Microblock family

Misc microblocks

Icon and symbol

What it does

A Text microblock allows you to place and format descriptive text on the Properties page.

The text is entered and edited in the Snap application and cannot be edited on the Properties page.

You can select types of text, line separators, or controls for expanding and collapsing sections. You may also hide sections of the Properties page by setting conditions. This lets you format the layout of the Properties page. You can control the position of the text and the nesting order of the formatting on the Properties page by placing the Text microblocks in the correct sequence as you design the control program, or by selecting Reorder > Edit Order.

Reference Name RefName

Use the default reference name unless you want a more descriptive name for graphics or network links.

Limitations:

• lower case only
• limited to 40 characters
• cannot begin with a number
• must be unique within a control program

Type

Select one of the following options:

Plain

For creating plain text.

Separator

To create a horizontal line on the Properties page, often used to offset or group information, choose Separator as the Text Type. If you would like text to appear on the separator line, type the text in the Property Page Text field.

Bold

For creating bold text.

Expand Begin Closed

Expand Begin Opened

Expand End

To format a section using expanded formatting, first insert a Text microblock with the Text Type set as Expand Begin Closed or Expand Begin Opened, depending on how you want the area to display when first viewed. If you would like text to appear on your expandable line, type the text in the Property Page Text field.

You must also insert a Text microblock with the Text Type set as Expand End at the end of the section you wish to group together.

Table Begin

Table End

To align data in a table, insert a Text microblock with the Text Type set as Table Begin. To complete the table, insert a Text microblock with the Text Type set as Table End after the last item you want to include in the table.

NOTE  When working with a table within an expanded section, make sure the table begins after the Expand Begin and ends before the Expand End.

Conditional Hide Begin

Conditional Hide End

You can hide part of the Properties page based on a value from a specific microblock. For example, you can specify that the Properties page text from an Analog Input microblock will only appear on the Properties page if the value is above 85. The expression is evaluated relative to the entire control program, not at that particular microblock.

Place a Text microblock with the Text Type set as Conditional Hide Begin before the microblock to be evaluated and another set to Conditional Hide End after it. Type a conditional expression in the Properties Page Text field of the Text microblock. Microblock properties may be referenced between the dollar signs ($), and the expression must be Boolean. For example, to show the microblock Properties page text only when the present value of the point named Zone Temp is greater than 85, the expression would be "$Zone_Temp/present_value$ >85".

See Operators for more information.

NOTES  

• When referring to the name of a point, use the RefName rather than the Display Name.
• Technical Support does not provide assistance with writing and editing Javascript. See Javascript textbooks, available in most bookstores, for help with Javascript.

TIP  If you are adding the Conditional Hide formatting after the control program has been designed or would prefer to group all of the Text microblocks within the control program, use the Reorder menu to correctly place the Text microblocks.

Important Begin

Important End

These options are currently not used.

Show Property Page Text

Check to show this microblock's value on the equipment's Properties page.

Property Page Text

You can edit the microblock description that appears on the Properties page. See "Editing Properties page text using special characters" and "Formatting a microblock property" in Snap Help.

Path Operators

$path$

Get value

Gets the value of the path

??path??

Check for presence

Checks for the existence of the path. If it exists, the expression is true. If it does not, the expression is false.

Operators that return true/false

<

Less than

Compares numeric data. Returns true if the value to the left of the operator is smaller than the value to the right.

>

Greater than

Compares numeric data. Returns true if the value to the left of the operator is larger than the value to the right.

<=

Less than or equal to

Compares numeric data. Returns true if the value to the left of the operator is smaller than or equal to the value to the right.

>=

Greater than or equal to

Compares numeric data. Returns true if the value to the left of the operator is larger than or equal to the value to the right.

!

Not

Evaluates the expression and returns the opposite. Example: !$zone_temp/locked$
If zone_temp/locked is true, the expression is false. If zone_temp/locked is false, the expression is true.

==

Equal to

Compares data. Returns true if the value on both sides of the operator are equal.

!=

Not equal to

Compares data. Returns true if the value to the left of the operator does not match the value to the right.

&&

And

Combines expressions. Returns true if the expressions on both sides of && result in true. For example:
$zone_temp/locked$==false
&&$zone_temp/present_value$>75
?'#FF0000':'#FFF660'

||

Or

Combines expressions. Returns true if the expression on either side or both sides of the operator results in true.

Operators that return a numeric value

+

Add

Adds numeric data, expressions, or values.

-

Subtract

Subtracts numeric data, expressions, or values.

*

Multiply

Multiplies numeric data, expressions, or values.

/

Divide

Divides numeric data, expressions, or values.

%

Modulus

Finds the remainder in the division of numeric data, expressions, or values.

Other operators

( )

Parentheses

Use to nest expressions. Operations in parentheses are evaluated before those outside parentheses.