Object (Screen) Properties

Not supported by TWC

Property icon The Object supports the following properties, which are available via the Properties pane and the Canvas script editor. Click next to any property name in the Properties pane to see a short description for the selected property.

See Accessing Screen Objects for more information about how to view control objects in script in the Canvas application.

Note: In script, the Object container is always referred to as Screen.

Categorizing, Sorting, and Finding Properties

You can click Categorize (Categorize), click Alphabetize (Alphabetical within Category) or click Search (Search) within the properties using the features located immediately above the properties list. The search box is useful to help locate a property when an object contains many properties. For clarity, when you enter a search term, items matching your entry string remain displayed and non-matching items are temporarily hidden. Clear the search box to display the full properties list again.

You can expand and collapse each property category by clicking Down arrow or Up arrow next to the group name or simply clicking anywhere in the category heading.

Object (Screen) Properties

The following tables describe the property names visible in the Properties pane user interface (UI) and the corresponding script property name.

UI Property Script Property Description
Name and Type

Name

ControlName

The Name property specifies the unique identifier for this control. Valid characters are A-Z, 0-9, and underscore (_). Special characters and spaces are not permitted. Names cannot start with a number; an underscore will be prefixed if the control name starts with a number. The default value is the object name and the numeric instance. The control's Name is also displayed on the Controls view of the Screen pane.

Type

ControlType

The read-only Type property displays the type for the control: Button, Chart, CygNet Grid, Edit Box, Object Container, Search Box, Tag Chooser, etc. … The control's Type is also displayed on the Controls view of the Screen pane.

Style

 

Not supported by TWC The Style property defines the style sheet applied to an object on a screen. A style sheet consists of a predetermined list of properties and property values configured for a particular control type.

  • Click Down arrow to reveal a drop-down menu of predetermined styles configured for the selected control.
  • Select a desired style and its properties will be applied to the control.
  • Alternately, you can create a new style based on other property values configured for the control.
  • Or you can select <None> to remove subscription to any style.

Styles are created in two ways:

  • In the control's Properties pane. Click Add a new style (Add a new style based on this control) next to the Style property, after you have configured property values in the Properties pane. See Add a new style based on a control for more information.
  • In the Canvas Settings in the Backstage view. The default style for any control is configured in the Backstage view. See Manage style sheets in the Backstage view for more information.

Tip: You can also change a control's Style on the Controls view of the Screen pane.

ScreenBack to top

Background color

BackgroundColor

The Background color property specifies the color used for the background of the control. Click Down arrow to customize the color using the color picker.

Background color source

BackgroundColorSource

The Background color source property specifies the color source for the background color of the screen, object, or control. Two options are available:

  • Auto — Overrides the background color with a theme-appropriate color (default).

    Note:  Not supported by TWC  Auto is not supported as a color source in TWC screens. If a property specifies Auto for color configuration, the screen will use the <Self> color that is specified in the Canvas file during the publishing process. See Color on TWC Screens.

  • <Self> — The color selected in the Background color property will be used.

The default option is Auto.

Color palette

ColorPalette

ColorPalette.ColorPaletteId

ColorPalette.ColorPaletteDescription

Not supported by TWC The Color palette property specifies the color palette to use for the CygNet-aware controls on this screen. Select the desired palette from the drop-down menu. Select None to use the default CygNet point state colors. This is the default value.

See Configuring Color Palettes for more information.

Context menu items

CustomContextMenuItems

Not supported by TWC The Custom Context Menu Configuration dialog box is where you configure any custom context menu items that will appear in the right-click context menu for the screen or control. Each custom context menu item will call an event into script so that you can customize screen or control behavior.

The custom context menu options will appear at the bottom of the fixed context menu options, separated by a line.

Each custom context menu item has a title and an event script ID; items can be designated as a separator; and custom context menus support nested menu items.

Click Configure custom context menu items to open the Custom Context Menu Configuration dialog box.

Context menu items > Title

Not supported by TWC The Title property specifies the menu name to be displayed in the runtime context menu.

