Transmitter

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The Transmitter is a label for a measuring point in a diagram, such as a pressure or temperature transmitter on a pipe. It shows the reading on a chip that is attached to the line by a short leader line. It is found in the Automation - OpenBridge section of the Perspective Component Palette as Transmitter (Experimental).

Note: This component is experimental: its properties may change in a later version.

1. Leader line — the short line from the chip to the line in the diagram. See Orientation.
2. Chip — the reading: an optional icon, the value and the unit. See Value.
3. Id tag — the name of the measuring point. See Tags.

The Transmitter shows the value it is given; it does not read tags itself. Clicking it fires the onActionPerformed event.

A Transmitter dropped from the palette with default properties. The blue frame is the component’s box, as the Designer shows it when the component is selected:

For several readings of the same measuring point on one leader line, use the Transmitter Stack.

Type

type selects what the transmitter shows:

type	Shows
indicator	Only a round pill with the tag, and no value.
value (default)	The value and the unit.
horizontal-graph	The value, with a trend graph beside it.
vertical-graph	The value, with a trend graph below it.

The graph shows the points in data. data can be:

• a dataset, for example from a tag history binding. The first date column (or else the first column) is the time, and the first other column that is not a date is the value;
• an object with two lists, xValues and yValues;
• a list of objects with x and y;
• a list of numbers, which are the values in order.

Without data the graph is an empty line:

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
type	indicator, value, horizontal-graph or vertical-graph. Default value.	value
data	The points of the trend graph, in one of the four forms above. Empty by default.	object

---

Value

Bind value to the measurement, and write the unit in unit. A value that is not a number is shown as dashes.

value = 12.3, unit = bar	unit empty	hasDegree = true, unit = C

hasDegree adds a degree sign between the value and the unit, for temperatures and angles.

Number Format

numberFormat is a Java DecimalFormat pattern. The Transmitter uses two things from it:

• The digits after the decimal point set the number of decimals. They are always shown, whether written as 0 or #: both 0.000 and 0.### show 1.5 as 1.500. A pattern without a decimal point shows no decimals.
• The zeros before the decimal point set how many digits the chip makes room for, so that it keeps its width when the value changes: 000.0 makes room for three digits.

No thousands separator is added, also when the pattern has a ,. The same format is used for the advice and the setpoint.

The value 12.345 with four patterns:

0.0 (default)	0	0.00	000.0

Set hintedZeros to true to fill the room that numberFormat makes with dimmed zeros:

A minus sign makes the chip wider. Set hasSignSpacer to true to always keep room for the sign, so that the chip has the same width for positive and negative values:

5.2, hasSignSpacer = false	5.2, hasSignSpacer = true	-5.2, hasSignSpacer = true

Icon

Set hasIcon to true and select an icon with icon.path to show what is measured:

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
value	The reading. Default 0.	value
unit	Text after the reading, for example bar. Empty by default.	value
numberFormat	DecimalFormat pattern: the number of decimals, and the number of digits to make room for. Default 0.0.	value
hintedZeros	Show the room made by numberFormat as dimmed leading zeros. Default false.	value
hasSignSpacer	Always keep room for a minus sign. Default false.	value
hasDegree	Show a degree sign between the value and the unit. Default false.	value
hasIcon	Show an icon in front of the reading. Default false.	value
icon	The icon. Only shown when hasIcon is true.	object
icon.path	Path of the icon, for example openbridge/pressure. Default openbridge/placeholder.	value

---

Tags

A transmitter has two texts:

• idTag — the name of the measuring point, for example PT01, shown below the chip (above it when orientation is top). It is shown for every type.
• tag — the short text in the pill of the indicator type, for example PT. It is not used by the other types.

idTag = PT01	idTag empty	indicator with tag = PT

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
idTag	Name of the measuring point, shown outside the chip. Empty by default.	value
tag	Text in the pill. Empty by default. Only shown when type is indicator.	value

---

Advice and Setpoint

The chip can show two more numbers in front of the reading:

• an advice, a recommended value: set hasAdvice to true and bind adviceValue;
• a setpoint, the value the process is controlled towards: set hasSetPoint to true and bind setpointValue.

Both are for reading only, and use the same numberFormat as the value. They are not shown by the indicator type.

Advice	Setpoint	Both

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
hasAdvice	Show the advice. Default false.	value
adviceValue	The advised value. Default 0. Only shown when hasAdvice is true.	value
hasSetPoint	Show the setpoint. Default false.	value
setpointValue	The setpoint. Default 0. Only shown when hasSetPoint is true.	value

---

Alert

Set hasAlert to true to draw an alarm frame around the transmitter, the graph and the id tag included. Bind it to an expression that is true while the measurement has an active alarm. The frame is always the red alarm frame; the transmitter has no property for other alert levels.

value	horizontal-graph

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
hasAlert	Draw an alarm frame around the transmitter. Default false.	value

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Orientation

orientation selects on which side of the line the chip is, and thereby which way the leader line points: with bottom the chip is below the line and the leader line points up, with left the chip is to the left of the line and the leader line points right.

The chip and the leader line together are centred in the component’s box. The blue frame in the images is the component’s box:

orientation
top
right
bottom (default)
left

The transmitter does not grow with the box. The chip is as wide as its content, so with left and right the tip of the leader line moves sideways when the value gets more digits. Use numberFormat and hasSignSpacer to keep the width constant.

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
orientation	Side of the line the chip is on: top, right, bottom or left. Default bottom.	value

---

Size

size sets the size of the chip:

regular (default)	medium	large

Note: Use size, and leave componentSize at regular. componentSize enlarges the text without enlarging the chip, so with medium and large the value no longer fits in the chip.

The colours follow the OpenBridge palette of the session:

Properties

Name	Description	Property Type
size	Size of the chip: regular, medium or large. Default regular.	value
componentSize	Size of the text: regular, medium or large. Default regular. See the note above.	value
style	Standard Perspective style object.	object

Component Events

Event	Description	Event Object
onActionPerformed	Fired each time the transmitter is clicked.	Empty.

Examples

Example 1 — Pressure Transmitter on a Pipe

1. Drop a Transmitter into the coordinate container of the diagram, above the pipe.

2. Set:

   Property	Value
   orientation	top
   unit	bar
   numberFormat	00.0
   idTag	PT01
   hasIcon	true
   icon.path	openbridge/pressure

3. Bind value to the measurement, for example [default]Pump01/Pressure.

4. Bind hasAlert to an expression that is true while the measurement has an active alarm.

5. Move the component so that the tip of the leader line touches the pipe.

Example 2 — Open a Trend Popup on Click

1. Configure the onActionPerformed event of the Transmitter with a Popup action that opens a view with a trend of the measurement.
2. Pass the tag path to the popup as a view parameter, for example [default]Pump01/Pressure.