In addition to sharing some of the incredible opportunities and experiences I’ve had on the road, I want to provide a candid look at some of the tougher times and share how future Road Warriors can learn from my past endeavors. 

The Review

I have broken my review into three main categories:

Project Work

Benefits and Perks

Lifestyle

I will give each category a rating out of five stars and then provide my overall verdict. 

Project Work ★★★★★

While onsite, Road Warriors generally do one of a few things: fix existing automation, add onto existing code, test automation, or write code for new automation. In all scenarios, I find that being near hardware makes controls engineering more fulfilling and interesting. Something I enjoy about developing onsite is that code can be tested on equipment shortly after downloading. This short feedback loop helps you write effective code quickly with assurance that it functions as specified. 

As an example, I recently commissioned and wrote the code for a batch making system where heating and temperature control were critical. I rapidly iterated and optimized the heating control logic because I could run mock-heating trials on the tank hardware as often as I wanted. I have found that in the highly automated facilities that I have worked in, there are no shortage of controls issues and improvements to be made. 

As an onsite controls engineer, you are challenged each day to learn quickly and apply skills to resolve pressing issues. Often, control issues may be holding up production or resulting in scrapped product, and you must rely on your problem-solving skillset to deliver. I appreciate this challenge. 

Another reason  I love onsite controls engineering is because you get to be right in the action. You can see systems operate, look into and measure equipment in panels, and speak with those who operate, manage, and maintain equipment. Such immersion in automation allows the onsite engineer to really get a sense of what automation is all about and develop in the right ways to become a better controls engineer. The day-to-day as an onsite controls engineer so much fun, and there is never a lack of exciting problems to be solved. 

While onsite, I have had the opportunity to collaborate and network with some extremely intelligent engineers and software developers, both within and external to DMC. Through these connections, I have sharpened my skillset as an automation engineer and grown my appreciation for the industry. 

Road Warrior projects are generally larger scale and longer-term than the average project. Such projects allow an engineer to deep dive into the systems and integration at hand. A thorough understanding of automation and a rewarding problem-solving experience is the result. 

Benefits and Perks ★★★★★

Not only is onsite project work rewarding and exciting, but the perks and benefits are too. I touched on some of these in my first blog, but I want to emphasize additional income, time off, and travel rewards available to Road Warriors. 

Engineers signed up as Road Warriors get a monthly bonus. On top of that, you get per diem and site bonus while onsite which amounts to thousands of dollars of income each month. Further, DMC’s Road Warriors are also eligible for Extra Effort Bonuses, which are evaluated monthly and are intended to cover situations where engineers are working longer weeks or shifted schedules due to customer needs. 

I have been thankful for the time off that I have accumulated as a Road Warrior. Travelers at DMC accrue vacation 50% faster than non-travelers. Along with the increased accumulation rate, Road Warriors are eligible for an exemption on the vacation time roll over limit, so if you get staffed on a demanding onsite project, you can save it for the next year. 

Road Warriors also maintain eligibility for DMC’s project recouperation policy. DMC allows you to take a full day off without using PTO, no questions asked, if you are onsite for long enough or are subject to challenging schedules. I have used recoup days in the past to build long weekends into my life allowing me to return home, enjoy the city I am traveling to, or go see friends and family. 

One perk available to all DMCers is that you get to book their own travel. On a surface level, this may sound like a lot of work but let me assure you that it is highly beneficial for a few reasons. 

First, you get to pay with your own credit card and leverage credit card perks. Traveling is expensive, so you will be spending a lot of money and then getting refunded by DMC at the end of each month. Although other DMCers are more strategic with their credit card rewards strategy, I like the simplicity of a 2% cashback credit card. I end up banking good money from my credit due to the high volume of travel expenses. 

Booking your own travel allows you to build rewards with different companies which makes booking future vacations more cost effective. I choose to stay at Marriott hotels, and I have earned Ambassador Elite status, so when I check into hotels I often get free snacks or points. I’m a big snacker, so naturally I go for snacks almost always. 

Welcome gifts from check in at a Marriott Hotel.

