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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Position Dynamics |
  
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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Position Dynamics |
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Position Dynamics allows objects on the screen to be positioned according to the value of a variable, this is useful for animation of an object.
For example: a fan spinning or an object disappearing, etc.
Or the progress of a product along a conveyor belt, as shown here: |
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To setup Position Dynamics, for example: a carton on a conveyor belt, follow these steps:
-From ‘Edit Mode’ put the object on the screen (in this example, a bitmap of a carton) and select it. -Either choose ‘Position Dynamics’ from the Edit menu or right-click and choose ‘Position Dynamics’ from the popup menu. |
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-Drag and drop the variable, from the Variables List, this will be used to determine the position of the object. |
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-If the object is not in the first position then move it there by dragging, and click the ‘Add Waypoint’ button and enter the value for the first position into the Value cell. This will mean that when the variable has this value the object will be positioned at this location.
-Move the object to the next position required for the next waypoint and click ‘Add Waypoint’ and enter the Value in the cell for that position. Etc…
-When all waypoints have been entered it is possible to verify them by clicking on each waypoint in the list in turn and see the position of the highlight change. When finished, click OK. |
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Once the object has the waypoints set then if the variable is an Instrument variable then when that value changes the object will move according to the waypoints.
If the variable used is a SpecView User Variable then the Strategy Controller will need to be used to change the value as required.
Position Dynamics can be setup on the following types of objects:
Lines
Rectangles
Rounded rectangles
Ellipses
Polygons
Bitmaps
Text items
Buttons
Bar charts
ActiveX controls
Groups of objects
OLE objects
However, Position Dynamics cannot be used on Trend Charts, use the Hide feature in Color Dynamics instead.
The types of variable that can be used to determine the position of an object in Position Dynamics are:
Booleans - these are good for ‘On/Off’ or ‘disappear/appear’ etc.
Integers – these can be used for multiple positions
Numbers
Countdown timers
Countup timers
Enums
Text items
Dates
Times
TimeMSs
The Choose Variable button re-opens the Variables List box, this is because while the Position Dynamics box is being displayed the main SpecView toolbar & menubar to access the Variables List are disabled.
Add Waypoint and Remove Waypoint buttons add or remove a waypoint.
Move Waypoint button – Click on a waypoint in the list to select it, then move the object to its new position and click ‘Move Waypoint’ to set that position as the waypoint.
Move Up and Move Down buttons changes the order of the waypoints in the list. The order of the waypoints is immaterial to the Position Dynamics, but having them in a logical order just makes it clearer to the user.
Note: It is not possible to setup waypoints when Online in Edit Mode, this is because if Position Dynamics could be setup while Online then the value could change causing the object to move unexpectedly. Therefore on the Online Features menu the Position Dynamics menu item should be unchecked.
