label (Add Label with Value of the Current Curve option) displays the x/y coordi-
nates of the cross. The label is a text-label filled with the marked coordinates. Edit the label to
change the text.

The Gradient Label

The gradient-label (Add Gradient Label option) displays the value of the difference between
two x- resp. y-values (dx resp. dy) as well as the gradient (dy/dx) and the 1/dx value. The label is
a text-label filled with the marked coordinates. Edit the label to change the text.

The Format Label

The format-label (Add Label with definable format option) uses a form to print the displayed
text. The form can be selected as local for each label or a common label can be used for all plots
of the same type in the active project.

The Statistic Label

The statistic label (Add Statistic Label option) helps to analyse a curve, by labelling e.g. its
extrema.

The text box

The text box (Insert text box option) can be used to display text or tables anywhere in the plot.

More information regarding each labelling option is provided in the following sections.

The Text and Value Label

The text-label and the value-label are defined using the same object type, the VisValue. The VisValue
labels curves or graphics displayed in plots. The text of the label is written above and below a horizontal
line and the line is connected to the curve/graphic with a ’rubber band’.

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After creating labels, they can be freely dragged across the plot while staying connected to the data
point on the curve. To change the text of the label, double-click the label or the ’rubber band’. The edit
dialog of these (VisValue) object is depicted in Figure 8.0.14.

Figure 8.0.14: X/Y value dialog

Value

Value displays the connected curve position of the label. For labels created as a value-label this
position is displayed automatically as label text. “x-Axis” displays the x axis value and “y-Axis” the
y axis value. “Time” is visible only for plots showing a trajectory.

Text on Top

Text written above the horizontal line.

Text on Bottom

Text written below the horizontal line.

Delete Label when a new Simulation is started

Labels in plots showing simulation results are usually automatically deleted when the simulation
is started again. To keep labels in such plots, e.g. to compare curves with the last run, turn off
this option. The default of this option is on.

The Format Label

Like the text-label and value-label, the format-label (VisLabel) is also set in plots to label curves or
graphics. However, the format-label displays text printed using a form. The form is different for each
type of diagram. It is either defined locally per label or defined for all diagrams of the same type in the
activated project. The format-label dialog is shown in Figure 8.0.15.

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 Figure 8.0.15: The format-label dialog

Value

Value displays the connected curve position of the label. “x-Axis” displays the x axis value and
“y-Axis” the y axis value.

Data Object

“Data Object” is a reference to the object of which the plotted curve parameter is derived. If “Data
Object” is not set the label itself is taken as the “Shown Object”.

Shown Object

The object output by the form, see “Data Object” described above.

Edit Used Format

Shows the used “Format Manager”. The used format is either the local format or the one defined
for all plots of the same type in the active project.

Create Local Format

Creates a new “Format Manager” valid for the current label only. The forms can be edited without
influencing other labels in the same plot or in the active project. The “Create Local Format” button
is replaced by the “Set Default Format” when a local format is defined.

Set Default Format

Removes the local format. The format used is the one used for all plots of the same type in the
active project. The “Set Default Format” button is replaced by the “Create Local Format” when
the local format is reset.

Delete Label when a new Simulation is started

Labels in plots showing simulation results are usually automatically deleted when the simulation
is started again. To keep labels in such plots, e.g. to compare curves with the last run, turn off
this option. The default of this option is on.

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The context sensitive menu of the format labels provide access to further options. To access the context
sensitive menu, right-click on the format label. The following options can be selected:

Border

A simple border of the selected label can be turned on or off.

Form

The format options can be directly accessed by Edit used Format and Create Local Format for
the marked format label.

Reconnect with. . .

Reconnects the format label to another curve or data point.

The text box

The text box can be used to display text somewhere in the plot. The object type of the text box is VisText.

After creating the text box, it can freely be moved across the plot. To change its text or settings, double
click the text box and the dialog, shown in Figure 8.0.16 will open.

Figure 8.0.16: The text box dialog

Name

A name for the text box can be inserted, under which the object is saved (see . . . /Graphics
Board/NameOfTheVI/NameOfTheTextBox).

Text

Here a desired text can be entered. A table will be created, if the option Format as Table is
activated and the text is formatted as shown in Figure 8.0.16.

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 Settings

Activate/Deactivate the Moveable option to allow/prohibit the user to move the text box.

Frame

Display a simple frame (single solid line) around the text box and define the distance between the
edge of the frame and the text or hide the frame.

Format as Table

The inserted text will be formatted as a table, if the Format as Table option is activated and the
characters “-” and “|” are used in the form as shown in Figure 8.0.16. The horizontal and vertical
line types, i.e. the line width and the line style, can then be specified.

Statistic Labels

The statistic label function provides the possibility to label curves:

• Minimum or Maximum in the visible area of the plot

• Global Minima or Maxima

• Local Minima or Maxima
• Global Average

• Average of the visible area of the plot

• Energy of the visible area of the plot
The user has the possibility to add Statistic Labels in the following way:

• Select a curve in the plot. The Add Statistic Labels button becomes unlocked. Press this
button.
• In the opening window, choose one of the labels listed above.
• Activate Remove existing labels to delete all displayed labels of the chosen type and place new
labels at a predefined position. Otherwise the existing labels will be refreshed or missing ones will
be added.
• Confirm and close the window with Execute.
To remove statistic labels from a curve two possibilities are available:

• Possibility 1:
– Select one or more labels within the plot and press Del on the keyboard.

• Possibility 2:
– Select a curve, to which statistic labels are assigned. The button Delete Statistic Labels
becomes unlocked. Press this button.
– In the opening window all labels (see list above) are listed, but only labels, which are dis-
played in the plot, are selectable. Next to these the number of existing labels and lines (e.g.
horizontal line of the global maximum) in the plot is shown.
– Choose the labels that shall be deleted and press Execute.
The Constant Value

The constant label (VisXvalue) is used to display a straight line. The VisXvalue can be used to display
y-values for a constant x-quantity or x-values for a constant y-quantity. In some plots like the overcurrent
plot, constant labels are created and deleted automatically for certain simulations e.g. to visualise the
short-circuit current for relays.

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The look of constant labels can be varied with different settings including the label location, intersection
values and other options. The dialog of the constant label is depicted in Figure 8.0.17.

Figure 8.0.17: The constant label dialog

To insert a constant label into a diagram or plot, right-click on the plot and select the option Set constant
→ x-Value or Set constant → y-Value to place a constant x-value or a constant y-value respectively. The
dialog for the VisXvalue object will be displayed as shown in Figure 8.0.17 and a horizontal or vertical
line will be displayed at the value specified in the dialog.

There are different options and styles for the constant label:

Name defines the name of the constant line displayed in the plot.
Style changes the representation of the constant label as follows:
Line Only displays only the solid line and the related label.
Line with Intersections shows a solid line including label and indicates the values when inter-
sections with the curves of the plot.
Short Line Only (Left/Right indicates the constant value at the bottom/top respectively at the
right/left side of the plot.
Short Line/Intersection (Left/Right) indicates the constant value at the bottom/top respectively
at the right/left side of the plot and the intersections with curves.
Intersection Only shows only the intersection points with the curves.

Label defines the position of the constant value label as follows:

None displays no label at all.
Outside of Diagram creates the label between the border of the VI and the diagram area. Labels
of constant x values are created above the diagram area, labels of constant y values are
created right of the diagram area.
Above Line (right) shows a label above the line if y is constant, the label will be on the right hand
side.
Below Line (left) shows the label below the line on the left hand side.
Left of Line (top) shows a label on the left side of the line if x is constant, the label will be on the
top end.
Right of Line (bottom) shows the label right of the line on the bottom end.
Value defines the constant value, either X or Y. The dialog shows if either an X or Y is set. Also the
actual position of the cross will be shown as an x- or y-value. It is not possible to change a constant
X into a constant Y label other than by removing the old label and creating the new one.

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Colour specifies the colour of the line and the labels/intersections.
Linestyle and Width specifies the line style and line width for the line shown. Invisible if “Show Values”
is set to “Intersections Only”.

For constant x-values in time-overcurrent diagrams there exists additional options:

x-Value is Displays the type of current displayed. Visible only for constant x values in time overcurrent
diagrams.
Show Values The constant value can be displayed as a line, as intersections with the curves/graphics
or both. “Line Only” shows a vertical or horizontal line without labels for the intersections with the
curves. “Line with Intersection” creates crosses at the intersection of the line with the curves. For
constant x values the y value is displayed at the crossing and the other way round. The values
and their unit are coloured like the curve crossed.
Intersections Constant x values created automatically in the overcurrent plot are displaying the short-
circuit current. To get the tripping times “Intersections” can be set to SHC Currents. “All” would
display the intersection of the relay curve ignoring the type of current. Visible only for automatic
constant x values showing currents in the time overcurrent diagrams.
Set User Defined The button “Set user defined” is visible for constant values created by the short-
circuit in overcurrent plots. Labels showing this button display the short-circuit current. The labels
are deleted whenever a new short-circuit was calculated. If one wants to modify and keep the
label even if a new short-circuit was calculated the label must be changed to user defined.

The Straight Line

There are various ways of inserting lines into a plot. Another way is to insert a Straight line. To create a
straight line right-click on the plot background or on a marked point and select Straight line. The Straight
Line → . . . includes the following options:

Set Secant to add a line directly through the selected data point.
Through Point defines a graphic line through the selected data point with a defined gradient and gives
back the function of the line.
User Defined defines a line independent from the curves shown with a defined gradient and y-offset.
The function of the inserted line can also be seen, when holding the mouse arrow over the line for
1 second. The options of the line dialog is similar to the options for the constant value (VisXvalue).

Curve Filter

Curves shown in the plots and diagram can be filtered using the Curve Filter. The option Filter. . . from
the context sensitive menu displays the filters available to be applied to the data read from the result
object. Another way to access this function is from the “edit” dialog of the plot. Here the Filter. . . button
can be pressed. The Figure 8.0.18 shows the dialog of the function.

Figure 8.0.18: Defining a curve filter

The Curve Filter specifies the type of filter applied to the data read from the result object. This object
is a filter applied to curves in plots. There are different filter types available. The following filter settings
are available. (N=number of points in the original curve, K=number of points in the filtered curve)

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Disabled No filtering will be performed. K=N.

Average The filtered curve is the running average of the last n points. The first n-1 points are omitted.
K=N-n+1.

