Graphic Filters
Transparencies
Graphic filters and transparencies may be utilized to help alleviate graphical clutter, while working on the graphic canvas.
Graphic Filters
Graphic filters allow the user to view objects, based on the graphic object type (i.e. port connections, text labels, etc.), while editing the definition of the component. Graphic filters do not affect the functionality of the component.
To adjust graphic filters, the most straightforward method is to use the Filters section in the Shapes tab of the ribbon control bar.
Another method is to use the context menu: Move the mouse pointer over a blank area of the Graphic canvas. Right-click and select Graphic Filters.
Transparencies
As component graphics become more complex, the graphical working environment can become quite unruly.
A unique transparency is created whenever an expression statement is used within a graphic object. Graphic objects that share an identical expression statement, will also be visible under that same transparency.
NOTE: Be sure when adding conditional statements that the statements themselves are identical in format, as well as logical truth. If the statements vary slightly in format, a separate transparency will be created, even though the statements may indicate the same thing.
Viewing Transparencies
By default, only the transparencies visible on the graphic of a particular component instance will be visible in the Graphic section, when the component definition is edited. Although a component definition may have several instances, only the transparencies present on the instance used to access the definition will be visible by default. If the definition is accessed from the definition itself in the project definition branch, then the transparencies will be based on the component default conditions.
To adjust the transparency visibility, move the mouse pointer over a blank area of the graphic canvas. Right-click and select Transparencies. The resulting sub-menu will list all of the available transparencies (each defined by expression statements) that currently exist in the component graphic objects.
Simply select or de-select each transparency to make visible or invisible respectively. You can also select Show All or Hide All in the context menu, or press the Show All button on the Shapes tab of the ribbon control bar to toggle the visibility of all transparencies:
Base Transparency
The base transparency contains any graphical objects and port connections that do not possess a defined expression statement (i.e. are not part of a defined transparency). The base transparency may be toggled on and off using the context menu: Move the mouse pointer over a blank area of the Graphic canvas. Right-click and select Show/Hide Base Transparency.
Testing Transparencies
Instead of turning transparencies on and off through the context menu (which can become cumbersome as the number of transparencies increases), you can set and test the visible transparencies directly using the component parameter dialog.
Right-click on a blank part of the canvas and select Test Transparencies... from the pop-up menu. Or, press the Test button on the Filtering tab of the ribbon control bar:
This feature provides a fully functional preview of the parameter dialog as seen by the user. Simply set all the choice fields to the desired settings and click the OK button – the graphical transparencies pertaining to that setting will become visible in the Graphic canvas.
