Navigation:  How to Work with Screens > Adding Input Controls to a Screen > Adding an Input Date Control to a Screen

 

Control Purpose

 

This control is used to display a date (there are several input and output formats available). It can be edited by the operator.

This data is stored in a user variable and can, then, be further processed or stored. See Variable Definition.

If your MCL-Designer V4 subscription includes Speech attributes, it will affect the Input Date's use - this control will also accept speech input (operator speaking into the device) and provide output information (instructions to be heard by the operator).

A date can be added to a screen by dragging an Input Date control from the top section of the "Control" tab OR  the Style Preview section onto the screen.

 

Step-by-step

 

1. Drag the control onto the screen:

 

•If dragged from the "Control" tab, the control will assume the default style. (See Set Default.)

 

•If dragged from the Style Preview section, it will assume that particular style.

 

2. Now, double-click the selected control on the screen OR  the tree view to open the properties window.

 

 

The "General" tab is open by default.

 

3. In the "Variable" option, define the variable that will store the date data by clicking and creating/selecting the appropriate variable (Global or Program variable).

See To Select/Create a Variable.

 

4. Select an input format (of the date value stored in the "Initial Date" variable) from the corresponding drop-down OR  click and select an appropriate date format style. The default parameter is "System Format" and it refers to the device’s regional settings.

 

5. Enter an "Initial Date" (date value to be displayed when the screen starts) in the corresponding box to be displayed in the Input Date control OR  click and select a variable with the intended value.

 

The date’s display format (how the date value is displayed to the operator, in the screen) is defined in the current project's properties - see the System Preferences tab ("Regional Options"- “Date Format” and “Date Separator”).

 

Match the format of the "Initial Date" value to the one specified in the input format. If this is not the case, the control displays today’s date.

 

 

6. Select an output format (of the selected date value to be stored in the variable) from the drop-down OR  click and select an appropriate date format style. The default parameter is "System Format" and it refers to the device’s regional settings.

 

7. If required, select a "SIP Mode" from the available options:

 

 

8. Go to the "Layout" tab.

 

 

9. Define the control's style by selecting an option available in the drop-down OR  by clicking . See Editing and Creating Styles and Editing and Creating the Input Date Style.

 

10. Position the defined "Initial Date" (defined in step 5), within the control, with the alignment buttons.

 

11. Maintain the given values or specify the control's position/size, within the screen, by providing the "X" and "Y" coordinates as well as "Width" and "Height".

 

Detail of Position/Size values

 

 

12. In the "Control Settings" section, attribute a name to the control. This name is displayed in the tree view.

 

13. Consider whether or not to check the following options:

"Enable"

Activates the control's input feature.

"Tab Stop"

Must be checked to enable a "Change Tab order". This provides the possibility to change the order (between data input controls) in which the  information is keyed in by the operator.

"Visible"

Manages the control's visibility in the device's screen.

"Text Input"

Allows the operator to edit/modify the date displayed on the screen via keyboard use.

"Auto Enter"

After any date edition, there is automatically a validation with an "Enter". It requires the adding of an action ("current screen"; "next screen"; "Exit", etc.), in the "Actions" tab of the control, to establish a target location.

 

Use the right-click in MCL-Designer's input boxes to access some related options as well as the general "Cut"; "Copy"; "Paste"; "Search"actions (active/inactive according to the current context).

Ex: If you right-click the "Text Data" input box (included in a Display Text properties window), you are provided with the general editing/search actions and other specific options such as "Variable Select" (see "Variable Select"), "Variable Insert" (see "Variable Insert"), "Insert Special Character" (see To Insert Special Characters into a Control's Text Input Field) and "Localization Select" (see Localization List).

If you right-click any other input box, it may provide other possibilities.

 

 

 

14. Go to the "Actions" tab.

 

 

Default action: "Change" - Is triggered when the focus is directed to another Input Control with enabled "Tab Stop" within the current screen or the operator presses a virtual or hardware "<ENTER>".

In this particular case, the "Change" action of the Input Date is also triggered as soon as a new date is entered. Ex: When the operator selects a date from the calendar provided by the Input Date control.

 

 

Keep in mind that there is always a default action (ex: "Change"; "Timer"; "Hotkey"; etc.) attached to the control (in this case, it is a "Change" action). If you want the action to trigger something, you must add processes to it (ex: "Go To"; "Check File"; "Set Focus"; etc.).

 

15. If required, double-click the empty line below the action or click in the editing bar to add a process to the action. See Adding Processes to a Screen or a Control.

 

At this stage, the processes are being added to the default action (in this case, a "Change"). The default action can, however, be ignored/overridden by adding other actions (step 17).

 

 

This control has predefined local variables (only available in an "action" context). See Input Date's Predefined Local Variables.

 

 

16. If there is no need to add more actions, click in the "Actions" tab to conclude the operation.

If the project requires more actions, proceed to step 17.

 

17. Click (at the bottom of the "Actions" tab) to add a new action.

 

 

18. Select one of the available actions (A) for this control ("Timer" or "Hotkey") and edit it (B,C and D) OR,  if available, select a custom action from the drop-down (from its "Custom" section). As an alternative, click to access a table listing all the available custom actions so you can create a new action or edit an existing one. See Custom Actions.

 

 

Detail of a window

 

 

It is possible to add as many of the available actions as required by the project. (Repeat steps 17 and 18)

 

 

19. Edit the new action(s). Double-click the action row to be edited and open its properties window. If a custom action is if available, you can select it from the drop-down (from its "Custom" section) OR  click to access a table listing all the available custom actions so you can create a new action or edit an existing one. See To Edit a Custom Action.

 

 

Ex: The editing of an added "Hotkey" action.

Define which keystroke function (in a virtual or hardware keyboard) the control represents.

Define the objective to be executed after the action is triggered. Select one of the available destinations from the drop-down or list OR  select "<Action>", if you want to add other processes.

 

20. These new actions can include processes. See Adding Processes to a Screen or a Control.

 

If you have more than one action, remember to select the action row you want to add processes to.

If you use the Drag-and-Drop method to add processes, make sure to drop the process on the row below the intended action.

 

Before concluding the addition operation, check the following:

 

Remember that the "Enable" option (located in the "Layout" tab) must be checked so that the added actions/processes run.

 

 

21. If required, use the icons located on the upper right corner of the properties window:

 

Click this icon to open a "Localization" window where you can edit the text element within that control or add translations to it. See Localization.

 

Click this icon to attach any relevant notes to this control. Enter your text in the resulting window. This information is displayed in the "Developer report". See Report.

 

 

22. Click in the "Actions" tab to apply the choices made.

 

The Input Date has been successfully added to the screen.

 

 

 

The operator can edit the Input Date either by entering the desired information with the help of the keyboard (if the Text Input option in the "Layout" tab is checked) OR  by clicking the calendar box to the right of the Input Date and selecting a particular date.

 

 

If any subsequent edition of the control's properties is required, double-click the Input Date OR  select "Edit" (in its right-click menu) to open the properties window.

 

 

 

Input Date's Predefined Local Variables

 

This control has predefined Local variables (only available in an "action" context).

 

 

 

* Defined in the control's properties window ("Layout" tab).