Rotation animation

Use the Rotation animation to rotate screen objects.

On the ribbon Draw tab, in the Animations group, select Rotation to add the animation to a Line, Open Polygon, Closed Polygon, Bitmap, or Linked Picture object.

Note:

The Rotation animation does not work in a group of objects. If the animation is added to an object and then that object is grouped with others, it will be disabled.

Also, the Rotation animation cannot be added to Bitmap and Linked Picture objects in projects running on Windows Embedded devices. For more information, see About target platforms, product types, and target systems.

After the animation is added, double-click the object to open the Object Properties dialog box.

Use this dialog box to edit the following properties:

Tag/Expression box: Specify a tag/expression that will determine the angle of the object during run time; as the value changes, the object is rotated in the screen. Whether you can specify a tag or an expression depends on whether the Gesture option (see below) is selected:

• If the Gesture option is not selected, specify either a tag or an expression in this box.

• If the Gesture option is selected, specify only a project tag (Integer or Real type) in this box. When the end user manually rotates the object, the new value is written back to the tag.

• Range area: Type the Minimum and Maximum values for Tag/Expression.

• Rotation (degrees) area: Type the Start and End positions (in degrees) of the object. The actual rotation is proportional to the value of Tag/Expression within Range — in other words, the Start position is equal to the Minimum value, and the End position is equal to the Maximum value. An object can rotate up to 360 degrees, and it rotates clockwise by default.

  For example, a Rotation animation has the following settings: Minimum is 0, Maximum is 100, Start is 0, and End is 180. If the current value of Tag/Expression is 50 (that is, halfway between Minimum and Maximum), then the actual rotation of the object is 90 degrees (that is, halfway between Start and End). A value of 25 is equal to 45 degrees, a value of 75 is equal to 135 degrees, and so on.

  Values less than Minimum and greater than Maximum are not ignored. Instead, they continue the rotation at the same proportional rate. Given the same settings as in the previous example, a value of -50 is equal to -90 degrees, a value of 150 is equal to 270 degrees, and so on.

  If you actually need to limit the value of Tag/Expression, reconfigure it to include the Min and Max functions.

• Reference combo-box: Select one of the following as a pivot point on which to rotate the object:

  • Left-Top: Upper-left corner of the object.

  • Left-Bottom: Lower-left corner of the object.

  • Center: Center of the object.

  • Right-Top: Upper-right corner of the object.

  • Right-Bottom: Lower-right corner of the object.

    You can fine tune the pivot point by configuring the Offset settings described below.

• Advanced button: Click to open the Advanced dialog box, where you can edit the following settings:

  

  • Offset (pixels) area: Enter the number of pixels by which to offset the Reference (that is, pivot point) on the X axis and/or Y axis.

  • Counter Clockwise checkbox: Click (enable) this option to make the object rotate counterclockwise instead of clockwise.

• Gesture: When multi-touch gestures are enabled, the end user may use two-finger "turn" gestures to rotate this object during run time. The changes in angle are written back to the project tag specified in the Tag/Expression box above.

  • Enable option: Select to enable gestures on this specific object.

    Please note that Multi-Touch must also be enabled for the project and screen.

  • Inertia option: Select to apply inertia to this object, so that it slows down naturally rather than stops abruptly when the end user stops touching it.

  • Disable box: Specify a tag/expression. When its value is TRUE (that is, non-zero), gestures are disabled on this object.

  • Security box: Type the minimum access level that the end user must have to use gestures on this object.

    For more information, see Multi-Touch.