Also, on a recent Marriott stay that I booked with points on a vacation in Hawaii, I got a free bottle of champagne and local Hawaiian chocolates because of my status. Not bad!  

Lifestyle ★★★☆☆

The Road Warrior lifestyle is like black coffee—it is an exciting alternative lifestyle with improved benefits and hands on project work, but it comes with certain challenges that may not be palatable for everyone. 

One aspect of the Road Warrior lifestyle that is undeniably delightful is trying different restaurants for free. When onsite, DMCers get per diem (in accordance with GSA M&EI rates) which is enough to cover excellent meals. I usually eat out for most meals other than breakfast, and this has allowed me to experience some incredible dishes from restaurants around the country at no cost to me. I’ve shared a few highlights below:

Wonderful meals while on the road that we paid for with per diem

When onsite with other DMCers, team dinners are a great way to get to know colleagues better and build comradery. A highlight of my last project was linking up with other onsite DMCers at a local brewery for taco Tuesday every week. 

Business travel is another aspect of the role I enjoy. DMC uses the IRS standard mileage rates for reimbursing mileage which is lucrative for long drives to site, especially if your car is fuel efficient. I live in Carmel, IN, and I was recently staffed on a long onsite project in Iowa City, IA, a 5.5-hour drive. I listened to a ton of audio books and podcasts during this drive which was great. 

Road Warriors generally have a say on where they lodge. I have worked with some Road Warriors who enjoy cooking and preferred to stay in Airbnbs, but I generally tend towards hotels to rack up points and have free breakfast and housekeeping. I do, however, have a love-hate relationship with long-term hotels. It is so wonderful coming home from a long day onsite and having your entire room spotless and your bed, with fresh sheets, neatly folded by housekeeping. Also, many of the hotel breakfasts that hotels are wonderful, and it is great to wake up and not have to worry about preparing your own food.

There are aspects of hotels that I like less. If you stay in enough hotel rooms, you may have a run in with bed bugs like me. It’s not the most fun situation (see the Tips for the Road section below). Constantly checking into and out of hotels can also be a bit of a burden. I feel like I am constantly packing and repacking my belongings and shuffling my things around. I do concede that I could simplify my life by not lugging a bike around with me.

Another challenge of living a nomadic lifestyle is developing a consistent friend group. I try to bring my bike with me when I travel so I can join a cycling group and meet people. Being a Road Warrior has given me the opportunity to develop connections with other incredible engineers and different types of people across the country. I will cherish these connections, and if I will know people already if I return to that city.

Stopping for a refreshment and some fireside chat after a group ride.

However, just as I feel like I have gotten to know folks, I have to shoot off to another project which is always bittersweet. I have the opportunity to experience new people and places, but I have to say goodbye to others. I also do my best to stay in contact with friends near my home base in Indianapolis.

Work-life balance, although tricky to maintain while traveling, can be achieved. It is important to stay dialed in while onsite, meeting customer needs, and staying safe. Often, customers will have demanding shift requirements (including night shift), so it is important to find balance and avoid burnout. Recoup days are helpful for this. In the past I have used recoup days to return home, enjoy the city I am traveling to, or visit family and friends.

On many projects, if the cost to travel to a nearby area is less than that to return home, the customer may cover the costs for you to visit that area. Not only does this option save the customer money, but it reduces travel-related fatigue. I am an avid fly fisherman, and it was much cheaper and easier for me to head up to the Driftless area in Wisconsin while working in Iowa than bill time and mileage back to Indianapolis, so I did this trip several times.

Highlights from a weekend fly fishing in the Driftless area

As a Road Warrior, you are able to take vacation as long as you communicate this information with your managers and customer well in advance. As with any job, it is important to unwind and take time off. This past year, I took advantage of three DMC YOEs (company-sponsored weekend events), and I often was able to expense flights to these destinations since travel to them was less expensive than returning home.

Colchuck Lake hike at the SeaYOEttle

This past year, my brother was getting married in Montana. I traveled to the wedding, and I was able to take the week before the wedding off to explore Montana. It was an incredible experience and a great way to unwind from some tough onsite work. Accumulated miles and rental car points made this vacation very cost effective.