Balanced Average The filtered curve is the running average of the last (n-1)/2 points, the current point
and the next (n-1)/2 points. This filter thus looks ahead of time. The first and last (n-1)/2 values
are omitted, n must be an odd number. K=N-n+1.
Purge Points by averaging The filtered curve contains the averages of each block of n values. K=N/n.
This filter may be used to speed up the display of large curves.
Purge Points The filtered curve only contains every n-th value. All other values are omitted. K=N/n.
This filter may be used to speed up the display of large curves.

Note: A curve filter can only be applied at the end of the simulation or measurement, points added
during a simulation or measurement are not filtered. The option Filter. . . is not available in all
plots.

Border

• Off
• Simple

• 3D
• 3D with label

The border with 3-dimensional effect and label will insert an additional label on the bottom of the
selected plot. This label can now be defined by double-clicking on it. Furthermore the text style can be
altered by choosing the option Select Font for Border.

Export of Curve Graphic

The whole diagram or plot can also be exported for further usage in reports. First mark the plot which
is to be exported to a graphic file. Then select the option File → Export Graphic. . . → f rom the main
menu.

There is the selection between the export into a Windows MetaFile (*.wmf) or into a Bitmap File (*.bmp).

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Export of Curve Data

The export of curve data is available for a single VI or for the variables of the entire VI panel. Hence there
are different ways to access the “ASCII Results Export” command ComRes of curve data, described in
the following paragraph.

Exporting curves of a single VI:

• Press the Export. . . button on the right side of the dialog box of a virtual instrument.

• Right-click on the VI and select Export. . . from the context sensitive menu.
Exporting curves of the entire VI panel:

• Press the Export Results. . . button on the Results page of the VI panel.
• Right-click on an empty area of the VI panel and select Export Results. . . from the context
sensitive menu.

Note: If in one plot or on one VI panel variables are shown from several result objects, a dialog will
appear before the export command, where you have to select one result file from the list.

This function will export the data from the displayed curve with the given time range as ASCII text to the
following programs/files:
• Output Window

• Windows Clipboard
• Measurement File (ElmFile)
• ComTrade

• Textfile
In this dialog the individual step size can be set, the columns of the result file and the header for the
export as can be seen from Figure 8.0.19.

Figure 8.0.19: Command dialog of the ASCII result export

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Various VI Tools

Grid This option in the context sensitive menu displays a dialog to turn on/off the available grid lines.
For both x- and y-axis a main grid and a help grid can be displayed in the plots. Furthermore -
depending on the type of plot - the representation of the different ticks on the axes can also be
specified.
Autoscale X, Autoscale Y Changes the autoscale settings of the plot. Off turns the auto-scale mode
off. On performs an auto-scale at the end of the simulation or calculation. Online is available in
simulation plots only and tests the plot limits after each new simulation point.These settings can
also be defined in the “edit” dialog of the x- and y-axes.
x-Scale(s), y-Scale(s) There are two options in the x-scale or y-scale entry. Edit displays a dialog to
modify the scale settings like minimum, maximum and other settings. Scale Automatic calculates
the minimum and maximum of the curve and adapts the scale limits.These settings can also be
defined in the “edit” dialog of the x- and y-axes or by double-clicking on the corresponding axis.
Show dx/dy Right-click on data point on a curve and select Show dx/dy from the menu. The two lines
will appear, which are connected to the tip of the mouse pointer. A balloon window will show the x-
and y-difference between the selected data point and the point where the tip of the mouse pointer
is in the diagram. Additionally the gradient is displayed.

8.0.5 User-Defined Styles

Each VI panel, each virtual instrument and every single plot uses a style where line-widths, fonts,
brushes and other graphical settings are defined. These objects normally use predefined styles. In
PowerFactory there are six predefined styles available:

• Default - Standard English Text and Symbols

• Gr Default - Greek Symbols

• Tr Default - Turkish Symbols
• Paper
• Gr Paper

• Tr Paper

These styles can be modified for all VIs or only for single plots. For this user-defined styles can easily
be created and specified. The base for an user defined style is always the previous default style.

There are several ways to select a predefined or user-defined style or change between the available
styles.

• The easiest way is using the list-box in the toolbar by clicking and selecting one of the available
styles.
• A style can be selected from the Style → Select Style→ . . . in the context sensitive menu of the
VI.

• A style is selected in the VI-Style list-box on the Advanced page of the VI Panel dialog.

The user-defined styles are stored in the settings folder element of the active project. Therefore each
project has its own ∖ Settings ∖ Styles ∖... path and user defined styles. Only the changed elements are
stored in the project, the unchanged ones are the ones predefined in the default style.

The settings folder elements can be seen in the database in Figure 8.0.20.

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 Figure 8.0.20: The settings folder in the database

Defining Styles for the VI Panel The Style → Create new Style option in the context sensitive menu
of the VI panel SetVipage or every plot on the panel is selected to create a new style for the actual
virtual instrument panel. Insert a name for the style to be created in the input dialog. Then the new style
is added to the predefined styles and is automatically selected for the current VI panel. The created
style is not set automatically in other VI panels of the project.

If a user-defined style is selected for the current VI panel, the Style → Edit Style option of the context
sensitive menu of the panel may be selected to open the dialog of the new panel style. Figure 8.0.21
shows the dialog for editing the layout of the panel.

Figure 8.0.21: Editing the panel style

With the settings shown in Figure 8.0.21, mainly the layout of the title block of the VI panel is edited.
Here the user can define

• the different font styles for the various entries of the block by clicking on the buttons
• the height and the width of the columns of the title block
• the line width of the title block and of the page frame

Defining Styles for the Virtual Instruments

There is the possibility to define the x- and y-axis of the plots inside on one page. These settings then
are valid every plot on panels using this style.

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To change the styles, right-click on a virtual instrument on the panel and select the option Style → Edit
Style in the context menu. Then a dialog will pop up containing the settings for
• all x-axis of VIs using this style

• all y-axis
• the selected object VIsplot
Double-click on the object which is to be changed. As shown in figures 8.0.22, the dialog of the selected
axis will be opened and can then be modified.

Figure 8.0.22: Editing the styles of X-axis

In the dialog the following settings of the axes can be specified for the selected style:
Axis Here the style and width of the axis itself can be changed. Also the number of small ticks shown
between the divisions can be chosen.
Text The number of characters and the digits behind the decimal point as well as the font type and size
can be specified.
Distance between Axis and Text

Arrow The representation can be altered between the normal style and a style with an arrow at the end
of the axis with a certain width and length of its tip.
Defining Styles for Single Plots In addition to the axes the presentation of the plot itself can be
chosen by the user. These settings can be accessed through the dialog shown in 8.0.23 and then
double-clicking on the settings of the VisPlot object.

Another and simpler way to change the settings of the style is to directly select the option Style →
Edit Style of clicked Element from the context sensitive menu. These are the same dialogs shown in
Figure 8.0.23 and can directly be accessed by right-clicking on the
• x-axis in the plot to access the settings of the x-axis
• y-axis in the plot to access the settings of the y-axis
• on the plot itself to access the settings plot style, i.e. the grid, legend, etc.

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 Figure 8.0.23: Editing the settings of the plot

Figure 8.0.23 shows all different settings available for the plots on a VI panel. Thus one can:
Grid Options to alter the width, line style and colour of the main grid and the help grid.
Legend Edit the distances from the legend to axis and between the different legends.

Margins Set spaces between the diagram and the surroundings.

Saving Predefined Styles for Plots

If the settings of the x- and y-axis, of the plot itself as well as the size of a particular plot shall be saved
and then reused for further plots, there is the option Style → Save as predefined VI from the context
menu of every plot or VI.

This option saves the setting of the plot and stores a new VI in the list of all VIs. Hence if adding a plot
the newly created VI can now be selected from the list by pressing the icon and selecting the e.g.
NewName(VisPlot) from the pull down list or by using the option Create VI → . . . from the context menu
of theSetVipage to add new virtual instruments to the VI panel. The new empty subplots appear with
new defined settings.

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Chapter 9

Analysis Functions

The analysis functions help processing the data in the COMTRADE files. You can access the Analysis
Functions using the menu Analysis → Analysis Functions...

A new window appears, as shown in Figure 9.0.1.

Figure 9.0.1: Analysis Functions Wizard

You can select an existing analysis function (Start an existing analysis function) or create a new one
(Create a new analysis function).

If you select the option Start an existing analysis function, a drop down list will show you the available
analysis functions in your project. By default, these are located in the folder Functions, in the study
case. This folder is specified in the Project Settings → Folders→ Functions (for more information refer
to chapter 12.1). DPL scripts can also be copied to the Functions folder and executed via the Analysis
menu.

If you select the option Create a new analysis function, the list below will show you the possible types
of analysis functions available (e.g. Histogram), and you can specify a name. Click on OK to finalise.

9.1 Histogram Function

The Histogram function is one of the possible analysis functions that you can create to process the data
in the COMTRADE files. It allows creating a histogram on any measured variable for a certain time
range, even if multiple COMTRADE files are available during this time range.

After creating a histogram analysis function, you can access it using the menu Analysis. Click on the

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CHAPTER 9. ANALYSIS FUNCTIONS

name of the histogram function, and a new window will appear, as shown in Figure 9.1.1.

Figure 9.1.1: Histogram

You can configure the time range where the histogram should be calculated (Calculation Time Range),
including multiple days if necessary.

In the Configuration field, you can define the System and the Analysed Signal. You should also specify
the Nominal Value of the selected signal, as well as the histogram limits (Low Limit and High Limit).
The field Settings allows the configuration of the Step Size and Range to be shown in the histogram.

Finally, the output can include the following options:

• Draw Limit Lines: includes the limits as x-axis constants as defined in the field Limits.

• Draw case steps: plots the histogram curve with steps instead of a continuous curve.
• Generate Daily Flow Plot: adds a plot below the histogram showing the analysed signal during the
time range selected for analysis.

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Chapter 10

Power Quality

10.1 Introduction

Electric power quality refers to the characteristics of voltage, frequency and waveform of electric power
being generated, transmitted or distributed. The measure of quality may for example be determined
by demanding that the variation of supply voltage must stay within a given range, or that its harmonic
content does not exceed a given margin; these requirements must typically be met by a specified
fraction of the measured data that is collected over the course of a prolonged time of observation.

10.1.1 Conformity

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module has been designed to perform analyses conforming to
the german/european standard DIN EN 50160:2010[1]. Presets are included for the low, medium and
high voltage-level domains, as both synchronous and offshore variants.

10.1.1.1 Omissions from EN 50160

Although the application aims to completely cover the DIN 50160:2010 standard, two areas of analysis
specified therein are not supported:
• mains signalling voltage on the power supply
• rapid voltage changes.

