Automation Buttons — Common Features

This text is AI-generated — we need your feedback

This documentation was written with the help of AI and has not been fully reviewed. If something is wrong, unclear or missing, please tell us: open the feedback form, say which section it concerns and what you expected to read. The same link is at the bottom of every page.

The automation buttons are the symbols for devices in a mimic or diagram: pumps, valves, switches and so on. They are found in the Automation - OpenBridge section of the Perspective Component Palette. Each has its own icon and state properties, described on its own page, and all of them share the features on this page.

Kind	Components
Motor-driven devices	Fan, Motor, Pump
Valves	Analog Valve, Digital Valve
Two-state devices	Bipolar Transistor, Capacitor, Converter, Damper, Diodes, Filter, Ground, Logic, Mosfet, Resistor, Router, Source, Switch, Transformer

The Automation section of the palette also has components that are not automation buttons. They have pages of their own, and share only some of the features on this page:

Kind	Components
Tiles	Automation Tank, Heat Pump
Labels on a line	Automation Readout, Transmitter, Transmitter Stack
Valves	Gauge Valve, Hydraulic Check Valve
Other	Automation Badge, Automation Button NEW

The images on this page show a Switch. The features look and work the same on the other components.

The parts of an automation button:

1. Symbol — the icon of the device. What it shows is described on the page of each component.
2. Readout — the status row and the tag name. See Readout.
3. Alert frame — a coloured frame around the symbol. See Alert Frame.
4. Progress ring — shown while a command is being carried out. See Progress.
5. Badges — small icons in the corners of the symbol. See Badges.

The colours follow the OpenBridge palette of the session:

An automation button shows the state it is given; it does not read tags or alarms itself, and it does not change anything when it is clicked. Bind its properties to the state of the device, and configure an onClick event to let the operator operate it (see Example 1).

---

Readout

The readout shows up to two rows next to the symbol:

• the status row — the state of the device. What it shows depends on the component: On or Off for a two-state device, the speed for a pump, fan or motor, the opening for an analog valve. Hide it with showStatus.
• the tag — the name of the device. It is shown only when hasTag is true; the text is taken from tag.

With showStatus set to false, only the tag is shown:

Set showReadoutStack to false to hide the readout altogether.

Readout Position

readoutPosition places the readout on one of the four sides of the symbol:

readoutPosition
top
bottom (default)
left
right

Readout Size

readoutSize sets the text size of the status row:

small	regular	enhanced

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
showReadoutStack	Show the readout. Default true.	value
readoutPosition	Side of the symbol the readout is on: top, bottom, left or right. Default bottom. Only shown when showReadoutStack is true.	value
showStatus	Show the status row. Default true. Only shown when showReadoutStack is true.	value
readoutSize	Text size of the readout: small, regular or enhanced. Default regular. Only shown when showReadoutStack is true.	value
hasTag	Show the tag. When false, tag is ignored. Default false.	value
tag	Tag name of the device, for example Q101. Only shown when showReadoutStack is true.	value

---

Positioning

The readout is drawn outside the symbol, and its size depends on what it shows. positioning decides which part of the button is aligned to the component’s box. The blue frame in the images is the component’s box, as the Designer shows it when the component is selected:

symbol (default)	button	point

• symbol — the component’s box wraps just the symbol, and the readout is drawn outside the box. The symbol stays on the line whatever the readout shows.
• button — the whole button, symbol and readout together, is centred in the box. Use it when the entire button must stay inside the component’s box, for example in a flex container or next to other components that must not be overlapped. Make the box large enough for the symbol and the readout.
• point — the centre of the symbol is placed on the top centre of the component’s box, and the button extends from that point. Use it when the size of the component changes, for example with the container or with componentSize, but the centre of the symbol must stay on a fixed point.

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
positioning	What is aligned to the component’s box: symbol, button or point. Default symbol.	value

---

Size

componentSize scales the whole component, the readout included.

regular	medium	large

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
componentSize	Size of the component: regular, medium or large. Default regular.	value

---

Activated

Set activated to true to show a highlighted background behind the symbol. Use it to mark the symbol as selected, for example while a faceplate or popup for this device is open.

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
activated	Show the activated (selected) background. Default false.	value

---

Alert Frame

Set alert to true to draw an alert frame around the symbol. The button does not read alarms itself: bind alert, alertFrameStatus and alertFrameMode to the alarm state of the device (see Example 2).

