Dials & Gauges Blockset

Using Multiple Styles Within One Block

Some ActiveX control properties let you use more than one style for a given component or characteristic, in the same block. For example, you might use multiple styles to create

• Different font characteristics for text in different places
• Multiple colors within a graphical element such as an annular region or a divided pie chart
• Multiple sets of ticks, each with its own size or labeling characteristics
• Multiple components, such as LEDs or needles, each with its own characteristics

These sections discuss the use of multiple styles in preconfigured Dials & Gauges Blockset blocks:

• Blocks that Use Multiple Styles by Default
• Determining When Multiple Styles Are Allowed
• Creating Styles
• Applying Styles

Blocks that Use Multiple Styles by Default

Many Dials & Gauges blocks include multiple styles by default:

• The Vacuum block in the Angular Gauges library uses three text styles: one for the tick labels, one for the number at the bottom of the gauge, and one for the text near the center of the gauge.
• The Volume block in the Angular Gauges library uses three adjacent annular regions, each with a different color.
• The Thermometer block in the Sliders library uses two styles for ticks: one for numbered ticks every 10 degrees and another for unnumbered ticks every 2 degrees.
• The Circle Meter block in the LEDs library applies one of three LED styles to each of 10 LEDs. The three styles differ in their colors.

Determining When Multiple Styles Are Allowed

If a component supports multiple styles, then its property dialog box has properties that allow you to set the number of styles and refer to the styles by number. As an example, the figure below shows how a dialog box supports multiple font styles. The Fonts property indicates the number of font styles, while the FontID property refers to a given style by number.

To determine whether a component supports multiple styles, look in the block's property dialog box for a pair of properties whose names are

• A plural noun describing the component, such as Fonts or Scales
• A word that combines the noun and the letters "ID," such as FontID or ScaleID

If the dialog box has no such properties for the component, then you cannot create multiple styles for that component. For example, in the Background panel of a block's dialog box, you can define the color of an outline, but you cannot create multiple concentric outlines of different colors.

Creating Styles

After locating the style-identifying pair of properties for the component you are interested in, follow these steps to create an additional style:

1. Click once on the up arrow next to the value of the first property in the pair (Fonts in the figure). This value is the number of defined styles. If N styles are defined, then each is associated with an integer between 0 and N-1. The corresponding ID property (FontID in the figure) can assume values between 0 and N-1.
2. Click repeatedly on the up arrow next to the ID property to set it to its maximum value. This causes the dialog box panel to reflect the attributes of that particular style instead of the other defined styles.
3. Configure other properties in the dialog box panel to match the attributes that you want that particular style to have. In the figure, the Set Font button allows you to set font attributes and the Sample box displays text using those attributes. In many cases, all properties in the panel except the original style-identifying pair are attributes of the style. In a few cases, only part of the panel contains attributes of the style and others are global attributes that apply to all styles.

To view attributes of an existing style, set the ID property to the integer associated with that style. Then, properties on the dialog box panel other than the style-identifying pair reflect attributes of that style. For example, the figure below shows how the Sample portion of the Fonts panel of a dialog box displays either a large bold font or a font of medium size and weight, depending on whether the FontID value is set to 0 or 1.

Applying Styles

In some cases, creating a style implicitly causes the block to apply it. For example, creating an additional style for tick marks automatically creates an additional set of tick marks on the block. In other cases, creating a style does not implicitly cause the block to apply it. For example, even after you create an additional font style, you will not see its effect on the block until you indicate which text should use that style. This section describes how to apply styles that the block does not apply immediately after you create them.

To determine where you can apply a style you have created, look for the corresponding ID property on a panel of the dialog box other than the panel where you defined the style. For example, the figure below shows part of a Captions panel containing the FontID property. The fact that the FontID property is not preceded by a Fonts property indicates that this is a panel that allows you to apply font styles but not define them.

Once you have located a part of the dialog box where you can apply a style you previously created, set the ID property to match the ID property of that style. For example, the figure above shows that the block has exactly one caption, and that the caption's font style is the one whose ID is 1. If you change the FontID value in the Captions panel to a different number, then you will probably notice a change in some text on the block.

Modifying ActiveX Control Properties

Understanding ID Properties