Configure the web settings for Mobile Access

Configure these general settings to determine the overall user experience for viewing project screens through Mobile Access.

To configure the web settings for Mobile Access:

1. If the Mobile Access Configuration worksheet is not already open, do one of the following:

   • On the Project tab of the ribbon, in the Web group, click Mobile Access.

   • On the Graphics tab of the Project Explorer, double-click Thin Clients > Mobile Access.

   The Mobile Access Configuration worksheet is opened for editing.

   

2. Under Process Values, review the settings that determine how process values are updated during run time.

   Update Rate

   The normal rate (in milliseconds) at which process values in screens are updated from the project runtime server. The default rate is 1000 milliseconds (1 second). In other words, project screens are normally updated once per second.

   Update Rate After Command

   The increased rate (in milliseconds) at which process values are updated after any command is executed in a project screen. This lets the user see immediate changes resulting from the command.

   Update Count After Command

   The number of times that process values are updated at the increased rate, after which they return to the normal rate.

   These settings make project screens appear more responsive while users are actually using them. You can increase the rate and/or count, but doing so will put more of a load on your network and the project runtime server. In most cases, you should accept the default values.

3. Under Web, in the Session Expiration box, type the number of seconds of inactivity that will be allowed before a client session expires.

   The default period is 300 seconds (5 minutes). A session is considered active as long as the client is connected to the server and a user is logged on, even if there is no user input. The session becomes inactive when the user logs off or the client loses its connection to the server. Then, after the specified period of inactivity, the session expires and the user must reload the Mobile Access web interface in order to reconnect to the server.

4. In the Zoom Mode list, select how you want your project screens to be displayed in the browser window.

   The following options are available:

   Option	Description
   Disabled	In this mode, screen zoom is disabled entirely and the project is displayed at full resolution, regardless of the size of the browser window. All of the screens are displayed in their specified sizes and positions (as configured in the Screen Attributes for each screen), relative to the top-left corner of the browser window. Resizing the browser window does not affect the screens in any way. If a screen is configured so that some or all of its area will be displayed outside the available area of the browser window, such screen area will not be visible. The browser window does not include scroll bars, and the user cannot use "pinch" and "stretch" gestures to zoom the screens.
   Auto Screen Scaling	In this mode, all of the screens are scaled proportionally according to the ratio between the project's display resolution and the size of the browser window. As long as a screen's specified size and position (as configured in Screen Attributes) do not exceed the project's display resolution, the screen will be fully visible within the browser window. Resizing the browser window also resizes all of the screens displayed within the browser window. The browser window does not include scroll bars, and the user cannot use "pinch" and "stretch" gestures to zoom the screens. When the system calculates the ratio between the project's display resolution and the size of the browser window, it keeps the original width/height ratio of the display resolution in order to avoid distorting the contents of the screens. For example, if the specified display resolution is 1000x500 (2:1) and the browser window is 500x100 (5:1), the maximum display resolution that will actually fit within the browser window is 200x100 (2:1). Therefore, each screen's size/position will be divided by 5 (1000/200 or 500/100) before it is displayed in the browser window. This is the default option for new projects.
   Custom Zoom	This mode is the same as Disabled mode (see above), except that the user can use "pinch" and "stretch" gestures to zoom the screens. The zoom is applied to all open screens at the same time. If the project's display resolution is smaller than the size of the browser window, the user can zoom in so that the screens fill the window. Conversely, if the project's display resolution is larger than the size of the browser window, the user can zoom out so that the screens fit within the window. When zooming, the system keeps the original width/height ratio of each screen in order to avoid distorting the contents of the screen. Once the user zooms in so that the screens fill the browser window, that becomes the minimum level of zoom.
   Single Screen Scaling	In this mode, each screen is scaled proportionally according to the ratio between its own specified size (as configured in Screen Attributes) and the size of the browser window. The screen's specified position is ignored, because the screen is automatically centered in the browser window. The project's display resolution is ignored as well. Since each screen is resized and centered separately, this mode is not useful for displaying more than one screen at the same time, such as screen groups. Only the last screen opened is visible; previously opened screens are automatically closed. The browser window does not include scroll bars, and the user cannot use multi-touch gestures (that is, "pinch and stretch") to zoom screens. Note: When the system calculates the ratio between the screen's specified size and the size of the browser window, it keeps the original width/height ratio of the screen size in order to avoid distorting the contents of the screen. For example, if the specified screen size is 1000x500 (2:1) and the browser window is 500x100 (5:1), the maximum screen size that will actually fit in the browser window is 200x100 (2:1). Therefore, the screen's size will be divided by 5 (1000/200 or 500/100) before it is displayed in the browser window.

5. Review the Enable Hide for All Screens and Max Hidden Screens settings.

   Project screens can be hidden instead of actually closed, so that they appear to reopen quickly. This will increase the responsiveness of your project screens, but it will also use more resources on client devices.

