SYS600_Visual SCIL Application Design

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.
5
Visual SCIL Application Design
Document ID: 1MRK 511 668-UEN
Issued: February 2023
Revision: A
Product version: 10.5
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.

1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A Table of contents
Table of contents
Section 1 Copyrights......................................................................................................9
Section 2 Introduction.................................................................................................. 11
2.1 Use of symbols.................................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Intended audience............................................................................................................... 11
2.3 Document conventions........................................................................................................ 11
2.4 Document revisions.............................................................................................................12
Section 3 Visual SCIL overview...................................................................................13

3.1 About this Section............................................................................................................... 13
3.2 SYS600 User Interface Design........................................................................................... 13
3.2.1 User Interface Components.............................................................................................. 13
3.2.2 User Interface Design Methods.........................................................................................13
3.2.3 Using Process Displays and Dialogs.................................................................................14
3.3 Visual SCIL Design Method................................................................................................ 14
3.3.1 Visual SCIL Objects.......................................................................................................... 14
3.3.2 Types of Visual SCIL Objects............................................................................................14
3.3.3 Dialog Systems................................................................................................................. 15
3.3.4 Composing Procedure.......................................................................................................15
3.3.5 Handling Visual SCIL Objects........................................................................................... 15
3.3.6 Example............................................................................................................................ 16
Section 4 Designing Dialog Systems..........................................................................17

4.2 Creating Objects in Dialog Editor........................................................................................ 17
4.2.1 General..............................................................................................................................17
4.2.2 Storing Objects..................................................................................................................17
4.2.3 Designing Dialogs............................................................................................................. 18
4.3 Composing Dialog Systems................................................................................................ 19
4.3.1 General..............................................................................................................................19
4.3.2 Loading, Creating and Deleting Dialogs............................................................................20
4.3.3 Loading Dialog Items.........................................................................................................21
4.3.4 Image Objects................................................................................................................... 21
4.4 Object Hierarchy..................................................................................................................21
4.4.1 Dialog Item Hierarchy within a Dialog............................................................................... 21
4.4.2 Object Hierarchy within Dialog Systems........................................................................... 21
4.4.3 Initial Main Dialog.............................................................................................................. 22
4.5 Miscellaneous......................................................................................................................22
4.5.1 Coordinate System............................................................................................................22
Section 5 Programming Dialog Systems....................................................................23

5.2 Methods...............................................................................................................................23
MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 1

Table of contents 1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A
5.2.1 Overview........................................................................................................................... 23
5.2.2 Methods Activated Automatically...................................................................................... 24
5.2.2.1 Cyclic Methods.............................................................................................................24
5.2.2.2 Event Methods............................................................................................................. 24
5.2.3 Methods Activated by Operator.........................................................................................24
5.2.3.1 Action Methods............................................................................................................ 24
5.2.3.2 Help Method.................................................................................................................24
5.2.4 Methods Activated by Events in the Object.......................................................................25
5.2.4.1 Create Method ............................................................................................................ 25
5.2.4.2 Init Method................................................................................................................... 25
5.2.4.3 Delete Method .............................................................................................................26
5.2.4.4 Error Handling Method................................................................................................. 26
5.2.5 Methods Activated by SCIL............................................................................................... 26
5.2.5.1 Overview...................................................................................................................... 26
5.2.5.2 Predefined Methods..................................................................................................... 27
5.2.5.3 Arbitrary User Defined Methods...................................................................................27
5.3 Attributes............................................................................................................................. 27
5.3.1 Overview........................................................................................................................... 27
5.3.2 Predefined and User Defined Attributes............................................................................27
5.3.2.1 Predefined Attributes....................................................................................................27
5.3.2.2 User Defined Attributes................................................................................................ 27
5.3.3 Some Important Attributes.................................................................................................28
5.3.3.1 Visibility Attribute..........................................................................................................28
5.3.3.2 Enabled/Disabled......................................................................................................... 28
5.3.3.3 Position and Size......................................................................................................... 28
5.3.3.4 Attributes for Reading and Writing Action Methods..................................................... 28
5.4 Handling Visual SCIL Objects............................................................................................. 29
5.4.1 Overview........................................................................................................................... 29
5.4.2 Loading, Creating and Deleting Objects............................................................................29
5.4.3 Referencing Objects in SCIL............................................................................................. 29
5.4.3.1 General........................................................................................................................ 29
5.4.3.2 Object Names.............................................................................................................. 29
5.4.3.3 Object Paths.................................................................................................................29
5.4.3.4 Predefined Object References..................................................................................... 30
5.4.3.5 Remark to Predefined Object References................................................................... 30
5.4.3.6 Object Access.............................................................................................................. 30
5.4.4 Handling Attributes in SCIL............................................................................................... 31
5.4.4.1 General........................................................................................................................ 31
5.4.4.2 Attribute Names........................................................................................................... 31
5.4.4.3 Attribute Reference...................................................................................................... 31
5.4.4.4 Using Attributes in SCIL Expressions.......................................................................... 31
5.4.4.5 Assigning Attributes Values..........................................................................................31
5.4.4.6 Attribute Access........................................................................................................... 32
5.4.4.7 Data Types................................................................................................................... 32
5.4.5 Handling Methods in SCIL.................................................................................................32
5.4.5.1 General........................................................................................................................ 32
2 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

5.4.5.2 Method Calls................................................................................................................ 32

5.4.5.3 Using Method Calls in SCIL Expressions ....................................................................33
5.5 Programming Hints and Notes............................................................................................ 34
5.5.1 General..............................................................................................................................34
5.5.2 Main Dialogs and Picture Containers................................................................................ 34
5.5.2.1 Initializing Main Dialogs................................................................................................34
5.5.2.2 Handling Picture Containers........................................................................................ 34
5.5.3 Accessing Objects Outside Dialog Systems..................................................................... 34
5.5.3.1 General........................................................................................................................ 34
5.5.3.2 Main Dialog Example................................................................................................... 35
5.5.3.3 Picture Container Example.......................................................................................... 36
5.5.4 Using Language Dependent Texts.................................................................................... 37
5.5.4.1 General........................................................................................................................ 37
5.5.4.2 Language Dependent Texts......................................................................................... 38
5.5.4.3 Text Identifiers.............................................................................................................. 38
Section 6 Using Dialog Editor..................................................................................... 41

6.2 General................................................................................................................................41
6.2.1 Entering and Closing Dialog Editor................................................................................... 41
6.2.2 Menu bar and Toolbar....................................................................................................... 41
6.2.3 The Working Procedure.................................................................................................... 43
6.2.4 Dialogs and Dialog Items.................................................................................................. 44
6.3 File Handling....................................................................................................................... 45
6.3.1 Creating a New File...........................................................................................................45
6.3.2 Main Dialog Template........................................................................................................45
6.3.3 Opening an Existing File................................................................................................... 49
6.3.4 Breaking File Lock.............................................................................................................49
6.3.5 Saving a File......................................................................................................................50
6.3.6 Compressing a File........................................................................................................... 50
6.3.7 Closing a File.....................................................................................................................50
6.3.8 Using a Template...............................................................................................................51
6.3.8.1 Adding a Template....................................................................................................... 51
6.4 Object Handling...................................................................................................................52
6.4.1 General..............................................................................................................................52
6.4.2 Testing an Object...............................................................................................................52
6.4.3 Testing with Test Dialog.....................................................................................................52
6.4.4 Undo and Redo................................................................................................................. 52
6.4.5 Viewing Object Tree.......................................................................................................... 53
6.4.6 Object list...........................................................................................................................54
6.4.6.1 Adding Objects.............................................................................................................54
6.4.6.2 Editing Objects............................................................................................................. 54
6.4.6.3 Renaming Objects........................................................................................................54
6.4.6.4 Copying Objects...........................................................................................................55
6.4.6.5 Deleting Objects...........................................................................................................55
6.4.7 Object Editors....................................................................................................................55

6.4.7.1 Adding Dialog Items..................................................................................................... 55

6.4.7.2 Selecting Dialog Items................................................................................................. 56
6.4.7.3 Resizing Objects.......................................................................................................... 56
6.4.7.4 Moving Dialog Items.....................................................................................................57
6.4.7.5 Aligning Dialog Items................................................................................................... 57
6.4.7.6 Copying Dialog Items................................................................................................... 57
6.4.7.7 Changing the Dialog Item Layers.................................................................................58
6.4.7.8 Deleting Objects...........................................................................................................58
6.4.7.9 Replacing Objects........................................................................................................ 58
Section 7 Defining Objects.......................................................................................... 59

7.2 Common Object Definitions.................................................................................................59
7.2.1 Name.................................................................................................................................59
7.2.2 Title....................................................................................................................................60
7.2.3 Mnemonic..........................................................................................................................60
7.2.4 The Position and Size of Objects...................................................................................... 60
7.2.5 Color Setting......................................................................................................................60
7.2.6 Font Setting.......................................................................................................................61
7.2.7 Cursor................................................................................................................................62
7.2.8 Icon....................................................................................................................................62
7.2.9 Image................................................................................................................................ 62
7.2.10 Other Attributes................................................................................................................. 63
7.3 Methods...............................................................................................................................63
7.3.1 Handling Methods............................................................................................................. 63
7.3.1.1 Defining Methods......................................................................................................... 63
7.3.1.2 Adding New Methods................................................................................................... 64
7.3.1.3 Deleting Methods......................................................................................................... 64
7.3.1.4 Using the SCIL Program Editor....................................................................................65
7.4 Language Dependent Texts................................................................................................ 65
7.4.1 Inserting New Languages..................................................................................................65
7.4.2 Inserting Text IDs with Translations...................................................................................65
7.4.3 Renaming Text IDs............................................................................................................ 66
7.4.4 Deleting Text IDs............................................................................................................... 66
7.5 Geometry Management.......................................................................................................66
7.5.1 General..............................................................................................................................66
7.5.2 Connection Colors.............................................................................................................66
7.5.3 Connection Types between Objects..................................................................................67
7.5.4 Examples for connection type between objects................................................................ 67
7.5.5 Geometry Management.....................................................................................................67
7.5.6 Natural Length...................................................................................................................67
7.5.7 Spring................................................................................................................................68
7.5.8 Natural Base Added with Spring....................................................................................... 68
7.5.9 Fixed Length and Locked Fixed Length............................................................................ 68
7.5.10 Fixed Base Added with Spring.......................................................................................... 69
7.5.11 Changing the Connection Types between Objects........................................................... 69

7.5.12 Example of Connecting Buttons........................................................................................ 70

7.5.13 Connection Types inside an Object...................................................................................72
7.5.14 Changing the Connection Types inside an Object............................................................ 72
7.5.15 Source and Destination of a Connection...........................................................................73
Section 8 Container Group Objects............................................................................ 75

8.2 General................................................................................................................................75
8.3 The Order Items Page.........................................................................................................75
8.4 Dialogs................................................................................................................................ 76
8.4.1 General..............................................................................................................................76
8.4.2 Window Page.................................................................................................................... 76
8.5 Notebooks........................................................................................................................... 77
8.5.1 General..............................................................................................................................77
8.5.2 Defining a Notebook..........................................................................................................78
8.5.3 The Custom Style Options................................................................................................ 79
8.6 Containers........................................................................................................................... 80
8.6.1 Container Attributes Page................................................................................................. 80
8.7 Menus..................................................................................................................................81
8.7.1 General..............................................................................................................................81
8.7.2 Adding Menus................................................................................................................... 81
8.7.3 Testing a Menu..................................................................................................................83
8.8 Picture Containers...............................................................................................................83
8.8.1 General..............................................................................................................................83
8.8.2 Inserting a Picture............................................................................................................. 83
8.9 Icon View.............................................................................................................................83
Section 9 Other Dialog Items.......................................................................................85

9.2 Texts.................................................................................................................................... 85
9.2.1 Label..................................................................................................................................85
9.2.2 List.....................................................................................................................................85
9.2.3 Text....................................................................................................................................88
9.3 Buttons................................................................................................................................ 91
9.3.1 Button................................................................................................................................91
9.3.2 Palette............................................................................................................................... 91
9.4 Option Selection.................................................................................................................. 92
9.4.1 Check Box.........................................................................................................................92
9.4.2 Option Button.................................................................................................................... 93
9.4.3 Combo and Combo Popdown........................................................................................... 94
9.4.4 Numeric Spinner................................................................................................................95
9.4.5 Text Spinner...................................................................................................................... 97
9.5 Scroll Bars and Sliders........................................................................................................ 98
9.5.1 Scroll Bar...........................................................................................................................98
9.5.2 Slider................................................................................................................................. 99
9.6 Separating Items................................................................................................................. 99
9.6.1 Box.................................................................................................................................... 99

9.6.2 Icon View.........................................................................................................................100

9.6.3 Image Domain.................................................................................................................100
9.6.4 Line..................................................................................................................................100
9.7 Tree................................................................................................................................... 100
9.8 Header and Header Item...................................................................................................102
9.9 Graph and Graph Legend................................................................................................. 102
9.9.1 Datasets and Points........................................................................................................ 104
9.9.2 Axis Annotation............................................................................................................... 104
9.9.3 Other Properties of the VS_GRAPH Object.................................................................... 105
9.9.4 Using the VS_GRAPH Object......................................................................................... 105
9.9.5 Example with VS_GRAPH Object................................................................................... 106
9.10 Table..................................................................................................................................108
9.10.1 Defining the Appearance of the VS_TABLE....................................................................109
9.10.2 Inserting and Removing Rows and Columns.................................................................. 110
9.10.3 Inserting Text into Table Cells.......................................................................................... 111
9.10.4 Specifying the Selection Method of Table Cells...............................................................111
9.10.5 VS_TABLE Common Concepts.......................................................................................112
9.10.6 Initialising VS_TABLE......................................................................................................113
9.10.7 Attribute Mechanism........................................................................................................114
9.10.7.1 Clearing the Table...................................................................................................... 114
9.10.8 Cells.................................................................................................................................115
9.10.9 Titles, Headers and Groups.............................................................................................115
9.10.9.1 Row and Column Headers......................................................................................... 115
9.10.9.2 Row and Column Titles.............................................................................................. 116
9.10.9.3 Multiple Lines of Text in a Title................................................................................... 116
9.10.9.4 Automatic Numbering.................................................................................................116
9.10.9.5 Column and Row Groups........................................................................................... 116
9.10.9.6 Drag and Drop............................................................................................................118
9.10.10 Introducing Editing Capabilities....................................................................................... 118
9.10.11 Action Methods................................................................................................................118
9.10.11.1 CELL_EDITING_ACCEPTED.................................................................................... 118
9.10.11.2 CELL_EDITING_CANCELLED.................................................................................. 119
9.10.11.3 CELL_EDITING_STARTED....................................................................................... 119
9.10.11.4 COLUMN_TITLE_CLICKED...................................................................................... 119
9.10.11.5 COLUMN_TITLE_DOUBLE_CLICKED......................................................................119
9.10.11.6 DRAGGED_AND_DROPPED....................................................................................119
9.10.11.7 FOCUSED_CELL_CHANGED...................................................................................119
9.10.11.8 SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED..................................................................................119
9.10.11.9 TOOLTIP_IS_SHOWN............................................................................................... 119
9.10.12 Miscellaneous Features...................................................................................................119
9.10.12.1 Column Freezing........................................................................................................ 119
9.10.12.2 Drawing border...........................................................................................................120
9.10.12.3 Grabbing hand........................................................................................................... 121
9.10.12.4 Sorting........................................................................................................................121
9.10.12.5 Sorting Arrow............................................................................................................. 122
9.10.13 Value Handler..................................................................................................................122

9.10.13.1 Action Methods.......................................................................................................... 122

9.10.13.2 GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT......................................................................................... 122
9.10.13.3 GET_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT........................................................................................ 122
9.10.13.4 UPDATE_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT.................................................................................. 122
9.10.13.5 UPDATE_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT................................................................................. 122
9.10.13.6 Action Attributes......................................................................................................... 123
9.10.13.7 _GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT....................................................................................... 123
9.10.13.8 _GET_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT...................................................................................... 123
9.10.13.9 _UPDATE_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT................................................................................ 123
9.10.13.10 _UPDATE_VIEW_TEXT............................................................................................ 123
9.10.13.11 Restrictions................................................................................................................ 123
9.10.13.12 Examples................................................................................................................... 124
9.10.13.13 Example 1.................................................................................................................. 124
9.10.13.14 Example 2.................................................................................................................. 124
9.10.14 Message Flows............................................................................................................... 124
9.10.14.1 Selection Handling..................................................................................................... 126
9.10.15 SCIL Exceptions..............................................................................................................127
Section 10 Image Editor............................................................................................... 129

10.1 About this Section............................................................................................................. 129
10.2 General..............................................................................................................................129
10.3 Size of the Drawing Area...................................................................................................129
10.4 Drawing an Image............................................................................................................. 130
10.5 Toolbox.............................................................................................................................. 130
10.6 Editing an Image............................................................................................................... 131
10.7 Preview of an Image..........................................................................................................131
10.8 Saving Images...................................................................................................................131
10.9 Importing and Exporting Images....................................................................................... 131
10.10 Color Setting......................................................................................................................132
10.11 Line Width Setting............................................................................................................. 132
10.12 Image Transparency......................................................................................................... 133
10.13 The Cursor Editor.............................................................................................................. 133
Index.....................................................................................................................................135

8
1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A Section 1
Copyrights
Section 1 Copyrights GUID-03127CB5-2F5A-4099-A5DC-20E63835472E v6
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as
a commitment by Hitachi Energy. Hitachi Energy assumes no responsibility for any errors that may
appear in this document.
In no event shall Hitachi Energy be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential
damages of any nature or kind arising from the use of this document, nor shall Hitachi Energy be
liable for incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of any software or hardware
described in this document.
This document and parts thereof must not be reproduced or copied without written permission from
Hitachi Energy, and the contents thereof must not be imparted to a third party nor used for any
unauthorized purpose.
The software or hardware described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used,
copied, or disclosed only in accordance with the terms of such license.
Trademarks
ABB is a registered trademark of ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. Manufactured by/for a Hitachi Energy
company. All other brand or product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Guarantee
Please inquire about the terms of guarantee from your nearest Hitachi Energy representative.
Third Party Copyright Notices
List of Third Party Copyright notices are documented in "3rd party licenses.txt" and other locations
mentioned in the file in SYS600 and DMS600 installation packages.
This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit.
(https://www.openssl.org/). This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young
(eay@cryptsoft.com). This product includes software written by Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com).
This product includes software developed by Computing Services at Carnegie Mellon University
(http://www.cmu.edu/computing/).
This product includes software developed by vbAccelerator (/index.html).

10
Introduction
Section 2 Introduction GUID-A0F1E2FA-E71D-4359-8D1A-EA2422229B95 v1
2.1 Use of symbols GUID-E2071128-E58C-4837-A645-C262EC143FF9 v1
This publication includes warning, caution and information symbols where appropriate to point out
safety-related or other important information. It also includes tips to point out useful hints to the
reader. The corresponding symbols should be interpreted as follows:
Warning icon indicates the presence of a hazard which could result in personal injury.
Caution icon indicates important information or a warning related to the concept

discussed in the text. It might indicate the presence of a hazard, which could result in
corruption of software or damage to equipment/property.
Information icon alerts the reader to relevant factors and conditions.
Tip icon indicates advice on, for example, how to design a project or how to use a certain
function.
Although warning hazards are related to personal injury, and caution hazards are associated with
equipment or property damage, it should be understood that operation of damaged equipment could,
under certain operational conditions, result in degraded process performance leading to personal
injury or death. Therefore, comply fully with all warnings and caution notices.
2.2 Intended audience GUID-488D8445-E054-4065-A2EE-65A98E69B24E v1
This manual is intended for installation personnel, administrators and skilled operators to support
installation of the software.
2.3 Document conventions GUID-BB3161E7-E383-4D10-924B-A8F95AF795F8 v1
The following conventions are used for the presentation of material:
• The words in names of screen elements (for example, the title in the title bar of a dialog, the
label for a field of a dialog box) are initially capitalized.
• Capital letters are used for file names.
• Capital letters are used for the name of a keyboard key if it is labeled on the keyboard. For
example, press the CTRL key. Although the Enter and Shift keys are not labeled they are written
in capital letters, e.g. press ENTER.
• Lowercase letters are used for the name of a keyboard key that is not labeled on the keyboard.
For example, the space bar, comma key and so on.
• Press CTRL+C indicates that the user must hold down the CTRL key while pressing the C key
(in this case, to copy a selected object).
• Press ALT E C indicates that the user presses and releases each key in sequence (in this case,
to copy a selected object).
• The names of push and toggle buttons are boldfaced. For example, click OK.
• The names of menus and menu items are boldfaced. For example, the File menu.

Section 2 1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A
Introduction
• The following convention is used for menu operations: Menu Name/Menu Item/
Cascaded Menu Item. For example: select File/Open/New Project.
• The Start menu name always refers to the Start menu on the Windows Task Bar.
• System prompts/messages and user responses/input are shown in the Courier font. For
example, if the user enters a value that is out of range, the following message is displayed:
Entered value is not valid.
The user may be told to enter the string MIF349 in a field. The string is shown as follows in the
procedure: MIF349
• Variables are shown using lowercase letters: sequence name
2.4 Document revisions GUID-AD292EC8-364C-48D3-895A-86D0D7A970B6 v5
Revision Version number Date History

A 10.5 17.02.2023 New document for
SYS600 10.5

Visual SCIL overview
Section 3 Visual SCIL overview GUID-8ACA9DA7-E650-445D-9720-DF6CF46B1282 v1
3.1 About this Section GUID-DC083989-40E1-425F-8A49-C783CE7A099D v2
This section introduces the basic concepts of the SYS600 user interface and summarizes the Visual
SCIL user interface design method. It is organized into two sections with the following contents:
Section 3.2 This section discusses the basic concepts of the SYS600
user interface: pictures, dialogs and dialog items. It
introduces the user interface design methods and
provides recommendations regarding the use of pictures
and dialogs. It also describes the possible views in
different types of monitors.
Section 3.3 This section introduces the Visual SCIL objects, the
dialogs, dialog items and dialog systems. The most
common procedure for designing dialog systems is
introduced as well as handling of Visual SCIL objects
and an example.
3.2 SYS600 User Interface Design GUID-E4AE9754-8917-4653-AA1B-6C90BB443D2D v1
3.2.1 User Interface Components GUID-1F6EC3BC-EE1D-4287-95F8-06EAACA5CAC7 v1
A SYS600 user interface is composed of one or more windows. Each window may provide
illustrations of the controlled process, presentations of the alarm and event state, history of the
process, graphical illustrations, operator dialogs, images and so on. SYS600 supports two different
main window types, also known as monitors: Classic Monitors and Monitor Pro.
Classic Monitors are mainly supported for backwards compatibility reasons and this monitor type is
fully compatible with SYS 500 Monitors. Monitor Pro represents the user interface generation
introduced in SYS600.
There are three main user interface component types available:
• Process Displays
• Visual SCIL dialogs
• Pictures
Process Displays are introduced in SYS600 and are mainly used to illustrate the process. The
Process Displays are built with Display Builder and they support for example zooming, panning and
decluttering features.
Visual SCIL Dialogs provide powerful means of creating various dialogs and applications composed
of, for example menus, buttons, lists, check boxes, graphs and tables. Visual SCIL dialogs are mainly
used for various tools, control dialogs and so on.
Pictures are basically the classic way of illustrating the process known from SYS 500, but they are
still supported for full backwards compatibility.
Visual SCIL Dialogs can be used together with both Process Displays and Pictures.
3.2.2 User Interface Design Methods GUID-28A72484-B0FC-4C74-8BAB-573FBAB1CC47 v1
Pictures are designed and programmed in Picture Editor, see SYS600 Picture Editing. Process
Displays are designed and programmed in Display Builder, see SYS600 Process Display Design.
Visual SCIL Dialogs are designed and programmed in Dialog Editor and this process is described in
this manual.

3.2.3 Using Process Displays and Dialogs GUID-D6998579-E31F-4EFB-8C89-59EED5F0C3A8 v2
In this manual, the dialog concept is broader than usual. A dialog may be an operator dialog that
informs the operator of something and requires a data entry or a click on a button. However, a dialog
can also be a tool or a presentation containing a picture, an image, a list and so on. In some cases,
the process displays and dialogs are equal alternatives when designing user-interface elements. In
other cases, one of them is preferable. Generally, dialogs are suitable for:
• tools
• operator dialogs
• lists and textual reports
• tables
Process displays are more suitable for process illustrations that require dynamic graphical behaviour
as well as zooming, panning and decluttering features.
3.3 Visual SCIL Design Method GUID-5D721E51-3712-4AAC-B72E-36D1041B1A5B v1
3.3.1 Visual SCIL Objects GUID-9C732B55-FB09-4249-BF89-FA3393CE13E7 v1
Everything contained in a dialog, for example, buttons, texts, menus, menu items, images, etc., are
called dialog items. A text and a button are examples of dialog items, while a menu is a container
group object as it generally contains menu items.
In SCIL, the dialogs and dialog items are handled as what is called Visual SCIL objects.
Subsequently, the term Visual SCIL objects, or simply objects, will be used as a common name for
dialogs and dialog items. In addition, it comprises images, which are not actually dialog items though
they can be shown on dialog items.
3.3.2 Types of Visual SCIL Objects GUID-6AF51C99-5143-4A60-AA86-F8D9806A7A4C v2
There are approximately 40 types of Visual SCIL object types.
The Visual SCIL object types can be grouped into the following main types:
• Container group objects (dialogs and dialog items that can contain other dialog items).
• Dialogs. Each entity in Figure 1 supplied with a title bar is a dialog (however, there can
also be dialogs without title bars). There are two types of dialogs that look the same and
have same functions but differ in the way attributes can be read from other dialogs: main
dialogs and dialogs. Also there are other types of dialogs, for example objects
VS_FILE_CHOOSER and VS_NOTICE_DIALOG.
• Containers. The containers are used for grouping dialog items. They can contain all kinds
of dialog items.
• Picture containers. A special type of containers, the picture container, can contain a
picture.
• Menus. The concept of menu as a container group object includes menu bars, menus and
menu items.
• Notebooks and notebook pages.
• Other dialog items: buttons, texts, labels, lists, etc.
• Images.
In SCIL and in the Dialog Editor the object types have names formed by adding a VS_ to the
descriptive name of the type. The descriptive names will be used throughout this manual.
The Visual SCIL object types are detailed in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects manual.

The Dialog Editor does not support the following Visual SCIL Objects:
VS_HEADER_ITEM
VS_NOTICE_DIALOG
VS_IMAGE_EDITOR
VS_FILE_CHOOSER
VS_PROGRAM_EDITOR
VS_INPUT_DIALOG
These Visual SCIL Objects must be inserted using a SCIL program.
3.3.3 Dialog Systems GUID-8ED0DDFB-8D85-4F30-B7E8-81996B6F6ABD v1
A dialog system starts with a main dialog or a picture container. The main dialog and all dialogs
opened from it, or from items included, belong to the same dialog system. Likewise, the picture
container and all dialogs opened from the picture included in the container belong to the same dialog
system.
Note that it is recommended to always use main dialogs when possible and form several dialog
systems, because each dialog system has its own SCIL context i.e. its own variable space, object
name space, etc.
3.3.4 Composing Procedure GUID-A13B7C2B-6164-4A2F-9862-BC407CEFFD02 v1
The general procedure for composing a dialog system is:
• Designing dialogs and other objects in the Dialog Editor and storing them in a file. One dialog is
the main dialog.
• Loading a main dialog from a main dialog or a picture (the main dialog is loaded automatically
when a SYS600 monitor is started). A new main dialog starts a new dialog system.
• Loading other dialogs and objects from the main dialog.
Figure 1 shows an example of a dialog system.
GUID-7A6A2527-5FF8-42D9-8AC0-2FB564A445BA V1 EN-US
Figure 1: An example of a dialog system
3.3.5 Handling Visual SCIL Objects GUID-72B15AB9-3E4B-459A-8F1F-6A4CFD4BFBAC v1
The dialogs stored in files are loaded into a dialog system using the SCIL command .LOAD. A certain
dialog can be loaded several times within the same or a different dialog system. This has to be done
in such a way that an already created dialog has to be deleted before reloading it. A dialog is deleted
from the dialog system with the .DELETE command.

