PanelView blinking pushbutton text

[kamenges]

I am developing an application for a Panelview 1000 using Panelbuilder32 V3.8.

I have an indicator pushbutton and I want to flash the button based on the state of a status tag. I can get the outer graphic of the button to flash but I cannot get the inner graphic or the text to flash. I have selected the text blink and inner object blink settings in the object format pulldown menu.

Is it possible to blink the text in a button and if so how do I set that up?

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Allen Nelson]

What IS it with all these Panelview questions today.

The blink checkbox only works on the Object Backgound, not the Text Background.

There is another checkbox waaaaay over on the left (between Text Size and Underline)labelled "Text Blink". That should make your text background color blink.

I don't think you can blink the graphic object background color, without using cheap tricks like using the PLC to "rapidly" change the state of the Indicator tag.

 

[ndzied1]

Ya, what Allen said and... you won't see the text blink when offline, only with the application online.

 

[kamenges]

Thanks for the replies.

Allen, I think the checkbox you are talking about ('Text Blink') follows the blink selection in the text format pulldown menu as well as the text format toolbar. At least when I change the setting in any one of these places the others seem to follow.

I have checked and unchecked these boxes and can't seem to get the text area to follow the outer portion of the button. That's kind of a bad way of saying that. I have not tried to use the button with no text entered so I don't know if the whole thing will flash if no text is present.

I'll let you know what comes of this. If anything else pops into mind, let me know.

Thanks,
Keith

 

[john paley]

If you double-click the object, then go to the "states" tab, you can do all that config in one place--text, blink, and text blink, as well as all the colors, text alignment, etc--for all the possible states of the object. It's easier for me that way. Try it, I think you'll like it better than the pull down menu config of objects.

 

[Allen Nelson]

Learn something new every day.

I never use the Format pulldown menu (to the point that I didn't even know that the settings were available there).

I'll either right click on an object and select Object Properties..., or I'll click on the icon to the right of the State dropdown list on the State Toolbar (The tooltip reads "Edit Attributes"

There, on the States tab, I can edit all the parameters at once, and copy animations, settings, etc, between one object and other (Important Tip: If copying more than one cell, you must select the same number of cells before the CTRL+V paste)

To get the "Text Blink" box to check using only the Format menu, first you must select Inner Text from that menu. If you had the Blink checked before you selected Inner Text, you will notice that the word Blink is no longer checked. Checking it now will blink the text background color.

But, as you already know, and I just discovered, "Text Blink" doesn't work the same way as "Blink". "Blink" changes the object Background AND Foreground color, while "Text Blink" affects the only Text Foreground color!

I have two objects that have both Blink and Text Blink ON.
One is
Object Fore: White.
Object Back: Lt Gray.
Text Fore: Black
Text Back: Lt Gray

The other is
Object Fore: Black.
Object Back: Dk Gray.
Text Fore: White
Text Back: Dk Gray

On the first object, the Object Colors alternate White/Lt.Gray <=> Lt.Gray/Dk.Gray.
The text colors do not change!

On the second object, the Object colors alterante Black/Dk.Gray <=> Black/Really dark Gray (a color not selectable on the Panelbuilder menu, but not black).
The text colors alternate White/Dk.Gray <=> Lt.Gray/Dk.Gray.

So in short, the text blink only blinks the foreground color. And the color black doesn't blink (not having anything darker to go to).

Seems like a bug.

I've got a PV1000 Touch, DH+ (2711-T10C8), firmware 4.20.
Panelbuilder v. 3.71

To Ken Roach (our favorite online AB tech support): I've searched the knowledge base (but it's hard to use, and I'm not that good at it). Is this a bug/known issue? Or is it a design feature that the text background color doesn't change when "Text Blink" is selected?

 

[kamenges]

Thanks for the replies and, Allen, for the tests.
We bailed on the blinking thing because it looked so goofy when the text background didn't blink. That does seem to be an odd "feature" now doesn't it?
BTW, black does blink. You just need to be in relatively dark surroundings and looking about 30 degrees off-axis to see it.

Thanks again.
Keith