Mountain goats seen during a vacation taken to Montana during a long onsite

The time in between projects can be very relaxing allowing you to reset and get settled in your life. When I am offsite, I often ramp up for my next project, learn new skills, work on internal initiatives, and write blogs (both technical and non-technical).

I would like to touch briefly on is dating and relationships as a Road Warrior. I have a long-term girlfriend in Indianapolis who I am thankful to have supporting me along my travels. I like to think of dating while traveling as “long-distance plus.” Although you do spend most workdays apart from your significant other, travel perks make getting to your person easier and more cost effective given travel perks and the ability to expense flights. Although it varies by circumstances and project, some customers will allow you to return home every weekend that you would like to. Something that has been a great experience for my girlfriend and me is having her visit while I have been onsite. A few recent highlights are below.

Fun activities while my significant other visited me in Iowa. Left: watching Caitlin Clark play in a University of Iowa basketball game. Right: sampling cider and snacking at Wilson’s Orchard & Farm.
 

Tips for the Road

After almost two years, I wanted to share some tips I picked along the way to mitigate risk and have a more enjoyable experience on the road:

• Go onsite. With remote access to a PLC and HMIs being readily available, even while onsite, it is tempting to stay at your cozy desk. I encourage any onsite controls engineer to go into the field or factory and be in proximity with the automation you are working on. Not only is this safer when downloading, but you will be able to identify and solve problems more easily by just seeing the equipment operate. Also, you will be able to speak with operators and managers who often have vast expertise with equipment and the industry you are serving.
• Save time with digital hotel keys. Most hotels offer a “digital key” option which allows you to check in on the app and use your phone as they key to enter your room. No need to stop by the front desk.
• Use your sick days. If you are traveling and working hard, chances are you will get sick. Don’t be afraid to use your sick days. After all, a customer does not want you to spread a sickness throughout their company.
• Be ready for anything. When you show up to a new city, you may likely not know anyone in that city. This means that you need to be prepared to handle any situation by yourself. If you drive a lot for your projects, then I recommend AAA Gold to have you covered with car-related break downs/issues. Make sure you have a portable battery for your phone. You never want to be in an unfamiliar area with a dead phone and laptop. 
• Be rental car aware. Rental car companies will try to get you to upgrade your car at the check in desk. Don’t fall for their sales tactics! Always take a video of your rental car, inside and out, before leaving the lot.
• Check your hotel for bed bugs – This article has information on how to check for bed bugs in your hotel room and mitigate your risk of getting them. This article has more information on how to get rid of them. 
• Be careful of injury. Maybe don’t hit that deadlift PR while you are traveling or avoid the double backs on the weekend during your Colorado onsite. If you can’t walk, you likely won’t be much help onsite, let alone make it onsite.
• Hike safely. If you are going to go for a hike in a new area, tell at least one other person exactly where you are going and how long you expect it to take, and don’t change your plans. Ever seen 127 Hours?
• Be aware of your surroundings. Learn what parts of a city to avoid.
• Find a hobby. Find one thing that you love to do while you are on the road that isn’t work. I keep my sanity by lifting weights, riding my bike, and catching hot yoga classes. Others play video games, run, climb, cook, etc.

Enjoyed some post-work recreation. Left: group gravel ride with another Road Warrior. Right: riding into the sunset.

• Avoid car repair. Do not service your car while on the road unless it is necessary to keep it running safely. Mechanics are people and accidents can happen. You do not want to deal with car repairs when you are on the road if your mechanic made a mistake.
• Don’t skimp on insurance. This can cover you in rental cars and if you are driving your personal vehicle to a project site.
• Stay calm. You 100% will run into issues if you travel long enough. Thanks, Murphy. Be mentally prepared for this and stay calm when things go wrong and be creative.
• Ask questions. No question is a bad one when you are learning from someone more experienced.
• Stay healthy. Eat healthy, sleep well, and stay active. Staying healthy will make every part of your onsite more enjoyable, and your brain will work better! I do my best to either utilize hotel gyms while onsite or join a gym.

