Indicator objects

This section contains objects that can be used to display values or text in a layout. Some of these objects can also be used for visual effects to draw attention to special situations in a layout.

Label

Labels are used when it is possible to label parts of the system. A second application is displaying values within a text.

Example:

In the above image, both rows of the label were filled with text. If you delete the text in "Text second line", only the text for the heading would be displayed. This text then appears in the center (vertically).

Displaying the value of an operand: In the section "Main settings -> Operand", you can specify an operand in the property "Operand", the value of which is to be displayed within the label. In the most basic case, the placeholder "{0}" is specified in the text.

Example: In the label, the value of the byte operand IM.MB2 is to be displayed as a decimal numerical value.

For this purpose, you specify "IM.MB2" as the operand. In the text, the placeholder "{0}" must be entered at the preferred position with the value of the operand.

In the simulation, the following behavior is evident while the operand is changed using a slider.

Formatting instructions can also be given at the placeholder for the value of the operand. The statements are supported in the following way: "{0[:formatString]}".

You can find the syntax by clicking on the following link:

Syntax for formatting

Here are some examples:

  • Output of the value in hex: {0:X}
  • Output of the value in hex with at least two digits: {0:X2}
  • Output of the value in decimal notation with at least two digits: {0:D2}
  • Output of the value as a decimal number with one decimal: {0:f1}
  • Output of the value in exponential form: {0:e}

Displaying the text without frame:

To display the label without a frame, you can use the following item:

If a label with a frame has already been placed, the opacity of the fill color can be changed to 0%.

Changing the fill color:

The fill color of the label can be changed depending on the operand. You can also choose flashing or pulsing.

To do this, enter the preferred operands in the "Main settings -> Operand" section of the properties (e.g. "Operand switching fill color"). You can select the color to be displayed for status '1' in the section "Main settings -> Appearance -> Colors" in the property "Fill color while status 1 of the operand".

Changing the label type:

You can change the label type in the section "Main settings -> Appearance". When you select the type "Label with arrow", a label with an arrow is displayed in which the heading text can be seen.

Tacho

The tacho is used to display numerical values.

In the section "Main settings -> Appearance ->Display and scale" you will find the following basic properties:

Property Description
Actual value Here you have to specify the operand with the value to be displayed in the tacho. Operands starting with a length of 8 bits are recommended, i.e. byte, word and double word operands
Maximum value of the display The highest value displayed in the tacho.
Minimum value of the display The smallest value displayed in the tacho.
Physical value of the scale The physical value between the scale divisions of the tacho. This value should be increased if there are too many scale divisions in the tacho or if they are too densely arranged.
Physical value of the labeled scale The physical value between the labeled scale divisions of the tacho. This value should be increased if too many scale divisions in the tacho are labeled or if the labels overlap.

Example

The value of the operand IM.MW2 is to be displayed in a tacho. The tacho should display values in the range 0 to 500. The

scale divisions should appear every 50 units. The tacho should be labeled every 100 units.

So you have to make the following setting:

Coloring scale areas:

The tacho display can be divided into max. 4 color ranges. This makes it possible, for example, to indicate in which value ranges a value is too low, normal, or too high.

Example: We want to add three colored scale areas to the tacho from the previous example.

  • Color range 1: value is too low, values range from 0 to 150, color: blue
  • Color range 2: value is within normal range, values range from 150 to 400, color: green
  • Color range 3: value is too high, values range from 400 to 500, color: red

For this example, the settings should be made as follows:

Digital gauge

The digital gauge is used to display numerical values as BCD, HEX or decimal values.

Byte, word, or double word operands with the data formats byte, UInt16, and UInt32 are recommended as operands.

If BCD has been selected as the display mode and the number present in the operand does not correspond to a BCD number, the "-" character is displayed in the respective digit.

In the section "Main settings -> Operands", you can also specify the operands for switching the fill color and for a flashing display.

The following properties can be found in the section "Main settings->Appearance":

Property Description
Segment type Here you can influence the appearance of the digital gauge. Depending on the selection, the digits of the gauge are displayed in different ways. For example, they can be displayed as a 7-segment display, as a matrix with 5/7 points or as a matrix with 5/7 rectangles.
Number format used This property can be used to select how the contents of the operand are to be interpreted. You can choose between the formats BCD, HEX or decimal
Number of digits You can set the number of digits to be displayed here. If a number of digits is specified that cannot be completely filled by the operand, the upper digits are filled with zeros. If too few digits are set to display the contents of an operand, the available digits are used to display the least significant digits.
Height of the digits Here you can set the height of the digits in pixels. The width is then calculated automatically.

Below you can see three digital gauges with different segment types:

Frame (rectangular or circular)

Frames can be used as decorative objects, e.g. to optically contrast switches and lamps.

These are typically added to the layout at the end.

Frame objects in this case are in a lower drawing layer so that they do not cover other objects. For this reason, you often have to assign a lower (maybe even negative) value to the property "Z-Order" in the section "Main Settings -> Appearance".

This is shown below.

Using frame objects

As mentioned before, frame objects can be used as decoration objects in a layout, for example to highlight switching elements.

A second use is the highlighting of elements by flashing or pulsing.

Example: In a layout, a blinking frame object is used to draw attention to a push-button. To do so, the circular frame is placed behind the push-button.

If one would like to draw attention to certain elements in a layout, then you have three 'escalation levels' to choose from: you can change the color of a frame, make it flash, or make it appear pulsing.

This can also be used to provide operator guidance by having the next operating element to be activated indicated by flashing.