Context menu items > Is separator

Not supported by TWC The Is separator check box indicates whether this menu item will be a separator line in the menu at runtime. Once saved the separator has no configuration and no children. Separators do not have event IDs. Any event ID on a menu item when it’s converted to a separator is deleted. You can give it a title of 'Separator" or "----------" if desired.

Context menu items > Script event ID

Scripting is not supported by TWC The Script event ID specifies the event ID that will be called when the menu item is selected from the runtime right-click context menu. The event ID is passed in as a parameter into the Custom Context Menu Action event, along with other relevant information in the context of the click, for example, facility or point tag, as appropriate.

Is pan zoom control visible

IsPanZoomControlsVisible

The Is pan zoom control visible check box indicates whether to display the pan and zoom control on the screen in run mode. Pan and zoom are always enabled in design mode; the control is optional in run mode.

Is pan/zoom enabled

IsPanZoomEnabled

The Is pan/zoom enabled check box indicates whether the user can pan horizontally and vertically or zoom in and out of the screen. Both panning and zooming change the view — the current location and magnification of the screen. Every time you zoom or pan, you establish a new view. Pan and zoom are always enabled in design mode; the control is optional in run mode.

Note: Enabling this will negatively impact screen load performance and disable the ability to dynamically add controls via script.

Note: The new run mode implemented in Canvas v9.4 and later does not support panning and zooming. Thus, Canvas has retained the old method of running screens for backwards compatibility. If you need to pan and zoom on a specific screen (configured via the IsPanZoomEnabled property on a screen), you will not be able to take advantage of the performance improvements the new run mode supports. The legacy run mode is accessible from the Run icon on the Canvas  toolbar: Run > Run current screen (Legacy).

Title

Title

The Title property specifies the title of the screen.

Unique name

UniqueName

The Unique name property specifies a unique name for the screen (corresponding to a globally unique ID (GUID)), which is used when creating an assembly for the screen's script. When a screen is saved, any script assemblies are compiled into a uniquely named .dll file and added to the .can file, so the script does not have to be recompiled every time the screen is run. When a screen is loaded in Canvas preview or Canvas.View, the precompiled .dll is extracted to a temporary folder and the script assembly is loaded from disk resulting in faster load times by removing the need to recompile script. This property specifies that unique name. Under most circumstances, this will not need to be changed and can be ignored. See Screen Load Time for more information.

Default Chart Not supported by TWC Back to top

Begin date

DateStart

The Begin date or Start or Start date property specifies the start date and time for a control (or screen or chart or column) for an absolute date and time view window. The format is MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss AM/PM. The default value is the system date and time at which the control was first added to the screen. Click Set date to change the date using the date picker.

See Default Chart for more information.

Begin relative date

RelativeStart

The Begin relative date or Relative start date or Start property specifies a wildcard string defining the amount of time by which to adjust the start date and time. The space-separated elements in this string must be of the form: "x-#", "x+#", or "x=#" where # is an integer and x is one of the following unit specifiers: y — Year, m — Month, d — Day, H — Hour, M — Minute, S — Second, and # is an integer. T wildcard is also supported and must be in the form: T, T+#, T-#, where T represent today at midnight, T-1 is yesterday at midnight, and T+1 is tomorrow at midnight, etc. Any integer can be used. For example, H-8 represents data from the 8 hours before the current hour, d+3 represents data 3 days after the current day, and d+2 H+1 M+30 represents data 2 days, 1 hour and 30 minutes after the current date and time. d-4 H=6 sets the relative start date and time to four days ago (d-4) at 6:00 a.m. (H=6). See Date and Time Wildcards for more information about adjusting relative time.

See Default Chart for more information.

Default chart file

DefaultChartFile

Not supported by TWC The Default chart file property specifies the path to the chart file associated with this screen.

  • Click Open dialog box to access the Open dialog box and select either:
  • Click BSS to access an APPS or BSS folder.
    • Browse to the folder and file you want to open.
  • Click Local to access a local or network file-system folder.
    • Browse to the folder and file you want to open.
  • Click OK to save the file path.
  • Or click Cancel to abort and close the Open dialog box.

See Default Chart for more information.

Default chart file source

DefaultChartFileSource

Not supported by TWC

This property specifies the source of the file, object file, screen file, image file, or video file. Options include:

  • BSS — Indicates that the file is stored in an APPS or BSS folder
  • Local — Indicates that the file is stored in a local or network file-system folder. Not supported by TWC

See Default Chart for more information.

End date

DateEnd

The End date or End property specifies the end date and time for a control (or screen or chart or column) for an absolute date and time view window. The format is MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss AM/PM. The default value is the system date and time at which the control was first added to the screen. Click Set date to change the date using the date picker.

See Default Chart for more information.

End relative date

RelativeEnd

The End relative date or Relative end date or End property specifies a wildcard string defining the amount of time by which to adjust end date and time. The space-separated elements in this string must be of the form: "x-#", "x+#", or "x=#" where # is an integer and x is one of the following unit specifiers: y — Year, m — Month, d — Day, H — Hour, M — Minute, S — Second, and # is an integer. T wildcard is also supported and must be in the form: T, T+#, T-#, where T represent today at midnight, T-1 is yesterday at midnight, and T+1 is tomorrow at midnight, etc. Any integer can be used. For example, H-8 represents data from the 8 hours before the current hour, d+3 represents data 3 days after the current day, and d+2 H+1 M+30 represents data 2 days, 1 hour and 30 minutes after the current date and time. d-4 H=6 sets the relative end date and time to four days ago (d-4) at 6:00 a.m. (H=6). See Date and Time Wildcards for more information about adjusting relative time.

See Default Chart for more information.

Override chart dates

OverrideChartDates

Not supported by TWC The Override chart dates check box indicates whether to use the screen's dates, when displaying charts for this screen.

See Default Chart for more information.

Rollup period

RollupPeriod

Not supported by TWC The Rollup period property works in conjunction with the Rollup unit to define the interval by which a specified Rollup type takes place. For example, if you selected Minutes from the Rollup unit drop-down menu, then typed 3 in the Rollup period field, rollups for the control would occur every three minutes. Enter only whole numbers.

Note: If rollups are configured for a default chart four labeled rollup series will be added to the chart:

  • Real Time — no rollup
  • Min — Calculated minimum
  • Max — Calculate maximum
  • Mean — Calculated mean

See Default Chart for more information.

Rollup unit

RollupUnit

Not supported by TWC The Rollup unit property options define the time units by which a specified Rollup type takes place. The Rollup Unit options are as follows:

  • None (default)
  • Minutes
  • Hours
  • Days
  • Seconds

For instance, if you select Minutes, rollups occur on a minute basis. The interval is further defined by the Rollup Period setting, which defines how many (in this case) minutes long a rollup period is.

See Default Chart for more information.

Top of subunit

RollupTopSubUnit

Not supported by TWC The Rollup top of subunit property enables you to specify the time offset by which a rollup is evaluated with greater precision. Subunit refers to the next smaller unit of time from the time unit defined in the Rollup unit property. So, if Rollup unit is set to hours, the implied rollup subunit would be set to minutes. The numeric value is the number of subunits added to starting time of each cell or series.

Using the example of hours and minutes, if the starting time of an item would otherwise have been 09:00 AM, if subunits is set to 15, the starting time of that item would be 09:15 AM.

See Default Chart for more information.

Use relative date

UseRelativeTime

The Use relative date check box indicates whether to use relative dates and time for the chart. Use the Begin/Start and End properties to specify the relative date ranges to use in the chart.

If Use relative date is unchecked all dates and time will be absolute. Use the Begin/Start and End properties to specify the absolute date ranges to use in the chart.

See Default Chart for more information.

CygNetBack to top

Broadcast facilities

IsBroadcastingFacilities

The Broadcast facilities check box indicates whether to notify other screens when this screen's facility selection changes. When enabled, and when a screen's facility selection changes, Canvas will broadcast the list of facilities out to all other screens open in the application that are configured to source their facility from <Broadcast>.

See Interscreen Communication for more information about using this property.