Dialogs and dialog items can also be created with a SCIL command, the .CREATE command.
Each Visual SCIL object (dialog, dialog item, image) has an object name used for referencing the
object in SCIL.
The features of the dialog and the dialog items are accessed as attributes and predefined methods.
Examples of attributes are:
• Position and size

• Color
• Font
• Text contents
The attributes can be changed dynamically with the SCIL command .SET. Some features are
affected by executing predefined methods.
3.3.6 Example GUID-F99F71D2-9AD1-44D5-A676-180F1B97E7E5 v1
The dialog in the following example opens a new dialog if the operator clicks the Yes button. At the
same time it deletes the present dialog. If the operator selects No, the dialog is deleted but no new
dialog is opened. The method named NOTIFY is a user activated method activated by a click the
object. The dialog is referred to as PARENT. ROOT refers to the main dialog or picture container of
the dialog system.
GUID-FAE2A150-1DA3-4F79-A11C-4020A75C29D8 V1 EN-US
Figure 2: An example of a simple dialog and its methods

Designing Dialog Systems
Section 4 Designing Dialog Systems GUID-834C9155-9D1B-4FD5-AE9C-980D04AC2A3C v1
4.1 About this Section GUID-40E34FCB-6B0C-45C4-A507-6ED17724B376 v1
This section describes the principles of how to design dialogs and other objects using the Dialog
Editor. It also describes how to compose dialog systems by loading and creating dialogs and other
objects. It contains the following sections:
Section 4.2 The principles for designing dialogs and other objects in
the Dialog Editor. The rules for arranging dialog items
within a dialog.
Section 4.3 Loading, creating and deleting dialogs and other Visual
SCIL objects.
Section 4.4 The Visual SCIL object hierarchy within a dialog and
within a dialog system. The initial main dialog.
Section 4.5 Coordinate system.
4.2 Creating Objects in Dialog Editor GUID-D951D03C-DD05-4EDD-85F5-9AC9850585F2 v1
4.2.1 General GUID-5CA9BAE0-BD50-44BA-9ECA-BCDE32F88630 v1
By using the Dialog Editor the user can create main dialogs, dialogs, all types of dialog items and
images and store them in files.
The Dialog Editor lets the user design dialogs, dialog items and images visually on screen using
simple mouse operations. It also provides facilities for arranging dialog items neatly and connecting
them to preserve their relative location and size when a dialog is resized.
4.2.2 Storing Objects GUID-3CEEADBD-8A0B-4E0C-B661-F83042C6AAC2 v1
Normally, the user creates a dialog, adds contained dialog items and stores the dialog in a file, see
Figure 3. However, all types of objects can be stored in files, from where they are loaded into the
dialog system with SCIL, see Section 4.3. The objects stored by individual object definitions in a file
can be loaded with SCIL. Objects contained within other objects cannot be loaded separately. One
file can contain several object definitions.
In the Dialog Editor, each dialog item is defined by a name. This will be the Visual SCIL object name,
which identifies the item within the dialog system. Object definitions stored in files are also given
names. These names are used for identifying the items within the file.

GUID-D81ECA14-F55D-47BA-8C9C-C18241AC01ED V1 EN-US
Figure 3: Creating objects in the Dialog Editor

The definition of Visual SCIL objects using the Dialog Editor is described in Section 6.
4.2.3 Designing Dialogs GUID-CF23D2FF-88A7-4AE9-B911-30B3FD27D0DA v1
A dialog may contain several dialog items, which in turn may contain dialog items. Figure 4 shows
the rules for arranging dialog items within a dialog. Main dialogs, dialogs, containers and notebook
pages can contain any type of dialog items. Menu bars can contain menus, which in turn can contain
other menu items.
By setting some attributes of the Visual SCIL objects (see Section 5), the dialog items can be hidden
and shown as well as disabled and enabled during operation.
Dialog items can also be loaded into a dialog and deleted from a dialog during operation using SCIL
commands, see Section 4.3.

GUID-8C059CF8-FF9A-46DA-B070-2CF22FD81AAD V1 EN-US
Figure 4: The possibilities to arrange dialog items within a dialog
4.3 Composing Dialog Systems GUID-7AE32041-1AE4-4B1B-9F70-5245D51876D4 v1
4.3.1 General GUID-2D4A84EE-E4E9-44E5-916F-2E926CACE734 v1
Loading and creating dialogs and other Visual SCIL objects with SCIL composes dialog systems.
A dialog system begins with a main dialog or a picture container. The main dialog and all dialogs
opened from it, or from items included, belong to the same dialog system. Likewise, the picture
container and all dialogs opened from the picture included in the container, belong to the same dialog
system. The dialog system changes dynamically when new dialogs are loaded or dialogs are
deleted. See Figure 5.
Usually, the type of a dialog is a main dialog. The difference between main dialogs and dialogs is that
when a dialog is used, its attributes can be read from its parent dialog. The dialog and its parent are
in the same SCIL context. If a main dialog is used, the variables cannot be used outside of it. Hence,
no confusions between attributes of different dialogs occur. This is the reason why using main
dialogs and several dialog systems is recommended always when possible.
The use of main dialogs is not recommended when the user wants to read the variables from other
dialogs. An example of this is the Error Viewer and the Test Dialog opened from it. The main dialogs
were not used while they were designed, because the user is shown information of SCIL errors that
occur in other tools. The examination of variables in the tool where the error occurred is also
supported in the Test Dialog.
All objects within the same dialog system have their variables in common. Visual SCIL objects and
attributes are accessed by all objects within the same dialog system. Outside, only the objects in the
interface between two dialog systems can access one another (see Section 5).

GUID-42483E8C-A01E-4A06-9822-0FCA518DAB6F V1 EN-US
Figure 5: Three different dialog systems
4.3.2 Loading, Creating and Deleting Dialogs GUID-7002A04C-EF7D-4DB4-B959-52D75CDB1791 v1
To load a dialog, stored in a file, into the dialog system, use the SCIL command .LOAD. The
command can be used in any method of any object in the dialog system (see Section 5). Dialogs can
also be loaded from pictures.
When a dialog is loaded, all its dialog items are loaded as well. With the .LOAD command the loaded
dialog is given a Visual SCIL object name, which is its identification in SCIL. The dialog items will be
referenced with the names given in the Dialog Editor.
With the load command, the dialog may also be given attributes. For instance, the position of the
dialog can be given by an attribute. This method allows the stored dialogs to be loaded in several
situations and contexts without limitations. Hence, a dialog built in the Dialog Editor can appear
simultaneously on several locations on screen, with same or different appearances (specified by
attributes).
Dialogs can also be created with a SCIL command, the .CREATE command. The .CREATE
command is used mainly in cases where some dynamic feature affects the composition of the object.
It is also used for creating objects of some special ready made object types, which cannot be
accessed from the Dialog Editor (see SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects).
To remove loaded and created dialogs from the dialog system, use the SCIL command .DELETE.
The user can also hide and disable dialogs by using an attribute, see Section 5.
The .LOAD, .CREATE and .DELETE commands are detailed in SYS600 Programming Language
SCIL.

4.3.3 Loading Dialog Items GUID-A6D7E278-A4EB-4E47-8EEA-340062724328 v1
In the same way as dialogs, objects of other types can be loaded, created and deleted. Dialog items
can be loaded into dialogs, containers and notebook pages. Generally, however, this is not
recommended as it might destroy the geometry management in the dialog.
4.3.4 Image Objects GUID-C4EA51DF-61A1-4C9C-864A-F6F7C5A30CA8 v1
As mentioned earlier, image objects cannot exist as dialog items. Images are always stored in files
and loaded into the dialog system with .LOAD. Images are displayed on dialog items by assigning
their image attribute the name of the image object or by giving the object names as argument of
predefined methods. Some types of objects (boxes, buttons, containers) can also be given images in
the Dialog Editor. These images do not have any names and they are not seen as objects.
Images can be drawn using the Image Editor of the Dialog Editor, which also allows importing
images.
4.4 Object Hierarchy GUID-EBC42D42-37D9-4F3F-8D79-38D47CC61D7E v1
4.4.1 Dialog Item Hierarchy within a Dialog GUID-F108A601-8C54-4D16-AFAB-ECF3497BBA3B v1
A dialog and the dialog items contained in it from a hierarchical object structure. An object contained
in another object is the child of this object, which is called parent. The words ancestors and
descendants can be used to describe indirect hierarchical relationships.
Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6 illustrate a hierarchy. The dialog GROUP is the parent of the
containers PUSH and GROUP. The container PUSH has three child objects: OK, CANCEL and
HELP. The main dialog GROUP is an ancestor of HELP and HELP is a descendant of GROUP.
This parent child relationship also applies to dialogs and objects, which are loaded into the dialog
system. See Figure 6.
GUID-E7C50EB0-DA10-42B9-817C-8265587473A9 V1 EN-US
Figure 6: An example of a dialog object containing objects in two levels. The dialog
contains three buttons and two option buttons. The option buttons are placed in a
container with label Group.
4.4.2 Object Hierarchy within Dialog Systems GUID-46B95C8E-1D5C-40BD-8FFD-71C0D11DEA29 v1
In a dialog system, the Visual SCIL objects form a hierarchical system in accordance with how they
are loaded. On the top is always a main dialog or picture container.
The parent-child relationship is important for the use and display of dialogs and dialog items. The
child objects depend on their parents, so that if a parent object is deleted, all the child objects are
deleted as well. The hierarchy is also important when programming the dialogs, because the Visual
SCIL object references depend on the hierarchy.

When a main dialog or picture container is loaded, it starts a new dialog system. Hence, the main
dialogs and picture containers constitute the interface between different dialog systems. They can be
referred to as the ROOT object (see Section 5).
Objects created with .CREATE obey the same hierarchy rules as objects loaded with .LOAD.
4.4.3 Initial Main Dialog GUID-F730A8AB-DAE0-49F8-9121-73289DAAA876 v1
When a SYS600 monitor is started (a logical monitor of type VS is opened), the initial main dialog of
the application is loaded. All other dialogs and dialog items are descendants of this object. Therefore,
the initial dialog must be present the whole time the monitor is open, because closing it means that
all child objects are erased from screen. The SYS600 monitor is open until this object is deleted.
If not otherwise defined in the text file Apl_Def.txt in the APL directory, the application uses the Tool
Manager as initial main dialog. To use another dialog than the Tool Manager as initial main dialog,
edit the apl_def.txt file as follows:
1. Remove the comment signs before the block starting with:

Open Start dialog as first visible object.
2. Type the name of the file, where the object is stored and the name of the dialog.
4.5 Miscellaneous GUID-09D6D5AF-2F17-4BCF-985F-2B663F21D4AA v1
4.5.1 Coordinate System GUID-E6A1FF70-1E1A-4F75-919B-406028F593F2 v1
The coordinate system of the Visual SCIL objects (unlike the SCIL coordinate system, see SYS600
Programming Language SCIL), has its origin (0,0) at the bottom left corner of the screen or the
object, and the range is -32768 to +32768. See Figure 7. When handling dialogs, the origin of the
coordinate system lies at the bottom left corner of the screen. When handling dialog items, the origin
is in the lower left corner of the parent object (dialog, container or notebook page). One unit in the
coordinate system corresponds to one pixel.
The coordinates can be viewed in the Dialog Editor. Coordinates are also used, for example, when
giving a position with the _GEOMETRY attribute and when reading a position with the
_GET_POINTER_POS method. For more information about object position, see Section 7.
GUID-3861BFC9-EB96-481B-A9B8-0DF55E840DF6 V1 EN-US
Figure 7: The coordinate system of the SYS600 dialogs

Programming Dialog Systems
Section 5 Programming Dialog Systems GUID-755FEF24-4B41-4C9B-9ED2-49C670D1DDBC v1
5.1 About this Section GUID-08E8E303-4F91-4442-BBC3-A2941F93EA87 v1
This section describes how to program the dialogs and dialog items. It contains the following
sections:
Section 5.2 This section provides an overview of the method types

and their use.
Section 5.3 This section describes the attributes. Some important
attributes, common to most objects, are discussed here.
Section 5.4 This section describes how to reference objects, how to
reference and use attributes in SCIL, and how to use
method calls in SCIL.
Section 5.5 Here you are given guidelines for programming dialog
systems. Handling main dialogs, picture containers and
language dependent texts are discussed.
5.2 Methods GUID-6D31E133-0FA8-4C56-AC25-E79F0733A5D8 v1
5.2.1 Overview GUID-85AA1EC5-22BE-407E-BEC5-112D1612E232 v1
The dialogs are programmed using a number of SCIL programs, which are called methods. The
methods define the dynamic operation of the dialogs and dialog items. Each dialog and dialog item
has its own set of methods. There are methods executed cyclically, methods executed on a certain
user operation and methods executed on a certain event, etc. Some methods can be executed by a
method call in SCIL.
Methods, except for some predefined and pre-programmed methods, are SCIL programs. Methods
can contain all SCIL elements, except picture handling commands. Some predefined and
preprogrammed methods are not editable. For more information regarding the rules for SCIL
programs, see SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.
The methods are programmed in SCIL Program Editor, which is accessed from Dialog Editor.
Generally, it is not possible to read or write the contents of the methods from SCIL. Only action
methods can be read and written in SCIL via an attribute.
Each dialog and dialog item may have the following methods:
• A number of cyclic methods started repeatedly at a chosen time cycle.

• A number of event methods started automatically as a consequence of a chosen process event
or SCIL event (event object).
• A number of action methods started at certain user operations, for example clicking a button.
• A Create method executed when the object is loaded, an Init method started after the create
method and a delete method executed when the objects is deleted.
• An Error handling method started at a SCIL error in the object or its child objects.
• A Help method started when help is requested on the object.
• A number of predefined and preprogrammed methods which can be started with SCIL.
• A number of Arbitrary-user defined methods started with SCIL.
In the following descriptions, the methods are grouped according to the way they are activated.

5.2.2 Methods Activated Automatically GUID-FFE79C0C-B668-40BA-A29F-E80BDF44058D v1
5.2.2.1 Cyclic Methods GUID-B7C8F5FA-85EF-4F05-86B1-B7D2C08351CB v1
Each dialog and dialog item may have a number of methods executed cyclically at a user specified
interval (cycle time). The cycle time is defined in seconds. One object can have several cyclic
methods with different cycle times.
The cyclic methods are executed the first time the object is loaded, after a possible Create method
(see Section 5.2.4.1) and then cyclically until the object is deleted.
Do not use cyclic methods with short intervals, and do not start comprehensive programs
cyclically.
5.2.2.2 Event Methods GUID-F042A827-5F7F-4452-9C72-A89956B900DE v1
Each object can also have an arbitrary number of event methods started at the activation of given
Event Objects (see SYS600 Application Objects). The activating object is specified by entering the
event object notation ('name':E'index') in the method definition.
5.2.3 Methods Activated by Operator GUID-88ED3AA5-E7FE-4FF8-B2FD-D39D74ADC816 v1
5.2.3.1 Action Methods GUID-E7D5D9E3-9931-4DC5-99CB-77380419903D v1
These methods are activated by certain user actions, such as clicking a button, dragging a scroll bar,
entering data, etc. By programming the action methods in SCIL, the engineer defines how the objects
will behave on user actions. Action methods have predefined names and activating operator actions,
which are object type specific. Some object types have no action methods.
The names of action methods for the different object types and activating actions are listed and
described for each object type in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
The SCIL program of these types of methods can also be set and read from SCIL using a special
attribute, see Section 5.3. For example, the object VS_BUTTON has the method NOTIFY, which is
executed when the button is clicked. The object also has an attribute named _NOTIFY. The data type
of this attribute is text vector and setting this attribute means that the NOTIFY method gets its
contents from the SCIL program that was written to the attribute.
5.2.3.2 Help Method GUID-386A1A54-B7BD-464E-A882-65F22ECED2B0 v1
The help method is executed when help is requested on the object containing the method. Help can
be requested on a specific object in one of the following ways:
• By pressing the F1 key while the object has focus.

• From SCIL by calling the predefined method _GET_HELP of the object.
When help is requested, the first Help method that is found is executed. The Help method is first
searched for in the object itself, that is, the object that has focus or the object from which the
_GET_HELP method was called. If the method is not found, it is searched for in the parent object.
This search continues until the method is found or up to the ROOT object (main dialog or picture
container).
The method has one input parameter that is the name of the object from which help is requested.
The argument can be accessed using the SCIL function ARGUMENT. See SYS600 Programming
Language SCIL.

Argument OBJECT_NAME has the name of the object on which help is requested.
If help was requested by pressing F1, the object name is the name of the object in focus. If help was
requested by calling the _GET_HELP method, then the object name is the name of the object whose
_GET_HELP method was called.
5.2.4 Methods Activated by Events in the Object GUID-E52E98C0-E574-4D9E-9323-A88AE59E1A92 v1
5.2.4.1 Create Method GUID-D8D66E1D-4C4F-4F6F-A104-2F8A507ECBF8 v1
The Create method is executed during the creation of an object after the .LOAD command has been
issued. It is rarely needed, but can be used for initializing the attributes of the object.
When a dialog or dialog item is loaded, all its child objects are loaded as well. The create methods of
the child objects are executed before the parent object. See the example in Figure 8. However, if
there are several branches of dialogs and dialog items, the programmer cannot know which branch is
executed first. In Figure 8, for example, the programmer cannot know what create method will be
executed before: one of the CONTAINER and its child objects or one the of GROUP and its child
objects. This should be regarded when programming the methods.
An object cannot be referenced until it has been loaded. The child objects are loaded before the
parent object and the parent object can contain references to all its child objects. This means that the
child objects can be referenced in the Create method of the parent objects. However, object
references should generally be avoided in Create methods.
When the Create method of an object has been executed, the attribute assignments given in
the .LOAD command are executed. Therefore, if the create method of the object contains attribute
assignments, they may be overwritten by assignments in the .LOAD command.
If an error is encountered in a Create method, no object in the loaded structure is created.
GUID-AE239396-376D-46EF-8745-C0E1A13D67E2 V1 EN-US
Figure 8: A possible execution order of the create methods (the numbered order) when the
object DLG is loaded
5.2.4.2 Init Method GUID-4384BF5C-49A9-4887-9358-BB06876B254C v1
This method is started automatically after an object and all its parent objects have been created. The
execution order of the Init methods of the object in the structure below could be as indicated in figure.
That is, the Init method of the parent object is executed before the Init methods of the child objects.
Since all objects have been loaded before the Init methods are executed, all objects in the loaded
structure can be accessed from the Init method.
The Create method of all loaded objects has already been executed when the Init method is
executed.

GUID-81AA771C-3762-4D7F-A8A8-32876552825A V1 EN-US
Figure 9: Possible execution order of the init method
5.2.4.3 Delete Method GUID-EFAB121F-617B-4BD6-BD1F-EB0AF96F5E5F v1
This method is executed when the object is deleted. When several objects are deleted by deleting a
common parent, the Delete methods are executed in the same order as for the Init method.
Therefore, the delete method of the parent object (the object mentioned in the .DELETE command)
is executed before the Delete methods of the child objects. An object cannot be referenced after its
Delete method has been executed. Hence, the Delete method of the parent objects can reference
child objects, but the Delete methods of the child objects cannot contain references to the parent
object.
5.2.4.4 Error Handling Method GUID-27A80ED9-A4D2-498C-84DC-294290558FBB v1
When a SCIL error occurs in an object, and the error handling policy is either CONTINUE or STOP,
the error handling method is executed (see SYS600 Programming Language SCIL). If no such
method is found in the object, it is searched for in the parent object. This search continues upward in
the object hierarchy until an error handling method is found. The ROOT object is the last object that
is searched. If no error handling method is found, a standard error dialog is shown.
When the Error Handling method is executed, it is automatically given the following six arguments,
which can be used in the error handling program by the argument functions (see SYS600
Programming Language SCIL):
• STATUS SCIL status code (integer).

• METHOD The method where the error occurred.
• LINE SCIL line (text).
• POSITION Position on the line (integer).
• ERROR POLICY The error handling policy used when the error occurred, for example STOP or
CONTINUE.
• LINE NUMBER The number of the erroneous line within METHOD.
The error handler method always has the error handling mode IGNORE even if the error state is
explicitly set to something else.
5.2.5 Methods Activated by SCIL GUID-1A58C2A3-BD21-46E8-8D30-71B44D42602D v1
5.2.5.1 Overview GUID-EEFDED5B-C40D-4AD4-A527-1A5DE93F32C3 v1
Each dialog and dialog item may have an arbitrary number of user defined methods, which may be
freely named and programmed. These methods are executed from SCIL by a method call. In
addition, there may be a number of predefined methods. For more information on method calls, see
Section 5.4.4.

5.2.5.2 Predefined Methods GUID-FDC82221-91FD-4C33-9E50-21405BEBD74A v1
Predefined methods cannot always be deleted or edited. The predefined methods, their names,
purpose, activation, possible arguments and possible return values etc., are described in SYS600
Visual SCIL Objects.
The predefined methods have names starting with an underscore ( _ ).
5.2.5.3 Arbitrary User Defined Methods GUID-562D662C-3893-431E-9986-6E8A459F8AC8 v1
User defined methods may be private or public. Public methods are accessible by all objects within
the dialog system, while private methods are accessible only within the same object and its child
objects (its descendants).
In Dialog Editor, these methods can be found in the Public and Private pages of the object editors.
The user defined methods can be called with arguments. If arguments are given, they are accessed
within the program using SCIL function ARGUMENT. They can also be programmed to return a value
using the SCIL command #RETURN. See SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.
5.3 Attributes GUID-C08228BD-ED80-4822-AD5A-0122FB179F18 v1
5.3.1 Overview GUID-02D660F6-0554-49B9-82E7-EF8A09FA4D2C v1
Each Visual SCIL object can have a number of attributes, which specify the appearance and
behavior of the object. The basic features given in Dialog Editor serve as default values when a
dialog or dialog item is loaded. Most attributes are also accessible from SCIL and can be changed
dynamically.
Each object has a number of predefined, object type specific attributes. In addition, an object may be
given a number of user defined, object specific attributes.
5.3.2 Predefined and User Defined Attributes GUID-FB6DFEFF-BCF9-430E-9642-771B222981FC v1
5.3.2.1 Predefined Attributes GUID-4DFE0769-D152-4958-BAA5-72223E02B608 v1
The predefined attributes have fixed names and meanings. The attributes are object type specific
and cannot be deleted. When an object is created, its predefined attributes are given default values,
unless they are given other values in Dialog Editor or with the .CREATE or .LOAD command.
The predefined attributes of the different object types are detailed in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects. It
also describes the read/write access and the data type of the predefined attributes.
The predefined attributes have names beginning with an underscore ( _ ).
5.3.2.2 User Defined Attributes GUID-0E8196F4-EEA5-4260-8FFE-4AB86AD13E73 v1
Every Visual SCIL object can be equipped with a number of user defined attributes for arbitrary
purposes. These attributes are created by the SCIL commands .CREATE, .LOAD and .MODIFY. This
is done by listing the attributes and their values in the argument list.
Examples:
.create CANCEL = VS_BUTTON(MY_ATTR=“abc”)

or
.modify CANCEL = LIST(MY_ATTR="abc")
or
.load CANCEL = VS_BUTTON(‘file_name’,‘obj_name’,MY_ATTR="abc")
Attributes cannot be created with the .SET command.
The data type of a user defined attribute is dynamic, hence the data type is determined by the value
last assigned to the attribute. A new assignment may change the data type. The user defined
attributes always have full read and write access.
5.3.3 Some Important Attributes GUID-F2558FC5-C546-4EA0-9E6C-8E824198CF56 v1
5.3.3.1 Visibility Attribute GUID-EA7F5B44-A9A1-49C2-9144-CA284669A673 v1
The dialogs have an attribute that specifies whether it is shown or not. This attribute is named
_OPEN and it can be either TRUE or FALSE.
Setting this attribute to TRUE means that the dialog with all of its child objects is opened on screen.
Setting the attribute to FALSE means that the dialog with all of its contained objects is closed.
5.3.3.2 Enabled/Disabled GUID-BAAC521B-4A47-4A7D-9212-8B689203CF0A v1
By setting the _ENABLED attribute to FALSE, the function of the object and all its child objects is
disabled. This means that the action methods are disabled, but cyclic and event methods continue to
be executed.
5.3.3.3 Position and Size GUID-80D7D477-0394-4C88-8CF8-8F7A8E02D6D6 v1
The position attribute, _GEOMETRY, specifies the position and size of the dialog or dialog item
according to the coordinate system described in Section 4.
5.3.3.4 Attributes for Reading and Writing Action Methods GUID-BEBB90B4-5FBE-4574-A62A-4C242A133E33 v1
Objects with Action methods have special type of predefined attributes, which can be used to define
the contents of the action methods from SCIL. The object type VS_BUTTON, for example, has the
action method NOTIFY, which is executed when the button is clicked. It also has an attribute called
_NOTIFY, which is a text vector. The content of the _NOTIFY attribute is the program of the NOTIFY
method. By reading or writing to the _NOTIFY attribute, it is possible to read and write the NOTIFY
program using SCIL.
All Action methods can be accessed with attributes.
Generally, this way of defining methods is used when the object is created from SCIL. In the Dialog
Editor, the methods are written in the SCIL Program Editor. However, the _NOTIFY attribute can also
be used when there is a need to change the method during operation.
Example:
.set OK._NOTIFY = vector(".delete DLG");writing the method

@program = OK._NOTIFY; reading the contents of the method

5.4 Handling Visual SCIL Objects GUID-38A3742B-1EF7-47A7-9352-4FE02A9F1C1B v1
5.4.1 Overview GUID-3F135ED1-B59A-4CD1-8E37-A02B9DEB887A v1
This section describes how to handle the Visual SCIL objects, their attributes and methods in SCIL.
The Visual SCIL commands for Visual SCIL object handling are detailed in SYS600 Programming
Language SCIL.
5.4.2 Loading, Creating and Deleting Objects GUID-1CA9E9BF-B9BE-45AA-9F9E-A934D2EC253C v1
The following SCIL commands are used for loading, creating and deleting objects:
• .CREATE Creates an object.

