Text and DLTs - Some suggestions for Toolkit

Hi all,

I'm currently doing my first batch of DLT programming, and it's driving me somewhat crazy (crazier?). A lot of these issues will relate to the way the DLTs are updated (from Toolkit to Network), and also limitations like character size in the LCD and the 14 char limit of DLT text.

However I reckon there should be ways to fix or work-around at least some of what I list below. Here's my suggestions :

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1. There should be a way (in Toolkit) to preview what the text will look like. It takes forever to keep downloading (uploading?) to the DLT's, then find out that the text doesn't fit! It's a guess every time, since the chosen font is not fixed-width. Perhaps Toolkit could load an "emulation font" into Windows as guide, anything would be better than doing it "blind" like we do now

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2. Am I corrrect in thinking that when we hit save, it updates *ALL* DLT units every time? If so, why not just update the Labels that we are working on / changed? I thought polling / wasting Cbus Network Bandwidth was a "no-no"

Perhaps give us a choice to update one Label or all. It would require an interface change, but there's gotta be a better way (right-click menu > Update Just This One?) The job I am working on has lots of DLTs and lots of Labels - so every little change seems to take FOREVER to update.

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3. If we can fix my point 1 above, can we have an easy way to CENTRE the text? It's very very time consuming to centre using spaces > upload (all Labels) > not correct > centre using spaces > upload (all Labels) > not correct ... [ad infinitum]. Right-aligning would be good too - that would give more clear association between button (on right) and text

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4. We have been waiting for quite some time for some DLT graphics. The really badly drawn Clipsal Logo and Island are truly truly sad. Is there a repository of commonly used ones (text and/or pictures) where we can share?

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5. I am really having problems getting my Text Labels to work! I can't fit (say) "Lounge Uplights", but I need to since there's also a DLT in a Dining Room that controls "Dining Uplights" as well as "Lounge Uplights". I can't label both GA's as "Uplights" because there'd be 2 on each DLT. How on earth can I label them so it's clear to the user what each button does?

We need a smaller font!

I read elsewhere that the font is held in firmware. Am I correct in thinking that the DLT can store 8 languages, and these can be switched between? If so, then we have capability to store stuff in there... so why not have a "small fonts" language so we can get a decent amount of characters on-screen? I know that I would sacrifice 7 languages if that allowed me to have a few fonts I could choose between !

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OK - I appreciate that I could use graphics to get around points 3 and 5 (and to a degree point 1 as well), but it takes time to create decent looking pictures and really it should be handled without graphics. Furthermore, graphics take even longer (an eternity) to update to the network, especially since you seem to have to broadcast ALL DLT labels & gfx even if just one pixel of 1 graphic is changed!

Sorry for venting, it's just that I'm under pressure to finish a pretty complex project with lots of DLTs, and it's taking me far too long to do the DLT text

Anyone else have anything to add, or some suggestions to make my life easier?

Thanks and Cheers, John

 

JohnC
a few things we have learnt
in not always 14 chars its up to 64 pixels, so if you use all "l" you can load more than 14 but if you use "W" think you get 8 chars.

you can load just one group text if you goto the group concerned and use the "edit lang" button

I have code that extracts the group names and the DLT from the DB and computes the DLT sizes, it then shows me which ones will not fit (=> 64) and allows me to keep changing the DB till they do. When I got it correct then load the switchs, this means i know all the text will fit before loading. Can do off site.


dave

 

I understand the way DLT Labels work Ashley, but consider the small domestic project I'm working on has 13 x DLTs each with (say, an average of) 7 groups. There are only a few duplicated groups. So we have about 90 UNIQUE Labels to update each and every time something changes.

Since you cannot preview the Fonts within Toolkit, you HAVE to use trial and error and keep re-loading the Labels until you get it looking right. I couldn't find any info on programming DLTs, so I've been following the Thread in the Tutorials Forum, which says you edit Group Labels from Project Mgr > [Highlight the Network] > Edit Lang.

That method means that you save ALL Group Labels every time you hit "Save". If you add some graphics, this can result in painfully slow update if you have lots of Labels assigned. What I was looking for was the ability to edit just ONE Group Label, which Dave has exposed :

So, the capability is already in there - all we need is a way to Edit one label that's accessible from that page that has them all listed. It'd be dead easy to add a button that would pop up that dialog that loads from Groups > [Highlight the Group] > Edit Lang.

At the same time, the text on the buttons on the main Edit Language Page needs to be changed from "Save" to "Save All". And if we could SORT the listings, it'd make it easier to check for duplicated label names, etc

Looking forward to seeing other improvements ASAP

Cheers, John

 

Right Click!

Hi JohnC

Toolkit supports this exactly as requested in your first post.
In the network level Edit Languages you can right click on an individual label to save only that label to the network.

Hope that helps a little!

Cheers,
Mark.

 

You can save a single label to the network by right-clicking on the label in the "Edit Languages" window and clicking "Save this label to network" from the view that shows all the labels.

 

Grrr and LOL - well blow me down, so it does have a R-click Context menu item !

Can't be sure, but I must have been trying to do this in 1.1.8 and couldn't find a way - then loaded 1.1.9 to solve the graphics problem and never tried again. I know that I tried r-clicking everything I could think of in 1.1.8 and didn't find anything... but I might be wrong on that

I guess I should revise my request to "how about we have some blatently obvious way of..."

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Seriously however, I reckon that's the most frustrating thing about this software - it's constantly being revised, there's no instructions, and there's not really a clear change-log so we can see what's the difference between versions.

So, we all just fumble our way thru and discover things by accident and/or trial & error and/or posting a complaint and then usually it's the USERS (not the clipsal guys) that tell us work-arounds and features in the software.

That is not really a good thing, and one reason a lot of people (end users especially) have trouble with Cbus. It;'s also a terrible waste of time for everyone

Rant ended - Thanks for your patience, guys

John

 

Thanks John.. I guess its stating the obvious to some degree but it certainly pays for us to keep hearing it.