Lifting some weights at a gym I joined while onsite.

• Prioritize safety. Safety incidents do occur in industrial automation, and by being onsite more often, you put yourself at a higher risk of being involved in one. If you are ever doing something that feels unsafe, stop immediately and talk to your project manager. Nothing matters more than staying safe while onsite.

Overall: ★★★★☆

The lifestyle of a Road Warrior is intense and often demanding, but the project work and experience makes it all worth it. The increased income and benefits are not given, but rather they are earned by providing consistent onsite support, meeting customer needs, and dealing with traveling challenges. Although I have found myself in some challenging situations, I do not regret being a Road Warrior, and I encourage anyone to take the plunge and give it a go.

The post Road Warrior: A Long-Term Follow-Up Review appeared first on DMC, Inc..

What if it was possible to travel and make money at the same time? DMC’s newest role, the “Road Warrior,” does just that. A team of six bold and talented engineers, including myself, are piloting this program as of June 2022. 

During business hours, we roll up our sleeves, travel to client sites, and get our hands dirty by working directly on a client’s automation hardware and software. Outside of working hours, and on the weekends, we are free to adventure! 

This blog gives you a candid look into what it is like to be a Road Warrior. I will share the ins and outs of my six months of experience in the role, as well as some tidbits from my fellow Road Warriors.

The Perks

Road Warriors and their clients enjoy clear advantages from the new role. We put in above average travel time and, therefore, receive above average compensation for our efforts. Benefits include higher pay and a faster vacation accrual rate. Additionally, Road Warriors can rollover unlimited vacation days in the calendar year or years served. DMC also provides site compensation bonuses for each day on the road — including extra on the weekends.

As an early career engineer, the duration of my role as a Road Warrior is 18 months. Those with more experience can sign up for shorter, 6-month Road Warrior rotations. At contract termination, Road Warriors are eligible to take up to 30 days off using vacation time, unpaid time off, or a combination of the two. 

Road Warriors, as well as non-Road Warrior traveling engineers, are eligible for project recouperation, also known as “recoup time.” Depending on the duration and circumstances of the trip, travelers can take one or two paid days off after returning without expending any vacation time. Traveling is tiring, and having dedicated time to take care of chores or to do something enjoyable after a big onsite trip is a huge perk. 

A wanderer at heart, I enjoy getting to experience different parts of our beautiful country. As Road Warriors, we get to see incredible sights, try new activities, and eat delicious food.

DMC sends us to projects that last at least a month, so we have the opportunity to really learn a place rather than rush through a visit. 

Here are a few pictures of activities, food, and events that the Road Warrior team has been fortunate enough to experience. 

Figure 1: Hiking in Pinnacles National Park with a fellow Road Warrior

Figure 2: A group of Road Warriors going out for hibachi

Figure 3: Rock climbing inside of an abandoned grain silo at Upper Limits climbing gym after work one day

Figure 4: Cooking a steak on a 700-degree volcanic rock at Rok Steakhouse

I am an avid cyclist, and longer stays allow me travel with my bike. My most recent project was in the Bay Area, and I enjoyed riding my gravel bike on various routes and connecting with a local gravel riding group. 

Figure 5: Riding near the Golden Gate Bridge

Figure 6: Riding above the clouds amongst the Redwoods

Figure 7: Sunrise ride in South Bay near a salt pond

Another major benefit of being a Road Warrior is that there are next to no living costs while on the road. Travelers will either get a rental car with gas paid for, or we are compensated for our gas and miles driven if driving a personal car. 

On top of that, we receive lodging, flights, and a daily allowance for food. As an added benefit, Road Warriors can book accommodations through their own accounts and inevitably rack up hotel, airline, credit card, and rental car points that can be used for personal travel. 

Clients also benefit from the Road Warrior program. Normally, for an extended onsite trip, engineering teams are rotated on and offsite in intervals up to three or four weeks. It takes time to pass off work and get a new team of engineers up to speed on a project  Since Road Warriors remain onsite for an extended period, transition and travel costs are limited, and clients see a smoother progression in their onsite projects. 

