Composite Genies
- Last UpdatedJul 13, 2023
- 3 minute read
A Composite Genie is a collection of individual Genies assembled to form a single object. The individual objects and their properties are defined in an XML template file along with layouts for the collection, that is, the Composite Genie. You can insert multiple instances of the composite object on to a graphics page, and specify different parameter settings including values, alignment and display options for each instance to tailor the Composite Genie to suit your requirements.
For example, you want to build a mirrorable compressor object that is capable of optionally displaying a label, a mode indicator and a meter alongside the symbol. Previously, you could either create separate genies for each of the permutations, or you could build a single genie that used visibility to show/hide elements at runtime.
With Composite Genies, you can simply select the XML template for a compressor, which provides a set of presentation options for for you to configure (label, orientation, etc). All you need to do is set values for these options and insert the object on to a page. See Insert a Composite Genie for more information.
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Without Composite Genies |
Using Composite Genies |
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Instead of inserting and configuring individual Genies:
You need to change the layout and alignment of these Genies manually. |
All components laid out neatly with alignment and layout options that engineers can customize. |
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If you add related equipment indication to your compressor Genie above, the alignment of the objects needs to be adjusted to accommodate the new Genie:
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With a Composite Genie, simply bring up the presentation options and select to add an output bar resulting in:
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With the use of Composite Genies:
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The size of the object libraries can be reduced significantly as only a single Composite Genie needs to be maintained as opposed to maintaining multiple permutations of each object used in graphics pages.
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Engineers can get a clearer picture of their page design because the Composite Genie displays only those parameters that have been selected.
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A richer options interface for parameters is available. Using the XML template, library designers can enrich the options interface that allows operators to select from different layouts, modes, presents parameters taking into account dependencies, naming rules and so on.
As with Genies and Symbols, Composite Genies can be inserted for use in a graphics page, template or super genie. You can perform the following operations: