Properties Panel

Set how the interface connects to the controller, where the state indicator and the error handler get their data, and the size, colours and raster of the screens.

7 minute read

The properties panel on the right of the editor shows the properties of what you selected. Select a widget and it shows that widget’s properties, described per widget in the Widget library. Click the empty canvas and it shows the settings of the whole interface, in six sections that open and close with a click.

What the settings connect

Three sections tell the interface which parameters of your application to read, and which files turn their numbers into names. The finished interface shows the result in the screens bar and in the error handler:

The parameter paths are the defaults of a new grid file. They match the robot application; for another application, set the paths of its own state, error and log parameters.

All settings at a glance

Section	What you set	Defaults of a new file
Client connection settings	Address, ports and login of the controller	Page address, `5568`, `5567`, `root`
Errors	Error and acknowledge parameters, error codes file, help pages	`root/Logic/activeErrors`, `root/Logic/guiFaultAcknowledge`, no files
States	State parameter and state codes file	`root/Logic/state`, no file
Logs	Log parameter	`root/logger/logOut`
Screen	Title, start screen and visibility of the selected screen; size and colours of all screens	`800` × `600`
Raster	Size, colour, show and snap of the raster	`30` × `30`, shown, snap on

The sections

These settings tell the interface how to reach the Motorcortex server on the controller, both in the preview and after you deploy it. Open the section with Client connection settings.

Field	What it does	Default
machine IP	The address of the controller, for example `controller_ip_address`. Leave it empty to connect to the address the interface was loaded from, which is what you want for an interface served by the controller	Empty
request port	The port for requests and replies, such as reading and writing parameters	`5568`
subscribe port	The port on which the controller publishes parameter values	`5567`
username	The user the interface logs in as	`root`
password	The password of that user	`vectioneer`
secure	Connects over an encrypted connection	On
autologin	Logs in with the username and password each time the interface connects	On

The password is stored in the .grid file, so anyone who can open the file or the deployed interface can read it. Use a user with only the rights the interface needs.

These settings feed the error handler screen: where it reads the active errors, what it writes when you press acknowledge, and where it finds the names and help pages of the errors. Open the section with Errors.

The Errors settings: path root/Logic/activeErrors, acknowledge root/Logic/guiFaultAcknowledge, frequency divider 1000, and the Error codes and Definitions fields with a select button

Field	What it does	Default
path	The parameter with the list of active errors	`root/Logic/activeErrors`
acknowledge	The parameter that the acknowledge button writes to	`root/Logic/guiFaultAcknowledge`
frequency divider	Reduces how often the value is sent: the controller’s update rate is divided by this number. At 1000 Hz, a divider of `1000` gives one update per second	`1000`
Error codes	The JSON file that names each error number	None
Definitions	The folder with a help page per error	None

Error codes file

The error codes file maps each error number to a name, in the same way as any map file. These lines are from the stock errors/errors.json:

{
  "0": "SYSTEM_OK",
  "100": "WA_SYSTEM_WARNING",
  "101": "WA_REALTIME_VIOLATION",
  "700": "SD_SYSTEM_ERROR"
}

The prefix of each name is its level in the stock file: WA for a warning, SD for a shutdown.

Definitions

The definitions folder holds one HTML page per error, named after its number: error101.html for error 101. The stock package keeps them in errors/definitions/. A page from it:

<h1>101: Warning Realtime Violation</h1>

<h2>Description</h2>
<p>A realtime task has violated the timing constraints once.</p>

Add a default.html for errors that have no page of their own. The stock one reads:

<h1>No error description available.</h1>
<p>Please consult the troubleshooting manual for more information.</p>

These settings feed the state indicator in the screens bar: which parameter holds the state, and which file turns its number into a name. Open the section with States.

The States settings: path root/Logic/state, frequency divider 1000, and the state codes field with a select button

Field	What it does	Default
path	The parameter with the state number	`root/Logic/state`
frequency divider	Reduces how often the value is sent: the controller’s update rate is divided by this number	`1000`
state codes	The JSON file that names each state number	None

State codes file

The state codes file is a map file from state number to name. For the robot application, these are its states, from logic/lgc_motion_def.h in the robot application source:

{
  "0": "Init",
  "1": "Off",
  "2": "Idle",
  "3": "Paused",
  "4": "Engaged",
  "5": "Homing",
  "6": "Forced idle",
  "7": "Emergency stop",
  "102": "OFF_TO_IDLE_T",
  "201": "IDLE_TO_OFF_T",
  "204": "IDLE_TO_ENGAGED_T",
  "302": "PAUSED_TO_IDLE_T",
  "403": "ENGAGED_TO_PAUSED_T",
  "600": "TO_FORCEDIDLE_T",
  "602": "RESET_FORCEDIDLE_T",
  "700": "TO_ESTOP_T",
  "701": "RESET_ESTOP_T"
}

The three-digit numbers are the transitions between two states, which the state parameter shows while the machine changes state: 204 goes from idle (2) to engaged (4).

This setting feeds the Logs list of the error handler screen, which shows what the application reports while it runs. Open the section with Logs.

The Logs settings: path root/logger/logOut

Field	What it does	Default
path	The parameter with the log output	`root/logger/logOut`

A Motorcortex application publishes its log messages on logOut of its logger task, which is root/logger/logOut in the robot application.

These settings apply to the screen you are editing, except the size and the colours, which apply to all screens. Open the section with Screen.

The Screen settings: title, start screen, the delete button, visibility, channel, expression, freq divider 100, group, W 800, H 600, and the foreground and background colours

Field	What it does	Default
title	The name on the screen’s button in the screens bar	`screen 1`, `screen 2` and so on
start screen	The screen the interface opens with. It applies to the whole interface	Not set
delete	Deletes the selected screen, after you confirm it
visibility	A parameter that decides whether the screen is shown. Leave it empty to always show it. The start screen cannot have one	Empty
channel	The element of the visibility parameter, if it is an array	`0`
expression	The condition on the value, called `x`, for example `x>0`. Use `&` and `\|` to combine conditions	Empty
freq divider	Reduces how often the values on this screen are sent: the controller’s update rate is divided by this number	`100`
group	A group name for the parameters of this screen	Empty
W	Width of all screens, in pixels	`800`
H	Height of all screens, in pixels	`600`
foreground	Foreground colour of all screens	`#313c4f`
background	Background colour of all screens	`#282f3a`

How visibility works, with an example from a stock interface, is described on the Screens page.

The raster is a pattern of lines on the canvas that helps you line up widgets. It only shows in the editor, not in the preview or the finished interface. Open the section with Raster.

The Raster settings: a color box, W 30, H 30, and the checkboxes show and snap

Field	What it does	Default
color	The colour of the raster lines	`#282f3a`
W	The width of a raster cell, in pixels	`30`
H	The height of a raster cell, in pixels	`30`
show	Shows the raster	On
snap	Makes widgets snap to the raster	On