• .LOAD Loads an object stored in a file. The name of the file and the name of the object within
the file are given as arguments.
• .DELETE Deletes an object and its child objects.
The commands are detailed in SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.
5.4.3 Referencing Objects in SCIL GUID-DF0347AD-682E-45C3-93BB-5118A0B78C45 v1
5.4.3.1 General GUID-D4EE1A46-9E32-4795-B675-A8A6D98730B3 v1
Object references are used when loading, creating and deleting objects, and when referencing
attributes and methods. In addition, some attributes can be assigned object references as values.
The hierarchy of the objects within a dialog system was described in Section 4. The hierarchy is
important when referencing objects.
5.4.3.2 Object Names GUID-22956243-1EF2-4DBB-A59F-471D51E1B530 v1
When a dialog or dialog item is loaded with the .LOAD command, it is assigned a Visual SCIL object
name used to refer to it in SCIL. Child objects loaded within a parent have the Visual SCIL object
names given in the Dialog Editor. Likewise, visual SCIL objects created with the .CREATE
commands are given an object name.
5.4.3.3 Object Paths GUID-E74CB831-0F76-4BFC-9839-AB4F536B3FCD v1
When referencing an object that is not directly one level below in the object hierarchy, a path is
needed. An object path is the route to the referenced object seen from the own object's point of view.
The objects passed on the route to the referenced object indicate the path. Each object name in the
path is separated by a backslash (\) in dialogs and a stroke (/) or a backslash in pictures.
A path of object names can generally only be given downwards. To give a path to an object above
the own object, the user must use one of the predefined path names ROOT or PARENT.
For example, the path from GROUP to the OK button in Figure 10 would be:
PUSH\OK

GUID-E7C50EB0-DA10-42B9-817C-8265587473A9 V1 EN-US
Figure 10: An example of a dialog object containing objects in two levels. The dialog
contains three buttons and two option buttons. The option buttons are placed in a
container with label Group.
If no path is given, the object is first searched for among the children of the present object. If there is
no object with the given name, it is searched for among the children of the first child of the present
object and then among the children of the second child.
For example, if the command
.set ROWS._TITLE = "Rows"
is encountered in the object GROUP in Figure 10, it entails a search for the ROWS object among the
child objects SELECT and PUSH. As no objects are found there, the search continues on the next
level where the object ROWS is found.
Wildcards can be used for any intermediate object level by using double separator signs.
Example:
.set DLG\\ROWS._TITLE = "Rows"
5.4.3.4 Predefined Object References GUID-818BF478-664C-435F-AB65-55A1F548E24C v1
An object path can begin with one of the following three predefined object references:
• THIS The object in question, that is, the object containing the reference. Although this reference
is generally not required, it is recommended because it gives a clearer program code and may
help the programmer to avoid errors.
• ROOT The highest object in the hierarchy, that is, the nearest upper main dialog or picture
container.
• PARENT The parent of the object where the reference occurs.
Example:
The OK button in Figure 10 could be referenced from SELECT by the following path:
PARENT\PUSH\OK
5.4.3.5 Remark to Predefined Object References GUID-BD983DD1-A5FD-4F22-93F3-4DE1045EA822 v2
When a window (or a VS object) PARENT or THIS is referred to within a picture container context,
the picture is first searched for a real window (or VS object) by name PARENT or THIS. It is used if
found. If not found, the special meaning is applied (THIS refers to the current window, PARENT
refers to the logical parent). This means that THIS and PARENT are not reserved words but can be
used for names of VS objects although it violates the naming convention of VS objects.
5.4.3.6 Object Access GUID-A2D184E7-2E39-4CA5-9D0A-930D67E52AF4 v1
Using object paths, objects can be accessed from all other objects within the same dialog system. In
addition, the main dialog objects and the picture container objects can be accessed from their parent

objects, and the main dialogs and picture containers can access their parent objects. See Section
5.5.
5.4.4 Handling Attributes in SCIL GUID-23F94DD9-66F1-4346-A553-FFA67957E230 v1
5.4.4.1 General GUID-B3D2225C-05FE-4FF2-B3DB-B4C4FF8B27FA v1
Using attribute references, the attribute values can be read and written from SCIL. Reading an
attribute means that it is used in SCIL expressions. Writing an attribute means that it is assigned a
value.
5.4.4.2 Attribute Names GUID-5E10B4CE-7EDA-4CAE-B32D-52C4AABB6274 v1
The predefined attributes have predefined names, which are listed for each object type in SYS600
Visual SCIL Objects. The user defined attributes can be given freely chosen names of up to 63
alphanumeric characters.
5.4.4.3 Attribute Reference GUID-E7B890E2-AC6B-4425-986D-50956C9CB79F v1
Attributes are referenced with the following notation:
[object].attribute
where [object] is an object reference and attribute is the name of the attribute.
Attributes belonging to the object in question are referenced by attribute name only or by the object
reference THIS.
Example:
THIS._TITLE
see the _TITLE attribute of the object in question.
5.4.4.4 Using Attributes in SCIL Expressions GUID-47AF0C88-AF71-41E3-8B8D-5D3E9545E168 v1
The attribute reference can be used in SCIL expressions where the value of the attribute replaces the
reference. The data type of the attribute determines how the attribute can be used in expressions.
5.4.4.5 Assigning Attributes Values GUID-7DCDAEC6-E665-4669-97F2-7286F620A657 v1
When an object is created, its predefined attributes are given default values which they have until
changed. Attributes can be assigned values as follows:
• With the create command (.CREATE or .LOAD).

• With .MODIFY in create and init methods.
• With .SET in other methods.
The attribute values given in the create command overwrite values given in Dialog Editor or the
default values. Values given in the Create and Init methods overwrite the values given in the create
command.
Examples:
When setting attributes with the .CREATE, .LOAD and .MODIFY commands, the order of the
attributes may be of importance as the following example shows:

.create DLG = VS_DIALOG(_GEOMETRY= LIST(X=100, Y=200, W=100, H=100),

_OPEN=TRUE)
.create DLG = VS_DIALOG(_OPEN = TRUE, _GEOMETRY= LIST(X=100, Y=200,
W=100, H=100))
The first line would result in a dialog appearing at X position 100 and Y position 200. The second line
would result in a dialog first being displayed at default position (0,0), then jumping to the X position
100, and at last jumping to the Y position 200.
.set dlg._background_color = "red"
The statement defines that the background color is red.
.set PARENT\OK._TITLE = "Yes"
Changing the title of the OK object.
5.4.4.6 Attribute Access GUID-1858F0AA-9C47-4752-A7DA-6B60BEA0CAF0 v1
The predefined attributes are read only, write only or read and write access allowed. They are
accessible by all objects within the same dialog system. In addition, the attributes of main dialogs
and picture containers are accessible by their parent objects. The user defined attributes have
always both read and write access.
5.4.4.7 Data Types GUID-2BBDEDE3-23C1-4E20-AA65-AF2EFCB94863 v1
The attributes can have any of the SCIL data types described in SYS600 Programming Language
SCIL. The data types of the predefined attributes are given in the attribute lists in SYS600 Visual
SCIL Objects.
The data types of the user defined attributes are not fixed but they get the data type of the value
assigned to them. When first created, they get the data type of the value given in the create
command. If the value is changed with .SET, the data type of the attribute may be changed as well.
The data types of the predefined attributes cannot be changed.
The data types given in the attribute descriptions in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects are the same as
the SCIL data types, see SYS600 Programming Language SCIL. In addition, among the data types
given in the lists, there are two data types that are not actually data types: Color and Font. Attributes
with these "data types" are assigned values according to the color and font definition rules described
in SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.
5.4.5 Handling Methods in SCIL GUID-EA2AFC02-792F-47F4-BD43-F83829B375A4 v1
5.4.5.1 General GUID-7EDEC90F-ABF2-47AA-BC36-06E3A4DA77CB v1
The arbitrary user defined methods and the predefined methods can be called from SCIL, which
means that the methods are executed. Depending on whether the methods are public or private (see
Section 5.2) they are accessible in the entire dialog system or only within the object.
A method call may be used as a SCIL statement or, provided that it returns a value, as an operand in
SCIL expressions.
5.4.5.2 Method Calls GUID-F46FD614-48D6-4AF9-96CC-61952623817D v1
Method calls have the following format:
[object].method [(argument_list)]

where:
• [object] is an object reference. Not needed when referencing methods in the same object or one
level below.
• method is the method name.
• (argument_list) are the arguments, which may be any SCIL expressions given as a list of SCIL
expressions separated by comma and enclosed in parentheses. Up to 32 arguments may be
given.
If the method returns a value, the method call can be used in expressions, and the returned value
replaces the method call.
Examples:
LIST.UPDATE: This method takes no arguments and returns nothing. It just updates a list for
example reading the list items from another location.
LIST.HIGHLIGHT(1): This method takes one argument that is the index of the item in the list. The
LIST object then highlights this item and no data is returned.
A method is always executed in the context of the object in which it is defined
5.4.5.3 Using Method Calls in SCIL Expressions GUID-6E294829-59C4-4E19-BDB2-3AFB1F21FD3D v1
A method (both predefined and user defined methods) that returns a value can be included as
operands in SCIL expressions. The use of the method call depends on the data type of the returned
data.
Examples:
@COLOR = BUTTON.PARENT_BG_COLOR
;The return value of the method is put in the variable COLOR.
@ITEMS = LIST.GET_ITEMS
;This method takes no arguments but it returns all items of the list to
the
;calling object as a vector. The vector is assigned to the variable ITEMS.
@ITEM = LIST.GET_ITEM(1)
;This method takes one argument, the index of the list item. The list
item ;found at this
;index is also returned to the caller.
.SET LABEL._TITLE = DATA_TYPE(BUTTON.PARENT_BG_COLOR)
;The data type of the background color definition of BUTTON's parent is
written ;to the
;title attribute of the object LABEL, for example to be displayed in
a ;dialog.
It is not possible to conclude from the syntax whether PARENT_BG_COLOR is an

attribute or a method.
Implementation of the method PARENT_BG_COLOR:
#RETURN (PARENT._BACKGROUND_COLOR)

5.5 Programming Hints and Notes GUID-1F252D13-4735-46D5-B905-5701E64C2CF1 v1
5.5.1 General GUID-BAFDD178-DDE0-468E-9CDE-76B76DB2DB48 v1
This section provides hints and notes for the programming of dialog systems:
• Notes related to main dialogs and picture containers.

• Accessing objects outside the dialog system.
• Using language dependent texts.
5.5.2 Main Dialogs and Picture Containers GUID-C7B03BA8-620E-40CD-A0F9-D11CF42154E3 v1
5.5.2.1 Initializing Main Dialogs GUID-31277A02-CA46-441C-B1CE-1A38E2D9FD38 v2
The main dialogs have some attributes by means of which the context of the object is initialized. The
attributes are:
• COPY_LOGICALS: Copies temporary logical path's and representation libraries. Temporary

logical path's and representation libraries are defined using the + sign (#path my_path +/sc/apl/
test/my_pict). The default value for this attribute is FALSE.
• DEFAULT_PATH: Defines the path definition that is used when no logical path is defined in the
main dialog context. This path is used when a file is referred to without path. The
DEFAULT_PATH attribute must be given with the .LOAD command.
5.5.2.2 Handling Picture Containers GUID-1951D4D0-8C30-41D8-AA40-8EF3D5C975BA v1
The picture containers have some attributes and methods for picture handling.
Attribute:
PICTURE_NAME Read only attribute that indicates the name of the picture currently shown in the
picture container.
Methods:
NEW_PIC (name) Shows the picture 'name' in the picture container. The name can be given as a
simple name, as path/name or as a full path name. The name is resolved in the caller's context.
LAST_PIC Works as !LAST_PIC.
INT_PIC Works like !INT_PIC.
SHOW_BACK (name) Shows the background of picture 'name' in the container.
The commands that change the picture (!NEW_PIC etc.) replace the contents of the picture container
when executed within it.
5.5.3 Accessing Objects Outside Dialog Systems GUID-1055CB70-2383-4BB3-AE96-15515EFC8C0C v1
5.5.3.1 General GUID-B6383508-D190-45A5-BDD4-EECD3F78C0B7 v1
As a rule, the objects cannot be accessed outside the dialog system. However, the main dialogs and
picture containers can access their parent objects, and thus can work as an interface against the
neighboring dialog system. This is illustrated with two examples.

5.5.3.2 Main Dialog Example GUID-0974C191-C07A-4DC9-B376-8A5812489028 v1
Consider the following object structure:
GUID-0BF9CFBD-2B95-4B42-A29E-1CE56F8630F0 V1 EN-US
Suppose that the START_TOOL button in figure above should load a TOOL object, which is a main
dialog. The START_TOOL object contains the following NOTIFY method (action method started by a
click of the button):
.load ROOT\TOOL = VS_MAIN_DIALOG('file','dialog')
In this case, the ROOT object seen from the START_TOOL object is NAVIGATOR. The TOOL object
is hence created as a child of NAVIGATOR.
Setting the font of Individual tools after the .create or .load function may not load the tools with proper
Font display, especially for bigger fonts. Font setting using _FONT is recommended during creation
or load of the tool.
Example for Object Selector:
.load Application_Object_Selector =
vs_main_dialog("sys_tool/ObjNavig.vso","SUBMAIN",-
Operation_Mode = "SELECTION",-
Operation_Application = ROOT.APPL_NR,-
Operation_Object_Types = vector("T"),-
Operation_Filter = "",-
Selection_Policy = "ONE_ONLY_SELECTION",-
_title = translate("@l_Object_Selector"),-
_font = ._font,-
_icon = "ROOT\Product_Icon_M")
The figure below shows the resulting object hierarchy.

GUID-A8442C6A-8F4C-40D1-AAF8-E150089F460E V1 EN-US
Figure 11: Object hierarchy

The objects in SCIL context 1 can now see the TOOL object, but not LABEL or EXIT. For instance,
programs in context 1 can refer to attributes and methods in TOOL, but not in LABEL. The objects in
context 2 cannot see any of the objects in context 1. The TOOL object can communicate with the
NAVIGATOR only using the path names PARENT or ROOT. Consequently, the communication
between the two contexts can only be accomplished indirectly using the PARENT and ROOT path
names and the methods and attributes of TOOL.
Suppose that TOOL has a public method named EXIT_TOOL. The implementation of this could be:
;first exit functions like saving data etc.

.SAVE_DATA
.set ._OPEN = FALSE
.delete THIS
The button EXIT could have the following NOTIFY method implementation:
ROOT.EXIT_TOOL
The STOP_TOOL button could have the following NOTIFY method implementation:
ROOT\TOOL.EXIT_TOOL
5.5.3.3 Picture Container Example GUID-86B87A5F-0A76-4ACC-9380-6D0D374AFE45 v1
Consider the following example:

GUID-04045620-4212-435C-B300-9F91652A1B90 V1 EN-US
Figure 12: Picture container

The objects in SCIL context 1 can now see the CONTAINER object but not the objects inside it. The
objects in context 2 cannot see any of the objects in context 1. The CONTAINER object can
communicate with the NAVIGATOR only using the reference PARENT. Consequently, the
communication between the two contexts can only be accomplished using the public methods and
attributes of CONTAINER and NAVIGATOR. CONTAINER is the ROOT object in context 2. The
windows and picture functions in the picture are child objects of CONTAINER.
5.5.4 Using Language Dependent Texts GUID-29383D4E-1212-44F0-BDDA-E7FA9952E241 v1
5.5.4.1 General GUID-AD0C04C3-E2DA-4C7B-A7CF-B0E42CBAF063 v1
The Dialog Editor provides tools for entering text identifications and translations to one or more
languages. Text identifiers can be used in the Dialog Editor (for the Title attribute) and in SCIL.
During operation, the text references are substituted with the corresponding texts of the selected
language, see Figure 13.
The text references and the corresponding texts for different languages are specified in object
specific text databases. The text reference is a SCIL identifier of maximum 63 characters. The
language text databases are stored together with the dialog and dialog items. The text references
can be typed using Dialog Editor or Language Editor.
The used language is defined by base system attributes and can be changed by a SCIL command
and by a SCIL function.

GUID-C94729A8-C40B-4905-9632-8B5D44B01E5F V1 EN-US
Figure 13: Language dependent text
5.5.4.2 Language Dependent Texts GUID-5BA7A07D-48B0-446D-96B0-5A58ECE53789 v1
Each Visual SCIL object can have its own set of language dependent texts. Due to the search
mechanisms, it is recommended to store the language dependent texts in the object that will be
loaded with SCIL.
When a text identifier is encountered, the reference is translated to the used language according to
translations given in the text database of the object. If either the text reference or the language is not
found in the object in question, it is searched in its parent object. If not found there, the search
continues upward in the hierarchy towards the object that was loaded. The search continues until the
text is found or the object that was loaded is searched through.
Example: If the structure below is loaded, a text reference encountered in the OK object is searched
from OK, CONTAINER and DLG, assuming that it is not found in OK or CONTAINER.
GUID-BCEBF2FD-6400-41F0-9DDE-CD36ECEE29BB V1 EN-US
Figure 14: Text reference search
5.5.4.3 Text Identifiers GUID-54B765E0-2B19-4FEF-934A-F46478EF79F7 v1
The text identifier is given as:
@name
where name is the name of the text reference.

In the Dialog Editor, the Title attribute can be given by a text identifier.
Text identifiers can also be used in SCIL using the TRANSLATE function, see SYS600 Programming
Language SCIL. It is also possible to select another language than the one specified in the base
system configuration.
If the user has regarded language versions when designing the dialog system, the TRANSLATE
function has to be used to set texts dynamically.
Example:
.SET THIS._TITLE = TRANSLATE("@TITLE")
The statement sets the title of the object to the text with the text reference @TITLE and the chosen
language.

40
Using Dialog Editor
Section 6 Using Dialog Editor GUID-EFD62013-9FF6-423A-9811-A6467BC2C974 v1
6.1 About this Section GUID-3656E94F-A4D7-4DFD-B195-139E59CA68EC v1
This section describes the principles on how to use the Dialog Editor.
Section 6.2 The first section of this section describes the general
principles of using the Dialog Editor. Opening and closing
the editor is described along with the menu structure and
an overview of the working procedure in Dialog Editor.
Section 6.3 The second section describes file handling procedures.
An explanation of how to add, open, save and close files
and of how to add and use templates is given.
Section 6.4 The third section describes object-handling procedures,
for example, adding, selecting and renaming objects.
Cut, copy, paste, duplicate, resize, align and delete
functions are also described.
6.2 General GUID-EDA959BB-5F3B-4596-A840-F4C172DD3702 v1
Dialog Editor is used to define VS (Visual SCIL) objects, such as dialogs, dialog items and images. In
Dialog Editor the user can either add a new dialog or edit one that already exists. The working
procedure, by which the user should add a new dialog and the Visual SCIL objects related to it, is
described in this section. However, objects can be edited in any order.
In Dialog Editor the user can create VS object definitions, which are stored in files. The object
definitions are loaded from the files into dialog systems. This is done using SCIL. Only one file at a
time can be open in the editor. The user can either create a new VSO (Visual SCIL Objects) file or
edit an existing one. There can be several dialogs and other VS objects in a file.
When a new dialog is defined, the process usually begins by adding the dialog itself, the
VS_DIALOG or VS_MAIN_DIALOG object. Then the other objects that are part of the dialog, the
dialog items, are added. In this manual, the VS object types are without the VS_ extension at the
beginning of the name. For example, VS_MAIN_DIALOG is called main dialog.
6.2.1 Entering and Closing Dialog Editor GUID-77CB24F7-E2C9-47CF-A592-B14FB9696FDC v1
To open the Dialog Editor, double-click the Dialog Editor icon in the User Interface Page in the Tool
Manager. The Dialog Editor Main Dialog appears. Continue by opening an existing file or creating a
new file.
To close the Dialog Editor, choose Exit from the File menu of the Dialog Editor Main Dialog, or click
the Close button in the upper right corner. To activate the Main Dialog, click the window titled Visual
SCIL Dialog Editor or close all other windows. All editors of the Dialog Editor are closed.
6.2.2 Menu bar and Toolbar GUID-12F2B8CE-291D-44BF-8285-FE5533EBC798 v1
The Dialog Editor is used with the help of menus like a Windows program. The menus are different in
different editors, and even within the same editor when different pages are activated. The options
that cannot be chosen at the moment are dimmed.
The menu bar and toolbar of the Dialog Editor Main Dialog are shown in Figure 15.
The menus in the menu bar are:

Using Dialog Editor
• The File menu, where the user can choose to open or close a file, add a new one or exit the
Dialog Editor.
• The Template menu, where the user can choose to create a new template or use one that
already exists.
• The Tools menu, where the user can choose functions related to testing, viewing the object tree
or compressing a file.
• The Options menu, where the File History Length function gives the user a possibility to adjust
the File menu history length between 0 and 20. Selecting 0 means that the file history is
disabled.
• The Help menu, where the user can choose to read the About Dialog Editor information of the
product.
The first button in the tool bar is the New button, works as New File/Empty File in the File menu.
The second button, the Open button, works as Open in the File menu. The third button, the Close
button, works as Close in the File menu. The fourth button, the Test button, works as Test Selected
Object in the Tools menu. The fifth button, the Stop Test button, works as Stop Test in the Tools
menu.
GUID-D4180137-EAE7-49C8-85E1-1F5C0D01F66F V1 EN-US
Figure 15: The menu and toolbars of the Dialog Editor Main Dialog
The Object List and object editors also contain menus. The menu bar of the Object List is shown in
Figure 16.
The menus are:
• The File menu, where the user can choose to save a file or exit the Object List.
• The Edit menu, where the user can choose functions relating to moving, copying or deleting.
• The Object menu, where the user can choose to edit, add, rename or change the object type.
GUID-8DA5A69F-6F38-41E4-ABE4-E68A009F8E04 V1 EN-US
Figure 16: The menu bar of the Object List

The menu bar from the Dialog Object Editor is shown in Figure 17 as an example of object editor
menu bar.
The menus in the Dialog Object Editor are:
• From the File menu the user can choose to close the dialog.
• From the Edit menu the user can choose functions relating to moving, copying, deleting,
selecting and defining colors or fonts.
• From the Dialog menu the user can choose functions relating to adding and editing dialog
items.
• From the menu the user can choose functions relating to graphic layers, aligning functions and
distributing.
• From the Connections menu the user can choose how an object is connected to other objects.
These functions help to change the size and shape of objects.
• From the Windows menu the user can choose to open a Connections Editor.
The menu bar differs according to the object being edited.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-20BED752-8A0C-4535-B54A-8E4EAE1F919C V1 EN-US
Figure 17: The menu bar of the Dialog Object Editor
6.2.3 The Working Procedure GUID-80F70513-1C1A-44B3-A2A9-E3FB2F6A208E v1
The process of adding and defining an object is different depending on the object type and where the
object should be created. An example of the workflow of adding and defining an object is shown in
Figure 18.
Defining a dialog contains the following steps:
1. Open the Dialog Editor. The Dialog Editor Main Dialog is the first dialog box opened.
2. Open a file. Either a new file can be created or one that already exists can be created. The user
can also create a template or use a template to create a file that is similar to previously created
ones. The Object List appears.
3. Add a dialog. Choose either VS_DIALOG or VS_MAIN_DIALOG.
4. Add dialog items. The dialog items can be added in the Object List or in the Dialog Object Editor.
5. Define the objects. This is done in the object editors. All object editors have several notebook
pages. To see each page, click its tab.
6. Save the file.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-38F43749-D1E4-4225-A439-F57B371A3884 V1 EN-US
Figure 18: An example workflow of adding and defining an object. For information when to
add the object in the Object List or in the object editor, see "Adding Objects" in
Section 6.4.6. If you want to add more objects inside the same object, it is not
necessary to close the object editor of that object.
6.2.4 Dialogs and Dialog Items GUID-EECCA837-A0A6-4F88-8442-20C76924D7AC v1
The Dialog Editor is mainly used for creating dialogs that contain dialog items. The other container
group objects can be added into a dialog. They can contain dialog items. The Dialog Items are
presented in Figure 19. The container group items in the picture are container, menu bar, notebook
and picture container. Also, dialog belongs to the container group.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-A9F3A88E-84D6-4D86-9923-022A62AFC0EE V1 EN-US
Figure 19: The Dialog Items
6.3 File Handling GUID-3359F14E-CC6D-4638-92B2-6E2E883FB7F3 v1
6.3.1 Creating a New File GUID-0D1587DC-AF54-48E8-8F98-E2D0372FD232 v1
When entering the Dialog Editor, there are no files open. The user can either create a new one or
edit one that already exists. Note that only one file can be edited at a time. If a file is already open, it
is closed before the new file is opened. To create a new file:
1. Choose New from the File menu of the Main Dialog.

2. Choose to open an empty file or a main dialog template file. The main dialog template file
contains a standard main dialog.
6.3.2 Main Dialog Template GUID-F610280F-55F1-41E2-8901-8A3426775A19 v1
A template for a main dialog is provided in the dialog editor which can be opened from File/New
From Template menu item, this template is developed as part of the TPL_MAIN.VSO. The template
contains a menu bar, a toolbar and some sample code, and it can be used as a base when a new
tool is created. Runtime behavior for main dialog template will be as shown in Figure 20.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-63ABA8D4-2ED5-4072-8860-6D676B6A83C7 V1 EN-US
Figure 20: The main dialog template

The template contains sample code e.g. for the following functions:
• File operations
1. Create a new file
2. Open the existing file
3. Updating/Saving of the existing file
• Text related operations, such as cut, copy and paste
Example for Copy of text:
#if length(txt_File_Contents._get_selected_text) > 0 #then-
.set ._clipboard_text = txt_File_Contents._get_selected_text
Example for Cut of text:

txt_File_Contents._set_selected_text(vector())
.set ._focus_item = "txt_File_Contents"
txt_File_Contents._scroll_selection_into_view
Example for paste of text:

#if ._clipboard_has_contents #then #block
#if not txt_File_Contents._set_selected_text(._clipboard_text)

#then -
.Show_Message(translate("@MSG_PASTE"),
translate("@MSG_PASTE_ERROR"), "CRITICAL")
#block_end
• File menu with file history list
This feature is mainly useful in maintaining the history of files opened in previous sessions and
can be achieved using the following code.
Example for Setting History:
@v_History = .v_File_History
#error ignore
.delete mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mnr_File_History
.delete mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_File_Exit

Using Dialog Editor
#error stop
#if length(%v_History) > 0 #then #block

#loop_with i = 1 .. length(%v_History)
#error ignore
@i_Status = status
.set mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_History'i'._title = "'i' "
+ %v_History('i')
#error stop
#if status <> 0 #then #block
.create mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_History'i' = vs_menu_item
.set mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_History'i'._title = "'i' "
+ %v_History('i')
.set mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_History'i'._mnemonic = "'i'"
.set mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_History'i'._notify =
vector(-
"ROOT.on_File_Open(substr(._title, 3, 0))", "")
#block_end
#loop_end
.create mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mnr_File_History =
vs_separator_menu_item
#block_end
.load mnb_Menubar\mnu_File\mni_File_Exit =
vs_menu_item(._source_file_name, "mni_File_Exit")
• Storing settings between tool sessions
This feature is useful in storing the setting between tool sessions, especially to store color/font
settings and toolbar visibility. The following piece of code can be used as reference to perform
this action.
Example for Storing Settings:
.load mdl_Font_Chooser = vs_main_dialog(-
.t_Font_Chooser_File, "MAIN",-
Notify_Method = "Notify_Font_Chooser",-
_leader_dialog = "ROOT",-
_modal = ROOT._modal,-
_icon = "ROOT\PRODUCT_ICON_M")
mdl_Font_Chooser.Set_Selection("MIX")
mdl_Font_Chooser.Set_Font("MIX", .l_Font)
mdl_Font_Chooser._place("ROOT", "PLACE_CENTER",
"PLACE_CENTER")
.set mdl_Font_Chooser._open = TRUE
.set .b_Font_Chooser_Created = TRUE
• Showing messages and questions.
This feature is useful in situations where a message is to be shown to users, or when a question
is to be asked. The following piece of code can be used as reference to perform these actions.
Example for showing message:
.create 'tObject' = vs_notice_dialog(-
_title = argument(1) + " - "
+ .product_description,-
_icon = "Product_Icon_M",-
_notice_icon = "ICON_'tMessage_Type'",-
_text = argument(2),-
_modal = true,-
_ok = (".set ._Open=false",".delete this"),-
_cancel = (".set ._Open=false",".delete this"),-
_close_notify = (".set ._Open=false",".delete this"))
'tObject'._place("ROOT","PLACE_CENTER","PLACE_CENTER")
.set 'tObject'._Open = true
Example for Showing Question message:

.create dlgQuestion = vs_notice_dialog(-
_is_caution_dialog = true,-

Using Dialog Editor
_icon = "Product_Icon_M",-
_title = argument(1) + " - "
+ .product_description,-
_text = argument(2),-
_has_cancel = true,-
_modal = true,-
_yes =
("parent._queue_for_execution(%xYesCallback)",".set ._Open=false",".del
ete this"),-
_no =
("parent._queue_for_execution(%xNoCallback)",".set ._Open=false",".dele
te this"),-
_close_notify =
("parent._queue_for_execution(%xCancelCallback)",".set ._Open=false",".
delete this"))
dlgQuestion._place("ROOT","PLACE_CENTER","PLACE_CENTER")
.set dlgQuestion._Open = true
• Toolbar with standard icons, which can be visible or hidden.
In view menu, ticking the Toolbar option will enable the toolbar, and not ticking the same will
disable the toolbar.
Example for Enabling/Disabling of Toolbar:
#if not .b_Toolbar_Visible #then #block
.load nbk_Toolbar\nbp_Toolbar =
vs_notebook_page(._source_file_name, "NBP_TOOLBAR")
.Set nbp_Toolbar._Enabled = true
.Set nbp_Toolbar._Visible = true
nbp_Toolbar._Select
.Set .b_Toolbar_Visible = TRUE
.Set mne_View_Toolbar._On = TRUE
.Set_Command_Sensitivity
#block_end
#else #block
#Error ignore
.delete nbp_Toolbar
#Error stop
.set ROOT.b_Toolbar_Visible = FALSE
.Set mne_View_Toolbar._On = FALSE
• Use of the standard color/font chooser.
Example for Color chooser:
.load mdl_Color_Chooser = vs_main_dialog(-
.t_Color_Chooser_File, "MAIN",-
Notify_Method = "Notify_Color_Chooser",-
Example for Font chooser:

.load mdl_Font_Chooser = vs_main_dialog(-
.t_Font_Chooser_File, "MAIN",-
Notify_Method = "Notify_Font_Chooser",-
• Toolbar with different size of icons.
This feature is mainly used to set icon size the same as with monitor pro icon size. These icons
will be available in three sizes: small, medium and large.
The locations of these icons are as below:
1. Small = sc\Stool\Misc\Images16.vso
2. Medium = sc\Stool\Misc\Images24.vso
3. Large = sc\Stool\Misc\Images32.vso

Using Dialog Editor
6.3.3 Opening an Existing File GUID-1325D242-2DE3-4938-9FE4-1D38D805CE5E v2
There are two ways to open a file for editing. Firstly, it can be opened from the list of recently used
files in the File menu. The length of the list can be changed in the File History dialog, which is
opened from the Options menu. If the file name is not on the list, use the Open dialog box to open
the file in the following way:
1. Choose Open from the File menu of the Main Dialog. In the File Chooser dialog box, files are
chosen based on their name and location in the filesystem. Paths can be selected in four
different modes that are listed below.
2. Find and click the name of the file to be opened and click Open.
If a read only VSO file is opened, the warning dialog box in Figure 21 is shown.
GUID-EA46CF8D-61C0-4948-96B3-DC1E06FA9DBF V1 EN-US
Figure 21: The dialog box warning about opening a read-only VSO file
In the File Chooser, paths can be selected in four different modes:
• Application Relative Paths

Path representation in SYS600 path format relative to the current SYS600 application home
directory. The application home directory itself cannot be referenced.
• SYS600 Relative Paths
Path representation in SYS600 path format relative to the SYS600 root directory. The SYS600
root directory itself cannot be referenced.
• Logical Paths
Path representation in SYS600 logical path format.
• Operating System Paths
Path representation in the format used by the operating system.
The size of a file and the time of the last save operation are given in the File Chooser.
6.3.4 Breaking File Lock GUID-66C5E884-D6A6-4027-9084-9CEB0AF4D31A v2
The file the user wants to open might be locked. The reason for this might be that another person is
editing the file or that the Dialog Editor has been exited abnormally. The dialog box shown in Figure
22 informs about the file lock and gives the options Yes or No for breaking the lock. The reason for
file lock should be checked before breaking it.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-A9924B96-834F-4787-9652-17CEB7889D53 V1 EN-US
Figure 22: The dialog box that informs about a file been locked
If Yes is clicked, the file lock is broken, and the requested VSO file is opened. If No is clicked, the
Open function is cancelled.
The file lock should not be broken if it is not absolutely necessary.
6.3.5 Saving a File GUID-E1FC8FE5-57BE-4FF5-BB3F-64E6F77EE98F v1
To save a file that has not been saved before:
1. Choose Save As from the File menu of the Object List. The Save dialog box appears.
2. Enter the filename for the file by clicking the text box and then type the name there. It is
recommended to use maximum 10 characters in the name. The extension is added to the name
automatically. Letters A-Z, numbers 0-9 and the underscore (_) can be used in filenames. Begin
the name with a letter. The file is saved in the \pict directory, unless the location is changed by
the user.
3. Click Save.
To save a file that has already been saved, choose Save from the File menu of the Object List or
press CTRL+S. To save a file with another name, use the Save As function.
If a VSO file is a read only file, saving it is not possible, and the Save and Save As... commands in
the File menu of the Visual SCIL Object List are disabled.
6.3.6 Compressing a File GUID-D6B97EB3-50A8-478B-88E4-906462CB9C65 v1
When objects are added and edited in a file, the file size is increased, but if objects are deleted, the
file size is not automatically decreased. Hence, the size of a VSO file can be gratuitously large unless
space is released.
Compressing File releases space and reduces the size of the VSO file. To compress file, choose
Compress File from the Tools menu in the Main Dialog.
6.3.7 Closing a File GUID-F9FF39E6-81F0-42A0-ADE2-A3C50454B50B v1
To close a file, choose Close from the File menu of the Object List. If the changes that have been
made to the file have not been saved, the user is prompted to do it now. If the file is a read only file
and changes have been made, the Object List closes without giving the possibility to save the
changes.