10.1.2 Interoperability

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module is designed to work with data produced by DIgSILENT
PFM300 monitoring devices. The measured data is aggregated using the SyncService that is part of
the DIgSILENT Master Station tools.

10.2 Quick Start

This section gives a brief overview of the handling of the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module.
Its intention is to provide you with a first picture of the mode of operation; please refer to the following
sections for a detailed description of all features.

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10.2.1 Prerequisites

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module application is closely connected to other DIgSILENT
products: it reads and analyses the data produced by DIgSILENT PFM300 monitoring devices and
integrates with the DIgSILENT Master Station tools.

10.2.1.1 Required data files

In order to make use of the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module, you need to have access to
measured data as produced by the DIgSILENT PFM300 monitoring device. The device should have
been set up to produce the power quality data files as indicated in Table 10.2.1.

File type Description

PQ2_* 10 second aggregated data (grid frequency)
PQ5_* 10 minute aggregated data
PQ6_* 2 hour aggregated data

Table 10.2.1: Required PowerQuality data files.

The data is normally produced over at least 24 hours, though more commonly over the course of several
days or weeks. The recommended way to transfer the data from a DIgSILENT PFM300 monitoring
device to your workstation is by using the SyncService provided as part of the DIgSILENT Master
Station tools.

10.2.2 Launching the Power Quality Module

The main application window will present itself as shown in Figure 10.2.1.

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2 4 5 6

Figure 10.2.1: The report module window. See the main text for an explanation of the marked control
elements.

10.2.3 Generating a report

The general workflow in order to perform a power quality analysis and to produce a report is as follows:
1. Locate the data;
2. perform a scan over the data;
3. choose the signal to analyse;
4. finally, run the analysis.
Some of these steps may run automatically once the preceding actions have been carried out; this
can be configured through the Options menu (see 10.4.1.3). The below description assumes that the
actions are triggered manually by the user.

10.2.3.1 Locating the data

When configured properly, PowerFactory will supply the location where the SyncService has collected
and stored the data to the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module. The data will be organised in
subfolders, one for each station that you are receiving data for. Select the station whose data you would
like to analyse from the station control 1 .

Providing a data source in this manner will enable the Scan-button 2 .

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10.2.3.2 Scanning through the data

Press the Scan-button 2 . The application will now walk through all files and subdirectories belonging
to the data source and decide which of these files to consider for further processing. Towards the end
of the scan process, all COMTRADE configuration files discovered during the scan will be read and
examined.

The scan process is accompanied by a progress indicator. It may take a while to complete, and you can
cancel it at any time by pressing the Stop-button.

10.2.3.3 Choosing the signal to analyse

Usually, the scan process will have discovered one or more signals that can now be analysed. Choose
which of these signals you want to analyse by selecting it from the drop-down list labelled Signal 3 .

After making a selection, the Run-button 4 on the lower button bar will become enabled.

10.2.3.4 Running the analysis

Press the Run-button to start the analysis. A number of analyser routines will now be run one after
another. Just as with the scan process, this may take a while, and you can abort the analysis at any
time by pressing Stop.

As soon as the analysis finishes, a report will be generated and displayed in the right half of the
application window. The two navigation buttons 5 6 on the far right of the button bar allow you to
scroll through the report.

If you wish to save a permanent copy of the report, you can do so by selecting File → Export PDF. . .
from the main menu at the top of the application window.

10.3 Concepts

This section introduces the basic concepts of power quality analysis as performed by the DIgSILENT
Power Quality Report Module and explains the assumptions made in interpreting the DIN EN 50160
standard. Some familiarity with the standard may be helpful in order to understand the topics of this
chapter, but it is not necessarily assumed.

10.3.1 Power Quality Analysis according to DIN EN 50160

10.3.1.1 Voltage-level domains and kinds of data

The regulations in the DIN EN 50160 standard [1] are divided into three categories, according to the
different voltage-level domains:
• Low voltage (the domain up to 1 kV),
• medium voltage (ranging between 1 kV and 36 kV) and

• high voltage (above 36 kV and up to 150 kV).

The measuring methods described by the standard are similar for all of the three voltage levels, differing
mainly in the exact specification of the ranges within which conforming signals are expected to reside.

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In each domain, two kinds of data are being analysed:

• Signal data—sampled values from a continuous data source, describing the temporal evolution of
the supply voltage or derived quantities, such as harmonic waveform content; and

• events related to the quality of service of the voltage supply, describing irregularities such as
voltage drops or interruptions.

10.3.1.2 Signal data analysis

Signal values are being recorded over the course of a prolonged observation period (usually, several
days or weeks) and are then subjected to a statistical analysis. The analysis rule will generally define
two value ranges:
1. an inner range, 𝑅1 = (min1 , max1 ), and
2. an outer range, 𝑅2 = (min2 , max2 ),

where the outer range encompasses the inner range (such that 𝑅1 ⊂ 𝑅2.) For the inner range, a
corresponding period of time 𝑇 is defined along with a ratio (or percentage) value 𝑝1 . With these
parameters, the criterion for passing the analysis states that the following two assertions must hold:

1. For each time interval 𝐼 of length 𝑇 contained within the observation period, at least the fraction
𝑝1 of all signal values belonging to 𝐼 must reside within 𝑅1 .
2. All signal values within the observation period must reside within 𝑅2 .

Table 10.3.1 summarises the parameters relevant to signal analysis.

Value range Time period Fraction of values to reside within range

𝑅1 𝑇 ≥ 𝑝1
𝑅2 whole period of observation all values

Table 10.3.1: Typical parameters for signal analysis.

10.3.1.3 Event analysis

While events come in different types according to the phenomenon they describe, they share two
common features:

1. The duration of the phenomenon associated with the event;

2. a classification value describing some associated magnitude (in the case of a voltage drop event
for instance, this would be the residual voltage).

Using these two attributes, the analysis will classify all events of a certain type that occurred during the
observation period. The classification is parameterised by

1. a series of duration bounds (0 ≤ 𝑑1 < . . . < 𝑑𝑛 ≤ ∞) and

2. a series of value bounds (𝑣1 < . . . < 𝑣𝑚 ≤ ∞),
partitioning the duration domain as well as the value domain into consecutive (half-open) intervals 𝐷𝑖 =
[𝑑𝑖 ,𝑑𝑖+1 ) and 𝑉𝑖 = [𝑣𝑖 ,𝑣𝑖+1 ). The result of the analysis is the mapping of pairs (𝐷𝑖 ,𝑉𝑗 ) to the number of
events with duration in 𝐷𝑖 and value in 𝑉𝑗 that occurred during the observation period. This mapping
will be displayed as outlined in Table 10.3.2.

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𝐷1 𝐷2 ... 𝐷𝑛−1
𝑉1
𝑉2
..
.
𝑉𝑚−1

Table 10.3.2: Outline of a classification table.

In contrast to the signal value analysis, the result of the event analysis is merely informational; no criteria
for passing are stated.

10.3.1.4 Validity of signal data

Events generally indicate an extraordinary situation during which the signal data that is being recorded
may not be accurate or even meaningful. Therefore the data values affected by the event are not
subjected to analysis, and do not contribute to either passing or failing the test.

Signal data values recorded in presence of a voltage event will be annotated (“flagged”) accordingly.

10.3.2 Implementation by the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module

10.3.2.1 Data coverage

Gaps in signal and event data may occur for a number of reasons and become more likely the longer
the period of observation extends. Since power quality analysis should still be possible even in the
presence of gaps, missing data is handled according to section 10.3.1.4 and does not contribute to test
criteria.

The extent to which missing data influences the validity of the report has to be assessed by its recipient.
In order to facilitate this assessment, the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module will generally report
coverage values for all data used during analysis.

10.3.2.2 Sweep checks

The criterion for passing the signal data analysis stated in section 10.3.1.2 must hold for any time
interval enclosed by the observation period. Practically, this means that all relevant time intervals have
to be examined.

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module performs this examination by running a sweep algorithm
over the data, scanning for time intervals consistent with the test parameters which contain values that
do not meet the criterion. The interval exhibiting the worst level of compliance to the criterion is then
reported.

10.3.2.3 Presentation of signal analysis results

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module structures the signal data analysis results as follows:

1. Overall results: an overall assessment indicating passing or failure;

2. Results per time period: analysis results broken down into time intervals of length equal to the
time period parameter 𝑇 (cf. section 10.3.1.2), each time interval being annotated by a coverage
value;

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3. Sweep analysis: results of the sweep analysis as described in 10.3.2.2;

4. Histogram and time series: graphical representations of the input data as charts.

Since the sweep analysis (3) scans all possible intervals, but the results per time period (2) pertain only
to particular intervals, the sweep analysis can be expected to report a compliance percentage that is
lower than or equal to the percentages reported for the results per time period.

Influence of coverage on analysis results In the presence of incomplete data (with coverage values
less than 100%), the sweep analysis result can be misleading, since even intervals populated very
sparsely by measurement data will be taken into account. It is the responsibility of the report’s recipient
to spot and properly interpret these irregularities.

Passing criterion The overall result will be marked as passing if (and only if) each of the results per
time period as well as the sweep analysis passed.

10.3.2.4 Customisation of analysis parameters

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module provides for the adjustment of the analysis parameters
mentioned in 10.3.1, making it possible to deviate from the exact wording of the DIN EN 50160:2010
standard in order to take local regulations or contractual agreements into account. In any case the
analysis parameters used will be identified in the report. The recipient of the report should carefully
examine whether the parameters match the contractual or legal requirements.

10.4 User Interface

This section gives a complete description of the user interface. At a first glance, it exhibits the following
structure (see Figure 10.4.1):

• At the very top, the menu bar (see section 10.4.1);

• a configuration area with two rows of buttons that allow switching between different configuration
sections (section 10.4.2);
• the report preview area (section 10.4.3);

• a button bar on the bottom of the main window containing the main action buttons labelled “Stop”,
“Scan” and “Run” (section 10.4.4.)

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Configuration area Report preview

Button bar

Figure 10.4.1: Structure of the main application window.

The user interface features a context sensitive help facility; press F1 at any time to bring up the
documentation (this document) and open it at the position most relevant to the element of the user
interface that is currently focused.

10.4.1 The menu bar

10.4.1.1 The File menu

The File menu offers the following items.

New configuration from template. . . This function allows the creation of a new configuration. Click-
ing on the menu item opens a dialog (Figure 10.4.2) that prompts for selection of a configuration
template. Provided are templates that configure the analysers according to the requirements of DIN
EN 50160, in the three voltage-level domains (low, medium and high voltage) as both synchronous and
offshore variants, for a total of six different templates.

