TM 5-3895-374-10
USER INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS
....................................................................................................................................................................... INTRODUCTION
The Main Operating Screen continuously displays the measured and calculated operation values for the system. As such
the computer requires no input from the user and can be thought of merely as a set of system meters useful in monitoring
plant performance. At other times it is necessary for the operator to directly control the system through the computer. The
operator ’communicates’ with the computer through numerical data entered at the keypad. Data such as aggregate
moistures, the desired target production rate, the density of the liquid asphalt cement, calibration numbers, etc., etc., can
be entered in this manner. The computer uses a system of interactive displays to simplify this process.
In this computer the first interactive display is the OPTIONS menu which can be turned on and off from the Main Operating
Screen by alternately hitting the ESCape key. This OPTIONS subscreen is called a menu because it presents thee user
with a series of tasks from which the user can make a selection. The menu shows the available tasks and the keystroke or
keystrokes that will direct the computer to proceed with the selected task. Note that the first option in all interactive
displays is to ESCape from the selected task to the immediately previous screen. This option is always offered before any
data can be entered or changed so that the new operator should not fear investigating the various displays available.
When a task selection is made the computer will respond with new list of continuation options and will display all
information necessary to the selected task.
The interactive display process is a communication scheme where the user is prompted on the display as to what options
are available; a selection is made and a new list of options displayed; another selection is made and a new set of directions
displayed; etc., etc. As the operator selects from the displayed options he ’moves forward’ through the prompted directions
to accomplish the desired task. To ’move backward’ through the list, one step at a time, the user selects the ESCape
option. Hitting the ESCape key often enough will always return the operator to the Main Operating Screen.
Because all communication with the computer is through the keypad, the user should carefully read the section of this
manual on DATA ENTRY. The combination of common sense, interactive display, and friendly keyboard make data entry
as obvious and as foolproof as possible but the operator should always remember that WYSIWYG - what you see is what
you get.
page F - 22
SYSTEMS Equipment Corp
8/31/89
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