Working with User Assigned Properties

In the Report Template Editor, the Properties dialog box contains the ability to make a property user definable. This allows you to let measurement routine operators change object properties at runtime.

For example, suppose you want your report title to change dynamically according to whatever the current measurement routine operator wants. You can add an interactive approach such as this to your reports by using this functionality.

To Make a Property User Assigned

1. Select an object in one of the editors. For the example above, you would select a Text object.

2. Right-click on the object. This causes the property sheet for that object to appear on the right side of the editor. On the left side of the property sheet, you will see check boxes next to most properties. These check boxes determine what properties you can make user definable.

   

   Sample Property Sheet for a Text object. Notice the user definable check boxes on the left.

    

3. Select the check box next to the property that you want to make definable. For the example above, you would select the Text property for a Text object. A User Assigned Property dialog box appears, asking you to determine the message that will prompt the user for the property value and when the user should be prompted.

   

   User Assigned Property dialog box

    

4. In the Prompt box, type the prompt the user will receive, and then select from one of the two option buttons when the user will receive the prompt. You can choose to prompt the user either during template selection or measurement routine execution.

5. Click OK. The User Assigned Property dialog box closes.

6. Save the report template and return to your measurement routine.

7. To test this, use the Report window and click the Template Selection icon. Select the report template from the dialog box and then execute your measurement routine.

8. At some time during the previous step, PC-DMIS will display the Define User Assigned Properties dialog box to prompt you for the properties' values according to the option button you selected in the User Assigned Property dialog box.

   

   Define User Assigned Properties dialog box

    

To View and Manipulate all Your User Assigned Properties

1. Access a report or label template that has user definable properties.

2. Select Edit | User Assignable Properties. The User Assigned Properties dialog box appears. This dialog box shows those properties that will be presented during template selection or measurement routine execution.

   

   User Assigned Properties dialog box

3. Select an item from the Prompt Style drop-down list to filter what gets displayed in this dialog. The user assigned properties appear in the list box below. The list box tracks all the properties, what objects they belong to, and their prompts.

   

1. • To remove a property, select the property and click the red X. That object's property will no longer be user definable and will use the default value already defined in the template.

     

     Delete Property icon

   • To reorder a property, select the property that you want to move and then click the red up or down arrows. This will move the selected property up or down in the list.

     

     Red Up and Down Arrows

   • To change a property's prompt or when the prompt should appear, double-click on the property in the Feature column. PC-DMIS displays the User Assigned Property dialog box, allowing you to make the change.

     

     User Assigned Property dialog box