Chapter 5: Creating and Previewing Messages
Contents
1. As a message is entered the software converts the formatted message into an ASCII string that is displayed in the Command String window located at the bottom of the workspace This ASCII String can then be copied and used in control devices such as a PLC that can be connected to the ViewMarq display These devices will send the command string to the ViewMarq display This ASCII string contains the text and format that is to be presented This software basically reduces the need for users to learn or type the ASCII command strings needed to control messaging One key item you will notice when you first begin to type is that the text being entered will immediately appear in the Simulator window located directly above the Text Editor window This WYSIWYG an acronym for what you see is what you get simulator will display the text being edited precisely as it will appear on the ViewMarg display The Simulator reduces the need to send the message to the display for testing purposes You dont need hardware connected to see what your message will look like You will quickly find that the Simulator greatly reduces the time needed to create and test messages As you enter your message try using the format tools located on the toolbars above and below the Text Editor Try changing the font color blink rate scroll settings and position and see how it appears in the Simulator You can then continue reading on to get a more detailed understanding of h2. 5 5 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages Ey Text Editor Overview In the Text Editor you simply select a line and start typing The Simulator displays the text and helps you to understand how it will look on the ViewMarg display There are a few basic guidelines to learn that will help you when creating a message Software Purpose The primary purposes of the software are e Create and Preview Messages e Display messages on the ViewMargq e Configure the ViewMarg LED display e Create ASCII String Commands that may be used in a PLC to control the LED message display Supported Characters The Text Editor supports 94 of the 95 ASCII characters standard keyboard characters The exception is the back apostrophe It is reserved to indicate the degree symbol Message Length A maximum of 299 text characters can be typed into each line of the Text Editor The entire ASCII string may only be 500 charcters long including the commands and formatting characters The character size and the screen width of the hardware will determine the number of characters viewable The Text Editor does not truncate the text that is not displayed on the screen Text is entered from left to right when left justified and will continue off the screen See the example below Example of a message with the 1x12 character ViewMarq display with the 2 inch character set Example of a message with the 1x24 character ViewMarq display with the 2
3. inch character set 5 6 VIEWMARG User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M LED MESSAGE DISPLAY Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages Message Formatting Message formatting is accomplished on three different levels 1 Character 2 Line 3 Message Character Toolbar af 2mh A Slow The character toolbar contains tools used to format individual or multiple characters much like your common word processors The character toolbar has three functions 1 Character Set You may choose from 11 available character sets Individual characters can be mixed to get the desired effect as shown below Select the character set and start typing or highlight existing text and select the character set and the text will change 2 eh Full Line Compact 4 inch Marrow 4 inch 4 inch Full Line B inch Marrow E inch A meh Marrow a inch 8 meh Full Line LED MESSAGE DISPLAY VIEWMARG User Manual Ist Ed Rev B MD USER M i 5 7 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages 2 Character Color Three character colors are available Red Green and Amber Like the character sets colors may be mixed to achieve a desired effect Select the character color and start typing or highlight existing text and select the character color and the text will change eje 3 Character Blink and Blink Speed Individual or groups of characters may also be set to blink There are three blink rates choose from Li
