How do I place the system schematic diagram into a block?
Why would I want to do such a thing anyway, you may ask?
Several answers come to mind.
You want a control panel and/or a master screen to be the first thing a user sees when they open a view file.
You do not want the user or system operator to see, or to have access to the system schematic.
You want to eliminate screen "clutter", and hide the schematic, making it available when desired.
By putting the system schematic into a block, you can then restrict access to those who have Designer access level, and/or to those who know a password. Alternatively, anyone may access the system schematic by a single (or double) click on a "schematic" button.
It is best to start your design by creating the schematic block and designing your circuit in the block. One easy way to do this is to use the Title Block found under Device | New | Title Block. Fill in the Title, Author, Date, Rev, and Notes, then open the Schematic block and start your design. Particularly in the development phase of a design this is a good way to keep track of versions of a design. If you decide to get rid of the rest of the Title Block in the final version of your design you can, but the schematic will already be in a block. If you do not start your schematic in a block, but copy it into one later, you must copy it into a block BEFORE you begin to make your control panels.
It is very important that you do this before starting to create control panels. MediaMatrix automatically assigns device ID numbers to each device and control. Cutting and pasting devices into a block CHANGES ALL PREASSIGNED ID NUMBERS! Once this happens, your control panels will now have the wrong ID numbers for all the controls. When you compile the view file, any control links to the ID number that existed before you moved the devices into a block, will not be able to be found. To warn you of this MediaMatrix will mark the now orphaned controls with a green stripe pattern. If such a control is in a block, the block will also be marked with a green stripe pattern warning you that some orphaned control is contained in it.
If you want to prohibit changes or to keep prying eyes out of the system schematic, you can do so in two ways. The first is to under the User pull down menu, select Edit User List, and then edit the list as desired. For instructions on how to do this, see "Editing The User List". By not allowing a given user to modify the view file, they can't change your schematic. They can however view it and change your settings. To prevent this, you can select the Schematic block in Edit Mode and right click and choose Properties. In the Block Object Properties window, select the Block tab, and then Locked. This will prevent a user who does not have the rights to modify the view file from even opening the Schematic Block. They will still be able to operate controls which you have copied to outside the locked Schematic Block, but only those controls. The second way to limit access is to password protect the Block. This can be used to protect the entire schematic, so that even if a user has rights to modify the view file, he can't access the schematic without also knowing the password to the Schematic Block. This technique can also be used to limit access to certain control panels to only certain users.
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