10.1.2.1        Simple Elements

WebAccess DRAW has eleven basic types of simple objects:

1.      Lines

2.      Polylines

a.      Straight segments

b.      Arc segments

3.      Circles

4.      Arcs

5.      Ellipses

6.      Pie (a filled arc)

7.      Rectangle

8.      Polygon

9.      Panel

10.  Bitmap (or JPEG or GIF)

11.  Text

12.  Outline Text

13.  Fill Text

14.  Curve Line

15.  Curve Polyline

 

These simple object types can be animated including line color, fill color, scale (height & width), rotation, motion across screen, etc.  The can be grouped into new objects either static or dynamic. A static attribute remains unchanged during the operation of the application. A dynamic attribute is linked to the value of a tag: a change in the value of the tag results in a change in the dynamic animation attribute. For example, the fill color of an object can be linked to the value of a tag. Based on the value of the tag and its alarm state, the fill volume would change with the value of the tag and the color of the fill would change based on alarm.

Most attributes of simple objects can be made dynamic. An object can be given more than one dynamic attribute. Dynamic attributes may be combined to achieve multiple animations (for example rotating wheel of a car moving across the screen).

The following briefly describes DRAW simple object types:

 

Line             A line is a vector object made up of one or more line segments with color and style as attributes. Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate) and scale are the only attributes of a line that you can animate. Width and line style cannot be animated. A line is always one pixel wide. A line is Straight. Each segment becomes a separate object. Each segment can be erase or edited individually. Line may “leak” if they are filled after being rescaled or moved. See PolyLine.

 

Curve Line     A curve line is a vector object made up of one or more line segments with color and style as attributes. Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate) and scale are the only attributes of a line that you can animate. Width and line style cannot be animated. A line is always one pixel wide. A line is a complex curved shape. Each segment becomes a separate object. For more information, see Curve Line.

 

Filled Lines   Filled line shapes are two-dimensional vector objects (Usually a Symbol) made up of a closed or open interior area surrounded by a line. The attributes of a filled shape are: line color, line type, fill color, percent color fill, height, width, location, rotation orientation and scale. Line Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate), scale, percent fill, fill color are the only attributes of a filled line that you can animated.

 

PolyLine       A Polyline is a single vector object made up of one or more line segments of multiple Widths. It remains a single object with all segments moving or scaling as a single object.  Polyline are always solid (no line style). Polylines can include both straight and arc segments. Color, Scale, position (i.e. Move and Rotate) and Polyline Width can be animated. The PolyLine must be relatively thick for its Width to be animated using ScaleV (for vertical Polylines) or ScaleH (for horizontal Polylines). Using the Arc segments feature in polylines, you can draw circles and arcs of varying line widths.   Polylines do not “leak” when you fill them.

Curve

PolyLine         A curve line is a vector object made up of one or more line segments with color and style as attributes. Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate) and scale are the only attributes of a line that you can animate. Width and line style cannot be animated. A line is always one pixel wide. A line is a complex curved shape. Each segment becomes a separate object. For more information, see Curve Line.

 

Filled

Polylines      Filled Polyline shapes are two-dimensional vector objects (usually a Symbol)  made up of a closed or open interior area surrounded by a PolyLine. The attributes of a filled shape are: line color, Polyline width, fill color, percent color fill, height, width, location, orientation and size. Line Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate), scale, percent fill, fill color are the only attributes of a filled Polyline that you can animated. The polyline must be relatively thick for its Width to be animated using ScaleV (for vertical polylines) or ScaleH (for horizontal polylines).

 

Circles, Arcs

 and Ellipse   Circles, Arcs and Ellipses are vector object similar to the line object with color and style as attributes. Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate) and scale are the only attributes of a line that you can animate. Width and line style cannot be animated. Circles, Arcs and Ellipses are always one pixel wide.

 

Hint - Use the Polyline ARC feature to draw circles and arcs of varying line width OR Use Convert to Polygon.

 

 

Filled Circles,

Arcs and

Ellipses        Filled Circles, Arcs and Ellipses are vector objects similar to line object with color and style as attributes. They shapes are two-dimensional objects made up of a closed or open interior area surrounded by a line. The attributes of a filled shape are: line color, line type, fill color, percent color fill, height, width, location, rotation orientation and scale. Line Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate), scale, percent fill, fill color are the only attributes of a filled line that you can animated

 

Polygon,

Pie and

Rectangle     Polygon, Pie and Rectangle objects are always filled. They have a single color (no border or line color). These are two-dimensional vector objects made up of a closed area. The attributes are:  brush color, height, width, location, rotation orientation and scale. Color, position (i.e. Move and Rotate), scale, percent fill, fill color are the attributes that you can animated. Rectangle objects can also hold Frame animation. Most objects (Text, Circle, Arc, Pie, Rectangle) can be converted to Polygon for advanced editing.

 

 

Text             Text is an object made up of a string of characters on a single line. True type fonts are used. The attributes of a text object are: font, size, color, bold, underline, italic, justification, and location.  The contents of the text field can be animated and re-justified: Rtext is right justified, Ctext is center-justified and Ltext is left justified). If the display is viewed on a PC without the True Type font specified in it attribute, the default font for that PC is used (typically Times Roman). Text can be normal, Outline Text or Fill Text.

WebAccess uses True Type fonts installed on the client PC. You should draw your graphic displays using fonts that you know will be available to the users.  If you use an exotic font that other user do not have installed on there PC, when they open the display, it will use whatever their default font is (usually New Times Roman).
You can add fonts to a PC with:  

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Fonts  -> File -> Install New Fonts

 

Panel           The 3-dimensional Panel can be used to panels can be created for any desired size by using the Panel tool on the Draw Toolbar. Group Objects can be used with margin and bevel size to automatically draw a panel around text or an object.  The text can be edited by using the Replace String command on the Modify Attributes menu. See the Pushbutton Animation tool to draw a dynamic pushbutton.   They look similar because the Pushbutton Dynamic tool draws a panel for you. Panels are frequently used to contain frames. Position (i.e. Move and Rotate), Scale, Color and Frame animation are the attributes that you can animate.

 

Bitmaps,

JPEGs  and

GIFs             Collectively Bitmaps, DIBs, JPEGs and GIFs are referred to as bitmaps.  They are imported into DRAW.  They cannot be edited using Draw. They can be animated for Position (Move), Scale and Rotation. Bitmaps can be used in symbols, widgets and faceplates.  Bitmaps are single object. Therefore, you cannot animate the individual elements of a bitmap, JPEG or gif. You can also define a bitmap with a transparent color, so that you can float it over other objects. When you define a bitmap with a transparent color, the window background color or any objects behind the bitmap will show through it everywhere the transparent color is used. (Only one transparent color may be used per bitmap.)

 

DXF             AutoCAD DXF vector objects can be imported and edited.  These are vector objects and become Line objects.  They can be grouped, filled, rotated, scaled and animated just like Line Objects. DXF files in the AutoCAD version 11 or earlier are supported. Once imported, they become simple lines. No fills, font-type text or groups are imported.