4. CREATING AND PREVIEWING MESSAGES In This Chapter Creating and Previewing Messages 2 cece ee eee eee eee eee eens 5 2 The Software Workspace ssessesesesecesessossessossesoocseeseo 5 3 Select the ViewMarq Size save were Gee eeaeabeue ad eadada cuisdeen neem anne 5 3 SAVING the Messag gab ctonsee cade deer ereneeus sua eaeeeeeeen ee ee RAA 5 4 Open a Saved Message sesesssesrsosssesosssesecssosesssossesseo 5 5 Text Editor OVGIVICW 44 04 4494 44 abode eh eee eee 4 Gare SESS RES rEET SS 5 6 Software PUTDOSE oe sananeae ee ey co ores eed oe G55 564 ee ean eee een ease 5 6 Supported Characters avs cadccccneaneve bees Geeeaeaunacepapeaeee eaee eee 5 6 Mesage HENGE gay trr eee ooo oo ee eae kee eae oe eee eee eee eS 5 6 Message FOrmating 24644226 ccerete wwe Kan EnA 5 7 Character TOODA 44440nn404 td rnEeE EE eTe REEE ee Nra 5 7 LING TOODA e ma E E EEE EE EEE E a ea 5 8 Scrolling Multiple Lines Together ssnsnanennnann ennnen eneee 5 10 Or TOOG erigere an Pore asso eee eked eee es aT Re eee ceecer at 5 10 LED Display ID ec c aqeaeee hate eo5 ee eaenaee ehh ee bee eee S E E as 5 11 Message SINMMMIGIOl ac eeaee eer sete sana eee eR mee eee es eee eee 5 12 Command SUING Window odie ven contd te ae he oad be wae ewww eee oe ae 5 13 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages B Creating and Previewing Messages The Text Editor is designed to make message creation easy by allowing users to simply start typing
5. The ViewMarg displays on a serial RS 485 network with the designated D s will process the ASCII commands Range lt ID a g gt lt ID 1 8 gt The ViewMarg displays on a serial RS 485 network with ID s within the designated range will process the ASCII commands Combination lt ID a c e h gt lt ID 1 3 5 8 gt Both Multiple and Range formats may be combined NOTE The factory default ID number for all ViewMarq LED displays is 1 It is recommended that multiple panels on the same network each have different ID numbers Attention When communicating by the Modbus protocol this number must match the Modbus Node Address of the display LED MESSAGE DISPLAY VIEWMARG User Manual Ist Ed Rev B MD USER M f 5 11 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages ee Message Simulator One of the most helpful features in the ViewMarg software is the message Simulator It helps give the user an accurate representation of how the message will look on the ViewMarq LED display A H n db xX A ap D ES c Simulate As 2x24 Character 7 Link Ethernet Here are some key points about the Simulator e By default the Simulator is active when the software starts e The user should select the correct ViewMarg display hardware on which the messages will be displayed otherwise there will not be a true representation of the message on the Simulator e The Simulator can be start
6. ed stopped or paused with the control toolbar located in the Simulator window e The Simulator is designed to accurately represent how the message will operate on the ViewMargq hardware however the performance of some PC s running the software may affect the Simulator speed 1 Select the proper LED display size Simulate As 2x12 Character 1x12 Character ViEwW Mar 1x24 Character 2x12 Character 2x24 Character 4212 Character 424 Character 2 Start typing text 3 If you wish to pause scrolling or blinking text select the Pause button MLB To continue scrolling or blinking deselect Pause 4 When Stop Ls is selected Play IL must be selected to start again Any scrolling will start from the beginning LED MESSAGE DISPLAY 5 2 f VIEWMARGQ User Manual Ist Ed Rev B MD USER M Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages Command String Window The Command String Window is where the ViewMargq software builds the ASCH command string that willbe used by another device such as a PLC This window may be closed by selecting the icon To reopen the window select the View menu then Command String Window f coj a a ViewMarg by AutomationDirect File Edit View Setup Format Insert Simulator Message List Help iz dh E xX A eng Simulate s 2824 Character w Link Ethernet x VIEWMARO Text Editor af 2inch 7 e X Slow Insert Variable Ty 19 LED Display iD 0 Send
7. ers the Character Count will turn RED and a warning message will be displayed Command String Copy 501 500 hb ViewMarq for Wind The command string contains more characters than the ViewMarq will accept 500 characters are allowed shorten the string by 1 character s before sending it to the LED display NOTE The software will not prevent you from creating a message that is too long It is up to the user to remove the extra characters to shorten the string to 500 characters or less LED MESSAGE DISPLAY 5 14 f VIEWMARG User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M