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Figure 10.4.2: The new configuration dialog.

More templates may be added to this dialog; see chapter 10.5 for more information.

Open configuration. . . Clicking on this menu item opens a file selector box that allows the selection
of a configuration file (in XML format). On selection, the configuration is loaded and applied.

Save configuration. . . Saves the current configuration. A file selector dialog will open, prompting for
a location to save the configuration to.

Save configuration as default. . . This function behaves similar to the Save configuration. . . function,
except that the default configuration location is preselected. Saving the configuration under this default
name causes the saved configuration to be loaded and applied automatically at each application start.

Export PDF. . . This menu item becomes available as soon as a report has been generated. After
prompting for a save location, the report as presented in the preview will be saved as a PDF file.

Export XML. . . This menu item is also only available after the report has been created. It will save
the information contained in the report in an XML format; the intention is to provide an interface to
subsequent processing of the analysis results by external applications.

Quit Closes the application.

10.4.1.2 The Configuration menu

Reset configuration Reverts the current state of configuration options to the one that has been most
recently loaded. The user will be asked for confirmation.

Initialise configuration Initialises the application state to factory defaults.

Enable all analysers This function activates all analysers, saving you from manually going through
the different configuration sections and activating each analyser individually.

Disable all analysers Deactivates all analysers at once.

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Set common timeframe This menu item opens a sub-menu that presents the three time frames used
in analyser configuration: day, week and year. Clicking one of the sub-menu items will set the time
frame parameter for all analysers to the selected value.

10.4.1.3 The Options menu

Auto scan When this menu item is checked, a scan will be performed every time a new source
directory is selected. This is also triggered by choosing a station when in master station mode (field 2
of Figure 10.4.3.)

Auto run Checking this menu item indicates that the DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module should
start generating a report as soon as the selected signal has changed, for instance, by explicitly selecting
a signal through the drop-down selection (control 4 of Figure 10.4.3.)

Scan at startup If this menu item is checked, a scan will execute immediately after startup. This
assumes that the data source is properly set up at startup time.

Show progress dialog Leave this menu item checked if you prefer a modal progress dialog over the
progress bar display at the bottom of the main window. The advantage of the progress dialog is that it
is probably easier to interpret for the average user.

10.4.1.4 The Tools menu

Inspector Opens the inspector window, giving access to all available signal data. See section 10.4.5
for details on how to use the inspector.

10.4.1.5 The Help menu

The help menu provides access to various chapters of this document. Choosing an item from this menu
will launch the default PDF viewer for your system and instruct it to open the documentation at the
appropriate location.

10.4.2 The configuration area

The configuration area covers the left half of the application window. Access to the different configuration
sections is provided through the two rows of buttons at the top (cf. Figure 10.4.1.)

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5
4
6

Figure 10.4.3: General configuration. See the main text for an explanation of the annotated control
elements.

10.4.2.1 General settings

Clicking the “General"-button brings up the general settings section, as shown in Figure 10.4.3. The
individual controls are explained below.

Station selection All stations for which the SyncService has collected measurement data are made
available through the station control 1 . Select the station whose data you want to analyse.

Signal selection After having selected a proper data source, a scan can be initiated (see section
10.2.3.2 for an example workflow.) As soon as the scan completes, all signal sources that have been
found will be listed in the Signal drop-down box 2 . From there, you can choose the signal which you
would like to analyse.

Setting the time zone Points in time—either specified by the user or printed in the power quality
report—are always stated relative to a common time zone. The Time zone control 3 allows you to
select that time zone by choosing its temporal offset relative to GMT.

Since the DIgSILENT PFM300 device stores the time zone at the time of recording together with the
data, it is possible to use that time zone information instead. To use the time zone information that
comes with the recorded data, check “Set time zone from data”.

Defining the observation period Finally, the observation period for which the analysis should be
performed can be set using the “Observation period” controls 4 . It can be set with microsecond
precision, either manually by providing start and end time, or semi-automatically, selecting one of a

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number of predefined durations 5 and optionally fixing the upper bound to the present day by selecting
the “Today”-button 6 . The state of the “Today”-button will also be saved as part of the configuration.

10.4.2.2 Events

The general configuration area for event analysis is shown in Figure 10.4.4a.

1 1

(a) Events (b) Voltage dips

Figure 10.4.4: General events and voltage dips configuration interfaces.

The only configurable option is controlled by the Time frame selector 1 . This selection governs the
duration of the time intervals that the observation period will be partitioned into during coverage analysis.
Selectable options are day, week and year, meaning that the observation period will be partitioned into
consecutive days, weeks or years respectively, and that coverage values will be computed for each unit
of partitioning.

10.4.2.3 Voltage Dips

The analyser configuration for voltage dip events is shown in Figure 10.4.4b.

The first configuration option labelled “Enable this analyser” 1 is used to enable or disable the voltage
dips analysis as a whole.

The two controls “Duration bounds” and “Value bounds” 3 allow the input of the corresponding param-
eter lists as explained in section 10.3.1.3. These bounds define the two-dimensional category domains
used for classification.

As long as the analyser is enabled, classification will be performed; however the display of the resulting
table can be enabled or disabled by selecting or deselecting the “Show classification” checkbox 2 .

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The events that were found to be inside the classification bounds may also be listed as part of the report;
this is be enabled or disabled using the “Show list of events” checkbox. The list can be sorted according
to one of the keys presented by the “Sort list by” drop-down box, either in ascending or descending
order 4 .

10.4.2.4 Voltage Swells

The analysis of voltage swell events can be configured as shown in Figure 10.4.5a.

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

(a) Voltage swells (b) Voltage interruptions

Figure 10.4.5: Configuration of the voltage swells and voltage interruptions analysers.

The configuration follows the same pattern as the voltage dips configuration (see above):
• The analyser may be activated by checking the corresponding checkbox 1 ;
• classification results are included in the report only if checkbox 2 is checked;

• duration and value bounds are defined using the list inputs 3 ;
• finally, the list display is configured using the controls 4 .

10.4.2.5 Interruptions

Analysis of voltage interruptions is configured as shown in Figure 10.4.5b. The controls are situated
analogous to the other voltage event analysers described previously. The configuration allows to enable
or disable the analyser 1 , to enable or disable the printing of classification results 2 , the definition of
domain bounds 3 , and the adjustment of event list display 4 .

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10.4.2.6 Grid Frequency

Click the button labelled “Frequency” to bring up the grid frequency analyser configuration, as shown in
Figure 10.4.6a.

4 5

8 8

10

(a) Grid frequency (b) Voltage changes

Figure 10.4.6: Grid frequency and voltage changes configurations.

Most of the configuration options for the grid frequency analyser also appear for the other signal
analysers. They are explained here in more detail, so that later sections documenting similar options
may simply refer to the explanations made here.

Analyser activation and charts display All signal analysers may be enabled or disabled by checking
or unchecking the checkbox labelled “Activate this analyser" 1 .

Both a time series and a histogram chart may be computed in order to visualise the signal data. The
user can determine which of these should be included in the report by checking the appropriate check
boxes 2 .

Time series configuration

Resolution The input data to signal analysis that is usually collected over a prolonged period of time
is not immediately suitable for display as a time series. Instead, the data is concentrated by computing
mean values from neighbouring points. The total number of points that should be the result of data
concentration—that is, the number of points that should be displayed in the time series—can be set
through the “Resolution” input 3 .

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Outlier data Computing mean values will of course smooth the displayed curve, likely eliminating
spikes which may otherwise be of interest. This is particularly the case for data points that lie outside of
the expected range (i.e., the outer range 𝑅2 as explained in section 10.3.1.2.) These outlier data points
can be preserved by checking the “Keep outlier data” checkbox 4 . Outlier data will only be kept in the
manner described as long as the total number of outlier points does not exceed the resolution value 3 .

Flagged values Flagged values are those that were recorded during the occurrence of a voltage event
and may not be accurate (cf. section 10.3.1.4.) Selecting “Include flagged values” 5 will include these
values into the time series display; otherwise, flagged values will be omitted, leaving gaps in the display.

Histogram configuration By default, the histogram domain will be scaled to include the whole value
range. You may supply your own domain bounds by checking the “Domain override” checkbox and
entering start and end bounds for the domain. The report will include a notice stating how many data
points lie outside the histogram domain and are not included in the display.

Analysis parameters The inner and outer ranges, as well as the time frame (cf. section 10.3.1.2) are
configured using the controls 7 and 8 . Here, “Range 1” denotes the inner range 𝑅1 and “Range 2”
denotes the outer range 𝑅2 of 10.3.1.2. The percentage parameter 𝑝1 that is also explained in 10.3.1.2
may be set using the “Range 1 Percentage” control 9 .

Inspector As soon as input data is present—that is, after a Scan has been executed—the data
becomes available for inspection and the button “Inspect data” 10 becomes enabled. Clicking it will
open the inspector window. See section 10.4.5 for a description.

10.4.2.7 Voltage

The voltage changes analyser options are pictured in Figure 10.4.6b. Except for the range configuration
8 , all other options are identical to those of the grid frequency analyser and are explained in detail in

section 10.4.2.6.

The range configuration 8 differs in that it expects the specification of voltages as multipliers applied
to the nominal voltage, instead of absolute values; the nominal voltage in turn is determined from the
input data.

10.4.2.8 Flicker

Figure 10.4.7a shows the flicker analyser configuration. With the exception of the range specification
8 , the options are identical to the ones already described.

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8 8

(a) Flicker (b) Voltage unbalance

Figure 10.4.7: Configuration of the flicker and voltage unbalance analysers.

The range configuration is reduced to one single input labelled “Maximum value” 8 . Using the terminol-
ogy of section 10.3.1.2, the configuration assumes a lower bound for the inner range of min1 = 0, such
that 𝑅1 = (0, max1 ). Additionally, no outer range is specified, implying that for this particular analysis
any assertions referring to the outer range 𝑅2 in the criterion of section 10.3.1.2 are simply disregarded.

10.4.2.9 Unbalance

The unbalance analyser options are shown in Figure 10.4.7b. Again, all options except the range
specification 8 have already been described in section 10.4.2.6.

Similar to what has been said in 10.4.2.8, the range configuration here as well consists only of a single
“Maximum value” input 8 .

10.4.2.10 Harmonics

Compared to the other analysers, the harmonics analyser features a more elaborate configuration. See
Figures 10.4.8a and 10.4.8b.

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4 5

16
7

11
12

14

15

13
9

10

(a) General settings and order selection (b) Amplitudes and pass percentage

Figure 10.4.8: Configuration of the harmonics analyser.

