Introduction
The Metering app is the tool to calculate consumptions of resources (like water, electricity or gas) and charge the related costs to one or more assigned cost centers.
The calculation is based on measurement data e.g. of a trending.
To open the app click the Metering symbol on the Web Manager's dashboard:
Pages
The app contains of two pages which can be accessed on the left sidebar::
- Calculation page: set up and evaluate calculation charts.
- Configuration page: set up basic data and make assignments to the cost center plan.
Overview
A typical meter - e.g. a water meter - contains of a trending, a resource and a cost rate.
The Trending delivers the raw data for the metering.
The Resource describes what is measured and the unit (e.g. m3, kWh).
The Cost Rate contains the price for the resource per unit (e.g. €/m3).
The calculated consumption of a meter will be charged to the Cost center.
Configuration
Click the Configuration button 
on the left-side menu of the Metering app to open the Configuration page.
Toolbar functions
Function | Description |
|---|---|
| Add
|
| Edit name of selected folder |
| Delete selected element |
| Copy |
| Paste |
| Show chart of selected trending |
| Show cost center plan view |
| Show configuration view |
| Switch to multi-select mode. |
| Export metering |
| Import metering |
| Import ETS structure |
On this page - the Configuration page - the components
- Cost rate
- Resource
- Meter
- Cost center
and assignments to the cost center plan must be set up.
This page has two view modes:
- Configuration view mode
The project tree is shown on the left hand side - the right hand side shows details of the project tree.
Use this view to set up cost rates, resources, meters and cost centers.
To switch to this view click the Configuration button from the menu bar.
- Cost center plan view mode
The project tree is shown on the left hand side - the right hand side shows the cost center plan as a tree. There is only one cost center plan - the root node neither can be deleted nor created newly.
Use this view to add cost centers or meters to the cost center plan. Adding an element to the cost center plan is done by drag & drop with the mouse.
To switch to this view click the Cost Center Plan button from the menu bar.
The Configuration view is used for setting up metering components.
The Cost Center Plan view is used to assign components as cost centers and meters to the Cost Center Plan by drag & drop!
Cost rate
The cost rate defines the price per unit for a resource.
| Column name | Description |
|---|---|
| Name * | Name of the cost rate |
| Description | Additional description for the cost rate |
| Default price * | Price per unit |
In the project tree cost rates appear with the symbol 
.
In the current version the cost rate is not used yet!
Resource
The resource is defined by a name, a unit and it references to a cost rate.
| Column name | Description |
|---|---|
| Name * | Name of the resource |
| Description | Additional description for the resource |
| Unit * | Unit of the resource |
| Cost rate | Assignment of the cost rate |
| Consumption factor | Deactivated, for future use |
In the project tree resources appear with the symbol 
.
Meter point
A meter is defined by its name and references to a trending and to a resource.
| Column name | Description |
|---|---|
| Name * | Name of the meter |
| Description | Additional description |
| Meter Type * | Default: Increasing |
| Trending | Assignment of the trending |
| Resource * | Assignment of the resource |
In the project tree meters points appear with the symbol 
.
Trending
The trending for a typical metering contains the following settings:
To keep this example simple, this trending was configured to read the data from the server item NETx\Today\Seconds. This is a fast way to get (test) data to show in the Metering app.
Minimal / typical trending property settings for metering:
| Column name | Setting |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Turn on |
| Name * | Enter the name of the trending |
| Item * | Select the server item which provides the meter readings |
| Type * | Select All |
| Aggregation | Turn on |
Cost center
The calculated consumption of a meter is charged to the assigned cost center.
| Column name | Description |
|---|---|
| Name * | Name of the cost center |
| Description | Additional description for the meter |
In the project tree cost centers appear with the symbol 
.
Build up a cost center plan
Assigning a cost center
Cost centers can be assigned to cost centers or directly to the root of the cost center plan.
Open Configuration page and switch to Cost center plan view.
Select the cost center in the project tree on the left hand side and drag it to the cost center plan or a cost center on the right hand side.
A dialog asks for the percentage how much of the cost (calculated for the cost center) will be forwarded to the parent.
Animation - Assigning two cost centers to a cost center plan:
Assigning a meter
A meter can be asssigned to a cost center or directly to the root of the cost center plan. The default name of the cost center plan root node is the same as for the workspace.
Open Configuration page and switch to Cost center plan view.
Select the meter in the project tree on the left hand side and drag it to the cost center plan or a cost center on the right hand side.
A dialog asks for the percentage how much of the cost (calculated for the cost center) will be charged to the cost center.
Animation - Assigning a meter to two cost centers, charging 50% of the meter to each cost center:
Calculation
Click the Calculation button 
on the left-side menu of the Metering app to open the Calculation page. This page is opened by default, when starting the Metering app.
This page has two view modes:
- Project tree view mode
This is the default view. The left hand side shows the project tree, including trendings, and an empty calculation chart appears on the right hand side.
Use this view to
create folders and new calculation charts
show previously created calculation charts
add trendings to the calculation chart
- Cost Center Plan view mode
The left hand side shows the cost center plan and on the right hand side, again, an empty calculation chart appears.
Use this view to add a meter, a cost center or the whole cost center plan to the calculation chart on the right hand side. To add an element to the calculation chart, select it in the cost center plan and drag it on the calculation chart with the mouse.
Create a new calculation chart
Open the Metering app, on the Calculation page switch to the Cost Center Plan view.
Drag e.g. a cost center from the cost center plan on the left hand side to the calculation chart on the right hand side - repeat this step for additional cost centers.
A dialog asks to select the resource and how to add the series to the calculation chart.
Select Show itemized values to display each meter of the selected resource.
This means if a cost center has 2 meters assigned for electricity - select Show itemized values to see both meters and the sum of them in the chart (3 bars shown in the chart), otherwise the chart will only show the sum of the meters (1 bar in the chart).
The following animation shows how to add two cost centers with their meters and the total water meter to a calculation chart.
At the end of the animation we can see the calculated consumptions for the cost centers and the water meter. The sum of the cost center consumption is the same as the total water meter.
Take care of the following difference!
Adding a cost center with its meter to the calculation chart: the bar in the chart shows the consumption of the cost center.
Adding the meter of a cost center to the calculation chart: the bar in the chart shows the total consumption of the meter.
Change an existing calculation chart
To change an existing calculation chart open the Calculation page, select the calculation chart to change and click the Configuration button in the header section.
Metering in NETx Core Server Studio
The meters, set up in the Metering app, also appear in the item tree in the NETx Core Server Studio.
In the Module section there is a sub-section Metering, which shows the available meters.
Each meter contains a server item for the Current meter reading and also several server items for the consumptions.