8. f VIEWMARG User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages CT Open a Saved Message Messages that have been previously saved may be opened edited and saved again To open a saved message open the File drop down menu and click Open or click on the Open toolbar button a Ya ViewMarg by AutomationDirect Yo ViewMarq by AutomationDirect File Edit View Setup Format Insert Simulator Help New Message K A A E gt e Open Message File Edit View Setup Format Inset Simulator Help fa ek da El 5 X A A 52 Save Message N Save Message As Send to LED Display Exit The Open dialog will open Va Open wiley im gt Libraries Documents gt ViewMarq ViewMarq Organize New folder T Fr Favorites Documents library ME Desktop ViewMarq J Downloads Recent Places Arrange by Folder Name Date modified Type Size __ My First Message vmm 2 4 2013 1 58 PM VMM File 3 Libraries Documents E My Document m ViewMarq _ m Public Docume 7 a Music Pictures FE Videos jki Computer amp Local Disk C r File name My First Message vmm v Message String vmm Open Cancel Select the desired message file and click Open The selected message will open ready for editing or sending to a ViewMarq display ED MESSAGE DISPLAY VIEWMARG User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M l
9. ke the other character settings blink speeds may set differently for individual characters to achieve a desired effect Line Toolbar The line toolbar contains tools used to add justification or scrolling to each line 1 Line Justification Line justify determines which starting position on the line the text will appear Left Center or Right This setting affects the entire line Justify defaults to the left side If scrolling is enabled it will override any justification setting I Justify Justify Center Right a h F j Be W afl a i All Iig Gil 5 D Il L a LED MESSAGE DISPLAY 5 8 f VIEWMARQ User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages 2 Line Scroll Line scroll is a line based setting It is used to animate messages to grab the viewer s attention Scroll if Scroll if Scroll if Scroll Left Right Up Dow f a ail all r JEE ames oi 3 Line Scroll Pause When enabled on an individual line the line will scroll across the viewable area of the display The ViewMargq supports scroll left scroll right scroll up and scroll down Click any Line Justification button to stop the scroll and set the static position of the text 13 Pause for Seconds 4 Scroll Speed The scroll speed is a message based setting and determines the rate at which the lines in a message wil
10. l scroll slow medium or fast The default speed is slow The speed selection tool is disabled until the scroll has been enabled Slow o Medium Fast NOTE There can be only one scroll speed per message All scrolling lines will scroll at the same rate no matter what direction they scroll If the speed is changed for one line all line scroll speeds will be changed Format Options Option Effects Character Size Character Color Character Blink Based Blink Rate Scroll Left Scroll Right Scroll Up Scroll Down Scroll Speed Message Based LED MESSAGE DISPLAY VIEWMARG User Manual Ist Ed Rev B MD USER M f 5 9 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages ay Scrolling Multiple Lines Together Sometimes it is desirable to have multiple lines scroll together If adjacent lines are selected to scroll in the same direction they will scroll in a synchronized manner For example if text is entered on all four lines and Scroll Up is selected for all four lines then all four lines will scroll up together across the entire viewable area of the screen If line 3 is selected to be Justified Left then the text on Lines 1 and 2 will Scroll together up the area of Lines 1 and 2 while the text on Line 4 will scroll up the area of line 4 Other Tools There are additional tools available in the ViewMarg software to aid in formatting and editing text There are also some ASCII string edito
11. ow to use the features in this chapter 5 2 f VIEWMARG User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M LED MESSAGE DISPLAY Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages The Software Workspace a ViewMarg by AutomationDirect bol ES Select ViewMarq size to simulate File Edit View Setup Format Insert Simulator Message List Help d Z tE xX A eS amp a Simulate s 2x24 Character ViewMara Text will simulate here T Text Editor a 2inch CA Start typing here Ee wie Message List No File Opened ec EES Description lt P gt Msg 0 bA A 75 500 E9 Eg Insert Variable Tr 14 LED Display ID 0 Send to LED Display Saa Hello World Jl a Copy ASCII String to the Clipboard to paste into your PLC Instruction Command String Copy lt ID O gt lt CLR gt lt WIN O O 287 31 gt lt P05 U Select the ViewMarg Size Before creating a message you should determine which size of ViewMarq display you wish to simulate The display size will affect your decisions on the character set and text position that you may want to use For example if you have a single line display then the larger size characters will not be legible Help Simulate s 2812 Character w 1812 Character VIEWM AR 1x24 Character f 2x12 Character 2x24 Character 4x12 Character 4224 Character NOTE Selecting the Simulator