Using Dialog Editor
6.3.8 Using a Template GUID-E9EC8CB3-6DF7-4D8F-A505-82782E552554 v1
If similar objects are used in several files, it might be useful to create a template and use it when
creating new files. A template is a file saved as a template. A template file cannot be edited, but
objects can be copied in it and they can be inserted into another file. This way, the same definitions
do not need to be made in all new files. To open a user defined template:
1. Choose User from the Template menu. Unless there are previously saved templates in the
system, the User option is grayed out. Therefore, a template has to be created first.
2. On the appearing submenu, choose the template to be used. If the desired template is not on
the menu, it has to be created first.
3. Open another file.
4. Select a dialog, main dialog, container or notebook and open its editor.
5. Select the dialog item in the picture of its parent object.
6. Copy objects from the template to the file.
6.3.8.1 Adding a Template GUID-2AD80947-8DD9-4DBA-9D45-1F61EC41610E v1
To add a user template:
1. Choose Define User Templates from the Template menu. The dialog box shown in Figure 23
appears.
2. Click Add and the name of a new template appears in the list.
GUID-0E30B1B7-7C93-4F5C-AFA0-954FA9198E93 V1 EN-US
Figure 23: You can define the User Templates using this dialog box
3. In the File text box, type the name and path of the file to be used as a template or use the
browse facility. Clicking Browse... opens the File Chooser dialog box for selecting the name and
path of the template file. The description can also be changed. By changing and updating the
descriptions the user can change the name shown when a User is chosen from the Template
menu.
4. Click Update. If the description has been changed, the changes are made to the list at the top of
the window.
5. Click OK.
In the File Chooser, the path for the file used as a template can be selected in four different modes.
The modes are described in Section 6.3.3.

Using Dialog Editor
6.4 Object Handling GUID-B9934131-E823-4C07-A775-8A3B98F98055 v1
6.4.1 General GUID-96DB59FA-57A4-4137-9993-E73FB2CC3C4B v1
This section describes the basic rules on how to add, rename and select objects. Because the
procedures are very similar in the Object List and in the object editors, they are described in the
same section. All objects can be edited. This section also discusses the editing facilities, for example,
cut, copy, paste, duplicate, resize, align and delete functions, as well as the View Object Tree
function.
There are three kinds of objects: dialogs, images and dialog items. Images and dialogs are always
added in the Object List. The dialog items, can be added either in the Object List or in the Dialog
Object Editor. Normally, a dialog item is added in the object editor of a dialog (regular dialog or main
dialog). The objects that are placed in the Object List are stored in the Visual SCIL Object definition
(VSO) file and identified by their name. Hence, it is useful to add the dialog item in the Object List if
the same item is to be loaded into several dialog systems.
Editing objects begins by selecting the object. All dialog items can be moved, copied, resized, and
deleted. Choose basic editing functions from the Edit menus. There are also several other editing
functions that can be chosen from other menus.
6.4.2 Testing an Object GUID-24083E91-AE72-4822-AE92-437732704F0F v1
Objects can be tested while they are edited. This way, the effect of definitions can be seen without
closing the Dialog Editor. While testing a dialog the user can see how various features work. The
resize feature, buttons and scroll bars can be tested, and text can be typed inside editable text fields.
The feature is mainly used to test the user interface. To test an object:
1. Save the changes that have been made.

2. Select the object to be tested.
3. Activate the Dialog Editor Main Dialog.
4. Choose Test Selected Object from the Tools menu. A test copy of the object appears. The
objects are activated for testing.
5. Test the object.
6. When the testing of the object is finished, choose Stop Test from the Tools menu.
6.4.3 Testing with Test Dialog GUID-D63149C3-44E3-4A72-BAFA-046EFAD1BB26 v1
The Test Dialog can also be used for testing. The Test Dialog is opened by choosing Test Dialog
from the Tools menu of the Dialog Editor Main Dialog. By choosing Test Dialogs, the functionality of
the object can be tested. For example, the user can find out variable values and object properties. It
can also be used for error debugging. The Test Dialog works the same way as when it is opened
from the Tool Manager.
6.4.4 Undo and Redo GUID-D5650A6A-7A49-4FB6-A959-34044D6026CC v1
The Undo command cancels the most recent editing actions. Use it repeatedly to undo a series of
actions. The Undo command identifies the most recent action that can be undone. The Redo
command restores the most recent editing action canceled by the Undo command. Use it repeatedly
to redo a series of actions. To undo or redo an action, choose the Undo or Redo command from the
Edit menu.

Using Dialog Editor
6.4.5 Viewing Object Tree GUID-03CBAE42-7C78-4F14-B307-57471B8DAE05 v1
Selecting View Object Tree opens a dialog, which contains a tree for all the objects and methods of
the VSO file, and a read only text field for viewing the methods. The object rows contain images for
the object type as well as the name and the type of the object. The methods are categorized into
three categories by the color of the image:
• White: Public method

• Yellow: Private method, including cyclic methods and events
• Green: Predefined method, for example CREATE, INIT
Both the objects and the methods are sorted alphabetically, ignoring the text case. The object tree
shows the objects as they were at the last saving of the VSO file. While performing a replace
operation for an object in the Object Tree dialog box, that particular object should not be open at the
same time in the object window shown in Figure 24. This is because the object in the object window
is always updated when the window is closed, even if no changes were made, so any replacements
made in the Object tree dialog box would be overwritten.
GUID-447E950D-194A-4BE6-9692-A5FF542E37C2 V1 EN-US
Figure 24: An Example of an object window

The Find/Replace functions work on the methods in the following way:
• The initial Find operation searches from all the methods of all the objects.
• The search direction is always from top to bottom.
• After successful Find operation the object tree is put into a filtered state, when only the objects
and methods which contain the searched string are shown.
• If a row is selected from the object tree, while the filter is activated, then the next Find operation
starts from that row.
• If a node is collapsed from the object tree, while the filter is activated, then the next Find
operation applies only to the expanded nodes of the object tree.
• The Find/Replace operation is always started from the current cursor position, so moving the
cursor either forwards or backwards inside a method is possible. If any text is selected, then the
next scope starts at the second character of the selected text.
• When the Find/Replace dialog is closed, the object tree is reset and all the objects and methods
are shown again.

Using Dialog Editor
6.4.6 Object list GUID-59FF2B5A-049D-4880-8B6E-DACB69A56972 v1
6.4.6.1 Adding Objects GUID-983675AA-005A-4A60-A2A7-9D6CFD55DD67 v1
To add an object in the Object List:
1. Choose New from the Object menu. The list shown in Figure 25 appears.
2. Choose the type of the object you want to create.
3. The new object is shown in the Object List with a given name. The object has default attributes.
GUID-AD446D5F-4E7B-4665-91CB-9BA0CFAD541A V1 EN-US
Figure 25: From the list choose the object type you want to add
6.4.6.2 Editing Objects GUID-0C36C3FD-59A2-49A9-98DE-FC270C5B4BE9 v1
Objects are edited in their object editor. To open the object editor of the object on the list, double-click
its name or select it and choose Edit from the Object menu. The Object Editor appears. To select an
object that is listed on the Object List, click it. Editing is also possible for read only files, but the
changes cannot be saved.
6.4.6.3 Renaming Objects GUID-70DD30D4-D19F-4779-9A61-26331F755D47 v1
Objects that are listed in the Object List can be renamed. The names listed in it are the names used
to identify the object within the file. They are also used in the SCIL command .LOAD when loading an
object into a dialog system. To rename an object:
1. Select the object you want to rename.

2. Choose Rename from the Object menu. The dialog box shown in Figure 26 appears with the old
name in it.
3. In the text box replace the old name with the new name. Click OK.
4. The new name of the object appears in the Object List.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-82A183ED-C433-4676-B801-5ED47EB4D35A V1 EN-US
Figure 26: In this dialog box you type the new name for the object
6.4.6.4 Copying Objects GUID-18A6ADBA-76FA-496B-9100-6260F058CF5C v1
To copy an object within the Object List:
1. Select the desired object.

2. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu. The new object appears.
Or:

2. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
3. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. The new object appears.
The objects, which have been copied in the current object list, can be also pasted in a different Visual
SCIL dialog editor instance running simultaneously with the first one or started later during the same
monitor session.
6.4.6.5 Deleting Objects GUID-46A8CBC6-B9B3-43FE-B257-FEC7A6E087EF v1
The objects listed in the Object List are deleted in it. To delete an object:

2. Choose Clear from the Edit menu and the object disappears.
This can also be done by first selecting the desired object and then pressing DELETE or CTRL+X.
6.4.7 Object Editors GUID-8DD64B4D-E187-4314-8E0B-F3C065FDAD4B v1
The editing procedure is similar regardless of whether the editor is opened from the Object List or
from other object editors.
6.4.7.1 Adding Dialog Items GUID-CEFD705D-C193-4D64-8188-86936DC0BB2E v1
Dialog items can be added either in an object editor or in the Object List. Normally, they are added in
an object editor because they are part of other objects. For more information on how to add them in
the Object List, see Section 6.4.6.
To add a dialog item:
1. Open the Dialog or Main Dialog Object Editor into which objects should be added.
2. Choose New Item from the Dialog menu. The list shown in Figure 27 appears.
3. Click the dialog item type to be added.
4. The dialog item appears with handles and is now ready to be moved to its correct place.

Using Dialog Editor
GUID-196077F4-B6CB-4F63-88A9-47CF35F39036 V1 EN-US
Figure 27: From the list shown above you can choose the type of dialog item you want to
add.
6.4.7.2 Selecting Dialog Items GUID-958B5CEE-5145-4D36-A549-5AD5CEC81592 v1
To select a dialog item in an object editor, click it. Handles appear on its border when the selection is
successful.
Several objects are selected by holding the SHIFT key down while clicking on the objects to be
selected. To select all dialog items, choose Select All from the Edit menu. This can also be done by
pressing CTRL+A.
An item or several items can also be selected by selecting an area. To select an area, press the
mouse button down in the corner of the area where the items to be selected are located. Hold the
mouse button down while dragging the cursor to the opposite corner of the area. The items inside the
area are selected.
6.4.7.3 Resizing Objects GUID-27A8ECE5-A657-454B-A237-594B43952E52 v1
To resize a dialog item:
1. Select the object.

2. Press the mouse button down on a handle and hold it down while dragging the cursor to the new
position of the handle. The size of the dialog item is changed according to the new handle
location.
To resize a dialog:
1. Activate the Dialog page of the Dialog Object Editor.

2. Hold the mouse button down on a border of the dialog while dragging the cursor to the new
position of the border. The size of the dialog is changed.

Using Dialog Editor
6.4.7.4 Moving Dialog Items GUID-FDA94FD3-C15E-4BAA-9E1E-C659061C0A57 v1
To move a dialog item inside the parent object:
1. Select the dialog item.

2. Press the mouse button down in the middle of the item and hold it down while dragging the
cursor to the new position.
The selected item can also be moved by using the arrow keys on the keyboard.
Dialog items can be moved from one object to another one. They can be placed into a dialog, main
dialog, container or notebook. To move a dialog item from one object to another one:
1. Open the object editor for the parent object where the dialog item is currently placed.
2. Select the item.
3. Choose Cut from the Edit menu.
4. Open the editor for object where the dialog item should be added.
5. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. The item, which was moved from another object, appears.
6. Use the mouse cursor to move the item to the correct place.
6.4.7.5 Aligning Dialog Items GUID-88C19582-9865-4520-AC76-A3B1535CFC8B v1
Several objects can be aligned according to their top, bottom, centre, left or right side. Alignment
facilities place the dialog items so that one point of each object is on the same line.
• Top alignment arranges all the selected objects according to the uppermost selected object and
its uppermost point.
• Bottom alignment places the objects according to the lowest selected object, and its lowest
point.
• Center alignment is done either horizontally or vertically.
• Vertical centering moves the objects to the line that is located in the middle of the center points
of the uppermost and lowest objects.
• Horizontal centers move the objects to the line that is located in the middle of the center points
of the objects that are first in the left and last in the right side of the area.
• Left alignment places the objects according to a selected object that begins first in the left side
of the area.
• Right alignment places the objects according the object that is selected and reaches the farthest
point in the right side of the area.
• Distribute Horizontally places the dialog items evenly between the right and left items. Item
positions do not change vertically.
• Distribute Vertically places the dialog items evenly between the top and bottom items. Item
positions do not change horizontally.
To align:
1. Select the dialog items that should be aligned.

2. Choose the Align function from the menu of the object editor.
After the items have been aligned, their relative positions can be defined using connections.
6.4.7.6 Copying Dialog Items GUID-F93082E5-1A73-434E-BFEF-C41D8783CADE v1
To copy a dialog item in the object editor:
1. Select the Dialog Item to be copied.

2. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu. The new dialog item appears.
3. Move the item to its correct position.
Or:

Using Dialog Editor
1. Select the Dialog Item to be copied.

2. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
3. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. The new dialog item appears.
4. Move the item to its correct place. This is done by holding the left mouse button down while
dragging the cursor to its new position.
The items that have been copied in the current item editor of the parent object can be pasted in the
same or different object. The Paste operation can be fulfilled also in a different Visual SCIL dialog
editor instance running simultaneously with the first one or started later during the same monitor
session.
6.4.7.7 Changing the Dialog Item Layers GUID-7C0AD3B8-5EEB-427F-9BE2-554C04EBBB8B v1
Dialog Items can be placed on top of each other, so that they are in different layers. Usually, dialog
items should not overlap. The layering of dialog items specifies the tabbing order of the items when
the TAB key is used to move from an item to another one. The layering/tabbing order can be viewed
in the Order Items page in the Dialog, Container and Notebook Object Editors. For more information
on the Order Items page, see Section 8.
The dialog item layers can be changed by using the Bring To Front, Bring Forward, Send To Back
and Send Backward commands. The Bring To Front and Bring Forward commands move a dialog
item forward in the dialog item layers. Choose Bring Forward to move a selected dialog item one
layer closer to the front. Bring To Front moves the items to the front.
The Send To Back and Send Backward commands move a dialog item backward in the dialog item
layers. Send Backward moves a selected dialog item one layer closer to the bottom. Send To Back
moves the item to the back.
To change the dialog item layers:

2. Choose one of the commands mentioned above from the menu.
6.4.7.8 Deleting Objects GUID-9D463D00-45F0-46D6-90E8-2F0DD5BCB8D6 v1
To delete an object in an object editor:
1. Select the object to be deleted.

2. Choose Clear from the Edit menu and the object disappears.
Objects can also be deleted by first selecting the objects and then pressing DELETE or CTRL+X.
6.4.7.9 Replacing Objects GUID-D9661106-6929-4912-86FC-2BAA1CE02E99 v1
A dialog item can be replaced with another one by using the Replace function.
To replace a dialog item:
1. Select the dialog item to be replaced.

2. Choose Replace from the Edit menu. The list of dialog items appears.
3. Choose the dialog item type the first item should be replaced with. The dialog item appears in
the dialog, in the same place as the previous item.

Defining Objects
Section 7 Defining Objects GUID-1A54A778-C3E5-420F-9B9D-9235DBE256EB v1
7.1 About this Section GUID-6C65C160-952F-45B2-8C1B-C0B0C1004F2D v1
This section describes the general principles of how to define VS objects.
Section 7.2 The first section describes the most common object
definitions. These are the definitions that are given to
almost all objects, for example, name and title, position,
color and font.
Section 7.3 The second section describes the procedure for working
with methods and SCIL Program Editor.
Section 7.4 The third section describes the procedure for working
with language dependent texts.
Section 7.5 The fourth section describes geometry management.
The relative location of objects is decided using
connections. An explanation is given on how to define
them.
7.2 Common Object Definitions GUID-3D88A846-FE82-430D-AE0B-AB85CB862B80 v1
The most common definitions are shown in Figure 28.
GUID-11E0EF60-D4CE-40A9-B944-0CBC99D96148 V1 EN-US
Figure 28: Some definitions are common for almost every object
7.2.1 Name GUID-6699FDF8-431B-4564-8020-DA173BD213CE v1
The Name is the object name of the dialog or dialog item, the descriptive name. It can contain 63
characters. In the Name text box, type the name to identify the object.

Defining Objects
it is highly recommended to name every object, because unnamed objects cannot be accessed from
SCIL or contain any methods. For objects listed in the Object List, the name given here has no
meaning, because the name in the Object List will always be used.
It is useful to name objects with some predefined logic, otherwise it can be difficult to remember all
the names when creating a large tool. Also, if objects added by the user are to be used by others, the
logic of naming the objects should be explained somewhere. Note that it is not allowed to use the
same name for two objects that have the same parent object. For more information on recommended
logic for naming objects, see Section 5.
7.2.2 Title GUID-7F0234EF-A7BE-46C9-A569-9107DDBBB0B7 v1
The title is the text on an object, for example a button can have the text OK, or the title can be written
at the top of a dialog. In order to be able to use the dialog with different languages, the language
dependent text facility can be used. To enable translations, define the title as a text ID instead of a
text. The text ID is the identification of the language dependent text (the text written after the
character @). Translating language dependent texts is described in Section 7.4.
Example:
text ID in title @Yes
English: OK
Swedish: Ja
Finnish: Kyllä
German: Ja
7.2.3 Mnemonic GUID-890B0CCF-0616-4251-96FD-79B2D2D26200 v1
Use the Mnemonic field to specify a mnemonic key for a dialog item. A mnemonic key allows the
user to choose the dialog item by pressing a specified key in combination with the mnemonic key
modifier on the keyboard (usually the ALT key). Only one character can be specified as the
mnemonic key. If the character is in the title, it will be shown underlined on screen. If text ID is used,
the mnemonic key for text in every language is given in the translation table.
7.2.4 The Position and Size of Objects GUID-4984B08B-AFC1-4C36-B2CC-0EA916E3B35E v1
The object's X and Y coordinates and the connections determine its position. For a dialog, these
coordinates specify the distance from the lower left corner of the screen to the lower left corner of the
dialog. For dialog items, the coordinates specify the distance from the lower left corner of the parent
object to the lower left corner of the dialog item.
The size of the object is specified by width (W) and height (H) attributes. The default values can be
freely edited. To edit them, click the text box and change the value. These values are also changed
with the Resize and Move functions.
7.2.5 Color Setting GUID-AE175D9D-2CBA-4198-AD36-6FDE1BCF55F5 v1
The foreground and background colors can be selected for all the objects. To select them:
1. Select the Foreground or Background option.

2. Click Set Color. The Color Chooser shown in Figure 29 appears.

Defining Objects
GUID-D1D41EE6-87CF-4E55-A8AB-8C6239349215 V1 EN-US
Figure 29: The colors can be changed in this tool

3. Choose the used Color Method from the Color Method drop-down list box at the top of the
Color Chooser. HLS stands for a method where the user can choose and adjust the hue, light
and saturation of a color using sliders. RGB stands for a method where the user can choose and
adjust the shades of red, green and blue using sliders. CMY stands for a method where the user
can choose and adjust shades of cyan, magenta and yellow. Gray stands for a method where
shades of gray are chosen.
4. Make sure the Color Wheel/Color Plane option is selected from the View menu.
5. Click the color that should be used in the color view in the upper right corner of the Color
Chooser. Then, adjust it using the sliders. The color box in the upper left corner of the Color
Chooser displays the color selections. The top half of the color box displays the previous
selection and the bottom half the current selection. The current selection can be changed to the
previous selection by clicking the top half of the Color Box.
6. Click OK to apply the color and close the Color Chooser or Apply to apply the color and let the
Color Chooser stay open.
From the View menu the user can also choose to view Named Colors and Color Tolerances. Named
Colors displays a list of predefined colors. Select colors for the application directly from the list. The
Color Tolerances displays a set of tools used to define the appearance of colors on screen. Define
the appearance of colors by specifying a method for dithering.
Use the saved color bar to save frequently used colors. To save a color:
1. Choose a color.
2. Hold the CTRL key down while clicking a box in the bar. The color is added to the chosen box.
7.2.6 Font Setting GUID-FD05FCA9-C5FC-4A56-8D0A-5763BCE92C98 v1
The font type can be selected for all objects:
1. Select the Font option.

2. Click Set Font. The Font Chooser shown in Figure 30 appears.

Defining Objects
GUID-282D041E-C2BA-41F1-A81A-2887980D43AC V1 EN-US
Figure 30: In the Font Chooser you can choose the font type you want to use
3. Select the desired font family in the Family list on the left. The font types included in it are listed
in the Face list.
4. Click a Face option and then select or type in the size of the font in the Size box. A sample of
the font is shown in the upper part of the Font Chooser.
5. Click OK.
7.2.7 Cursor GUID-823D0D61-93BC-4B7D-B8B6-8EE6B822EDCF v2
The cursor is the appearance of the cursor (mouse pointer) when the cursor is placed on an object.
To define the appearance of the cursor:
1. Select the Cursor option in an object editor.

2. Click Set Cursor. The Image Editor appears.
3. Specify the appearance of the cursor. Working with the Image Editor is explained in detail in
Section 10.
7.2.8 Icon GUID-D889B548-A746-48E6-9FAB-06DD08F7B730 v2
An icon is shown in the icon bar when a dialog is minimized. Hence an icon is an image that can be
defined for dialogs. The icon of a dialog is shown only on a local VS monitor. To define an icon:
1. Select the Cursor or Icon option in an object editor.

2. Click Set Cursor or Set Icon. The Image Editor appears.
3. Define the appearance. Working with the Image Editor is explained in detail in Section 10.
7.2.9 Image GUID-F2DDDE5F-D590-4114-8199-7782B13D521F v2
Boxes, buttons and containers may contain an image. If a button contains an image, it is shown on
the button. If a box or a container contains an image, the image is adjusted to fill the whole object.
To define the appearance of the image:
1. Add the image object in the Object List. Double-click it to edit.

2. Define the appearance. Working with the Image Editor is explained in detail in Section 10.

Defining Objects
An image created this way must be loaded at runtime.
Example:
.load root\myimage=vs_image("file.vso", "image")

.set root\btn._image="root\myimage"
Another way to assign a static image to an object is to check the Image check box in the first page of
the object editor and define the image there.
7.2.10 Other Attributes GUID-C2912069-4352-48DD-96BF-8D97657AE22C v2
The following attributes are described in more details in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects where all
attributes are listed. Hence, the following list only contains the references to it. See the attribute in
the description of the object that is being defined. If the attribute is not described in it, it does not
have effect on the object.
• Enabled. The option is selected by default. For more information see the attribute _ENABLED in
SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Visible. The option is selected by default. For more information see the attribute _VISIBLE in
SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Border. The option is selected by default. For more information, see the attribute
_HAS_BORDER in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Click Focusable For more information, see the attribute _CLICK_FOCUSABLE in SYS600
Visual SCIL Objects.
• Focusable. For more information, see the attribute _FOCUSABLE in SYS600 Visual SCIL
Objects.
• Image Mask. For more information, see the attribute _HAS_IMAGE_MASK in SYS600 Visual
SCIL Objects.
7.3 Methods GUID-8C33B811-184F-441C-AA43-FE1A21B0A497 v1
All VS objects can have methods. Methods, which are SCIL programs that define the behavior of the
object, are defined in the Methods page of an object editor. In the upper part of the editor are five
methods: create, init, delete, error and help methods. The lower part of the editor show property
pages for public, private, action, cyclic and event methods. For more information, see SYS600 Visual
SCIL Objects and SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.
7.3.1 Handling Methods GUID-9A9880C1-8BA8-413B-AEB8-7A9D7EED9CF4 v1
7.3.1.1 Defining Methods GUID-0CDAE5CB-27EA-4A2C-AB90-B941C702FD45 v1
To define a method:
1. Select the method and click Edit. The methods that are of type public, private, action, cyclic or
event are located in the property pages. If the method does not exist, the user can add it. To add
a method, click New and a new method of the type appears.
2. The SCIL Program Editor appears and the existing program is shown. In the editor the user can
copy, move or delete selections. It is also possible to insert a line or a comment mark, and use
update, find, replace, undo and redo features. The features of the SCIL Program Editor are
described in more detail in Section 7.3.1.4.

