Builtin Displays

Display plugins are the visual building blocks that allow you to view data in different ways. VisualCommander comes with a set of general-purpose but very useful display plugins. This page explains how to use the builtin display plugins.

Summary

To see the list of built-in display plugins from Visual Commander, go to Window->Tools, or hit CMD+R. The following window of "Tools" appears.

The display plugins or "Tools" are summarized below by category. The Basic Command and Raw Data plugins do not appear in the Tools menu but are the defaults used if a value or command is dragged onto an interface.

Command

Basic Command - Simple display for sending commands (obtained by dragging a command onto an interace).
Auto Command - Connect a session variable to a command.
Command Script - Create a sequence of commands.
Popup Menu - Choose from a fixed set of values.
Pushbutton Command - Send a configured value when the button is pressed.
Slider Command - Change a value within a configured min/max range.

General

Raw Data - Simple numeric display (obtained by dragging points onto an interface).
Image Viewer - View a 2D image.
Indicator - Display an indicator that changes color based on configured value ranges.
Level Meter - Display the current level within a range of a double or integer input.
Model Viewer - View a 3D CAD model.
Time Display - Display the value or timestamp of a value as a date and time.

Plotting

2D Plot - Generate a 2D plot of data. Supports time histories and parametric plots.
3D Plot - Generate a 3D plot of a 3-dimensional vector that changes over time.
Covariance 3D - View a 3x3 covariance matrix as a rotated ellipsoid.

Session Management

ControlDeck Status - Display the status of a ControlDeck based session, and provide some control unique to that session type.
DSim Status - Display and control the status of a DSim based session.

Using Display Plugins

The simplest of the display types are Raw Data and Basic Command. To create either, simply drag a point or command from the Data Tree within the Data window onto an open area in a page within an interface. The Raw Data or Basic Command, depending on the object dragged, will automatically be created and connected to the dropped point or command.

For all other types of display plugins, the plugin must first be created by dragging its name from the list of display plugins in the Tools window and dropping it into a an open area in a page within an interface. Once dropped, the display will be created. When first created, displays do not have data points associated with them. To associate a data point as an input to a display plugin, drag the desired point from the Data Tree onto the plugin. If the plugin can accept the point as an input, the border of the display plugin will highlight in green to indicate this; if the display plugin is unable to accept the point, the border will instead highlight in red. Some plugins are able to accept any data type; others have specific restrictions. Those restrictions are noted in the individual documentation for each plugin.

Properties

All display plugins have a common set of properties controlling their appearance, geometry, and connected data points. To access and control these properties, right-click (or control-click) on the display in Edit mode and select "Properties" from the context menu.

The first tab within the Properties is Appearance. The options on this tab control the background and border of the display plugin. It is important to note that while these properties are controlled by VisualCommander, the major portion of the display is drawn by the display plugin itself and therefore additional configuration options may be available within the display's configuration window.

Padding - Padding provides an area between a display's border and its central, plugin-drawn content. If present, the padding area will be the same color as that chosen as the display background color. The padding option controls the width, in pixels, of this padding area.
Border - Outside of the padding, the display's Border can provide a separate color to visually set off a display. This option controls the width, in pixels, of the border.
Border Color - A separate color can be selected for the border.
Background Color - The display's background color controls the color of the padding area, if present, and the color that will be shown behind the display if the plugin does not completely fill its rectangle with drawing. Some plugins may also respect this color for internal drawing as well.

The second tab within the Properties sheet controls display geometry. Size and placement of the display can be set in pixels. Be aware that the page will resize to accommodate any placement of displays within the page's borders.

The third tab within the Properties sheet controls display inputs. Each input that has been connected to the display will be shown in the central table; inputs can be disconnected from the display by selecting the input and clicking the "-" button beneath the table.

At the top of the inputs tab is a checkbox and input field to control the update rate of the display. Selecting the checkbox and entering a value greater than 0 into the field will enable limiting of the maximum update rate of the display, which can improve interface performance when data may be arriving rapidly but it is not necessary to have the display update so quickly. For instance, a data source producing data hundreds of times a second would cause a plot to attempt to update far faster than the eye could usefully follow; restricting the update rate here could improve performance with no noticeable penalty. The input field is in seconds and specifies the minimum amount of time that must pass between display updates. Note: The update rate limitation is advisory rather than mandatory, and each display may implement and interpret it in a slightly different fashion. Display plugin documentation will note where the update rate limitation assumes a non-standard meaning.

Built-in Display Plugins