Symbol Configuration Files

Each control or composed symbol, that can be inserted on screen, may be associated with a Configuration File to save their settings in order to be reactivated in both the design/programming or Runtime phases. The file will be saved in XML format with the ".sxml" extension for default. Some execution properties have been provided for each control in order to setup its Configuration File:

If you do not specify the extension when entering a Configuration File name, it will be saved with the "sxml" extension (or "tsxml" for Trends) for default by Movicon. However, you can assign a different extension if inserted together with the file name.

The Configuration File settings are loaded in design mode with the "Load" command, but are loaded automatically when screens are loaded in Runtime mode.

Only some of the settings saved on file are restored when using the "Load" command (in design mode) or when screens are being loaded (in Runtime mode). Mostly all the properties are restored except those regarding the object's positions (Position X, Position Y, Width, Height).

To avoid XML files sizes being too big, many of the properties are saved only if different from their default values.

Properties which don't get saved in the "sxml" file are those which have a default value, and therefore will not be restored when the file gets loaded. For instance, when a "sxml" file is saved with some properties that still have their default values, which afterwards are changed and reloaded before the file is saved again, the default values for these properties will not be restored.

To display the restored properties in design mode using the "Load" command in the properties window, you will need to deselect and reselect the object.

During the Runtime phase you can save and restore configurations using the "SaveExtSettings", "LoadExtSettings" and "ExtSettingsFile" basic script functions.

While loading the Configuration File, the Trend will search for it in the "DATA" folder, then in the "RESOURCES" folder if not found. This only happens for the Trend object and only when the file name without the whole path has been entered in the "Configuration File" property.

Symbol size and position settings are never loaded while the Configuration File is being loaded and remains with its original settings. The Configuration File can be loaded using the "Load" command in design or runtime mode if the "Auto Load File Settings" has been enabled or by using the "LoadExtSettings" function.