A number of controls are identical to the ones used in other signal analysers: the activate checkbox 1 ,
the time series configuration 3 4 5 , the histogram configuration 6 , the time frame selection 7 , the
percentage input 9 and the inspector button 10 . Please refer to section 10.4.2.6 where these options
are explained in detail (using the same numbering.)

Total harmonic distortion Check the “Analyse THDS” checkbox 11 to perform analysis on the THDS1
signal data.

The computation and display of time series and histogram charts for THDS data can be activated or
deactivated using the respective checkboxes 12 .

Single harmonics Check the orders of the single harmonic signals for which the analysis should be
performed 13 .

The drop-down box 14 allows a quick selection of certain subsets of harmonic orders:
• None,
• prime numbers up to 23,
• all odd numbers,
• all harmonics up to the 25th ,
• all prime numbers,
• all harmonic orders.
1 THDS stands for total harmonic distortion subgroups.

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The computation and display of time series and histogram charts for single harmonics data can be
controlled through the respective checkboxes 15 .

Range specification The maximum harmonic content ranges 𝑅1 (the inner ranges according to
10.3.1.2; no outer range analysis is performed) are specified separately for the individual harmonic
orders as well as the total harmonic distortion. Use the input fields 16 to enter the range upper bounds
for the corresponding harmonic orders or the total harmonic distortion respectively. All values given are
interpreted as percentages relative to the fundamental harmonic amplitude.

10.4.3 The report preview

As soon as the report has been generated (usually, as a consequence of the user starting the generation
process by pressing the “Run”-button), a preview of the report will rendered on the right half of the
application window. See Figure 10.4.9.

Report preview

1 2

Figure 10.4.9: The report preview and associated control buttons.

The user can now browse the report using the two navigation buttons 1 and 2 , scrolling forwards and
backwards through the pages.

To quickly jump to a particular section of the report, double-click on one of the buttons 3 that select the
configuration sections. The preview will then update and display the appropriate report section.

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10.4.4 The button bar

Use the three centre buttons on the button bar ( 1 , 2 and 3 in Figure 10.4.10) to start and control the
main work sequences of the application.

1 2 3 4 5

Figure 10.4.10: The button bar.

10.4.4.1 Scanning

After selecting a suitable data source (see section 10.2.3.1 for an example), the “Scan”-button 2

becomes enabled. Click the button to start scanning over the input data.

Executing a scan will have the following effects:

• The application will walk through all files contained in the data source, and recursively through all
contained subdirectories, looking for files that contain signal or event log data. The signal names
are collected and presented to the user (in control 2 of Figure 10.4.3.)
• The “Run”-button 3 becomes enabled.

10.4.4.2 Running the analysis

Press the “Run”-button 3 to start the analysis. This will cause the individual analysers to run succes-
sively. After analysis completes, the report is generated. It is made available in two formats:

1. As a printed document (a preview is shown in the preview area); and

2. as an XML document.
Both formats contain identical information. They can both be retrieved and saved through the File →
Export PDF. . . and File → Export XML. . . menu items (see section 10.4.1.1.)

10.4.4.3 Interrupting a process

The currently executing process started by Scan or Run can be stopped at any time by pressing the
“Stop”-button 1 .

10.4.4.4 Navigation buttons

The navigation buttons labelled with a forward 4 and backward 5

symbol respectively allow to scroll
through the preview, as described in section 10.4.3.

10.4.5 The Inspector

The inspector is either opened from the Tools menu (section 10.4.1.4) or from the signal configuration
user interface (as described in section 10.4.2.6). It is shown in Figure 10.4.11.

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CHAPTER 10. POWER QUALITY

2 3 4 5

Figure 10.4.11: The inspector window.

The inspector is intended as a quickly accessible tool in order to examine input data for peculiarities
that may appear in a report.

10.4.5.1 User interface

Signal selection Select the signal whose values should be displayed from the signal selection control
1 .

Table view Each row of the table will display one signal value:
• Column 2 shows the time stamp of the signal value;
• column 3 shows the original hexadecimal value as it appeared in the COMTRADE file;

• column 4 shows the derived real value; and

• column 5
shows any event flags affecting the signal at the respective point in time.

Menu The menu contains the single menu item “Open Comtrade. . . ”; clicking it will open a file selector
and prompt the user to select a COMTRADE configuration file. Selecting a COMTRADE file will cause
its contents to be displayed in the inspector.

10.5 Advanced topics and customisation

This section contains advanced topics which normally should not concern the regular user.

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 10.5. ADVANCED TOPICS AND CUSTOMISATION

10.5.1 Running in standalone mode

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module is a Java application that is packaged in an executable
JAR file. In addition to launching from PowerFactory, it can be started as well in standalone mode
by double-clicking on the JAR file (usually called pqapp.jar) or by starting it from the command line
(java -jar pqapp.jar.)

The JAR file is self-contained, having no external dependencies. It needs a Java 8 runtime to execute
(exactly version 8 is required; neither 7 nor 9 will work.)

10.5.1.1 Command line options

The DIgSILENT Power Quality Report Module currently accepts the following command line option:
• --root=’<path>’: switch to master station mode, setting path as the root data directory
containing the station subfolders.
• --doc=’<path>’: set the path to the help document.

10.5.2 Customising the appearance of the printed report

PDF generation is performed through XSLT-FO. The template file used for printing is contained within
the pqapp.jar file and is called /print.xsl. In order to customise the generated PDF, the template
file may be replaced by an edited version.

10.5.3 Adding configuration templates

The pqapp.jar file contains a subdirectory called /config-templates under which the configura-
tion templates are collected. You may add your own configuration templates to this location.

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Chapter 11

ComTrade Files

11.1 ComTrade Import

PowerFactory offers the possibility to import COMTRADE files manually or automatically, as explained
in the following sections.

11.1.1 Automatic Import

The automatic import of COMTRADE files can be done by clicking the icon or via File → Refresh
COMTRADE Files.

All COMTRADE files located in the folder specified under the menu register File → Project Settings→
Data Path, are imported. For more information refer to chapter 12.1

11.1.2 Manual Import

The manual import of COMTRADE files can be done by clicking the icon or using the menu register
File → Import COMTRADE Files.... A new window appears, as shown in Figure 11.1.1.

Figure 11.1.1: Manual Import of COMTRADE Files

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CHAPTER 11. COMTRADE FILES

The option Selected File restricts the import to a single file, while All Files in folder allows specifying a
location from where all COMTRADE files should be imported. In addition, the Destination Folder can
be selected. By default, this is located under Data → Individual Data.

After the configuration of the options has taken place, the user can click Execute to start the import
process.

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Chapter 12

Project Settings

12.1 Power Factory Monitoring settings page

The project settings are accessed via the icon . When the button is clicked, a new window, as
shown in Figure 12.1.1, appears. The dialog opens in the PFM page, which has three main Tabs on
top: General, Sync-Service and Folders. The rest of the pages are not relevant for the Master Station
profile.

Figure 12.1.1: Project Settings

12.1.1 General settings page

The General tab offers the possibility to change the project name and the type of PFM system con-
figuration settings which are being used for the measurement analysis (Master Station, Local Access
Station or None).

The path where the COMTRADE data is located can be configured under Data Path, and the synchro-
nisation of the measurement files and PowerFactory can be configured to occur automatically or via the

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CHAPTER 12. PROJECT SETTINGS

PFM SyncService (see Chapter 15 for SyncService configuration). There is also an option to turn off
the synchronisation if necessary.

Note: Before being able to configure and use the SyncService, it is necessary to install the service
from the PFM Master Station Tools CD described in Chapter 14

The settings to import measurement files can be limited using the option Maximum Number of Files.
Once the file limit has been reached, no more files will be copied. Old files have to be deleted to
continue the copying process.

There is an additional possibility to configure Restricted Import, depending on the time when the
measurement took place. The three options are:- No time limit, Import last "n" days or Time Range.

12.1.2 Sync-Service

The options for this page are described in Chapter 15.

12.1.3 Folders

The Folders tab allows the user to configure where the project main folders are located: Data, Plots,
Functions and Automatically executed Scripts.

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Chapter 13

Data Manager

13.1 Using the Data Manager

The Data Manager provides the user with all the features required to manage and maintain all the data
from the projects. It gives both an overview over the complete data base as well as detailed information
about the parameters of single power system elements or other objects. New case studies can be
defined, new elements can be added, parameters can be changed, copied, etc. All of these actions can
be instituted and controlled from a single data base window.

The Data Manager uses a tree representation of the whole database, in combination with a versatile
data browser.To initially open a Data Manager window press the icon from the main toolbar. The
settings of this window can be edited using the ’User Settings’ dialog.

The Data Manager window has the following parts (see Figure 13.1.1):
• The title bar, which shows the name and path of the of the folder currently selected in the database
[1].

• The Data Manager local tool bar [2].

• In the left upper area the database window, which shows a symbolic tree representation of the
complete database [3].
• In the left lower area the input window. It may be used by more experienced users to enter
commands directly, instead of using the interactive command buttons/dialogs. By default it is not
shown. [4].
The input window is opened and closed by the clicking on the Input Window button ( ).

• On the right side is the database browser that shows the contents of the currently selected folder
[5].
• Below the database browser and the input window is the message bar, which shows the current
status and settings of the Data Manager.

There are some special features of the database browser which can be accessed at any time when the
content of a folder is shown:
• Balloon text: this is not only available for the buttons in the tool bar and the active parts of the
message bar or the browser window, but also for the data fields [a].
• Active Title buttons of each column; click on any title button to sort the items in the column; first
click- items are sorted in ascending order; second click - items are sorted in descending order [b].

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• Object buttons showing the object standard icon in the first column of the database browser: each
object is represented by a button (here a line object is shown). One click selects the object and a
double-click presents the edit dialog for the object [c].

Figure 13.1.1: The Data Manager window

The symbolic tree representation of the complete database shown in the database window may not
show all parts of the database. The user settings offer options for displaying hidden folders, or for
displaying parts that represent complete stations. Set these options as required.

13.1.1 Navigating the Database Tree

There are several ways to “walk” up and down the database tree:

• Use the mouse: all folders that have a “+” sign next to them may be expanded by double-clicking
on the folder, or by single clicking the “+” sign.
• Use the keyboard: the arrow keys are used to walk up and down the tree and to open or close
folders (left and right arrows). The Page Up and Page Down keys jump up and down the tree in
big steps and the “-” and “+” keys may also be used to open or close folders.

