Identifying related items associated with devices in a building automation system based on a coverage area

1. A method in a data processing system for displaying graphics, the method comprising:

displaying a graphical representation of a layout of a building having one or more spaces;

receiving a request to generate a coverage area graphic associated with one or more monitoring devices;

generating the coverage area graphic, generating the coverage area graphic comprises receiving user inputs defining dimensions for the coverage area graphic, and modifying the coverage area graphic based on the user inputs;

displaying the coverage area graphic relative to the graphical representation of the layout of the building;

identifying a device having a data point to be monitored by the data processing system;

determining whether the identified device is in the coverage area represented by the coverage area graphic;

in response to determining that the identified device is in the coverage area, storing a related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices in association with an object corresponding to the identified device;

receiving a selection for the identified device;

in response to receiving the selection for the identified device, displaying the related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices;

receiving an identification of a first of the one or more monitoring devices;

identifying a coverage zone associated with the first monitoring device;

determining whether the coverage area exceeds the coverage zone; and

in response to determining the coverage area does not exceed the coverage zone, modifying the coverage area graphic based on the coverage zone, and displaying the modified coverage area graphic relative to the graphical representation of the layout of the building.

2. A method in a data processing system for displaying graphics, the method comprising:

displaying a graphical representation of a layout of a building having one or more spaces;

receiving a request to generate a coverage area graphic associated with one or more monitoring devices;

generating the coverage area graphic;

displaying the coverage area graphic relative to the graphical representation of the layout of the building;

identifying a device having a data point to be monitored by the data processing system;

determining whether the identified device is in the coverage area represented by the coverage area graphic;

in response to determining that the identified device is in the coverage area, storing a related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices in association with an object corresponding to the identified device;

receiving a selection for the identified device;

in response to receiving the selection for the identified device, displaying the related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices;

receiving an identification of one of the one or more spaces of the building;

identifying dimensions of the identified space;

receiving an identification of a first of the one or more monitoring devices; and

identifying a first coverage zone associated with the first monitoring device,

wherein generating the coverage area graphic comprises:

determining whether the first coverage zone exceeds an identified dimension of the identified space, and

in response to determining that the first coverage zone exceeds an identified dimension of the identified space, generating the coverage area graphic based on the first coverage zone modified to not exceed the identified dimension of the identified space.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving a location of the first monitoring device relative to the identified space;

displaying a symbol corresponding to the first monitoring device over the graphical representation of the building layout based on the received location; and

displaying a graphical representation of the coverage zone associated with the first monitoring device based on the received location.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving an identification of a second monitoring device to associate with the coverage area graphic; and

identifying a second coverage zone associated with the second monitoring device,

wherein generating the coverage area graphic further comprises:

determining whether the second coverage zone exceeds any one of the identified dimensions of the identified space, and

in response to determining that the second coverage zone exceeds one of the identified dimensions of the identified space, generating the coverage area graphic based on the first coverage zone and the second coverage zone modified to not exceed the one identified dimension of the identified space.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving a second location of the second monitoring device relative to the identified space;

displaying a second symbol corresponding to the second monitoring device over the graphical representation of the building layout based on the received second location; and

displaying a graphical representation of the second coverage zone associated with the second monitoring device based on the received second location.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein displaying a graphical representation of the second coverage zone associated with the second monitoring device based on the received second location comprises displaying the second coverage zone to be visually distinguishable from the coverage area graphic.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein in response to determining that the identified device is in the coverage area, storing a related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices in association with an object corresponding to the identified device comprises:

storing a first related item identifier associated with the first monitoring device in association with the object corresponding to the identified device; and

storing a second related item identifier associated with the second monitoring device in association with the object corresponding to the identified device, and

wherein, in response to receiving the selection for the identified device, displaying the first and the second related item identifiers.

8. A data processing system configured to display graphics,

the data processing system comprising:

a storage device comprising a system manager application;

a memory comprising instructions of the system manager application; and

a processor having a communication connection to the memory and configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

display a graphical representation of a layout of a building having one or more spaces;

receive a request to generate a coverage area graphic associated with one or more monitoring devices;

generate the coverage area graphic;

display the coverage area graphic relative to the graphical representation of the layout of the building;

identify a device having a data point to be monitored by the data processing system;

determine whether the identified device is in the coverage area represented by the coverage area graphic;

in response to determining that the identified device is in the coverage area, store a related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices in association with an object corresponding to the identified device;

receive a selection for the identified device;

in response to receiving the selection for the identified device, display the related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices;

receive an identification of one of the one or more spaces of the building;

identify dimensions of the identified space;

receive an identification of a first of the one or more monitoring devices;

identify a first coverage zone associated with the first monitoring device, and

to generate the coverage area graphic comprises, the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

determine whether the first coverage zone exceeds an identified dimension of the identified space, and

in response to determining that the first coverage zone exceeds an identified dimension of the identified space, generate the coverage area graphic based on the first coverage zone modified to not exceed the identified dimension of the identified space.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

receive a location of the first monitoring device relative to the identified space;

display a symbol corresponding to the first monitoring device over the graphical representation of the building layout based on the received location; and

display a graphical representation of the coverage zone associated with the first monitoring device based on the received location.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

receive an identification of a second monitoring device to associate with the coverage area graphic;

identify a second coverage zone associated with the second monitoring device, and

to generate the coverage area graphic, the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

determine whether the second coverage zone exceeds any one of the identified dimensions of the identified space, and

in response to determining that the second coverage zone exceeds one of the identified dimensions of the identified space, generate the coverage area graphic based on the first coverage zone and the second coverage zone modified to not exceed the one identified dimension of the identified space.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

receive a second location of the second monitoring device relative to the identified space;

display a second symbol corresponding to the second monitoring device over the graphical representation of the building layout based on the received second location; and

display a graphical representation of the second coverage zone associated with the second monitoring device based on the received second location.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

to display a graphical representation of the second coverage zone associated with the second monitoring device based on the received second location, the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

display the second coverage zone to be visually distinguishable from the coverage area graphic.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

in response to determining that the identified device is in the coverage area, to store a related item identifier associated with the one or more monitoring devices in association with an object corresponding to the identified device, the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

store a first related item identifier associated with the first monitoring device in association with the object corresponding to the identified device; and

store a second related item identifier associated with the second monitoring device in association with the object corresponding to the identified device, and

in response to receiving the selection for the identified device, the processor is further configured to execute the instructions of the system manager application to:

display the first and the second related item identifiers.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the computer-readable medium is further encoded with executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more data processing systems to:

receive a selection of the related item identifier; and

display the related item corresponding to the selected related item identifier.