Using Variables

[robbiecat07]

Your software is great, but being able to create variables would be awesome, eg, phidget analog input1 minus phidget analog input2 stored in (Result1) variable, then being able to use (Result1) anywhere in program. Is this possible???

Thanks

[trogluddite]

The nearest thing would be the 'wireless' connectors.
They allow you to send values around the schematic without the need to draw links between them.
They have to be used with care though...

- The connection is only made for modules contained inside the same 'mother' module as the transmitter. This is actually quite useful - by putting the transmitter somewhere inside a module, you make it a 'local variable' that is independent of other similarly named transmitters in other modules. You can see this in action inside the toolbox 'knob' modules, where they are used to transmit the 'properties' around the module.

- Both the name (case sensitive and you can include spaces and most 'special' characters) and the connector type (float, integer, string etc.) must be identical. If you right click the little connection circle, you can set a data type from the context menu, to ensure that the connection is not accidentally lost if SM tries and fails to set the type automatically.. You can see when they are connected, as the little 'radio waves' symbol will go green.

- The biggest problem of all is that there is no 'find' function to locate the transmitters and receivers by name, or to automatically link edits to the names - so they can be very hard to find, easily leading to lost connections because of 'orphan' receivers that you forgot were there. So you will need to be very organised in how you use them!!

All the same, they can be very useful. I mostly tend to use them for global user 'preference' settings, and to send bitmaps to my controls, so that I can quickly 're-skin' the look of many controls at once - and it will work with most of the different data types including even busses (multiple data sources along one link).