• Use the toolbar in combination with the browser window. Double-click objects (see “c” in Fig-
ure 13.1.1) in the browser to open the corresponding object. This could result in opening a folder,
in the case of a common or case folder, or editing the object dialog for an object. Once again, the
action resulting from your input depends on where the input has occurred (left or right side of the
Data Manager).

• The buttons Up Level ( ) and Down Level ( ) on the Data Manager tool bar can be used to
move up and down the database tree.

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 13.2. EDITING DATA OBJECTS IN THE DATA MANAGER

13.2 Editing Data Objects in the Data Manager

The Data Manager offers several ways to edit power system components and other objects stored in
the database, regardless they appear graphically or not.

The basic method is to double-click the object icons in the database browser. This will open the same
edit dialog window obtained, when double clicking the graphical representation of an element in the
graphic window.

An open edit dialog will disable the Data Manager window from which it was opened. The edit dialog
has to be closed first in order to open another edit dialog.

However, it is possible to activate more than one Data Manager (by pressing the icon on the main
toolbar) and to open an edit dialog from each of these Data Managers. This can be useful for comparing
objects and parameters.

Using the edit dialogs has one major drawback: it separates the edited object from the rest of the
database, making it impossible to copy data from one object to the other, or to look at other object
parameter values while editing.

PowerFactory brings the big picture back in sight by offering full scale editing capabilities in the Data
Managers browser window itself. The browser window in fact acts like a spreadsheet, where the user
can edit and browse the data at the same time. The browser window has two modes in which objects
can be edited,
• Object mode

• Detail Mode
which are described in the following sections.

13.2.1 Editing in Object Mode

In the general case the icon, the name, the type and the modification date (with its author) of the objects
are shown in the ’object’ mode. Certain objects, for example network components, show additional
fields like the “Out of Service” field.

The title buttons are used to sort the entries in the browser. The visible data fields can be double-clicked
to edit their contents, or the F2 button can be pressed. The object will show a triangle in its icon when
it is being edited.

After the data field has been changed, move to the other fields of the same object using the arrow-keys
or by clicking on these data fields, and alter them too.

The new contents of a data field are confirmed by pressing the Return key, or by moving to another
field within the same object. The triangle in the icon will change to a small star to show that the object
has been altered. The object itself however has not been updated. Updating the changes is done by
pressing Return again, or by moving to another object in the browser. By default, PowerFactory will ask
to confirm the changes.

13.2.2 Editing in “Detail” Mode

If the icon on the browse window of the Data Manager is pressed, the browser changes to ’detail’
mode. It will display only the objects from the same class as the one which was selected when the
button was pressed.

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In ’detail’ mode, the browser shows all data fields for the selected calculation function data set, which
can be selected by clicking on a tab shown at the bottom of the table view.If a page tab is out of reach,
then the page tab scrollers will bring it within the browser window again.

The list of objects may be sorted by any column by pressing the title field button. The widths of the
data fields can be adjusted by pointing the mouse on the separation line between two title fields and
dragging the field border by holding a mouse button down.

As with the browser in ’object’ mode, the data fields can be edited by double-clicking them.

13.2.3 Copy and Paste while Editing

One of the great advantages of editing data fields in the Data Manager’s browser window is the possi-
bility to copy data from one object to another. This is done by selecting one or more objects or object
fields, copying this selection to the clipboard, and pasting the data back in another place.

To copy one or more objects,

1. Open the Data Manager and select the grid folder where you find the objects to be copied.
2. Select the objects.

3. Press Ctrl-C to copy or use the icon on the Data Manager toolbox.

4. Press Ctrl-V to paste or use the icon on the Data Manager toolbox. The objects will be copied
with all the data. Their names will automatically be altered to unique names.
Copying data fields from one object to another is done just like for any spreadsheet software you may
be familiar with. To copy one or more data fields,
1. Select them by clicking them once. Select more data fields by holding down the Ctrl key.

2. Copy the fields to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl-C or the icon.

3. Select one or more target objects data fields. If more than one field was copied, make sure that
the target field is the same as the first copied data field.

4. Press Ctrl-V or the icon. The contents of the data fields will be copied to the target objects.

13.3 The Flexible Data Page Tab in the Data Manager

The data browser (this will be seen in the Data Manager when the ’Detail Mode’ has been engaged)
has page tabs for all calculation functions. These tabs are used to view or edit object parameters which
are categorised according to a calculation function and have a fixed format.

The ’Flexible Data’ tab, normally used to display calculation results, allows the user to define a custom
set of data to be displayed.

The default format for the calculation results displayed in the flexible page depends on the calculation
performed.

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 Part IV

Master Station Tools

Chapter 14

Installation

14.1 Installing EventViewer and SyncService

For installation, insert the PFM Master Station ToolsCD in the CD drive and open the setup file (Setup
PFMMasterStationTools); it is also possible to use a USB stick or download area to install the software.
Follow the steps given by the Installation Wizard to install the necessary software components. A
database will be installed, which is selectable so that if a reinstallation of EventViewer or SyncService
has to be performed, the database created will not be overwritten and pre-existing settings will remain
available.

Figure 14.1.1: Installation Wizard

At the end of the first installation, a popup window will appear with password, user and port information.
Pass this information on to the in-house system administrator. The password will not be needed for
general use of the EventViewer. Port Setting (5433) is the only important information that must be
directly remembered when configuring EventViewer settings.

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CHAPTER 14. INSTALLATION

Figure 14.1.2: Settings Info

A system reboot is required so that the SyncService can operate whereas it is also possible to start the
SyncService manually without rebooting the pc. Open Services in Windows and select PFMSyncSer-
vice. Then press Start to manually start the service.

Figure 14.1.3: Starting SyncService manually

Once Software has been installed, it is possible to configure the SyncService(Chapter 15) and EventViewer (Chapter16).

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Chapter 15

Sync Service

The SyncService tool serves as a data collection program. It connects the local Monitoring Systems that
are out in the field with the Masterstation. Event data which shows the state of the monitoring systems
and RMS files that are recorded can be viewed and analysed via PowerFactory and EventViewer once
the SyncService has been configured. To be able to configure the SyncService, the software must first
be installed (see Chapter 14)

15.1 Sync Service configuration

Open the PowerFactory program and activate a MasterStation project. Select Project Settings in the
drop down menu File or click the icon to open the settings window. By selecting PFM Sync-Service,
which can be found under Import Synchronization, and then closing and opening the Project Settings
window, the Sync-Service tab will be activated and a tab named Station Data will also be added.

Figure 15.1.1: Project Settings

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CHAPTER 15. SYNC SERVICE

15.1.1 SyncService Tab

The primary SyncService configuration takes place in the window shown here:

Figure 15.1.2: SyncService Tab

Below is a short description of each field:

SyncService Instance Name: The Name (SyncService) must not be changed except in special in-
stances. These instances must be clarified with DIgSILENT Technical Support.

Destination Root Path: All copied data is saved in this folder which is configured to one’s own
preference. When the station data tab has been configured and a system has been enabled, then
a system folder with that name will be created automatically as soon as all configurations have been
done and the ok button from Project Settings window is pressed.

Disk Minimum Space Error: An error appears when the available space on the hard disk falls to this
level. The default value of 100MB can be modified as required.

Disk Minimum Space Warning: A warning appears when the available space on the hard disk falls to
this level. The default value of 10000MB can be modified as required.

Data Refresh Time [s]: This specifies the frequency at which checks for new data are made and
measured data files that are saved on the local monitoring system are collected. (Default 300 s)

Event Refresh Time [s]: This specifies the frequency at which checks for any new events (such as
triggers, errors and warnings) are made, and the saved event files that are on the local monitoring
system are collected. Events can then be seen on the event viewer in the same interval. (Default 10 s)

Reconnect Wait time [s]: A reconnection of the SyncService is attempted at the set interval in seconds,
in the event of a interruption to the communication interface. (Default 50 s)

Use Database Interface: If selected, information is also written into the database used by the EventViewer.
If not selected, the EventViewer will not show anything. This also should be only deactivated in special
circumstances.

Logging Level Selector: Logging Level Selector is per default set to ERROR. All errors to do with the
SyncService are logged in a separate file. To access the log file go to the folder which has been added:
See C:\Windows\System32\config \systemprofile\AppData\Local \DIgSILENT\PFMMasterStationTools
\PfmSyncService\Log
A further description can be found at 15.1.3

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 15.1. SYNC SERVICE CONFIGURATION

15.1.2 Station Data Tab

In the Station Data window, the settings are made for all systems that are meant to be added to
SyncService from which data shall be collected. There are 2 rows of dummy system names to start
off with. These can be modified, or by pressing right mouse button a pop up will appear (see Fig.15.1.3)
where additional rows for new machines can be appended or inserted. It is also possible to copy an
existing row and pasting it, which is useful when the configuration is similar to the new system.

Below is a short description of each column in the table:

Enable: A selection made here will enable or disable data collection from that specific system.

Station Name: Name of the system which is implemented for data collection.

Connection Type: Two selections can be made here. IEC61850 or FileIO.

• FileIO: is a file copying process which takes a substation’s measured files and places a copies
in a folder on the master station which has been defined by the user for further analysis with the
appropriate software.
• IEC 61850: is a standard for comtrade file transfer using the protocol - RADR Disturbance
Recorder Channel Analogue to collect data from the local substation using the IEC 61850 back to
the master station.
Data Root Path: This field is active for input once FileIO has been selected as the connection type.
Enter the path name from local system where the data can be collected. This can be an IP address
or the system IPC name which is the serial No. that can be found on the SSU monitoring system e.g.
\\xxxx\PFM Data.

Figure 15.1.3: Station Data Tab

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CHAPTER 15. SYNC SERVICE

IP Address: This field is active for input once IEC61850 has been selected as the connection type.
Enter the supplied IP Address for that given communication path.

Enable Monitor Files: Monitoring files will be collected.

Enable Triggered RMS Files: RMS files will be collected.

Enable Triggered Instantaneous Files: Instantaneous files will be collected.

Figure 15.1.4: Enabling collected files

Attempt connection retry count: When connection to a system fails the count will define how often a
retry will be executed in the specified Wait Time.

Attempt Connection Wait Time (s): The system will attempt a reconnection to a lost system connec-
tion after the set wait time (x) given in seconds.

Figure 15.1.5: Retry count and wait time

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 15.1. SYNC SERVICE CONFIGURATION

15.1.3 Troubleshooting

It is possible that access problems may occur, where the SyncService for instance may not be commu-
nicating or data collection may not be running properly. Always check the log file to see if there may be
some problems that may be listed there. The log file can be found at the following position:-

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\DIgSILENT\PFMMasterStationTools
\PfmSyncService\Log

15.1.3.1 User authorisation failure

The text that can be seen below in fig.15.1.6 shows one of the commonest log-on error cases.

