Accessing a Location or Date/Time Value

The screens for accessing transformations and date/time fields are similar. You simply have to select the one that accesses the correct data type.

To create a new location or date/time menu item, display the menu page you want to create a menu item for and select:

Utilities -> Edit Menu
New -> Transform or Date/Time

To edit an existing location or date/time menu item, display the page the menu item is on and select:

Utilities -> Edit Menu -> double-click on item

Figure 8-7. Transformations and Date/Time Fields

Location and Date/Time Value Options

1	Select the font number for the label on the location or value.
2	Indicate the conditional section you want associated with this location or value. Conditional sections are discussed in Creating a Conditional Section.
3	The upper left corner of the location or value is specified in the first two boxes. The width and height of the location or value are specified in the second two boxes. Enter the help search string associated with this item. When this item is selected and the F1 key is pressed, the help database associated with the menu page file will be searched for a record with this name. If a matching record is found, it will be displayed in the help window (see Custom Online Help).
4	Enter the label you want to display with the location or value. In the "Relative position" data boxes, enter the position for this label relative to the upper left corner of the location or value. Double click on Aa|Aa (next to Text color) to display a pop-up menu showing you the text and background color options. If Opaque is selected, the text will look like the left "Aa", otherwise it will look like the right "Aa".
5	Date/time items must be from a database. Transformations can be from a database or a V+ variable. The other characteristics specified in this section are: Sequence Idle Indicates that this field will not be editable when a runtime task is executing. (When this field is accessed during debug operation, a message indicating the field cannot be changed will be displayed.). Auto refresh When selected, the value will be updated at the rate specified in the menu page header. Auto redraw When selected, conditionals will be evaluated and the page redrawn each time the value is changed. Required Selecting this item will make this a required field. (The user will not be allowed to exit the menu page unless a valid entry is made.) Read access: Specify the required user access level before the value will be displayed. Write access: Specify the required access level before users can modify this field.
6	In Chk. Rtn:, specify a routine that will be run to perform data validation on the value entered (see menu.chk.spawn (arg, mode, db.p, type, db[], vals[], $stg, $cmd)( )). The value in "Arg" will be passed to the check routine. If Check before display is selected, the check routine will also be run before the value is displayed.
7	This is reserved for transformations only. Select Standard to display the transformation in standard XYZypr format. Select Select Elements and a series of check boxes will be displayed that allow you to select only the elements of the transformation that you want displayed (for example, you may want to display only the XY values for a two axes linear mechanism). You will be able to specify the number of digits displayed for the selected elements.
8	This section specifies the formatting characteristics of the displayed value. Specify the justification for the value, whether to use an opaque background, and whether to draw a boundary around the value.