Multi-Monitor

Introduction

Hello and welcome to a new best practice guide for Movicon.NExT™.

In this technote, we will show you how to open screens on other monitors that are different from the main one used in a Movicon.NExT project.

Multi-Monitor configuration

Movicon.NExT project screens can be displayed on a secondary monitor instead of the main one when the computer being used has been equipped with two or more monitors, or when videowall architectures are being used.
The Movicon.NExT platform offers users a Monitor Number property in the screen object’s Properties window that can be used to indicate the number of monitors, or rather target monitors, you wish to display the configured screen on.
This guide offers an example to give you a better idea of how this is done.

Example

Screen creation

In this example we are going to use two monitors which have been configured in the following way: the primary monitor has been mapped as number 1 and the secondary monitor has been mapped as number 2 in the operating system.
After having started the Movicon.NExT editor and created, or loaded, a project, create a screen to open on the secondary monitor. To do this:

• Look for the Screens module listed in the project's tree structure in the Project Explorer window and select it.
• Right-click it and select the New option from the menu which opens.
• A New Screen popup will appear through which you can set the screen's main properties. Configure the screen as follows:
• • Width: 1920
  • Height: 1080
  • Name: Screen2
• Click the OK button to confirm the configuration.

Select the Screen2 screen from the list of screens on the project tree and open its Properties window. Find its Monitor Number property and enter 2.

With the Screen2 screen still open, click on the Toolbox tab on the editor’s far right, next to the Properties tab, to open the Toolbox offered by Movicon.NExT.
Go to the Buttons\Standard folder and drag the Standard Metro Style button object onto the screen.
Once the button has been inserted on screen, select it to open its Properties window. Enter the Close string in its Text property field.
Now that you have named it as a Close button, keep it selected and open the Commands tab at the bottom of the editor. Select the Screens command to add it to the list of commands associated to the button. Configure the command in this way:

• Screen Name: Screen2
• Command Type: Close

Now, that you have finished creating the Screen2 screen, create the Main screen as follows:

• Look for the Screens resource in the project's tree structure in the Project Explorer window and select it.
• Right-click it and select the New option from the menu which opens.
• A New Screen popup will appear through which you can set the screen's main properties. Configure the screen as follows:
• • Width: 1920
  • Height: 1080
  • Name: Main
• Click the OK button to confirm the configuration.

Once the screen has been created, you can then change the project's properties by inserting the screen as the project's Main screen which will show when the project starts up. To do this:

• Select the name of the project from the application's tree structure.
• Open the Properties window.
• Change the following project properties in this way:
• • Startup Page Type: Main Screen
  • Startup Screen Name: Main

Once you have finished configuring the project startup page, click on the Save All icon located on the toolbar at the top to save the project.

Double-check that the Main screen is open and then click on the Toolbox tab next to the Properties window in the editor to open the Toolbox Library offered by Movicon.NExT.
Go to the Buttons\Standard folder and drag the Standard Metro Style button object onto the screen.
Select and drag the Screen2 screen from the list of screens onto the button inserted on the Main screen. This procedure will assign the Normal open command type to the button.

Click on the Save All icon located on the toolbar at the top of Movicon.NExT editor to save the project.

Test Runtime

Test everything you have just created by clicking the Start Runtime icon to launch the project into runtime.
When you click on the Screen2 button at Runtime, the screen will open on the secondary monitor. Once the Screen2 screen has opened, click on the Close button to close it.