Figure 15.1.6: Log On Log File Error Message

To solve the log-on error, go to windows "Services" and open "Properties" with a right hand mouse click
from the operating service "PFMSyncService", see Fig. 15.1.7

Figure 15.1.7: Services Menu from Windows

Click on the tab "Log On" and change the settings to "Log on as: This Account" and using the local
administrator rights, make adjustments to the User Name and Password, see Fig. 15.1.8. If the local
administrator user account name is not known, ask the administrator from the IT department for further
help. After settings have been made, stop and restart the service so that the SyncService can initialise
itself.

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CHAPTER 15. SYNC SERVICE

Figure 15.1.8: SyncService Account

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Chapter 16

EventViewer

16.1 Introduction

EventViewer is a program used to display events reported by all the PFM systems which are connected
to a Master Station but it is also generally used on PFM systems operating out in the field, to show the
local event status.

Figure 16.1.1: EventViewer Full Display

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CHAPTER 16. EVENTVIEWER

16.2 Main Status Window

The Main Status Window, shown in figure 16.2.1, shows all systems available where events can be
followed. The Main Status Window contains a Menu Bar, a Status Bar and a Status Table.

Figure 16.2.1: Main Status Window

16.2.1 Menu Bar

The Menu Bar has four menu buttons, which are used for modifying or creating settings and profiles.
Each has a drop down list of options for performing specific actions. The following sections give details
of these four functions.

16.2.1.1 Profile

Profiles are used to configure what is seen by the user, including the configuration of the Main Status
Listing window and Event Windows. When EventViewer is installed, a Default Profile is always added
automatically, but it is possible to create any number of profiles as required, using the Default Profile
as a starting point. The user can define which profile will appear by default when the EventViewer is
opened.

Opening the drop down menu from Profile will show the following options:

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 16.2. MAIN STATUS WINDOW

Figure 16.2.2: Profile Drop Down Menu

• Save active Profile: saves modifications made to the profile and windows, such as the position
of the Event Window etc.
• Save active Profile as: modifications made to the profile can be saved under a new name, if for
instance, the Default Profile is used as a basis for a new User Profile.
• Reload active Profile: refreshes the Profile view to the original settings state. Windows that have
been closed will open anew.
• Create new Profile: selecting this will open a message box where the new profile name has to
be entered. The profile will be created and will then be listed under available Profiles.

• Available Profiles: all User Profiles that have been created can be found here. Only one profile
can be loaded and viewed at a time. The active profile, which is marked with a tick, cannot be
deleted (the delete button in the selector menu bar being grayed out). A sub pull down menu
appears once one of the available profiles has been selected with a list of four actions that can be
taken:
– Load. To load another profile, select one from the menu bar and click load button.
– Copy. It is possible to copy a profile to use as a basis for a new profile. In this case, a pop
up window will appear to enter the target profile name. Once loaded, it can be modified as
required.
– Delete. Any profile can be deleted if it is not active, unless it is the only remaining profile.
If just one profile remains after deletions, it will be active and will also become the default
Profile.
– Make Default. Profiles that are set to default are highlighted in Bold Text. A profile that
is set to default is the profile that opens up first, when the EventViewer program starts up.
To make a profile the default, select it from the drop down menu and click the Make Default
button in the following drop down menu which opens up.

16.2.1.2 Window

All different types of event windows can be created in the pull down menu Window in conjunction with
a User Profile. The windows, once saved, will always open up together with the profile which has been
created for a specific user when activated.

Opening the drop down menu from Window will show the following options:

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CHAPTER 16. EVENTVIEWER

Figure 16.2.3: Window Drop Down Menu

• Minimise all windows. Will minimise all event windows that are open in conjunction with the
active profile.
• Restore all windows. Will restore all event windows that have been minimised or closed.

• Close all windows. Will close all windows that are open or minimised so that only the Main Status
Window is visible.
• Create new window. Selecting Create new window in the drop down menu will open a pop
up window where a new window name can be entered. The new event window then has to be
configured to the User’s preferences.

• All Windows. All event windows that have been created from the active Profile can be found listed
in the drop down menu which appears once the All Windows button has been pressed. Each event
window listed here, once clicked on, has a sub selection menu with the following actions:
– Open. To open an event window from the active profile.
– Copy. It is possible to copy an event window to use this as the basis for a new event window.
In this case, a pop up window will appear where the target event window name must be
entered. Modifications can now be made to the new event window.
– Rename. All existing event window names can be edited. Select the Rename button from
the drop down menu like in the example shown in 16.2.3 (Trigger Window). A pop up window
will appear where the text name can be altered.
– Close. Like in the example 16.2.3 All Windows / Trigger found in the selection menu and the
closed button is selected, this will close the Trigger Window.
– Delete. Deletes the window from the profile that has been clicked on once the delete button
in the sub menu is shown.

16.2.1.3 Options - Settings

Under the drop down menu Options → Settings, global and profile settings can be modified.

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 16.2. MAIN STATUS WINDOW

Figure 16.2.4: Event Viewer Settings Menu

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CHAPTER 16. EVENTVIEWER

Global Settings

• Database
– Server IP - must be set to localhost and Port must have 5433. This is the default setting
and should not be modified. To test if there is a connection to the database, the Test
Connection button can be pressed. A message will appear next to the button, to say whether
the connection is successful or not.
• Time Settings
– Max Online Range - limits the overall settings of the EventViewer as to how far back it is
possible to scroll the events to.
– Station Alive Offset - this is the interval between status updates for the stations in the field,
i.e. whether they are online or not.
– Events Refresh Interval - interval between event updates from the external Stations.
• Miscellaneous
– The check box, for Show SyncService state in status bar can be used to determine whether
or not the status bar appears in the main status and event windows.

Profile Settings

• Time Settings
– Default Online Range - limits the number of events in days shown in the event windows which
it is also possible to scroll back to. This setting is profile-specific.
– Time Display Mode - can be set to 3 different types of time variations which the event windows
will be displayed with. UTC time, MasterStation time or Local time can be selected. The
default is MasterStation time.
• Miscellaneous
– Ask to save window and profile changes. - if this option is selected, the system will ask to
save every modification made to event windows or profile when the window is closed. This
check box should be deactivated so that the changes are not accidentally saved. It is better
to save profile and windows changes manually.

16.2.2 Status Table

The Status Table, shown in figure 16.2.5, shows all systems that are connected to the EventViewer via
the SyncService with information about the system state. There are four columns, giving the station
name and the state of the systems which have been integrated. It is possible to sort each individual
column description Name Bar by clicking in the corresponding field, from ascending to descending and
vice-versa.

Figure 16.2.5: Status Table

A freeze bar is available which can be shifted to the appropriate position and used to fix the columns to
the left side of the bar in so that they remain visible when scrolling across 16.2.6.

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 16.2. MAIN STATUS WINDOW

Figure 16.2.6: Freeze Bar - movable

16.2.2.1 Table Column Description

• Station: All integrated systems connected to the EventViewer are listed in the column Station.
The station name column uses a color code to for a quick view of the state of the systems
connected to the EventViewer, according to this colour code:
– Station in GN = System is running, no errors present
– Station in YE = System is running but a lower level error is present
– Station in OR = System is running but a critical error is present; urgent action must be taken
– Station in RD = System not running / measuring
– Station in GR = System can not communicate with EventViewer and/or SyncService

• Error: Non-critical errors are listed in the column Errors. These are errors such as loss of DC
Voltage, which do not hinder monitoring operations as long as the system still runs.
• Critical Error: The Critical Errors column shows errors that have an influence on measurement
and action must urgently be taken to eliminate the fault.
• Last Alive Time: This column lists the date and time when the Station was last seen alive and
communicating with the EventViewer. The text turns red when the time since the alive signal was
last received is greater than specified in the Global Settings 16.2.1.3.

16.2.3 Status Bar

The Status Bar, located at the bottom of every window, is used to provide general information about the
state of the tool and the connection between system, machine and service.

Figure 16.2.7: Status Bar

Data Base is connected and can communicate with Main Profile Window.

Data Base is not connected and cannot communicate with Main Profile Window.

SyncService is connected and can communicate with all Windows.

SyncService is not connected and cannot communicate with any Windows.

SyncService is not running

Shows how many systems are not communicating with the EventViewer.

Name of the active Profile. (Only available in Main Status Window).

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Time Display Mode to which the EventViewer has been set under Settings - Profile -
16.2.1.3.

16.3 Event Windows

Event Windows which display messages like errors, critical errors, warnings, infos, debug, triggers, SoE
(Sequence of Events) and PQ (Power Quality) Events can be individually configured to show that, which
is specifically required by the (Profile) User.

Figure 16.3.1: Event Windows example

16.3.1 Event Tables - General Viewing

The figure 16.3.2 shows how the columns to be displayed in the Event Window can be selected by
right-clicking on a column heading and using the selection menu as shown. This selection has to be
done for each event window.

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Figure 16.3.2: Column Heading selection Menu

16.3.1.1 Column Heading Description - (figure 16.3.2)

• Time. Date and time of the event

• Station. Station or system where the event has occurred
• Event Type. Warning, Info or Error; the event types listed will be determined by the configuration
of the Event Window
• Event Text. A detailed description as to what caused the Event
• Device ID. The device which produced the event
• Signal Name. The name of the signal where the trigger or PQ event occurred
• Signal Value. The value, e.g. Voltage RMS or Current RMS, as well as which phase the triggered
reading comes from
• Trigger Type. Type of the trigger. Possible values are Minimum/Maximum, Pos./Neg. Gradient,
Pos./Neg. Step, Rising/Falling Edge, PQ Flag
• Class. Trigger classification of different user set parameters
• Trigger Threshold (Unit). Trigger threshold setting used, in units of the Unit field (see below)
• Unit. Unit of trigger threshold and other fields, possible values are W, A, kV, . . .
• Event Code. The internal event code of the system
• UTC Offset. The offset to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) centre
• SoE Class. Classification number of sequence of events
• SoE ID. Standard sequence of events ID number.
• SoE Location. Where the event has taken place

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• SoE State. State of the sequence of events

• PQ Event Start Time. Date and time when the PQ event started

• PQ Event Start Phase. Phase which started the PQ event

• PQ Event Stop Time. Date and time when the PQ event stopped
• PQ Event Stop Phase. Phase which stopped the PQ event
• PQ Event Duration. Difference between start and stop time in seconds

• PQ Event ID. PQ event id to identify Trigger and PqEval events belonging together
• PQ Event Residual (Unit). Residual voltage during dip or interruption, in units of Unit field (see
above)
• PQ Event Residual (%). Residual voltage in percent of the specified reference voltage (e.g.
nominal voltage)
• PQ Event Residual Phase. Phase in which residual occurred
• PQ Event Depth (%). Voltage depth during dip or interruption, in percent of specified reference
voltage (e.g. nominal voltage)

• PQ Event Depth Phase. Phase in which voltage depth occurred

• PQ Event Max (Unit). Voltage maximum during swell, in units of Unit field (see above)
• PQ Event Max (%). Voltage maximum during swell, in percent of specified reference voltage (e.g.
nominal voltage)

• PQ Event Max Phase. Phase in which voltage maximum occurred

• PQ Event Delta Umax (Unit). Maximal difference between two half-cycle r.m.s voltage values
during a rapid voltage change event, in units of Unit field (see above)
• PQ Event Delta Umax Phase. Phase in which Delta Umax occurred

• PQ Event Delta Uss (Unit). Difference between the steady state voltages before and after a rapid
voltage change event, in units of Unit field (see above)
• PQ Event Delta Uss Phase. Phase in which maximal Delta Uss occurred

16.3.1.2 Column Sorting

Clicking on one of the heading cells and clicking the up/down arrow buttons or just in the cell itself from
any of the columns, sorts that column. The sorting is done numerically or alphabetically.

