Common properties and actions

The action To/from active graph in the popup menu for the source or I/O will add a line for the source or I/O to the active graph, when not yet present. When a line for the source or I/O was already present in the active graph, it is removed from the graph.

Checking the option In active graph in the settings window of the source or I/O adds a line for the source of I/O to the active graph. Unchecking the option removes the line from the active graph.

Checking the option Visible makes the line visible in the active graph (default). Unchecking the option hides the line in the active graph, But the corresponding axis remains visible.

You can change the displayed name of an object by giving it an Alias. This can be handy when you are dealing with a lot of objects and have problems keeping them apart. You can for example give channel one of your instrument the alias "Battery", when it is measuring a battery voltage. To give an object an alias, use the item Alias ... in its menu. To remove an alias and revert to the original name of the object, set the alias to an empty string.

When multiple sources or I/Os are displayed in a graph or a meter, they can be distinguished from each other by their Color. Four different color settings are available for a source or an I/O.

• Automatic
  The color is determined by the graph the source or I/O is shown in. A color is selected from a group of colors by the graph. There are separate groups for channel colors and source colors. The groups can be configured in the program settings. Each new channel or source in the graph uses the next available color in the group. When the last color in the group is used and another channel or source is added to the graph, picking will start at the top of the group again.
• As source
  This setting is only available for I/Os. The I/O will use the same color as its source. When multiple sources are connected to the I/O, the color of the first connected source is used.
• Variation of source
  This setting is only available for I/Os. The I/O will use the a darker shade of the color of its source. When multiple sources are connected to the I/O, the color of the first connected source is used.
• User defined...
  The color of the source or I/O is user selected, using a color picker dialog. Any color can be used.

A color picker button in the settings window of the source or I/O shows the current color of the source or I/O. Clicking it allows to set the color for the source or I/O.

When the source or I/O is not yet shown in a graph or meter, no color is defined yet and the button shows a ? question mark.
When the source or I/O is shown in multiple graphs and its color is set to Automatic, it can be that its lines in the graphs have different colors. Again, the button will show a ? question mark.
And when an I/O is shown in a graph and its color is set to As source and the color of its source is set to Automatic the button may also show a ? question mark.

An I/O has an output range which is based on the output range(s) of the source(s) of the I/O. The default output range is set to a value that will contain all theoretically possible output values of the I/O, based on the input range(s) and the operation the I/O performs. When an I/O is used as source for e.g. a graph, the range of the graph will be set to the output range of the I/O.

To overrule the default output range of an I/O, use the Output range property. A dialog box is opened in which the upper and lower limit of the output range can be entered. To avoid that an auto ranging input will override the manual selected output range, check the Fixed option.

When the source of an I/O has an auto ranging feature, the output range of the I/O will follow the output range of the source and be determined again each time the input range changes. To avoid that an auto ranging source will change the output range of an I/O, enable the Fixed property of the I/O.

An I/O has an output range which is based on the output range(s) of the source(s) of the I/O. The default output range is set to a value that will contain all theoretically possible output values of the I/O, based on the input range(s) and the operation the I/O performs.

All TiePie engineering instruments have ranges in a 2-4-8 sequence: 2 V, 4 V, 8 V, 20 V, 40 V, 80 V, etc.. The default output range of an I/O is likely to have an output range that does not follow the 2-4-8 sequence. That can make visual comparison of an instrument channel and the output of an I/O in a graph difficult, because they have different ranges. The property Snap to standard range will force the I/O to select an output range that follows the 2-4-8 sequence.

By default, the unit of most sources and I/Os is V for Volt. You can change the unit of most sources and I/O objects with the item Set unit... in the menu of the object. A string value can be entered in the dialog box that is shown.

To disconnect one or more sources from an I/O or Sink, use the Disconnect source(s) action. This will show a dialog that lists all connected sources. Individual sources can then be selected and disconnected from the object.

To disconnect all sources from an I/O or Sink at once, use the Disconnect all sources action.

To disconnect one or more sinks from an I/O or Source, use the Disconnect sink(s) action. This will show a dialog that lists all connected sinks. Individual sinks can then be selected and disconnected from the object.

To disconnect all sinks from an I/O or source at once, use the Disconnect all sinks action.

The Load action allows to load the settings and data for an object from a TPS or TPO file. This is detailed described on the page about Loading into selected objects.

The Save as action allows to save the settings and data of one or more objects to a TPO file. When multiple objects are selected, the connections between the objects are saved as well. This is detailed described on the page about Saving objects to a TPO file.

The Export data action allows to export the data of an object to a file. This is detailed described on the page about Exporting data.

The action Help will open the help system at the page displaying help on the corresponding source, I/O or sink.

When a new object is to be created, similar to an already existing object, with the same properties, the Clone action can be used. This will create an identical copy of the original object, with the exact same properties. Source(s) and sink(s) of the new object are not yet connected.

The Delete action deletes a source, I/O or sink. All connections of the object will be disconnected and then the object will be removed from the object screen. The source property of the objects that used this object as source will be cleared. The sink property of the objects that used this object as sink will be cleared. An axis in a graph that was connected to this object will be also deleted.