Broadcast SiteService

IsBroadcastingSiteService

The Broadcast SiteService check box indicates whether to notify other screens when this screen's SiteService selection changes. When enabled, and when a screen's SiteService selection changes, Canvas will broadcast the SiteService out to all other screens open in the application that are configured to source their SiteService from <Broadcast>.

See Interscreen Communication for more information about using this property.

CygNet connection

CygNetConfiguration

The CygNet connection property is used to configure the facility and SiteService associated with this control or screen. Two selection modes are available: a) by Facility tag or b) by SiteService / Facility. This split configuration allows for the inheritance of these properties from other controls, or the specific configuration of the SiteService or the facility, while dynamically changing the other. This use case may be rare; therefore, the Facility tag option is the default.

Click Down arrow to reveal a drop-down area where you can configure the Selection mode, source SiteService, and source Facility. Each option is described below.

CygNet conn >

Selection mode

CygNetConfiguration.SelectionMode

The Selection mode property is used to determine how the control will receive CygNet information from other controls or from itself. Two options are available; click the desired radio button:

  • Facility tag — The Facility tag selector consists of a Source chooser and Resolve to a relative facility check box. If the Source is <Self> a Facility tag selector and relative facility options are also displayed. Facility tag is the default option.
  • SiteService / Facility — The SiteService / Facility selector consists of Source and SiteService and facility choosers.

Sending and receiving facility tags

Some controls on the same screen allow for the sending of facility information from one control to another.

  1. On the sending control configure the Facility sender mode property to send facility tag information to another control on the same screen.
  2. On the receiving control configure the Selection mode property (in either CygNet connection or Point configuration section) to Facility tag and select the Facility Source to the sending control.
  3. On the receiving control configure a display tag that associates to a facility property, e.g., %FacilityTag%.

Example

Add a control to a screen (e.g., a Tag Chooser or Grid) and configure it as a facility sender to send a facility to the screen. Add another control to the screen (e.g., a Text Tool or Donut) and configure it to receive the facility from the screen. In this scenario the Tag Chooser or Grid will send a facility to the screen and the screen will then send the facility to a Text Tool or the Donut.

CygNet conn >

Facility tag

CygNet conn >

Facility

CygNetConfiguration.Facility

CygNetConfiguration.FacilityTag

CygNetConfiguration.SourceFacilityTag

IsRelativeFacilityResolutionEnabled

The Facility tag or Facility property is where you specify the source of the facility for the control (or screen) to use. The source for the facility can be explicitly configured for this control or it can be received from another control on the same screen, or from the screen, or from another screen. Click Down arrow to reveal the Facility tag or Facility selector. Options include:

  • Source — Options include <Broadcast>, <Self>, or a list of Sender controls.
    • <Broadcast> — Select <Broadcast> to indicate that the facility is sourced from another broadcasting screen.
    • <Self> — Select <Self> to explicitly configure the facility for this control. A Facility tag or Facility selector is displayed, depending on the Selection mode:
      • Facility tag — The Facility tag property specifies the full facility tag identifier for which the control (or screen) is to display data. Click Open dialog box to select a facility using the Select Facility Tag dialog box.
      • Facility — The Facility property specifies the facility for which the control (or screen) is to display data. Click Open dialog box to select a facility using the Select Facility dialog box.
    • Screen — Select Screen to inherit the facility from the screen for this control. By default, the sender is the Screen control if no other senders have been configured. Once Screen is selected Inherited from Screen will display for the Facility property.
    • Sender — A list of sender controls that have been configured with a facility will be displayed. Select the name of the control that will send its facility to this control. By default, the sender is the Screen control if no other senders have been configured. Once a sender control has been specified its name will display in the Source field.
  • Resolve to a relative facility — The Resolve to a relative facility check box redirects the source of the facility to a relative facility, overriding the configured source facility. Once selected a list of configured Relative links is displayed. See Using Relative Facilities in Canvas for more information about configuring and scripting relative facility links.
    • Relative link — The Relative link property specifies a list of all available relative facility paths. Click Down arrow to reveal a drop-down menu of all available relative facility definitions (relative links). Select a link from the list. If an order-in-type attribute is specified for the selected link, the Order in type field will display.
    • Order in type — The Order in type property specifies the attribute value used to represent the order in type (facility ordinal) if the relative facility definition is configured for one. It is possible to have multiple relative facility definition sets with the same definition name. In this case, if the specified Relative link is configured for ordinalization, then you need to configure the attribute value in the box.

