Copy a screen

Copy a screen

Copy a screen to reuse it within or across
View Designer
 projects. Paste a screen into the same folder in the
Project Explorer
to create a copy of the screen and append the name with an increment number. Paste screens from the
Predefined Screens
 folder only into the
User-Defined Screens
 folder within or across projects. Content copied to a project with a different HMI screen size maintains its original size and position.
Prerequisites:
  • Open the source
    View Designer
     project containing the content to copy.
  • If the content is to be pasted into another project, for each project, start an instance of
    View Designer
     and open the target project. It is recommended to open no more than three instances of
    View Designer
     at one time.
To copy a screen
  1. In the source project, in the
    Project Explorer
    , right-click the screen and select
    Copy
    .
    TIP:
    To select multiple screens, hold
    Ctrl
     and select the items.
  2. Right-click the target folder and select
    Paste
    . If the target folder contains a screen with the same name, select one of two options:
    • Select
      Replace
      to overwrite the existing screen.
    • Select
      Keep Both
      to keep both screens. The name of the new screen is appended with a number that increments with each copy.
      TIP:
      Tips:
      • Copying a screen that contains an instance of an Add-On Graphic to a different project that does not contain an Add-On Graphic with the same name adds the definition of the Add-On Graphic to the
        Assets > Add-On Graphics
         folder of the
        Project Explorer
        and adds the Add-On Graphic to the
        Toolbox
         category indicated for the Add-On Graphic.
      • Copying a screen that contains an instance of an Add-On Graphic to a different project that contains an Add-On Graphic with the same name provides three options:
        • Keep Both.
           Append the name of the copied Add-On Graphic definition with _001 or increment number. The definition appears in the folder and the Add-On Graphic appears in the
          Toolbox
          .
        • Replace.
           Replace the existing Add-On Graphic definition with the copied definition. Any instances of the existing Add-On Graphic are updated with the new definition of the Add-On Graphic.
        • Cancel.
           Do not paste the copied Add-On Graphic definition into the project.
      • If pasting a screen with an Add-On Graphic replaces an alias property in the definition of an Add-On Graphic and that alias is linked in an instance, the alias property shows in the
        Properties
        window of the instance, and the alias remains linked to the value of the base property in the definition.
      • If pasting a screen with an Add-On Graphic replaces an alias property in the definition of an Add-On Graphic and that alias is unlinked in an instance, the alias property shows in the
        Properties
        window of the instance, but the alias property retains its value from the original Add-On Graphic definition. The value of the alias property is not linked to the base property of the pasted Add-On Graphic definition.
      • Copying a screen that has an Add-On Graphic with an image that exists in both the source and target projects displays a prompt to replace the image. Images are copied to the
        Assets > Images
        folder of the
        Project Explorer
        .
      • When copying a screen, any localized data associated with the screen and its children is also copied.
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