The Work

Road Warriors have the opportunity to complete interesting and challenging work while directly interfacing with hardware. You get to work on the code for automation equipment and robots in some of the most advanced manufacturing and fulfillment facilities in the world. If that doesn’t sound exciting to you as a systems or automation engineer, then you are in the wrong industry. 

With this incredible work comes higher pressure to produce results for a client. Since Road Warriors often work on equipment that is running production, it is important for us to be on the ball each day to make high quality and professional changes to code. Also, clients pay a premium to have us onsite, so they rightfully expect progress each day. 

Of course, clients are interested in the status of our work. Communicating effectively and consistently to a client is critical for successful projects and business relationships. Road Warriors are expected to provide daily updates to a client regarding current progress, next steps, and timelines.  

With pressure to produce results comes a “One DMC” support network. I am never hung out to dry when stuck on a problem. In fact, I rarely solve a challenging problem alone at DMC, even on a solo project. 

When I hit a roadblock, I reach out to a group of other automation engineers at my company. One of whom has likely overcome the same exact problem or, at a minimum, is willing to hop on a call and provide support. When consulting a DMC engineer, a client gains access to the knowledgebase of hundreds of experienced DMC engineers.  

Road Warriors stay busy while onsite and will typically put at least 40 hours of their time per week towards the onsite project. Naturally, we receive higher than average performance metrics when onsite.  

As a final note, the nature of a Road Warrior’s role gives the individual the opportunity to connect and network with other engineers. I am thankful to have worked also closely with some incredibly smart engineers at other companies, and I have learned a lot technically and non-technically from these connections!

The Challenges

Road Warriors have great benefits. We get to see the sights and work on incredible projects with smart people… so what’s the catch? As with most things in life, there are some challenges. 

One of the most challenging aspects for me is that it can be difficult to form community when on a solo project. Of course, Road Warriors are supported by the DMC community, but we will inevitably be apart from family or perhaps a significant other. 

This is something that a prospective Road Warrior must weigh when deciding to sign up for the role; however, with intention, it is possible to form new community on the road. This article has some good tips for doing so! (I should note that Road Warrior assignments are generally not solo, especially for early-career engineers.)

Traveling can be frustrating at times as well. If you are traveling for 80% of the year, I can almost guarantee that you will miss a connecting flight or have something go wrong with one of your accommodations at some point. My advice: go with the flow and make the best of the situation. 

For example, this Fall I missed a connecting flight in Denver while traveling to Indianapolis for a weekend visit from California. The next flight from Denver to Indianapolis left Sunday morning, and I needed to return to California for work by Monday morning. Instead of rebooking, I called up my family in Colorado and enjoyed an unexpected weekend trip with them; I got to see the Aspen trees changing colors!  

Figure 8: Getting to see the leaves change color while visiting family on an unexpected trip to Denver

Most of the time, we aim to work just over 40 hours per week, 9 AM to 5 PM; however, Road Warriors will sometimes need to work more than 8-hour days or nights shifts. If a company is bringing down production for engineering work, or if engineering time is given at night, Road Warriors must be flexible with their schedules. 

One of DMC’s core values it to have fun; therefore, DMC funds a lot of activities, events, and meals at each office. Unfortunately, when on the road, Road Warriors are unable to take part in these events. 

Of course, if someone signs up to be a road warrior and it doesn’t work out, they can always transition to a more traditional automation role within DMC. At the end of my 18 months, I will either do one more six-month stint as a Road Warrior, or I will transition into a more stationary role at DMC’s Denver office. 

The Early Career Road Warrior Perspective

As part of DMC’s “One DMC” initiative, all DMC hires complete a few weeks of training at DMC’s Chicago office. This was one of my favorite parts of onboarding at DMC (just take a quick peek at all of the fun welcome parties and activity fund events that happen at the Chicago office). 

