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Numeric Indicators
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Glossary Item Box

This topic discusses numeric indicators.

Overview

This article describes information relating to numeric indicators.

A numeric indicator is used to provide a numerical representation of input data. It can also display a numerical value, which is useful for displaying an alphabetic representation of a gauge's current status.

In practice most numeric indicators are used in conjunction with a circular or linear gauge.

Working with Indicators in the UI

Numeric indicator properties can be set using various tabs of either the Gauge Designer dialog or Sub-Gauge Designer dialogs, depending on the situation.

If the indicator is a main gauge use the Gauge Designer dialog. If it is a sub-gauge then use the Sub-Gauge Designer dialog.

The Advanced Tab of the Gauge Designer dialog allows for setting advanced indicator properties.

Styles

Numeric indicators have three unique display styles: mechanical, 7-segment and 14-segment. 

The mechanical style can represent any font and/or character. Digits of a mechanical style numeric indicator can be divided with a separator. The SeparatorColor and SeparatorWidth properties set the color and width of the separator. 

mechanical

Figure 1:  Mechanical style numeric indicator.

The 7-segment and 14-segment numeric indicators represent the two types of digital display. Note that the "segements" actually refer to the number of segments used to describe a single digit.

7segment         14-segment

Figure 2:  7-segment (left) and 14-segment (right) style numeric indicator

The LedDimColor property sets the back LED color of the digits.

When using the digital display numeric indicators fonts cannot be set. If a character cannot be shown on the 7-segment numeric indicator, it will be displayed as "E", denoting an error has occurred. The 14-segment numeric indicator is more advanced than the 7-segment and can show a wider range of characters. For this reason, it is recommended that a 14-segment indicator style be used when displaying non-numeric characters.

Appearance

As with all other gauge elements, the numeric indicator has a variety of appearance settings to determine gradients, shadows and styles of fill and background colors. 

The Digits and Decimals properties determine the total number of digits and decimal places used by the indicator.

digits2        digits2

Figure 3: Digits = 3, Decimals = 1 (left); Digits = 4, Decimals = 2 (right).

The DecimalColor and DigitColor properties set colors for the decimal and non-decimal portions of a given value.

ShowLeadingZeros will display zeros in front of the value. The number of leading zeros displayed is determined by the value of the Digits property.

If the number to be displayed on the numeric indicator requires more total digits and/or decimals than specified by Digits and Decimals, the NumericIndicator will display an error message set by the OutOfRangeString property. OutOfRangeString will also be displayed on the numeric indicator if the values are outside of the range between the Minimum and Maximum properties.

Custom Formatting

The FormatString property is used to specify a custom format string for a numeric indicator. This can be selected from the Format Editor in the Property Window at design time, or at run-time by using a custom string. If setting FormatString:

It may not be necessary to show the decimal point if the color of the decimal digits is different than the color of the non-decimal digits. The decimal point can be hidden from the user by setting ShowDecimalPoint to False. 

ShowSign determines if the numeric indicator will show a plus (+) and/or (-) sign in front of the value.

Snapping

Snapping rounds the values of the numeric indicator to an interval determined by the SnappingInterval property. To add snapping set the SnappingEnabled property to true.

The refresh rate, set by the RefreshRate property, determines how often the value is refreshed on the numeric indicator.

Specifying a Value

An indicator's value is represented by its Value property, which can be set one of several ways:

  1. If the indicator is a main gauge then you can specify an expression for the Numeric Value in the Gauge Wizard's Data Tab.
  2. If the indicator is amain gauge then you can specify an expression for the Value in the General Tab of the Gauge Designer dialog.
  3. If the indicator is a sub-gauge then use the General Tab of the Sub-Gauge Designer dialog and specify an expression for the Value textbox.
  4. Set the Value property of the indicator in the Code Editor.

Numeric Ranges

Numeric ranges function similar to circular and linear gauge ranges, and are used to set limits on a collection of values on the numeric indicator.

To set a numeric range use the StartValue and EndValue properties of a numeric range.

The DecimalColor and DigitColor properties can be specified to indicate the color of the decimal and non-decimal digits when the value is within the specified range.

Size and Position

Initially the ResizeMode property is set to AutoFit, which resizes the numeric indicator as determined by its Size property. If ResizeMode is set to None then the Font property determines the size of the text. 

The FontUnit enumeration determines the units of font to be used:

  1. Percent: the font unit is determined as a percent of the parent element.
  2. Default: the font unit is determined by the Unit property of the numeric indicator's Font property.

The Location property determines the relative position of the numeric indicator. If the indicator's Parent property is set (this will be the control if the indicator is a main gauge) then the indicator's location will be determined relative to the size of the parent. If Parent is not set then the indicator's location will be relative to the size of the control.

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