Figure 16.3.3: Sorting Button

16.3.1.3 Manual Text Filtering

There is an empty row underneath the row "column heading" in an event window, figure 16.3.1. This is
where a manual filter can be set in each column individually. It is possible to type something into one
of the empty cells to filter a specific word or number. By clicking into the empty cell from "Station" and
typing "Test Station 3", all event messages from Test Station 3 will be filtered and then displayed. The
same filter function is available for each of the other available columns.

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16.3.1.4 Selectable Filtering

Events Filter: When a new event window is created, it will always show all available events by default.
Either one uses only one window to show all events or one can create a number of windows each
showing a specific event individually or grouped, for example a window for Triggers and a window
for Errors. By clicking on the right side of the Column "Header Box", a pull down menu will appear,
where the events can be selected by clicking in the check boxes. Once selection has been made, the
EventViewer will show the selected events in the table and a filter Icon will appear instead of the
downward pointing arrow. All filters can be selected clicking the (Select All) button and all filters that
have been set can also be cleared with one click on the (Clear Filter) button.

(a) No Filter Set (b) Filter has been Set

Figure 16.3.4: Event Filter On/Off

General Filters: All column heading cells have selectable filter possibilities except for the Time and the
Event Text cell. In the example shown in figure 16.3.5, the filter Signal Value cell has been opened.
One can choose a certain signal name which shall be filtered where triggers have occurred. Also here
a filter icon will be visible once the filter has been set. This is the same for all other column heading
cells.

Figure 16.3.5: Signal Value Filter Setting

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16.3.2 Event Window Menu Bar

Figure 16.3.6: Event Window Menu Bar

16.3.2.1 Online/Offline Button and Date Filter Function

• On-line / Off-line Button: When the button is clicked and Online can be seen, the event window
will refresh the information on this page at intervals which the EventViewer Profile has been set
under Settings - Profile - Events Refresh intervals 16.2.1.3. If the button is showing Offline, then
no refresh will take place. The last Online status where data could be collected will be listed in the
table. Next to the Online/Offline button, either the date is visible when Offline mode is activated or
when Online mode has been activated, the actual time can be seen.
• Date Filter: Specific dates can be fine filtered (from/to) especially when something specific is
being searched for. There are a number of ways to do this: One method is by modifying the dates
manually typing them in the date box. Alternatively, the date box icon can be selected, or the
date sliders used. As soon as the date slider with the actual date is shifted the on-line button will
automatically turn to off-line and no more refreshes will take place.

16.3.2.2 Options Button

• Automatic Scrolling: This button is only visible if the EventViewer window is in Online operation.
There is a sub menu Scroll to Top, Scroll to Bottom and No Automatic Scrolling.
Selecting Scroll to Top will refresh the events so that the actual readings are always seen at the
top of the table.
Scroll to Bottom works in the other direction so that actual readings always refresh and scroll to
the bottom. The only thing which has to be considered here is that the time and date sorting then
has to be switched in the opposite direction.
By selecting No Automatic Scrolling the scrolling will be switched off and manual scrolling must
be used to see the latest events. This function is useful to avoid the automatic jumping to the top
or bottom of the table whilst trying to view particular events.
• Grouping: Clicking on grouping will open an additional field (large grey cell above the column
"Headings") where an event filter can be set grouping various variables. Clicking on one of the
column "Headings" (e.g. Device ID), holding the mouse button and dragging this into the gray field
will create a group filter. Any number of sub groups can be added for filtering.

Figure 16.3.7: Grouping Field

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Figure 16.3.8: Sub Grouping - Event Type -> Station

To remove grouping variables, click on the group cell in the grey field, drag the group cell out of the
grey field and into the table and let go of the left mouse button. This action will delete the selected
grouping. If there are a number of sub groups, this has to be done for each individually.

Figure 16.3.9: Deleting the Grouping

16.3.2.3 Actions Button

Clear all Filters: All filters which have been set in the event viewer table can be cleared by clicking this
pull-down menu found in the Actions drop-down menu. This refers to the "column Heading" row filters
that can be set individually.

Export Grid: A pop-up window will appear when the Export Grid button in the Actions menu is pressed.
There are two formats to which can be exported to (Excel or CSV).

• Include column headers: If checked, the first row in the export file contains the grid column
headers.
• Use field names instead of title: If checked, the first row in the export file contains the column data
field names instead of the grid column headers.

• Non-scrolling header row: If checked, the head row in the excel or CSV export file will be frozen;
otherwise it will be scrollable.

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Figure 16.3.10: Exporting Grid Pop-up - Excel File

The CSV Export Format has some extra settings compared with the Excel format. These are:

• Field separator: The separator to be used in the csv file (comma, semicolon or tab)
• Text qualifier: The text qualifier to be used (for text columns as talking marks or apostrophe).
• Date/time format: The date/time format to be used in the csv file (for date/time columns).

• Number format: The number format to be used in the csv file (for numeric columns).

Figure 16.3.11: Exporting Grid Pop-up - CSV File

Once OK is clicked from the pop-up window, a new window will appear where the name of the exported
file and its location are specified.

Close and Delete Window from Profile: This closes the current window and will permanently delete it
from the profile. To prevent accidental deletion, a pop-up window will appear to ask if the window really
should be deleted permanently.

16.3.3 Special Features and Functions

16.3.3.1 Freeze bar

As in the Status Table, a freeze bar is in the available in the Event Window which can be shifted to the
appropriate position to fix the columns to the left side of the bar, with the columns to the right of the
freeze bar being scrollable if required. See 16.3.12.

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Figure 16.3.12: Freeze Bar - Event window

16.3.3.2 Triggered Plot Viewing in PowerFactory

It is possible to view a triggered signal listed in an event window by double clicking on the relevant row,
figure 16.3.13. To do this, PowerFactory must be open and running but also a MasterStation project
must be activated. Either the default plot, if one has been created, opens in PowerFactory or if no
default plot is available, the "create plot wizard" will open up. As soon as the required signal is selected
a pop-up window will appear and ask which values are required in the plot: RMS or instantaneous or
both. After selecting the values required and clicking OK, plot will open automatically.

Figure 16.3.13: Selecting a Triggered Plot for Viewing in PowerFactory

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If the Create new Plot window opens, figure 16.3.14, then the signals which shall be shown must be
selected in the cell Signals Y1 and Y2. Once the plot has opened, it can then be further processed in
PowerFactory as required. For more information regarding this go to 8.0.2 in the PowerFactory User
Manual.

Figure 16.3.14: Selecting a Triggered Plot for Viewing in PowerFactory

128 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

Bibliography

[1] DIN EN 50160:2010 + Cor.:2011 Voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by public distribution
networks; german version, 2011.

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual 129

BIBLIOGRAPHY

130 DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems, Master Station User Manual

DIgSILENT
Company Profile

with manufacturer-specific relay settings and

integrates with PowerFactory, allowing
powerful and easy-to-use settings coordina-
tion studies.

DIgSILENT Monitoring Systems

Our Power System Monitoring PFM300 prod-
uct line features grid and plant supervision,
fault recording, power quality and grid char-
DIgSILENT is a consulting and software com- DIgSILENT PowerFactory acteristics analysis. The Grid Code Compli-
pany providing engineering services in the field DIgSILENT develops the leading integrated ance Monitoring PFM300-GCC product has
of electrical power systems for transmission, power system analysis software PowerFactory, been designed for continuous compliance
distribution, generation and industrial plants. which covers the full range of functionality auditing of power plants with respect to grid
from standard features to highly sophisticat- code requirements, thereby providing plant
DIgSILENT was founded in 1985 and is a fully ed and advanced applications including wind operators and utilities utmost transparency
independent and privately owned company power, distributed generation, real-time and non-compliance detection.
located in Gomaringen/Tübingen, Germany. simulation and performance monitoring for
DIgSILENT continued expansion by establish- system testing and supervision. For wind power DIgSILENT Consulting
ing offices in Australia, South Africa, Italy, applications, PowerFactory has become the DIgSILENT GmbH is staffed with experts of
Chile, Spain, France, the USA and Oman, there- power industry’s de-facto standard tool, due various disciplines relevant for performing
by facilitating improved service following the to PowerFactory models and algorithms pro- consulting services, research activities, user
world-wide increase in usage of its software viding unrivalled accuracy and performance. training, educational programs and software
products and services. DIgSILENT has estab- development. Highly specialised expertise is
lished a strong partner network in many coun- DIgSILENT StationWare is a reliable cen- available in many fields of electrical engineer-
tries such as Mexico, Malaysia, UK, Switzer- tral protection settings database and asset ing applicable to liberalised power markets
land, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, China and India. management system, based on .NET technol- and to the latest developments in power
DIgSILENT services and software installations ogy. StationWare stores and records all set- generation technologies such as wind power
have been used in more than 150 countries. tings in a central database, allows modelling and distributed generation. DIgSILENT has pro-
of relevant workflow sequences, provides vided expert consulting services to several pro-
quick access to relay manuals, interfaces minent PV and wind grid integration studies.

DIgSILENT GmbH T +49 7072 9168-0 DIgSILENT GmbH is certified

Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 9 F +49 7072 9168-88 to the ISO 9001:2015 standard.
72810 Gomaringen [email protected] More information is available at
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