- Qt 6.12
- Qt Graphs
- Wind Turbine Dashboard
- Qt Graphs | Commercial or GPLv3

# Wind Turbine Dashboard

A wind turbine dashboard with 2D and 3D graphs.

The Wind Turbine Dashboard example demonstrates how to use both 2D and 3D graphs in a simulated real-world application.

#### Running the Example

To run the example from Qt Creator, open the Welcome mode and select the example from Examples. For more information, see Qt Creator: Tutorial: Build and run.

#### Overview of the Application

The example demonstrates a wind turbine monitoring dashboard, referred to as the Aerospace Hub, which displays simulated data from an imaginary wind turbine field. A variety of graph types are employed to visualize different kinds of data. For example, a 2D graph with a spline series illustrates hourly power output, while an accompanying area series represents the accumulated power over the same period. Multiple data views are available, allowing users to explore and analyze the information from different perspectives.

The main interface features a settings toolbar on the left. Depending on the selected mode, the layout may include a status pane, a dashboard of smaller graphs, a primary large graph, or a detailed settings panel - either individually or in combination. This flexible design enables users to customize their view and focus on the most relevant data for their current analysis.

##### Dashboard View

The dashboard view presents the current system status alongside a scrollable pane that displays miniature previews of the various graphs. Up to four graphs are shown simultaneously, allowing users to conveniently browse through all six available visualizations and quickly assess key performance metrics at a glance.

##### Detail View

The detail view, accessible by selecting a miniature graph from the dashboard, enables users to examine the chosen visualization in greater depth and at a larger scale. Depending on the graph type, users can zoom, pan, or rotate the view to explore the data interactively. Additionally, individual data points can be hovered over or clicked to reveal more detailed information about the specific item of interest.

##### Settings View

The settings view, accessible by clicking either the settings button in the toolbar or in a miniature graph, allows users to adjust the visual theme of the graphs and modify settings specific to each graph type. Certain configurations persist after exiting the settings view, while others apply only within the current view, providing flexibility for both temporary and permanent adjustments.

#### Data Simulation

All graph data is produced by a hierarchy of simulator classes implemented in C++. The base class, `DataSimulator`, generates random values within a configurable `min` to `max` range. The `order` property controls whether the sequence is `Ascending`, `Descending`, or `NotSorted`, and the `deviation` property limits how much each value may differ from the previous one. When `live` is set to `true`, data is automatically updated at the interval specified by `updatePeriod`. The updates run on a dedicated background thread, simulating a real data source.

Each subclass is a QML element that targets a specific series type:

- `LineSimulator` — populates QSplineSeries with the generated values.
- `BarSimulator` — populates QBarSeries, grouping values into bar sets according to the `numberOfCategory` property.
- `PieSimulator` — populates QPieSeries, creating one slice per generated value.
- `Data3DSimulator` — feeds a `SimulatedDataModel` (QAbstractListModel) used by the 3D graph types. The `numberOfRows` and `numberOfColumns` properties define the grid dimensions of the data.

#### Implementation Details

Everything in the application has been designed in a modular fashion. Main view, which is the `Main.qml` file, is an ApplicationWindow, which instantiates the data simulators for each graph, as well as the root Item holding all of the UI elements.

The FontLoader is used for applying a global font for the whole UI.

     ApplicationWindow {
         ...

         FontLoader { ... }
         font.family: interFont.name

         // Data simulators
         PieSimulator {
             id: piesim
             ...
         }

         BarSimulator {
             id: barsim
             ...
         }

         LineSimulator {
             id: linesim
             ...
         }

         Data3DSimulator {
             id: barDataSimulator
             ...
         }

         Data3DSimulator {
             id: scatterDataSimulator
             ...
         }

         Data3DSimulator {
             id: surfaceDataSimulator
             ...
         }

         // Root item
         Item {...}
     }

The root item holds the background graphics and a Layout handling the placement of each UI element in the view:

     // Background image
     Image {
         anchors.fill: parent
         source: root.state === "ShowSettings" ? "images/settings-bg.png"
                                               : "images/dashboard-bg.png"
         fillMode: Image.PreserveAspectCrop
     }

     // Everything except background image
     ColumnLayout {
         anchors.fill: parent
         ...