Defining Objects
GUID-CF7FFBC1-CDE2-4F4C-B2B7-9B599D2594CF V1 EN-US
Figure 31: The procedure of defining methods is started from the Methods page of the
Object Editor.
3. Close the SCIL Program Editor by choosing Exit from the File menu.
7.3.1.2 Adding New Methods GUID-2525FE80-B0CA-4AB1-9093-FAFA36E89EFB v1
The user can add new methods of type public, private, cyclic and event. Action methods are
predefined in the system and cannot be added, renamed or deleted. They can, however, be enabled
or disabled. To add a new method:
1. In the object window, click the tab with the right method type name.
2. Click New. The dialog box shown in Figure 32 appears with the default name NEW_METHOD.
GUID-C7BD56AC-EEDD-401C-8E8A-D4A856733F36 V1 EN-US
Figure 32: The name of the method can be changed in this dialog.
3. Replace the default name with the name of the method in the Name text box. A comment can
also be typed in the Comment text box.
4. Click OK.
Renaming of a method can be done by selecting the method in the object window, clicking
Properties and performing similar steps as the steps 3 and 4 for adding a new method.
7.3.1.3 Deleting Methods GUID-7A680E29-FB29-418F-BA97-10C1977AC98D v1
The user can delete methods of type public, private, cyclic and event. To delete a method:

Defining Objects
1. Select the method to be deleted.

2. Click Delete.
The program related to an action method can also be deleted. To delete an action method:
1. Clear the check box of the method to be deleted.

2. The question "Do you really want to delete the selected action method?" is shown. Click Yes to
delete.
7.3.1.4 Using the SCIL Program Editor GUID-22571E31-96D9-4BC2-B5E9-8076F7640B2A v1
The File menu of SCIL Program Editor contains options for file handling, updating and exiting the
editor. The Edit menu contains options for copying, moving and deleting. The Undo option found
here is useful when reverting to previous operation. The Search menu contains options, which help
the programmer search and replace text strings. There is also a Go To Line option for moving to a
certain line. In the Settings menu, the font size can be changed. The Help menu provides information
about the editor.
The SCIL Program Editor is operated according to the same principles as other Windows based
applications. The editor is specialized for SCIL program editing. For more information on using the
SCIL Program Editor, see SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.
7.4 Language Dependent Texts GUID-26B77E6F-A6FB-4674-BCEA-E98F2EC1C528 v2
By using the Dialog Editor, the user can add and translate language dependent texts into several
languages. The title attribute, as well as arbitrary texts, can be changed into several languages. This
is done in the Text page of an object editor. For example, Notice Dialogs and texts in the SCIL
Program Editor can be translated into local languages. The text to be translated is found in the
stdlang.vso file, in ../sc/prog/exec -folder.
It is recommended that language dependent texts are not translated separately for every object, the
translations could be collected somewhere. For example, translations could be inserted in the Text
page of the main dialog. A text can also be translated dynamically by using the TRANSLATE
function. For more information on this, see the first part of this manual or SYS600 Programming
Language SCIL.
7.4.1 Inserting New Languages GUID-C64AFD50-E364-43FC-BAE8-43CBA6679A44 v1
When a new object is added, it has, by default, one language (English) inserted in it. The languages
into which the translations are done should be inserted first.
Insert new languages by choosing New Language from the Text menu. Type in the language
identification to be used and then click OK. The language identification should follow the ISO 639
standard.
7.4.2 Inserting Text IDs with Translations GUID-5897716B-3086-4AEF-B25A-1B91C2E9E424 v1
In the object editor, two different languages can be displayed at the same time. The procedure for
inserting Text IDs with translations into two languages is described here. To insert more languages,
repeat the procedure.

Defining Objects
1. The identifications of the inserted languages are shown in the Language 1 drop-down list box.
Choose one.
2. The identifications of the inserted languages are shown in the Language 2 drop-down list box.
Choose one, but note that it has to be different from the first language.
3. From the Text menu, choose New Text ID. Type the text ID in the first column. The text ID is the
identification of the language dependent text, that is, the text written after the character @, for
example in title. Then click OK.
4. In the second column, type the text in the language chosen to be Language 1. To define a
mnemonic key, insert an ampersand character (&) before the character that will be underlined.
In the third column, type the text in the second language.
7.4.3 Renaming Text IDs GUID-B31CD8BE-720D-40FC-8905-5BFA79CAD4A4 v1
Text IDs can be renamed. To rename a Text ID:
1. Click the desired Text ID.

2. Choose Rename Text ID from the Text menu.
3. Type the new name for the Text ID.
4. Click OK.
7.4.4 Deleting Text IDs GUID-67461228-4338-4DB7-BF14-E44A6569E400 v1
To delete a Text ID:
1. Click the desired Text ID.

2. Choose Delete Text ID from the Text menu.
3. Click Yes to delete the Text ID. The Text ID is deleted.
7.5 Geometry Management GUID-2372F111-D7C4-4847-ADE5-3EC7816556A9 v1
7.5.1 General GUID-A3496017-EAF4-4FDD-8976-6C820D1817DA v2
The distance between different objects in various situations and the size of some dialog items are
defined by using connections. Dialog items have both inside and outside connections. Inside
connections determine the size of an item. Outside connections determine the relative location of a
dialog item with the border of the dialog or another dialog item. This feature is needed particularly
when resizing a dialog containing dialog items.
There are seven types of Connections: Natural Length, Natural Base + Spring, Fixed Length, Fixed
Base + Spring, Locked Fixed Length, Zero Length and Spring. These names are used when
connecting one object to another. The procedure for using the Connection Editor is described on
Section 7.5.3. The size and place of objects may be changed after they have been added. If the
place of one object changes, the places of other objects may also have to be changed. If connections
are used, the user can decide which distances will change and which ones will always be same. The
connections for dialog items are defined in the object editor of the parent object.
When defining connections, it is recommended to have Use Large Connections and Show selected
on the Connections menu.
7.5.2 Connection Colors GUID-918593FA-E3BB-4C0D-8267-7D8F6AC0C7DD v1
Connections are shown with different colors that have specific meanings. The meanings of colors are
listed below.

Defining Objects
• Blue: The connections are colored blue by default.

• Green: The part of a connection that is colored green is of type Natural Length.
• Yellow: The connection that is colored yellow is the one that is selected. The type of this
connection can be changed.
• Red: If connections are colored red, there is an error relating to them. For example, if the
connections from an object to the left border of the dialog and to the right border of the dialog
are both fixed, their color is red because there is an error. There must always be one horizontal
and one vertical flexible connection. An object should never be left with illegal connections.
7.5.3 Connection Types between Objects GUID-790998DB-D4C1-45F9-9223-FA986A6BA549 v1
• Natural Length: The distance will always be 5 points.

• Natural Base + Spring: The distance will be always be at least 5 points. If one object is moved
farther away, the distance will grow.
• Fixed Length: The distance will be the same as it was at the moment of choosing a fixed
connection. The distance can be changed by stretching it with the mouse or by changing the
Value text box in the Connection Editor. It will not be changed automatically when the places of
other objects are changed.
• Fixed Base + Spring: The base distance will be at least as long as it was at the moment of
choosing this connection. Hence, the objects cannot be moved closer to each other, but they
can be moved farther away from each other. If the user is changing the connection type from
Spring to Fixed Base + Spring, the fixed base is initially zero. The base distance can only be
changed in the Value text box in the Connection Editor.
• Locked Fixed Length: The distance will always be the same as it was at the moment of choosing
a fixed connection. The distance can be changed only by changing the connection type or the
Value text box in the Connection Editor.
• Zero Length: An object will begin at the point where the previous one ends, there will be no
distance between them.
• Spring: The distance will change freely when the objects are moved.
7.5.4 Examples for connection type between objects GUID-6C4103E3-53E5-496E-9ADA-FA99DD6023C8 v1
7.5.5 Geometry Management GUID-88355B38-434D-4E3B-B078-2C0638AA8D6B v2
Geometry management in Visual SCIL user interface elements is based on springs and struts
defined by using the Connection Editor in Dialog Editor. Connections are determined by using
different types of springs and struts.
7.5.6 Natural Length GUID-8F5C21EB-BFFB-49BF-BB76-C7E7161F1A2C v2
When Natural Length is used inside dialog item, the object adjusts automatically to changes
according to font and text size. The width and height of the object is always the smallest possible.
When Natural Length is used between objects, it forces the distance between adjacent dialog items
to 5 points.

Defining Objects
GUID-D6B29893-BEF3-440E-A8FE-71A3C5DD3DF7 V1 EN-US
Figure 33: The connections inside and between buttons have been done with natural length.
7.5.7 Spring GUID-A1584B4B-EFCC-48AC-A73E-6BB21A2EF860 v1
When Spring is used inside a dialog item, the object enables changes in object sizes and distances
between adjacent objects.
GUID-55E41AF4-9E04-40B4-896F-02715137E690 V1 EN-US
Figure 34: Horizontal and vertical springs in the text field enable the size to change
depending on the label-size in the left.
7.5.8 Natural Base Added with Spring GUID-E3B6B324-46EF-45C5-B0D7-67D49111ACF9 v2
Similar to the Natural Length, objects defined by using this type of connection are adjusted
automatically to changes according to font and text size. The difference to Natural Length is that the
dialog item is adjusted according to changes in dialog size, too. For example, the object stretches
when the dialog is resized. In Figure 35, connections in dialog items have been internally defined as
natural base added with spring in horizontal direction. Adjacent objects have been defined by using
the connection type natural length.
GUID-ECF01A3F-4F32-41EF-9B01-086786D03E57 V1 EN-US
Figure 35: The connections have been done by using natural base added with spring and
natural length.
7.5.9 Fixed Length and Locked Fixed Length GUID-4196905B-0675-41AD-9936-77AB862A2FA0 v1
This connection type defines the size of an object or the distance between adjacent objects to a
certain fixed value. The difference between Fixed and Locked Fixed Length type is that the first one

Defining Objects
enables the dragging of dialog item in Connection Editor, but the latter does not. Fixed Length is not
adjusted to changes according to font and text sizes. E.g. the label defined as type Fixed Length cuts
off those pixels that do not fit inside label area. Connections of Fixed Length type can be found by
setting some large font, like ("M", 4) to the dialog. Note how the width of the left button in Figure 36 is
not adjusted according to the dialog resize operation due to the connection type Fixed Length.
GUID-A9D37AEE-9738-4F77-822F-77ACD9FB1EC6 V1 EN-US
Figure 36: Connections between adjacent objects and inside objects have been done by
using fixed length type.
7.5.10 Fixed Base Added with Spring GUID-B7F9FF6A-460B-457F-8FA8-E4F10F2B6DB7 v2
Specifies a minimum base length added with a spring. When used inside dialog item, the width or
height of the object is always same as or greater than Fixed Base. The spring enables the stretching
of the object depending on dialog size. When used between the objects, Fixed Base guarantees a
certain minimum fixed base distance between objects. Due to the spring, the distance can be larger
than the specified value, but never smaller than this base distance.
GUID-816F16C1-AF58-45D4-BF39-B27F3CEB45F9 V1 EN-US
Figure 37: Connections inside and between buttons have been done by using fixed base
value 50 points and spring. Due to this, the width of the objects and distance
between them, can not be under 50 points.
7.5.11 Changing the Connection Types between Objects GUID-B54899DF-B0B9-4CE1-91C6-C1796E9748C1 v1
The connections between a dialog item and the dialog, or between dialog items themselves, are
discussed below. When an item is initially placed in a dialog, the outside connections on the top and
left sides of the item are fixed by default. To clear all the changes made to the connections, choose
Reset from the Connection menu. To change the connection type:
1. Select the option Show from the Connection menu.

3. Select the connection whose type is to be changed.
4. Choose the connection type to be used from the Connection menu.
To connect dialog items to other dialog items, use the Chain feature. A chain is a series of
connections between dialog items. A chain is in one direction, horizontal or vertical, and must always
include at least one spring connection. If there are no spring connections, the chain cannot stretch to
fit a resized dialog. To use the chain feature:

Defining Objects
1. Select Show from the Connection menu.

2. Select the dialog items.
3. Choose Chain from the Connections menu. The submenu shown in Figure 38 appears. From
the submenu, choose the desired connection type. The figures before the different connection
types help the user to choose the correct one.
GUID-A2D20AFC-6EED-4413-8844-7F664007FEA5 V1 EN-US
Figure 38: The Chain submenu
7.5.12 Example of Connecting Buttons GUID-E251256E-CF6A-4EB3-946C-B32BCD3EFAAC v1
This is an example of connecting two buttons to a dialog. The buttons are connected to each other
with the chain function Lefts to Rights so that the connections are fixed to the objects on their left
side. See Figure 39. Also, the Chain connection function Bottom and Top Sides is used to connect
the top and bottom sides of buttons with fixed connection to each other. Then, the OK button is
connected with a fixed connection to the bottom side of the dialog. When the dialog is enlarged, the
distance between the buttons and the left and bottom sides of the dialog stay the same. See Figure
40.

Defining Objects
GUID-F5B66E2D-431D-4A52-9F8F-F7A7B36330F5 V1 EN-US
Figure 39: Button connections are made with the Chain connection function. The
connections to the left and bottom sides of the dialog are fixed.
GUID-7D87E82C-16D9-4A04-8225-8908843A0AE9 V1 EN-US
Figure 40: When you enlarge the dialog, the distance between the buttons and left and
bottom sides of the dialog remains the same.

Defining Objects
7.5.13 Connection Types inside an Object GUID-3118A120-E430-466E-96E3-57116BABB494 v2
The inside connections of a dialog item are contained within the dialog item, connecting opposite
sides of the item. They determine its size.
• Natural Base: Distance is object dependent. The size of the object is flexible. For example,
when the font size is changed, the size of a button or label is also changed. The size is adjusted
to fit the font size and text length so that it will require the smallest possible space. The distance
can be changed while editing the connections.
• Natural Base and Stretch: The object can be enlarged freely. The minimum distance is object
dependent.
• Natural Base and Drag Lock: The connection cannot be changed without removing the lock. The
minimum distance is object dependent.
• Fixed Base: The distance will be the same as it was at the moment of choosing a fixed
connection. The distance can be changed by stretching it with the mouse or in the Value text
box, but it will not be changed automatically.
• Fixed Base and Stretch: Specifies the minimum length of the distance. It will be at least as long
as it was at the moment of choosing this connection. Hence, the sides of objects cannot be
moved closer to each other without changing the connection type, but they can be moved farther
away. If the user is changing the connection type from Stretch to Fixed Base and Stretch, the
fixed base is initially zero. This minimum length can only be changed in the Value text box.
• Fixed Base and Drag Lock: The distance will always be the same as it was at the moment of
choosing a fixed connection. The distance cannot be changed without changing the Value text
box or changing the connection type.
7.5.14 Changing the Connection Types inside an Object GUID-40FE1BA6-2E92-4934-A5FD-D4FF6FAAF8C0 v1
The connection types inside an object can be changed in the same way as the connections between
objects, or in the way that is described here. To change the connection:
1. Select the object.

2. Open the Connection Editor by choosing Connections on the Window menu.
3. Select the connection whose type is to be changed. At the top of the editor the name of the
object and where the connection points are can be seen. See Figure 41.
4. Select Natural Base or Fixed Base. If Fixed Base is selected, also enter the value, the length
of distance in a number of points.
5. Stretch or Drag Lock can also be selected.
6. Close the Connection Editor by clicking Close.
GUID-20E1D5E2-0B02-4435-87A2-131241018240 V1 EN-US
Figure 41: The Connection Editor

Defining Objects
7.5.15 Source and Destination of a Connection GUID-CB548AE0-67A4-4965-AAA6-EBF9BE94D796 v1
Connections have a direction determined by the source and destination of a connection. The source
for outside connections is always a dialog item and the destination is another dialog item or border of
a dialog. The source for inside connections is one edge and the destination is the opposite edge of
the item. The destination of a connection is usually changed when the object the item is connected to
is changed. So actually the direction of a connection does not define how the connection behaves,
only the objects connected to each other. The connection type between them defines the behavior.
The destination of a selected connection can be seen in the TO text field in the upper left corner of
the Connection Editor. If the destination is another dialog item, the name of the item can be seen. If
the destination is the border of the dialog, the word Border is displayed. If the destination is inside the
dialog item, the word Self is displayed. The destination of a connection can be changed by selecting
a connection and dragging it to its destination.
The To Edge text field shows the location of the connection on the destination item. The location is
expressed as the top, bottom, left or right edge of the destination item.
Usually, the destination of a dialog item can be seen in the picture by selecting it and following the
connection. The object at the other end of it is the one it is connected to. If, for some reason, the
destination cannot be seen properly, the destination of a connection can also be found by using the
Follow function. This is done by selecting a dialog item and a connection and then choosing Follow
from the Connections menu. Choose the connection side from the submenu. If the item is connected
to another item on that side, the object to which the item is connected to is selected.

74
Container Group Objects
Section 8 Container Group Objects GUID-9A5F0342-2783-4006-BF33-FC1F6EA4A7D0 v1
8.1 About this Section GUID-CCF09E2D-A0D9-44A6-AF6D-28BA1990DEFB v1
This section describes the general features related to defining container group objects. Container
group objects are the Visual SCIL objects that can contain other objects.
Some definitions and functions are common to most of the objects. These are discussed in Section
6. This section discusses all the other functions related to defining dialogs, notebooks, containers,
picture containers and menus.
Section 8.4 The first section describes how to define dialogs.

Section 8.5 The second section describes how to define notebooks.
Section 8.6 The third section describes how to define containers.
Section 8.7 The fourth section describes the general facts related to
menus, how to define menu bars, menus and menu
items.
Section 8.8 The fifth section describes how to define picture
containers.
8.2 General GUID-41D8A77C-276C-466E-9EE5-5ECB70F709D3 v1
The procedure for adding objects and the basic editing facilities are described in Section 6. The most
common definitions, name and title, color and font setting, cursor, image, enabled, visible, border,
click focusable, focusable and image mask are also described there.
Notebooks, containers, menus and picture containers are dialog items, so they can be inserted into
other objects. Dialogs, notebooks and containers can contain all types of dialog items. There is no
limit to how many levels of objects can be placed inside each other.
Notebooks, containers, menus and picture containers are added either in the Object List or in an
object editor. Dialogs can be added only in the Object List.
8.3 The Order Items Page GUID-3E326EBB-20C9-40BC-941E-CF229B17EC0C v1
The Order Items page is common to dialogs, notebooks and containers, which is why it is discussed
here. The dialog items inserted in an object are listed in the Order Items page. They are in the same
order in which items are selected when the TAB key is pressed.
The order of the items can be changed by selecting the row and holding down the middle mouse
button or both left and right buttons while dragging the row to a new position. The list includes the
dialog item type, its name and title.

GUID-6AB85CD3-0D25-4335-B961-D6B1F225387A V1 EN-US
Figure 42: The Order Items page in which the dialog items inserted in the dialog are listed
In the Item menu, there are options that specify the behavior of items in the dialog. The options are
Default Focus Item, Confirm Item and Abandon Item. The dialog item selected when the Default
Focus Item is chosen is the item that will have the keyboard focus when the user opens the dialog.
Choosing the Confirm Item option for a dialog item means that if the user presses ENTER, the item
behaves as if it was clicked. There can be only one confirm item in a dialog. Choosing the Abandon
Item option for a dialog item means that if the user presses ESC on the keyboard, the item behaves
as if it was clicked. There can be only one abandon item in a dialog.
8.4 Dialogs GUID-B5F8A735-C96D-4E1C-8AD1-BCDEC02B2FE4 v1
8.4.1 General GUID-47B62E03-31A2-4795-A22E-F8D87F8B4589 v1
Dialogs are used when dialog boxes, which are windows appearing independently on the screen, are
desired. There are two types of dialogs: main dialogs and dialogs. Usually, it is recommended to use
main dialogs. The types differ in the way variables can be read from other dialogs.
Because the working procedure for both of them is the same, they are discussed together. Dialog
items are placed in a dialog. The position of a dialog item is specified with connections.
Dialogs are edited in the Dialog Object Editor, which contains five pages. The Window page and the
Order Items page are described in this section.
8.4.2 Window Page GUID-5208BDB3-02F8-430A-8C16-4078C652C1B0 v2
The first page of the Dialog Object Editor is the Window page. It contains several attributes that are
already explained in Section 6. The attributes discussed in this section are the attributes located at
the bottom. See Figure 43.

GUID-071D1FC5-73B8-43E2-9C1C-51CCB5A924F5 V1 EN-US
Figure 43: The Window page of the Object Editor when defining dialogs
• Border is selected by default. The dialog is outlined with a border.

• Maximizable is selected by default. The dialog can be enlarged to fill the whole screen.
• Iconifiable is selected by default. The dialog can be minimized to an icon.
• Modal is not selected by default. When it is selected, the dialog box is the only active window in
the application. The user must respond or perform some actions in the dialog to change the
focus.
• Resizable is selected by default. The user can resize the dialog.
• Movable is selected by default. When it is selected, the user can move the dialog on screen.
• Unclosable is not selected by default. The user cannot close the dialog by clicking the Close
button (the X button) in the title bar of the dialog.
For more information on the attributes, see the _STYLE attribute in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
8.5 Notebooks GUID-EFAFF3B8-0F2E-4CE0-A65C-E397A193D8EC v1
8.5.1 General GUID-BD4DA424-D87F-4760-920B-92534B4C0957 v1
Notebooks are often used to group dialog items that are somehow related to each other. Usually,
there are many dialog items in a notebook, a there would not be enough space for them in a
container. See Figure 44. For example, a notebook can contain several check boxes and option
buttons. A notebook usually contains several pages, which all have a tab to enter the page. Dialog
items placed in notebook pages are edited in their own object editors.

GUID-9AECC93F-7514-47B6-89CA-3B33A185E3A7 V1 EN-US
Figure 44: An example of a notebook

Tabs are managed and displayed by tab sets. A tab set contains all the tabs for pages and sections
at the top level of a notebook. The name of a page is shown on its tab.
Various attributes of a notebook determine its behavior and appearance. These attributes can be
defined in the Custom Style Area of the Notebook page.
There are six pages in the Notebook Object Editor. The common attributes of the first page are
discussed in Section 7. Most definitions are performed in the Notebook page. These functions are
described in Section 6.
Inserting and translating the language dependent texts is done in the Texts page. Adding and editing
methods is done in the Methods page. The functions on these pages are described in Section 7.
The only page that differs from pages in other object editors is the Notebook page where the user
can add the notebook pages.
8.5.2 Defining a Notebook GUID-6485858B-4D28-4F9A-AF67-C3F00289B5C9 v1
To define a notebook:
1. Enter the Notebook page in Notebook Object Editor.

2. To add a notebook page, choose New Page from the Notebook menu. See Figure 45.
GUID-78DBD01C-7F7B-4173-BB10-FCA621C0CCE7 V1 EN-US
Figure 45: The Notebook Object Editor

3. Open the Notebook Page Object Editor by double-clicking the new page, the notebook page.
The Notebook Page Object Editor is shown in Figure 46.

4. To add a new dialog item to the notebook page, choose New Item from the Page menu.
GUID-E90DEEF3-99A5-4980-B090-4256E5AE770B V1 EN-US
Figure 46: The Notebook Page Object Editor

The Order Items page contains a list of dialog items that are inserted in the Notebook page.
For more information on defining this page, see Section 8.3.
5. Close the Notebook Page Object Editor by choosing Close Editor from the File menu.
6. To customize the appearance of the tabs, use the options in the Custom Style area at the
bottom of the Notebook Object Editor. The attributes in the Custom Style area are listed later
(The Custom Style Options) with an explanation.
7. Click the button with the text Make pages visible to SCIL, otherwise the pages cannot be
handled with SCIL.
8.5.3 The Custom Style Options GUID-730B408B-56C2-4726-AD4E-0A841B4A876E v2
• Tabs: Specifies if the notebook pages should have tabs.

• Tab Side: Specifies the side of the notebook where the tab set should appear.
• Folio: Specifies whether or not to show the folio. The folio shows the page number at the bottom
of the notebook pages.
• Folio Justification: Specifies the justification of the page number at the bottom of the notebook
pages.
• Page Buttons: Specifies whether or not to show the page buttons.
• Pages Wrap: Specifies should the first page of the notebook be selected after the last one while
moving to the right.
• Tab Style: Specifies the default border style of a tab.
• Vertical Tabs: Specifies whether or not to show vertical tabs.
• Tab Buttons: Centered Determines if the buttons to scroll the tabs are to be centered in the tab
set rectangle or aligned with the inside border.
• Tab Buttons: Placement Determines where the buttons to scroll the tabs are displayed.
• Allow Partial Tabs: Specifies whether or not to show the tabs that are partially visible in a tab
set.

8.6 Containers GUID-831D5132-2E86-434A-AF47-9DBC3F5A52B7 v1
Containers are mainly used to group dialog items that are somehow related to each other. For
example, a set of option buttons can be placed into a container. See Figure 47. The Container
Attributes page is discussed in this section. The common definitions were discussed in Section 7.
GUID-1E85394C-495D-4184-808D-3EBB260693B7 V1 EN-US
Figure 47: An example of a container

The containers can contain all types of dialog items, even other containers. The dialog items are
added and arranged in the Container page. To add, edit and arrange the dialog items, follow the
procedures described for dialogs in Section 7.
8.6.1 Container Attributes Page GUID-C7407579-3BE0-45FE-903A-5D3167A21147 v1
The Container Attributes page shown in Figure 48 defines scroll bars for the container and
keyboard traversal behavior. To insert scroll bars to a container, select the Horizontal Scroll Bar or
Vertical Scroll Bar options. If the Flat Keyboard Traversal option is selected, the user can use the
TAB key on the keyboard to move between items in the container and the other dialog items.
GUID-3B8D9F58-DF25-4203-821E-49150A492BB8 V1 EN-US
Figure 48: The Container Attributes page of the Container Object Editor

8.7 Menus GUID-515D6376-5C3D-4FB3-A592-B34630F8D6A3 v1
8.7.1 General GUID-B15DA6A6-CD33-453C-97F2-84588C7BDE65 v2
Menus provide the user a way to issue commands. There are three object types for menus:
• Menubar
• Menus
• Menu items
A menubar usually contains several menus, which all contain several menu items, see Figure 49.
Begin to add menus by adding the menubar first. Then, add the menus and menu items.
GUID-66ED12AE-FDE1-48DA-B486-F811DED0AF8A V1 EN-US
Figure 49: An example of a menu
8.7.2 Adding Menus GUID-169ABE79-9EAC-47D1-A35D-79B89674CECD v2
To define a menu:
1. Add the menu bar and enter its object editor.

2. Click Menu Bar to enter the page where the menus can be added. The page shown in Figure 50
appears.
GUID-268F5999-1E29-4B7F-8CC9-69A684F080BE V1 EN-US
Figure 50: The Menu Bar page where you add new menus
3. Choose New Menu from the Menubar menu. A new menu appears. The name within brackets is
the object name of the menu and the name within quotation marks is the title of the menu. The
order of the menus can be changed by selecting the row and holding both mouse buttons down
while dragging the row to a new position. The Has Help option on the Menubar menu means

that the rightmost menu is placed at the right edge of the dialog on some systems. Otherwise, it
is placed according to amount and size of menu items starting from the left side of the bar.
4. Open the Menu Object Editor by double-clicking the name of the menu, see Figure 51.
5. In the Menu page, define the title, name and mnemonic for the menu. The name of the menu is
shown with a mnemonic in the upper left corner of the page.
GUID-FB58C65E-D95B-4254-B29F-26C286F452DF V1 EN-US
Figure 51: The Menu page in the Menu Object Editor where you add new menu items
6. To add a menu item, choose New from the Menu menu. On the submenu that appears, choose
the menu item type you to be added. There are four types of menu items:
• Menu Item is the regular command inserted in the menu.
• Separator Menu Item is a line inserted between other menu items. It is the second menu
item in Figure 51.
• Submenu Item is the submenu item, which is a command displayed with an arrow
pointing to the right. It indicates that more menu options are available when it is selected.
• Toggle Menu Item is a menu item that is displayed with a check mark when it is selected.
7. Define the Title, Name, Key and Mnemonic for the new menu item. The name of the item is
shown with the mnemonic key. The attributes Disabled, Default, Exclusive and On can also be
defined depending on the type of the menu item that is being defined. The user can give more
definitions in Object Editor of the menu item. To enter the editor, click Programs.
The On attribute can be selected for toggle menu items. If it is selected, the toggle menu item is
selected by default and the check mark is shown in front of the option. The Exclusive option can
also be selected for toggle menu items. If it is selected, only one toggle menu item in the menu, or in
the part of the menu that is separated by a separator menu item, can be selected at a time.
If a submenu item has been added, the next step is to add menu items into the submenu. To add
menu items into the submenu, enter the Submenu Object Editor and repeat steps 6 and 7.

