Button Properties | Configuring a Button
Buttons provide navigation to other analysis displays and web sites, just as hyperlinks do. However, buttons also allow you to execute commands, such as loading pen groups or event groups, printing a display, toggling a value, or writing a value to the database. This feature enables users to complete complex tasks easily. For example, you can create a button on a display that will load a pen group into a specific chart. By creating a button for this action, you eliminate the need to load the pen group in the chart's configuration dialog box. In this example, several steps become one click of the mouse.
When you select a command, Proficy Portal prompts you for the information it requires to execute the command. For example, if you select the Open Picture command, it prompts you to specify the analysis display or URL to open in a new window. Likewise, if you select the Write Value command, it prompts you to select a data source to write to and a location from which to receive the value you want to write. To learn more about commands, refer to the section Using Commands.
When a button is used with another object, a connection must be made between the button and the other object. In some cases, the connection is made when you configure the button itself. For example, if you configure the Load Event Group or Load Pen Group command, you select the object that the event/pen group is loaded into. For some commands, however, if you want another object to interact with the result of the action performed by the button, you must link the button to the object's data source. For example, if you want a button to write a value to a database, and you want the change to appear in a grid, you must link the button command to the grid's data source. To link the button to the object's data source, right-click the button (in Configuration mode) and select Link Control to. For more information on linking objects, see Actions and Events.
