Using Model-Based Instrumentation (Dials & Gauges Blockset)

Dials & Gauges Blockset

Modifying ActiveX Control Properties
You modify ActiveX control properties in one of these ways:

Double-clicking on the live part of the ActiveX Control block (not the border)
Right-clicking on the ActiveX control, and then selecting the Control Display Properties option.

The ActiveX Control Properties dialog box appears, displaying tabs of properties for the ActiveX control that is contained by the selected ActiveX Control block.

Modifying some ActiveX control properties is straightforward. This section discusses how to modify two of the more complicated ActiveX control properties found on Global Majic controls, in the following subsections:

When you modify any properties of an ActiveX control, the ActiveX control is visually updated immediately. However, the changes are not permanent until you select Save or Apply; if you select Cancel, the changes will be undone.

For more information about properties and other characteristics of Global Majic ActiveX controls, see the online help provided by Global Majic. Each Global Majic Control library contains a Help icon that provides online help for that library. This includes a description of property categories and links to additional information, such as properties, events, and methods. To access ActiveX library help, right-click on the library name and select Open library.

Saving a Customized ActiveX Control describes how to save an ActiveX control that you modify.

Modifying the Range Displayed on an ActiveX Control
Changing the range of values displayed on an ActiveX control involves adjusting these ActiveX control properties:

Scale properties define the extent of the units displayed by the ActiveX control, the location of the ActiveX control's center, and the ActiveX control's start and stop positions.
Needle or pointer properties indicate the value.
Tick mark properties define tick marks on the ActiveX control face, including start and stop values, the interval between tick marks, and label positions.

To illustrate how to use these properties to adjust the range of values displayed on an ActiveX control, this example changes the Generic Linear Gauge to display values from -20 to 20, sets the interval between tick marks to 5, and shows the tick mark labels. This figure shows the Generic Linear Gauge with its default settings (left) and with modified settings (right).

Modifying the Scale Properties
Click on the Scales tab to display the scales properties page. This figure shows the default scale properties for the Generic Linear Gauge.

To modify the scale range, change ScaleMax to 20 and ScaleMin to -20.

Modifying the Tick Mark Properties
Click on the Tics tab to display the tick mark properties page. This figure shows the default tick mark properties.

To show tick mark labels, check the Label On/Off check box.

To set the starting and ending tick marks so they mark the minimum and maximum scale settings, set StartValue to -20 and StopValue to 20. Change the DeltaValue property, which sets the spacing between tick marks. A value of 5 is reasonable for default control size.

Modifying the Needle or Pointer Properties
Click on the Pointers tab to display the pointer properties page. This figure shows the default pointer properties.

The Value property indicates the current pointer value. Set the initial value to 0, halfway between the maximum and minimum scale values.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the dialog box.

Modifying Multiple Tick Marks
Some characteristics can be repeated in an ActiveX control. For example, a single ActiveX control can display multiple needles or tick marks.

Note This release of the Dials & Gauges Blockset does not support the use of multiple needles or pointers to display more than one value. Passing a vector signal to an ActiveX Control displays only the first element of the vector. The Strip Chart control, however, is an exception to this because it does support vector input.

This example illustrates the use of multiple tick marks and the use of the ID property to manage them. This example, instead of modifying an ActiveX control, examines the default settings for a particular ActiveX control.

This figure shows the Amp Meter control. Notice that the tick marks have two different lengths. These are created by defining two sets of tick marks.

The first set consists of 11 longer tick marks, each positioned at one of the label values, positioned at increments of 1.0. The second set consists of five shorter tick marks for each integer change in the scale, positioned at increments of 0.2.

To examine how these tick marks have been created, double-click on the Amp Meter control to display its properties dialog box. Select the Tics tab.