In addition to meeting the incredible employees of the Chicago office and other new hires, I was invited to fun welcome parties and events; this included kayaking down the Chicago River and doing a Bubble 5k. I will always remember my time onboarding in Chicago!

Figure 9: Bubble 5k in Chicago during onboarding 

Furthermore, the technical training for a Road Warrior has some differences compared to other DMC roles. After completing a few weeks of general company and automation training classes, Road Warriors will begin training up on technologies that will be used in their first onsite visit. In my case, I received focused trainings on programming Rockwell PLCs and developing SCADA systems in Ignition. 

Generally, your first onsite trips will be at sites with DMC engineers. This allows you to provide technical support to the client while learning the ropes of being onsite from more senior engineers. 

One of my concerns when taking a traveling job was that I might not develop relationships with mentors if I was frequently on the road and away from the office. Luckily, DMC has a mentor program, and I was assigned two mentors who both helped me get my feet on the ground in my career. I continue to meet with them every month or so. I was also fortunate to do an onsite visit with both of my mentors, so I got to work with them and build these relationships in-person as well. 

When not traveling, I expand my knowledge and capabilities as a controls engineer. I spend my time training up on different technologies, ramping up for my next onsite project, and catching up on company matters. DMC has many “at your own pace” trainings set up for relevant technologies that can be completed during this time; so far at DMC, I have received training on Rockwell, Siemens, Beckhoff PLCs and HMIs, FANUC robots, and Ignition. 

Overall Thoughts

This role can be challenging for the long-term (unless you want to hit the 10 Million Mile Club like Ryan Bingham from Up in the Air) — especially for anyone who is tightly bound to their home by kids, family, pets, or anything else — but, for a year, or even a couple of years, it can be an incredible opportunity to see the world, gain experience in some of the most advanced and highly-automated facilities in the world, and to bank away some extra cash (or knock down student loans in my case).

With that being said, I recommend future DMCers to go for it! If you feel like you have been living in one place for too long and want to explore our beautiful country (or perhaps our beautiful world!) then absolutely take it on. Some days will be challenging and tiring. Other days you will make incredible contributions to automation equipment and robots, eat incredible food, and see incredible sights! 

Learn more about careers at DMC.

The post Life on the Road: Who are DMC’s Road Warriors and What Do We Do?  appeared first on DMC, Inc..

• Limitations of Absolute Font Sizes
• CSS for Font Sizing in Ignition Perspective
• Strategies for implementing Viewport Sized Typography

Limitations of Absolute Font Sizes

Today is an exciting day; the dashboards that you have been developing using Ignition Perspective are going to be released to production. You save one last time to capture your final tweaks and launch a session in a browser on your laptop to ensure all of your views look perfect, and they do!

You then deploy a dashboard on the large 4k TV that overlooks Area 1, and you are shocked at what you see. The shapes on the dashboard grew to fit the space on the TV, but the text didn’t! Realizing that something is fishy, you launch the Area 1 dashboard on a tablet and see that the text is much too large for the available real estate.

Figure 1: Expected font sizing as viewed on an engineering laptop

Figure 2: Font size appears too small when viewed on a high-resolution device such as a 4k TV.

Figure 3: Font size appears too large when viewing the dashboard on a low-resolution device such as a tablet.

Ideally, the size of the font would occupy the same percentage of space on all displays. This way, the dashboard would look consistent given various display resolutions and zooms.  

It is critical that the dashboard can be easily viewed on the TV so that anyone on the production floor in Area 1 can quickly get a snapshot of the production status and identify any faulted equipment. Additionally, operators have a tablet to monitor OEE data for their stations and identify recurring faults. Production managers and executives will also want to see the dashboards on monitors and displays in their offices.

Ignition offers several built-in features for handling various display sizes. Flex containers allow components to grow and shrink relative to one another to fill a given space. Breakpoint Containers are another effective way to rearrange components based on the display width or height in pixels. While these container types are ideal for rearranging or resizing components, font size does not automatically grow or shrink with changing container or view size.