CygNet conn >

SiteService

CygNetConfiguration.SiteService

GetCygNetSiteServiceSenders

GetCygNetSiteServiceSenders.Method

GetCygNetSiteServiceSenders.Target

The SiteService property is where you specify the source of the SiteService for the control (or screen) to use. The source for the SiteService can be explicitly configured for this control or it can be received from another control on the same screen, or from the screen, or from another screen. Click Down arrow to reveal the SiteService selector. Options include:

  • Source — Options include <Broadcast> and <Self> (default):
    • <Broadcast> — Select <Broadcast> to indicate that the SiteService is sourced from another broadcasting screen.
    • <Self> — Select <Self> to explicitly configure the SiteService for this control or screen element. A SiteService selector is displayed:
      • SiteService — The SiteService property specifies the SiteService for which the control (or screen or screen element) is to display data. Click Open dialog box to select a service using the Select Service dialog box.
Facility NavigationBack to top

Facility navigation mode

FacilityNavigationMode

Not supported by TWC The Facility navigation mode (FacilityNavigationMode) property is included on the screen object to determine how a screen will handle a request to navigate to another screen via a facility. This property is used with the NavigateByFacility or OpenedViaHyperlink events to link to a facility's associated screen or replace a current screen in a Navigator control with a facility's associated screen. Click Down arrow to reveal a drop-down menu of options:

  • Script event

    Fires a NavigateByFacility script event on the screen that provides the associated screen path, as well as any optional facility record properties, to send when this navigation is triggered. The EventArgs type for this event is:

    NavigateByFacility event

    Canvas.Shared.Events.NavigateByFacilityEventArgs

    The associated screen path for the facility is configured in the facility record in CygNet Explorer. The screen path facility attribute, and any optional facility record properties to be included when this navigation is triggered, is configured in the Backstage view.

  • Hyperlink - Open — Opens the facility's associated screen in a new window.
  • Hyperlink - Replace — Replaces the current screen with the facility's associated screen.
  • Hyperlink - Replace with navigation — Replaces the current screen with the facility's associated screen and adds a navigation toolbar.
  • Navigator - Replace — Notifies any Navigator controls on the current screen to replace the active screen with the facility's associated screen.
  • Navigator - Replace with navigation — Notifies any Navigator controls on the current screen to replace the active screen with the facility's associated screen and add a navigation toolbar.

The default value is Hyperlink - Open.

See Navigation by Facility for more information about using this property.

GridBack to top

Grid color

GridColor

The Grid color property specifies the color of the lines in the layout grid. Click Down arrow to customize the color using the color picker.

Grid color source

GridColorSource

The Grid color source property specifies the color source for the layout grid on the screen. Two options are available:

  • Auto — Overrides the grid layout color with a theme-appropriate color (default).

    Note:  Not supported by TWC  Auto is not supported as a color source in TWC screens. If a property specifies Auto for color configuration, the screen will use the <Self> color that is specified in the Canvas file during the publishing process. See Color on TWC Screens.

  • <Self> — The color selected in the Grid color property will be used.

The default options is Auto.

Grid height

GridHeight

The Grid height property specifies the height of the layout grid. The default is 10 pixels high.

Grid width

GridWidth

The Grid width property specifies the width of the layout grid. The default is 10 pixels wide.

Show grid

ShowGrid

The Show grid property indicates whether to show the grid lines in design mode. By default the layout grid will be displayed. The grid will always be hidden in run mode.

Snap to grid

SnapToGrid

The Snap to grid property indicates whether controls should snap to the grid. The default value is true.

Snap to items

SnapToItems

The Snap to items property indicates whether controls should snap to other controls. The default value is true.

LocationBack to top

Height

Height

The Height property specifies the height of the control (or screen).