   Enable Hide for All Screens

   This option enables hiding for all project screens viewed through Mobile Access.

   Max Hidden Screens

   The maximum number of project screens that can be hidden and then cached in memory. Screens are cached on a First In First Out (FIFO) basis. You might need to adjust the number depending on the available resources on client devices.

   These settings are similar to the Performance Optimization settings in the Screen Attributes, except that they apply equally to all project screens viewed through Mobile Access rather than on a screen-by-screen basis.

6. Review the Background Color and Align settings.

   Even when zooming is enabled, your project screens often will not perfectly fill the browser window; the browser window's background color will be visible around the sides of your project screens. To minimize the contrast, align the project screens within the browser window and then adjust the background color to match.

   Background Color

   The color that fills the browser window around the project screen. Click to choose the background color in the Windows color picker.

   Align

   The alignment of the project screen within the browser window: Top Left, Top Center, Center Left, Center (default).

   Note: The Align setting applies only when Zoom Mode is Auto Screen Scaling. Each of the other modes overrides the alignment in some way.

7. Select Always Use Data Input Dialog if you want to display the Data Input dialog box for all screen objects that take user input.

   The Data Input dialog box in Mobile Access provides an easy-to-use interface with an on-screen keyboard that allows the user to type their input on touchscreen devices. This option is selected by default in order to ensure that your project will be usable on small screens, where some screen objects might be too small to type into without zooming. If this option is cleared, the Data Input dialog box will be displayed only for certain screen objects that do not have input boxes at all, such as a Text object with a Text Data Link animation applied to it. For more information, see Data input in screens on Mobile Access.

8. Select Enable CGI if you have a set up a CGI-enabled web server (such as Apache) to serve the Mobile Access web interface to users.

9. Under User Experience, review the settings that determine how feedback is given to the user when the project runtime server is slow to respond.

   Initial Events Timeout

   When the user tries to open a project screen in Mobile Access, some requests are sent to the server in order to load and initialize that screen. If the server does not respond within the period specified by this setting, an appropriate message is sent to the activity log. For example:

   [Warning, 1]:Mobile Access([05E95210] HTML5 Server => Timeout waiting for graphic initialization [03/11/2020 15:56:28.966]

   Standby Start

   When the user tries to click/tap a screen object (for example, a button), the command associated with that object is sent as a request to the server. If the server does not respond within the period specified by this setting, a "spinning wheel" animation is displayed in front of the object.

   Standby Timeout

   After the "spinning wheel" animation is displayed in front of the object, if the server still does not respond within the period specified by this setting, the request is cancelled and the animation is removed.

   Enable Tooltips

   Selected by default. Shows the Hint of screen objects as a tooltip when the user hovers over them.

   If the project runtime server is often slow to respond, your project's user experience can be significantly affected. Check your network activity, the number of thin clients connected to server, and the status/health of the server itself.

10. Under Browser Logs, select the types of log messages that you want to send to Mobile Access clients.

    Mobile Access generates its own activity log. It is similar to the project runtime log displayed in the Output window and LogWin tool, but it comprises only messages about Mobile Access itself and the performance of the web interface. Users can view the activity log in their browser consoles. For more information about the available options, see Types of Mobile Access log messages.

    Note: The settings in this worksheet apply to all Mobile Access clients; that is, except for messages about the specific project screens that are currently open on each client, the same log messages are sent to all clients and can be viewed by all users. If an individual user wants to filter their own view of the log, they should use the tools in their own browser console.

11. Under Virtual Keyboard, you can enable a keyboard that can be used on hardware or software that doesn't have a native keyboard. Enabling the main Virtual Keyboard option will give access to the properties.

    Note: Enabling the main Mobile Access Virtual Keyboard setting will activate the Virtual keyboard menu in the Object Properties dialogs for screen objects.

    Default

    This menu lists the style of the virtual keyboard. The options are Keypad (the default), AlphaNumeric, and EnhKeypad.

    Enable MIN/MAX fields

    This option is applicable only for the Keypad style of virtual keyboard. It allows validation of entered numeric values according to the Minimum Value and Maximum Value fields of a screen object's Object Properties dialog.

    Theme

    This menu allows you to choose Light (default) or Dark themes (modes) for the virtual keyboard.

    Show Hint

    Enable the Show Hint option and use the text box to enter text that will be displayed on the virtual keyboard title bar.

    Enable multi-line text input

    Enabling this option allows multi-line input in the virtual keyboard.

    Language

    Use this menu to choose the language for the non-numeric characters of the virtual keyboard. You can choose an available language from the list or choose the Other menu choice to select a custom user-supplied language file. The name format is four characters and the JSON extension, for example vkab.json.

    Note: Area Settings is no longer available. Area settings saved in projects from earlier versions are ignored.

The entire Mobile Access configuration is saved when you close the worksheet.