Tab control
A tab control enables several visualization pages to be displayed within a window. Tabs are used to switch between the visualization pages. The "Toggle variable" can be used to specify the page to be displayed from the program code.
If not all tabs can be displayed due to the small width of the element, two navigation arrows will be displayed at the top right on the element.
Properties editor
The properties of a visualization element - except alignment and order - can all be configured in the properties editor. By default, this editor opens next to the visualization editor, or it can be opened explicitly via the "Properties" command (which can be found in the View menu as standard).
A property can be modified by editing the field "Value". To this end, an input field, a selection list, a dialog or checkbox that can be activated is provided in this field, depending on the element type. The value field opens
- after a double-click,
- after a single click in a selected field,
- via the space bar, if the field was already selected.
If a variable is assigned,
- simply enter its name.
- Use the
button to open the input assistant for selecting a variable. The Variables category lists all variables that have already been defined in the project.
Working in the list of properties can be made easier with the aid of default, sorting and filter functions.
Element properties
All element properties and their descriptions are listed below.
Element name | The element name can be changed. Standard name is "GenElemInst_x". "x" stands for a sequential number. |
Element type | The element type is entered here. For three element groups it is possible to switch between the corresponding elements by changing the element type: |
Position
Here you can define the position (X/Y coordinates) and size (width and height) of the element in pixels. The origin is in the top left corner of the window. The positive x-axis is on the right, the positive y-axis runs downwards. If the values edited, the displayed element is simultaneously modified in the visualization editor.
X | Horizontal position in pixels – X=0 is the left edge of the window. |
Y | Vertical position in pixels – Y=0 is the upper edge of the window. |
Width | Width of the element in pixels |
Height | Height of the element in pixels |
Referenced visualizations
Here you can open the dialog "Frame selection", which can be used to select the visualization pages to be referenced. Once one or several visualization pages have been selected, they are listed below with their placeholders, if available. If the placeholders change, the dialog "Updating the frame parameters" automatically opens for all instances.
Toggle variable
This property can be used to switch between visualizations of a frame.
Variable | Integer variable whose value contains the ID of the visualization to be displayed. The ID of a visualization is determined by the order in the list of assigned visualizations in the Frame selection. For example, the first entry in this list has the ID 0, the second entry the ID 1. The visualizations, which are assigned to a frame, can be toggled with a variable. The value (ID) of the visualization is determined by the order of this element in the list of the assigned visualizations in the dialog "Configuration of the frame visualizations". For integer values, the first entry in this list results in the value 0, the second entry 1 etc. |
Access rights
This setting relates to the access rights for the individual element. Click to open the Access rights dialog. The setting is only available if a user management was added to the PLC project. The following status messages are available:
Not set. All rights. | The default message is set, if the element is shown as available for all groups. |
Rights are issued: Limited rights. | The message is set, if the element is shown with limited behavior for at least one group. |
Additional settings
Tab width | Tab width in pixels |
Scaling type | This parameter is used to specify how the window responds to changes in the size:
The referenced element maintains its proportions. This means that the ratio between height and width of the visualization remains unchanged, even if the height and width are changed independently.
The tab control element follows the size, so that the height and width of the referencing visualization can be changed independently.
The original size of the visualization is maintained, irrespective of the size of the tab control.
If this option is used, the referenced visualization is shown without scaling. If it is larger than the window area of the frame, the frame is provided with scrollbars, so that the displayed area of the visualization can be moved. To set the position of the scrollbar with a variable, use the properties "Variable scroll position horizontal" and "Variable scroll position vertical". |
Deactivate background drawing | To optimize the performance of the visualization, the non-animated elements of the frame element are drawn as a background bitmap. This could result in elements being shown not in the expected order. The function can be disabled to avoid this behavior. |
Scrollbar settings
The scrollbar settings are only visible, if the scaling type "Unscaled and scrollable" is entered. It is highly recommended to use the variables on a client-specific basis. In this case, if the variables change, or if a scrollbar is moved with the mouse, the change only affects the frame of the respective client. Otherwise all clients are updated.
Variable scroll position horizontal | Variable containing the position of the horizontal scrollbar. |
Variable scroll position vertical | Variable containing the position of the vertical scrollbar. |
State variables
These are dynamic definitions of the availability of the element in online mode.
Invisibility | Specification of a boolean variable. If this returns TRUE, the element is invisible in online mode. |
Input disabled | Specification of a boolean variable. If TRUE is returned, inputs for the element have no effect. Also, the element itself is greyed out in the visualization, to indicate that no user inputs are possible. If the visualization uses the user management, the elements for user groups with access right "only visible" are grayed out. |