The workspace

A tour of the PipePilot screen: the menus, the two toolbars, the Browser, the Network Map, the Property Editor, the floating windows and the status bar.

PipePilot is laid out like the EPANET desktop program, so anyone who has used EPANET will find things in the same places. From top to bottom: the title bar, the menu bar, the toolbars, then three panels side by side (Browser on the left, Network Map in the middle, Property Editor on the right), and the status bar along the bottom.

The title bar shows the file name, with an asterisk when there are unsaved changes, and the first line of the project title.

Menus

These are the menus and items the documentation covers. The menu bar may show further menus and items that are not documented here yet.

Items that need something first are greyed out until it exists. For example, Report > Energy and Report > CPHEEO Compliance... need the results of a run.

Toolbars

The standard toolbar, on the left, has New, Open, Save, Print, Delete, Find, the blue Run button, Query, Graph, Table and Options (the analysis options).

The map toolbar follows. Exactly one map tool is active at a time, shown highlighted:

The object buttons use EPANET's own map symbols, so a junction button looks like a junction on the map.

The Browser

The Browser, on the left, has two tabs.

• Data tab. Pick a category from the drop-down: Junctions, Reservoirs, Tanks, Pipes, Pumps, Valves, Labels, Patterns, Curves, Controls or Options. The list shows every object of that kind; click one to select it. Add switches the map to the matching add tool (or opens a new pattern or curve), Delete removes the selected object, and Edit or a double-click opens the editor for patterns, curves, controls and option pages. When you select something on the map, the Browser jumps to its category.
• Map tab. Choose what the map colours: a node variable under Nodes and a link variable under Links. Variables marked with an asterisk are computed by a run. Time picks the reporting period to show, with a drop-down and a slider, and the Animation buttons play the run forward or backward at the chosen Speed.

The Network Map

• The map draws the network in its own coordinates, the same way EPANET does. There is no street basemap behind it.
• Legend boxes in the corner explain the colours. Click a legend to edit its ranges and colours.
• Hover over a node or pipe with Select Object active to see its key values at the current time.
• The mouse wheel zooms in and out around the pointer.

The Property Editor

• Shows every property of the selected object, in the same order as EPANET. A star marks a required value, and the unit is shown after the name.
• Type a value and press Enter, or click away, to commit it. Esc puts the old value back. EPANET itself checks the value, so an impossible one is refused with a message at the top of the panel.
• The grey rows at the bottom are results for the time period chosen in the Browser's Map tab.
• The small ? beside a property explains it in plain words, with a typical value and a sensible range.
• For a pump, a Pump Curve... button opens the pump curve window. See Pumps and pump curves.

Floating windows

Reports, graphs, tables and editors open as windows that float over the map. Drag a window by its title bar to move it. The Window > Close All item closes them all, and the rest of the Window menu lists each one so you can bring it forward.

The status bar