Valve Phase Matrix

The Valve Phase Matrix provides a comprehensive grid view of all Engineering Item states and Equipment Module configurations across every step in a process. It is a powerful editing and analysis tool that lets you see and modify the complete state picture at a glance.

Access: Open a module → Module Ribbon → Live Edit panel → Matrix button.

🔎 Overview

The matrix displays a grid where:

• Rows represent Engineering Items (valves, pumps, tanks, etc.) and Equipment Modules

• Columns represent steps (phases) in the active Process

• Cells show the assigned State for each Engineering Item in each step, or the active configuration for each Equipment Module

The matrix updates live — any changes made in the drawing, ribbon, or other editors are immediately reflected in the grid.

🧩 Cell Types

There are two kinds of cells in the matrix:

🤖 Under-Control Cells

When a valve is driven by an instrument in a step, its matrix cell does not show a hand-picked Open or Closed. Instead it shows a composed control cell that combines the control state name with the tag of the controlling instrument, so you can read who is driving what at a glance.

🧱 How a Control Cell Is Composed

A control cell reads as the control-state name, then a separator, then the controlling instrument's tag — optionally followed by the linked variable or parameter (the "XX source"):

The two control-state names (Under control for ordinary valves, PID control for intrinsic control valves), the separator character (⚙ by default), and whether the controller tag and XX source are shown are all configurable for the environment. The full behaviour and the workflow for putting a valve under control are documented on the Control Loop page.

📊 Round-Trip to Excel

The composed control cell is the same identifier end to end. When you export the process to Excel, each under-control cell is written exactly as it appears in the matrix — for example PID control ⚙ FCV-203. When that file is imported again, AseptSoft reads the cell back, matches the named instrument by its tag, and restores the controlling relationship and the valve's control state automatically.

🎨 Color Coding

The matrix uses background colors to highlight important information about each cell. Colors are applied with a clear priority hierarchy:

Warning: Color coding requires the highlight toggles to be enabled in the toolbar (see Highlighting section below).

🏆 Color Priority (Highest to Lowest)

💡 A control cell behaves like any other state for highlighting: because controlled segments keep the fluid path open, an under-control valve typically lights up as fluid-allowing, and it lights up as state-changing on the step where it enters or leaves control.

🏭 Pharma Example: CIP Process Matrix

This example shows how the Valve Phase Matrix looks for a typical CIP (Clean-In-Place) process with 10 Engineering Items across 6 phases.

📋 Process: CIP Skid — Tank TK-101

Phases: Idle, Pre-Rinse, Caustic Wash, Intermediate Rinse, Acid Wash, Final Rinse

🔍 Reading the Matrix

With highlighting enabled, here is what you would observe:

• Transition from Idle to Pre-Rinse: V-101, V-102, V-106 change from Closed to Open (highlighted in orange as state-changing). V-109 and V-110 change from Open to Closed (also orange). Since V-101, V-102, and V-106 are now fluid-allowing AND state-changing, they appear in yellow-green (dual highlight).

• CV-202 enters control: the flow-trim valve switches from Closed to PID control ⚙ FIT-203 at Pre-Rinse — it lights up as state-changing on that step, then holds the control cell through the rest of the cycle while FIT-203 keeps driving it.

• Transition from Pre-Rinse to Caustic Wash: Only V-104 changes (Closed to Open), highlighted in orange. V-104 is also now fluid-allowing, so it gets the yellow-green dual highlight.

• Transition from Intermediate Rinse to Acid Wash: V-104 stays Closed; the Acid Wash dosing is trimmed by CV-202 under FIT-203, unchanged from the prior step.

• Product isolation: V-107 and V-108 remain Closed throughout — these are product-side block valves that must stay shut during CIP to prevent cross-contamination.

Tip: Use the "Filter Changing from Previous" filter to quickly see only the items that change in each phase transition.

🔦 Highlighting Options

Two toggle buttons in the matrix toolbar control which highlights are visible:

Both toggles can be active simultaneously. When both are ON and a cell matches both conditions, it receives the Yellow-Green dual highlight color.

🖥️ Cell Display Options

The matrix toolbar provides controls for how cell content is displayed:

🏷️ Custom Nicknames

You can define custom short nicknames for common states to keep the matrix compact.

📐 Column Orientation

🔍 Filtering

The matrix provides extensive filtering to help you focus on the items that matter:

👁️ Row Visibility Filters

⚡ Active-Step Relative Filters

These three filters are mutually exclusive — only one can be active at a time:

🔎 Search and Type Filters

🔄 Transposed View

The matrix supports a transposed view that swaps rows and columns:

Toggle between views using the Transposed button in the toolbar.

Note: Row grouping (by type) is only available in the normal (non-transposed) view.

📋 Paste Preview

When you paste state data from the clipboard, the matrix enters a paste preview mode:

1. Cells that will be affected by the paste are highlighted in Gold

2. You can review exactly which cells will change before committing

3. Confirm the paste to apply, or cancel to discard

🔄 Live Updates

The Valve Phase Matrix is a live viewer that automatically refreshes when any of these events occur:

All settings (filters, highlights, transpose state, nicknames) are persisted and automatically restored when you reopen the matrix.

📁 Row Grouping

In the normal (non-transposed) view, rows can be grouped by type:

• Engineering Items are grouped by their type classification

• Equipment Module rows appear in their own group with the pale yellow background

• Groups are collapsible for managing large matrices

📋 How To: Use the Valve Phase Matrix for Process Review

Step 1 — Open the Matrix
Navigate to the Module Ribbon → Live Edit panel → Matrix button.

Step 2 — Select the process to review
Ensure the correct Process is active.

Step 3 — Enable highlighting
Turn on both Highlight Fluid Allowing (green) and Highlight Changing (orange) toggles.

Step 4 — Review step-by-step transitions
Click through each step column header to make it the active step.

Step 5 — Check fluid-allowing consistency
With the Highlight Fluid Allowing toggle enabled, scan across each row to verify fluid paths are correct.

Step 6 — Verify control assignments
Scan for composed control cells (e.g. PID control ⚙ FIT-203) to confirm the right instrument drives the right valve in each step.

Step 7 — Verify Equipment Module configurations
Scroll to the Equipment Module rows (pale yellow background).

Step 8 — Use the type filter for focused review
Use the Type Filter dropdown to review one type at a time.

Step 9 — Export or document findings
Use the matrix as a reference during design reviews, or export to Excel — control cells carry over and import back unchanged.

Tip: Combine the matrix review with the SFC Editor (GRAFCET) to see both the Engineering Item states and the transition logic simultaneously.

📚 Related Pages

• Module Ribbon — Access the Matrix from the Live Edit panel

• Control Loop — How an instrument controls a valve per step, and the control-state display settings

• Process Design — Process and step management

• Engineering Item — Engineering Item data model

• State — State definitions and custom values

• Equipment Module — Equipment Module management

• Fluidstream Simulations — Fluid flow analysis that powers the "fluid allowing" highlights

• SFC Editor (GRAFCET) — Complementary graphical view of step transitions

• Symbol Editor — Symbol definition editor