Most of the elements have been taken out of the `Main.qml` file itself into their own QML components to be used in the layouts, like the `ToolBarItem` in the snippet below:

     // Vertical toolbar
     ToolBarItem {
         Layout.preferredWidth: GlobalSettings.toolbarwidth
         Layout.fillHeight: true
     }

     // Everything except vertical toolbar, header, and background image
     ColumnLayout {
         id: maincontentview
         Layout.fillWidth: true
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         ...

Transitions between different view is handled using `states` and `transitions`:

     states: [
         State {
             name: "ShowDashboard"
         },
         State {
             name: "ShowSettings"
             PropertyChanges {
                 maincontent.opacity: 0
                 settingscontent.opacity: 1
             }
             PropertyChanges {
                 viewtextdesc.text: "/  Settings"
             }
         },
         ...
     // Use transitions to bring the selected view to the front
     transitions: [
         Transition {
             NumberAnimation {
                 properties: "opacity"
                 easing.type: Easing.InOutCubic
                 duration: 1000
             }
         }
     ]

##### Dashboard

Dashboard is a part of the main content, another RowLayout inside the Layout hierarchy:

     // Main content
     RowLayout {
         id: maincontent
         Layout.fillWidth: true
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         ...

It is made up of a status pane and a dashboard pane:

     // Status area; turbine image, notification, status texts, and turbine name
     StatusPane {
         id: statuspane
         Layout.preferredWidth: GlobalSettings.statusimagewidth
         Layout.fillHeight: true
     }

     // Scrollable dashboard graph area, shown when in ShowDashboard state
     DashboardPane {
         id: dashboardpane
         contentheight: statuspane.height * 1.5
         Layout.preferredWidth: GlobalSettings.dashboardwidth
         Layout.fillHeight: true
     }

###### Status Pane

Status pane has also been made up of smaller elements, implemented in their own QML components:

     // Masking the turbine image of the background image
     ImageItem {
         anchors.fill: parent
     }

     // Notification
     NotificationItem {
         anchors.top: turbineimage.top
         anchors.horizontalCenter: turbineimage.horizontalCenter
         anchors.topMargin: GlobalSettings.doublespacing
         width: turbineimage.width / 1.25
     }

     // Status
     StatusItem {
         anchors.centerIn: turbineimage
         width: turbineimage.width / 1.5
         height: turbineimage.width / 1.75
     }

     // Turbine name
     Label {
         ...

The implementation of these is not relevant, so that part will be skipped.

###### Dashboard Pane

Dashboard is the element holding the six small graph previews. Only four of those are visible at a time, so they have to be added inside an element that can be scrolled. In this case, it is done with a Flickable, which holds a GridLayout:

     Flickable {
         property alias contentheight: content.height

         clip: true

         contentHeight: contentheight

         boundsBehavior: Flickable.StopAtBounds
         interactive: true
         visible: opacity > 0.5

         Item {
             id: content
             width: parent.width

             GridLayout {
                 id: grid
                 columns: 2
         ...

The graph previews are added inside the grid layout, and like most other elements, they have been implemented inside their own elements:

     // Graph 1: Power output over time
     SmallGraphItem {
         Layout.fillWidth: true
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         state: "Area2D"
         linesimulator: linesim
     }

     // Graph 2: Energy production x Turbine
     SmallGraphItem {
         Layout.fillWidth: true
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         state: "Bar2D"
         barsimulator: barsim
     }
     ...

The `SmallGraphItem` element is a generic one, holding all different graph types inside it, and the required type is given to it as a `state`.

SmallGraphItem has:

- A header element
- An instance of each graph type, for which visibility is set to false by default using an opacity trigger
- A rectangle to darken the preview
- A mouse area to handle hover and mouse clicks on the preview

     Pie2DGraph {
         id: pie2d
         anchors.topMargin: header.height + GlobalSettings.defaultspacing
         anchors.rightMargin: GlobalSettings.defaultspacing
         anchors.fill: parent
         opacity: 0
         piesimulator: smallgraph.piesimulator
     }

     Bar3DGraph {
         id: bar3d
         anchors.topMargin: header.height + GlobalSettings.defaultspacing
         anchors.bottomMargin: GlobalSettings.defaultspacing
         anchors.fill: parent
         opacity: 0
         cameraZoomLevel: GlobalSettings.defaultzoom
         cameraPreset: GlobalSettings.defaultpreset
     }
     ...

Opacities are used for transition animations, which is why they have been set to 0 in the previews by default. When opacity is animated above 0.5, the preview graph itself is set visible:

     Bars3D {
         id: graph
         visible: opacity > 0.5
         ...