Tip: You can also change the height of a control using the Settings pane (click on the Settings icon (Settings) to the right of the control in design mode) or on the Controls view of the Screen pane.

Width

Width

The Width property specifies the width of the control (or screen).

Tip: You can also change the width of a control using the Settings pane (click on the Settings icon (Settings) to the right of the control in design mode) or on the Controls view of the Screen pane.

Default Series Not supported by TWC Back to top

Label background color

DefaultLabelBackgroundColor

Not supported by TWC The Label background color property specifies the background color of the label associated with the point in the default chart series.

Click Down arrow to customize the color using the color picker.

See Default Chart for more information.

Label connector color

DefaultLabelConnectorColor

Not supported by TWC The Label connector color property specifies the color of the label border and the connector line linking the label to the point in the default chart series.

Click Down arrow to customize the color using the color picker.

See Default Chart for more information.

Label text color

DefaultLabelForegroundColor

Not supported by TWC The Label text color property specifies the color of the text on the label associated with the point in the default chart series. The text color is sometimes known as the foreground color.

Click Down arrow to customize the color using the color picker.

See Default Chart for more information.

Point size

DefaultPointSize

Not supported by TWC The Point size property specifies the size of the point displayed on the default chart series. The default value is 5.

See Default Chart for more information.

Series type

DefaultSeriesType

The Series type property specifies the style to use for the chart series. Click Down arrow to select an option from the drop-down menu. Options include:

  • Bar — A bar chart visualizes data as a set of rectangular bars, with the length of each bar representing the value of each data point. Each bar is the color assigned to the series. Not supported by TWC
    • When adding a series showing custom non-CygNet data in a Bar chart type via script, you must set the color at the point level. This allows for points to be colored differently from each other.
  • Line — A line chart shows information as a series of data points connected by straight lines. This is the default series type for the chart.
  • LineArea — An line area chart is based on the line chart and shows information as a series of data points connected by straight lines, with the area between the X-axis and the line filled with the line color. Not supported by TWC
  • Spline — A spline chart is a line chart where data points are connected by a smooth curve. Not supported by TWC
  • SplineArea — A spline area chart is based on the spline chart where data points are connected by a smooth curve, with the area between the X-axis and the line filled with the line color. Not supported by TWC
  • Step — A step chart is a line chart in which data points are connected by horizontal and vertical lines, looking like a series of steps. Not supported by TWC
  • StepArea — A step area chart is based on the step chart where data points are connected by horizontal and vertical lines, looking like a series of steps, with the area between the X-axis and the steps filled with the line color. Not supported by TWC

Click here to see an example of each type of series.

See Default Chart for more information.

Show point labels

DefaultShowPointLabels

Not supported by TWC The Show point labels check box indicates whether the series will display a label associated with each point value in the default chart series when in run mode. The labels will dynamically reorient their position when you resize or reshape a screen.

See Default Chart for more information.

Show points

DefaultShowPoints

Not supported by TWC The Show points check box indicates whether the series will display a point at the location of each value on the default chart series.

See Default Chart for more information.

Global SettingsBack to top

Path

GlobalSettingsFile

The Path property specifies the path to the global settings file (.gsf) for the screen or object. When a new screen is configured, the path to the global settings file specified in the General Settings is copied to the screen. See Configuring Global Settings for more information about this file. The global settings file must be saved in the BSS. Click Open dialog box to access the Select File dialog box to access an APPS or BSS folder.

Source

GlobalSettingsSource

The Source property specifies the source of the global settings file for the screen or object. When a new screen is configured, the path to the global settings file specified in the General Settings is copied to the screen. See Configuring Global Settings for more information about this file. The global settings file must be saved to the BSS.

Alarm NotifierBack to top

Show alarm notifier

ShowAlarmBanner

Not supported by TWC The Show alarm notifier property indicates whether the alarm notifier is visible on this screen when opened in Canvas.View and Canvas.View.Lite. This property is set to true (On) by default and the alarm banner will always appear at the top of a screen in run mode, unless you turn it off in design mode.

Note: Alarm sounds will still play in the screen, even if Show alarm notifier property is disabled (Off).