The Tics and TicID properties, in the box labeled 1, are defined as follows:

The Tics property specifies how many sets of tick marks are used by the control. For this control, this property is set to 2.
The TicID property indicates which set of tick marks is defined by the other properties on this page. When specifying the characteristics of a set of tick marks, you set the TicID property, and then define the property values for that set of tick marks. In the dialog box page above, the settings for all the properties on the page apply to the first set, identified as TicID 0.

Note When defining multiple components, the first instance is identified by an ID of 0. In this example, the two sets of tick marks have IDs of 0 and 1.

The Position/Size properties, in the box labeled 2, are defined as follows:

The Inner property defines the edge of the tick mark closest to the needle center and the Outer property defines the edge of the tick mark farthest from the needle center. To see where the tick marks are located relative to the needle length, examine the needle length by selecting the Needles page. The needle length is 2.0. The Inner position is 1.70 and the Outer position is 2.00. These tick marks are 0.3 units long.
The Width of the tick marks is 0.00, the narrowest width.

The Range properties, in the box labeled 3, are defined as follows:

The StartValue determines at which scale value the first tick mark is displayed. For these tick marks, the value is 0.
The StopValue determines at which scale value the last tick mark is displayed. For these tick marks, the value is 10.
The DeltaValue determines the interval between tick marks. For these tick marks, the value is 1.

The Labels properties On/Off check box, in the box labeled 4, determines whether the labels are displayed. For the first set of tick marks, the labels are displayed.

The FontID property, in the box labeled 5, determines which of multiple fonts defined for this control is used for the label. In this case, two font sets are defined. The first (FontID 0) is for the tick marks, the second (FontID 1) is for the caption, "Amps."

To examine the second set of tick marks, change the TicID property value to 1 by clicking on the up arrow to the left of the value. The Tics page looks like this.

The Position/Size properties, in the box labeled 2, are defined as follows:

The Inner position is 1.90 and the Outer position is 2.00. These tick marks are 0.10 units long, one-third the length of the longer tick marks.
The Width of the tick marks is 0.00, the same as the longer tick marks.

The Range properties, in the box labeled 3, are defined as follows.

The StartValue for these tick marks is 0. The first short tick mark and the first long tick mark appear in the same place.
The StopValue for these tick marks is 10. The last short tick mark and the last long tick mark appear in the same place.
The DeltaValue determines the interval between tick marks. For these tick marks, the value is 0.2.

The Labels properties On/Off check box determines whether the labels are displayed. For this set of tick marks, the labels are not displayed.

Note Be careful not to reduce the number of tick mark sets. If you do, the tick mark settings corresponding to the highest TicID will be removed from the control. Once they are removed, they must be recreated from the defaults.

Saving a Customized ActiveX Control
To save a modified ActiveX control for later use, follow these steps:

Make the modifications to the ActiveX control.
Select the Library tab of the ActiveX Control Properties dialog box.
On this dialog box, assign a name to the modified ActiveX control by entering a new control name in the Configuration Name field.

Note: If you leave this field blank, the new ActiveX control properties write over the previous settings, which means that you cannot access the original version except by reinstalling the blockset.

To provide textual information about the control, click on the Notes button. This dialog box appears, filled in with sample text.
Enter a description in the text area, then click OK.
Select the directory in which to store the modified ActiveX control by expanding the library hierarchy at the left. The new ActiveX control configuration is stored in the directory you select. Click the Store button, below the Notes field, and then click OK to accept all the changes and close the dialog box.

The figure below shows the dialog box with fields filled in. The modified ActiveX control configuration will be stored in the Linear Gauge directory.

Following this procedure enables you to save your customized copies of ActiveX controls on your computer. However, this method does not enable you to share these ActiveX control configurations.

To share these ActiveX control configurations, save the model. The ActiveX control configurations are saved in .ax files, which other users can access. You can also export configurations to .gms files for sharing. To do this, select a directory in the directory hierarchy and click Export. You can later use Import to access these configurations.

Using ActiveX Control Blocks in a Model Advanced Topics