8.7.3 Testing a Menu GUID-5E9FF935-CE68-46A9-8607-80F03A572967 v1
In Menu Object Editor, the user can view and test a menu while defining it. To test a menu, choose
Try Out Menu from the Menu menu. The features that have been defined are visible. The menu
remains on the menubar until Try Out Menu is deselected.
8.8 Picture Containers GUID-6DC79BC3-60D5-4F52-BE30-940A1EF9EE4E v1
8.8.1 General GUID-36A8D29D-4873-4EFE-B908-2ADBDB9D79FA v1
A Picture Container is a container used for conventional SYS600 pictures, pictures built in the Picture
Editor. This way, pictures that are made in SYS600 Picture Editors can also be shown in Visual SCIL
dialogs.
The upper left corner of the picture will be placed in the upper left corner of the picture container. If
the picture container has scrollbars and the picture is bigger than the picture container, the user can
move the picture around using the scrollbars. The used font and the size of the picture are
determined by the current semigraphic font that was chosen when the application session was
started.
The Container Attributes page shown in Figure 48 defines scrollbars and keyboard traversal
behavior. To insert scroll bars into a container, select the Horizontal Scroll Bar or Vertical Scroll
Bar options. It is not recommended to use the Flat Keyboard Traversal option in Picture Container.
8.8.2 Inserting a Picture GUID-ED504C97-5B78-466E-8635-1E5A353E1BB6 v1
A picture can be inserted into the picture container using the picture handling methods. For example,
methods can be in the Init method of a picture container, in a dialog, or in some button method. The
place depends on the time the picture is to be shown. For more information on the subject, see
Section 5
8.9 Icon View GUID-90F523D2-ADA2-42FF-BD25-7DF1F7749C74 v1
The Icon View object is used for displaying icons. The icons are created with SCIL image editor. The
predefined method _APPEND_ICON can be used for this purpose. For more information on adding
icons, see Section 7. See also SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects and SYS600 Programming Language
SCIL. Icon View Item is shown in Figure 52.
GUID-D21E48F1-D9A1-4F92-8AA4-ED6594922093 V1 EN-US
Figure 52: Examples of icon view object use, taken from the Tool Manager. The Dialog Editor
icon is selected which apart from the highlighted text can be noticed as the Icon
View area has focus.

84
Other Dialog Items
Section 9 Other Dialog Items GUID-BB947B81-25B1-40D5-83A4-D3328A3908C1 v1
9.1 About this Section GUID-4BD148AA-D684-4D24-A4C4-1E78DFD61894 v1
This section discusses all remaining dialog items, which are the items that cannot contain other
dialog items. The definitions are done mainly in the object editor of the dialog item. If the user has
added the dialog item inside another object, some of the effects of the definitions can be seen by
looking at the Object Editor of the parent object. The test function described earlier in this manual
can also be used. The procedure for adding objects is described in Section 6. The most common
definitions, for example name and title, color and font setting, are described in Section 7.
9.2 Texts GUID-D8C3C2E2-BFAB-4203-9F53-02C7DF0D3289 v1
9.2.1 Label GUID-094EFEF4-97F7-432E-AA0D-F6A07FC7ACC2 v1
A label is a static text field, where the user cannot make changes. It is usually used to name another
dialog item, see Figure 53. Defining the label does not contain any steps that are not common to
other objects. The text to be shown to the user is written in the Title text box.
GUID-3AA14DE4-A6BB-49C6-8CAB-6339A54F3C79 V1 EN-US
Figure 53: An example of a label
9.2.2 List GUID-A464E5A7-33A1-4DB5-90FE-31E0AB877CC5 v2
A list displays items organized into rows and columns, see Figure 54. Use the List Object Editor to
define the appearance and behavior of the list. Usually, the content of the list is defined using SCIL,
for example the _SET_CELL_TEXT method.
GUID-31AC5DD8-16BB-40F3-B8D6-64CE300F2838 V1 EN-US
Figure 54: An example of a list

In the second page of the List Object Editor, the appearance of the list can be defined. This page is
shown in Figure 55. In the Scroll Bars area, the user can select the Horizontal and Vertical options.
Vertical is selected by default, so a vertical scroll bar is placed in the list. If Horizontal is selected, a
horizontal scroll bar is placed in the list as well. In the Show Grid area, the user can choose
Horizontal and Vertical grids, which draw lines between each row and column.
In the Options area, the options Auto-Scroll, Traverse Wrap, Keyboard Selection and Keyboard
Traversal can be selected. Auto-Scroll is selected by default, so the user can move through a list by
dragging the cursor to the edge of a list view to see the items beyond the border of a list view.
Traverse Wrap is not selected by default, so the user cannot move backward and forward from one
end of the list to the other. Keyboard Selection is selected by default, so the user can select
highlighted items in the list by pressing return. Keyboard Traversal is selected by default, so the
user can move through the list by using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-0E29B774-6C56-4543-8F81-EABC2B035F51 V1 EN-US
Figure 55: The List View page of the List Object Editor
The String List page of the List Object Editor is shown in Figure 56. It can be used to insert and
remove rows and columns into a list. To insert a new row, click Insert under the text Row and to
remove a row, click Remove. Inserting and removing columns is done in the same way under the
text Column. The added rows and columns are shown in the white box with the column and row
number in parentheses.
Usually, rows, columns, texts or other characters are set with SCIL. To insert texts or other
characters into a cell manually:
1. Select the cell.

2. Click the String text box and type the text in it and press ENTER. The written text appears in the
cell.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-D082B64E-00F3-48FA-85BE-C867ACC987A4 V1 EN-US
Figure 56: The String List page of the List Object Editor
The List Item page of the editor is shown in Figure 57. The List Item page can be used to specify
the appearance and selection method for the list. Use the Natural Number of Rows and Auto-
Calculate Widths options to determine the size of naturally sized list. A list can be defined as
naturally sized by changing its inside connections. Natural Number of Rows is the number of rows
used to calculate the natural height of a list. A naturally sized list displays the number of rows entered
here. The value zero indicates that all rows are used to calculate the natural height.
The default column width is same as the width of the list. If Auto-Calculate Widths is selected, the
default size is changed.
The selection method has four choices:
• None indicates that no cell from a list can be chosen.

• Only One indicates that no more than one cell can be selected at any time.
• Free indicates that any cell or a combination of cells can be selected.
• Rectangular indicates that the selection is always a rectangle of cells.
If the option At Least One Selection is selected, at least one cell in the list is always selected.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-5D2A2133-A297-423A-9B01-271B6F67F457 V1 EN-US
Figure 57: The List Item page of the List Object Editor
9.2.3 Text GUID-5D82B574-886F-4441-B82B-13550D09F97D v1
In the text box, the user can insert or edit text. The operator can also define that the user cannot
change the content of the text box, see Figure 58.
GUID-27584D01-2AE0-4378-9023-A6D44B0E06FA V1 EN-US
Figure 58: An example of text item

In the Text View page of the Text Object Editor, vertical and horizontal scroll bars can be added to
the item. Select either one or both of the options in the Scroll Bars area. The Scroll Locked options
makes it impossible for the user to move through the text horizontally or vertically. The user can also
select a style for highlighted text and unhighlighted text. Highlighted text is selected text in an active
window and unhighlighted text is the selected text in a window that is no longer active. The options
are Default, Invert, Line, Box, None and Dotted line. The Auto-Scroll option is selected by default,
and, usually, it should not be changed. When it is selected, the text in the text item is automatically
scrolled.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-197ABE16-6F80-42EA-A27F-EBC2F77B46FC V1 EN-US
Figure 59: In this Text View page of the editor, you define how the text item behaves
The Text Object Editor contains a simple text editor with a text box and various features to specify the
text properties, such as tab setting and line spacing. It is located in the Text Item page of the Text
Object Editor, see Figure 60. The user can leave the large text box blank or place text in it. To type
text, click in the text box and begin typing.
The Selectable option is selected by default, and it enables the user to select text in the text box. If
this option is not selected the user cannot do this. The Modifiable option is selected by default. It
enables the user to change the contents of the text box. If this option is not selected, the user cannot
do this. The Wrap option is not selected by default. If it is selected, the editor automatically wraps the
text. The One Line option is not selected by default. If it is selected, the text can be at maximum one
line.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-C1AD54B2-1E4D-45C6-908F-83D6674E23D5 V1 EN-US
Figure 60: The Text Editor in the Text Object Editor

Use the text ruler, which is located under the check boxes, to set margins and tabs and to specify
justification and line spacing for the text. To change the text style, click Set Style, and the Style
Chooser shown in Figure 61 appears. Note that the changes made in the Style Chooser are only
made to the selected parts of the text.
GUID-92D17833-2C9B-4868-B476-8737AF9C4587 V1 EN-US
Figure 61: The Style Chooser where you can change the text style
The options that can be chosen with the check boxes are Bold, Italic, Underline, Hidden and
Strikethru. These check boxes have three states: select, unselect and no selection. The unselect
state removes the specified attribute. The no selection leaves the current attribute unchanged.

Other Dialog Items
The Style Chooser also contains two buttons for setting Font and Color. Click either one and the Font
Chooser or the Color Chooser appears. The procedure for using Font and Color Choosers is
described in Section 7.
In the Style Chooser, the Ascent, Descent and Size of selected text can also be defined. Ascent is
the amount the type rises above the base line. Descent is the amount type descends below the base
line. Size represents the font size. These attributes are set to auto, which means that the default
values of the font define the attribute. To change the default values, type the number of points in the
box.
9.3 Buttons GUID-661A17A3-7B92-4F37-AC41-D84292973E0D v1
9.3.1 Button GUID-CB324B23-B896-47F1-9950-F91977322E95 v1
When the user clicks a button, an action is performed according to NOTIFY action method inserted in
the button. If the button is naturally sized, it automatically adjusts its size to the Title text. See Figure
62.
GUID-50A99E1D-4AB6-4862-BAC3-F97BEC4BA5C6 V1 EN-US
Figure 62: An example of a button
9.3.2 Palette GUID-1399C80A-7A39-4C20-8751-FB09673DD287 v1
A palette is a collection of buttons. Palette contains palette items, on which you can place icon to
represent the available object or action. See Figure 63. You can add the icons with the Image Editor
or SCIL. For more information on using the Image Editor, see Section 10.
GUID-A34613FE-9275-4C75-84D8-0F706D9CAB4E V1 EN-US
Figure 63: An example of a palette

Other Dialog Items
GUID-5E7666D4-3C09-4F43-B94C-65F0A0AAC8B8 V1 EN-US
Figure 64: The Palette page where you can choose the palette items for the palette
To insert the palette items, choose New Item in the Palette menu. The item appears in the Palette
Images text box. The name of the item is used only in this list, so it does not matter which name the
item has. To open the Image Editor, double-click the item. The size of the palette item can be
changed in the upper part of the editor. Click the Cell Width or Cell Height and type the new number
of points. In the Columns box you can change the number of columns in the Palette.
9.4 Option Selection GUID-FADFC2AA-CE35-4E6F-9C4C-364647337865 v1
9.4.1 Check Box GUID-0C955F32-C28E-4302-8956-68FFA005083D v2
The user can select or unselect a check box of an option. To give the user several options from which
all, none or some can be selected, the operator can use check boxes, see Figure 65. It may be
useful to place check boxes in a container. A check box can have two values, On and Off. It has a set
of states, which can be defined by control values. An example of a page in which control values for
check boxes can be defined is shown in Figure 66.
GUID-C4AC68CB-EBD6-48B1-8A22-45A9ED16DB1F V1 EN-US
Figure 65: An example of a check box

Other Dialog Items
GUID-06016FEA-E79C-4AE7-B4DD-7D83787191EB V1 EN-US
Figure 66: The control values for a check box are set in the Check Box page
The control values and their meaning while defining check boxes are listed here. The following
attributes are described in more details in the SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects manual. See the attribute
in the check box description.
• Min Does not change. The default value is 0. For more information, see the attribute
_MIN_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Max Does not change. The default value is 1. For more information, see the attribute
_MAX_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Value Defines the default value. The choices are On or Off. Value 0 means Off and value 1
means On. For more information, see the attribute _VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Page Has no meaning for Check Box. For more information, see the attribute
_PAGE_INCREMENT_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Increment Has no meaning for Check Box. For more information, see the attribute
_INCREMENT_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Vertical Has no meaning for Check Box. For more information, see the attribute
_VERTICAL_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
9.4.2 Option Button GUID-82E8BD05-5884-43C9-8A2D-F0FE36A8322D v1
Use option buttons to allow the user to select one of the given options. The title is placed on the right
side of the button. See Figure 67.
The following attributes are described in more details in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects. See the
attribute in the description of the option button.
• Min Does not change. The default value is 0. For more information, see the attribute
_MIN_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Max Does not change. The default value is 1. For more information, see the attribute
• Value Defines the default value. The choices are On or Off. Value 0 means Off and value 1
means On. For more information, see the attribute _VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-2018B295-B3C8-427D-8A1D-B2EAA419283F V1 EN-US
Figure 67: An example of an option button
9.4.3 Combo and Combo Popdown GUID-9AEAA384-9C5D-4E56-8BED-89F6D70CBD1D v2
The word combo comes from combination box. A combination box is a list of texts the user can
choose from. The difference between Combo and Combo Popdown is a drop-down list box. The
Combo always displays the choices on screen and the Combo Popdown has a drop-down list box,
which only shows the list when the user clicks the black arrow at the end of the box. The user can
either type the selection in the box or select an option from the list. The possibility to type text
depends on how the object behaviour is defined. See Figure 68 and Figure 69.
GUID-6D9F03D1-CCAC-4C18-8DA8-F030352646A4 V1 EN-US
Figure 68: An example of a combo
GUID-88C8DB05-BB18-40F1-887B-B49F0CF08439 V1 EN-US
Figure 69: An example of a combo popdown

The appearance and the behavior of an object in the Combobox or Popdown can be defined in the
Combobox page in their Object Editor. See Figure 70. Usually the contents are set with SCIL.
To add a row, choose New from the Combo menu. A new row appears.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-4AC94813-C960-4EEB-82E1-D59ADC26B122 V1 EN-US
Figure 70: The Combobox page of the Combo Object Editor

To insert text or other characters:
1. Select the row.

2. Type the text in the Title text box and press ENTER. The input appears in the list.
Save: Select the row in the list. Rename the text in the Title text box. Press Save. The renamed
value appears in the list.
Insert: Type the text in the Title text box. Press Insert. The input appears in the list.
Remove: Select the row in the list. Press Remove. The selected row is deleted from the list.
The behavior of the combo is determined at the bottom of the page. There are eight choices to
Accept, Select and Scroll situations. The choices are Do Nothing, Match or Add, Match or Closest,
Match or Member, Match or Nothing, Match or First, Match or Revert and Default. Usually, the default
setting can be used.
Normally, the text box is modifiable, which means that the user can enter a selection. If Auto-Sort is
selected, the choices are automatically arranged in alphabetical order. The number of visible values
defines how many options are shown on screen at any one time. The user can change the visible
options by changing the number in the Number of Visible Values text box.
9.4.4 Numeric Spinner GUID-2C75C25D-C71C-4CD6-A6DF-1E7086317397 v2
A numeric spinner allows the user to enter values to define a range, see Figure 71. The user can
move through possible values and view all of them, but cannot see them all at the same time. The
user enters the value selecting the number from the list or by typing it in the box. Numeric spinners
accept only integer values. The Control page for the Numeric Spinner is shown in Figure 72.
GUID-C9702AD0-3716-4924-9F17-601CC76AD8CF V1 EN-US
Figure 71: An example of a numeric spinner

Other Dialog Items
GUID-A0661B45-B444-459A-BFE5-BA98E57C9063 V1 EN-US
Figure 72: The Control page of the Numeric Spinner, where you can specify control values
attribute in the description of the numeric spinner. In the Control page of the Numeric Spinner the
user can specify:
• Min Minimum value defines the lowest value in the spinner range. For more information, see the
attribute _MIN_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Max Maximum value defines the highest value in the spinner range. For more information, see
the attribute _MAX_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Value Defines the default value of the spinner. For more information, see the attribute _VALUE
in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Increment The increment for a spinner indicates how much the value is increased or decreased
when the arrow button is clicked. For more information, see the attribute _INCREMENT_VALUE
Normally the text box of a numeric spinner is modifiable, which means that the user can enter a
selection. If the Wrap option is selected, the user can scroll backward and forward from one end of
the list to the other. Otherwise, the user can only scroll to the end of the list.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-BA8918B4-F97D-4F22-9E46-B518F90314E0 V1 EN-US
Figure 73: The Spinner page of the Numeric Spinner
9.4.5 Text Spinner GUID-5007B9ED-BB52-4FC7-A81A-22AFCC176FE2 v1
A text spinner allows the user to enter text from a defined range. The user can move through
possible strings and view all of them, but cannot see them all at the same time. The user can enter
the string by selecting it from the list or in some cases typing it in the Text box, depending on the
definitions. If the user types a part of the string and presses enter, the first string that begins with
those characters is shown. See Figure 75.
GUID-7F3042BD-BB80-483F-AB68-2E4F0C1B8B0B V1 EN-US
Figure 74: An example of a text spinner

Other Dialog Items
GUID-669153D4-AC04-424B-9F82-6243C3AC12A8 V1 EN-US
Figure 75: The options that the user can select in the text spinner
In the Text Spinner page of the Text Spinner Object Editor, the options to be shown in the spinner
can be inserted. This can also be done with SCIL. To insert a new option, choose New Entry from
the Spinner menu. A new string appears in the large white box.
To insert text or other characters in the string:
1. Click the string to select it.

2. Click in the Text box and type the text and press ENTER. The written text appears in the option.
To remove the option, click it and then choose Clear from the Edit menu. If the cursor is in the Text
box, only the text in it is removed. Select the option in the large white box and try again to remove the
option.
Normally, the text box of a text spinner is modifiable, which means that the user can enter the
selection in the box. If the Wrap option is selected, the user can scroll backward and forward from
one end of the list to the other. Otherwise, the user can only scroll to the ends of the list. To
automatically arrange the options in alphabetical order, select the Auto-Sort option.
9.5 Scroll Bars and Sliders GUID-26F4BE63-1821-48B6-A6B4-C76CF1452926 v1
9.5.1 Scroll Bar GUID-9750EB6F-4EA1-4CE1-A1B5-5645D983EA45 v1
By using a scroll bar, the user can move through a list or text. See Figure 76.
GUID-9E61015D-4713-4C85-B0EC-01A6E6FF20E3 V1 EN-US
Figure 76: An example of a scroll bar

attribute in the description of the scroll bar.

Other Dialog Items
• Min: The default value is 0, which is the value of the starting point of the scroll bar. For more
information, see the attribute _MIN_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Max: This is the maximum value or value at the end point of the scroll bar. The difference
between the maximum and minimum values is the number of steps in the scroll bar. For more
information, see the attribute _MAX_VALUE in Visual SCIL Objects.
• Value: Defines the default position of the scroll box. For more information, see the attribute
_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Page: The number of steps the scroll box moves when the scroll bar is clicked. For more
information, see the attribute _PAGE_INCREMENT_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Increment: The number of steps the scroll box moves when the scroll arrow is clicked. For more
information, see the attribute _INCREMENT_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Vertical: If this option is selected, the scroll bar is vertical, otherwise it is horizontal. For more
information, see the attribute _VERTICAL in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
9.5.2 Slider GUID-FE212370-DF31-4936-927B-A9BE2D5DB932 v1
By using a slider, the user can select from a continuous range of possible values. The user drags the
slider left or down to decrease the value and right or up to increase it. See Figure 77.
GUID-B86ECCDA-C8E3-4BC7-8389-8566DF36BC1E V1 EN-US
Figure 77: An example of a slider

attribute in the description of the object you are defining. If the attribute is not described in it, it does
not have effect on the object.
• Min: The default value is 0, which is the minimum value of the slider. For more information, see
the attribute _MIN_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Max: This value is the maximum value of the slider. The difference between the maximum and
minimum values is the number of steps in the slider. For more information, see the attribute
• Value: Defines the default position of the slider. For more information, see the attribute _VALUE
• Page: The base unit by which the control unit is increased, so this is the number of steps the
slider moves when some value of the slider is clicked. For more information, see the attribute
_PAGE_INCREMENT_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Increment:The base unit by which the control unit is increased, so this is the number of steps
the slider moves when it is dragged with the mouse. For more information, see the attribute
_INCREMENT_VALUE in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
• Vertical: If the option is selected, the slider is vertical, otherwise it is horizontal. For more
information, see the attribute _VERTICAL in SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects.
9.6 Separating Items GUID-95220BE1-B925-471E-8CCC-406D257304A8 v1
9.6.1 Box GUID-4EBE2B6D-DE68-455C-B310-7CDD959B7199 v2
Use a box to group functionally related items or to improve the appearance of the dialog. A box is
defined in the same way as other dialog items. A box can also be used to accommodate an image.
See Figure 78.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-08DA0C38-D1F1-48C0-86C4-94BF9525BAAA V1 EN-US
Figure 78: An example of a box
9.6.2 Icon View GUID-F84F7916-54AF-438B-BE00-9ADA9EDDF360 v1
Use the Icon View to display icons. The icons are created with SCIL. The predefined method
_APPEND_ICON can be used for this purpose. For more information on adding icons, see Section 7.
See also SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects and SYS600 Programming Language SCIL. Icon View Item is
shown in Section 9.6.2.
GUID-57A95838-10C1-467A-ADE2-6883012C5CE7 V1 EN-US
Figure 79: In example of an icon view
9.6.3 Image Domain GUID-FF130E98-9417-497D-9B0E-F534A09D6A95 v1
An Image Domain is a rectangle in which images can be stored. It is recommended that it should be
used only in advanced programming.
9.6.4 Line GUID-DC02A927-7ABD-45AE-81D0-EE535C02C505 v1
Use the line dialog item to place a horizontal or vertical line into a dialog. It is often used to separate
grouped dialog items. The line item is an item with a line drawn on one side. See Figure 80. The size
of the line is changed by changing the size of the whole item, by moving the place of one of its
border. This is done in the Object Editor of the object in which the line item is placed. The size of the
line is drawn vertically by default. To have a horizontal line, change the size of the item so that the
width of the line exceeds its height.
GUID-777C5A80-21B3-4791-B901-B70CD5026267 V1 EN-US
Figure 80: An example of a line
9.7 Tree GUID-B8139FF2-A0CD-4F63-B075-9AB1EC51D9C2 v1
Use the Tree to display hierarchical data, see Figure 81. From the tree, it is possible to select and
open different new objects, which are called nodes and leaves. The box can be added where the tree
is drawn in the Tree Object Editor, but the tree itself is added with SCIL. The predefined methods
_ADD_ROOT_NODE, _ADD_NODE and _ADD_LEAF are used for this purpose. Some action
methods are also needed to define the behavior of the tree. The most often used action method is
_HANDLE_EXPAND_NODE. For more information about adding trees, see Section 7, SYS600
Visual SCIL Objects and SYS600 Programming Language SCIL.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-1AE12331-9844-4A7E-869A-8DEE3FC3AF5A V1 EN-US
Figure 81: An example of a tree

In the scrollbars area the Horizontal and Vertical options can be selected. Vertical is selected by
default, so a vertical scrollbar is placed in the tree. If Horizontal is selected, a horizontal scrollbar is
placed. In the Show Grid area the user can choose Horizontal and Vertical grids, which draw lines
between each row and column.
GUID-A1250B15-8FB5-44F8-AA17-C08A78CD5248 V1 EN-US
Figure 82: Define the special attributes related to the behavior of the tree
In the Options area, the following options can be selected:
• Auto-Scroll: Selected by default, so the user can move through a tree by dragging the pointer
to the edge of a tree view to see the items beyond the border.
• Traverse Wrap: Not selected by default, so the user cannot move backward and forward from
one end of the tree to the other.
• Keyboard Selection: Selected by default, so the user can select highlighted items in the tree by
pressing Enter.
• Keyboard Traversal: Selected by default, so the user can move through the tree by using the
arrow keys on the keyboard.

Other Dialog Items
9.8 Header and Header Item GUID-F60DDAB8-24AA-4E1B-9E81-200AB949B313 v1
These Visual SCIL objects can be used as a header for any kind of column based data. The usage of
these objects is based on both the VS_HEADER and the VS_HEADER_ITEM. A VS_HEADER is the
main object that can contain any number of VS_HEADER_ITEMs. The user interacts with the header
items and the programmer gets notification of the actions through the action methods of
VS_HEADER.
The VS_HEADER object is added from the Dialog menu in the Dialog Editor. The items have to be
created in a method. A suitable method to contain the creation statements of the items is the
CREATE method of the VS_HEADER object.
GUID-34911CB3-C137-49E0-8772-AC6246A0BFBD V1 EN-US
Figure 83: A VS_HEADER object with five VS_HEADER_ITEMs

The .create statements of the VS_HEADER_ITEMs placed in the CREATE method of the
VS_HEADER object is shown below.
@l_geo = THIS._geometry
@i_width = l_geo:VW
@i_count = 0
.set THIS._arrange_enabled = false
#loop_with i= 1..5;(%i_number_of_columns)
.create item_'i' = vs_header_item
.set item_'i'._min_width = 0
.set item_'i'._max_width = 100
.set item_'i'._title = "Item'i'"
.set item_'i'._width = trunc(%i_width/5)
#loop_end
@b_created = true
Rearranging the items is managed by the attribute _ARRANGE_ENABLED and resizing the items is
handled by the ITEM_RESIZED action method. A simple example of the ITEM_RESIZED action
method is listed below.
@i_index = argument(1)
@i_width = argument(2)
.set item_'i_index'._width = %i_width
Whenever the whole header has been resized the HEADER_RESIZED action method is called. This
action method can be used to adjust the items to the header.
For a complete list of predefined action methods and attributes of these objects, see SYS600 Visual
SCIL Objects.
9.9 Graph and Graph Legend GUID-65A95E93-8EBA-4C1E-A319-671FA7437FD8 v1
The Visual SCIL object Graph is capable of visually displaying numerical data in different types of
diagrams.
The available diagram types are:
• Plotted graph (line), see Figure 84.

• Area graph, see Figure 85.
• Bar graph, see Figure 86.
• Stacked bar graph, see Figure 87.
• Pie graph, see Figure 88.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-9BEF9F36-564F-4EFA-AB6B-EFC2D45A7182 V1 EN-US
Figure 84: An example of a plotted graph (line)
GUID-52D793E2-4589-46F4-8127-7B035C7F929F V1 EN-US
Figure 85: An example of an area graph
GUID-490CA2B2-E4BF-49D2-ADFA-68089E31D87B V1 EN-US
Figure 86: An example of a bar graph

Other Dialog Items
GUID-A97396E7-A1C2-402A-B9EE-A98D51925702 V1 EN-US
Figure 87: An example of a stacked bar graph
GUID-F697C56C-E6AC-4BF7-8BA1-6FE8054D5224 V1 EN-US
Figure 88: An example of a pie graph
GUID-8F3294CE-F899-46F5-A0A6-2AD468EC41FD V1 EN-US
Figure 89: An example of a graph combining plotted and bar graphs
9.9.1 Datasets and Points GUID-56030913-A23F-41D9-94D7-7A371A3FD5FC v1
The data that is displayed in the graph is called a Dataset. A graph can display several Datasets. The
individual values in the Dataset are called points.
9.9.2 Axis Annotation GUID-01E96DFD-5D29-4AB1-92EF-BB75D1078A20 v1
The X-axis is annotated differently depending on the type of the X-axis. There are two types of X-
axes used in graphing:

Other Dialog Items
• Continuous
• Discrete
A graph's X-axis is continuous when spacing variations between points along the axis are important
and discrete when spacing between the points are not important. For example, bar and stacking bar
graphs always have a discrete X-axis.
GUID-91DBCB29-3F87-49D2-9D01-07E24F8A7352 V1 EN-US
Figure 90: Terminology used in description of the VS_GRAPH object
9.9.3 Other Properties of the VS_GRAPH Object GUID-B04B9126-E3B0-42EF-8A86-4CD2AAD04029 v1
Lines as markers for limit values can be displayed in the graph. An arbitrary amount of limit values
can be assigned to either of the axes.
A rectangular area of the graph can be selected for zooming in on the data presented in the graph.
Hairlines can be moved horizontally over the graph. The intersection point between the graph and a
hairline can be retrieved with a specific method of the VS_GRAPH object. If the orientation of the
graph is inverted the hairline moves vertically.
For complete information on attributes and methods of the VS_GRAPH object, see SYS600 Visual
SCIL Objects.
9.9.4 Using the VS_GRAPH Object GUID-2A42BDA4-CE62-4791-B54A-CE837E197624 v1
When using the VS_GRAPH object, certain methods have to be executed in a given order. The
execution order of compulsory methods is:
1. Add X-axis
2. Set X-axis properties
3. Add Y-axis
4. Set Y-axis properties
5. Add dataset
6. Set dataset properties
7. Set dataset values
Each of these methods can be executed, for example, in the CREATE or INIT method of the
VS_GRAPH object.

