Part 2 - Setup the Graphical Panel

Graphics Panels are similar to the graphical user interface (GUI) of an application. Once built they allow a user that has no knowledge of Vehicle Spy to perform complex tasks with the program. This tutorial will build a very basic Graphical Panel with only two tools. It is possible to have dozens of tools across multiple panels.

1. Open the Graphical Panels Tab:

Select Measurement > Graphical Panels from the main menu.

2. Create the necessary Tools:

Select the LED Control (Figure 1:) at the bottom of the screen. Click anywhere inside the Graphical Panel to place the LED. Next, select the Power Control (Figure 1:) at the bottom of the screen to add an on/off button. Click anywhere in the graphical panel to place the on/off button.

Figure 1: LED and Button Controls for a graphical panel.

3. Change the Tool Properties:

Select the LED that was placed in the graphical panel. Once the LED is selected, find the Caption property (Figure 2:), and change it Playback Status. Select the Show Caption (Figure 2:) and select 1-Yes from the pulldown. Select your On/Off button and change the OnText property to Running and the OffText property to Stopped. The caption for the On/Off Button changes depending whether it is set on or off.

Figure 2: Properties setup for Controls

4. Attach the Controls to the Application Signals:

Click the LED, then double click the Signal property from the right. This will open the Expression Builder. From here, select the App Signals (Figure 3:) category from the left. Double click the Playback Indicator signal (Figure 3:) to enter it into the expression field. OK (Figure 3:) will confirm the changes. By default when the signal value that the LED is attached to equals 1, the LED will be lit. Now, do the same for the On/Off button, except this time double click the Playback Control application signal. The On/Off button will change the signal value to either a 1 or a 0 depending on it's position (on or off).

Figure 2: Selecting the proper signal