Type

alertFrameType selects the shape of the frame and where the flap with the alert icon is:

regular	small-side-flip (default)	large-side-flip	bottom-flip	top-flip

Status

alertFrameStatus selects the colour and the icon. Use the level-* values in a project that uses priority levels, or alarm, warning and caution in a project that follows Bridge Alert Management.

alertFrameStatus
level-critical
level-high
level-medium
level-low
level-diagnostic
alarm (default)
warning
caution

Mode

alertFrameMode shows where the alert is in its life cycle:

• acked-active (default) — the alert is active and acknowledged. The frame is steady.
• unacked-active — the alert is active and not acknowledged. The frame flashes.
• unacked-rectified — the condition has cleared, but the alert is not acknowledged. The frame is dashed and flashes.

Thickness

alertFrameThickness set to large draws a thicker frame for more emphasis:

Properties

All properties except alert are only shown when alert is true.

Name	Description	Property Type
alert	Show the alert frame. Default false.	value
alertFrameType	Shape of the frame: regular, small-side-flip, large-side-flip, bottom-flip or top-flip. Default small-side-flip.	value
alertFrameStatus	Severity, which selects colour and icon: a level-* value, or alarm, warning or caution. Default alarm.	value
alertFrameMode	Life cycle state: acked-active, unacked-active or unacked-rectified. Default acked-active.	value
alertFrameThickness	Thickness of the frame: small or large. Default small.	value
showAlertCategoryIcon	Show the flap with the alert icon on large-side-flip, bottom-flip and top-flip. When false, only the frame is drawn. Default true.	value
showAlertIcon	Reserves room in the flap for an extra icon. The automation buttons have no such icon, so this has no visible effect. Default false.	value

---

Progress

Set progress to true to show a progress ring around the symbol, for example from the moment the operator gives a command until the device reports the new state.

indeterminate	determinate, progressValue = 60

• indeterminate (default) — a spinning arc, for when it is not known how long the operation takes.
• determinate — the arc is filled to progressValue percent.
• progressive-indeterminate — a spinning arc whose length follows progressValue, for an operation that reports rough progress.

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
progress	Show the progress ring. Default false.	value
progressMode	determinate, indeterminate or progressive-indeterminate. Default indeterminate. Only shown when progress is true.	value
progressValue	Progress in percent, 0–100. Not used in indeterminate mode. Default 0. Only shown when progress is true.	value

---

Badges

Badges are small icons in the corners of the symbol that show how the device is controlled and whether something prevents it from being operated. Each of the four badge properties has its own corner, so they can be combined:

Control

badgeControl is shown at the top left.

local	local-only	manual	manual-only	auto

Alert

badgeAlert is shown at the top right. It is a lighter alternative to the Alert Frame.

badgeAlert
level-critical
level-high
level-medium
level-low
level-diagnostic
alarm
warning
caution
silence

Interlock and Command Lock

badgeInterlock is shown at the bottom left, badgeCommandLocked at the bottom right.

badgeInterlock = interlock	badgeInterlock = interlock-inhibit	badgeCommandLocked = command-locked

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
badgeControl	Control mode badge: none, local, local-only, manual, manual-only or auto. Default none.	value
badgeAlert	Alert badge: none, a level-* value, alarm, warning, caution or silence. Default none.	value
badgeInterlock	Interlock badge: none, interlock or interlock-inhibit. Default none.	value
badgeCommandLocked	Command lock badge: none or command-locked. Default none.	value

---

Style

Name	Description	Property Type
style	Standard Perspective style object.	object

Component Events

The automation buttons have no component events of their own. The standard Perspective events, such as onClick, are available in the component’s event configuration.

Examples

The examples use a Switch, whose state property is on. For another component, use its own state property, such as open on a valve.

Example 1 — Operate the Device on Click

1. Bind on to the feedback tag of the device, for example [default]Switchboard/Q101/Closed.

2. Bind progress to a tag or custom property that is true while a command is being carried out.

3. Configure the onClick event of the component with a script action that writes the command:

   def runAction(self, event):
     command = '[default]Switchboard/Q101/CloseCommand'
     system.tag.writeBlocking([command], [not self.props.on])

The symbol changes when the feedback tag changes, not when the operator clicks, so it always shows the actual state of the device.

Example 2 — Show an Alarm on the Symbol

1. Bind alert to an expression that is true while the device has an alarm that is active or not acknowledged.
2. Bind alertFrameMode to the state of that alarm: unacked-active, acked-active or unacked-rectified.
3. Set alertFrameStatus to the severity of the alarm, for example level-high.