Other Dialog Items
9.9.5 Example with VS_GRAPH Object GUID-A62BC9F7-27C5-49C3-A26D-E448075331E7 v1
In this example data is collected from a data object. The used data object registers the current from a
process object with 1 minute intervals and the RT attribute of the data object contains the time of
each registration. This data is plotted as current versus time using the VS_GRAPH object.
The compulsory methods of the VS_GRAPH object are called from the INIT method of the object. A
suitable range of values are read into a vector in a separate method, see Figure 91. Once the graph
is drawn, updating is done in a cyclical method. The graph itself is updated as well as the properties
of the X-axis. In case the Y-value would exceed the range on the Y-axis, its properties method could
be added to the cyclically executed method.
Flow chart:
GUID-3B30B2B4-0D99-4F80-8C2D-E6FB8113FF86 V1 EN-US
Figure 91: The execution order of essential methods in the example
GUID-375D4528-A62B-4B6C-8D6C-7A7D6E9931C7 V1 EN-US
Figure 92: The graph of the example

Program listing of essential methods in the example:
;INIT method of VS_GRAPH object

root.add_x_axis
root.set_x_axis_prop
root.add_y_axis
root.set_y_axis_prop

Other Dialog Items
root.add_data_set
root.set_data_set_properties
root.set_data_set_values
;add_x_axis method
gra_test._add_x_axis(1,"time","bottom",2,0)
;set_x_axis_prop method
@v_koord=.get_values
@v_xkoord=%v_koord(1)
@v_min_x=low(%v_koord(1))
@v_max_x=high(%v_koord(1))
@v_min_x(1)=%v_min_x(1)-((%v_min_x(1)) mod 3600)+2*3600
@v_max_x(1)=%v_max_x(1)-((%v_max_x(1)) mod 3600)+3600
@x_axis_prop_list=list( min=%v_min_x(1),-
max=%v_max_x(1),-
time_unit="SECONDS",-
time_format="%H:%M:%S",-
annotation_increment=3600,-
annotation_font=("M", 2),-
annotation_color="black",-
tick_increment=3600/6,-
axis_color="black",-
axis_title="Time",-
axis_title_font=("M", 1),-
axis_title_color="black",-
display_axis_title_enabled=TRUE,-
grid_mode="NONE",-
grid_line_width=1,-
grid_color="black",-
grid_line_style="SOLID")
gra_test._set_x_axis_properties(1, %x_axis_prop_list)
;add_y_axis method
gra_test._add_y_axis(2,"real", "bottom", 1,0)
;set_y_axis_prop
@v_ykoord=%v_koord(2)
@v_min_y=(low(%v_ykoord))
@v_max_y=high(%v_ykoord)
@y_axis_prop_list=list( min=trunc(%v_min_y(1))/1.0,-
max=%v_max_y(1),-
annotation_increment=5,-
annotation_font=("M",2),-
annotation_color="black",-
tick_increment=1,-
axis_color="black",-
axis_title="Current/A",-
axis_title_font=("M",1),-
axis_title_color="black",-
display_axis_title_enabled=TRUE,-
grid_mode="NONE",-
grid_line_width=1,-
grid_color="black",-
grid_line_style="SOLID")
gra_test._set_y_axis_properties(2, %y_axis_prop_list)
;add_data_set method
gra_test._add_data_set(1,1,2)
;set_data_set_prop method
@data_set_prop_list=list(graph_type="PLOT",-

Other Dialog Items
title="test",-
default_color="RED",-
show_line=TRUE,-
marker_shape="DOT",-
marker_color="BLACK",-
status_0_color="red",-
status_9_color="BLACK")
gra_test._set_data_set_properties(1,%data_set_prop_list)
;set_data_set_values method
@b_append=FALSE
@v_koord=vector()
gra_test._set_data_set_values(1,%v_koord(1),%v_koord(2),%b_append)
;get_values method
@v_xkoord(%I)=vector()
@v_ykoord(%I)=vector()
@I=0
@i_last_index=(ftu_trd1:dlr)
#loop_with j= (%i_last_index - 180)..%i_last_index
@I=%I+1
@v_xkoord(%I)=(ftu_trd1:drt'j')-3.0*3600
@v_ykoord(%I)=ftu_trd1:dov'j'
#LOOP_END
#return vector(%v_xkoord, %v_ykoord)
;update_graph method, cyclical 30 s

root.set_x_axis_prop
;root.set_y_axis_prop
;Uncomment prev line if y-val out of range
root.set_data_set_values
9.10 Table GUID-17FDDC2E-2985-47C8-AF9F-7CE8A76C1CDB v1
The VS_TABLE object is a two dimensional list of data that can have header information for each row
and/or each column of that list. Instances of the VS_TABLE class can be used to display output
information, like VS_LIST, but it can also be used to allow the user to enter new data or to modify
existing data.
An example of a VS_TABLE is shown in Figure 93.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-D7E3A96E-C7D7-4EE2-8CF1-12ED62471911 V1 EN-US
Figure 93: A simple VS_TABLE

The VS_TABLE object has about 50 attributes and 127 methods that allow developers maximal
functionality. Many of these entry points were designed to ease the process of customization.
9.10.1 Defining the Appearance of the VS_TABLE GUID-5BDC1125-8240-4C38-B7BF-41DEF7E92BC6 v1
To define the appearance of the VS_TABLE:
1. In the Text View tab of the VS_TABLE dialog, select both Horizontal and Vertical in the Scroll
Bars field.
By default, the check boxes are checked.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-8B044EA9-F092-4707-B429-B487FE19D273 V1 EN-US
Figure 94: Defining the appearance of the VS_TABLE

2. In the Show Grid field, select Horizontal and Vertical to draw lines between each row and
column.
3. In the Options field, select the options as necessary.
• Auto-Scroll enables the user to move through a list by dragging the pointer to the edge of
a table and see the items beyond the table border.
• Traverse Wrap is disabled for a table. It can be enabled through SCIL.
• Keyboard Selection enables the user to select highlighted items in the table by pressing
ENTER.
• Keyboard Traversal enables the user to move in the table using the arrow keys on the
keyboard.
• Column Header enables the user to have header to each column in the table.
• Row Header enables the user to have header to each row in the table.
• Column Resize enables the user to resize each column in the table.
• Row Resize enables the user to resize each row in the table.
9.10.2 Inserting and Removing Rows and Columns GUID-C901AAA2-5BB5-46FD-AF16-B7792B1C0428 v1
Rows and columns can be inserted and removed in the Table List tab of the VS_TABLE Editor
dialog.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-73BCBB9B-FC63-4E0B-863C-E3A1AC99ABA5 V1 EN-US
Figure 95: Inserting and removing rows and columns with the VS_TABLE Editor
To insert a new row, click Insert, and to remove a row, click Remove in the Row field. Insert and
remove columns in the same way.
The added rows and columns are marked with a row and column number in parentheses.
The maximum number of rows is 10 000, and the maximum number of columns is 500.
9.10.3 Inserting Text into Table Cells GUID-5C778650-BE25-4255-9623-E1E08E7BEBE3 v1
To insert text or other characters into a table cell manually:
1. Select the cell in the Table List tab of the VS_TABLE Editor dialog Figure 95.
2. Type the text in the String text input field, and press ENTER.
The new text can eb seen in the cell.
9.10.4 Specifying the Selection Method of Table Cells GUID-50212A28-6D95-4FCA-A3BF-B7A773A21E88 v1
To specify the selection method of table cells in the Table Item tab of the VS_TABLE Editor dialog,
select one of the following:
• None indicates that no cell can be chosen from a list.

• Only One indicates that no more than one cell can be selected.
• Free indicates that any cell or a combination of cells can be selected.
• Rectangular indicates that the cells are always selected by forming a rectangle of cells with the
mouse or keyboard keys.
At Least One Selection means that at least one cell in the list is always selected.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-900F1581-0993-454A-81CE-E0A789AA6912 V1 EN-US
Figure 96: Specifying cell selection method with the VS_TABLE Editor
9.10.5 VS_TABLE Common Concepts GUID-87643777-37FA-4579-8B65-C5420FAB5CAE v1
The VS_TABLE common concepts and their explanations are shown in Figure 97.
GUID-5861FA68-B8C1-4174-BE72-6ED2F3B68FC6 V1 EN-US
Figure 97: VS_TABLE common concepts and their relationships

Cell:
• Primary component, which is used to show user data.

• Has many programmable properties.
Row:
• Is used to define default properties for all cells in a given row.

Other Dialog Items
Column:
• Is used to define properties for all cells in a given column.
Row and column title:
• Is used to define properties for a given row or column title.
Row and column header:
• Is used to define default properties for all row or column titles.

• Is used to define default properties for all row or column groups.
Row and column group:
• Is used to visually group rows and columns together.

• Is used to define properties for a row or column group.
Value handler:
• A mechanism to allow user to change the data of a cell.
Edit object:
• Allows the user to change the data of a cell.

• Different kind of Visual SCIL objects can be assigned to individual cells, entire row or column.
View object:
• Used for viewing the input data from the user.

• Different kind of Visual SCIL objects can be assigned to individual cells, entire row or column.
9.10.6 Initialising VS_TABLE GUID-FB5E6E84-DACB-4826-8EE4-81D6C1476F2A v1
GUID-4BB7F445-BF14-43FF-B243-55131CEAFB70 V1 EN-US
Figure 98: Initialising the VS_TABLE properties

The simplest case requires only that a VS_TABLE is created and some sensible attribute values are
set. The following code shows an example of the creation of a simple VS_TABLE object with only the
most common attributes set:

Other Dialog Items
.create root\dlg=vs_dialog(_open=true)
.create root\dlg\table=vs_table()
.set root\dlg\table._column_count=100
.set root\dlg\table._row_count=100
root\dlg\table._set_column_title(1,"Column1")
root\dlg\table._set_column_width(1, 100)
A few points of interest demonstrated in the example code above:
• Line 2 creates a new instance of VS_TABLE.

• Lines 3 and 4 specify the number of columns and rows for this object.
• Line 5 and 6 specify the title for the first column as "Column1" with a width of 100.
9.10.7 Attribute Mechanism GUID-53ABE6C1-C5E5-4598-8DD4-E70CD990134B v1
Every cell, row, and column in the VS_TABLE object has a set of attributes associated with it that
describes the content and appearance. Since it is often so that the same attribute value applies to all
the cells in a given row or column, it is possible to specify, with a single call, an attribute value that
will be applied to all the cells. This method of assigning attributes leads to a natural hierarchy of
inheritance, which allows quite a lot of flexibility in programming. The diagram in Figure 99 illustrates
the order of inheritance and provides a SCIL example of how to supply attributes at each level.
GUID-65C70A73-0413-441B-B873-0A77E549CCCC V1 EN-US
Figure 99: Attribute Inheritance and some examples

This attribute inheritance is utilized throughout the VS_TABLE object, including the row and column
header attributes. VS_TABLE has methods to access the attribute values of specific cells, rows and
columns. These methods look backwards up the inheritance path until a valid value is found.
9.10.7.1 Clearing the Table GUID-CA312C8B-CA88-4341-835F-741C0F7DC433 v1
The easiest way to clear the context of the VS_TABLE is to set column and row count to zero. In this
case, the following attributes are initialized to their default values:
• When column count is set to 0:

default column title "Column: %d"
default column width 50

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.set root\dlg\table._COLUMN_DRAG_AND_DROP_ENABLED=FALSE
.set root\dlg\table._COLUMN_HEADER_RESIZABLE=TRUE
.set root\dlg\table._COLUMN_HEADER_SELECTABLE=TRUE
.set root\dlg\table._EXTEND_COLUMN_SELECTION_ENABLED=FALSE
.set root\dlg\table._HAS_COLUMN_HEADER = TRUE
.set root\dlg\table._SORTING_ENABLED=FALSE
• When row count is set to 0:
default row title "Row : %d"
default row height = to a font dependent value
_EXTEND_ROW_SELECTION_ENABLED=FALSE
_HAS_ROW_HEADER=TRUE
_ROW_DRAG_AND_DROP_ENABLED=FALSE
_ROW_HEADER_RESIZABLE=TRUE
_ROW_HEADER_SELECTABLE=TRUE
_SORTING_ENABLED=FALSE
_ROW_HEADER_WIDTH=25
9.10.8 Cells GUID-5EC8BE32-C32A-4C1C-A7A1-23B2A103A62E v2
The cell is one of the main concepts of the VS_TABLE object. It encapsulates the various attributes
associated with the cells of a VS_TABLE object.
Table 1: Basic cell attributes
Attribute Type Description

Background color Color The background color of the cell.
Font Font The font used when drawing the
value of the cell.
Foreground color Color The foreground color of the cell.
Justification Text DEFAULT_JUSTIFY,
CENTER_JUSTIFY, LEFT JUSTIFY,
RIGHT_JUSTIFY.
Object id Text User defined free text.
Read-only Boolean TRUE if the cell cannot be edited.
Text Text The value of the cell.
Value handler A value handler of the cell.
Several of the attributes in Table 1 affect the way the content of a cell is drawn. These are the
background color, foreground color, font, and justification attributes.
The value or content of a cell is a string that is stored in the text attribute. If it is necessary to store
additional information for a cell, there is an object id attribute that is text and can be used for this
purpose. By default, all cells are considered read only and cell text is an empty string.
9.10.9 Titles, Headers and Groups GUID-A043D0A6-70EF-46EF-B870-A6F1132F40E8 v1
9.10.9.1 Row and Column Headers GUID-1E726B80-061C-434A-A0E0-F4941D2EC5ED v1
VS_TABLE object supports row and column headers that give additional functionality to the overall
object. The headers are used to define common properties and behavior of all row or column titles.
They can be displayed or hidden from view. They can be marked as being selectable, which would
allow the user to select a title and have the respective row or column selected. It is also possible to
set the headers so that the user can interactively resize the rows and/or columns.

Other Dialog Items
9.10.9.2 Row and Column Titles GUID-05B43A08-1BAF-441E-BCA5-2A6E0A03B8B6 v1
It is usual that the default behavior of headers must be overridden for some column or row. Modifying
a row or column title one by one does this.
9.10.9.3 Multiple Lines of Text in a Title GUID-2CEE575D-E317-4E53-AC1A-A89AE18D42B4 v1
All titles have the special feature of being able to display multiple lines of text. Each line of the title is
subject to the current justification and font settings for that specific title.
To separate a title into multiple lines simply add new line characters to the string assigned to the title.
If a blank line is desired, at least one white-space character has to be added to the line due to a
limitation in the parsing routine. The VS_TABLE object will divide all the available height of the
header equally between all the lines in the title (see Figure 100).
An example of dividing the column title to multiple lines (see Figure 100):
._set_column_title(9,"Micro"+ASCII(10)+"SCADA"+ASCII(10)+"%d")
9.10.9.4 Automatic Numbering GUID-65FB6D36-0AF5-471B-ADBB-7B324D96D24F v1
The most common row title is the row number. There is a special case supported that allows the
current row number (one based) to be included in the row or column title without having to
specifically set a title for each row of the VS_TABLE object. In order to accomplish this automatic
numbering, include the characters "%d" somewhere in the title and assign the same string to all the
rows.
The default row title is "Row: %d" and the default column title is "Column: %d".
An example of automatic row numbering:
.set root\dlg\table._column_count==5
.set root\dlg\table._row_count=10
root\dlg\table._set_column_width(%currentRow, 100)
root\dlg\table._set_column_title(%currentRow,"MicroSCADA")
#loop_with currentRow = 1 .. root\\tbl._row_count
root\dlg\table._set_row_title(%currentRow,"My row %d")
#loop_end
9.10.9.5 Column and Row Groups GUID-53C07AAB-E461-4CFA-ACEF-503456BDEC23 v1
There are many situations where it is preferable to group several columns or rows together under a
single title. There can be many groups in many different levels.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-862930EB-2803-4210-A5F8-D844AD0B9116 V1 EN-US
Figure 100: A VS_TABLE with some column groups defined

Because SCIL does not have pointers, there must be some mechanism to set group's properties.
There is an indexing mechanism for accessing a given group. The table in Figure 100 has some
column groups, which are created as follows:
root\dlg\table._add_column_group(1,2,1)
root\dlg\table._set_column_group_title(1,1,"Level 1,Index 1")
root\dlg\table._set_column_group_title(1,2,"Level 1, Index 2")
A few points of interest demonstrated by the above code:
• Line 1 creates a column group at level 1, which contains columns [1..2]. This particular group is
at level 1, which means it will be displayed immediately above the normal column titles.
• Line 2 changes the column group title at level 1 index 1.
• Line 7 creates a column group, which will have a default column group title.
• Line 8 creates a column group at level 2, which contains columns [1..4].
• Line 12 creates a column group at level 3, which contains columns [1..8].
Due to the drawing and freezing reasons, there are some restrictions how a group can be defined. A
new group is not allowed to include a part of lower level group. For example, the following lines will
raise a SCIL error:

Other Dialog Items
._add_column_group(1,3,1)
Here is an example of how to access column groups and to change all background and foreground
colors at known level:
@level=1
#loop_with i = 1 .. root\dlg\table._get_column_group_count(%level)
root\dlg\table._set_column_group_foreground_color(%level,%i,"BLACK")
root\dlg\table._set_column_group_background_color(%level,%i,"RED")
#loop_end
Sorting is not possible when there are some groups defined.
9.10.9.6 Drag and Drop GUID-7B33ACCF-865F-49E2-9F41-DFB939DD204F v1
In VS_TABLE it is possible to allow the user to change the order of rows and/or columns. This can be
done using the following attributes:
• _COLUMN_DRAG_AND_DROP_ENABLED
• _ROW_DRAG_AND_DROP_ENABLED
By default, the drag and drop feature is disabled. When the drag and drop is enabled, for example,
for columns, the user can do the drag and drop function with the mouse:
1. Move the mouse pointer over a column title or column group title.
2. Click down the left mouse button, the cursor changes.
3. Keep the mouse button down and move the column or column group to the new position.
If the column or row is inside a group, it can be dragged and dropped only inside of the
group. If the column or row group is inside a higher level group, it can be dragged and
dropped only inside of the higher level group
9.10.10 Introducing Editing Capabilities GUID-FAA304E5-7A92-454A-B070-8D82A138C6EB v1
One of the most powerful features of the VS_TABLE object is the ability to edit the values of the cells
directly. In order to make a cell directly editable, it needs to be assigned a value handler and to have
its read only attribute set to FALSE.
There is one predefined edit type included in the VS_TABLE object. There are also a few methods
that can be used to define more complicated value handlers.
See Section 9.10.13 for more details on how to make cells editable.
9.10.11 Action Methods GUID-437DA5A0-438C-4F18-B06B-5C661E76C268 v1
There are several action methods, which can be programmed to react to user actions. See Section
9.10.14 to see the execution order of some of these methods. See also SYS600 Visual SCIL Objects
for detailed descriptions.
9.10.11.1 CELL_EDITING_ACCEPTED GUID-B510B611-2B69-43F9-8CEA-395FC251ADB7 v1
This action method is executed whenever the user has accepted a new value of an edited cell.

Other Dialog Items
9.10.11.2 CELL_EDITING_CANCELLED GUID-31E69A94-BB30-43BF-827E-5326189332C7 v1
This action method is executed whenever the user cancels the editing of a cell.
9.10.11.3 CELL_EDITING_STARTED GUID-AFDD5185-4315-4ACC-8AA0-561EED42C9FC v1
This action method is executed whenever the user is starting the editing of a cell.
9.10.11.4 COLUMN_TITLE_CLICKED GUID-598BC276-D476-4C12-B0C6-EDA0C0EC290B v1
This method is executed whenever the user clicks on the column title.
9.10.11.5 COLUMN_TITLE_DOUBLE_CLICKED GUID-BBECAC13-71CB-41DB-996F-57DF63E3D8C5 v1
This method is executed whenever the user double clicks on the column title.
9.10.11.6 DRAGGED_AND_DROPPED GUID-9C311977-5C89-4477-94D0-B834DD3B7DA3 v1
This method is executed whenever the user has dragged and dropped a column/row or multiple
columns/rows.
9.10.11.7 FOCUSED_CELL_CHANGED GUID-5064F4F5-EA11-41AA-8BD3-191967797ADE v1
This action method is executed whenever the user has changed the focused cell with mouse or
arrow keys.
9.10.11.8 SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED GUID-8B2005F4-074C-4645-B473-9F06DBCC6428 v1
This action method is executed whenever the selection is going to change, is changing and has
changed.
9.10.11.9 TOOLTIP_IS_SHOWN GUID-9AB3E7D3-E936-445E-8C9D-C13333B040F4 v1
This action method is executed whenever a tooltip is shown over the dialog item.
9.10.12 Miscellaneous Features GUID-1490B346-0191-4988-821F-453025AA664D v1
9.10.12.1 Column Freezing GUID-3394B537-55AC-4083-BB3B-AFAAA6CA1AFD v1
It is possible to freeze a range of columns. Frozen column is always at the visible area of the table.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-0907A960-123A-42EB-8F5F-D60E4A2FA725 V1 EN-US
Figure 101: A VS_TABLE with three frozen columns

Example:
._freeze_columns(3)
A valid range of columns can be frozen [1..user specific]. If a column group is needed,
only one whole column group in level 1 is accepted, otherwise a SCIL error is raised.
An example using a column group:
.set root\\table._column_count=10
.set root\\table._row_count=10
root\\table._add_column_group(1,4)
root\\table._set_column_group_title(1,1,"Frozen Columns")
root\\table._freeze_columns(4)
9.10.12.2 Drawing border GUID-CAFBF810-AE75-4D0F-8E0D-F4961CC57623 v1
VS_TABLE can be viewed with and without border. The viewing of borders is defined with the
_HAS_BORDER attribute.
By default, this feature is enabled.
There is no GUI support for this attribute.

Other Dialog Items
9.10.12.3 Grabbing hand GUID-0BDA0EBE-6EF7-4D06-84F5-E2CF87F26464 v1
In VS_TABLE it is possible to have a grabbing feature on the table view at runtime.
The feature can be obtained using the _GRABBING_HAND_ENABLED attribute.
By default this feature is disabled. When the attribute is set to 1, the feature is available.
Once this feature is enabled, any cell in the table cannot be selected.
9.10.12.4 Sorting GUID-DF05AC68-5514-4CD6-90A5-57EC98262701 v1
Sorting is based on cell texts. If the cell does not contain any text, it is assumed that the text is an
empty string. There are two possible ways to sort a table:
• Windows Explorer like behavior

• Defining _SORT_CRITERIA attribute
With the Windows NT Explorer like behavior, the programmer enables sorting for the table and for
the column. The user can double-click the column title to sort the current column, first it will be in
ascending order. If the user double-clicks again, it will be in descending order. This behavior affects
the _SORT_CRITERIA attribute.
.set ._sorting_enabled=TRUE
._set_column_sorting(1,TRUE)
By defining the _SORT_CRITERIA attribute, the table has an attribute called _SORT_CRITERIA,
which is an ordered vector containing vectors of column index and sort order. Defining the
_SORT_CRITERIA will override previous sorting properties.
@criteriaVect=vector(vector(1,"ASCENDING"),-
vector(4,"ASCENDING"),vector(3,"DESCENDING"))
.set ._sort_criteria=%criteriaVect
._sort
A few points of interest demonstrated by the code above:
• line 1 defines a vector to be used as a sort criteria. In this case, the most significant key for
sorting is column one, which will be sorted in ascending order. The second key for sorting is the
column four, which will be sorted in ascending order too. And the third key for sorting is the
column three, which will be sorted in descending order.
• line 3 executes the actual sorting
The previous code is shorter version of:
@criteriaVect=vector(vector(1,"ASCENDING"),-
vector(4,"ASCENDING"),vector(3,"DESCENDING"))
.set ._sort_criteria=%criteriaVect
._sort
The sorting is not possible when some groups are defined.

Other Dialog Items
9.10.12.5 Sorting Arrow GUID-6ABC18FE-EA09-4FE1-9150-7085B88560BE v1
Sorting for VS_TABLE sorts the complete table based the column whose header is double clicked on
and there will be UP/DOWN arrow image indication to denote whether table is sorted based on
ascending/descending sort i.e. UP arrow will be drawn to indicate ascending sort and DOWN
arrow to indicate descending sort. And this visibility of UP/DOWN arrow can be controlled by the
attribute _SORT_ARROW_VISIBLE which can take input values of either TRUE or FALSE, setting
this attribute TRUE will display the arrow image and setting the same to FALSE will not display any
arrow image.
9.10.13 Value Handler GUID-8CD463D2-7FAE-4932-9B38-CCE51941F2FF v1
The value handler is what enables the cells of the VS_TABLE object to be edited. It is serving as the
foundation for user defined value handlers. Message flows are described in Section 9.10.14.
9.10.13.1 Action Methods GUID-2D79E5BC-538E-442B-9B19-505B6D6FEF69 v1
For Visual SCIL Objects there are several action methods and action attributes for handling
communication between the VS_TABLE and the user defined edit object or view object. There is a
need for these action methods since the VS_TABLE handles only text strings (see
_GET_CELL_TEXT_RANGE, _GET_CELL_TEXT, _SET_CELL_TEXT_RANGE and
_SET_CELL_TEXT). The table needs text strings and that is why there must be a way to
communicate with more complicated value handlers.
9.10.13.2 GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT GUID-1483CD51-D1A6-4056-B699-5398F7350874 v1
This action method is executed whenever the table needs a value from an edit object, and before the
edit object of the cell is closed, the CELL_EDITING_ACCEPTED action method. This function can be
used, for example, to convert an internal edit object value to text value, which is stored in the cell.
GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT is called with two parameters: ROW and COLUMN of the current cell. This
action method should return a text string.
9.10.13.3 GET_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT GUID-32797885-143E-4F12-A410-8B5A16D29EA1 v1
This action method is executed whenever the table needs the value for the view object of the current
cell, for example when the view object is drawn into the cell. This function can be used, for example,
to convert edit object value of the cell into the text value of the cell.
9.10.13.4 UPDATE_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT GUID-73CBB025-97E7-4563-87D7-F923B4E34276 v1
This action method is executed whenever the edit object of the cell needs a value to be shown, and
before the editing of the cell is started (after the CELL_EDITING_STARTED action method). This
action method has three parameters: ROW and COLUMN of the cell and TEXT of the cell. This
action method could be used to convert the text value of the view object into the edit object value.
9.10.13.5 UPDATE_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT GUID-101C67EC-DAFF-4E9D-9E2D-234D7901885E v1
This action method is executed whenever the table needs a value for the view object, and before the
view object of the cell is drawn. This function can be used, for example, to convert the text value of
the cell into the current value of the view object. This action method has three parameters: ROW,
COLUMN and TEXT of the cell.

