Creating a Stand–Alone Command Button

The following instructions are just one example of how a button can be drawn and what a button can command.

Scenario: You want to create a button that you can click from within a graphic, for example, to command the Out_of_Service property of a Life Safety Point.

  • You have reviewed Element and Graphic Properties and have a full understanding of the fields and the options available to you for configuring the command control.
  1. Click a drawing element and then draw a shape for the button, for example a rectangle, on the canvas.
  1. Select the button (for example, rectangle) element on the canvas, and from the Property View, expand the Colors property. The button element must have a color associated with the Background or Fill so that it has a selectable area. If you leave both properties blank, the button element cannot be selected. Format the button element using the following properties.
  • Background: Type the name of a color for the background.
  • Fill: Type the name of a color for the command control outline.
  • Stroke: Type a name of a color for the command control characters.
  1. Select the element on the canvas, and from the Property View, expand the Command and Navigation properties.
  1. In the Target field, drag-and-drop a designated data point from System Browser. If the target’s designation does not specify a property, the default property is targeted. Otherwise you must specify the property by typing a period (.) and then the property name after you drag-and-drop the data point into the Target field, for example: CCProject.LogicalView:Logical.PXRack.B.Block.Hcrv;.Property_Name
    For this example: drag-and-drop the Life Safety Point into the Target field, and then type: .Out_Of_Service at the end of the Target path.
    NOTE: If you have the data point selected in System Browser, or you have selected a symbol instance of the data point on the canvas, the data point information is displayed in the Extended Operations tab, from there drag-and-drop the property you want to target into the Target field. The property name is added automatically.
  1. From the Command Name drop-down menu, select or type the command rule that you want to apply to the property. If you manually enter the command name, it must match the name of the command in the Models and Functions Command Configuration section. This field is case-sensitive.
    In this example, type or select OutOfSvc.
  1. In the Parameter field, select the values from the dropdown menu or replace the hardcoded values by typing the command values in place of the existing values. If you do not want any hardcoded values, then delete “=x” from the expression. This allows you to command the Target with the button on the graphic.
    In this example, leave the field blank, as there is no parameter.
  • From the Trigger drop-down menu, select how to initiate the command: Single click or Double click.
    For this example, select Single Click.
  1. (Optional) In the Description field, type a brief description of the command that will appear in the tooltip.
  1. From the Cursor drop-down menu, select the cursor preference that you want to display when the command is active.
  1. Select the Command Trigger check box to enable the command control to initiate and send a command.
  • (Optional) To disable the command control, select the Disabled check box, and from the Disabled Style dropdown menu, select how the disabled command control displays when disabled. For example, if the selected data point is Out_of_Service and the command is disabled, the Disabled Style is active at runtime.
  1. The Extended Tooltip check box is selected by default. It displays the following command object details: Target, Command Name, and Parameter. If enabled, the extended tooltip is added to any existing tooltips configured for the element.
  1. Click Save As .
  • You have created a commandable control button on your graphic.