Our first step to laying out a system is to visualize the system. Most users are familiar with some form of CAD system that they use to help them get a ‘picture’ in their mind of the components and layout of a proposed installation. In Sonata, that layout can be imported into the project as the background. Sonata supports all the graphic formats (over 26 of them) that you might need to make your background a worktable-or even a work of art.
Next, the user places components, connections, and output zones onto the background in their proposed locations. This helps to remind the user what goes where, and prepares the background for some very useful visualization techniques to come.