Other Dialog Items
9.10.13.6 Action Attributes GUID-0D42720E-21EC-402A-AFD5-C89E38777B52 v1
9.10.13.7 _GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT GUID-29F4DF3A-A137-4C17-A123-68A3A58A9963 v1
Setting of this attribute specifies the action method GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT.
9.10.13.8 _GET_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT GUID-8E7912E8-1F35-491C-8F5E-AF17DF3FBD47 v1
Setting of this attribute specifies the action method GET_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT.
9.10.13.9 _UPDATE_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT GUID-10855A8F-C3DF-4639-AD8F-98B29FCE3ABE v1
Setting of this attribute specifies the action method UPDATE_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT.
9.10.13.10 _UPDATE_VIEW_TEXT GUID-11CA4537-E623-44CA-9932-3559E589C861 v1
Setting of this attribute specifies the action method UPDATE_TABLE_VIEW_TEXT.
9.10.13.11 Restrictions GUID-B551520F-F138-4DD6-9980-1D53CF391902 v1
The following objects can be used as edit or view objects:
• VS_BOX
• VS_BUTTON
• VS_CHECK_BOX
• VS_COMBO_POPDOWN
• VS_CONTAINER
• VS_ICON_VIEW
• VS_LIST
• VS_NUMERIC_SPINNER
• VS_OPTION_BUTTON
• VS_PALETTE
• VS_TEXT
• VS_TEXT_SPINNER
Known limitations:
• The cell should not contain an object that has a scrollbar enabled, because the scrollbar may be
drawn incorrectly (VS_COMBO_POPDOWN can be used because it may have a scrollbar on its
pop-up window rather than on the parent table space.)
• Setting, for example colors, fonts and geometry for a view or an edit object is ignored. The table
will set them, for example _SET_COLUMN_BACKGROUND_COLOR.
• Edit and view objects must be created or loaded as childs of an ancestor object of the table in
the objects tree.
• If a sufficient time is passed between creating/loading the object and setting it as value handler,
the object should be made invisible and disabled (if it is not expected to appear on the dialog
and take mouse and keyboard events).
• One object can be set as edit or view object for only one cell, row or column.
• After the object has been set as value handler it cannot be deleted by SCIL .DELETE command
before the table is deleted.
If a big table would be used defining a value handler for every cell would use a lot of
memory. So it is more preferable to use _SET_COLUMN_VALUE_HANDLER or
_SET_ROW_VALUE_HANDLER, if possible. In this case, the table will use only one
value handler for the whole column or row.

Other Dialog Items
9.10.13.12 Examples GUID-C0F73FEC-8179-4369-BB99-26FE903244FF v1
9.10.13.13 Example 1 GUID-3E599576-FEB8-4E65-BE2C-515AD2A5C9CB v1
This example uses a VS_COMBO_POPDOWN as an edit item for the column 1. The view object can
be NULL. In this case, the table needs the text string to be saved into the cell. The programmer must
define the action methods for the edit object.
.load root\a=vs_combo_popdown(._source_file_name,"edit1_object")
mytable._set_column_value_handler(1, "", "root\a")
Code for GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT:
#if ._selected_index==0 #then #return ""

#else #return ._text
Code for SET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT:
@txt_cell=argument(3)
#if %txt_cell=="" #then .set ._selected_index=1
#else .set ._text=%txt_cell
9.10.13.14 Example 2 GUID-E29DD657-865D-47F8-A958-54A997538A49 v1
To show an image in the cell, define a VS_BOX as a view object and for example a
VS_COMBO_POPDOWN, VS_TEXT or VS_TEXT_SPINNER as an edit object.
.load root\viewObjcet=vs_box(._source_file_name,"view_object")
.load root\editObject=vs_text_spinner(._source_file_name,- "edit_object")
root\editObject._set_text_at(1,"Image1")
mytable._set_column_value_handler(2,"root\viewObject",-"root\editObject")
.load root\image1=vs_image(._source_file_name,"image1")
.load root\image2=vs_image(._source_file_namme,"image2")
.load root\image3=vs_image(._source_file_name,"image3")
Code for VS_TEXT_SPINNER action method GET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT:
#return ._text
Code for VS_TEXT_SPINNER action method SET_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT:
@text=argument(3)
#if %text=="" #then ._select_text_at(1)
#else ._select_text(%text)
Code for VS_BOX action method UPDATE_TABLE_EDIT_TEXT:
@imageName=argument(3)
#if %text<>"" #then #block
.set ._image="root\\"+%imageName
#block_end
#else .set ._image="root\\image1"
9.10.14 Message Flows GUID-7793BA56-E507-4519-B53F-4A7600BB64EA v1
It is appropriate to understand the sequence of execution of the action methods. In the following
figures, the UML 1.1 notation for sequence diagrams has been used to describe the message flows.
In message names, SCIL has been used as a programming language.

Other Dialog Items
GUID-90ADE909-DFA1-4A72-A211-E1A0D7003388 V1 EN-US
Figure 102: The user is starting the editing of the cell
GUID-5A492E04-0281-4980-A701-899DA85DB91F V1 EN-US
Figure 103: The user has cancelled the editing of the cell

Other Dialog Items
GUID-1E22F3B2-158E-4B93-A6E2-B05314FE86A8 V1 EN-US
Figure 104: The user has accepted a new value for the cell
GUID-44AFEA7E-83CC-4287-967A-34B84095C88A V1 EN-US
Figure 105: Redrawing the VS_TABLE
9.10.14.1 Selection Handling GUID-60CB4250-EC56-4523-B55E-988AD2BC0832 v1
Message order is different depending on whether the selection is done with mouse or keyboard. The
programmer could ignore calls for _SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED, if the argument value is 1 or 2.
Example code for _SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED action method:
@arg=argument(1)
#if %arg==3 #then #block
; in this case the selection has changed
; and it can be checked with _SELECTED_CELLS
#block_end
A case when a cell is selected with keyboard:

Other Dialog Items
• FOCUSED_CELL_CHANGED (cell to be focused)

• SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED (1)
• SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED(3)
A case when only one cell is selected with mouse:
• SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED (1)
• FOCUSED_CELL_CHANGED(cell to be focused)
• SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED(3)
A case when multiple cells are selected with mouse:
• _SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED (1)
• Multiple times _SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED(2)
• _FOCUSED_CELL_ CHANGED(cell to be focused)
• _SELECTION_HAS_CHANGED(3)
9.10.15 SCIL Exceptions GUID-CFCA9491-BCC9-4C78-B0D1-3E9F6681D9AF v1
Table 2 and Table 3 contain some conditions that generate SCIL exceptions.
Table 2: Attributes and their conditions that generate SCIL exceptions
Attribute name Condition

_COLUMN_COUNT When setting: column count>=0 and column count<=
maximum column count.
_FOCUSED_CELL When setting: given row and column has valid values.
_ROW_COUNT When setting: row count>=0 and row count<=maximum
row count.
_SORTING_ENABLED When enabling: row count >0.
Table 3: Methods and their conditions that generate SCIL exceptions
Method name Condition

_SET_CELL_VALUE_HANDLER Given row and column has valid value, view object and
edit object are right type of Visual SCIL object.
_SET_COLUMN_VALUE_HANDLER Given column has valid value, view object and edit object
are right type of Visual SCIL object.
_SET_ROW_VALUE_HANDLER Given row has valid value, view object and edit object
are right type of Visual SCIL object.
_SET_CELL_TEXT _SET_CELL_TEXT_RANGE New row or column count exceeds the maximum column
or row count.
All other _GET_CELL and _SET_CELL methods Given row and column has valid values.
All other _GET_COLUMN and _SET_COLUMN methods Given column has valid value.
All other _GET_ROW and _SET_ROW methods Given row has valid value.
_FREEZE_COLUMNS Frozen column range does not occupy entire group.
_ADD_COLUMN_GROUP _ADD_ROW_GROUP Incorrect group parameters: start or end column,
overlapping groups.
_ADD_COLUMNS Incorrect start number or column count.
_ADD_ROWS Incorrect start number or row count.
_DELETE_COLUMNS Incorrect start or end number.
Table continues on next page

Other Dialog Items
Method name Condition

_DELETE_ROWS Incorrect start or end number.
All _GET_COLUMN_GROUP and Column group not found.
_SET_COLUMN_GROUP methods
All _GET_ROW_GROUP and _SET_ROW_GROUP Row group not found.
methods

Image Editor
Section 10 Image Editor GUID-92DDE4B9-90F1-47F7-B36E-B9C7EA270A06 v1
10.1 About this Section GUID-F1AC03C9-BC81-440C-92C6-7C69274F1A05 v1
This section describes how to use the Image Editor, for example how to add or edit an image for an
icon or a cursor.
10.2 General GUID-DBF99CA8-FF7E-4241-8F78-A18D54621A6E v1
Images can be drawn as image objects and stored in a file. They can also be drawn directly on an
object (boxes, containers and buttons). Images can be added for all types of dialog items. They are
an important part of image domain, icon view and cursor items. The user can also add an object of
type Image in the Object List. In the Image Editor the user can edit, add, export or import images.
Supported image formats are GIF, PGM, PPM, PBM, ICO, DIB and BMP.
GUID-5423ACC4-DA3A-4B6C-BAFB-18E67B72599F V1 EN-US
Figure 106: The Image Editor
10.3 Size of the Drawing Area GUID-1A99F3E2-B577-43D5-A6F4-4A429D559469 v1
When an object of type Image has been added and entered into Image Editor, the drawing area is
very small. The default height and width are ten pixels.
To resize the drawing area:
1. Choose Set Size from the Image menu.

2. In the dialog box that appears type the width and height you want to use.
3. Click OK.

Image Editor
10.4 Drawing an Image GUID-D67BD147-F8A0-4006-8181-680330C475D7 v1
Add and edit images with the toolbox tools. To draw an image:
1. Click the desired tool to be used.

2. Point to the drawing area.
3. Click or drag the mouse to make the desired image.
10.5 Toolbox GUID-948CE311-5D93-411A-B416-E3B26095BE14 v2
The tools are described in the same order as they appear in the toolbox.
Hand: Moves the visible part of the image when an oversize image is in the drawing area. Select and
drag the oversize image with the Hand Tool to its new position.
Dropper: Replaces the foreground color with a color that is selected from the image. Click any color
in the drawing area to pick up that color. The selected color is displayed in the Color Palette and the
Foreground Color Box. To pick up a background color, hold down the CTRL key while clicking the
Dropper.
Selection: Selects a rectangular area. Select the area by clicking the Selection tool and holding the
mouse button down while dragging the pointer from one corner of the area to the opposite corner. To
select the whole drawing area, double-click the tool.
Lasso: Selects an area, which does not have to be rectangular. Choose the area by clicking the
Lasso tool and then holding the mouse button down while dragging the pointer from the beginning
point of the area to the end point.
Fill: Fills an area with the Foreground color.
Spray Can: Draws with the Foreground color using a spray pattern.
Eraser: Erases the image. Drag the eraser over the area you want to erase. Press the SHIFT key
before erasing to constrain the tool horizontally or vertically. To erase the whole drawing area, click
the drawing area and then double-click the eraser.
Text: Allows the user to type text and place it in the image. Click the Text tool and then the drawing
area. The dialog box shown in Figure 107 appears. Type the text and click OK. Once OK is clicked,
the text cannot be edited. To change the text, delete the old text and type the new text from scratch.
The text entered earlier can be removed using Edit/Undo menu command. The font style can be
changed by choosing Set Font from the Tool menu. For more information on using the Font Chooser,
see Section 7.
GUID-F0A8D288-E08B-4DE7-ACDE-135AFCEA5FFB V1 EN-US
Figure 107: In this dialog box type the text you want to insert
Pencil: Draws one pixel at the time, using the Foreground color by default.
Line: Draws straight lines. Hold the SHIFT key down during the dragging to constrain the line
horizontally, vertically or to a 45-degree angle.

Image Editor
Ellipse: Draws an ellipse. Hold the SHIFT key down during dragging to form a circle.
Filled Ellipse: Draws an ellipse filled with foreground color. Hold the SHIFT key down during
dragging to form a filled circle.
Rectangle: Draws a rectangle. Hold SHIFT down during dragging to form a square.
Filled Rectangle: Draws a rectangle filled with the Foreground color. Hold the SHIFT key down
during dragging to form a filled square.
10.6 Editing an Image GUID-8CD31120-A6EF-4EA6-BBBD-F92015A56CA5 v2
To use special edit functions:
1. Select the area to be edited with the Selection Tool or Lasso Tool.
2. Choose the desired edit function. Move the area by selecting the Hand tool or copy by using
Cut, Copy and Paste functions from the Edit menu. Change the orientation of the area by using
Rotate, Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical functions. Rotation rotates the selection 90 degrees.
Flip Horizontal mirrors the area horizontally and Flip Vertical mirrors the area vertically. It is
also possible to limit the image to a selected area by using the Crop to Selection function.
Choose these functions from the Edit menu.
10.7 Preview of an Image GUID-40FB8D20-90B9-492F-A943-BB9148A9C981 v1
To see the preview of the image, choose Preview from the View menu. The image is displayed as
the users see it. The effect of changes as they are made can also be seen.
10.8 Saving Images GUID-E391D500-BB70-4E09-B45F-C7F661F7527C v1
When the Image Editor is closed, all changes are propagated to the image. Abandon changes by
using the Edit/Undo menu command or by closing the edited VSO file without saving.
10.9 Importing and Exporting Images GUID-63E3203C-6E94-44FA-83BB-DA762EB8275F v1
Image formats that are supported are GIF, PGM, PPM, PBM, ICO, DIB and BMP. To import an
image:
1. Choose Import from the Image menu. The Open dialog box appears.
2. Select the correct file name extension for the image format being imported. The Open dialog
box lists only directories and files with the specified file name extension.
3. Select the file name of the image being imported.
4. Click OK. The image appears in the drawing area. Imported images can be edited in the Image
Editor. If the entire image is not visible, choose Preview from the View menu.
To export an image:
1. Choose Export from the Image menu. A dialog box appears.

2. Enter the filename and location for the image. The default format is GIF, which can also be
changed. Click OK.

Image Editor
10.10 Color Setting GUID-224D338D-BB8A-4F98-AB35-BA9A3657E426 v1
The Foreground and Background colors can be selected in several ways. One way of doing it is as
follows:
1. To select the Foreground color, click a color in the Color Palette. The color is displayed in the
Foreground Color Box.
2. To select the Background color, hold the CRTL key down while clicking a color in the Color
Palette. The color is displayed in the Background Color Box.
The colors in the Color Palette are edited in the Color Palette Editor. To change the Color Palette:
1. Open the Color Palette Editor by choosing Edit Colors from the Options menu. The editor
shown in Figure 108 appears with the current Color Palette.
2. Click one of the default color palettes from the Palettes menu. The default palettes are rainbow,
pastels, earthtones, hues16 and EGA palettes.
3. Click Install. The chosen color palette is used in the Image Editor, which appears on screen
again.
GUID-D711D4D3-D051-4E48-9CE7-C6159194C97C V1 EN-US
Figure 108: The Color Palette Editor, where you can choose the Color Palette you want to use
in the Image Editor.
10.11 Line Width Setting GUID-29AB5FCC-BC9F-44A8-A4FF-5B71DE202759 v1
The line width that is used for drawing is chosen from the Line Width Palette. Line Tool, Ellipse Tool
and Rectangle Tool use the line width chosen in the palette. To select a line width, click it in the
palette.

Image Editor
10.12 Image Transparency GUID-558D3692-3DC8-496B-8142-855434B5F134 v1
A transparency is a mask of an image. The areas of a transparency that are not white are masked
out in the image.
To add a transparency for an image:
1. Choose Add Transparency from the Options Menu. The transparency editing area appears.
2. Select the area of the original image to be masked.
3. Choose Mask Selection from the Edit menu. The chosen area is shown masked on the
transparency editing area. The mask can be edited. Note that the Foreground and Background
colors cannot be changed, they are always black and white.
To remove transparency, choose Delete Transparency from the Options menu.
10.13 The Cursor Editor GUID-6A09D74C-40AB-4E87-B8B9-548A1F399C6D v1
The Cursor Editor is used to add cursors for dialog items. The cursor is drawn in the left drawing
area. Use the center drawing area to define the hot spot for the cursor. The hot spot is reshown as a
specially colored part. Use the drawing area on the right to add a mask for the cursor. A mask must
be specified to make a cursor visible in an application.
From the Cursor menu, choose Try Cursor. A copy of your cursor appears. Choose Try Cursor
again to return to the normal cursor.

134
1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A Index
Index
A Copying (continued)
Abandon Item.................................................. 76 Object List............................................. 55
Adding Creating
Dialog Items.......................................... 55 File.........................................................45
Image.................................................. 130 Cursor..............................................................62
Menu..................................................... 81 Cursor Editor................................................. 133
Menubar................................................ 81 D
Methods.................................................64 Default Focus Item.......................................... 76
Objects in Object Editors.......................55 Defining Objects.............................................. 59
Objects in the Object List...................... 52 Deleting..................................................... 55, 58
Template................................................51 Methods.................................................64
Aligning............................................................57 Text ID................................................... 66
Area graph.....................................................102 Destination.......................................................73
At Least One Selection....................................87 Dialog item.......................................................44
Attribute Inheritance Layers....................................................58
VS_TABLE...........................................114 Dialogs.............................................................76
Auto Calculate Widths..................................... 87 Distribute......................................................... 57
Automatic numbering.....................................116 Drag Lock........................................................ 72
B Drawing......................................................... 130
Background Color............................................60 Dropper..........................................................130
Bar graph.......................................................102 Duplicate
Border........................................................63, 77 Object Editor..........................................57
Box.................................................................. 99 Object List............................................. 55
Breaking File Lock........................................... 49 E
Button.............................................................. 91 Editing
C Image.................................................. 131
Cell.................................................................115 EDIT TYPE.................................................... 118
Cell attributes.................................................115 Ellipse............................................................ 131
Check Box....................................................... 92 Enabled........................................................... 63
Circle............................................................. 131 Entering Dialog Editor......................................41
Clearing........................................................... 58 Eraser............................................................ 130
Click Focusable............................................... 63 Exporting Image............................................ 131
Closing Dialog Editor....................................... 41 F
Closing File Chooser path selection modes................. 49
File.........................................................50 File
Color Chooser................................................. 60 Closing.................................................. 50
Color Methods................................................. 61 Creating.................................................45
Color Palette Editor....................................... 132 Opening.................................................49
Color Saving................................................... 50
Saving................................................... 61 File History Length...........................................49
Color Setting..................................................132 File Lock.......................................................... 49
Colors Fill.................................................................. 130
Connections.......................................... 66 Filled Ellipse.................................................. 131
Setting................................................... 60 Filled Rectangle.............................................131
Column Freezing........................................... 119 Fixed Base
Column groups.............................................. 116 Inside Connections................................72
Combo............................................................. 94 Outside Connections............................. 67
Combo Popdown............................................. 94 Fixed Length
Common concepts.........................................112 Outside Connections............................. 67
Confirm Item.................................................... 76 Flat Keyboard Traversal.................................. 80
Connections.....................................................66 Focusable........................................................ 63
Colors.................................................... 66 Folio.................................................................79
Destination............................................ 73 Folio Justification............................................. 79
Source................................................... 73 Font Chooser...................................................61
Connection Types Font Setting..................................................... 61
Changing............................................... 69 Foreground Color............................................ 60
Inside Connections................................72
Outside Connections............................. 67 G
Container......................................................... 80 Geometry Management...................................66
Container Attributes.........................................80 Groups........................................................... 116
Control values..................................................93 H
Copy................................................................ 55
Copying Hand.............................................................. 130
Object Editor..........................................57 Handles........................................................... 56

Index 1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A
Headers......................................................... 115 New Languages...............................................65

Notebook Page..........................................77, 78
I Notebooks....................................................... 77
Icon..................................................................62 Notice Dialogs................................................. 65
Iconifiable........................................................ 77 Numeric Spinner..............................................95
Icon View................................................. 83, 100
Image...............................................................62 O
Adding................................................. 130 Object List........................................................54
Importing and Exporting...................... 131 Opening a read-only VSO file..........................49
Image Domain............................................... 100 Opening
Image Editor.................................................. 129 File.........................................................49
Image Mask..................................................... 63 Option Button...................................................93
Image Text..................................................... 130 Outside Connections....................................... 66
Image Transparency......................................133 P
Importing Image.............................................131
Increment.........................................................93 Page................................................................ 93
Inserting Page Buttons................................................... 79
New Languages.................................... 65 Pages Wrap.....................................................79
Picture................................................... 83 Palette............................................................. 91
Inside Connections.......................................... 66 Path selection modes...................................... 49
Items order...................................................... 75 Pencil.............................................................130
Picture Container.............................................83
L Picture
Label................................................................85 Inserting.................................................83
Language Dependent Text.............................. 65 Pie graph....................................................... 102
Inserting text ID..................................... 60 Plotted graph................................................. 102
Language Support........................................... 65 Position............................................................60
Lasso............................................................. 130 Preview of an Image......................................131
Line........................................................100, 130 Q
Line Width in Image Editor............................ 132
List................................................................... 85 Quit.................................................................. 41
List Item Page..................................................87 R
List View Page.................................................85 Read-only file...................................................49
Location........................................................... 60 Rectangle...................................................... 131
Locked Fixed Length....................................... 67 Redo................................................................ 52
M Removing........................................................ 58
Main Dialogs....................................................76 Renaming
Make pages visible to SCIL............................. 79 Methods.................................................64
Mask Selection.............................................. 133 Objects in the Object List...................... 54
Max..................................................................93 Text ID................................................... 66
Maximizable.....................................................77 Replacing.........................................................58
Menubar Resizable.........................................................77
Adding................................................... 81 Resizing...........................................................56
Menu Item........................................................82 Row groups....................................................116
Menus........................................................41, 81 S
Adding................................................... 81 Save................................................................ 50
Main Dialog........................................... 41 Save As........................................................... 50
Object Editor..........................................42 Saving
Object List............................................. 42 Color......................................................61
Method Scroll Bar......................................................... 98
Properties.............................................. 64 Scroll Bars
Methods Container and Picture Container........... 80
Adding................................................... 64 Select All..........................................................56
Defining................................................. 63 Selecting
Deleting................................................. 64 Dialog Items.......................................... 56
Renaming.............................................. 64 Selection........................................................130
Min...................................................................93 By keyboard........................................ 126
Mnemonic Keys............................................... 60 By mouse............................................ 126
Modal...............................................................77 Selection Handling.........................................126
Movable........................................................... 77 Separator Menu Item.......................................82
Moving............................................................. 57 SetColumnCount........................................... 120
Multiple lines of text....................................... 116 Set Size......................................................... 129
N Size............................................................56, 60
Name............................................................... 59 Slider............................................................... 99
Natural Base Source............................................................. 73
Inside Connections................................72 Spinner Page.............................................92, 95
Outside Connections............................. 67 Spray Can......................................................130
Natural Length Spring
Outside Connections............................. 67 Outside Connections............................. 67

1MRK 511 668-UEN Rev. A Index
Square........................................................... 131
Stacked bar graph......................................... 102
stdlang.vso...................................................... 65
Strech.............................................................. 72
String List Page............................................... 86
Style Chooser.................................................. 91
Submenu Item................................................. 82
T
Tabs................................................................. 79
Tab Set Buttons Centered............................... 79
Tab Set Buttons Placement............................. 79
Tab Set Partial Tabs.........................................79
Tab Side...........................................................79
Tab Style..........................................................79
Template
Adding................................................... 51
Using..................................................... 51
Testing
Menu..................................................... 83
Text.......................................................... 88, 130
Text Editor..................................................85, 88
TEXT ID...........................................................65
Inserting Translations............................ 65
Text Spinner.....................................................97
The Order Items Page..................................... 75
Title.......................................................... 60, 116
Toggle Menu Item............................................ 82
Translating Text............................................... 65
Tree............................................................... 100
U
Unclosable.......................................................77
Undo................................................................ 52
Update............................................................. 51
User Templates..........................................45, 51
V
Value................................................................93
Value handler.................................................122
Value handlers limitations (VS_TABLE)........ 123
Vertical.............................................................93
Vertical Tabs.................................................... 79
View Object Tree............................................. 53
Visible.............................................................. 63
VS_TABLE.....................................................108
W
Window Page.................................................. 76
Wrap................................................................ 96
Z
Zero Length..................................................... 67

138
139
Hitachi Energy Finland Oy
Grid Automation
PL 688
65101 Vaasa, Finland
https://hitachienergy.com/microscadax Scan this QR code to visit our website

1MRK 511 668-UEN
© 2023 Hitachi Energy.

All rights reserved.

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MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.

© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.

Section 3 Visual SCIL overview...................................................................................13

Section 4 Designing Dialog Systems..........................................................................17

Section 5 Programming Dialog Systems....................................................................23

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 1

2 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

5.4.5.2 Method Calls................................................................................................................ 32

Section 6 Using Dialog Editor..................................................................................... 41

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 3

6.4.7.1 Adding Dialog Items..................................................................................................... 55

Section 7 Defining Objects.......................................................................................... 59

4 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

7.5.12 Example of Connecting Buttons........................................................................................ 70

Section 8 Container Group Objects............................................................................ 75

Section 9 Other Dialog Items.......................................................................................85

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 5

9.6.2 Icon View.........................................................................................................................100

6 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

9.10.13.1 Action Methods.......................................................................................................... 122

Section 10 Image Editor............................................................................................... 129

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 7

Section 1 Copyrights GUID-03127CB5-2F5A-4099-A5DC-20E63835472E v6

© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.

Third Party Copyright Notices

This product includes software developed by vbAccelerator (/index.html).

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 9

Section 2 Introduction GUID-A0F1E2FA-E71D-4359-8D1A-EA2422229B95 v1

2.1 Use of symbols GUID-E2071128-E58C-4837-A645-C262EC143FF9 v1

Caution icon indicates important information or a warning related to the concept

Information icon alerts the reader to relevant factors and conditions.

2.2 Intended audience GUID-488D8445-E054-4065-A2EE-65A98E69B24E v1

2.3 Document conventions GUID-BB3161E7-E383-4D10-924B-A8F95AF795F8 v1

The following conventions are used for the presentation of material:

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 11

2.4 Document revisions GUID-AD292EC8-364C-48D3-895A-86D0D7A970B6 v5

Revision Version number Date History

12 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Section 3 Visual SCIL overview GUID-8ACA9DA7-E650-445D-9720-DF6CF46B1282 v1

3.1 About this Section GUID-DC083989-40E1-425F-8A49-C783CE7A099D v2

3.2 SYS600 User Interface Design GUID-E4AE9754-8917-4653-AA1B-6C90BB443D2D v1

3.2.1 User Interface Components GUID-1F6EC3BC-EE1D-4287-95F8-06EAACA5CAC7 v1

There are three main user interface component types available:

3.2.2 User Interface Design Methods GUID-28A72484-B0FC-4C74-8BAB-573FBAB1CC47 v1

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 13

3.2.3 Using Process Displays and Dialogs GUID-D6998579-E31F-4EFB-8C89-59EED5F0C3A8 v2

3.3 Visual SCIL Design Method GUID-5D721E51-3712-4AAC-B72E-36D1041B1A5B v1

3.3.1 Visual SCIL Objects GUID-9C732B55-FB09-4249-BF89-FA3393CE13E7 v1

3.3.2 Types of Visual SCIL Objects GUID-6AF51C99-5143-4A60-AA86-F8D9806A7A4C v2

There are approximately 40 types of Visual SCIL object types.

14 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

3.3.3 Dialog Systems GUID-8ED0DDFB-8D85-4F30-B7E8-81996B6F6ABD v1

3.3.4 Composing Procedure GUID-A13B7C2B-6164-4A2F-9862-BC407CEFFD02 v1

The general procedure for composing a dialog system is:

Figure 1: An example of a dialog system

3.3.5 Handling Visual SCIL Objects GUID-72B15AB9-3E4B-459A-8F1F-6A4CFD4BFBAC v1

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 15

• Position and size

3.3.6 Example GUID-F99F71D2-9AD1-44D5-A676-180F1B97E7E5 v1

Figure 2: An example of a simple dialog and its methods

16 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Section 4 Designing Dialog Systems GUID-834C9155-9D1B-4FD5-AE9C-980D04AC2A3C v1

4.1 About this Section GUID-40E34FCB-6B0C-45C4-A507-6ED17724B376 v1

4.2 Creating Objects in Dialog Editor GUID-D951D03C-DD05-4EDD-85F5-9AC9850585F2 v1