##### Details

Details is also a part of the main content, using the same RowLayout inside the Layout hierarchy. It is made up of the same status pane as the Dashboard, and a details pane:

     // Details graph, shown when in correct state
     BigGraphItem {
         id: detailspane
         Layout.preferredWidth: GlobalSettings.dashboardwidth
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         state: root.state
         radius: GlobalSettings.defaultradius
         piesimulator: piesim
         barsimulator: barsim
         linesimulator: linesim
         detailsview: true
     }

The details pane, `BigGraphItem`, is similar to the `SmallGraphItem` in a sense that it also holds an instance of each graph in it, in addition to other elements:

     // Graphs
     Area2DGraph {
         id: area2dbig
         Layout.fillWidth: true
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         Layout.margins: GlobalSettings.defaultmargin
         opacity: 0
         panStyle: GraphsView.PanStyle.Drag
         zoomStyle: GraphsView.ZoomStyle.Center
         linesimulator: biggraph.linesimulator
         onVisibleChanged: {
             if (visible)
                 biggraph.activegraph = area2dbig
         }
     }

     Bar2DGraph {
         id: bar2dbig
         Layout.fillWidth: true
         Layout.fillHeight: true
         Layout.margins: GlobalSettings.defaultmargin
         opacity: 0
         panStyle: GraphsView.PanStyle.Drag
         zoomStyle: GraphsView.ZoomStyle.Center
         barsimulator: biggraph.barsimulator
         onVisibleChanged: {
             if (visible)
                 biggraph.activegraph = bar2dbig
         }
     }
     ...

Other elements included are a dropdown combobox for selecting the graph type, control buttons for rotating, panning, and zooming - depending on the graph type - and a tooltip for the buttons. Like `SmallGraphItem`, the graph type shown is decided based on the state.

##### Settings

Settings has been taken outside the main content Layout, as it is not using any parts of the Dashboard or Details views:

     // Settings
     SettingsItem {
         id: settingscontent
         anchors.fill: parent
         ...

Settings view holds another `BigGraphItem` for displaying the graph, and a settings pane for adjusting either the GraphsTheme properties or some properties sepcific to the selected graph type.

     // Graph detail
     BigGraphItem {
         id: settingsgraph
         width: GlobalSettings.settingsgraphwidth
         anchors.top: parent.top
         anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
         anchors.topMargin: GlobalSettings.graphdetailmargin
         radius: GlobalSettings.defaultradius
         opacity: parent.opacity
         piesimulator: settingsitem.piesimulator
         barsimulator: settingsitem.barsimulator
         linesimulator: settingsitem.linesimulator
     }

     // Settings pane
     Loader {
         active: settingsitem.visible
         asynchronous: true
         anchors.left: settingsgraph.right
         anchors.right: parent.right
         anchors.top: parent.top
         anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
         anchors.leftMargin: GlobalSettings.doublespacing

         sourceComponent: Item {
             StackLayout {
                 id: settingspane
                 anchors.fill: parent
         ...

###### Global Theme

The settings on the General Settings tab affect all graphs in the application. A global GraphsTheme has been implemented as a `Singleton` in `GlobalSettings.qml`:

     pragma Singleton
     ...
     QtObject {
         id: global
         ...
     // Common graph theme
     property var theme: GraphsTheme {
         plotAreaBackgroundVisible: false
         backgroundVisible: false
         colorScheme: GraphsTheme.ColorScheme.Dark
         theme: GraphsTheme.Theme.BlueSeries
         labelTextColor: "#AEAEAE"
         labelBackgroundVisible: true
         labelFont.pointSize: global.fontsize28px
         grid.mainColor: "#AEAEAE"
         grid.mainWidth: 1
         baseGradients: [ global.customgradient ]
     }

This global shared theme is set to each graph as the theme:

     theme: GlobalSettings.theme

As a singleton, the `GlobalSettings.qml` needs to be tagged as one in the `CMakeLists.txt` as well, to be usable in the application:

     set_source_files_properties(qml/GlobalSettings.qml
         PROPERTIES QT_QML_SINGLETON_TYPE TRUE)

###### Graph Settings

The settings in the Graph Settings tab only affect the currently selected graph. These settings do not change the global theme, but the series in the active graph only.

Example project @ code.qt.io