Use a UDT instance as an owning object

You can configure the owning object of an embedded graphic and point to an UDT instance. During run time, the me.relative reference is replaced by the UDT instance. You can also update the owning object to a different UDT instance during run time.

Example: use a UDT instance as an owning object

1. Open the WindowMaker and create an Industrial Graphic by right-clicking on Industrial Graphics pane and selecting New Graphic.

2. Double-click the newly created graphic to open in Industrial Graphic Editor.

3. On the tool bar select Embed Industrial Graphic icon .

4. In the window that appears, in the Graphic Toolbox pane, select any graphic that has that has Me.<Reference> and click OK.

   In the Properties grid, set the OwningObject attribute to a UDT instance.

   Note: Enter the instance name with the InTouch: prefix for managed InTouch applications.

   

You can create another UDT instance from the instance that you have updated in the OwningObject field so that in run time, you can switch to a different UDT instance using the input animation.

Example: switch the owning object to a different UDT instance in run time

5. Embed the graphic with owning object that you have created in the above example in another frame window.

   Set the embedded graphic's Owning object property as String user input animation so that change in input reflects the owning object and corresponding values

6. Close WindowViewer, if it is running.

7. Switch to WindowViewer.

8. Verify that the “me.” relative reference is bound to the instance that you had set in the OwningObject field in the above example.

You can change the owning object to another instance that you had created in the above example.

Display instance name in Industrial Graphic at runtime

Use me.Tagname, me.HierarchicalName, or me.ContainedName to reference the name assigned to the UDT instance via a relative reference.

When visualizing data from UDT instances with Industrial Graphics, me.Tagname associates to the name of the UDT instance that is currently bound to the graphic via the OwningObject property of the graphic. 

This functionality is supported by three dotfields:

• TagName

• HierarchicalName

• ContainedName

To access the dotfields on a graphic, type the instance name followed by a period.

 

In Value Display animation you can use Tag Name, Hierarchical Name, and Contained Name options under Name tab or enter me.Tagname, me.HierarchicalName, and me.ContainedName as a string under String tab to bind the respective property of a UDT instance. 

 

When configuring an Industrial Graphic for use with standalone InTouch applications, it is possible to use the relative reference me.Tagname in all aspects of the graphic: 

• As a reference binding on Custom Properties 

• In animations such as the Value Display for strings animation 

• In script conditions and script bodies 

When the .TagName, .HierarchicalName, or .ContainedName fields are used in an application, the instance will not appear in the Delete Unused Tags utility. The instance will appear in the Cross Reference utility instead. 

The dotfields can also be used directly of an instance in graphics, graphic scripts, native animations and native scripts: 

• <UDTInstance>.Tagname 

• <UDTInstance>.HierarchicalName 

• <UDTInstance>.ContainedName 

All three dotfields will return the same instance name value at runtime.

Note: The UDT type tag dot fields .Tagname, .HierarchicalName, and .ContainedName will not count towards the tag license count. The status bar and update use count dialog will both not include the UDT type tags dot fields.

Limitations 

• When TagName, ContainedName, or HierarchicalName are configured as the name of a member of a UDT, the preference is given to it as a member at runtime and not the dotfields.  

• IntelliSense will not display the dotfields when TagName, ContainedName, or HierarchicalName are configured as the name of a member of a UDT inside a graphic. 

• .TagName, .ContainedName, and .HierarchicalName support both read and write access when used within a graphic at runtime.