Public Symbols

Movicon has an extremely interesting feature in the symbol management called Public Symbols.

By using the Public Symbols management you will be able to set direct links between different symbol properties used in different Screens throughout the entire project. This type of managment provides you with the possiberefore, is management of this linkage gives you the possibility to automatically set the same property, or the reference symbol's code, for all the symbols that have been linked.

A typical example of this would be to create several Screens that all use the same symbol. For example, if you place and set a plant valve symbol in different screens in the project, and then have to modify it after the project has been completed, you will have the possibility to apply the same modifications to all the other plant valves in separate screens with just one operation.

Movicon allows you to manage any modifications that are needed to update all the project's symbols, draws and control objects declared as Public Symbols.

To declare symbols, draws and control objects as Public Symbols in order to subject them to global modifications, they will need to be set with a name in their "Public Name" property from the 'General Properties common to Draws and Controls'.

The "Public Name" should be assigned to the symbol's or draws/control object's appropriate property when editing the template (or the initial symbol). Once entered, the name will always be assigned to the symbol's property when copied and pasted, or saved in the library for future use.

All the symbols with the same Public Name that are copied in different screens will make subsequent global editing easier to apply.

Global Public Symbol Editing

The following conditions must be preset in order to use the updating feature for Public Symbols:

All the public symbols of the same group must have the same "Public Name".
The reference symbol must be configured appropriately so that its properties can be used by the others.
The properties that are to remain unaltered or updated in accordance with the reference symbol must be established for each symbol.

The properties to be kept unaltered and those to be updated in accordance to the reference symbol can be set for each individual symbol by using the "Draws and Controls common General Properties". These properties are:

Preserve Size: the sizes assigned to the symbol in question will be kept unaltered during the updating phase of the Public Symbols. If this check-box is not selected with a tick, the symbol's sizes will be adapted to the those of the reference public symbol.
Preserve Dynamics: the dynamic animation properties assigned to the symbol in question will be kept unaltered during the updating phase of the Public Symbols. If this check-box is not selected with a tick, the symbol's dynamic animation properties will be adapted to those of the reference public symbol's.
Preserve Code: the Basic Script code assigned to the symbol in question will be kept unaltered during the updating phase of the Public Symbols. If this check-box is not selected with a tick, the component's Basic Script code will be updated with that of reference public symbol's.
Preserve Text: the text (caption, name) of the symbol in question will be kept unaltered during the updating phase of the Public Symbols. If this check-box is not selected with a tick, it will be updated with that of the reference public symbol's.
Preserve Colors: the colors of the symbol in question will be kept unaltered during the updating phase of the Public Symbols. If this check-box is not selected with a tick, it will be updated with those of the reference public symbol's.
Preserve Commands: the Command list associated to the component in question will not be altered and will remain the same during the Public Symbol update phase. If this checkbox is left unchecked, the symbol's Command List will be updated with that of its referenced public symbol's.

When public symbols have been composed with numerous components, updates will take effect in each of the symbol's components and for each component you can choose what to preserve and what not to preserve. To manage updates of this type at various levels, each public symbol component must be set with a different and unique name in respect to others. Contrary to this, the public symbol will be updated only at public source container level and all sub-components will be made equivalent in their entirety to this update. Movicon facilitates the process of creating symbols by giving them unique names when the group command is used for those symbols that haven't been given one.

Updating Public symbols using the "Public Source Container" screen

The Symbols to be subjected to any editing done using Public Symbol functionalities must be assigned a "Public Name" that must be the same one used by all the symbols belonging to the same group. At this point, in order to configure the reference symbol, it will be necessary to define which Screen is to contain the referece symbol in the "Public Source Container" property from the 'Screen Execution Properties' group. When doing this, the public symbols will then be updated with the characteristics of the symbol with the same public name entered in the "Public Source Container".

Public symbols also update with their reference symbol in design mode as well. Public symbol updates occur each time the screen is opened in edit mode or each time a property is modified requiring an update. This will allow the results of public symbol updates to be verified while still in design mode.

Once the symbol has been updated, its modified xml code will be saved and it will not be possible to retrieve the original symbol before it was updated.

If you wish to retain the original public symbol, you can opt to manage their updates in Runtime mode only. By doing this, symbols defined as public symbols will be displayed with their native properties and features in design mode and changes can only be made to them at runtime. This will allow you to disable the symbol's public symbol funtionality in order to return it to its original configuration. This type of management can be obtained by using the "DisablePublicSymOnDesign" configuration key. When setting this to value "1", updates to public symbols will only be applied at runtime.

The property window of a symbol linked to a reference public symbol will automatically show only the properties that can be edited. It will not show properties that can be updated by the linked public source container's reference symbol.

Updating Public Symbols using the "Update Public Symbols" command

Public Symbol updates can be applied by using the "Refresh Public Symbols " command from the "Edit" and "symbols" menus, or from the menu which pops up when right-clicking the object. This command will acknowledge the selected symbol as the reference symbol and will update all the symbols that have the same public name on the screen and or in the project. You can indicate where the public symbols must be searched for, on the screen only or all of the project, in the editbox that appears, and what to preserve while the public symbol update is being applied.

This command requires user confirmation each time a public symbol is found on screen or in the project with the same name set in the search filter. The user will also have the option to continue the search without updating the symbol which has been found, or to cancel the search, or not be asked to confirm again in order to update the remaining public symbols automatically.

This method, compared to those previously described, enables the application to offer the developer another way of managing public symbols in design mode by using the commands provided by the programmer.

Public Symbol heredity in sub-objects

In certain situations it may be necessary to create symbols with complex formats consisting of different independent sub-symbols or sub-objects. In this case, each individual sub-symbol or object can be referred to an individual public symbol with which it will be updated instead of the one associated to the symbol as a whole. This Public Symbol heredity in symbol sub-objects can be obtained by enabling the "Update Public Sub Objects" property. If this property is not enabled, the symbol will be updated with the reference public symbol associated to the symbol as a whole (as if the sub-objects had not been individually associated a specific public symbol).