CSS for Font Sizing in Ignition Perspective

Luckily, Ignition Perspective uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to style and format its elements (read more about CSS here). Ignition Perspective developers can leverage CSS by styling components individually or by adding global style classes to gain more detailed control of the appearance of their screens. In our case, we can use CSS to yield a desirable font-sizing behavior which is not affected by display resolution or zoom.

The properties of a Perspective component can be found in the PROPS section of the Perspective Property Editor window. When selecting a label component, we can set properties such as the text of the label and the vertical alignment of the label.

We can also style the text or the label by setting the properties of textStyle and style. To modify the appearance of a component, the user can either apply a style class to the textStyle or style, or they can set specific style properties for each component. The fontSize property is of main consideration in this blog.

Figure 4: The properties of a component, including the fontSize, can be found in the PROPS section of the Perspective Property editor.

There are several ways that we can size font in Ignition Perspective using CSS. In Figures 1-3, the font size is set in pixels. The inconsistent font appearance is caused by different display resolutions. That is, 16px font size will look much smaller on a display that is 3840 x 2160 pixels compared to one that is 1280 x 800 pixels. Some ways that we can size font using CSS include (see this article for more information):

• Absolute font sizing
  • pt – unit of measurement used in print based on one inch (72 pts = 1 inch)
  • px – one dot on the screen is equal to on px
• Relative font sizing
  • em – 1em uses 1x of the default browser font size, 2em uses 2x of the default browser font size, etc.
  • % – 100% uses the default browser font, 200% uses 2x the default browser font size

Unfortunately, none of these font sizing options will solve the problem initially described. More specifically, the font will not occupy a proportional amount of space on displays with varying resolution or zoom. Fortunately, we have another option! We can dynamically scale the size of the font as a percentage of the viewing window, also known as the viewport, using viewport-sized typography. To dynamically scale font size with the viewport, we have a few options for the fontSize property:

• vm – 1vm is equal to 1% of the viewport width
• vh – 1vh is equal to 1% of the viewport height
• vmin – 1vmin is equal to 1% of the smaller of the viewport’s height width
• vmax – 1max is equal to 1% of the larger of the viewport’s height width

Screen resolution is not a variable when using the viewport to size font. An added benefit of using viewport-sized typography is that, when you resize a dashboard’s browser, the font will also resize in real time.

For many cases, just using a factor of vmin for dynamic font sizing will be an effective solution (e.g. fontSize : 2.1vmin). A font size such as calc(0.75*(1vh + 1vw)) is useful because it takes into consideration both the viewport width and height and gives you a scaling factor for different types of labels.

The calc() function is necessary to tell the CSS language that you are evaluating an expression when multiplying by the scaling factor. As a note, fontSize : calc(2.0*(1vh + 1vw)) will yield the same exact font size as fontSize : 2.0vh + 2.0vw.  This forum gives a few other dynamic CSS font sizing options.

Figure 5: Resizing font based on the viewport size using vmin. Only changing the smaller dimension of the browser changes the font size.

Figure 6: Resizing font using the calc() function as well as vh and vw. Font size changes whenever the viewport changes size.

Strategies for Implementing Viewport-Sized Typography

Now, for the area view shown in Figures 1-3, we can just set the fontSize property to fontSize∶ calc(X*(1vh + 1vw)) and adjust X, the scaling factor, as needed for all labels. But wait… we have one more level of complexity in our anecdote. The customer has also requested a “Plant” page that embeds all four areas of the plant on one view. Before getting into a font-sizing solution, let me first provide an overview of the plant’s dashboard organization.

• Plant (of view, PlantView)
  • 4x Areas (of embedded view, AreaView)
    • 6x Machines (of embedded view, MachineView)
      • 4x Units (of embedded view, UnitView)

Each AreaView has its own page, and there is one PlantView page (assigned to the root or “/” page).

It is ideal to embed the AreaViews so that any changes to them will propagate to the PlantView. This design presents some challenges when using the viewport to set the font size. When embedded, the AreaViews take up a smaller portion of the viewport compared to when they are displayed on their own page. As a result, the viewport-sized font appears too larger on the plant’s page as seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7: The text on the embedded views appears too large because the font is sized based on the entire viewport – yet, the embedded views only occupy a portion of the viewport.