12. r tools 55 New Message and Clear Text Editor The New Message and Clear Text Editor Toolbar buttons both will clear the Text Editor and reset all formatting options back to their default settings New Message a Clear Text Editor Variables ViewMarg has 16 String and 32 Numeric Variables available that may be updated using ASCII string commands or by writing directly to slave Modbus registers See Chapter 8 for more details on inserting and updating variables Insert Variable Ty 14 NOTE The display format options such as color or character set for variables is set in the static text String where the lt DEC gt and lt STR gt commands are used that is color or character set commands do not work with lt SETS gt or lt SETV gt commands 5 10 f VEWMARQ User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M LED MESSAGE DISPLAY Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages esses LED Display ID LED Display ID adds the lt ID gt command to the ASCII string This identifies the target LED display Broadcast Default Insert Variable Ty 14 Format lt ID 0 gt Example lt ID 0 gt LED Display ID LED Display ID Description All ViewMarg displays on the network will process the commands in the ASCII string Single lt ID n gt lt ID 1 gt The ViewMarg display on the network with the designated ID will process the ASCII commands Multiple lt ID a C e g gt lt ID 1 3 5 7 gt
13. size does not affect the ASCII string only the way it will look in the Simulator LED MESSAGE DISPLA VIEWMARG User Manual 1st Ed Rev B MD USER M 5 3 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages B Saving the Message Once the message is created and it simulates as intended it may be saved for use or editing later To save the message open the File drop down menu and click Save or click on the Save toolbar button p r Va ViewMarg by AutomationDirect e Vo ViewMarq by AutomationDirect File Edit View Setup Format Inset Simulator Help a ital ABEX as amp File Edit View Setup Format Insert Simulator Help New Message K A A D Open Message Save Message N Save Message As Send to LED Display Exit If the message has not been saved already the Save As dialog will open Va Save As OW Documents My Documents ViewMarq ViewMarq v 5 Search Organize v New folder A Fr Favorites Documents library E Desktop ViewMarq W Downloads Name Date modified Type gt Recent Places Arrange by Folder No items match your search I Libraries Documents E My Document d ViewMarq J Public Docume a Music Pictures wi Videos jk Computer amp Local Disk C T File name My First Message Save as type Message String vmm Hide Folders Cancel Enter a unique name for the message and click Save 5 4
14. to LED Display Gy AutomationDirect com 2s wip 2 WR Message List No File Opened fe ES Description 123 500 is a gt Msg 0 a Command String Copy lt ID O gt lt CLR gt lt WIN O O 287 31 gt lt POS 0O O gt lt LJ gt lt BL N gt lt CS 4 gt lt GRN gt lt T gt a lt T gt lt CS O gt lt T gt utomation lt T gt lt CS 4 gt lt T gt D lt T gt lt CS O gt lt T gt irect com lt T gt NUM For more information on the ASCII command string syntax see Appendix A ViewMarq ASCII Command Specification There are a couple of important tools located in the Command String Window Command String 125 500 lt ID O gt lt CLR gt lt WIN 0 0 287 31 gt lt POS 0 0 gt lt LJ gt lt BL N gt lt CS 4 gt lt GRN gt lt T gt A lt T gt lt CS 0 gt lt T gt utomation lt T gt lt CS 4 gt lt T gt D lt T gt lt CS 0O gt lt T gt irect com lt T gt Copy Copy puts the ASCII Command String onto the PC Clipboard so that it can be pasted into your PLC program instruction or text file for archive purposes LED MESSAGE DISPLAY VIEWMARG User Manual Ist Ed Rev B MD USER M l 5 13 Chapter 5 Creating and Previewing Messages B Character Count The maximum number of characters in an ASCII Command String that the ViewMarq can accept is 500 This includes the text and all formatting characters and commands If the string becomes more than 500 charact
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