Ideally, the font sizes within the embedded AreaViews would scale with the AreaViews’ width and height. One implementation strategy is to parameterize the fontSize expression with the width and height of the embedded views such that: fontSize∶ calc(X*({Embedded View Width}vh + {Embedded View Height}vw)).

When using a Percent Coordinate Container, the Embedded View Width and Embedded View Height will be a percentage of the size of the parent view, or the PlantView in our scenario. This expression will “trick” the embedded views into thinking that its viewport is the size of the embedded view and scale its font properly.

When the AreaViews are shown on their own page, we can simply set the Embedded View Width and Embedded View Height parameters to 1, and the font will know to size with respect to the entire viewport. 

To implement this, create two parameters on each view that will be embedded on another view — including the UnitView, MachineView, and AreaView. I will name these parameters vpWidthPercent and vpHeightPercent, which represent the width and height percentage of the area views as they appear in the Plant view. Set both parameters to 1 initially.

Figure 8: Parameters on the UnitView, vpHeightPercent, and vpWidthPercent, that represent the height and width percentage of the view as it is embedded on a parent view.

Next, create an expression binding on the fontSize property of the label in the UnitView as shown below (I like to click on the hamburger to the right of the text entry area to add parameters).

Figure 9: Setting an expression binding on the fontSize property of the UnitView’s label

This string concatenation will yield a fontSize of the following (when the parameters are both 1).

Figure 10: The fontSize property after adding its binding.

Note that font size will not appear correctly in the Designer. To view work, one must launch a session by right clicking on the desired page and clicking “Launch URL” or by pressing F10.

Create the same binding on labels in the MachineView and the AreaView. Modify the scaling factor as needed.

Figure 11: Setting an expression binding on the fontSize property of the MachineView’s label similarly to the UnitView’s, except with a scaling factor of 2.

Now that we have fontSize bindings defined, we must use the dimensions of the embedded AreaViews to size font appropriately on the AreaViews, MachineViews, and UnitViews. To do this, bind the vpWidthPercent and vpHeightPercent parameters of the AreaView to its width and height within the PlantView.

Figure 12: Binding vpWidthPercent and vpHeightPercent to the width and height of the embedded AreaViews, respectively

Next, on the AreaView, bind the vpWidthPercent and vpHeightPercent parameters of each embedded MachineView to the corresponding vpWidthPercent and vpHeightPercent parameters of the parent view.

Figure 13: Binding the vpWidthPercent of the embedded MachineView to the Corresponding parameter of the parent view, AreaView

Finally, on the MachineView, bind the vpWidthPercent and vpHeightPercent parameters of each embedded UnitView to the corresponding parameters of the parent view. Now, the font will size independently of the resolution or zoom of the viewing display as seen in Figure 14.

Figure 14: The PlantView’s embedded AreaViews display text appropriately after binding the height and width of the embedded views to their vp HeightPercent and vpWidthPercent parameters, respectively.

One other potential solution for embedding the AreaViews into the PlantView would be to use an Inline Frame, or an iFrame for short. An iFrame is useful for embedding a webpage into a view. To do this, link the URL of the AreaView pages to the src parameter of the iFrame.

Each iFrame has its own viewport and, therefore, sizes the font of embedded views correctly. For example, if there were multiple plants and a need for a dashboard with all of them, embedding each of them as an iFrames may be an effective solution. One drawback of using an iFrame is that it becomes more difficult to modify and customize parameters of the embedded view.

Another useful feature of Ignition Perspective is Dynamic Style Classes — which allow the user to set a particular style class based on an element or media property of a view. A Dynamic Style Class would be useful for switching between two font sizes based on the width or height of a view in pixels.

Conclusion

Developing an understanding of CSS will allow you to take the formatting and appearance of your Perspective dashboards to the next level. In particular, viewport-sized typography is a powerful tool that allows text to dynamically change size based of the viewing area.

Learn more about DMC’s Ignition programming expertise and contact us today for your next project!

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